SMCE4021 S26 Merton for Our Time: The Unquiet Questing Monk

To help identify the singularity of Thomas Merton’s (1915-1968) rich and sometimes controversial contributions to the intellectual and spiritual life of our time, we will look at his life, his commitment to a trenchant social criticism, his expansive and embracing religious imagination, his courageous dialogue with other religions (East and West) and his position as an icon of wholeness for a fractured and alienated post-modern world.

We will draw on several representative passages from his work and use as our guide for the day The Unquiet Monk: Thomas Merton’s Questing Faith (Novalis in Canada and Orbis in the United States) by Michael W. Higgins.

Our workshop/seminar will consist of lecture, class input, and conversation punctuated by lunch and some contemplative reflection.

**Merton Quilt by Penny Sisto. From the Collections of the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University. Image used with Permission.

Learning Outcomes:

Be introduced (or re-introduced) to the thinking and witness of Thomas Merton

Examine the complexities and nuances of the human search for spiritual meaning

About the Instructor

Dr. Michael W. Higgins is the Basilian Distinguished Fellow of Contemporary Catholic Thought, University of St. Michael’s College, and President and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of St. Jerome’s University.

He is Past President of the International Thomas Merton Society and the Thomas Merton Society of Canada.

He is the author of scores of books, articles and documentaries on Merton including Heretic Blood: the Spiritual Geography of Thomas Merton, Thomas Merton: Faithful Visionary, Thomas Merton: Pilgrim in Process, and The Unquiet Monk.

Questions?