File 2259 - Course proposals and monastic communities list

File consists of a bound volume of typed and annotated course proposals, a proposal for a program in Christian Spirituality and a list of local monastic communities. These course proposals are heavily annotated by Nouwen and also contain tentative schedules by Nouwen of what courses he was hoping to teach for upcoming terms. These course proposals can be dated to Nouwen's early years at Yale Divinity School, from 1971 to 1976, and include proposals for Pastoral Care, Christian Spirituality, Discipline and Discipleship, Hospitality, Ministry and Spirituality (1975), and The Life and Works of Thomas Merton (1976). Proposals also include courses which Nouwen did not eventually teach, namely:

• Human Development in Religious Perspective (an undergraduate course for the fall semester of 1973),
• On the Spirituality of the Desert Fathers (may have developed into Hesychasm),
• Seminar on Benedictine and Cistercian Spirituality (may have developed into The Life and Works of Thomas Merton, Hesychasm),
• Seminar on the concept of "Memoria Christi" (may have developed into Compassion, Ministry and Spirituality),

and

• Ministry to People in Special Circumstances (later taught Ministry to the Elderly and Prison Ministry).