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IDH 2931: Spirituality and the Health Sciences (Honors)
For more information contact:
Dr. Lou Ritz
A course intended for undergraduate health science majors, particularly pre-medical students, who are interested in exploring the interface of spirituality and the health sciences. The course consists of weekly presentations and discussions led by the course instructors (and some members of the UF Center for Spirituality and Health). Student group dialogue and exchange will be emphasized. Topics typically include: Spirituality: Its Nature and Varieties; Health: An MD's Perspective; Health: Viewpoints from Religions; Taking a Spiritual History: Patient-Physician Dialogue; Research on Prayer and Health; Meditation and Wellness; The Art of Patient Care; Stress Management; Wisdom in Aging; Near-Death, Death and Dying; Care for the Soul: Living the Healthy and Spirited Life.
IDH 3931: Neurotheology: The Interface between the Brain and the Divine (Honors)
For more information contact:
Dr. Lou Ritz
Are religious and spiritual experiences brain-based? If they are, what are the implications to understanding brain circuitry? If they are not, what are the implications to our understanding of who we are? Our course - Neurotheology -will investigate the neural correlates of religious and spiritual experiences and the implications of such relationships. More information in PDF format.
MHS 3930: Mindful Living: A Course on Spirituality for Everyday Life
For more information contact:
and
Mindfulness has been defined as an ability to attend to the present moment without evaluation or judgment to cloud perception. Spirituality involves one's capacity for creativity, growth, and a sense of purpose in life. Spiritual themes have been present in the field of counseling for many decades. Viktor Frankl addressed issues of meaning, the humanists (e.g., Rogers and Maslow) addressed themes of transcendence and connectedness, and Transpersonal theorists (e.g., Grof and Wilber) proposed a combination of eastern and western perspectives on spirituality. Recently, spirituality has appeared as a matter of diversity and holistic approaches to well-being. Counseling theorists, and other mental health professionals, recommend attention to the spiritual dimension in order to address whole health. In this course, we will explore spirituality and creativity in everyday life. Rather than seeking extraordinary, or peak, experiences, we will consider what it means to be mindful of the sacredness in 'ordinary' life events. This class has been designed to allow you to reflect upon your journey in life and the role that spirituality plays in optimal well-being.
PSY 4906: Non-local Consciousness
For more information contact:
This course, for upper division students, is developed for students from multiple disciplines including: psychology, sociology, physics, engineering, religion, philosophy, health and spirituality, pre-medicine, nursing and neuroscience. Both local and non-local consciousness will be considered along with the history, epistemology, theory and current research in consciousness studies. Neurofeedback (EEG biofeedback), Heart Rate Variability biofeedback, and Light and Sound Entrainment will be explored in an in-class lab setting; no other group in-class consciousness work is planned, though a daily practice of the student's choice (meditation, yoga, qigong, dreamwork, prayer etc.) will be an expected component of the course. Students will assume major responsibility for introducing the class (limited to 30 students) to selected topics from their particular area of interest. Students will be challenged to simultaneously employ a high degree of open-mindedness coupled with rational skepticism and logic.
NUR 4930/6930: Spirituality and Creativity in Healthcare
For more information contact:
Dr. Mary Rockwood Lane
This course gives undergraduate and graduate students in nursing, art, and other disciplines an overview of the field of Spirituality, Creativity and Healthcare. It will describe the history and physiology of Spirituality, Creativity in Healthcare, explain the use of art, writing, music and dance to heal, provide exemplars of programs that use creativity and spirituality to heal, and demonstrate the praxis of artists healing themselves, others, and the earth. The course utilizes stories of patients and artists, and guided imagery as a way of teaching. Creative art projects provide exciting opportunities for personal growth and healing. The final art project can be any art process that heals. Students have built meditation benches in the house they rented for peace, written poetry for a brother who was ill, painted their inner critic and inner artist, created portfolios of healing photographs, sculptures, or painting, and created art programs in healthcare settings. This course shows how art, spirituality and healing are one. It shows how creativity and spirituality resonate the body, mind and spirit and talks about how art is transformational to us, others, and the earth. The course discusses the future of art, spirituality and healing and talks about how spirituality and healthcare departments in universities are now helping people pray and use spiritual disciplines to heal. This course is about healing your own spirit. View a flyer about this course
HSC 5606: Spirituality and Health
For more information contact:
This course is an exploration of current theory and knowledge about the intersection of human spirituality and health. It is intended for health educators and other health professionals and endeavors to address such questions as -- What is spirituality? What is health? How are they related? What are some different traditions in how spirituality is a part of health? How is spirituality currently being integrated into primary health care? By the end of the course, students will be able to: Describe current research and theory that explore the relationship of spirituality to health and to disease; Describe major spiritual traditions within various cultures in the U.S. and how these traditions can affect health behavior and treatment; Describe effective methods by which health educators and other health providers can assess and address issues of spirituality of their clients/ patients in their professional practice; Discuss the ethical principles and issues associated with addressing the spiritual aspects of health in professional practice; and Explore one's personal spiritual health status and path/journey and describe how this (potentially) effects professional practice.
HSC 5657: Health and End of Life Issues
For more information contact:
Dr. Barbara Rienzo
Explores issues
associated with death and dying including cultural, spiritual, and
psychological traditions that affect health decisions, behavior, and medical
care. Emphasizes developing professional and personal skills for coping with
end-of-life issues for oneself and for assisting others.
SDS 6938: Death and Dying
For more information contact:
Dr. Mike Murphy
In this class we will explore the topic of death and dying from a variety of perspectives, including the cross-cultural and transpersonal (psychological/spiritual) perspectives. Class members will be encouraged to explore their own experiences with, and beliefs about, death and dying, while also exploring new and alternative beliefs about the topic. Emphasis will be given to developing a more hopeful, optimistic view of death and dying. More information in PDF format.
SDS 6938: Mindfulness Meditation: Personal, Clinical and Training Applications
For more information contact:
Dr. Mike Murphy
This class will introduce students to the principles of Mindfulness Meditation, both as a personal practice AND as it applies to clinical practice and training. Research over the past 20 years has shown Mindfulness Meditation to be a very powerful agent of change for a multitude of psychological and health-related concerns (e.g., headaches, test/performance anxiety, depression, anxiety, trauma, etc). The past few years there has been more and more emphasis placed on the value of Mindfulness Meditation in the counseling/psychotherapy setting. The value of this practice to both the patient AND the therapist has been demonstrated. An important aspect of its application in therapy is the effect it has on the therapist, the client AND the therapeutic relationship.
MHS 6061: Spiritual Issues in Multicultural Counseling
For more information contact:
Dr. Mary Fukuyama
Mental health professionals need to understand diverse religious and spiritual worldviews and how spiritual issues are expressed and addressed in multicultural counseling. Spirituality may be broadly defined as including diverse expressions, such as search for meaning, dealing with "ultimate" concerns, relationship with transcendent power, balance, wholeness, and breath or chi energy. Examples of course topics include: understanding the spiritual journey, spiritual worldviews and developmental models, synergy of multiculturalism and spirituality, gender and spirituality, healthy and unhealthy expressions of spirituality, and counseling issues, such as making meaning of suffering or death. Various spiritual interventions and ethical concerns will be discussed in the context of recently developed multicultural and spiritual counseling competencies. Students in this course will be asked to engage in experiential learning (e.g., activities that nurture them spiritually), observe a culturally different religious or spiritual practice, read and write from didactic materials, journal for personal awareness, and participate in classroom and online discussion.
PSY 6930 - Contemplative Psychology/Psychotherapy
For more information contact: Dr. Michael Murphy
This class explores the interface of Western Psychology and the world's contemplative traditions. We will explore various Western and Non-Western spiritual traditions as they relate to psychological health and being authentically human. We will explore how contemplative practices can enhance well-being and the practice of psychotherapy. Since contemplation requires being still and quieting the mind, the course is highly experiential. Students will learn how to do mindfulness meditation and there will be an optional all-day silent retreat as part of the class. The class is open to graduate students who are training to be counselor/psychotherapists as well as to others who have a deep interest in the topics addressed in this class.
SYP 7933: Aging and End-of-life Issues
For more information contact:
Dr. Monika Ardelt
What constitutes dying well for older persons, and how can families and institutions make the dying experience less painful and more emotionally rewarding for the dying and those close to them? I define dying well as the maintenance of psychological well-being, even under adverse circumstances.
In this course, we will explore the issues surrounding dying well from multiple perspectives, including sociology, psychology, biology, medical sciences, ethics, history, spirituality/religion, and economics. In particular, we will start by studying dying well from a developmental or life course perspective. Then we will discuss the medical, psychological, social, spiritual/religious, economic, ethical, and legal aspects of death and dying. We will end the course by considering cultural variations in end-of-life issues, examining the grieving process for survivors, and discussing the question of life after death.
SYA4941: Group Related Internship Program (GRIP)
Instructor: Monika Ardelt
For more information contact:
Dr. Monika Ardelt or view course syllabus
This course provides an opportunity to reflect on, discuss, and learn from your internship/service learning experiences in a group-related setting. In addition, we will use this class and your internship experience to reflect on the greater picture, or "what's it all about."
We will discuss the meaning of life from a sociological, philosophical, and spiritual perspective. Although, according to Max Weber, sociology (and science in general) cannot provide an answer to this question, it can help us to examine the philosophical and spiritual answers through the sociological lens.
In "What's It All About? Philosophy and the Meaning of Life," Julian Baggini approaches the question of the meaning and purpose of life from a philosophical and secular perspective. In contrast, Bo Lozoff in "It's a Meaningful Life: It Just Takes Practice" represents the spiritual point of view and also directly addresses the question of service-learning. We will read, write about, and discuss both books in the first half of Summer C.
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