Previous Years' Course Catalogues

Development of thought and piety; monasticism and mendicants; crusades, parish life; papacy, princes and church councils; Byzantium; East-West relations; relations with Jews and Muslims; Renaissance and reformations; reformers; missionary expansion; confessionalism.

Current Buddhist views of mental health incorporate the Dharma and Western psychological approaches to mental health that include a broad range of behavioural, cognitive, and experiential approaches. Key features of approaches using mindfulness are the cultivation of a fluid sense of self, emotion regulation and the modulation of the causes of stress. These parallel the Buddhist concepts of non-self, skillful or appropriate responses, and the understanding of the causes of suffering. This understanding of mental health has shifted concepts of mental illness with promises of success and cautionary tales of risk. Buddhist and Western psychological perspectives of mental health share a commonality of being culturally influenced. To understand the impact and implications of the Buddhist view of mental health, the root Buddhist teachings need to be understood in their cultural context. Because we are embedded in a culture vastly different from the Buddha's time, the exploration must include our perspectives of mental health and how our own views are socio-cultural constructions. From this platform, we can examine how Buddhist teachings and their integration with Western models seek to sustain mental health. Secularized adaptations of the Dharma for psychological treatment will be examined with consideration of risks of appropriation, dilution, and distortion as well as potential negative effects of mindfulness-based therapies.

This course examines Buddhist notions of mental and spiritual health in historical and contemporary contexts, with an emphasis on their practical application in the form of Buddhist spiritual care, spiritually integrated psychotherapy and leading Dharma communities. The first part of the course grounds us in a Buddhist framework of relationality and non-self, and develops the foundational skills of deep listening, compassionate presence, and being comfortable with silence. The second module outlines a Buddhist informed framework for counselling drawing from the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path. The third module focuses on Buddhist informed emotion-focused therapy, with attention to moral stress/ injury and post traumatic syndrome or response) disorder (PTSD), as well as contemporary Buddhist therapies, such as Naikan and Morita Therapy and working with Buddhist sacred literature. In the final module, we re-ground ourselves in our inter-relationality, focusing on Buddhism and wise and compassionate social action. Topics include Buddhistinformed approaches to equity, diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility; decolonization; Truth and Reconciliation; and ecological sustainability.

Current Buddhist views of mental health incorporate the Dharma and Western psychological approaches to mental health that include a broad range of behavioural, cognitive, and experiential approaches. Key features of approaches using mindfulness are the cultivation of a fluid sense of self, emotion regulation and the modulation of the causes of stress. These parallel the Buddhist concepts of non-self, skillful or appropriate responses, and the understanding of the causes of suffering. This understanding of mental health has shifted concepts of mental illness with promises of success and cautionary tales of risk. Buddhist and Western psychological perspectives of mental health share a commonality of being culturally influenced. To understand the impact and implications of the Buddhist view of mental health, the root Buddhist teachings need to be understood in their cultural context. Because we are embedded in a culture vastly different from the Buddha's time, the exploration must include our perspectives of mental health and how our own views are socio-cultural constructions. From this platform, we can examine how Buddhist teachings and their integration with Western models seek to sustain mental health. Secularized adaptations of the Dharma for psychological treatment will be examined with consideration of risks of appropriation, dilution, and distortion as well as potential negative effects of mindfulness-based therapies.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

Development of thought and piety; monasticism and mendicants; crusades, parish life; papacy, princes and church councils; Byzantium; East-West relations; relations with Jews and Muslims; Renaissance and reformations; reformers; missionary expansion; confessionalism.

Development of thought and piety; monasticism and mendicants; crusades, parish life; papacy, princes and church councils; Byzantium; East-West relations; relations with Jews and Muslims; Renaissance and reformations; reformers; missionary expansion; confessionalism.