Rumi and Divine Love
This 10-week course covers the life, work, and teachings of the great 13th-century spiritual master Rumi, whose universal message of love transcends time and culture. Rumi is being recognized in the West as one of the greatest literary and spiritual figures of all time, and he has been described as the “bestselling poet” in the US. Throughout the course, Rumi's masterpiece "Masnavi" will be read. It teaches people how to be truly in love with God, and it has been viewed by many commentators as the greatest mystical poem in world literature. Following this spiritual text, each week a story or poem will be analyzed and discussed. Focusing on unforgettable images and metaphors in Rumi's poetry and through reading the stories as a guide to the path of divine love, the practical steps of the spiritual journey will be discovered. Besides readings, the course will also include documentaries, recitations, audio, and video clips to experience the teachings of Rumi.
Instructor
Hello dear friends! I'm Dr. Esra Bayraktar. My last name is pronounced like: Bye-rock-tar. I hold a PhD in Islamic Mysticism from Ankara University Faculty of Divinity, an MA in Communication from Michigan State University College of Communication Arts and Sciences, and a BA in English literature from Hacettepe University. I have worked in various institutions, such as Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, Grand National Assembly of Turkey, and Michigan State University.
It's such a pleasure to be teaching at Duke OLLI this semester. I'm really excited to delve into the ocean of Rumi's enlightening poetry with you. In this course, we'll journey through Rumi's Masnavi, move towards healing and illumination. Especially with the ongoing pandemic, we all are experiencing difficulties in our lives so we need the inspiration and the guidance of the ones who walked in this path with love and patience. We need their light to enlighten our lives in these dark times. Hope to see you in "Rumi and Divine Love". |