World-leading MA in Applied Spirituality which will have its first graduates this year, held an event for its second intake of students in late August
The South East Technological University MA in Applied Spirituality got off to a wonderful start with a week of transformational learning and community bonding in late August.
This MA has been described by an international external examiner as “world-leading” and its commencement in 2016 was the first time in Ireland for an Institute of Technology to run and award an MA in Applied Spirituality. This November will see the first cohort of graduates being conferred,
Dr Michael O’Sullivan SJ, programme leader of the MA, which is presented at the Jesuit Conference Centre in Dublin, said: “This year the MA has attracted an equal number of women and men (10-10) – the ratio in 2016-17 was 2:1 (14 women to 7 men) and includes participants from Myanmar, South Africa, Croatia, and England.
Spirituality, Imagination and Art lecturer Amanda Dillon drew from a wide range of art sources such as Hildegard of Bingen, Vincent Van Gogh, and Marina Abramovic. She engaged participants in exercises such as finding the sacred in local maps and meditating using images (visio divina). She also emailed participants with plenty of reading as a follow-up.
Spirituality, Literature and Media lecturer Brian Dooney delved into poems and songs, and told participants: “Words carry the charge but rhythm controls the spell”. His reflection on Psalm 62 (63) and William Ernest Henley’s Invictus poem particularly captivated his class. He helped participants to experience the divine through language, and concluded: “I hope I’ve added to the inspiration, and may the force be with you!”
Anne Marie Dixon led the MA participants into the Journeying with s/Spirit module where they worked towards developing their own spiritual autobiography. They were also brought through a programme orientation by Dr Michael O’Sullivan and other members of the lecturing team, in order to gently adapt to their lives as students.
Michael said: “The feedback from the MA class about their week was very positive and is further evidence of the great interest at the present time in the study of spirituality”. At the end of the week, a number of participants in the MA shared that the week was “a fantastic experience”, that it was a “privilege” for them to be doing the MA with such companions, and that they also looked forward to the “brain strain” the MA would provide.
Graduates of the programme continue to wish the new class well on the Facebook page of the Spirituality Institute for Research and Education (SpIRE) that supports the SETU MA
SpIRE is led by Dr Michael O’Sullivan, SJ, Prof Bernadette Flanagan, and Sr Anne Marie Dixon, who are also the leadership team of the SETU MA. Dr O’Sullivan and Prof Flanagan are recognized by their peers in the international community of scholars and researchers as international leaders in the field of spirituality studies.
“I look forward to continuing my work and relationship with the new MA class after the week,” says Michael, “and to building on the foundation of the week with them.” Furthermore, he notes: “It was consoling to be working with such fine people at an affective and academic level regarding their own lives, and to be on the frontiers of change contributing to the further development of spirituality as an applied academic discipline.”
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Dr O’Sullivan
Prof Flanagan