Stage 1 | Subject outline | Version control

Spiritualities, Religion, and Meaning Stage 1
Subject outline

Version 3.0
For teaching in 2024. Accredited in June 2021 for teaching at Stage 1 from 2022. 

Stage 1 | Subject outline | Content | Life, the universe, and integral ecology

Life, the universe, and integral ecology

Spiritualities and religions make deep connections with cosmology, earth sciences, and the fields of ‘deep time’ and ‘big history’. Exploring ‘the journey of the universe’ from interdisciplinary angles can initiate a profound awareness of life on earth as a complex, interdependent system. This is known as ‘integral ecology’. This appreciation of the mystery and wonder of existence links with eco-spirituality, sustainability, Indigenous understandings of Country, and ecological conversion.

For example:

  • How does dialogue between the sciences and spiritualities/religions enrich an awareness of ‘creation’ in its extraordinary history and complexity?
  • What factors are driving or inhibiting the spiritual and/or religious response to ‘a planet in peril’?
  • In what ways do spiritualities and/or religions promote planetary flourishing?