Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) Theses

Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

First Advisor

Todd Ream

Second Advisor

Scott Gaier

Third Advisor

Skip Trudeau

Abstract

Silence and self-awareness are vital topics in this day and age. With a majority of college students rarely finding the space on a college campus to think and reflect, the need for silence is ever present. This study looked at the effect of a silent retreat on eight college students’ self-awareness. Both silence and self-awareness were discussed separately from one another due to the depth of each term but were also explored together in the literature and the results of the present research. From the results of this study, themes arose surrounding the topics of silence, self-awareness, and the effects of silence on self-awareness. Through the research presented, one can see the positive effects silence has on the participants’ view of self, others, and God. Each participant actively engaged with the experience and was pleased with taking the silent retreat. Many participants, throughout the interviews, encouraged the institution to continue to do silent retreats in the future. Silence is a discipline that many times goes unnoticed but is necessary, especially on college campuses.

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