This talk will report on how the founding ideas of the conferences on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena has been taken forward and incorporated in the curriculum of the MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology (CAA) in the Sophia Centre at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The MA has three foundational origins, prior to its launch in October 2002. One was a major colloquium in the history of astrology at London University’s Warburg Institute in 1984, which initiated a new wave in the historiography of astrology. A second was the Oxford/SEAC conference in 1999, with its emphasis on archaeoastronomy. The third was the Second INSAP conference in Malta in January 1999. INSAP does something which no other academic network or institution allows, other than the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, namely the exploration of, and presentation of, creative work, inspired by awe or wonder of the sky, or enchantment aroused by the stars, planets and heavens. As part of this work the Sophia Centre and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David have sponsored three INSAP conferences (INSAPIV Oxford 2004; INSAPVII 2010; INSAPIX 2015)

All students on the MA CAA are required to undertake an assignment which involves observing a feature of the sky for up to a month. They keep reflexive records of their observations, including photographs, drawings, items of text, or poems that they produce. They then use this as a primary source which they write up within an academic framework. In so doing, they observe the sky, create artwork, and then report critically on both. Significantly, students are reporting critically on their own artwork, rather than someone else’s. We therefore encourage students to produce work which is simultaneously, observational, creative, artistic and academically rigorous.

In this talk, I will describe the parameters of the postgraduate Sky Journal  assignment at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and report on a few outstanding examples.