Imagination Ritual and the Arts

Imagination Ritual, and the Arts

Dr. June C. Goudey PT1714p Tuesday evenings 6:30 to 9:15

From the perspective of Scripture, imagination has gotten poor press. We are told that "the imagination of [the human heart] is evil" (RSV: yetser, Gen. 6:5; Gen. 8:21), a source of sinful pride (RSV: dianoia, Luke 1:51) and a source for idolatrous art (RSV: dianoia , Acts 17:29).

Those whose imagination causes them to resist God’s ways are identified as a "stiff-necked people," people whose hearts have been "hardened" (Exodus 32:9; Acts 7:51). In Mark 8: 17, we hear Jesus ask his disciples, "Do you not yet perceive or understand [imagine]? Are your hearts hardened? Stiffening of the neck and hardening of the heart are metaphors for the human condition of resistance. For some people, such actions may be a positive defensive response to a threatening situation where resistance to evil is necessary. Yet used too often and unreflectively, these positive responses can become locked into place by fear and turn against the very one who relies on them.

The premise of this course is that imagination is central to human becoming and is the "heart-mind" of faith, the interaction of thought and emotion that allows us to choose life over death. Imagination is the foundation stone of human becoming and achieving. Through imagination we embrace new life or reject its possibilities. Imagination allows us to create inner worlds of our own making and live in them for good or ill. Yet each of us is called by God to transcend our inner worlds and embrace God’s realm- a realm of radical inclusivity, openness, and generosity where well-being and abundant life reside.

All ministries involve serving God by expanding God’s realm in the world through the love of God and neighbor. "You shall love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… and your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:29-31). Seen in this light, an imagination liberated from fear and steeped in love is essential to theological reflection. Imagination is also the point of contact for the human knowing of divine being. Imagination allows the fruits of the spirit, particularly love, joy, peace and self-control to reshape the images by which we live.

This course will explore how the imagination can be understood best as the infinite locus of soul and how soul can be understood as the receptor of God’s salvific power within the human sphere. The notion of imagination will thus be redeemed from negative associations and seen as a saving power that requires education and practice to reach its fullest human potential.

Goal:

The goal of this course will be to expand our understanding of imagination through the study of ritual and the arts.

Foundational points that inform the objectives of the course:

How we see the world involves imagination (not with our eyes alone, but with our heart and mind—our embodied selves).

How we honor what we see (both inner and outer realities) involves ritual.

How we preserve what we see for others involves art.

Imagination, Ritual and the Arts may be studied independently of each other, but to understand the multiple truths they offer human experience in relation to the divine life, they are best studied in relation.

Basic objectives:

Invite students into a non-threatening experience of learning.
Encourage students to explore their own understandings of imagination.
Encourage students to expand their understandings of ritual and art through the use of the Internet and attention to cross-cultural experiences.
Invite students to expand their self-awareness by "doing a new thing" in relation to the arts or ritual.
Encourage students to demonstrate the interconnection of imagination, ritual, and the arts from their own perspective.

Objective 1:Grading

This course has evolved from a project on "Educating Imagination," that is part of Dr. Goudey’s work with the Wabash center on Teaching and Learning. Accordingly, a fixation on grades would be counter-productive to the learning process the instructor seeks to encourage. The class is being offered as Pass/D/ Fail. Any student who desires a letter grade will need to speak with Dr. Goudey and work out different arrangements for assessing their work.

Objective 2: Required readings; Class attendance and discussion among peers.

* Catherine Bell. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions

*Warren S. Brown, Nancey Murphy and H. Newton Malony, Whatever Happened to the Soul? Scientific and Theological Portraits of Human Nature, 1998.

*Kathleen Fischer. The Inner Rainbow: The Imagination in Christian Life

* Jill Kimberly Hartwell Geoffrion. Praying the Labyrinth

* Barbara Gowdy. The White Bone

*Madeleine L'Engle. Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

Janet Walton. Art and Worship: A Vital Connection

*Reserved Articles: TBA

Guest presenters: on music, poetry and painting, walking the labyrinth.

Objective 3:Students will be required to review information and share it with class members

From the arts section of weekly newspapers

From wwwar.com by exploring one foreign art museum from the museum index

From www.absolutearts.com an online arts service

From www.artsandculture.org (Center for Cultural Exchange)

From other art resources that they are familiar with.

Objective 4:

Students and instructor will covenant to each learn something new and demonstrate their progress to the class on a periodic basis; as well as keep a journal that records their own insights into the learning process. Note: although the journal will be shared with Dr. Goudey at the end of the class it is a confidential learning tool.

For example: learn Greek or another language using computer "Tutor" resources; write poetry; write a short story; take singing lessons; join a choir; learn a new art form; learn a new sport and practice it regularly; other options available with instructors permission.

Where possible, attend an Easter Vigil Service; other options may be determined by class members in consultation with Dr. Goudey.

Where possible, attend one event at the Center for Cultural Exchange

Objective 5: Organize a presentation for the class related to ritual and/or art and reflect on this work and the presentation of it, in a 10 page critical paper (footnotes or references notes), using class readings and Internet resources.

Class Sessions: Every class session will allow for either lecture, presentations by guests, presentations by class participants, and/or time to experience some aspect of ritual.

February 1:Introduction to course, theological premises.

Viewing of "Pleasantville" video.

February 8: "What does it mean to be human?"

Discussion of Whatever Happened to the Soul, Chapters 1-5.

February 15: "What does it mean to be human?"

Discussion of Whatever Happened to the Soul, Chapters 6-10.

February 22: No class- reading week

February 29: The Nature and Role of Imagination

Discussion of The White Bone

March 7:Christian Understandings of Imagination

Discussion of The Inner Rainbow and Walking on Water

March 14: The Art of Ritual

Discussion of Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions

Part I Theories: The History of Interpretation

March 21: Imagination and Liturgy

Discussion of Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions

Part II Rites: The Spectrum of Ritual Activities

March 28:The Labyrinth as Ritual and Art

Discussion of Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions

Part III Contexts: The Fabric of Ritual Life

Guest: Kerry Maloney, Chaplain at Bates College, with the Bates’ portable Labyrinth

Resource: Praying the Labyrinth

April 4: Worship and the Arts

Discussion of Art and Worship

Exploring class resources

April 11: The Art of Music, Sacred and Contemporary

Guest performance and lecture: Soprano Carolyn Leick and Pianist Patricia Stowell

Carolyn Leick is an accomplished soloist who studied at the Metropolitan Opera Studios under Metropolitan Opera Diva Kathryn Meisle. She has performed with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, the Surry Opera Company in their St. Petersburg, Russia tour, and community orchestras throughout the nation. Dr. Leick also holds three graduate degrees in Education from the University of Maine.

Patricia Stowell is a chamber musician and solo recitalist who performs regularly in New England and Europe. In addition to performing with Carolyn, Patricia recently performed with the Winterhaven Trio. Dr. Stowell has degrees from Indiana University and Northwestern University, and she also studied in Vienna and Stuttgart as a Rotary International Scholar.

April 18: Reading week—no class

April 25: Rituals of Hope—The Easter Vigil as an Art Form

Readings TBA

May 2: Poetry and Art

Guest Presentations: Poet Linda Jenkins and Artist Maddie Burke

Linda and Maddie’s collaboration began at Old South Church in Boston, where both are active members. Maddie had graduated from the Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts and begun "playing with printmaking." One Sunday in 1993 upon entering church, she saw Linda, who she knew to be a successful poet and one whose work she had enjoyed. The idea came to Maddie (whose father is an artist and a poet) that they should put works out together. You’ll hear and see the rest of the story on May 2.

May 9: Review and Presentations of Class Members Work