Hear about the research journeys and achievements of some of our current students.
Maureen Atkins
PhD Candidate
Provisional Title
An autoethnographic study of one woman’s journey through the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises analysed through psychological perspectives and sociological factors.
Brief Description
My research is an autoethnography of a journey through the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in which pivotal life experiences, that affected movements towards and away from interior freedom, are explored and analysed. It is the perspective of a woman who grew up in the Australian Catholic Church pre-and post-Vatican II. It is a narrative that seeks to uncover how I was shaped and moulded through my personal development, and how I was influenced by living within the Australian social and cultural environment.
Geralyn McCarthy
PhD Candidate
Provisional Title
Rebuilding from the Ground up: Rediscovering the Charismic Dynamic of the Australian Catholic Church as we Listen to What the Spirit is Saying.
Brief Description
The question of the viability of religion and religious practice in a secular age is not a new one. The central claim of my PhD is that a restored attention to the charismic dynamic of the church introduced by Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium, and subsequently taken up by other documents since Vatican II presents to the Australian Church a valuable resource that is capable of revitalising internal organisation and enriching formal teaching.