Courses Offered

What is ethics? Introduction to the key ethical ideas that shape our lives. Ethical riches of the Christian tradition to understand ourselves and our responsibilities to other persons.

Regard sur le défi de la diversité religieuse, culturelle et sexuelle. Contexte canadien et globalisation. Approche féministe, la justice sociale, la libération, les religions et les cultures.

Drawing on the work of contemporary bioethicists, this course explores common ethical challenges faced by healthcare providers in the clinical setting and the impact that such challenges have on the human subject. These challenges will be discussed from within a theological framework, particularly as seen through the lens of Bernard Lonergan's work on the role that feelings and bias play in the human person's desire for authenticity and self-transcendence.

1. To raise awareness of the complexity of some of the more controversial issues in clinical ethics.

2. To become familiar with a principle based framework for ethical decision making and the skills in analyzing ethical dilemmas.

3. To become aware of the role that feelings might play in the resolution of ethical issues.

4. To understand the impact that ethical challenges in the clinical setting have on the human subject's desire for authenticity and self-transcendence.

Class Participation: 30%

Research Paper: 50% Choose a topic (a concrete issue) related to contemporary issues in medical bioethics and discuss the underlying concepts. Suggest a resolution to the issue using the principle based framework for ethical decision making.

Reflection Paper: 20% Final exam. A personal reflection to allow for an intellectual integration of the course materials and the impact of ethical decision making in health care on the human subject. (5-7 pages)

Required Texts:

Hebert, Philip. Doing Right. A Practical Guide to Ethics for Medical Trainees and Physicians. Second Edition. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Gregson, Vernon. Desires of the Human Heart. New York. Paulist Press, 1984

On Reserve:

Doran, Robert M., Theology and the Dialectics of History. Toronto. University of Toronto Press, 1990.

Lonergan, Bernard, S.J., Insight: A Study of Human Understanding, Volume 3 of Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan. Edited by Frederick E. Crowe and Robert M. Doran. Toronto. University of Toronto Press. 1992

Exploring the relationship between history and theology, methodologies of historical research. Survey of the historical evolution of Christianity from its beginnings to the end of the fifth century, with attention to early Christological debates.

The focus of this course is the enduring relationship between human experience and divine revelation within the Christian tradition. Beginning with God’s self-revelation in sacred scripture, we will explore the question of whether God self-reveals in other ways, such as art, music, poetry, and we will explore the human experience of such revelation through the framework of Christian theological aesthetics. Through key scholarly texts, religious artwork and music, we will explore the relationship between human experience and the god of the Christian faith. Examples will include ancient frescos found in early Christian churches, Church symbology and contemporary religious street art in Mexico. And we will listen to a variety of religiously inspired music such as Gregorian chants, Mozart, Native drumming, Kanye West, and U2.

Learning Outcomes for Students: to understand how aesthetic experience has shaped and continues to shape human understanding of the Christian god; to help students cultivate a differentiated awareness of how their spiritual life and aesthetic experience intersect; and to articulate their own perspectives in dialogue with the texts they read and material presented in class.

Class attendance and participation, class readings (3-5 hours per week), one short written assignment, one written assignment, and the final oral exam.

25%  article summary and critique (short paper)

45% written essay

30% final exam

Course reading selections will be posted on the Course site on Brightspace.

La Bible: un livre ou des livres? Histoire ou récit? Survol de l’histoire du peuple juif et de la culture qui a donné naissance à la Bible. Examen de la Bible et de son contenu. Lecture et interprétation de ce texte. L’événement Jésus. L’impact de la Bible sur l’histoire et sur la culture contemporaine.

Introducing the practice of spiritual discernment.  Discernment as art. The meaning and parameters of “interiority”. Basic principles for spiritual growth.  Schools or “types” of discernment systems.   The interplay of thought and feeling. The preconditions of theological formation, faith development, and psychological conditioning.  The role of images of God, Ignatian discernment and other “systems”, including from other Christian Traditions, religious experience, communal discernment, and “waiting” (hope and patience).   This course includes designated in-class times of prayer. 

Learning Outcomes for students include identifying and differentiating feeling; to help students to cultivate a differentiated awareness of their inner life; to articulate some of the challenges and limits in discernment; to articulate different systems of discernment in Catholic spiritual tradition; to help students to continue to develop the skills for their practice of discernment.

Class attendance and participation, class readings (anywhere from 10 to 35 pages each class), five 1-page reflection (single spaced), one written assignment (5-6 pages), and the final oral exam.  Students will also be encouraged to keep a prayer journal. 

5 one-page reflections     30% (5 x 6%)              

One written assignment:  30%                                        

Final exam (oral):            40%

Obligatory Texts

• Wilkie Au and Noreen Cannon Au, The Discerning Heart. (Mahwah, N.J., Paulist Press, 2006)
• Philip Sheldrake, Befriending Our Desires. Collegeville, MI, liturgical Press, 2016.
• Class readings (compilation available online at Brightspace).

Recommended Text

     Toner, J., A Commentary on St. Ignatius' Rules for the Discernment of Spirits. St. Louis, Missouri, The Institute                          of Jesuit Sources, 1982.

Étude de l’effort de l’être humain pour exprimer son expérience du sacré et nommer son sens d’un «au-delà». Survol des différentes formes prises par cette expression: émerveillement devant le cosmos et ses symboles, les récits fondateurs, les rituels. Signification de cet effort pour une compréhension de la quête de l’esprit humain et des tentatives d’élaboration d’un ordre dans la société et la communauté.

À partir d’une réflexion sur la mission de l’Église et de l’observation d’Églises en croissance dans le monde, ce cours offre des pistes théologiques et pratiques permettant aux paroisses de devenir missionnaires.  Les étudiants acquerront une meilleure connaissance de la mission de l’Église, de la théologie et de la pratique de l’évangélisation, du dialogue interreligieux, de la théologie du salut, du témoignage chrétien et du Mouvement pour la croissance de l’Église.