metascam

[metascam]

Metaphysics or meta-fraud?

Mrs Expat has in recent years become interested in New Age, metaphysics etc. She is considering applying to the University Of Metaphysical Sciences to earn a Bachelor's or beyond degree in metaphysics or related subjects.

Leaving aside the question of belief, does the Hive Mind have any experience with this particular institution? Are they on the level or a "diploma" mill? The reason Mrs. E is interested in this particular institution is the possibility for distance learning due to linguistic barriers in our current country.

Any fact-based information would be a great help. Also any alternate sources for learning more on these types of subject, especially things like Reiki, would be huge!

As someone who has pretty regular contact with many faith traditions, I would urge you to be very wary of any distance learning institution offering doctorate of divinity diplomas. They are also not accredited by any educational organization and Dr. Christina Breese, the founder of UMS is quite sketchy of where she got her D.D. and Ph.D. and I suspect they were "awarded" to her at one point or another. In the FAQ they state plainly that the degrees they award are not those that can be used in relation with a medical practice and that a doctoral grad would be unable to get a job with a secular college or university; meaning they can survive because they are registered as a religious non-profit. Have you checked the FAQ? It is not a scam per se, but there are many churches that do this same type of thing and I suggest you look into other options. Perhaps something along the lines of seminary, holistic studies or a theological college in your area.

A distance school that is accredited and probably has many of the things Mrs. Expat is looking for is the California Institute of Integral Studies.

If your wife is just looking for a theological background in metaphysics and not a job out of this, I would really consider you go to the source: The American Academy of Religion! There are many theologians studying new religious movements. Here are some from my rolodex that probably would not mind an e-mail looking for a place to start:

Douglas E. Cowan (Renison College, University of Waterloo) decowan@uwaterloo.ca William M. Ashcraft (Truman State University) washcraf@truman.edu J. Gordon Melton (Institute for the Study of American Religion) jgordon@linkline.com Rebecca Moore (San Diego State University) remoore@mail.sdsu.edu Sarah Pike (California State University, Chico) spike@csuchico.edu Benjamin Zeller (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) bzeller@unc.edu

Mrs Expat would better be served by studying basic psycology , formal logic, philosophy and rethoric. Even on her own just following the courses of old public university, before the privatization-at-all-costs traversty started churning private universities as if knowledge could ever be a private good.