For the sheer love of learning
March 19, 2019
On March 9, Dr. Laura Béres, Associate Professor at King’s School of Social Work, traveled to Salisbury, England to attend convocation to receive her Masters of Arts (MA) in Christian Spirituality, with Distinction from Sarum College.
The degree comes after undertaking the program part-time over three years. Dr. Béres explains there were six modules, or courses, over the first two years. A final essay worth 100% of the grade was then due two months following attendance of each course.
One of those module essays, about the concept of hospitality in the Rule of St Benedict and the role of hospitality within therapeutic practices, was included in her edited book Practising Spirituality: Reflections on Meaning-making in Personal and Professional Contexts, published during the time of her studies. Another essay, “Maintaining the ability to be unsettled and learn afresh: What philosophy contributes to our understanding of ‘reflection’ and ‘experience’”, was published in Reflective Practice: Multidisciplinary and International Perspectives.
The third year saw Dr. Béres complete and, in August 2018, submit a thesis entitled The Language of the Soul in Narrative Therapy: The Contributions from Teresa of Avila and Edith Stein to Understandings about the Soul for Postmodern Therapeutic Theory and Practice. Dr. Béres says she plans to expand her thesis into a book.
Dr. Béres’ interest in pursuing her MA was sparked during her first sabbatical. She became interested in researching and writing more about the role of spirituality in clinical social work and therapeutic practices.
“I audited a module at Sarum College and found the teaching and expertise of the lecturers there to be exceptional. It was important to me not to merely dabble in a new discipline and attempt to integrate ideas from that discipline into my own area of social work. I wanted to pursue rigorous study of the area of spirituality and from having benefited from learning from experts in the field then bring my new reflections into my practice, teaching and writing,” Dr. Béres explains.
Dr. Béres says while she pursued her BA in Psychology, Masters of Social Work and PHD in Critical Pedagogy and Cultural Studies largely for personal interest and career goals, “this MA was for the sheer love of learning, and I did love every moment of it. I have shared my journey with my students and hope I am perhaps role-modelling a commitment to life-long learning.”
As part of the program, Dr. Béres had to travel to her birthplace of Salisbury and the site of Sarum College six times over the course of the first two years and, again recently, to attend convocation.
“It was like going home each time I was there. Sarum College is located in an exceptionally beautiful area of Salisbury – in the Salisbury Cathedral Close. There was something both odd and special about processing for the convocation ceremonies, even a short way, through the city I had grown up in, since I could imagine myself as a little girl walking down those same streets, never imagining myself one day walking through Salisbury in academic regalia,” says Dr. Béres.
To view the procession for the convocation ceremony, which involved Dr. Béres and other graduates walking from Sarum College through the Cathedral Close’s High Street gate and to the ancient church of St. Thomas – built in the 13th Century, which contains a huge Dooms Day painting dating from the 15th Century, please visit https://www.facebook.com/SarumCollege/videos/519723388555547/.
Photo credit: Ash Mills Photography