Summer 2018 Course Descriptions

SUMMER SESSION I

COURSE TITLE: Luke-Acts

COURSE NUMBER: THST 6013.1

SECTION TIMES/DAYS: MW 4:00-7:00

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Jeffrey S. Siker

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPLE TOPICS

The course objective is to acquire a working knowledge of and appreciation for the literary, historical, social, theological, and pastoral dimensions of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. The course also encourages students to make connections between Luke-Acts and contemporary theological/pastoral issues, as well as an awareness of the history of interpretation of Luke-Acts.

Principle topics include: comparing the Gospel of Luke with the other Gospel traditions, major themes in the Gospel of Luke (Gentile inclusion, reversal motifs, salvation history) and in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke’s second volume (Pentecost, mission of the apostles, ideal community, persecution of earliest Christians, the apostle Paul and his mission to the Gentiles, conflicts in early Christianity). We will also compare what Luke says about Paul in Acts with what Paul says in his letters (e.g., the Jerusalem Council).

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will know both the content of Luke-Acts and various historical, theological, ethical, social, and pastoral issues/approaches associated with these two writings.
Students will be able to engage in detailed exegetical analysis of Luke-Acts, especially in relation to the other Gospels and the letters of Paul.
Students will value critical and constructive approaches to theologizing on the basis of the Luke-Acts vision of the gospel message. Students will also value critical/constructive uses of the Luke-Acts in contemporary theological discourse.

PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND

none

REQUIRED TEXTS – information from summer 2017 CD, confirm with professor

The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (or another modern translation)

Aland, Synopsis of the Four Gospels (English Ed)

Luke Johnson, The Gospel of Luke

Luke Johnson, The Acts of the Apostles

Joel Green, New Testament Theology

COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS

Lecture/discussion

readings

two 5-7 page exegetical papers

Final Paper (12-15 pages)

class participation

COURSE TITLE: Buddhism

COURSE NUMBER/SECTION: THST 6084.1

TIMES/DAYS: MW 4:00-7:00 pm

INSTRUCTOR: TBD

CORE AREA: n/a

FLAGGED: n/a

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS

Contact Professor Christopher Chapple: christopher.chapple@lmu.edu

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND

REQUIRED TEXTS

COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS

COURSE TITLE: ELECTIVE TOPICS IN BIOETHICS: THE ETHICS OF BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH COURSE NUMBER: BIOE 6500/THST 6998.1

SECTION TIMES/DAYS: TR 7-9:45 – UH 4511 (BIOETHICS CONFERENCE ROOM) INSTRUCTOR: TBD

OFFICE HOURS: BY APPOINTMENT

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The development of bioethics as a field of ethical inquiry owes much to the discovery of egregious abuses in medical research. From the horrors of Nazi experimentations in concentration camps, to the exploitation of unsuspecting syphilis patients at Tuskegee, the history of medicine has witnessed the tragedy of human beings who have become victims of scientific progress. Building on initial statements, such as the Nurnberg Code and the Helsinki Declaration, bioethics has articulated, since the late ‘70s, a basic ethical framework for the protection of human subjects of research. Subsequent rules and regulations have further addressed the emergence of new challenges, and the need for guidelines in specific areas, from experimentation on children, to research on fetal tissues, human embryos, etc. At stake in the ethical discussion are the central questions of contemporary bioethics: how can society support the development of medical and scientific research, without forfeiting the dignity of its most vulnerable members? Is there such a thing as a “research imperative,” that is, an obligation on the part of society to pursue research, and to enforce its burdens upon various sectors of the population? How should a pluralistic society deal with debates that throw into relief great philosophical and religious differences? The course takes a look at these questions, and addresses them in terms of their conceptual and ethical underpinnings. Furthermore, students are invited to take up a particular topic in connection with research ethics, and to explore its various dimensions, with an eye to a possible publication.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Familiarize with the main historical instances of abuses in medical experimentation in the course of the 20th century.

Understand the central theoretical questions connected to the ethics of medical research.

Understand the ethical premises of current guidelines for biomedical research involving human subjects. Familiarize with the ethical questions that define a particular topic in research ethics.

PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND

Undergraduate degree and enrollment in the Graduate Bioethics Program

COURSE TITLE: Catholicism and Social Movements in the 20^th/21st Centuries

COURSE NUMBER/SECTION: THST 6998.02

TIMES/DAYS: TR 4-7 p.m.

INSTRUCTOR: Catherine Osborne

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS

This course will examine the intersection of U.S. Catholicism with the social revolutions that shook American life in the 1960s and beyond. How did American Catholics wrestle simultaneously with Vatican II and with the women's movement, the Civil Rights Movement, movements for Latino and Native American rights, the quest for economic justice, and opposition to the Vietnam War and to American interventions in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua? How did theology inform social action, and social action inform theology? Drawing on both primary sources and a wealth of recent scholarship on the 1960s-80s, we will examine the personal experience of American Catholics in these movements and search for the roots of today's activist Catholics.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

1) Students will understand the goals and methods of 20th century social movements including the women's movement, the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-war movement, and movements for ecological renewal and economic justice.

2) Students will be able to explain how theological developments in the 1960s and beyond intersected with these movements.

3) Students will be able to explain how Catholic theology and practice led American Catholics to become involved on all sides of these movements.

4) Students will be able to explain the relationship of present-day social movements to their recent historical roots.

REQUIRED TEXTS

O'Malley and Komonchak, Vatican II: Did Anything Happen?

Mary J. Henold, Catholic and Feminist: The Surprising History of the American Catholic Feminist Movement

Amy Koehlinger, The New Nuns: Racial Justice and Religious Reform in the 1960s

Sarah McFarland Taylor, Green Sisters: A Spiritual Ecology

Theresa Keeley, Reagan's Gun-Toting Nuns: Catholicism and U.S.-Central America Relations

Matt Cressler, Authentically Black and Truly Catholic: The Rise of Black Catholicism in the Great Migration

Additionally, articles and primary sources provided via Brightspace.

COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS

The majority of the work for this course will consist of reading and discussion. Students will be asked, on a rotating basis, to write short papers reflecting on the reading and to lead class discussion. Finally, each student will research a contemporary issue, event, organization, or person with roots in a 20th century social movement; write a paper exploring the connection; and present their research to the class during the last week.

SUMMER SESSION II

COURSE TITLE: Feminist Theology

COURSE NUMBER/SECTION: THST 6033.01

TIMES/DAYS: Summer Session II, TR 4:00PM-7:00PM

INSTRUCTOR: Tiemeier

CORE AREA: N/A

FLAGGED: N/A

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS

This course is an introduction to feminist theology, exploring a variety of approaches to feminist theory and theology.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will: 1) Know some major approaches to feminist theology; 2) Be able to employ a variety of feminist theological analyses; and 3) Value a diversity of feminisms and feminist theologies.

PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND

None

REQUIRED TEXTS

Introducing Feminist Theology (Anne M. Clifford)
She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Theological Discourse (Elizabeth Johnson)

Extravagant Affections: A Feminist Sacramental Theology (Susan Ross)
En La Lucha/In the Struggle: Elaborating a Mujerista Theology (Ada María Isasi-Díaz)

Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being (M. Shawn Copeland)
Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology (Kwok Pui-lan)

COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS

1. Seminar Discussion (20%)

2. Reading Analyses (40%)

4. Research Paper (40%)

COURSE TITLE: Jainism

COURSE NUMBER/SECTION: THST 6087.1

TIMES/DAYS: MW 2:00-7:00 pm

INSTRUCTOR: TBD

CORE AREA: n/a

FLAGGED: n/a

COURSE DESCRIPTION/PRINCIPAL TOPICS

Contact Christopher Chapple: christopher.chapple@lmu.edu

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

PREREQUISITES/RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND

REQUIRED TEXTS

COURSE WORK/EXPECTATIONS