Course Catalogue 2025-2026

This course explores the intersection of race and theology in contemporary society, focusing on the Canadian context in particular, but will reference to other global contexts as comparative cases. Attention will be given to analyses which suggest that Christian theology and colonialism are deeply implicated in the invention of the concept of race, as well as critiques of ways in which theology has served to discourage genuine communion between peoples of difference. Although race and ethnicity, including indigenous identities, will be the focus of the course, broader attention to issues of diversity and particularity will also be explored, including ways in which people with disabilities are marginalized by churches and society. The potential for theology and churches to support anti-racism and the embrace of diversity will be explored, as well as major obstacles to these achievements.

This course explores the intersection of race and theology in contemporary society, focusing on the Canadian context in particular, but will reference to other global contexts as comparative cases. Attention will be given to analyses which suggest that Christian theology and colonialism are deeply implicated in the invention of the concept of race, as well as critiques of ways in which theology has served to discourage genuine communion between peoples of difference. Although race and ethnicity, including indigenous identities, will be the focus of the course, broader attention to issues of diversity and particularity will also be explored, including ways in which people with disabilities are marginalized by churches and society. The potential for theology and churches to support anti-racism and the embrace of diversity will be explored, as well as major obstacles to these achievements.

This course explores the fundamental theory, assumptions and practices of narrative therapy, a form of therapy developed in New Zealand and Australia in connection with indigenous people. Using a combination of free online material from the Dulwich Centre in Australia and class meetings during the regular semester, it explores the role of the therapist and the practice of therapy in utilizing narrative therapy techniques to address not only individual and family distress but also community and political structures of oppression. Narrative therapy explores with clients and communities how the structures of oppression can be used for healing, and works with communities to empower them in their own healing.

This course explores the fundamental theory, assumptions and practices of narrative therapy, a form of therapy developed in New Zealand and Australia in connection with indigenous people. Using a combination of free online material from the Dulwich Centre in Australia and class meetings during the regular semester, it explores the role of the therapist and the practice of therapy in utilizing narrative therapy techniques to address not only individual and family distress but also community and political structures of oppression. Narrative therapy explores with clients and communities how the structures of oppression can be used for healing, and works with communities to empower them in their own healing.

This course offers the opportunity to read the entire Gospel of Mark communally. The class will provide space for historical, literary and theological questions.

In this course, we engage methodologies of narrative criticism and performance criticism to study, contextualize, and embody the details of the Gospel of Mark as story, bringing its ancient meaning and oral origins alive to a modern audience. We become storytellers of scripture by learning a gospel text by heart, memorized word for word, and telling it to a live audience as an embodied practice. This approach interacts with exegetical study of the text to deepen our understanding of its message and connects to various aspects of ministry and/or vocation, with particularly robust connections to homiletics.

In the last forty years ethical issues around the care and treatment of non-human animals has steadily grown as a concern in theology. While for much of this time it was considered at best a "marginal" issue, it is now one of the major concerns in environmental ethics. This course will examine the major figures in the development of "animal theology" in Protestant and Catholic theology. It will also look back to Christian Scripture and classical figures in the Christian tradition, and raise questions as to whether, and if so to what extent, the development of "animal theology" is either a departure from Christian tradition and/or a development within it. Issues in the course will include issues such as intensive agriculture (factory farming), the genetic modification of animals, zoos, pets, vegetarianism and veganism, and a variety of other issues that arise from human interaction with or concern for the well-being of non-human animals.

This course will introduce and practice general principles and dynamics of spiritual direction in the tgnatian Tradition. In service of the immediate preparation for the year-long practicum in spiritual direction under supervision, this course is designed to assist the student/director to discover, practice and develop attitudes and behaviors central to the practice of splrltual direction. Appropriation of course materials will be facilitated through lecture, in-class demonstration, practice, reflection on in-class observation and practice. The Practicum continues the on-going mutual discernment process between the student and faculty that spans the duration of the Diploma in Spiritual Direction.

Encounters between Christian and Hindu traditions have taken many forms: the early establishment of the St. Thomas Christian community, Christian missions to India and colonization, Hindu emissaries to the West, and communal conflicts following Indian independence. In this course, students will become familiar with features of Hindu traditions, the history of this engagement, and the spiritual, theological, and ethical dimensions of current relations.

This course will examine how the Bible has been read, interpreted, and proclaimed by women beginning with the period of the early church and including the writings of medieval visionaries, renaissance exegetes and continuing into the modern and post-modern periods. Women’s interpretations of the Bible will be examined with a view to recovering women’s readings and counter-readings of biblical texts and raising relevant methodological and hermeneutical questions for modern readers. We will particularly focus particularly on women’s interpretations of Genesis 1-3 and Pauline texts.

This course will examine how the Bible has been read, interpreted, and proclaimed by women beginning with the period of the early church and including the writings of medieval visionaries, renaissance exegetes and continuing into the modern and post-modern periods. Women’s interpretations of the Bible will be examined with a view to recovering women’s readings and counter-readings of biblical texts and raising relevant methodological and hermeneutical questions for modern readers. We will particularly focus particularly on women’s interpretations of Genesis 1-3 and Pauline texts.

The course will introduce students to the text of 1 Corinthians and to issues surrounding its interpretation. These will include exploration of the social context of the Corinthian church and the nature of the divisions within it, the problems of communal behavior and belief to which Paul responds, and the theological perspectives and convictions that shape his instructions and advice. Particular attention will be paid (i) to a diverse range of scholarly approaches to interpreting 1 Corinthians, (ii) to questions concerning the contemporary application of 1 Corinthians, and, above all, (iii) to questions of ecclesial and social identity and ethics. The nature of the church, its common life, and its relationship with Greco-Roman society will provide the principal focus of the class. This course aims to assist students in apprehending the distinctive contribution of 1 Corinthians to reflection upon the nature of the Christian church and the relevance of 1 Corinthians in contemporary contexts.