Course Catalogue 2024-2025

The relationship between Christianity and Judaism is central to the identity of Christians and the church. Yet for much of the past two millennia, from the “parting of the ways” in the first and second centuries, the story of Christians and Jews has been difficult and troubled, culminating in the tragic events of the 20th century. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, there has been a renewed engagement between the two traditions, and with a proliferation of scholarship and deepening of knowledge of Second Temple Judaism over the last half century, a joint effort has been made by Christians and Jews to correct historical inaccuracies and prejudices and amend theological traditions that had separated Jesus and Paul from their Jewish contexts and driven a hard wedge between communities sharing faith in the one God of Israel. This course will delve into key elements of this new scholarship and rekindled dialogue, enabling students to apply these insights across their theological studies and pastoral practice.

The relationship between Christianity and Judaism is central to the identity of Christians and the church. Yet for much of the past two millennia, from the “parting of the ways” in the first and second centuries, the story of Christians and Jews has been difficult and troubled, culminating in the tragic events of the 20th century. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, there has been a renewed engagement between the two traditions, and with a proliferation of scholarship and deepening of knowledge of Second Temple Judaism over the last half century, a joint effort has been made by Christians and Jews to correct historical inaccuracies and prejudices and amend theological traditions that had separated Jesus and Paul from their Jewish contexts and driven a hard wedge between communities sharing faith in the one God of Israel. This course will delve into key elements of this new scholarship and rekindled dialogue, enabling students to apply these insights across their theological studies and pastoral practice.

The range is from late Patristic theology to the verge of the Enlightenment by considering the Western Church. We will begin with Ambrose (De officiis) then consider Monastic ethics according to Rules, then Scholastic ethics (Abelard and his opponents), then Canon legal ethics (Gratian and others), Penitential Manual ethics, Thomist 'pastoral' virtue ethics, Franciscan property ethics, responses to folk ethical systems (Saxon, Norse), Voluntarist ethics, Renaissance-humanist ethics (Pico della Mirandola), Early Protestant ethics to Natural Law ethics, Catholic rigorism and manualism.

Feminist theologies critically reflect on religious traditions from the perspective of persons who identify as women. It challenges ideas and practices that devalue women and retrieves and constructs alternatives to them. The course begins with an introduction to the methods and diverse voices in feminist theologies. Increasingly, the discipline is "intersectional" in recognition of the variety of factors that impact and shape a feminist standpoint- not only of sex and gender identity, but also race, nationality, religion, ability, sexual orientation, age, and other factors. With attention to African American (womanist), Indigenous, mujerista, Asian feminist, and transgender perspectives, we will assess some of the major topics in Christian theology: Who is God? What is the human condition?
What is redemption, and are Christian narratives redemptive for women? How do we know? Seeking solidarity between women's movements, this course seeks mutual learning from Jewish, Buddhist, and Muslim feminist thinkers, from interreligious dialogue, and from the religious hybridity that often results from intersectional formations. In addition to the classical loci, the course turns to trends related to coloniality, orthodoxy, theopoetics, materiality, and the connectivity of the virtual world.

Exploration of the richly diverse theologies emerging in the global South (Asia, Latin America, and Africa) and from among subaltern communities in the global North. Special attention is given to central historical events, key figures, and important themes. The focus of this course is to gain insight into the main ideas, specific methodologies, and key authors involved in the development and proliferation of these diverse currents, and their relevance for the task of theology.

The class will develop further the exegetical skills of students through engagement with the Greek text of a New Testament book. By means of close reading of the text students will grow in their capacity to use Greek when interpreting the New Testament. Attention will be paid to textual criticism, translation issues, New Testament Greek syntax, and issues of historical, cultural, literary and theological context. The class will build students’ ability to offer critically informed accounts of the meaning of New Testament texts in their first-century contexts, and increase students’ understanding of the theological message of individual New Testament books and their contemporary implications.

The class will develop further the exegetical skills of students through engagement with the Greek text of a New Testament book. By means of close reading of the text students will grow in their capacity to use Greek when interpreting the New Testament. Attention will be paid to textual criticism, translation issues, New Testament Greek syntax, and issues of historical, cultural, literary and theological context. The class will build students’ ability to offer critically informed accounts of the meaning of New Testament texts in their first-century contexts, and increase students’ understanding of the theological message of individual New Testament books and their contemporary implications.

Building upon what is broadly understood as liberation discourses and theologies, this course explores the salient methodological features and topics of emerging decolonial thinking and discourses. We will study the various theoretical shifts as articulated by decolonial thinkers and examine how these complex theoretical currents signal a reconfiguration of inherited forms of knowledge, understanding of the world, ethical perspectives, constructions of morality, and the theological task. The focus of this course is to gain insight into the main ideas, specific methodologies, and key authors involved in the development and proliferation of these diverse theoretical currents, and their relevance for the task of theology and ministry.

Queer Theory challenges feminist theory's and gay and lesbian studies' focus on tolerance and inclusion with radical deconstructive critiques of the institutions and practices that produce gender and sexuality norms to begin with. Theologies in dialogue with queer theory thus presuppose the full inclusion of LGTBQ people in the life and leadership of churches- rather than argue for it- to articulate constructive theological projects out of queer practices. In this course, students engage foundational texts in queer/genderqueer Theologies to begin constructing their own theological positions in a context that disrupts binary understandings of gender and heteronormative views of sexuality. Doctrines of God, Christology and soteriology will be addressed, as will theological interpretations of marriage, family and kinship networks.

This course is geared to enrolment in the Artists' Workshop of the Institute for Christian Studies' ART in Orvieto offerings in Orvieto, Italy. It aims to integrate, through the writing of a major paper, the practical experience gained in these arts workshops with the more theoretical knowledge obtained through academic courses in the area of art, religion and theology. Building upon the activities undertaken in the workshop (discussion, visual journals, presentation of work and feedback) as well as the arts project accomplished, the paper will serve as a summative statement of what the student learned. It should demonstrate the student's analytical and interpretive skills as it seeks to find the points of intersection between artistic practice and the life of faith.

This seminar is an introduction to Sharia, the Islamic ethical-legal tradition or, more precisely, Sharia’s interpretation (fiqh). Of primary concern are the methodologies of its derivation, including its core principles, such as the Qur?an, the Prophet’s tradition (Sunna), consensus (ijm??), and reasoning by analogy (qiyas). The course will also introduce students to the theory of the objectives of the law (maq??id al-shar??a) and legal maxims (al-qaw??id al-fiqhiyya al-kulliyya), which are important resources in contemporary Islamic ethical-legal reasoning. It will examine Sharia’s institutions, the historical development of its schools of thought (madh?hib), and the processes by which ethical-legal decisions are made. Students will also have the opportunity to examine its applications in case studies of contemporary significance, mainly in the areas of biomedical ethics and sexual ethics.

This course explores creativity and its theological significance, drawing from interdisciplinary sources to consider the imagination, creative process and the arts in relation to the life of faith and spiritual practice. Even though creativity is often associated with intentional artistic endeavours, the capacity to imagine, improvise, innovate, and make/construct is intrinsic to human life e.g., in daily routines and relationships, rituals, stories, spiritual identity, personal resilience, empathy, community building, and peace and justice building. By paying attention to various dimensions of creativity, human and divine, the course investigates the making and perceiving of beauty in the world as an orientation toward value and personal and communal transformation. It thus seeks move beyond cognitive and entrepreneur models of creativity as well as dichotomies of action vs. reflection in theology. Particular consideration is given to visual arts and music.