Shirley Sullivan

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Faculty Profile

Shirley

Sullivan

contact information

Office: 

Buchanan C227

Phone #: 

604 822-2889

Email: 

sullivanshirleytherese@gmail.com

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Research

Research Interests: 

• Ancient Greek Philosophy
• Ancient Greek Literature
• Greek and Latin Language
• Greek Intellectual History from Homer to Euripides

 

Research: 

My areas of research include Homer, early Greek literature, the Presocratic philosophers and Greek tragedy. I am interested in particular in the Archaic Age of Greece (750-450 BCE) with a focus on the history of ideas in that time. I also have worked on the convocation speeches of the philosopher Thomas Reid. This work resulted in a book called The Philosophical Orations of Thomas Reid (1989) in collaboration with D.D. Todd of the SFU philosophy department. On the Presocratics I have written several articles, focusing especially on Heraclitus. My interest in particular is to show how the thought of the early Greek poets and philosophers shared common features. My articles treat the nature of soul in both Heraclitus and Empedocles. They discuss how these philosophers viewed intellectual activity.

My research also involves a study of how the early Greeks engaged in psychological activity. I have studied the several terms that the Greeks use to designate this activity in the authors of early Greece, including Homer, Hesiod, the elegiac and lyric poets, Pindar, and Bacchylides. 

What is fascinating in this regard is that psychological activity in these early authors is fragmented. Several terms designate the seats of intellectual, emotional, and volitional activities. The emergence of psyche as the seat of such activities occurs only gradually. Activities assigned to several psychic entities in early authors come to be associated also with psyche. By the time of Plato psyche has emerged as the seat of personality in the living person.

My work on Homer appears both in several articles and in my book, Psychological Activity in Homer, A Study of Phren (1988). This book examines how Homer viewed psychological activity, especially with regard to phren, the seat of deliberation in human beings.

I also discuss Homer and the other authors mentioned above in my book, Psychological and Ethical Ideas, What Early Greeks Say (1995). This book examines in particular the ways in which early authors spoke of the personality and moral behaviour of human beings.

 

Further research has been on psychological ideas in Greek drama. This research has resulted in the books on Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides listed in the Publications below. Each book discusses in detail how the dramatists viewed psychological activity within the human person. Each book suggests the traditional and new ways in which these dramatists treated cognitive and emotional processes.

My interest centers on the way in which psychological terms came to have new and varied meanings in these three tragedians. What is of greatest interest is the new role ascribed to psyche in the living person. Psychic entities described in earlier writers continue to have a prominent place in the living person. Psyche begins to have a wide range of function, resembling now other psychic entities.

Research on Pindar

Some of my research focuses on Pindar (522 -423 BCE) and his use of psychological terminology. He uses a range of words to indicate different psychological functions within the human being. My research treats Pindar's understanding of cognitive and emotional activities in different individuals. Related to this, my research examines in what way Pindar uses the first-person pronoun in his odes. Is he referring to himself or is he constructing a "fictive I"? If he constructs a "fictive I," we may perhaps analyze first-person references as a "means" Pindar uses, appropriate for specific poems.

 

 

 

My other area of research involves the history of Christian spirituality. At St. Mark's Roman Catholic College on the University of BC campus I have taught several courses on this topic. My special interest is in Carmelite spirituality, especially that of Teresa of Avila and Elizabeth of the Trinity. I am also interested in St. Ignatius of Loyola. 

Publications

Publications: 

Books on Greek Philosophy and Drama

2000. Euripides' Use of Psychological Terminology.   Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press. Pp. xii, 234. 

1999. Sophocles' Use of Psychological Terminology: Old and New.  Ottawa: Carleton University Press. Pp. xii, 290.

1997. Aeschylus' Use of Psychological Terminology: Traditional and New.   Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press. Pp. xi, 288.

1995. Psychological and Ethical Ideas: What Early Greeks Say.  Leiden and New York: E. J. Brill. Pp. xii, 262.  Mnemosyne Supplement, 144.

1989.  The Philosophical Orations of Thomas Reid.  Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1989.   (With Dr. D.D. Todd)

1988. Psychological Activity in Homer: A Study of Phrēn.  Ottawa: Carleton University Press. Pp. ix, 303.

Christian Spirituality

Books

2013.  The Christian Soul, An Immortal Destiny.  Kindle.com: E-Book.

2013.  Speaking to God, Enhancing Our Personal Prayer.  Kindle.com: E-Book.

2012.  The Parables of Jesus, Beacons for our Spiritual Journey.  Kindle.com: E-Book.

2012.  The Eucharist, Rainbow of God’s Glory.  Kindle.com: E-Book.

2012. The Divine Call of Mary.  New York: Alba House Books.  Pp. iv, 89.

2011. The Stations of the Cross. New York: Alba House Books.  Pp. 80.

2009. A Gaze of Love: Finding God Within. New York: Alba House Books. Pp. xiv, 122.

2008. Praying the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. New York: Alba House Books.  Pp. xx, 210.

2008. A Practical Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours. New Jersey: Catholic Book Publishing.  Pp. 93.

2004. A Companion to the Liturgy of the Hours, Morning and Evening Prayer. New Jersey: Catholic Book Publishing. Pp. ii, 205.  

2002. Transformed by Love: The Soul’s Journey to God in Teresa of Avila, Mother Aloysius, and Elizabeth of the Trinity.  New York and London: New City Press.  Pp. vi, 125.  A “Spiritual Book Associates” of Notre Dame, Indiana, Main Selection.

Articles

2009. “An Experience of God’s Presence: Praying the Psalms in a Carmelite Way,” Mount Carmel 57, 53-57.  Invited article.

2008. “Journey to the Centre of the Soul in Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Elizabeth of the Trinity, Part Two” Spirituality 14, 277-284.

2008. “Journey to the Centre of the Soul in Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Elizabeth of the Trinity, Part One” Spirituality 14, 227-232.

2008. “Encounter with God within,” Mount Carmel 56, 21-26.  Invited article.

2004. “Into the Divine Presence: Elizabeth in the Radiance of Teresa,” Mount Carmel 52, 29-34.  Invited article.

2003. “The Conversion of Edith Stein: Milestones in her Search for Truth,” Mount Carmel 51, 13-19.  Invited article.

2002. “Conversion Experiences of John Henry Newman,” Newman Rambler 6, 24-26.

2002. “Blessed Elizabeth’s ‘Prayer to the Trinity’: A Commentary, Part 2,” Spirituality 8, 154-159.

2002. “Blessed Elizabeth’s ‘Prayer to the Trinity’: A Commentary, Part 1,” Spirituality 8, 87-90.

2002. “Desires: Guidance from St. John of the Cross,” Spiritual Life 48, 88-94.

2001. “The Castle of Teresa of Avila: The Inward and Outward Journey,” Magistra 7, 85--96.

Bio

PhD (Classics), University of Toronto, 1973.
MA (Classics), University of British Columbia, 1968.
BA (Honours Latin) University of British Columbia, 1966.

Grants, Honours, Prizes: 

2003.  Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
2003.  Killam Research Prize.
2002.  Killam Teaching Prize.