Description
As of March 6, 2023 – this Class is Full. To request to be on the waiting list or be added to our Newsletter for future offerings, please email: info@nhca.gurukul.edu.
This course will help students to develop creative writing skills, especially in the area of nonfiction and personal essay writing. The focus of this class is spiritual writing, and will prompt the student to explore, contemplate and integrate the foundations of their spirituality, helping them learn to express in prose this important aspect of their lives.
Students will read some of the best in spiritual writing and write short reflections on these readings, study theories of essay writing, discuss the meaning of spirituality, and produce several shorter and at least one longer piece of writing with feedback from each other and the instructor. They will learn what makes for good writing, and develop their own voice, moral imagination, and capacity for creativity and self-expression, and learn how to offer valuable feedback.
Such qualities allow the student to move through their day with compassion, imagination, empathy and clarity, and deepen their NeoHumanist stance in the world.
Experience a completely unique learning journey! Students will:
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Students will learn the nuts and bolts, through study and practice, of effective creative writing.
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Students will learn about the essay, both sentence-level and essay-level craft, and about what carries a good piece of writing forward, through lectures and exercises.
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Students will learn the tools for assessing their classmates’ writing, and for giving valuable feedback and put those into practice in a workshop setting.
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Students will think deeply about their own spiritual lives in class discussion, reading, and exercises, and thus gain on a moral/emotional/aesthetic level, sifting through their experience to find meaning, pondering such questions as ‘What is authenticity’, ‘How do I find the sacred within the ordinary?’ ‘How do I describe an experience which may border on the ineffable?’ ‘What is my relationship to the divine, if any?
Meeting Time: Thursdays, from 6pm – 7:30pm Eastern Standard Time
Meeting Dates: March 9 – April 27, 2023
Instructor: Andy Douglas
Andy Douglas is the author of two books, including The Curve of the World: Into the Spiritual Heart of Yoga and Redemption Songs: A Year in the Life of a Community Prison Choir. He graduated from the University of Iowa’s Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Nonfiction Writing, where he was the recipient of the Marcus Bach Fellowship for Writing about Religion and Culture. He has taught creative writing at the university level, in continuing education, and in smaller group settings. He has worked as an editor and manuscript consultant and has translated devotional poetry.
Video description
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Part I – Why this course is unique and what students will experience?
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Part II – What skills or knowledge will students obtain and what comes out of that alchemy?
Registration Details:
You are automatically registered for the course after payment is submitted.
Course Format:
Firstly, this course is 100% online. Students will engage with the faculty and other students on the Zoom virtual learning platform, one times a week for eight weeks. Each in-person class will last for 90 minutes. All class sessions are recorded and may be used for future course marketing. Students will also engage with other students on LearnDash. LearnDash is the Neohumanist College of Asheville Learning Management System. Finally, LearnDash is where you upload learning activities, participate in discussions and extend learning outside of the virtual classroom.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What certifications do I earn upon successful completion of this course?
A Certificate of Achievement from the Neohumanist College of Asheville, an affiliate of Ananda Marga Gurukula Network.
What are the requirements for successful completion?
Students must attend a minimum of 80% of the online virtual classroom sessions. Student will also be required to upload all work to our Learning Management system, LearnDash for 100% learning activity completion.
More Questions?
Please email us at info@nhca.gurukul.edu if you have additional questions or need help making payment arrangements.
Refunds
Student May 2023 –
For those looking for a jump start on personal disclosure and authenticity in writing skills for a spiritual autobiography the collective climate of the Spiritual Writing course taught by Andy Douglas opened the mind and heart to “emotionally touching” written words shared by all. Elements that contributed to this were the initial sharing of samples of brilliant authors’ writing that set the pace for disclosure and authenticity and the willingness of the students to be vulnerable and open to feedback from our instructor and one another. I highly recommend this course to all seeking to experience what spiritual writing is about from the inside out.
Christine Westfeldt –
I am not a writer. I am a storyteller. I never imagined that I could write even one page of interesting material. Yet, under the supportive guidance of Andy Douglas, an experienced writer/author, I actually wrote 10 typewritten pages about my spiritual life. I will write more. Andy has the rare ability to focus on what works in a piece of writing and also make experienced suggestions about how a scene or a phrase or even a word might make the writing more compelling or descriptive. He is a masterful teacher and facilitator. If he offers this course again or any course, I urge you to enroll!