Introduction to Personal Spiritual Formation

Upon successful completion of this unit, it is expected that students will be able to:

Undergraduate

1. explain how spirituality and spiritual formation relate to their personal lived experience;
2. outline a history of spiritual writers who have influenced awareness of spiritual practices;
3. critically describe personal experiences of spiritual direction and spiritual retreats;
4. critically analyse the way in which personality impacts spiritual development; and
5. describe the spiritual practices that lay a foundation for spiritual growth and illustrate this from within different practices.

Postgraduate

1. critique the ways in which spirituality and spiritual formation relate to their personal lived experience;
2. outline a history of spiritual writers who have influenced awareness of spiritual practices;
3. critically describe personal experiences of spiritual direction and spiritual retreats;
4. critically analyse the way in which personality impacts spiritual development; and
5. evaluate the spiritual practices that lay a foundation for spiritual growth and illustrate this from within different practices.

Undergraduate

• Book review (1,000 words) (25%)
• Field report (1,000 words) (25%)
• Essay (3,000 words) (50%)

Postgraduate

• Book review (1,500 words) (25%)
• Retreat field report (1,500 words) (25%)
• Essay (3,000 words) (50%)

Set texts recommended for purchase are highlighted in blue

• Barry, William, and William Connolly. The Practice of Spiritual Direction. Second ed. New York, NY: HarperOne, 2009.
• Hughes, Gerard W. God of Surprises. Grand Rapids, MI.: Eerdmans Pub Co., 2008.
• Kidd, Sue Monk. When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life’s Sacred Questions. San Francisco, CA: Harper, 2006.
• May, Gerald G. The Wisdom of Wilderness: Experiencing the Healing Power of Nature. New York, NY: HarperOne, 2007.
• Nouwen, Henri, Michael J. Christensen, and Rebecca J. Laird. Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith. New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2006.
• ————. Spiritual Formation: Following the Movements of the Spirit. New York, NY: Harper Collins, 2010.
• Palmer, Parker J. Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. Somerset: John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
• Pitchford, Susan. The Sacred Gaze: Contemplation and the Healing of the Self. Collegeville, Minnesota Liturgical Press, 2014.
• Rohr, Richard. Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer. New York, NY: Crossroad Pub., 2003.
• Rohr, Richard. Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2013.