prof. dr hab. Stanisław Głaz SJ

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E-mail: stanislaw.glaz@ignatianum.edu.pl
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Stanisław Głaz – the Jesuit, graduated in philosophy,  theological studies and psychology.

He received a PhD degree in philosophy from the Department of Philosophy at the Society of Jesus in Kraków, based on the dissertation The feeling of self-change in the process of shaping a mature personality (Poczucie zmiany siebie w okresie tworzenia się osobowości dojrzałej), in 1989. As a result of his further scientific work, he presented a doctoral dissertation in theology entitled The issue of religious experience (Zagadnienie doświadczenia religijnego) in the Department of Theology at the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Kraków, in 1995.

In the following year, he had a post-doctoral colloquium in the Department of Philosophy at the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Kraków. The basis for that colloquium was the dissertation entitled Intensity of religious experience and self-concept (Intensywność doświadczenia religijnego a koncepcja siebie). The Superior General of the Society of Jesus, on the recommendation of the Council of the Department of Philosophy at the Society of Jesus in Kraków in 1999, and the Great Chancellor of that Department, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, raised him to the rank of the professor extraordinarius on receipt of Nihil obstat of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education.In the years 1980–1993, he worked in parish-priest centres in Opole, Wrocław, Gliwice and Athens, where he had the opportunity to verify his theoretical knowledge with everyday human practice. He performed the function of Father Superior of the Jesuit community in Kraków-Przegorzały, in the years from 1998 to 2004. From that time onwards, he organized numerous En plain air painting workshops in Poland and abroad. He was a co-founder of the Form-Art Artistic Society and the De Facto Painting Gallery in Bielsko-Biała. The aim of the Society is to support the artistic talents of young painters.

He has been employed at the Higher School of Philosophy and Pedagogy “Ignatianum” in Kraków, which is called The Jesuit University Ignatianum since 1.10.2011, where he gives lectures and conduct BA, MA and PhD seminars. He also worked at the Saint John of Kent Theological Institute in Bielsko-Biała, and he used to give lectures at the Major Seminary of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in Kraków, as well as lectures at the Higher School of Insurance in Kraków. He has supervised many graduates of BA, MA and PhD studies.

In his scientific work he has also invented a number of research tools. Religious Experience Questionnaire Structure (Kwestionariusz Struktury Przeżycia Religijnego) intended to study the religious experience structure of God’s presence and God’s absence as well as the religious crisis; Religious Difficulties Questionnaire (Kwestionariusz Trudności Religijnych) refers to the religious life development and difficulties related to it; The Intensity of Religious Experience Scale (IRES) (Skala Intensywności Doświadczenia Religijnego) measuring the intensity of religious experience of God’s presence and absence in the life of individuals;The Scale of Abandonment by God (SAG) (Skala Opuszczenia przez Boga) to measure the experience of abandonment by God.

His scientific research focuses on the paradigm of religious experience, which includes the experience of God’s presence and absence, as well as showing the positive relationship of that experience with other aspects of human life such as its meaning, existential fear, self-knowledge, altruism, empathy or values. It could be said that his research relates to man’s mental and spiritual dimension as components of human life in the holistic development of man.

He stresses that philosophy, theology, and psychology need one another, since they have similar tasks and, even though they deal with different aspects of human life, they have similar aims. This approach applies to the integral development of every human being and leads to a deeper experience of their lives and better functioning in the world, as well as a more profound relationship with God.