gr07

Religion and Self-Discovery

Working toward the Learning Reflection Questions ...

To help distill this work further, I'm including these questions -- framed way back in January. I am also including a sample of what Learning Reflection questions generally encompass in my courses. The example is from Ritual Studies, but should serve as a guide -- especially for students who haven't ever seen one or done one.

Many people state that they are spiritual, but what does that really mean? (And where do we stand in all of this?)
How is self-discovery within established religious traditions different from self-discovery in a secular framework?
What constitutes self-discovery?
How extensive is the research on self-discovery?
What is the role of self-discovery in other cultures?
How do you know when you have reached self-discovery?
Can an individual be spiritual without being religious?

Here are a couple of question that Cheryl and myself (Jenn) came up with. Both of the questions need some work, but these were our ideas:

1. From what we've learned in this class, were there things that you already had an opinion or view on but throughout that class did that opinion or view change?

2. Looking back to the beginning of the class, has the definition of 'self-discovery' changed through out the course of this class? Has it become more clear or has it become more broad to include other things? What made this definition change?

Sincerely Jenn

Melany, Rita, Lana

What constitutes self-discovery?

ex. What does self-discovery means to us and how our thoughts have evolved over the semester.

How do religion and spirituality evolve our self-discovery? / What role do religion and spirituality play in (our)self-discovery?

1. What did I get out of this class? Was it what I expected?

2. What did I learn about myself and others?

3. What did others share with me? What did I learn from others experiences with Self Discovery?

4. What values, decisions, opinions have been made or changed through this class?

5. Did you enjoy the guest speakers in class? What did you gain from hearing them speak? Who would you suggest as a guest speaker in Religion and Self Discovery?

Scribe: Sherry Law, Emailer: Megan Brunton

Science, Religion and Creationism
-    Speculate the relationship of spirituality and reality
-    Questions our origins (important to self discovery)

Annie Dillard
-    Process of self-discovery
-    Understanding the “A-Ha!” moment (no concrete method)
-    Establish relatedness (everyone’s a pilgrim)
-    Distinguish between how we perceive objects and “what” objects really “are”

The Secret and Oprah
-    Exercise in critical analysis
-    Introduction to a new age movement
-    Ambiguity of Oprah’s intent (regarding the Secret and its implications)
-    Help us “see” who is speaking and “what lens” they are using

Religion and Spirituality
-    What do the terms encompass
-    Are they intertwined
-    Why to institutions exist in religions?

Eckhart Tolle
-    The ego and what “really” is
-    Connections with Annie Dillard

Cathy Holtmann
-    Practical use of institutions
-    We create the meaning for institutions ect.
-    Self-discovery may entail passions

Question(s):

How was group work useful in the subject of this course?

Chris DeLong, Melanie MacAdam, Kaitlin Brackett, Shelley Duncan

1st Division- The Secret; due to the amount of time spent on this and the responses given we feel this constitutes its own group.

2nd Division- Class readings (Dillard, Tolle, By Design)

3rd Division- Guest speakers (Higgins, Holtmann)

Questions:
What aspect (division) of this course do you feel brought out the characteristics of self-discovery best?

Did you have a 'bell' moment in this course? If so, when was it and what are you going to take from it?

Josh Osborne, Kat Barclay, John Oley, ?

We feel that these questions will be beneficial in Reflecting on this course.

1. After taking this course, do you think it is necessary to re-define self discovery?

2. Do you think that the Law of Attraction has its place in the journey to understanding oneself?

k - firstly, we made a list of dichotomous themes that stood out to us:

a) individuality vs. collectivism
b) 'religious' vs. 'spiritual'
c) science vs. religion
d) learning vs. reflection

Secondly, we talked about the kinds of learning we encountered in the class:

a) collective/collaborative learning
b) dealing with group dynamics

Thirdly, we noticed, amidst the apparent binaries in the first column, themes around diversity and 'living well with tensions' (thanks to Cathy Holtmann).

Tolle stood out to us as a favorable theme as our group often 'spoke' about the influences of our discourse and the wider discourses we find ourselves in.

Surprisingly, no one mentioned "The Secret" or Oprah (odd).

Perhaps questions around how we are influenced by 'presentations' and other discourses would be a fair idea. This would touch on Dr. Higgins' lecture on how "religion" and "spirituality" are framed in public discourse, on Cathy's 'making peace with living with tensions', on Oprah and Tolle and even the doh-hole who pissed and moaned about "The Secret" (that too was a (re)presentation).