27 April 2024
By Christine Nielsen-Craig
I usually post other people’s writing in this space, but I wanted to share some reflections after spending time last week, in the name of market research, with the 24 students attending one of two postgraduate study courses here.
Students on both modules, Theology and Film, and Medieval Christian Spirituality, were equally divided between those earning a qualification and those ‘auditing‘ the course, e.g. not taking academic credit. Different types of engagement but all were excited about the topics and about learning in general.
Sarum students don’t tend to be people at a loose end with money to burn. Most have to fit the reading preparation, onsite teaching weeks, and essay writing in the nooks and crannies of an already full schedule of home, work and vocational commitments. It will come as no surprise that none seemed interested in expensive holidays, new cars or state-of-the-art kitchens.
So in profile interviews and a focus group session, my lighthearted opener was, “What made you decide to make your life more complicated by doing this degree?’
“I always want to make my life more complicated,” came one quick reply. The more students I spoke to, the more I could see that this was a common denominator for all at some level.
No one chooses to make the sacrifices required for long-term grappling with abstract and unruly ideas which have no concrete conclusions — but very specific essay deadlines — because they want a quiet life.
But whatever burden, sacrifice and exhaustion is involved in committing to three four-day residential courses (they are called intensives for a reason) a year, there was a cheerful chorus about the reward that makes it all worthwhile.
“This is my happy place.”
“This is my treat.”
“This is my holiday.”
The residential course, they agreed, is more than the sum of its parts. If I were to combine all the comments about the experience of being on a module in one fabricated summary, it would go something like this:
“It’s the whole package: you leave your home and work routine to come to this beautiful and spiritual space with Salisbury Cathedral on the doorstep. You arrive to familiar faces welcoming you back and settle into your own simple room. Then you join your group for sessions led by experts teaching their speciality subject and guiding the discussion. Then you pick up on the ideas that puzzle, frustrate and delight you in conversations with tutors and fellow students over a delicious meal that someone else cooked for you.”
“It’s heaven, basically.”
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The modules held last week are part of postgraduate study programmes in Christian Spirituality and Theology, Imagination and Culture, run by Sarum College and validated by Winchester University.
Find out more about postgraduate programmes here by browsing the webpages on the programmes and joining us for a Taster Day onsite 18 May 2024 or online 8 July 2024
Forthcoming modules are:
3 to 6 June 2024
Erotic Desires: Gender, Sexuality and Spirituality (Christian Spirituality Programme)
15 to 18 July 2024
The Handmaid’s Tale: Texts and the Christian Tradition (Run jointly by the two programmes)
Christine Nielsen-Craig is the Director of Marketing and Communications at Sarum College.
Read Richard Skinner’s reflections on the April 2024 Theology and Film Module
Reflections on a sample session from each of the programmes and student profiles are forthcoming.
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