File 2209 - Student response at mid-course for 1985 lecture course

0.1 cm of textual records

File consists of one double-sided typed page of questions for students to respond to and submit to Nouwen and his assistants. It is labelled "Handout #35". The mid-course student response contains 5 questions. They are:

1. Have you been faithful in attendance at the large lecture/discussion meetings, excepting necessary absence of which the staff was advised? What have you found most helpful and how would you describe our unfinished agenda?
2. Have you been faithful in small group attendance and participation? In what ways has this been most fruitful - and most frustrating?
3. Have you found a spiritual director or "soul friend" with who you share regularly? How have you grown in this discipline, and/or discovered barriers to growth?
4. Have you begun to write, to preserve a journal of the Spirit in your life? Are patterns emerging? In what sense is this discipline easy or difficult? Have you decided which person/s will read it?
5. How is your reading of John's gospel witness to Jesus coming? In what ways has it reinforced or expanded your views about Jesus? What difficulties have arisen?

A copy of this handout can be found in the bound volume of 1985 course material. See file 2223.

Related materials include three files of submitted student responses, see files 2211-2213. These files are restricted.

Title based on contents of the file.

Introduction to the Spiritual Life (course code 2543), offered during the spring semester of 1985, was the last course Nouwen taught at Harvard Divinity School. It was held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9:30 am - 11:00 pm. The course was based on the previous year's course but with the Gospel of John replacing the Gospel of Luke as the core text. The course emphasized the relationship between The Word and spiritual life and the second term used a thematic approach to discuss intimacy, fecundity and ecstasy. Students were asked to keep a journal of reflections on John, class presentations, group debates, and lecture topics. They were also required to attend small group discussions of six to eight people and write a mid-course response. Unlike the 1984 course, students were only required to have two people read their journal and write a response. No grades were given for the course. In March, Nouwen organized a trip to Haiti for four students to assist the L'Arche community there. Teaching Assistants included David LeBlanc, Stephen Pavy, Peter Weiskel, Barbara Ernst, Michael O'Laughlin, and Jim Smith.

Revised by L Joson, 19 November 2018