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Text, Interpretation and Imagination (2024)

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About|Details|What our students say|Tutor(s)|Related short courses

Home Short Courses Theology, Imagination & Culture Human Flourishing Text, Interpretation and Imagination (2024)

Text, Interpretation and Imagination (2024) course

This course is guaranteed to make you see the Bible from a new angle!

We will compare biblical texts with other types of text to ask questions such as ‘what makes a text sacred?’ and students will be encouraged to creatively and critically interpret the biblical texts themselves.

This is a great opportunity to delve into biblical hermeneutics from creative and critical perspectives.

In the 2023 course, we explored:

The role of stories and images from the Bible in the Western cultural imagination through the lenses of postcolonialism, disability, feminism, womanism, and Queer theology. We consider how cultural presuppositions affect how we read biblical texts and how the texts themselves challenge these presuppositions.

2023 Contributors

Dr Eleanor McLaughlin

Dr Jayme Reaves See bio

The Revd Dr Carlton J. Turner is a Contextual Tutor in Contextual Theology and Mission Studies at the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham and a Visiting Scholar at Sarum. He is a Caribbean Contextual and Practical Theology who has published on postcolonial theology, African Caribbean traditional religious heritages, Black Theology, Mission, and Caribbean Church History.

The Revd Lyndon Webb is the Associate Chaplain at Merton College, University of Oxford, and is studying for a PhD at Sarum College. He has a particular interest in the intersection between queer theology, ecology and the Song of Songs.

This is a postgraduate course open to ‘auditors’ e.g. those not enrolled for academic credit.

What does it mean to audit a course? 

This course would made an excellent addition to a study break, retreat or sabbatical in the beautiful Salisbury Cathedral Close, where residential participants enjoy full board, access to the library and to the pattern of liturgy at Salisbury Cathedral.

Whether it’s cultural events, sightseeing (Stonehenge is nearby for example) or shopping — there’s plenty to do if you’d like to extend your stay the weekend before and after the course. For ideas, visit Salisbury Cathedral Close attraction websites to see what’s on Sarum’s doorstep. Visit the Wiltshire Creative website to view events at nearby Salisbury Playhouse and the Salisbury Arts Centre. The Experience Salisbury website has an excellent city-wide listing of forthcoming events around the city.

Need financial assistance? View our list of grantmaking trusts

Learn more about postgraduate study in Christian Spirituality

Learn more about postgraduate study in Theology, Imagination and Culture 

Enrolled students also may attend teaching weeks for modules in addition to the modules which they are studying for credit, by permission of the Programme Leader. Contact us for student hospitality rates

 

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The Residential auditor plus 2 nights extra B&B course #2715 ticket sales has ended!

Details

Dates & Times

19 - 22 Feb 2024
Expired!
Day 1 - Starts at 2pm, Day 2 & 3 - Full days, Day 4 - finishes by 2:30pm

Location

Sarum College

Category

Theology, Imagination & Culture
Human Flourishing

Tutor(s)

Dr Jayme Reaves

Course code

2411

Other Notes

This is a postgraduate course open to those not enrolled for academic credit. It will be held onsite at Sarum College.

The course fee includes lunch and refreshments on each day of the course.

Residential places include an evening meal along with B&B.

What our students say

Riveting!

Book of Revelation course

Someone on the course said it was ‘riveting!’ This was exactly what I felt. The course was a total joy because of the tutor’s handouts, excellence and Sarum College hospitality.
Mark Oakley

Faith is an imaginative adventure

The Very Revd Dr Mark Oakley

I admire the work and tone of Sarum College very deeply. It is a community that takes theology and spirituality seriously, not as hobbies but as pursuits into understanding, and engaging in, a complex world.

Sarum College reminds us that faith is an imaginative adventure and that it is shaped by a questioning joy.

Vibrant approach to theology

Fr Azariah France-Williams

I’ve been particularly struck by the refreshing approach to theological education here. In a world, and indeed within parts of the church, where faith can sometimes feel stagnant or out of touch, Sarum offers a vibrant and relevant alternative. The courses encourage a bold exploration of profound ideas, connecting with truths that lie beneath the surface and fostering genuine personal growth, which feels particularly significant as I approach my 50th year. This counter-cultural spirit, which embraces depth and challenges ageism and fear, is truly remarkable. Sarum is a place where individuals can be transformed by engaging with a living and breathing faith.

 

 

Well worth taking the time

Disability Theology: Theory and Practice

I took time to attend the course out of a busy working week and it was well worth taking that time. I have so many things to ponder and reflect on from this course and a helpful further reading list to keep me going for a few months! Thank you Sarum College

 

Netflix, Theology and Pastoral Practice

Peter Butchers on his MA in Theology, Imagination and Culture student experience

How do cultural tropes, like those found in Black Mirror, help bridge the gap between what academic theology espouses and what the everyday Christian believes? In his research as a student on the MA in Theology, Imagination and Culture, Peter Butchers explored platonic philosophy, digital theology and eschatology, and pastoral practice around death and dying.

Read more 

Rewarding Sabbatical Stay

The Revd Greg Syler, is Rector of Ascension & St. George’s, Resurrection Parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC USA, spent part of his ministry sabbatical at Sarum College in spring 2022.

His account of the experience begins: ‘I loved spending nearly three weeks of my ministry sabbatical at Sarum College earlier this year.

Not only did I rest, and rest well in the comfortable care of the Sarum College staff, I experienced very significant renewal and fresh insights.’

Read more

Tutor(s)

Jayme-Reaves

Dr Jayme Reaves

Lecturer in Biblical Studies and Theology

View all courses

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