Students from SRI (Sowa Rigpa Institute) and SKI (Sorig Khang International) of both the 2-year Sowa Rigpa Counselor program, 2-year Sowa Rigpa Ku-Nye program, and the 4-year Sowa Rigpa Practitioner program conclude their studies with a personal thesis project, make a presentation based on it to their peers and teachers, and submit a written summary of the project with an introduction, analysis, and conclusion.
step 1: student submits an written summary of the thesis for consideration.
step 2: the reviewing team approves thesis for presenting at the forum.
step 3: upon receiving approval, the student can proceed with the thesis presentation.
The thesis is not graded, but following the presentation, and the reading of the written paper, comments are given by the supervising teachers. In the rare event the project is not accepted, the student would need to complete modifications to the teachers' satisfaction in order to obtain their certification.
Details
Thesis projects serve multiple purposes: each student applies themselves to deepening their understanding and integration of what their cohort has studied in a unique personal way, and the project often provides an opportunity to apply their new skills in a practical and immediate way. The primary goal of the project is to help each student develop their unique approach as a Sowa Rigpa Counselor or Practitioner, with the support and feedback of peers, mentors, and teachers. In sharing with the class, each student offers their peers new perspectives and inspiration for their own practical and theoretical exploration.
The projects can be practical, research-based, or a combination thereof. The topic(s) should include aspects of and be a logical complement to the student's path of study at SRI and SKI. The project should be relevant to the student's cohort of either Counselor or Practitioner students, and should also be generally relevant to and understandable by fellow practitioners of Sowa Rigpa. The point of the project is to study, explore, and engage deeply with an aspect of what students learn together, and making it applicable and/or relevant for the student and the cohort. The application must relate to Sowa Rigpa. Other modalities, practices, disciplinary fields, or traditions can be studied, discussed, or applied, but ultimately the analysis or lens should be grounded within a Sowa Rigpa framework. Another overall goal is one of contributing to an evolving larger collective practice of Sowa Rigpa in a way that is thoroughly informed by and grounded in its time-tested theory and practice.
Each student begins the process by submitting a thesis proposal, also known as an abstract, to their cohort's thesis team (each cohort's thesis team varies and is generally comprised of professors, mentors or advisers, practitioners, and the Dean of Students). The thesis must be approved. Specific instructions will be given according to your cohort.
This abstract should be a concise summary of the proposed research paper or entire thesis project; it should ideally be a paragraph, and no more than one page. An abstract must be fully self-contained and make sense by itself, giving an overview of and insight into the who, what, and how of the project is accomplished. It should describe the student's methodology–the reader should be able to understand the specific plan for how the project will be accomplished.
This part applies to SRI students.
Some examples of projects:
1. Case study-based projects. If a student has a professional practice or a group of people they currently teach or provide services for, they can make a treatment or research plan to put into practice for a group of students, patients or clients, and then prepare and present case studies and findings based on this project. The student may also focus on one case study that is dived into more deeply. Subjects of case studies must give their consent and they should be kept anonymous. In some cases, the student can use themself as a case study.
For example, the thesis could be a study to measure the efficacy of different Sowa Rigpa treatments for depression, chosen for different patients based on each patient's typology. The methodology and parameters of the process would be outlined–e.g., "Using a Sowa Rigpa typology intake, I will identify patients from each of the three nyepa, all of whom seek treatment for depression. I will develop a unique and specific treatment plan for each person, and in my case studies will describe, compare, and contrast what I chose for treatment strategies and why, and how the patients responded over six weeks, measuring both my and their observations." Or you could present case studies of different patients with different problems that have been helped by a specific Sowa Rigpa therapy, technique, or meditation.
Requirements: For case-study-based projects, the student's final project will consist of both a 20-minute class presentation of the prepared case studies, (with 10 minutes for discussion). SR Counselor 2-year program students, should submit a written summary of 5-10 pages, plus prepared case intake/chart forms; SR and SKI Practitioner 4-year program students should submit 10-20 pages.
2. For research-based projects, you can examine an aspect or multiple aspects of a Sowa Rigpa pathology, diagnostic tool, or treatment that you have studied, or conversely compare or contrast it with other approaches to offer an analysis of its context, special issues around it, cross-cultural approaches, etc.
Requirement: For the research based projects, the student's final project will consist of both a written paper (for SR Counselor 2-year program students, 5-10 pages, and SR and SKI Practitioner 4-year program students should submit 10-20 pages) as well as a 20-minute presentation based on the research and analysis (with 10 minutes for discussion)
Presentations
If students want to give a teaching-style presentation with PowerPoint, graphics, or media, that’s great–but a PowerPoint is absolutely not compulsory! However, it is compulsory to have Powerpoint at the International Forum of Sowa Rigpa in 2024.
You can turn in your PowerPoint and additional text which includes the same type of bibliography that cites your sources and references that you would provide for a plain paper, and actual case studies if applicable, for the total number of pages.
Lastly, in any presentation, students are allowed to share intake/chart forms, images, even a video of a session, but only with the patient/client's consent, and the client must be anonymous (no-one recognizable from our classes or community!). If a session is recorded, it is better to have the camera focus on the practitioner, instead of the client.
All project files from SKI must be submitted to info@sowarigpaforum.com or kristo@sowarigpaforum.com, all project files from SRI must be submitted to sarah@sowarigpainstitute.org, unless a Google form is provided. All project files must be submitted in pdf format which is readable on all computers. Whatever program you use to create your document–Word, PowerPoint, GoogleDocs, Slides, Pages etc–you can easily convert to a pdf.
Last updated: 15 March 2024
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