Magis Immersion Experiences

Pilgrimage is central to all the major religions. Since time immemorial, humans have taken spiritual journeys to sacred destinations. A pilgrimage can be a visceral performance of the
search for meaning in daily life, an attempt to find a greater sense of spiritual well-being, or a
reconfirmation of one’s faith commitments. For any Christian, the city of Rome, more than any
other destination, still has the power to fascinate and invigorate belief. The many layers of Rome
offer a way for Christians and other seekers to encounter the faith of the apostles, the church
fathers and mothers, great medieval saints, the world of Renaissance popes, and the modern
Church in all of its vitality. With Rome as our classroom, we will investigate the theological,
historical, sociological, and literary contours of pilgrimage. The course will be based on the
Roman Catholic tradition but will attempt to make some comparisons with other faith traditions
as well.

To apply for a place in this Magis Immersion Seminar in Rome, please complete this form. The deadline for applications is Friday, 14 October 2022.

This course will explore the mission and values of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) within the context of their centuries of work in higher education through an immersive, engaging learning experience with on-the ground lectures, site visits, and course content in Spain over the course of Spring Break – following in the footsteps of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

This course will pursue two interrelated objectives. First, an exploration of the theology, spirituality, and history of the Jesuits, focusing on their work in higher education. Second, an engaged, immersive learning experience following in the footsteps of St. Ignatius of Loyola through the north of Spain to help ground students’ experience of the materials, and the uniquely Ignatian spirituality that underlies the work of the Jesuits and their universities. We will be exploring the literary genre of memoir as a way to process these experiences, based on Ignatius’ own use of this genre for processing his experience.

To apply for a place in this Magis Immersion Seminar to Spain, please complete this form. The deadline for applications is Friday, 14 October 2022.

This class is open to Sophomores in the College of Arts & Sciences.  

Democritus and Epicurus’ musings on pluralist societies are drawn upon frequently in the western world, and the First Amendment of the United States Constitution enshrines the opportunity for America to thrive as a multi religious society. As the Jesuit Theologian John C. Murray wrote when advising the then President Kennedy, ‘[Religious] pluralism, therefore, implies disagreement and dissension within the community. But it also implies a community within which there must be agreement and consensus.’ (Murray 1969:x). Our present reality is informed to a great extent by these foundational principles. Yet, religious identity is one of the fault lines amidst numerous other intersecting identities upon which there is much dissent in the contemporary landscape.  Beyond the western paradigm of pluralism exist numerous examples of enduring, nuanced pluralistic societies.

As more of us travel to and live with people from foundationally divergent countries and cultures across the world, are there any insights to be gleaned from their frameworks and approaches to pluralism? In this course we examine the case of Nepal – a country of 125 recognised ethnic groups, 92 languages, 6 world religions, and dozens of spiritual traditions. We will consider the effect of the world religions paradigm on pluralism, and contrast it with frameworks discernible in Nepalese history. Finally, we will examine how the arrival of the world religions paradigm in the contemporary Nepalese government and judiciary is affecting traditional approaches to pluralism. Our field trips to Kathmandu will allow us to observe first-hand the complex convergences of intersecting frameworks, policies, and realities.

To apply for a place in this Magis Immersion Seminar to Kathmandu, please complete this form. The deadline for applications is Friday, 14 October 2022.

This class is open to Sophomores in the College of Arts & Sciences.  

This course will examine Jerusalem through four sets of multiple lenses that offer a plethora of interesting questions with richly-contoured answers. How, exactly, and when does the city emerge and become “Jerusalem”? How does it evolve as a focal point in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions? How does each of these traditions connect to Jerusalem over the course of history: spiritually, liturgically, politically, and with words and images?

We will begin with a brief discussion of the archaeologically-based understanding of the beginnings of Jerusalem and how the archaeological record reflects, refracts, validates, or contradicts the biblical references to the city—from the time of the Hebrew, Abraham, to the time of the Israelite King, Solomon. We will trace the history of the twice-experienced building and destruction of—and exile from and return to—Jerusalem in antiquity, with an emphasis on its primary structures (the Temple and the royal palace and, subsequently, uppercrust tombs), that carry across a more than thousand-year period from David and Solomon (ca 1000-930 BCE) to the First Revolt against the Romans (65-70 CE).

From that point we will trace the evolving importance of the city, its symbolic structures and/or their remnants, to Judaism and Christianity as these two faiths emerge out of a common Hebrew-Israelite-Judaean tradition.Where, when, why, and how does Jerusalem acquire importance for the Muslim tradition that steps onto the stage of history in the early seventh century? How is that importance expressed in literature and art? How do politics play a role in shaping the city’s skyline in concert with religion and art? How do all three Abrahamic traditions interweave history and legend within the prose, poetry, and diverse visual art forms that they foster from the medieval period to the present day?

As we arrive into the world of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, what elements of continuity and what new issues emerge? In what new ways are politics and religion interwoven in the multiply-sourced attachments to the city that continue to be expressed? What can one conclude about Jerusalem, given recent political events and artistic expressions, with regard to the present and the future?

To apply for a place in this Magis Immersion Seminar to Jerusalem, please complete this form. The deadline for applications is Friday, 14 October 2022.

This class is open to Sophomores in the College of Arts & Sciences.  

This course studies the peculiarly urban character of Paul of Tarsus’ missionary activity in the Eastern Roman Empire.  If Christianity got its start as a Jewish sect in rural Palestine, its spread and development in the first century CE occurred in the cities where Paul and his associates established distinct communities, which practiced a form of Jesus Messianism. Growing out of Judaism this movement soon attracted Gentiles in the cities where the Pauline mission found itself. The first seven weeks of the course will focus on the letters which Paul wrote to the communities he established in Corinth, Thessalonica, and Philippi in Greece, and Galatia in Asia Minor. Although Paul did not establish a community in Athens, Luke in the Acts of the Apostles portrays his missionary work in that city. The purpose of this part of the course is to prepare for an immersion experience, following in the footsteps of Paul in Greece, over Spring Break. And so, a close reading of Paul’s letters is essential for gaining sufficient knowledge of Paul and his associates as well as the people he preached to in the Greek cities that will be visited over Spring Break. While experiencing both modern and ancient Greece on our immersion trip, we will encounter the monasteries and churches of the Christian Orthodox faith, which grew out of Paul’s evangelization to Greece. Our Orthodox Christian chaplain, Fr. David Pratt, Ph.D., will join us in the classroom and journey with us to Greece, offering us moments of reflection and invitations, for those who wish, for worship and prayer.

To apply for a place in this Magis Immersion Seminar to Greece, please complete this form. The deadline for applications is Friday, 14 October 2022.

This class is open to Sophomores in the College of Arts & Sciences.  

Civil Rights and Its Spiritual Foundations examines the spirituality of people of African descent that emerges from their crises in the making of the modern Western world. This spirituality is larger than that contained in any one religion or religious experience. While acknowledging that the religious and methodological practices used by African Americans in their quest to achieve civil rights and social justice are not a monolith, this class will discuss the parameters that define this unique foundational spirituality that sustained the leaders and participants of the modern civil rights movement in the United States of America. Immersion sites include Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, and Montgomery.

To apply for a place in this Magis Immersion Seminar to Atlanta, Montgomery, Selma, and Montgomery, please complete this form. The deadline for applications is Friday, 14 October 2022.

This class is open to Sophomores in the College of Arts & Sciences.  

This course is an examination of central philosophical questions using the work of three medieval Italians: Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Dante (1265-1321), and Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). We will look in particular at their views on knowledge and love, the nature of happiness, and the cultivation of virtue (and avoidance of vice). Both Dante and Catherine knew Aquinas well (and Catherine was a Dominican, just as Aquinas was), so there is some helpful continuity in their views; but they also developed Aquinas in their own individual ways, and with their distinctive voices: Dante as a poet, Catherine as a mystic and spiritual writer. We hope to visit the Vatican Library and Catherine’s burial place in Rome, the medieval city of Orvieto,  Florence – to explore  Dante and his legacy and Siena.

To apply for a place in this Magis Immersion Seminar to Italy, please complete this form. The deadline for applications is Friday, 14 October 2022.