M- Religious Studies and Philosophy

M01W Mindfulness

Max: 15, Sessions: 9

Tutor / Leader: Mr Ronald WOOLVEN

Week 1 What Mindfulness is and what it is not. Automatic thoughts. Adopting the right posture for formal Mindfulness meditation. Meditating on breath and body.

Week 2 Mindfulness of sounds and thoughts. Mindful Music.

Week 3 Mindful Movement (Informal Meditation). A walk.

Week 4 Problems you might have in Mindful meditation. The wandering mind. Mindful Body Scan.

Week 5 Mindfulness of feelings. E.g. Happiness, Joyful, Concerned, Sadness. Where in the body are these feelings?

Week 6 Mindful Compassion. Befriending oneself and others.

Week 7 Body and Mind. Dealing with Difficulties

Week 8 The three-minute breathing space, Exploring difficulties

Week 9 Further uses of Mindfulness Meditation. MBSR, MBCT, etc. Conclusion/discussion and the future.

*

Course members are required to purchase a book by Mark Williams and Dr Danny Penman (before the course starts) Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World (Includes Free CD with Guided Meditations). Normal price £14.99; might be cheaper from Amazon UK. Course members will need to have a CD player at home.

Weekly on Tuesdays 10:00–11:15

5 Oct to 30 Nov

Venue: Lounge, St Mary Bredin Church, Nunnery Fields, Canterbury, CT1 3JN

Clashes: B09W C16T C17U E18W E19X E20Y F24R F25T F26U F27V G05W J22T M06N M02X

M02X Ancient Wisdom 1

Max: 10, Sessions: 5

Tutor / Leader: Ms Liz MITCHELL

There is a continuity between these two courses, but they may be taken separately.

The first course is based on Edith Hall’s Aristotle’s Way (2018) subtitled Ten Ways Ancient Wisdom can Change your Life. Her premise is that Aristotle’s ideas are still useful today.

We will discuss chapters with titles such as Happiness, or Self-Knowledge. I will introduce the reading, and then in the second half of each session, a course participant will offer his or her ideas. Aristotle also wrote extensively on many scientific topics and participants may choose to draw on these.

This shared delivery course is more suitable for those who have studied some philosophy or a related subject.

Every 2 weeks on Tuesdays 10:00–11:30

12 Oct, 2 Nov to 14 Dec

Venue: Elgar Room, Friends’ Meeting House, The Friars, Canterbury, CT1 2AS

Clashes: B09W C16T C17U E18W E19X E20Y F24R F25T F26U F27V G05W J22T M06N M01W

M03Y Ancient Wisdom 2

Max: 10, Sessions: 5

Tutor / Leader: Ms Liz MITCHELL

The second course, which follows a similar pattern, examines some aspects of the work of Plato. Again we will search for how these ancient ideas can be helpful to us today. We will begin by considering Plato’s life, and his influential method of writing philosophy, and, indeed, originating the discipline. ‘The safest general characterisation of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.’ (Whitehead)

We will discuss his idea of ‘the forms’, that true knowledge is known through reason alone. We will move on to discuss his ideas on the structure of the polis and on education.

This shared delivery course is more suitable for those who have studied some philosophy or a related subject.

Every 2 weeks on Tuesdays 10:00–11:30

18 Jan to 1 Feb, 22 Feb to 22 Mar

Venue: Elgar Room, Friends’ Meeting House, The Friars, Canterbury, CT1 2AS

Clashes: B10X C16T C18V C19W C20X E19X E20Y F28W G06X J22T M04Z M05L

M04Z An Introduction to Kent’s Faith Communities

Max: 20, Sessions: 5

Tutor / Leader: Ms Lynne BROADBENT

Canterbury with its Cathedral is a focal point for the Christian community, but Kent is also home to many other faith communities—to Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Buddhists. These sessions will provide an introduction to the history, key figures, beliefs, teachings and worship of each faith community through stories, artefacts and visual images.

15 February: Introducing Hinduism

22 February: Introducing Judaism

1 March: Introducing Islam

8 March: Introducing Sikhism

15 March: Introducing Buddhism

Weekly on Tuesdays 10:30–12:00

15 Feb to 15 Mar

Venue: Hall, St Paul’s and St Martin’s Parish Centre, Church Street Saint Paul’s, Canterbury CT1 1NH

Clashes: B10X C16T C18V C19W E19X E20Y F28W G06X J22T M03Y

M05L Who Wrote the New Testament Letters?

Max: 12, Sessions: 1

Tutor / Leader: Rev Brian MCHENRY

Who wrote the New Testament letters? How many did St Paul write? If not St Paul, then who wrote them? Who wrote the other letters, for example the letter to the Hebrews? This will be a bird’s eye of the scholarship on the authorship of these ancient texts. Please bring a Bible.

Disability access: regrettably the house is not equipped for wheelchair access.

Tuesday 10:00–12:00

22 Mar

Venue: Host’s house. Check your programme for details.

Clashes: G06X M03Y

M06N Understanding Jewish Fears: Between a rock and a hard place

Max: 6, Sessions: 6

Tutor / Leader: Mrs Lynn MAREE

This course will explore issues of identity, fear, and belonging, through looking at the history of the Jews since the Middle Ages, their persecution, their readiness to have a suitcase packed in case they have to flee from somewhere, leading up to the establishment of the state of Israel. It will look at those same issues in relation to a part of the world where people who called themselves Palestinians had already lived for centuries, and who had themselves experienced being ruled by others. We will conclude by investigating this as an example of the ‘othering’ of people by those who judge themselves to be the norm.

Recommended books to read in preparation:

Mike Marqusee: If I am not for myself.

Isabella Hammad: The Parisian

Weekly on Tuesdays 10:30–12:00

5 Oct to 9 Nov

Venue: Host’s house. Check your programme for details.

Clashes: B09W C16T C17U E18W E19X E20Y F24R F25T F26U F27V G05W J22T M01W M02X

To apply for courses click Apply for courses. You must be a current u3a member to apply.