University honours Michael O’Sullivan SJ
Dr Michael O’Sullivan, SJ was invited to give a public lecture in the new University of the South East (SETU) on Thursday 9 June 2022. The lecture, on ‘Spirituality in the university’, was to honour his appointment as Emeritus at SETU. It recognised that for the first time in Ireland, since 1 May 2022 MA and PhD studies in applied spirituality are being offered in a technological university, a Research Group for spirituality studies has been created, and a Research Fellow has been appointed. The new research fellow wil work with Dr Bernadette Flanagan PBVM and Michael to produce the Routledge International Handbook of Contemplative Methods for the Study of Spirituality.
The Spirituality Institute for Research and Education (SpIRE) » in Dublin played a major role in bringing these studies to the new South East Technological University (SETU). SpIRE has a first-class specialist library in the discipline, in Dublin, where it hosts and supports such university studies.
Dr. O’Sullivan is Director of SpIRE and a Research Fellow at the University of the Free State, South Africa. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Network for the Study of Spirituality and the editorial boards of both the Journal for the Study of Spirituality and Spiritus.
His standing among international colleagues in the field of spirituality studies is noted by Prof Philip Sheldrake at Cambridge: “Dr. O’Sullivan has made a substantial and notable contribution to the development of the academic field of spirituality in its varied forms, particularly in the English-speaking world”.
Dr O’Sullivan is currently organising an international spirituality studies conference to take place in SETU in May 16-18, 2023. The title of the conference is Spirituality, Critical Reflection, and Professional Practice. It will be the first time for the INSS to hold its biennial conference outside the UK. Information about the conference, including the call for papers, will be available on the INSS website ».
The photo by George Goulding, SETU, shows Dr O’Sullivan with spirituality staff, graduates, and students from SETU and SpIRE who took part in the event.
