Throughout history, humans have utilized rituals to negotiate the complexities of life transitions, to explore the deeper, spiritual aspects of living, and symbolize and story their experiences. This course explores the dynamics of what ritual is and what ritual does by engaging participants in both developing ritual design skills and in understanding the roles that ritual can play in a variety of spiritual leadership contexts. Together we will ask, how do we engage communities in activities that carry values and deepen meaning? How do we create practices that embody beliefs and form people for particular ways of being in the world? What role do embodied spiritual practices play in people’s spiritual lives and in the work of social transformation and how do we employ them?

Ritual: A ritual is a set of symbolic actions performed for a specific purpose and/or to mark an occasion.

Longer definition: A set of actions, often with symbolic value, performed in a customary way. Usually take place in a specific context such as religious, cultural, social, and/or familial contexts. Encompass a range of activities, from simple daily habits like teeth brushing, to very formal ceremonies like weddings, religious ceremonies, or state functions. Key characteristics often include: symbolism, structure and repetition, cultural or social significance, transitional or transformative, communal engagement, intentionality. Rituals vary widely across contexts. They play a major role in defining and maintaining the cultural and social fabric of communities.

Design: Design is the process of creating solutions to problems for a specific audience and/or or planning how something will unfold or be made.

Longer definition: The process of envisioning and planning the creation of objects, systems, or interactions. Involves a deliberate and thoughtful approach to making something new or improving existing things or processes/experiences. Key aspects of design generally include: driven by purpose and function, creativity and innovation, user-centric, aesthetics and style, technical and material considerations, interative process. Course meets 2/3/25-3/3/25. [Auditors with Faculty Permission]