Course Descriptions & Archive

SEMESTER: Fall 2025

COURSE TITLE: Foundations of Old Testament Theology

COURSE NUMBER/SECTION:   THST 6000.01

TIMES/DAYS: T 6:00-8:30PM

INSTRUCTOR: Rosanna Lu

CORE/ELECTIVE: Core MA Theology and Core Pastoral Theology

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS
This graduate seminar on Old Testament Theology is a survey of the Old Testament with particular attention to contemporary issues in Old Testament theology. This course focuses on the development of ancient Israelite traditions as well as development of interpretations of the biblical text. Students will critically examine selected biblical texts representing issues of social, societal, political and theological concerns. Students will also critically engage with the biblical text in comparative consideration of contemporary conceptualizations of social justice, power dynamics and spirituality.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students who successfully complete this course will: (1) acquire basic familiarity with the content, context, and history of interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, (2) examine and critically evaluate the development of religious traditions throughout the span of ancient Israelite history, (3) develop skills in critical approaches to the study of the Old Testament, and (4) acquire basic familiarity with contemporary theological issues in relation to Old Testament studies.

PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND
None

REQUIRED TEXTS
1.    Bible – New Revised Standard Version
2.    David Carr, An Introduction to the Old Testament: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts of the Hebrew Bible
3.    Additional readings on Brightspace

COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS
1.    Readings – students are expected to complete all readings prior to each class session
2.    Participation – students are expected to lead and engage in discussion of readings and research
3.    Written assignments, research paper, and presentations

SEMESTER: FALL 2025
COURSE TITLE: Care of our Common Home
COURSE NUMBER/SECTION: THST 6035
TIMES/DAYS: W 4:30 – 7:00 PM. University Hall 3786, Hybrid Course 
INSTRUCTOR: Cecilia González-Andrieu, PhD.
CORE/ELECTIVE: Elective

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS

In 2015, Pope Francis addressed an Encyclical to the world titled Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home. This document, the fruit of lengthy consultation with climatologists, economists, scientists and theologians from the world’s major religions begins by expressing praise as the result of human gratitude when encountering wonder.  A substantial document of over 80 pages, Laudato Si repeatedly speaks about beauty and wonderment, pointing theologians to its best interpretive tool: an engaged and liberative theological cosmology based on the unity of aesthetics and ethics.  Spurred by the encyclical we explore the questions posed by the climate crisis in light of the Christian tradition.  Using a five-step methodology developed from theological aesthetics, Liberation and Feminist theologies and Ignatian spirituality, we journey through the course by studying, experiencing, and dreaming up, creative ways to extend the encyclical’s vision of Creation to our context so it may ably serve our communities of accountability.   

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students successfully engaged in this course will: a) Know the central contours of theological methodology incorporating multiple strands into a five -step process. b) Know and develop proficiency in engaging complex texts in environmentalism, ecological harm, theological cosmology and eco-theology. c) Be able to write well and present their findings orally. d) Be able to actively engage and reflect upon the complex work of wrestling with an ancient religious tradition as it engages robustly with urgent current issues. e) Extend their critical engagement with theological questions through the production of original theological thought in academic writing, participant observation and multimedia presentations.

PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND

This is a graduate seminar.

REQUIRED TEXTS
1.    Pope Francis, On Care for our Common Home, Laudato Si. Available online from the Vatican. Those who have Spanish proficiency are encouraged to read the Spanish text.
2.    John Muir, Spiritual Writings, Orbis Books, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-62698-035-8
3.    Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, Houghton Mifflin, Anniversary Edition, 2002, 978-0618249060.
4.    Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ. Creation and the Cross: The Mercy of God for a Planet in Peril, Orbis Books. ISBN: 978-1626983090
5.     Alejandro García-Rivera, The Garden of God: A Theological Cosmology, Fortress Press, 2009. 
ISBN: 978-0-8006-6358-2
6.    Other readings and materials will be made available through BRIGHTSPACE.

COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS

1. Reading: All assigned readings are due prior to the class meeting. 
2. Participation: In class discussions, presentations and processes, engaged field work outside of class with a non-profit organization involved in ecological justice.
3. Writing and presentations: Participation in discussion board, several short papers, oral presentations, field work and midterm multimedia report and a final research paper/project/presentation. 

SEMESTER:  FALL 2025

COURSE TITLE: Psychological Foundations in Spiritual Direction
COURSE NUMBER/SECTION:  THST 6053
TIMES/DAYS: Thursdays 7:20-9:50PM
INSTRUCTOR: William Roozeboom
CORE/ELECTIVE: Spiritual Direction Concentration

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS
This course explores the psychological facets of pastoral caregiving and ministry, particularly the ministry of spiritual direction as a helping relationship. Emphasis is placed on the skills and capacities necessary to cultivate safe and sacred space for effective ministry and spiritual direction. Such skills and capacities include: the basic ingredients of a helping process (warmth, genuineness, respect, curiosity, etc.), listening and communication skills, and, most importantly, self-awareness and self-reflective processing in ongoing formation and transformation as a pastoral caregiver. 

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
1.    Understand and differentiate spiritual direction, pastoral counseling, and psychotherapy. 
2.    Be able to article the role of spiritual direction in the faith journey and the role of the spiritual director in assisting others in deepening their faith journey. 
3.    Understand and demonstrate the skills and capacities required for pastoral caregiving and spiritual direction. 
4.    Reflect theologically and critically on situations and issues of ministry in a complex and diverse world to a develop a “working theology of ministry” that is able to meet the needs of various groups, both within and outside of Catholic contexts. 
5.    Deepen self-knowledge, noting key strengths and vulnerabilities, especially from one’s family-of-origin experience, and how they shape one’s personal and pastoral identity in ministry. 

PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND
None. 

REQUIRED TEXTS
Pickering, S. (2008). Spiritual direction: A practical introduction. Hymns Ancient & Modern. Available as an ebook in the LMU library.
https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.electra.lmu.edu/lib/lmu/detail.action?docID=3306190
Harborne, L. (2012). Psychotherapy and spiritual direction: Two languages, one voice?. Taylor & Francis Group. Available as an ebook in the LMU library. 
https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.electra.lmu.edu/lib/lmu/detail.action?docID=903421
Hamman. (2014). Becoming a pastor: forming self and soul for ministry (Second edition). Pilgrim Press.
McGoldrick, McGoldrick, M., Gerson, R., & Petry, S. S. (2008). Genograms: assessment and intervention (3rd ed). New York: W.W. Norton.
Richardson. (2005). Becoming a healthier pastor: family systems theory and the pastor’s own family. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Wosket, V. (2006). Egan's skilled helper model: Developments and implications in counselling. Taylor & Francis Group. Available as an ebook in the LMU library.
https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.electra.lmu.edu/lib/lmu/detail.action?docID=3060542

COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS
•    Weekly attendance and participation for class sessions either in person or online 
•    Weekly learning summary and responses from the course readings, lectures, and other materials
•    Each student will provide 10–12-minute video demonstration of a mock spiritual direction conversation and provide a written 2–3-page reflection of the experience.  
•    Each student will provide a four-generation genogram of their family-of-origin and an accompanying analysis Paper (20 pages). 

SEMESTER: FALL 2025
COURSE TITLE: Foundations of Theological Ethics
COURSE NUMBER/SECTION: THST 6060
TIMES/DAYS: M 7:20-9:50
INSTRUCTOR: Roberto Dell’Oro
CORE/ELECTIVE: Core MA Theology and Core MA Pastoral Theology

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS

The class will introduce students to the foundations of theological ethics. After an introductory part, dealing with different models of ethical thinking, the class comprises different parts. It looks at the biblical sources of moral theology, the mediation of faith and moral reason, with special reference to the relation of philosophical and theological ethics, the ecclesial dimension of Christian morality, the debate on normative theories and the integration of virtue ethics, the place of conscience and discernment in moral decision-making, fundamental moral option and action theory. Applications to contemporary issues in the fields of bioethics, social, and sexual ethics, as well as pastoral theology will exemplify the meaning and function of different foundational frameworks, and the relation between theory and practice in moral theology. 

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

To introduce students to basic methodological questions in fundamental moral theology
To learn critical tools for ethical decision making
To relate foundational frameworks to concrete normative problems
To understand how theological themes inform and shape moral arguments and ultimately moral life.  

PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND

Undergraduate degree

REQUIRED TEXTS

Maureen Junker-Kenny, Approaches to Theological Ethics: Sources, Traditions, Visions (T&T Clark: London, 2019)

Richard M. Gula, Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of Catholic Morality (New York: Paulist Press, 1989)

Klaus Demmer, Shaping the Moral Life: An Approach to Moral Theology, transl. by Roberto Dell’Oro (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2000)

COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS

This graduate course is a combination of lectures and student participation through discussion sessions. Assignments include one written in-class presentation, two regular essays, and a research paper (15-20 pages) by the end of the semester.  The midterm will be a take home exam.  There is no final exam.

Semester: Fall 2025
Title:  Supervised Pastoral Field Education
Course Number:  THST 6078-01 
Section Times/Days:  Wednesdays, 7:20-9:40 pm, UH 3786 (THST Conf Room)
Instructor:  Dr. Brett C. Hoover
Core/Elective: Core MA Pastoral Theology

Description:  Drawing upon an interdisciplinary framework, this field education seminar addresses ministerial leadership (broadly construed), integrating theological competence gained during the student’s career at LMU with pastoral analysis practices and ministerial skills. The course is aimed at the whole person in the service of faith communities for the sake of God’s Reign. In a dialogical classroom context that models collaborative ministry, THST 6078 seeks to 1) engage students in pastoral theological reflection on their ministerial context and work, and 2) promote further skill development in important ministerial skills, such as synodal listening and public speaking / preaching. In seminar format (and with a mentor), the class reflects together on experiences students have either at their full-time ministry or in some other approved ministry environment. This enables students to weave together theological, ministerial, and other insights and understandings.

Learning Outcomes: As a result of this course, students will be able to:

• make use of pastoral theological methodologies in theological reflection;
• articulate with appropriate terminology the connections between their experiences of ministry and the theology they are learning;
• articulate key contextual factors—environmental, cultural, psychological, spiritual and ecclesial—that impact particular ministry sites and pastoral questions;
• articulate their own theology of ministry informed by theological sources;
• facilitate work and learning groups;
• engage in public prayer or spiritual reflection leadership, and in effective oral presentation (preaching).

Pre-requisites:  THST 6090 (Graduate Proseminar), THST 6000 or 6010 (OT or NT), THST 6070 (Pastoral Theology), and either THST 6060 (Ethics) or 6030 (Systematic Theology).

Required Texts:
Jeffrey H. Mahan, Barbara B. Troxell, and Carol J. Allen in Shared Wisdom: A Guide to Case Study Reflection in Ministry (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993).
Christian Scharen, Faith as a Way of Life: A Vision for Pastoral Leadership (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008).
Anthony Gittins, Living Mission Interculturally: Faith, Culture, and the Renewal of Praxis (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2016).

Course Work: Expectations include some form of ministry for 5-8 hours per week (standing ministry jobs okay), regular meetings with a field mentor, a ministry journal, an interview, prayer or spiritual reflection leadership, an oral presentation or preaching, and a theology of ministry paper.

COURSE TITLE: Graduate Proseminar
COURSE NUMBER/SECTION:   THST 6090
TIMES/DAYS: Mondays, 4:30 to 7:00 p.m.
INSTRUCTOR:  Layla A. Karst
CORE/ELECTIVE: Core MA Theology/Core MA Pastoral Theology

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS
This course introduces students to the graduate study of Christian theology. Christian theology is disciplined reasoning, thinking, and analysis, shown through reading, writing, and speaking, that pursues the questions raised by human beings as a result of their experience of the world and of the triune God.  Studying theology is neither catechesis (lifelong and life-wide formation in Christian faith) nor apologetics (defending Christian faith and its “rightness”). Doing theology means joining an ongoing historical dialogue that Christians call tradition.  In doing so, theologians analyze how and why diverse Christians from the past and present have expressed their faith as they have, but also continue to seek adequate ways to do so today. 
The Proseminar explores the Christian understanding of Divine Revelation and introduces students to the primary sources of theology: experience, scripture, liturgy, doctrine, and practice. Students will develop a theological vocabulary, practice reading and writing about both primary and secondary theological texts, and develop rudimentary skills for conducting theological research. This course will also explore some of the foundations of religious studies, that is, the discipline that considers religious traditions irrespective of one’s personal faith commitments. 
Class will meet on campus 6 times during the semester; all other weeks we will meet on Zoom.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students who successfully complete this course will be able to…

• Articulate what Christian theology is (and is not);
• Define and use the disciplinary vocabulary of Christian theology;
• Begin to understand how to responsibly read the primary sources of theology, including biblical, historical, doctrinal, and theological texts, as well as other artifacts and expressions from daily Christian life (e.g., liturgical practice, popular religion, and art), learning to honor the original context for these sources but also to connect them to contemporary theological questions, practices, and commitments;
• Recognize and interpret how theological ideas occur in response to the questions and challenges of different historical eras and different cultures.  
• Demonstrate the foundational mechanics of theological study at the graduate level (critical reading and writing, attention to context, research, and citation);
• Understand expectations and conventions for academic discourse and writing, including proper citation; and
• Build skills for theological library research.

PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND 
A willingness to pursue the questions and methods proper to the academic study of theology, even when that pursuit feels new, uncomfortable, or even threatening to one’s preconceived ideas about theology, tradition, or faith. 

REQUIRED TEXTS: 
•    Gaillardetz, Richard R. By What Authority: Foundations for Understanding Authority in the Church (Revised and Expanded Edition). Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2018.
•    Gonzalez, Justo L.  Essential Theological Terms.  Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 2005.
•    Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. “They Say, I Say”: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. 6th edition. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2024.
•    Johnson, Elizabeth A. Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God. New York, NY: Continuum, 2008. 
•    Yaghjian, Lucretia B.  Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoric for Theological and Biblical Writers (New York: Continuum, 2006).  
Additional readings will be available on Brightspace.

COURSEWORK/EXPECTATIONS
Weekly reading assignments include primary texts, scholarly texts, and instructional texts and normally total no more that 80 pages.
Students will complete short weekly writing assignments, quizzes, and write two 5-7 page scholarly papers.

SEMESTER:  Fall 2025

COURSE TITLE:  Comprehensive Exam Seminar
COURSE NUMBER/SECTION:    THST6092.01
TIMES/DAYS: Wed 7:20 – 9:50pm
PROFESSOR:  Nancy Pineda-Madrid

CORE/ELECTIVE: Capstone for MA Theology

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS
This is the required comprehensive exam seminar for all MA in Theology students. While drawing on students’ previous course work, the seminar also requires students to study additional sources that will help them integrate their theological education and provide a foundation for their research projects. The comprehensive exam is administered as a part of the course requirements.  This is a Core course for the MA in Theology.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course, students should be able to . . .  

• Review and assess major Christian thinkers
• Articulate and analyze major theological themes
• Appreciate the importance of recognizing an integral relation between theory, practice, and context.
• Exercise skill in “the art of doing theology” and skill in serving as a resource for communities and persons in their endeavor “to think and act theologically” in a life-giving manner for the common good.
• PLO 2 Engage in critical reflection on major theological themes, including the ability to articulate different perspectives and place them in dialogue;
• PLO 3 Perform critical historical analysis, reading & interpreting primary sources of theology in their broader context
• PLO 4 Situate contemporary theological developments in light of historical trajectories;
• PLO 8 Articulate multiple methods in theological studies and apply them in appropriate scholarly ways & contexts
• PLO 9 Engage critically with the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition, appreciating the internal diversity within Roman Catholic and wider Christian traditions, and articulating how an encounter with the Roman Catholic intellectual tradition enhances engagement with one’s own religious perspectives.

PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND
30 semester hours completed, THST 6000/6010 Foundations of Old Testament/New Testament Theology, THST 6030 Introduction to Systematic Theology, THST 602x Historical Theology course, THST 6060 Foundations of Theological Ethics, and THST 6090 Graduate ProSeminar 

HYBRID COURSE 
Course will meet 5-6 times in person and the remainder of class meetings will be on Zoom.  

REQUIRED TEXTS
Irenaeus, Proof of the Apostolic Preaching   
Augustine, Confessions
Anselm, Cur Deus Homo
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (Prima Pars)
Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz, El Divino Narciso
Karl Rahner, Foundations of Christian Faith
Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation
Elizabeth Johnson, Ask The Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love
M. Shawn Copeland, Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being

COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS
Students can expect to spend a minimum of 7 hours each week working on course activities (reading, writing, research, etc) outside of the time that class meets.
1. 25% Seminar Discussion
2. 25% One general exam in theology
3. 25% Program Portfolio
4. 25% Research Proposal Drafts 

COURSE TITLE: Dynamics of Wisdom: Biblical Wisdom for the contemporary world

COURSE NUMBER/SECTION: THST 6998
DAYS/TIMES: Mondays 7:20-9:50pm
INSTRUCTOR:  Luísa Maria Almendra
CORE/ELECTIVE: Elective
COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever else you get, get insight. (Pr 4:7)

Biblical Wisdom became today one of the most reviewed and debated fields among the studies of Old Testament. Considering these recent studies, the main proposal of this course is to develop a recognition of the uniqueness of Biblical Wisdom’s Voice implied in the dialogues, questions, and provocations made by the main characters (the sage, human being, and God). Questions as to what Wisdom’s relationship to humankind is, or what implications are there for how we might image our relationships with God and each other, will be examined through the reading and interpretation of selected texts from the books of Proverbs, Job, and Kohelet (Ecclesiastes). Despite recognizing the vast distance between the ancient and modern worlds, these texts show a resilient concern with themes that traverse this space, revealing the significance of Biblical Wisdom in a contemporary context and why she matters in the modern world. In this context, themes such as the feminine sapiential framework and how Biblical Wisdom thinks decisively within frameworks of a theology of creation will be debated.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be better able to: (1) understand biblical wisdom more accurately and comprehensively; (2) debate what is and what is not Biblical Wisdom; (3) read biblical wisdom texts in a more scientific way; (4) understand the current dialogue between Biblical Wisdom and contemporary issues.
PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND
Recommended background: Foundations of Old Testament Theology or Foundations of New Testament Theology

REQUIRED TEXTS AND MATERIALS 
DELL, KATHERINE, Get Wisdom, Get Insight: An Introduction to Israel’s Wisdom Literature (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 2000).
HABEL, N.C. - WURST, S., The Earth Story in Wisdom Traditions, (Sheffield: Academic Press, 2001).
LONGMAN, T. – ENNS, P. (EDS.), Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings (Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press, 2008).
PENCHANSKY, D., Understanding Wisdom Literature: Conflict and Dissonance in the Hebrew Text, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012).
PERDUE, L.G., Wisdom in Revolt: Metaphorical Theology in the Book of Job (JSOTSS 112; Sheffield 1991).
SNEED, MARK R., Was There a Wisdom Tradition? New Prospects in Israelite Wisdom Studies Ancient Israel and Its Literature 23 (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015).
Additional materials (as articles) will be distributed in class/posted to Brightspace.

COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS
Careful preparation of the course readings is expected. Assignments include short weekly responses, a written midterm exam, and a final research project.