Southwestern College Santa Fe, NM
Ph.D. in Visionary Practice and Regenerative Leadership
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
This unique trans-disciplinary doctoral program is designed to prepare you as a regenerative leader to navigate the complexities of changing the old story of separation, domination, competition and control into the emerging story of cooperation, compassion, connection and capacity to regenerate broken social systems and struggling ecosystems. Relationships based on authentic partnership are key to our future. This program responds to the question of ‘how shall we shape these relationships of mutuality in order for individuals, families and communities to live in good relationship with each other and with the plants, animals, soils, waterways, weather systems, oceans and atmosphere upon which we depend for our lives?’ Responding to these challenges requires “change agents” capable of honoring wisdom traditions and creating new knowledge to envision and enact a new paradigm.
It begins with the questions “Do you have a vision?” and “Can your vision make a difference for the world?” 
Learn more about the Faculty here
Learn more about vision seeds here
Videos of Ph.D. students describing their experience
“Diagnose the problem. Then dream your wildest dream. Now design and deliver it.” – Pramod Parajuli, Ph.D.
“Visionary is the capacity to envision what is not yet, and regenerative is the power to bring that into being.” – Ann Filemyr, Ph.D.
Listen to a brief podcast about the Ph.D. program here:
PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS: OVERVIEW
The Ph.D. in Visionary Practice and Regenerative Leadership program requires completion of 75 quarter units. Students may complete all requirements within three years in 11 ten-week quarters. Students may also opt for part-time enrollment and complete within five years (78 quarter units). The program is designed as a cohort model in which all students take a common core of courses before they begin to focus on their individual or partnered doctoral projects and dissertation proposals. Contact druphoenix@swc.edu for information on part-time and full-time program maps with the cost included. For information on the admissions process visit https://www.swc.edu/visionary-practice-regenerative-leadership-phd-admissions/.
RESIDENCIES
There are three required residencies, which bring students and faculty together to strengthen relationships, build the learning community and advance together through the program.
The initial residency, Seeking, brings students together in the fall of the first year for six days and includes a bio-regional, land-based experience in rural New Mexico. This residency launches students into fall coursework, introduces them to the core faculty, and orients them to the program, campus resources, and each other.
The second residency, Gathering and Grounding, brings students together in the fall of the second year for four days. Gathering and Grounding represents the shift between the common core courses taught by faculty and the students’ focus on completing their doctoral projects and dissertations with the support of the Doctoral Committee members led by the Committee Chair.
The third residency, Crossing the Threshold, brings students together for four days in the beginning of the Spring quarter of their last year. This final residency is a celebration of achievement and learning as students near completion of their dissertations. Students will share their work and engage feedback from peers and faculty.
Residencies will be held on the Southwestern College campus or other locations in and around Santa Fe, New Mexico. The required residencies may preclude some international students from participating in this program since it is primarily a distance program. Please contact admissions@swc.edu for more information on this.
COMMON CORE COURSEWORK
In the first year, part one of the program, all students will take a common core of courses designed to ground the theoretical, conceptual and experiential elements of this unique degree program. The first year curriculum will introduce students to visionary theories and practices, regenerative theories and practices, and a wide range of research methodologies, including decolonization approaches drawn from indigenous scholars’ critique of the construction of Western knowledge systems.
DISTANCE EDUCATION METHODS
Online courses will have both synchronous and asynchronous elements. Students will work independently and will participate in online discussions as well as Zoom class sessions throughout the quarter. Visual, textual and related media will be uploaded as assignments throughout the quarter. Faculty will provide regular feedback and engagement. Each online course will extend over a ten-week quarter.
DOCTORAL VISIONARY REGENERATIVE PROJECT
The Doctoral Visionary Regenerative Project is an action research project involving both doing and being, action and reflection. It is completed over two consecutive quarters (six months) and represents 12 quarter units or 360 hours. It provides an opportunity for the doctoral student to embody and express their unique vision through direct engagement followed by meaning making through structured reflection. It serves as the fieldwork requirement in our doctoral program.
The project shall clearly link to the dissertation. The dissertation proposal includes a clear description of the project for committee approval. Students articulate their own visionary and regenerative aspirations and determine the focus, topic, title, direction, outcomes, and relevant community participants for their doctoral projects.
The project can take many different forms, but each form requires the student to develop project management skills, such as the ability to organize toward a goal, create realistic timelines and budgets, etc. Project management often requires concise research to become familiar with the context within which the student seeks to make a contribution.
You can see the schedule and the Ph.D. catalog from this link: https://www.swc.edu/quarterly-schedules-booklists-and-more/. Also, if you would like more details on the Doctoral Visionary Regenerative Project and the Learning Outcomes for this doctoral program, contact our Director of Enrollment Services. This Ph.D. program has been approved by the Higher Learning Commission.