THSP617 - Spiritual Exercises: The Election

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Nil

Teaching organisation

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, which reflects the standard volume of learning for a unit in a University qualification of this Australian Qualifications Framework type.

Unit rationale, description and aim

Graduates of programs in Ignatian Spiritual Direction should develop knowledge and skills in this discipline and be able to reflect critically on the ways in which their personal development impacts upon their professional roles. This unit provides systematic study, including textual criticism, of the key spiritual and theological elements of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. It focuses primarily on the Election. The aim of the unit is to assist both trainee spiritual directors and other individuals to formulate theoretical frameworks adequate to their guidance of directees, or to consider the personal benefits of engaging more fully with the Spiritual Exercises.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Discuss the key spiritual and theological elements in the Spiritual Exercises (GA5; GA9);

LO2 - Engage critically with contemporary literature concerning the text of the Spiritual Exercises (GA5; GA9);

LO3 - Articulate a detailed theoretical understanding of the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises [Sp. Ex 313-336] (GA5);

LO4 - Articulate a detailed theoretical understanding of the Election in the Spiritual Exercises [Sp Ex 169-189] (GA5).

Graduate attributes

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

Content

Topics will include:

• The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola: spiritual and theological elements;
• The dynamics of the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises;
• The link between the Key meditations and the Election;
• Election: The Three Times;
• Theoretical frameworks for guiding directees through the Spiritual Exercises.

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, which reflects the standard volume of learning for a unit in a University qualification of this Australian Qualifications Framework type.

THSP617 will be delivered in multi-mode, that is, in various combinations of face to face and mediated learning environments, utilising strategies which may include:

• Self-directed activities (such as completing scaffolded reading tasks or web-based exercises) which enable each student to build a detailed understanding of a topic;
• Small-group tasks and activities (such as contributing to discussion forums or undertaking peer review) which enable students to test, critique, expand and evaluate their understandings;
• Plenary seminars and webinars which enable students to link their understandings with larger frameworks of knowledge and alternative interpretations of ideas;
• Practical or fieldwork activities which enable students to rehearse skills necessary to the discipline and to be mentored in that practice;
• Critically reflective activities (such as a guided Examen or private journal-writing) which assist students to learn reflexively, that is, to identify their affective responses to the learning and to integrate their learning with action.

The unit is delivered with the expectation that participants are adult learners, intrinsically motivated and prepared to reflect critically on issues as well as on their own learning and perspectives.

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to pass this unit, students are required to complete all assessment tasks and achieve an overall minimum grade of pass. All assessment tasks are designed for students to show their achievement of each learning outcome and graduate attribute. They require students to demonstrate the nexus between their learning, dispositions, and spiritual direction, and the evidence on which this demonstration is based.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Fleming, David L. Draw Me into your Friendship: The Spiritual Exercises. St. Louis, MO: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1996.

Dyckman, Katherine, Mary Garvin, and Elizabeth Liebert. The Spiritual Exercises Reclaimed: Uncovering Liberating Possibilities for Women. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2001.

Gallagher, Timothy M. The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living. New York, NY: Crossroad, 2005.

Gallagher, Timothy M. The Examen Prayer: Ignatian Wisdom for our Lives Today, New York, NY: Crossroad, 2006.

Green, Thomas H. Weeds Among the Wheat: Discernment: Where Prayer and Action Meet, Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 1990.

Ivens, Michael. Understanding the Spiritual Exercises, Surrey, UK: Inigo Enterprises, 1998.

Lonsdale, David. Dance to the Music of the Spirit: The Art of Discernment, London, UK: Dartman, Longman, Todd, 1992.

Munitiz, Joseph, and Philip Endean. Ignatius of Loyola: Personal writings, Reminiscences, Spiritual Diary, Select letters, the text of the Spiritual Exercises. London: Penguin Books, 1996.

Tetlow, Joseph. Choosing Christ in the World: Directing the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. St. Louis, MO: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2000.

Toner, Jules. Discerning God's Will, St. Louis, MO: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1991.