At the end of the course, you will be able to:

1. describe historical, ritual, empirical and spiritual perspectives on Christian liturgy;
2. recognise theological concepts about liturgy in concrete examples from liturgical tradition and practice;
3. reflect theologically on cases from liturgical traditions in various situations of human life (parish liturgy and spiritual centers like monasteries). 

In this course we will address the question of how liturgy can be a constitutive element for Christian faith in contemporary society and how liturgical repertoires relate to changing experiences today. To be able to answer this question, one has to explore liturgy in relation to its cultural context. In a first step, we will explore spotlights from the history of liturgy to better understand how ritual changes can be determinant for theological reflection and vice versa. In a second step, contemporary developments will be analysed with concepts from Ritual Studies. How can present day ritual-liturgical practice benefit the sensegiving activities and meet the needs of practitioners with different backgrounds? In the third part, we will theologically reflect on liturgical life from the perspective of liturgical spirituality.