An intensive workshop on embodied and performative educational praxis. Combines hands-on training in “Theatre of the Oppressed” and other techniques of kinesthetic reflection / social analysis, with theological reflection on the meaning of “education” and “liberation.” Students will articulate their own theology of education; they will also generate a portfolio of annotated pedagogical techniques keyed to their present or future ministry/teaching environments.
What is Practical Theology and why should seminary / graduate students care? Paying attention to the messy and intersectional; honoring what we know in our bodies; investigating one's own educational setting; crafting more effective programs and interventions; expressing one's theology with greater artistry; getting a taste of the ministry arts; analyzing “practice” with philosophical rigor.
A methods course for doctoral students preparing to teach in academia and for masters students preparing to teach / lead Christian formation in classroom or workshop settings.
A consideration of Catholic ethical thought, as an expression of Christian ethics in history, regarding movements for peace and social justice in the contemporary world, with a particular focus on the Christian foundations of economic, racial and political movements for justice.
In this course, we will explore ways to teach the Bible critically, creatively and rigorously across the gamut of ministerial and academic settings. We will attend mainly, though not exclusively, to Old Testament texts. The focus will be on engaging “ordinary” readers (non-academics, non-religious-professionals) in compelling and dynamic ways.
“Theological Anthropology” studies what it means to be human from a religious – in this case, Christian – point of view. Catholic theologians in the Pragmatist tradition have defined conversion as the experience of “becoming responsible” on different levels: aesthetic, moral, intellectual, social, ecological, and religious.
This course is an introduction to fundamental theological issues including the dialectic between religion and modernity that has shaped our cultural heritage, and some of the ways that various cultures and individuals have confronted the pressing questions of meaning in human life. It includes comparisons with Judaism and with the values of neo-liberal economics through Pragmatist, rhetorical, and artistic conceptual lenses.