Masters Degree in Carmelite Studies launched

York St John University

The Carmelite Institute of Britain & Ireland (CIBI) has announced the launch of postgraduate programmes in Carmelite Studies, including a Master of Arts degree, beginning in January 2012. The announcement was made last Tuesday by the Institute's Director of Studies, Dr Patrick Mullins, O.Carm, at a reception in Dublin celebrating the graduation of the first students to complete CIBI's Diploma in Carmelite Studies.

The programmes - a Postgraduate Certificate, a Postgraduate Diploma, and a Master of Arts (MA) degree - will be distance-learning courses accredited by York St John University in England. The programmes will be delivered using the internet, with assessment papers emailed for correction.

Students will be offered modules on: Foundations in Christian Spirituality; Carmelite Historiography; Reading St John of the Cross; Carmel - A Family of Prophets; Reading St Thérèse of Lisieux; Reading St Edith Stein; The Marian Mystics; Reading St Teresa of Avila. Completion of a number of these modules, in addition to a 15,000 word dissertation, will lead to the award of a Master of Arts in Carmelite Studies.

The approval was granted by York St John University following two years of discussion and programme development between the Institute and the University.

Established in 2005 as a joint project of the Carmelite and Discalced Carmelite Orders, CIBI has offered distance-learning courses in Carmelite spirituality and heritage to over a hundred people in Britain, Ireland, and worldwide. These courses - an Adult Education Diploma and a Diploma - have been equivalent to adult-education level and the first year of a Bachelor’s degree, and are accredited by The Milltown Institute in Dublin. These courses will continue in the future, but because Milltown is not in a position to offer accreditation for new programmes at MA level, the MA in Carmelite Studies will be accredited by York St John University in the north of England. It began as an Anglican teacher-training college in 1841, and following decades of development and growth in many subject areas it was granted university status in 2006. It currently has over 5,600 students.

York St John already enjoys close links with the Carmelite Order. The British Province of Carmelites helped the University’s Faculty of Education and Theology to establish its first Professorship, and together they are partners in the Ebor Lectures series which considers the interplay between theology and public life. A number of Carmelite friars, sisters and lay people have studied and taught at the University.

CIBI’s postgraduate programme will begin in January 2012 and significant interest is anticipated. The Masters in Carmelite Studies will be ideal for those wishing to develop a very high-level of understanding about different aspects of Carmelite life over the centuries, in the present, and into the future.

For more information see: www.cibi.ie/