Susan G. Carter

Dr. Carter regularly co-teaches the “The Power of Partnership” with Riane Eisler, an online course they designed and developed together for the Transformative Leadership Master’s and Transformative Studies Ph.D. Programs Partnership Studies focus at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, CA. Susan has also been instrumental in designing and developing a number of the courses, including “Partnership In Action”  offered in the Partnership Studies focus in this Transformative Leadership Program.

Believing that learning is most effective when coupled with relevant direct application to daily lives and contemporary issues, Susan has developed courses with action, experiential, and community engagement components. Her courses are structured to expand the dynamic possibilities of academic studies and collaborative community activism/social change work. This is also her approach as a speaker inspiring and empowering her audiences.

Susan is an associate professor (adjunct) at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and Marylhurst University (Portland, OR). For over a decade she has taught at CIIS in the School of Undergraduate Studies, as well as the Transformative Leadership M.A. program, the Transformative Studies Ph.D. program, and the Women’s Spirituality M.A. and Ph.D. graduate programs. At Marylhurst University she teaches in the Masters of Interdisciplinary Studies program (Spiritual Traditions and Ethics) as well as occasionally in the Business/Real Estate Studies programs.

As a feminist scholar and an avid advocate of volunteerism and community-based learning, Susan is actively involved in the non-profit sector, and has served on a number of boards that promote education and empowerment of underserved populations, cross-cultural understanding, and the arts.  She has formed and directed a 501[c][3] foundation, and consults with California Bay Area and Pacific Northwest educational institutions to help promote community service. In addition, she presents nationally and internationally on diverse educational, partnership, cultural and spiritual topics. 

Susan’s interdisciplinary work is further informed by looking to ancient cultures for ideas that may help shape our future. Her academic and personal interests come together with the study of women’s spirituality and prehistoric symbolism and art as an expression of ancient spiritual traditions. 

Over the last decade she has studied the prehistoric origins of the Japanese sun goddess, linking this goddess’ influence on the current political discussion of women’s right of ascendancy to the Chrysanthemum throne. Additionally, she has been researching her ancestral roots (and probable Sami indigenous lineage): women’s roles in contemporary Sweden, women’s possible roles in Scandinavian prehistory, Scandinavian mythology, and is also researching the ancient rock carvings of Sweden.

Susan Carter holds an M.A. in Women’s Spirituality and a Ph.D. in Humanities/Philosophy of Religion from The California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, CA.