Course Catalogue 2025-2026

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Hebrews and the General Epistles, and the reception thereof, have contributed significantly to the development of Christian thought and practice. Due to the emphasis placed upon Paul in recent centuries however, there has been a tendency to neglect these works. This course will consider these works, situating them within their time and place, and also consider what significance they might hold for Christian thought and practice in the contemporary world.

The last book of the Christian biblical canon, the Book of Revelation is often talked about but less often read. It has inspired and continues to inspire a range of persons and groups, from fringe religious movements through to artistic and intellectual titans. This course will consider the Book of Revelation in its own rights, situating it within its time and place, and also consider what it might mean for Christian thought and practice in the contemporary world.

How does pragmatism's central tenet that the meaning and worth of ideas lies in their practical consequences comport with religious forms of life and the understandings of morality they fund? Does pragmatism's suspicion regarding traditional "supernaturalist" theologies leave any space to think alternatively about God and the human relationsip with God? What role do pragmatists see for religion in a democratic society, if any? In addressing these questions, this seminar will focus on the work of John Dewey, Richard Rorty, and Jeffrey Stout.

This course seeks to reinforce and expand the musical capability of pastoral leaders in enlivening worship. This course will delve into the liturgical practice of song leadership surrounding the genre of global hymnody and contemporary worship songs. Broader concerns on theological implications and liturgical context of these materials will be explored.

The work of Ludwig Wittgenstein has been highly influential on many of the most important theologians of the last two generations. His work has also been influential on moral philosophers and moral theologians. This course in theological ethics will examine both the work of Wittgenstein himself, and those he has influenced, on a variety of the central questions for contemporary theological ethics. Key authors to be studied include Elizabeth Anscombe, Herbert McCabe, Fergus Kerr, Rowan Williams, Cora Diamond, and Stephen Mulhall. Topics to be discussed will include questions of intention and the problem of act-description, the nature of human flourishing, questions of analogy, and the nature of theological claims in relation to the moral life.

This unit explores lgnatian mystical spirituality as a resource for the construction of religious narratives that contribute to intentional, social transformation in a post-secular context. Drawing principally on the lgnatian appropriation of monastic adaptation of rhetoric in the practice of mental prayer and the narrative theory of Paul Ricoeur, the course engages contemporary social theory to address issues of racism and other forms of systematic injustice. Students develop a transdisciplinary approach to ecological, social, cultural and ecclesial reconciliation. They also develop an understanding of the evolution of a religious and cultural recognition of the autonomous rights of indigenous peoples. Elements of recognition theory and transitional justice are introduced through a discussion of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools. Authors include: Marie Battiste, Judith Butler, Glen Sean Coulthard, Cynthia Crysdale, Nancy Fraser, Priscilla Hayner, Axel Honneth, Bernard Lonergan, Ronald Niezen, Paul Ricoeur, and Charles Taylor.

Due to anthropogenic climate change and associated dynamics, the human species now threatens Earth’s capacity to sustain life as we know it. Climate change, loss of biodiversity and deterioration of eco-system intersect with various forms of social injustice based on race/ethnicity, class, gender, nationality, caste, and geographical divides. This course in ecological ethics asks, “What is the theological ethics we need for such a time like this?” How may we articulate an earth-honoring, justice-seeking ethics? In responses the course explores various ways of 'doing' ecological ethics, with special attention to feminist/womanist and decolonial approaches.