At Siena College, we embrace opportunities to develop higher order thinking skills to find Veritas, Truth, in our world. Eckhart von Hochheim OP (c.1260–1328), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, was a German Dominican theologian, philosopher and mystic, born near Gotha, Germany, in the Holy Roman Empire. Meister Eckhart, in the final words of his Book of Divine Comfort, prayed: 'May the loving compassionate God, who is Truth itself, grant to me and to all who seek knowledge may find the truth within ourselves and become aware of it. Amen'
As Dominicans, we are Truth Seekers. A number of years ago, as part of our Year 11 Religious Education program, it was decided that in each of our first three terms a seminar session would be introduced, with specialist guest presenters, who would widen the vision of our students beyond the prescribed curriculum. These would include topics such as ethics/philosophical questions, a broader understanding of religion in our world and a link between Dominican and Catholic perspectives.
Alumna Dr Rose Marie Prosser (Class of 1961), a former teacher and Religious Education Coordinator at Siena College and a lecturer at Yarra Theological Union, delivered our first presentation for 2018.
Dr Rose Marie Prosser
Below is a student reflection on our first Year 11 Eckhart seminar this year:
'On Friday, 16 February, the Year 11 students were visited by Dr Rose Marie Prosser who spoke to us at our first Eckhart seminar. During her presentation, we reflected on this year’s College theme ‘One Body, Many Parts’. Dr Prosser’s presentation helped to enrich our understanding of images of God, beauty and connections with our Jewish heritage as Catholics. It further added to our exploration of religion and how interrelated religion and society are.' Hannah Gosby and Emily Hodder
