300
An exploration of the encounter between Church and culture. This course considers convergences and divergences between a Catholic understanding of truth and goodness and other culturally mediated understandings. The course studies the mystery of the Church, the concept of culture itself, and the role of Church and culture in mediating what is true and good within and through the vast array of cultures. We will then explore these ideas through a look at biblical cultural encounters, Jewish-Catholic historical relations, Catholic-Islamic relations in Algeria, Jesuit missions to China, Japan, and North America, and Black Catholicism in the US.
Continues the exploration of goodness begun in
CATH 206 through the study of lives of the Saints. The lives of the Saints present extraordinary examples of Christian life lived out in goodness and beauty, often in the face of personal and social challenges of their culture and time. The course will consider the saint's (or saints') achievements both in terms of their intellectual and cultural significance, and of their significance to Catholic history and the development of the Catholic understanding of the possibilities of grace and freedom. This course can be repeated for credit if the course topic of additional courses differs from the first course taken; by approval of the program director.
A concentrated study of Catholic contributions to intellectual and artistic life. This course will study one or more distinct areas of intellectual endeavor (such as art or music of a specific period, the history of philosophy, theological developments, literature), considered both in terms of its own goals and methodology, and as expressions of the grace of the Christian vocation. This course can be repeated for credit if the course topic of additional courses differs from the first course taken; by approval of the program director.
Special Topics courses include ad-hoc courses on v