Course Catalogue 2026-2027

This course is an examination of contemporary theories of human growth and development, and the contribution that such theories offer to the understanding of religious development and the praxis of religious education.

This course is a historical, systematic, and pastoral study of the sacraments of initiation (baptism, confirmation, Eucharist), healing (reconciliation, sacrament of the sick), and vocation (marriage and orders) in Roman Catholic theology and practice. The purpose of this course is to 1) explore the meaning of ritual and symbol in human experience and religious practice, 2) trace the historical development of sacraments in the Christian tradition and 3) identify key issues and challenges in a contemporary sacramental theology.

In the summer of 2022, Pope Francis named the Catholic sponsorship and administration of residential schools in Canada as an evil. This course will investigate the historical, educational, and theological roots of the residential schools, particularly those sponsored by the Catholic Church; it will pay particular attention to the voices of those who survived them. It will explore the ways that the Church and its contemporary Catholic schools must begin to atone for this evil. Throughout the course, critical, decolonial, and Indigenous pedagogies will be reflectively practiced as a way of confronting and deconstructing the settler colonialism and oppressive pedagogies that created the residential schools.

In the summer of 2022, Pope Francis named the Catholic sponsorship and administration of residential schools in Canada as an evil. This course will investigate the historical, educational, and theological roots of the residential schools, particularly those sponsored by the Catholic Church; it will pay particular attention to the voices of those who survived them. It will explore the ways that the Church and its contemporary Catholic schools must begin to atone for this evil. Throughout the course, critical, decolonial, and Indigenous pedagogies will be reflectively practiced as a way of confronting and deconstructing the settler colonialism and oppressive pedagogies that created the residential schools.

This course offers an overview of the theology and thinking of Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), one of the most creative and unique Christian intellectuals of his era, whose influence has been significant into the present among both Catholics and Protestants. We will examine Pascal in the context of his cultural milieu, in terms of theology, philosophy, and ecclesial/social setting. His Pensées will be a major focus, but we will also study his writing on reason and grace and his own theology of Scripture. Attention will also be given to his colleagues and peers in the Jansenist reform movement. Assigned readings will be in English, but a reading knowledge of French will be helpful for one's own research and writing.

This course offers an overview of the theology and thinking of Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), one of the most creative and unique Christian intellectuals of his era, whose influence has been significant into the present among both Catholics and Protestants. We will examine Pascal in the context of his cultural milieu, in terms of theology, philosophy, and ecclesial/social setting. His Pensées will be a major focus, but we will also study his writing on reason and grace and his own theology of Scripture. Attention will also be given to his colleagues and peers in the Jansenist reform movement. Assigned readings will be in English, but a reading knowledge of French will be helpful for one's own research and writing.

This course offers an overview of the theology and thinking of Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), one of the most creative and unique Christian intellectuals of his era, whose influence has been significant into the present among both Catholics and Protestants. We will examine Pascal in the context of his cultural milieu, in terms of theology, philosophy, and ecclesial/social setting. His Pensées will be a major focus, but we will also study his writing on reason and grace and his own theology of Scripture. Attention will also be given to his colleagues and peers in the Jansenist reform movement. Assigned readings will be in English, but a reading knowledge of French will be helpful for one's own research and writing.

This course offers an overview of the theology and thinking of Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), one of the most creative and unique Christian intellectuals of his era, whose influence has been significant into the present among both Catholics and Protestants. We will examine Pascal in the context of his cultural milieu, in terms of theology, philosophy, and ecclesial/social setting. His Pensées will be a major focus, but we will also study his writing on reason and grace and his own theology of Scripture. Attention will also be given to his colleagues and peers in the Jansenist reform movement. Assigned readings will be in English, but a reading knowledge of French will be helpful for one's own research and writing.

This course supports students to develop collaborative team-based skills to practice effective spiritual care in healthcare and other settings. It enables students to build interdisciplinary knowledge, skills and relationships to work in the complex dynamics of multi-service healthcare contexts. The course is strongly recommended for students seeking to serve in healthcare contexts. Learning modules are taken from the Centre for Advancing Collaborative Healthcare & Education (CACHE) program of Interprofessional Education (ipe.utoronto.ca/u-t-ipe-curriculum) alongside students in medicine, nursing, social work, occupational therapy, etc. Each required module is offered remotely (with some in-person options) ranging from 1.5 to 3 hours each. Elective modules provide many options for students to choose from that vary in length and weight. Required and elective modules enable excellent opportunities for building competency in client-focussed interprofessional collaborative care.

This course will provide an opportunity for students to discuss and reflect on the contemporary realities of medical practice which challenge some basic assumptions as to when death occurs and when is a person "dead". In addition, students will examine contemporary efforts to rediscover old wisdoms concerning care for dying patients and ways in which communities of faith might reclaim some of the ancient practices of ars moriendi, the "art of dying." Students examine the phenomena of chronic illness, suffering and dying from a variety of historical, biblical, theological, pastoral care, medical-physiological, psychosocial from a cross cultural perspective. Students also examine contemporary modalities of care for persons at the end of life, including tertiary palliative care, the hospice movement and ancillary "death with dignity" organizations. Course goals include developing the student's ability to care for persons with chronic and terminal illness in ways that are shaped by a variety of theological and religion-cultural understandings of suffering, dying and death. To do so with integrity, students will also explore dimensions of what constitutes health and wholeness, as well as grief and mourning and burial rituals from various religion-cultural perspectives.

This course examines the social determinants of addiction and considers the past and current influences on addiction counselling and approaches to treatment. In doing so it expands the biopsychosocial perspective of the field of psychology and addiction to include spirituality and cultural sensitivity as important determinants in assessment and treatment choices. The course will introduce students to specific assessment, interviewing and treatment modalities that are used in addiction counselling. Students will gain an understanding of the experience of addiction and the importance of the motivation to change. Students will gain an overview of relapse prevention as well as crisis intervention and the contexts of therapy for addiction treatment. Students will practice motivational interviewing and gain a basic understanding of how Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) is used in treatment programs in the greater Toronto area. Students will also wrestle with spiritual and theological understandings of addiction. This course has been designed for training professionals who will practice in institutional contexts (including addiction treatment centres, hospitals, hospices, schools, and prisons) and in congregational or social ministry contexts.

The Internal Family Systems (IFS) model, developed by Richard Schwartz, is a psychotherapeutic modality that has proven useful not only for trauma work, but for a wide variety of mental health issues. While IFS is relatively new, it builds on a model of the psyche/soul with deep roots in the history of psychotherapy. The idea that the psyche is composed of an internal family of autonomous parts, many of them unconscious, goes back to C.G. Jung and the French schools of hypnosis that came before him. It also has resonances Freudian object relations. But Shwartz’s method of identifying and working with these internal parts sets his modality apart as innovative, elegant, and transformative. This course offers a comprehensive overview of Schwartz’s basic theoretical orientation with a heavy emphasis on clinical practice through case studies, personal exploration, and role playing. We will pay particular attention to the spiritual dimensions of IFS and their potential use in spiritual care and spiritually integrated therapy.