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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Hello all~ Apologies for the delayed post-- holi/holy days and final papers redirected my attention from my email! Re: Into Great Silence. I have incorporated it into courses in two distinct ways. For a course on medieval religious 'culture' and specifically devotional communities, I have done much as John has by selecting certain scenes and vignettes to convey to them a sense of a specific monastic temper and ethos, such as the brother working the early (early) spring garden, the Night Office, etc. However, a much more challenging but, therefore, rewarding, 'assignment' of Silence has been a class viewing of the entire film in a venue separate from the classroom (a small auditorium in our library). However, there are of course a few details that cannot go unmentioned. First, the course in which I use the film is a course on Christian (well, mostly Catholic and Orthodox and early Church/ medieval) spirituality in which we read and discuss an array of writings by Christian mystics, working off of (among others) the contemporary reflections of Mark MacIntosh's Mystical Theology: students, then, who take this course are self-selected. It is also usually a small group, about 20-25, mostly majors. They recognize that it will ask them to engage in theological discourse and narrative perhaps not very similar to many of their other courses, and they understand that the course must incorporate some experiential component for it to have any resonance in their lives (students know me to be a great advocate for experiential requirements in certain courses). Second, I advise the students on the first day of class to review the syllabus carefully and make note of the fact that there will be a required screening of Silence toward the end of the semester; moreover, in preparation for the film, we will have discussed the history of its production, the world of the Carthusians, and the "rationale" for silence (some of the students need to discern an underscoring of logic, even for this), and, early in the semester, I offer the class an opportunity (not required) to visit the Spencer (MA) Trappist monastery as a 'testing of the water,' so to speak. I also suggest to them to practice segments of silence in their own lives over a sustained period of time, admittedly a difficult task for many of us today! Of course, nothing can really prepare them for the film, and the results have been not surprisingly mixed. We meet in the auditorium about 20 minutes or so prior to the screening and I have already stipulated that there can be no laptops, phones or other tech devices brought into the room. Of course, the students can have beverages but since we meet at about 7:30pm, there is no need for food (they have been advised to eat beforehand). I give everyone a chance to settle in, use the facilities, and we talk a little- I have a small piece on silence by Thomas Merton that I discuss with them, and then the film begins. The responses are, as you can imagine, quite personal and emotional. Some students actually embrace the silence and in the discussion after the film revel in the spiritual possibilities of the monks' devotions, noting the pleasurable sensation of hearing the shuffle of a robe or the scrape of a chair. Some students are perplexed that the lives portrayed in the film are contemporaneous with their own and regard it with bemused... hmm, astonishment, I suppose. They make note of the blend of the modern (laptops, e.g.) with the traditional (planting, Office) and question if emailing breaks silence (one of our Merton topics is whether his passionate letter-writing in fact broke his vow of silence). Still other students are simply unnerved by the film and complain to me that they really were not prepared for it to be as "gradual" a film as I had warned. They hated the silence and reject it as a spiritual discipline. Thus, we always have lively and engaging post-screening discussions and those become, as you know, great teaching moments. Sorry to have gone on for so long. I plan on offering the spirituality course spring '12, and I have already reserved the auditorium space for an April evening! peace June-Ann ________________________________ From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of John Wickstrom [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 5:39 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [M-R] Of Gods and Men medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture I have used very short excerpts of Into Great Silence to make points about Carthusian life to undergrads. I have used the section in which a brother is introduced to the cell by the whole community and the section which portrays the community gathering for, and beginning, the common Night Office. Films as leisurely as this one are usually deadly for a class of restless young Moderns. jbw From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul Chandler Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 5:10 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [M-R] Of Gods and Men medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture June-Ann, could you tell us how you used Into Great Silence? It's also wonderful, but hypnotically slow (deliberately so, of course), and I'm wondering how one would make the most of it in a classroom, and how students would respond. -- Paul On 20 April 2011 23:11, Greeley, Prof. June-Ann T. <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Agreed. For many of the same reasons, I would also recommend the documentary (about 17 [?] years in the making) Into Great Silence, an exquisite portrait of the Grande Chartreuse. What I most wanted to convey to my students was the powerful spirituality of silence, yet much else in the film was wonderful as well. ~jag June-Ann Greeley, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Theology and Religious Studies Director, Graduate Program in Religious Studies (MARS) Director, Catholic Studies Program Administration 230 Sacred Heart University 5151 Park Avenue Fairfield, CT 06825 203-371-7713 (office) // 203-371-7730 (department) [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> -- Paul Chandler, O.Carm. 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