CTH 110 | THE CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An introductory course surveying the range of traditions that have emerged within the Christian movement, and offering an historical perspective on the life and thought of Christian communities, and their prospects for the future. Cross-listed as REL 110.
CTH 180 | INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLICISM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An examination of the breadth of the Catholic experience from a 1st-century Jewish religious movement to a 21st-century global religion.
CTH 181 | INTRODUCTION TO WORLD CATHOLICISM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the Roman Catholic tradition in its global dimensions, specifically the implications of the shift of the majority of Catholics from the global North to the global South--Africa, Asia, and Latin America--over the course of the twentieth century. The course explores such themes as the expansion of Catholicism in Africa and Asia, the decline of Catholicism in Latin America, European missionary movements in the South, the adaptation of Catholicism to African and Asian and Latin American cultures, Catholic politics in the South, and different images of Christ in poor countries. This course will adopt a multidisciplinary approach to these questions, using history, theology, literature, sociology, and art.
CTH 182 | THE LATINO RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An examination of the diverse nature of Latino religion, from its indigenous roots to its institutional forms, within the social and political context of American culture. Cross-listed with REL 113.
CTH 183 | THEMES IN CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An initial, systematic examination of major themes in modern Catholic social thought. Cross-listed as REL 183.
CTH 190 | METHODS OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will survey methods of biblical interpretation. Literary, historical, cultural, and theological methodologies will be studied and applied to Old and New Testament texts.
CTH 202 | CATHOLICS AND SCRIPTURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course serves as an introduction to the content of the Old and New Testaments and to Catholic ways of reading Scripture. The course will cover, for example, passages from Genesis, Exodus, the historical writings, the prophets, the Gospels, and the letters of Paul. The course will also treat questions of canon, interpretation, and the relation of Scripture to tradition. Formerly CTH/REL 190 Catholicism and Biblical Interpretation/Interpreting Sacred Texts.
CTH 203 | WHAT CATHOLICS BELIEVE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will cover the basic elements of Catholic belief, following the pattern of the Nicene Creed. The course will deal with God, Jesus Christ, salvation, the Holy Spirit, the Church, sacraments, and the afterlife, as these ideas have been discussed and debated in classical, modern, and contemporary periods.
CTH 205 | CATHOLICISM IN WORLD HISTORY I: JESUS TO 1500 | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of the development of the Catholic Church from the time of Jesus to the Renaissance. Religious movements, piety and art as well as theology and ecclesiastical history will be examined. Cross-listed as REL 213 and HST 261.
CTH 206 | CATHOLICISM IN WORLD HISTORY II:MODERN & POST-MODERN TIMES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of the development of Catholicism since 1500 exploring the Catholic Reformation, Catholicism's encounter with the Enlightenment, the missionary movement and the Catholic Church in the United States. Cross-listed with REL 214 and HST 262.
CTH 209 | THEORIES OF THE CHURCH: CONCEPTS AND CONTROVERSIES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Introduction to several ecclesiologies that co-exist in Catholicism. Both historical and contemporary ecclesiologies will be considered. Cross-listed as PSC 335.
CTH 210 | CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will introduce students both to the development of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and the lived witness of social engagement by a variety of Catholics in varied contexts. The course will cover texts essential to the foundations of CST. Witnesses who embody, challenge and contribute to Catholic Social Teaching may also be explored. Some sections will study CST with a specific focus, such as the Catholic Church's involvement in global healthcare or Catholicism's role in public life within a particular culture.
CTH 212 | ANCIENT ISRAEL: HISTORY, LITERATURE AND RELIGION | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
The development of Judaism from Moses to the Rabbinic era with special attention to social and historical questions. Cross-listed with REL 232.
CTH 213 | THE NEW TESTAMENT | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A critical investigation of the New Testament. Topics include the earliest Christian writings (letters of Paul), the production of "gospels" about Jesus, and the development of early churches in the context of ancient history and society. Cross-listed with REL 233.
CTH 214 | THE HISTORICAL JESUS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An investigation of the early Christian Gospels and other sources for reconstructing the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The relation of historical reconstruction and religious interpretation, and the significance of conflicting interpretations of Jesus, will also be considered. Cross-listed as REL 238.
CTH 215 | VARIETIES OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An examination of multicultural diversity in early Christianity through a study of materials excluded from the New Testament canon; Christian apologists defending the church against pagan intellectuals and Roman imperial magistrates; comparisons of early Christian fiction and ancient Greek novels; and an examination of Gnostic writings. Cross-listed as REL 234.
CTH 218 | THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course is an introduction to the major stories and literary genres of the Bible, e.g. myths, poems, parables, gospels, letters.
CTH 220 | EARLY CATHOLIC HISTORY: ORIGINS AND EXPANSION | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course is an introduction to the history of the Catholic Church and the evolution of Christian thought and practices, from the early Church to the thirteenth century. The course will cover the emergence of Christian communities throughout the Near East, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and study these communities in their cultural, social, and political contexts through foundational texts and works of art. Main topics: The Early Church; Councils and Heresies; Missions in Northern Europe; Charlemagne, Carolingians and a new Roman Empire; Monasticism; Eastern Orthodoxy; Christianity and Islam (the Age of the Crusades); the Mystical Tradition; the Investiture Controversy. Cross-listed with REL 206 and HST 218.
CTH 221 | CATHOLIC HISTORY FROM MEDIEVAL TO MODERN: REFORM AND REVOLUTION | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course provides an overview of the history of Catholicism and its interactions with political and social history from 1200 to the French Revolution. The main topics of the class are the origin of the Universities and Scholasticism; St. Francis and St. Dominic and their impact on Medieval Society; the Challenges to Papal Monarchy; Humanism and Erasmus; the impact of the Reformation; the Council of Trent; the geographic discoveries of the New World; the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution; the Catholic Church and the French Revolution. Cross-listed with REL 207 and HST 219.
CTH 222 | CATHOLICISM IN THE MODERN AGE: SECULAR AND SACRED | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will offer a survey of the political, cultural and intellectual history of the Catholic Church from 1789 through the early twenty-first century. It will include discussions of the Catholic Church in relation to the French Revolution; the Catholic Church and the formation of modern nation-states (including, inter alia, the unification of Italy and the German Kulturkampf); the relation between the Church and Liberalism; intellectual movements like theological Modernism and ressourcement theology; the First Vatican Council; the Church, Fascism and Communism; the Second Vatican Council; the Emergence of a Global Church, Latin American Liberation Theology, and more. Cross-listed with REL 208 and HST 220.
CTH 223 | THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A detailed exploration of the history, issues, personalities, theologies and results of Vatican II studied against the backdrop of modernity and post-modernity.
CTH 226 | ROMAN CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL LITERATURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of the foundational religious experiences that underlie the Roman Catholic tradition, of the narratives they generate, and of their representations in various media such as poetry, music, myths, sacred legends and apologetic stories.
CTH 228 | MEDIEVAL MYSTICS IN EUROPE: 1000-1600 A.D. | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
The evolution of theories and experiences of human union with God, and of varied Christian spiritual paths and practices as described in mystical literature, saint's lives, religious art and music. Emphasis on the monastic, urban and courtly institutional context of the documents. Cross-listed with HST 213.
CTH 229 | CATHOLICISM AS A SPIRITUAL PATH | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An experience-centered study of the relationship between contemplation and action, prayer and service, liturgy and social justice, personal religious experience and the wider experience of Catholics. Both historical as well as contemporary spiritualities will be explored. Cross-listed as REL 284.
CTH 230 | THINKING ABOUT GOD | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course centers on the question of the relationship between reason and faith, between as it were "thinking" and "God." According to the Catholic tradition, reason's search for wisdom initiated by such classical thinkers as Plato and Aristotle is fulfilled in Christian faith. As such, it regards philosophy "as a mode of reflection that holds God as the source of all being and action and brings multiple disciplines together into a lived synthesis" (Vision Statement, Department of Catholic Studies). This holistic vision entails theses regarding the character of reason as open to theology and faith as an extension of reason. It entails the Christian doctrines of the Logos, the Trinity, revelation, and sin. It requires careful considerations of the human person's powers of intellect and will. It extends to considerations of the relationship between the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity that in turn extend to all of the moral life. And it must offer an account of reasonableness that begins to answer the challenges of Nominalism, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and postmodernity. Possible topics of a more interdisciplinary nature include the public/private distinction, the compatibility of science and religion, and the validity of truth claims in a pluralistic world.
CTH 231 | ROMAN CATHOLIC LITURGY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of the emergence, meaning and dynamics of community, and of the interaction between community and ritual in the Roman Catholic tradition. Cross-listed as REL 281.
CTH 233 | LA MORENITA DE CHICAGO: FAITH, CULTURE AND IDENTITY IN MEXICAN CATHOLICISM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
The course will enable the students to "read" the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in distinct contexts, especially in the light of the struggle of the Mexican Catholic community in Chicago and will allow them to think and write about the image of la Morenita de Chicago (an affectionate term used by Mexican-Americans to refer to the image that literally translates as "the brown-skinned woman of Chicago"). The learning process will lead to an integration of varied personal experiences, guided theological reflection, and the common study of history, art, culture, and politics.
CTH 238 | ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of selected thinkers and issues from ancient Greece. Cross-listed with PHL 293.
CTH 239 | MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of selected thinkers and issues from the Medieval period. Cross-listed as PHL 294.
(PHL 100 or HON 105 or any 200-level PHL course) is a prerequisite for this class.
CTH 240 | TOPICS IN CATHOLIC THOUGHT | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of selected topics and controversies.
CTH 241 | VIRTUE ETHICS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
The intellectual framework for this course is a rich strand in the Catholic moral tradition called virtue ethics. Virtue ethics begins with the universal human question: how can I be happy? Its answer is in part the diverse activities that make up happiness called virtues. This course focuses on primary sources.
CTH 243 | ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL THINKING | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of the Roman Catholic tradition of "faith seeking understanding" examining the content and the process of emergence of Catholic beliefs about such matters as God, sin, Jesus Christ, revelation, the church and eschatology. Cross-listed with REL 280.
CTH 244 | DEBATES ABOUT GOD | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of classical and contemporary arguments regarding the existence and meaning of "God" as developed in a variety of theistic traditions. Cross-listed as REL 200.
CTH 246 | INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIAN ETHICS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course is an introductory study of the basic themes of Christian ethics. Particular attention will be paid to the Roman Catholic moral tradition, including such topics as the virtues, the natural law, moral decision-making and narrative. Cross-listed as REL 201.
CTH 247 | ROMAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT IN CONTEXT | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of Roman Catholicism's understanding of its relation to the social world, including such matters as the relation between Church and state, and the moral authority of the Church, and of its teaching on such issues as social ethics, politics and economics. Cross-listed with REL 283.
CTH 248 | CONTEMPORARY MORAL ISSUES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of the relations between religious beliefs and moral action to be carried out through an examination of the ethical and moral response of Catholicism to selected moral issues such as war and peace, sexual behavior, etc.
CTH 249 | NATURE, COSMOS AND GOD: CATHOLICISM AND SCIENCE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A constructive correlation of Catholic thought and contemporary scientific theory about the origins and development of the universe. Modern and contemporary cosmologies will be put into dialogue with Christology, Trinity and Incarnation. A particular concern will be today's environmental crisis and an authentically Christian response.
CTH 250 | ART IN THE SPANISH AMERICAN EMPIRE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course offers a critical survey of the art of colonial Latin America (circa 1520s-1820s), from the Caribbean to Mexico, Central America, and South America. Framed by the Spanish Conquest of the 16th century and Independence in the early 19th century, lectures will survey state-sanctioned arts of the Iberian colonizers, including the foundations of the Catholic Church across the "New World" landscape. Race will be a frequent issue of discussion as we consider both indigenous American and African participation in social realities and artistic practice in this colonial context. Cross-listed with HAA 246 and LST 246.
CTH 251 | CATHOLIC THEMES IN CONTEMPORARY CINEMA | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will explore and examine the interaction of Catholic themes, symbols, and images through Hollywood and foreign films. Students are required to analyze films outside of class, give oral presentations, and compose papers on selected films. Cross-listed with MOL 319.
CTH 252 | BYZANTINE ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will explore the art of the Byzantine Empire from the founding of Constantinople in A.D. 330 to the fall of the city to the Ottomans in 1453. Lectures and readings will primarily focus on how contemporaries understood and interacted with a diverse group of monuments and objects now classified as Byzantine art. Significant attention will be devoted to how works of art functioned in the service of imperial and ecclesiastical ideology. Discussions will analyze how Byzantine art was appreciated and appropriated in both the medieval Mediterranean and in modern scholarship. Cross-listed with HAA 234.
CTH 253 | CONQUEST AND CONVERSION: THE ART OF THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course explores the art of the Medieval period from a broad range of cultures: Early Christian, Byzantine, Islamic, Carolingian, and Ottonian. We will discuss major stylistic trends and explore the relationship between art, culture, and religion. Works of art will be evaluated in terms of their social functions in the societies that produced them and our analysis will incorporate the perspectives of both the producers (patrons, artists) and consumers of art. Cross-listed as HAA 231.
CTH 254 | THE AGE OF CATHEDRALS: THE ART OF THE LATER MIDDLE AGES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will explore the art of the late Medieval period from a broad range of cultures and styles: Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, and Islamic. We will discuss major stylistic trends and explore the relationship between art, culture, and religion. Works of art will be evaluated in terms of their social functions in the societies that produced them and our analysis will incorporate the perspectives of both the producers (patrons, artists) and consumers of art. Cross-listed as HAA 232.
CTH 255 | ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A survey of the principal works of architecture, sculpture, painting and the industrial arts created in the Mediterranean basin and in Europe from the Byzantine through the Gothic age.
CTH 256 | ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course provides an overview of the history of Italian Renaissance art and architecture in Italy's primary centers of artistic production. Cross-listed as HAA 237.
CTH 257 | BAROQUE ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Starting in 1600, from the vantage point of the Counter-Reformation and the rise of modern European states, Baroque Art covers the principal works of art & architecture; artists and patrons; and a wide sweep of social, religious, and political, conditions that impacted cultural thinking and production in the 17th century. Attention is focused on the most prominent artistic centers in Italy, the Spanish Netherlands, England, Spain, the Dutch Republic, and France. The in-class lectures with discussion are accompanied by field work to the Baroque collections of the Art Institute of Chicago. Cross-listed as HAA 238.
CTH 258 | NORTHERN RENAISSANCE ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course features the most significant works of art, their artists & patrons, the social and economic aspects of artistic production, and the dominant cultural issues that flowed brilliantly in Northern Europe - above all, in France, the Netherlands, Bohemia, and German-speaking lands - between 1300 and 1600, during the volatile period of the Renaissance and the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation. Although Flemish oil painting offers the most evident legacy of the Northern Renaissance to the casual museum visitor, this course also introduces the most important outputs in printmaking, sculpture, and the industrial arts, as in tapestry weaving and the fabrication of luxury articles in metalwork. Cross-listed with HAA 236.
CTH 260 | ART, LITURGY AND LIFE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This class examines how beauty and its antithesis, ugliness, permeate Catholic life and thought. Students will be introduced to the topic by considering examples from a variety of media, including ritual, painting, sculpture, architecture, crafts, and mural art. The students will learn not only how works of art accompany the performance and celebration of worship but also how Christians have learned to discern the living presence of the incarnate form of the divine Word within both art and liturgy. This course will demonstrate with concrete examples how art in Catholicism is the nexus that joins spirituality and liturgy. Theoretical orientation can be gleaned from the Christian theological tradition (St. Augustine, Hans Urs von Balthasar), Christian aesthetic theory (Jacques Maritain, Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, or Alejandro Garcia Rivera), liturgical reformers (Odo Cassel, Louis Bouyer, or Virgil Michel), or the document of Vatican II on liturgy, namely, Sacrosanctum Concilium.
CTH 261 | CATHOLIC FAITH AND MUSICAL EXPRESSION | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An investigation of the relationship between Catholic life and music. The development of Catholic service music (masses, canticles, hymns, motets, etc.) as well as religious choral works may be studied.
CTH 264 | CATHOLICISM AND LITERATURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Christianity claims that the Word of God became flesh in a human being. It also claims that the story of this human being is found in a book, and that a specific community has protected the proper interpretation of this book. Whatever else Christianity is, it is a history of people telling stories. In this course, we will examine six different genres that Christians have used to tell their story. These are: criticism, gospel, poem, memoir, novel, and short story. The course will introduce students both to different types of literary genres and to essential ideas in Christian theology. These ideas include: prayer, conversion, sacraments, and the like.
CTH 265 | LITERATURE AND THE SACRED | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
How human beings across cultures express their intimations of ultimate meaning in a variety of genres ranging from aphorisms and autobiographies to mythic and fictional narratives. Cross-listed with REL 223.
CTH 266 | CONTEMPORARY SPIRITUAL MEMOIRS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Religious faith is not simply a matter of doctrine or abstract ideas. It is a way of life. In this course, we will examine how five authors describe their own faith -- its joys, its struggles, and how it shapes their own lives. We will read selections from memoirs by Thomas Merton, Flannery O'Connor, Kaya Oakes, Amy Andrews and Jessica Griffith, and Richard Rodriguez.
CTH 270 | JESUS ACROSS CULTURES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of the multiple and diverse (primarily theological, but also literary, artistic and philosophical) historical and contemporary images of Jesus, as a way of understanding the diversity of the Christian tradition and its impacts on society, and of understanding the issue of plurality or diversity itself in religious traditions. Cross-listed with REL 273.
CTH 271 | ROMAN CATHOLICISM'S ENCOUNTER WITH OTHER RELIGIONS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of how Roman Catholicism understands and responds to other religious traditions, other ways of being religious, and how the encounter with those other traditions affects Roman Catholicism's understanding of itself and its teachings. Cross-listed with REL 285.
CTH 273 | HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE U.S. | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course traces the developments of the Catholic Church from the missionary enterprise to the position of a major social, political and economic institution. The course will examine the manner in which the hierarchical institution of the Catholic Church has related to the Liberal ideal of American Democracy. Cross-listed with HST 243.
CTH 274 | IRELAND: RELIGION AND THE CONTEMPORARY "TROUBLES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An examination of the role of two Christian denominations (Protestant and Roman Catholic) in the more recent "Troubles" in the north of Ireland. Attempts to discover the contributions of religious differences in fueling and resolving the animosities between the Unionist and Republican sides; studies the social-historical dimension of the troubles and the Protestant and Catholic religious activities and official responses to them. Cross-listed with IRE 103.
CTH 275 | MEDIEVAL PEOPLE: 400 TO 1400 A.D. | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
The important components of European society during the Middle Ages, including rulers, knights, and peasants, churchmen and nuns, urban merchants, intellectuals, and artisans. Who were these Medieval people, what differentiated them, how did they interact with each other, and how and why did these interactions change over time? Cross-listed with HST 171.
CTH 276 | CATHOLICISM IN AFRICA | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will study African Catholicism: (1) as a religious heritage dating back to the first century, reaching its climax in the conquest of Alexandria and the entrenchment of the Roman Empire in Africa; (2) as a cross-cultural and socio-political movement which has affected and changed Africa through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Colonialism, Western Missionary activities in Africa, Western education and the integration of Africa into global Christianity and World Catholicism; (3) as an unique and contemporary African Christian religious movement with her own identity, mission, and character which is redefining the future of Christianity beyond the African continent. Key themes: African church history, African spirituality, African Traditional Religions and cultures, African ecology, church and development in Africa, biblical and Pentecostal movements in Africa; religion and peace, religion and social transformation in Africa.
CTH 279 | CATHOLICISM AND THE FAMILY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An historical and theological study of the family in Catholic life and thought. Images of family life in contemporary film and literature will be given special consideration.
CTH 280 | RELIGION AND EDUCATION IN WESTERN CULTURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of the relationship between Catholicism and education in Western culture. The historical relationship between Catholic faith and educational institutions will be studied. A major part of the course will explore the theological meaning of education with special attention to the issues of freedom and indoctrination, moral education, authorities in education and issues of the modern Western university.
CTH 282 | GOD, JUSTICE AND REDEMPTIVE ACTION | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A practicum and seminar combining student participation in social outreach programs with an examination of the theological and ethical issues raised therein. Students will volunteer at a field site for the quarter.
CTH 288 | IRELAND, 1450-1800, CONQUEST, COLONIZATION & REBELLION | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course offers a survey of Irish history from the end of the middle ages to the union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1800. It traces the ways in which Ireland was brought under great English (later British) control through processes of agreement, conquest and colonization; and the ways in which various groups within Ireland sought to resist such developments. Cross-listed with HST 266 and IRE 101.
CTH 289 | IRELAND, 1800 - 2000 | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Survey of Irish history from 1800 to 2000. Examines the course of Irish history from the Act of Union (creating the United Kingdom), through the struggles and reforms of the 19th century (Catholic Emancipation, the Famine and Irish diaspora, Fenianism, Land Reform and Home Rule), to the creation of the modern nation-state of the 20th century (the Easter Rising, partition and civil war, the role of Eamon deValera, the Republic, and the Troubles). Topics include the contributions of Irish culture and its influence in Europe and the world. Cross-listed with HST 268 and IRE 102.
CTH 290 | THE LIFE AND TIMES OF VINCENT DE PAUL | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of Vincent de Paul in his cultural and religious context.
CTH 291 | VINCENT DE PAUL AND HIS WORLD | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course has four objectives: 1. To separate the Vincent of "myth"from the Vincent of "history." The "person" Vincent de Paul from the "saint." 2. Contextualize Vincent de Paul within his 17th century world. 3. Recover the role of Louise de Marillac and women in founding the Vincentian tradition. 4. Explore the re-contextualization of Vincent de Paul for the 21st century.
CTH 292 | WOMEN AND SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
The changing roles of women in 17th century France, the importance of women in Vincent de Paul's life, the key relationships of Vincent with Madame de Gondi, Jane de Chantel and Louise de Marillac will be studied in depth. The flowering of Vincent's new conception of possibilities for women in the Ladies of Charity, the Daughters of Charity and other groups of women will be explored.
CTH 293 | NOTABLE VINCENTIAN WOMEN | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An historical study of the Vincentian charism and how notable women embraced the Vincentian mission in roles of service as wives, mothers, widows, educators, nurses, spiritual leaders, and advocates for those who are poor. Among such women are Louise de Marillac, Elizabeth Bayley Seton, Rosalie Rendu, etc.
CTH 294 | THE ART OF CRUSADING | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course focuses on the Crusades. More specifically, it focuses on the world within which the Crusades were born and the Levantine kingdom built as a result of their initial success. Our study will depend on primary artistic, literary, and archaeological materials, as well as the secondary scholarship that has identified and interpreted these materials. Our understanding of this historical moment will be nuanced by the questions we ask of both. The payoff will be an appreciation for the religious, social, political, and artistic forces that defined the twelfth and thirteen centuries in Europe and in the Mediterranean basin, leading as they did to such fascinating phenomena as pilgrimage, the cult of relics, chivalry, holy war, the rise of military orders, and the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem itself. Cross-listed with HAA 233 and HST 211.
CTH 295 | OZANAM: A VINCENTIAN LIFE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Catholics have an outstanding experience of social justice and action. For years they have advocated for a fairer economy and reduction of inequalities. In the context of Covid-19 crisis, Pope Francis called again for solidarity and debt relief for poor nations (April 2020). Lay and religious Vincentians have actively contributed to this reflection. Frederic Ozanam (1813-1853) is one of the most famous. Romantic, writer, historian and economist, politician, journalist, traveler, warm friend, passionately in love of his family, he founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul when he was a student. It is now a charity of 800,000 members in one hundred countries, including the USA. This course will explore the brief but rich life of a man who faced a divided society, and look at how his legacy is relevant for us. It will encourage students to look for parallels between past and present situations, to discover other Vincentians (men and women) and practices oriented to social justice and action. The course is based on lectures, readings, videos, Vincentian materials, interviews, and presentations.
CTH 336 | THEORIES OF INTERPRETATION | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Philosophical hermeneutics and biblical interpretation. Cross-listed with PHL 355.
CTH 337 | GREEK AND MEDIEVAL THOUGHT | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of selected thinkers and issues from the ancient Greek and Medieval periods.
CTH 338 | EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of some of the main philosophers and philosophical movements from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Cross-listed as PHL 295.
CTH 339 | PHILOSOPHY SINCE KANT | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of some of the most influential thinkers of the last 150 years.
CTH 341 | LIBERATION THEOLOGY: THEORY AND PRACTICE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Focuses upon the ideas and practices of a radical movement for the transformation of Christianity and for social justice that originated in the "Basic Christian Communities" of Latin America and spread from there to North America and the Third World. Cross-listed as REL 351 and PAX 331.
CTH 350 | LOVE IN THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Christians claim that "God is love" (1 John 4:8). In this course, we will examine representative texts in the Christian tradition that try to understand what it could mean to say that God is love. We will read texts from the Bible through the early, medieval, modern, and contemporary Church. These texts will include works of theology, philosophy, and literature.
CTH 354 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN CATHOLIC THOUGHT | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Special topics in Catholic Thought; see schedule for current offerings.
CTH 369 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN THE ART, MUSIC AND LITERATURE OF CATHOLICISM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Special topics in the Art, Music and Literature of Catholicism; see schedule for current offerings.
CTH 382 | GOD, JUSTICE AND REDEMPTIVE ACTION I | 2 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A practicum and seminar combining student participation in social outreach programs with an examination of the theological and ethical issues raised therein. Students will volunteer at a field site for the quarter.
CTH 383 | GOD, JUSTICE, AND REDEMPTIVE ACTION II | 2 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A practicum and seminar combining student participation in social outreach programs with an examination of the theological and ethical issues raised therein. Students will volunteer at a field site for the quarter.
CTH 386 | THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN WORLD POLITICS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Catholicism as it affects (and is affected by) world politics. Various topics might include war and peace, global economy, immigration, nationalism, etc. Cross-listed with PSC 345.
CTH 389 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN THE SOCIAL DIMENSION OF CATHOLICISM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
SPECIAL TOPICS IN THE SOCIAL DIMENSION OF CATHOLICISM.
CTH 391 | VINCENT DEPAUL: THE MAN AND THE SAINT | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
In this course, students will study St. Vincent de Paul in his cultural and religious context, including a trip to Vincentian locations in France. Students will reflect upon their time abroad, linking their experiential activity to a detailed academic exploration of St. Vincent's life.
CTH 397 | INTERNSHIP | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
INTERNSHIP.
CTH 398 | SENIOR SEMINAR | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
SENIOR SEMINAR.
CTH 399 | ADVANCED STUDY | 1-6 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Independent Study.