The course will be a journey introducing the student to the Orthodox Church, the largest of the Eastern Christian Churches. It will explore the history, faith, liturgy and spirituality of the Orthodox Church. The exploration will be based on lectures, readings, audio-visual presentations, discussion, and personal experience. Special emphasis will be given on primary sources since tradition is greatly valued by the Orthodox Church.

My main goal is to make students share my enthusiasm for the history and meaning of the Orthodox Church. I wish to explore -along with my students – Orthodoxy in its historical and modern contexts and invite students to explore how Orthodoxy is lived and practiced in Greece. Students will be expected to submit their own reflection notes throughout the course (so as to develop written skills and simultaneously exercise critical thinking), evaluate, orally, many primary sources, gather and interpret research material, reflect critically on religious phenomena during what would hopefully be a passionate class discussion, work independently and collaboratively, taking into account current scholarship, worship and praxis

Despina Iosif and her students on-site at Dafni Monastery.