Dr Cheryl Hunt – Spirituality as a Way of Knowing
What is spirituality?
It is almost impossible to define exactly what spirituality ‘is’. It has been described as a ‘travelling concept’ – a meta-concept that straddles time and cultures, constantly generating new questions and considerations in different contexts. Although it is often seen as an aspect of religion, many people now claim to be ‘Spiritual but Not Religious’ (SBNR) and the term ‘secular spirituality’ has become familiar. A major project undertaken in the UK with the intention of improving the intellectual grounding of spirituality ‘so that it could speak more directly to issues of shared personal and public concern’ noted that the primary spiritual injunction is ‘to know what you are as fully and deeply as possible’.
In this webinar, I will describe how an interest in Gaia theory led me into an exploration of spirituality as a way of both knowing and being. I will present a model based on John Heron’s ‘pyramid of fourfold knowing’ to suggest how spirituality may be understood in both transpersonal and transcendental terms. Drawing on personal experience, I will also indicate how critical reflection can help to clarify the processes through which a sense of ‘beingness’, which lies at the heart of the spiritual injunction, is enacted in everyday and professional practice.
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About the speaker:
Dr Cheryl Hunt is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, UK, where she was Director of the Professional Doctorates Programme in the School of Education and responsible for the HEA-Accredited University-wide Certificate in Academic Practice. She is a founding member, Director (Research and Scholarship) and Trustee of the International Network for the Study of Spirituality (INSS) and the founding editor, former Editor-in-Chief, and current Executive Editor of the Journal for the Study of Spirituality. She has worked, researched, and published widely in the fields of adult education, professional practice, and spirituality studies. Her latest book is entitled Critical Reflection, Spirituality and Professional Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021): https://www.springer. com/gb/book/9783030665906.
TICKETS
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Speaker
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Cheryl HuntHonorary Senior Research Fellow
Dr Cheryl Hunt is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, UK, where she was Director of the Professional Doctorates Programme in the School of Education and responsible for the HEA-Accredited University-wide Certificate in Academic Practice. She is a founding member, Director (Research and Scholarship) and Trustee of the International Network for the Study of Spirituality (INSS) and the founding editor, former Editor-in-Chief, and current Executive Editor of the Journal for the Study of Spirituality. She has worked, researched, and published widely in the fields of adult education, professional practice, and spirituality studies. Her latest book is entitled Critical Reflection, Spirituality and Professional Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021): https://www.springer. com/gb/book/9783030665906.