Courses Offered

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.

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 visual 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 from early Christian churches, religious symbology, religious Mexican street art and contemporary sculptures. And we will listen to a variety of religiously inspired music such as Gregorian chants, Mozart, 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 cultivate a differentiated awareness of how one’s spiritual life and aesthetic experience intersect; and to articulate one’s own perspectives in dialogue with the course readings and material presented in class.

Class attendance and participation, class readings (2-3 hours per week), one written assignment, one class presentation, and the final oral exam.

35% research essay, 8-9 pages

35% class presentation, 15 minutes

30% final exam, oral 15 minutes

Assigned articles to be specified in the class syllabus, available on Brightspace course site.

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.  We will be using standardized patient cases in order to ground our discussions in the clinical reality.

1. To become familiar with what ethics and bioethics are as well as the contribution of theology to bioethics
2. To raise awareness of the complexity of some of the more controversial issues in bioethics.
3. To become familiar with a principle based framework for ethical decision making and the skills in analyzing ethical dilemmas.
4. To become aware of the role that feelings might play in the resolution of ethical issues.
5. To understand the impact that ethical challenges in the clinical setting have on the human subject's desire for authenticity and self-transcendence.

Class attendance, weekly readings, two written assignments and the final exam

Participation (readings and discussion):                                                                 20%

Two written reflection papers: (5-7 pages)                                                             2 x 25% each

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.

Final take-home exam: (7-10 pages)                                                                                    30%

A personal reflection to allow for an intellectual integration of the Course materials and the impact of ethical decision making in Healthcare on the human subject

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

A Primer for Health Care Ethics.  Ethics for a Pluralistic Society. Second Edition. Kevin  O’Rourke. Georgetown University Press. 2000. Washington

Recommended Text:

The Cambridge Textbook of Bioethics. Edited by Peter A. Singer and A.M. Viens.  Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2008.

This course is offered only online. Students must access the course in real time, as no classes will be recorded.

Ethics seems to be the quintessential domain of clear-headedness, where our feelings - our “passions“- seem to be less of a tool and more of a problem.  In most Western societies the gradual narrowing of a shared moral framework has rendered public discourse increasingly difficult and at times vulnerable to less honourable means of suasion.  We are also aware that our strange, inner world of feeling and response is inextricably tied to our sense of right and wrong, and that without our feelings we would seldom act for the good.  Passions such as anger, disgust, compassion, and psychological transference give shape to our solidarity and activism. With the help of theology and the social sciences, this course seeks to survey the complex relationship between passion - our inner life - and action.

Examiner ces trois problématiques contemporaines afin de mieux comprendre le vocabulaire inhérent à ces problématiques, leurs fondements philosophiques et idéologiques, leurs structures qui permettent leur existence et leur développement, ainsi que les conséquences futures pouvant nous affecter comme personne. Finalement, nous allons discuter et réfléchir sur les actions pouvant influencer leur évolution afin que le développement de la « personne » demeure toujours au centre des préoccupations de nos leaders politiques et économiques. Plus spécifiquement, nous discuterons des notions de « système de justice » et du Libéralisme, de démocratie et de populisme, du rôle de la religion dans la société canadienne, des différents enjeux liés à la paix et la guerre.

There is a famous saying of Isidore of Seville at the close of Antiquity that the person who claims to have read all of the works of Augustine of Hippo (354–430), the most influential theologian of the Ancient Church, is a liar. In this course we shall focus on only three of his works, but they are absolutely key to his influence: the Confessions, which recounts his personal pilgrimage and his early thinking about God; On the City of God, which details his response to the iconic sack of Rome in 410 and his theology of history; and On the Trinity, which sets forth his mature understanding of the revelation of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We shall also read some of his letters that help to round out the biography of Augustine. Augustine’s interaction with Scripture and his perspective on living coram Deo in each of these areas of thought is especially highlighted.

The objectives of the course are threefold:

•  To provide a detailed understanding of the life, theological perspectives and legacy of Augustine.
•  To learn how to read and appreciate an early Christian author and exegete like Augustine.
•  To develop an appreciation for the ongoing value of Augustinian theology and spirituality.

A study of some of the key authors of the Latin Christian tradition, their lives and historical context, their major writings (in translation) and their overall theological contribution to this tradition of Christian doctrine. Figures studied in the course will include Tertullian (fl.190–215), Perpetua (died 202), Cyprian (c.200–258), (c.250–c.325),Hilary of Poitiers (c.315–368), Monnica (c.331–387), Patrick (c.389–c.461), Gregory the Great (c.540–604), and Bede (672–735).

The objectives of the course are threefold:

• To provide a detailed understanding of some of the figures and events, theological perspectives and legacy of the Latin patristic tradition.
• To learn how to read and appreciate early Christian authors like those writing in the Latin-speaking Church.
• To develop an appreciation for the ongoing value of the theology and spirituality of the Latin patristic tradition.

The entirety of the final mark for the course consists of eight assignments.  

Students taking this course online will submit all eight assignments as post-course assignments. They must indicate that they have watched all of the recorded lectures when they mail the eight post-course assignments to the professor by August 31, 2019. The online students can watch the lectures via a login to the course in “real time” or watch them at a later period, but they need to have watched all of the recorded lectures by the time that they submit the post-course assignments.

The entirety of the final mark for the course consists of eight assignments.  

Students taking this course online will submit all eight assignments as post-course assignments. They must indicate that they have watched all of the recorded lectures when they mail the eight post-course assignments to the professor by August 31, 2019. The online students can watch the lectures via a login to the course in “real time” or watch them at a later period, but they need to have watched all of the recorded lectures by the time that they submit the post-course assignments.