World Café to Listening Café: Creating a Community of Listeners and Learners

Authors

Keywords:

Lectio divina, listening, intersubjective dialogue

Abstract

In Lectio Divina as Contemplative Pedagogy: Re-appropriating Monastic Practice for the Humanities (2018), I examined the ancient monastic practice of lectio divina as a contemplative method of reading, interpreting, and responding to sacred texts, and demonstrated how this method can be re-appropriated for use within the Humanities. Since the time of its publication, I have adapted this contemplative method in my literature courses as I find that it continues to keep the students the subject of their learning experience while strengthening their acumen to read, listen, interpret, and respond to texts. This article, which is a result of a SOTL grant (spring 2019), will describe how I adapted the Brown and Isaacs’ World Café (2005) and integrated it to create a community of listeners and learners in my World Literature course.

Author Biography

Mary Keator, Westfield State University

Mary Keator, Ph.D. is intersted in the power of contemplative practices to bring balance to the world driven by advanced technology. Interested in what it means to be fully human in an age of advanced technology, Mary's work focuses on bringing contemplative practices into the classroom to engage students holistically in their own learning and self-development.

Mary has taught yoga, meditation and contemplative practices for the past twenty years. She is an assistant professor in English Department at Westfield State University and adjuncts in the Religious Studies Department at Our Lady of the Elms College. Her courses include: Ancient World Literature, Writing about Yoga, World Religions and The Christian Spiritual Journey.

References

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Published

2020-12-31

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Articles