Abstract
As part of an integrated studies curriculum at the author’s college, all juniors must take a Reflections course in which students consider personal values and analyze familiar and unfamiliar systems of thought and belief, in order to explore their own and others’ ideas about the ultimate meaning and purposes of life. “Sacred Places Past and Present”, is a course designed to fulfil this requirement. This course focuses on a number of important religious sites in the ancient Mediterranean and in the modern world, including the Parthenon, Olympia, Delphi, Stonehenge, and Muir Woods. These places are compared and contrasted in terms of what makes them sacred. Two pilgrimage experiences are part of this course: the hajj to Mecca and the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. In the past, the unit on the Camino focused on Emilio Estevez’s 2010 film “The Way”; however, during the summer of 2016, the author walked the Camino de Santiago. As a result, the course was substantially revised to reflect the author’s own personal experiences as a pilgrim. In particular, Paulo Coelho’s The Pilgrimage was incorporated into the course and students were given an opportunity to participate in a one-day pilgrimage walk in western Illinois.
Highlights
As part of an integrated studies curriculum at the author’s college, all juniors must take a Reflections course in which students consider personal values and analyze familiar and unfamiliar systems of thought and belief, in order to explore their own and others’ ideas about the ultimate meaning and purposes of life
This paper gives a general overview of this course and focuses on the ways that pilgrimage has been integrated into the course discussion of sacred space, especially as a result of the author’s personal experiences as a pilgrim walking the Camino de Santiago during the summer of 2016
Such note-taking enables the students to focus on the film as an intellectual, rather than merely entertaining, experience. After they have seen the film, students write a reflection paper comparing Mecca as a sacred place to one of the other sacred places already discussed in the course
Summary
As part of an integrated studies curriculum at the author’s college, all juniors must take a Reflections course in which students consider personal values and analyze familiar and unfamiliar systems of thought and belief, in order to explore their own and others’ ideas about the ultimate meaning and purposes of life. This paper gives a general overview of this course and focuses on the ways that pilgrimage has been integrated into the course discussion of sacred space, especially as a result of the author’s personal experiences as a pilgrim walking the Camino de Santiago during the summer of 2016. The course leads the students on a personal journey or pilgrimage in search of the places that are sacred to them in their lives.
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