In Fall 2017, Drs. Klassen and Wriglesworth took a class of 14 undergraduate students on a tour of the mystical imagination as expressed in literature, theology, and the visual arts. Their intent was to show what it means, for many writers, artists, and thinkers in the Christian tradition and elsewhere, to say that all of reality participates in the larger mystery of God. In 2018 their efforts were recognized when they were awarded the University of Waterloo's Federation of Students Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, and Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance's Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance Award for Undergraduate Teaching Excellence.
In response to that previous class’s excellent suggestion, Klassen and Wriglesworth are now adding notable architecture, sculpture, and experiential learning to the course, and will be teaching the class abroad in Rome in the future. They join us on March 6th as a special addition to the Lectures in Catholic Experience series to introduce the mystical imagination through a contemporary American poet’s reflections on his bright abyss; an Australian Catholic writer’s discovery of his Aboriginal roots; and the affirmation of language, mystery, and reason reflected in the Jewish and Christian traditions alike. We hope that you will join us!
Norm Klassen is Associate Professor of English and Acting Chair of the Religious Studies Department at St. Jerome’s University. He is the author of The Fellowship of Beatific Vision, an award-winning book on Chaucer, as well as Chaucer on Love, Knowledge, and Sight. He is co-author (with Jens Zimmermann) of The Passionate Intellect: Incarnational Humanism and the Future of University Education.
Chad Wriglesworth is Associate Professor and Chair of the English Department at St. Jerome's University. His research and teaching explores the interplay between contemporary American literature, theology, and environmental thought through novelists and poets such as Marilynne Robinson, Christian Wiman, Jane Kenyon, and Robert Hass. He is editor of Distant Neighbors: The Selected Letters of Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder, and currently serves as associate editor of The Raymond Carver Review.
All lectures at St. Jerome’s University are provided on a complimentary basis. Please register in advance to assist us with hospitality planning and to ensure that we can contact you in the event of an unexpected lecture cancellation. You will not be required to show your ticket at the door.