Assessment

Essay: 50% Exam: 50%

Module Aims

To introduce students to how Mary has been understood through the millennia in Scripture, theology, spirituality, the Orthodox tradition, Islam, philosophy and art. 

Learning Outcomes

• — Articulate a fuller understanding of Mary's portrayal in Scripture
• — Identify and comment on how Saint Augustine of Hippo views Mary.
• — Illustrate the significance of the Orthodox understanding of Mary, especially in its iconography, hymns, and liturgical feasts.
• — Discover how the privileged status ascribed to Mary by the Our'an could help to build bridges between Christianity and Islam.
• — Explain the similarities Søren Kierkegaard identifies in Mary and Abraham.
• — Critically engage with the portraits of Mary provided by various mystics.
• — Appreciate the distinctive features of Mary in the Irish spiritual tradition.