The Spiritual Museum

(1 Credit Hour) · Undergraduate

When people engage with art in museum settings, many feel that they don’t “get it” and that “getting it” requires a large amount of specialized and sometimes arcane art historical knowledge. While art historical facts can guide our thinking, enlighten our imaginations, and provide us with helpful frameworks for considering works of art, scholarly research and writing represents just one of many ways to engage with art in museums. One of the most fruitful and enriching ways to engage with works of art is through concentrated looking, contemplation, and prayer. In this “hands-on” course hosted at the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art (we won’t actually be touching any art!), we will explore the spiritual dimension of art across the collection. Our practice will be supported by myriad theologians and holy figures such as Simone Weil, Thomas Merton, and St. John Paul II, just to name a few, who experienced the great fruits of sustained engagement with created things. Through this course, you will have the opportunity to not only learn more about the collection, but to deepen your own spiritual life through engagement with the works of art during this season of Lent.