Class dates: Sept 11, 18, 25 and Oct 9, 16 (5 weeks)

Class time: 10:00 am to 11:30 am

Location: Online (via Zoom)

In 2011, Oprah Winfrey launched “Super Soul Sunday” – ten seasons of conversations with philosophers, authors, visionaries, and religious leaders about happiness, personal fulfillment, and spirituality. At that time in America, the number of Christians was declining as the religiously unaffiliated were increasing. In this course, we’ll consider how the people Oprah interviewed reflect (or shape?) American “soul-searching”.  How have happiness, consciousness, and fulfillment become linked to “soul”? How does “living your best life” incorporate spirituality or religion? We’ll use interviews, along with data from the Pew Center’s latest Religious Landscape Study, to explore an evolving relationship between spirituality and religion in America.

Instructor: Kathleen Fisher has taught in WISE since 2019, offering courses in religion and spirituality through a variety of poets, philosophers, religious figures, and historical texts. She holds a Ph.D. in Medieval History and Religion from Boston University where she focused on Irish history and medieval monasticism. During a long teaching career in Theology at Assumption University, she taught courses in World Religions and Christian Spirituality, among others. Kathleen now lives in Chapel Hill, NC.