Course Descriptions

CLHU U265 Pagans and Christians 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Pre-modern
This course examines the triumph of Christianity over paganism in the Roman Empire. Focusing on the debate and culture clash between the two in the fourth century, students will discuss and write on important controversies of the age and their relation to our own times.

ENGL A240 Chaucer
In this course, we will survey the variety and complexity of the Canterbury Tales, the greatest literary achievement of Geoffrey Chaucer. Sometime soldier, customs official, and diplomat but also intellectual, translator, and poet, Chaucer elevated the English language to a level of literary sophistication and suppleness previously reserved for Latin and French letters. In the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer offered his original audience, just as he offers readers today, a frequently ironic glimpse into fourteenth-century England as seen by a naïve and unreliable narrator.

ENGL A316 Medieval Literature 3 crs.
Covering material from Beowulf and Arthurian legend to drama and lyrics, thiscourse provides an introduction not only to the masterworks of the period but also to the complex culture and world view that produced such divergent works as The Divine Comedy and The Art of Courtly Love.
Prerequisites: ENGL T122 or A205; sophomore standing.

ENGL A475 Great Figures– Medieval 3 crs. [Dante]
This course is an intensive study of one or two great medieval literary figures. The course traces the development of the author’s art, noting influences, historical and philosophical contexts, critical receptions, and modern assessments. This course may be repeated with permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites: ENGL T122 or A205; junior standing.

ENGL A490 Great Figures 3 crs.
This course is an intensive study of one or two great literary figures. It traces the development of the author’s art, noting influences, historical and philosophical contexts, critical receptions, and modern assessments. Repeatable with permission of instructor.
Prerequisites: ENGL T122 or A205; junior standing.

ENGL U289 Chaucer and His World 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Pre-modern
This course is an examination of medieval culture, with special emphasis on art, philosophy, and the religious and social codes of the period as they are reflected in the work and thought of one of the great Western writers.
Prerequisite: ENGL T122.

ENGL V285 Contemporary Catholic Writers 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Modern
This course examines issues of Catholic faith and practice as explored in major works of literature and film produced since Vatican II by artists from the U.S. and from around the world.
Prerequisite: ENGL T122.

FREN A353 20th-century Prose 3 crs.
This course involves readings in French theory and in the works of Bernanos, Butor, Camus, Gide, Malraux, Proust, and Sartre. Texts may change.
Prerequisite: At least one 300-level course or the equivalent.

HIST A304 Early Christianity 3 crs.
This course examines the apostolic age;  geographical expansion;  persecutions; organizational developments;  early heresies;  councils of Nicaea, Ephesus, and Chalcedon;  popular piety; church-state relations;  rise of Monasticism.

HIST A306 Middle Ages 3 crs.
European social, political, and cultural institutions from the fall of Rome to the 15th century will be examined.

HIST A310 Age of Reformation 3 crs.
Discussions examine the shift in religious sensibilities in light of new economic, intellectual, and political developments. It treats the unique responses of Protestant and Catholic reformations.

HIST A400 Historiography 3 crs.
This course is a study of the meaning of history through the eyes of philosophers, theologians, and historians; it studies both philosophies of history and the various approaches to historical investigation. Required of all students with a concentration in history.

HIST W239 Catholics: Their History 3 crs.
This course is a study of the behavior of Catholics worldwide during the past 2,000 years–their religious, social, and cultural values and resulting actions. The course tries to elucidate the concrete results of the teachings of Christ and His followers on these Catholics.

LATN A430 Latin of Late Antiquity 3 crs.
This course will examine Latin works by writers who lived during the final years of the Roman Empire. Readings will include religious and secular texts such as the Passio Sanctorum Felicitatis et Perpetuae, Apollonius King of Tyre, and works by St. Augustine and Tertullian. Students may repeat this course with the instructor’s permission.
Prerequisite: LATN A250 or equivalent

MUGN A499 Gregorian Chant

MUGN M134 Music and Liturgy
This course is an introduction to the music of the Church shown against the background of Church history and liturgical theology.

PHIL A405 History of Medieval Philosophy 3 crs.
Historical study of the main ideas of the medieval period from St. Augustine to the Renaissance.
Prerequisite: PHIL T122.

PHIL V260 Social Justice 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Modern
God calls individuals and communities to be just. Philosophers argue that justice is a virtue necessary for all societies and communities. But what does justice, especially social justice, mean? Why have libertarians, especially, severely criticized this concept? The concept has a history which this course will examine by a careful reading of classic texts of Old Testament, New Testament, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Locke. Conflicting interpretations of the Industrial Revolution and response to it will also be examined: Marx, Catholic Social Teaching, and Social Democracy. The role of unions and government welfare provisions as means to achieving social justice will also be investigated.  The final section of the course will treat the issue of extreme poverty (that of the billion people who live on less than $1/day) in the context of growing global economic relations. This section will also treat domestic poverty (i.e. poverty in the USA) which raises social justice issues of class, race, equality of opportunity, and distribution of income and wealth. Central issues of the course include interpretations of property rights (private, public, common), alternative economic systems (markets, planning, mixed economies), poverty and poverty alleviation, and governments’ roles in establishing social justice.

PHIL V278 Philosophy of God 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Modern
This course will treat the existence and the nature of God according to the philosophies of Kant, Anselm, Aquinas, and Whitehead. Among the topics of discussion will be: atheism, agnosticism, theism, and the process philosophy.
Prerequisite: PHIL T122 or RELS H233

RELS A200 Early Christian Thought 3 crs.
This course is a study of the development of Christian thought through the Ante and Post Nicene periods to the end of the patristic period.
Required of all majors.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS A201 Medieval Christian Thought 3 crs.
This course is a study of Christian thought from the end of the patristic period to the eve of the Reformation. Within this period, interest will center on the three centuries between 1000 A.D. and 1300 A.D.

RELS A320 The Christian God 3 crs.
This course is a study of the problem of belief as it evolved from the enlightenment period to the present, the bearing of the secularization process on God-talk and traditional approaches to God, an investigation of recent efforts by process thinkers to reconstruct the idea of God, and implications for Christian theologies and life.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS A350 Christology 3 crs.
This course includes a brief look at New Testament Christology; a brief study of the pre-Nicene views of Christ; the rise of counterpositions; the official response in the Councils of Nicea, Constantinople I, Ephesus, and Chalcedon; contemporary critiques of the classical model and recent revisions.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS A354 Dynamics of Salvation 3 crs.
This course is a study of the history and contemporary status of theories of redemption.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS A400 Theology of Vatican II 3 crs.
This course is a study of the documents of Vatican II and the changes in Roman Catholicism since Vatican II. Also discussed is why the changes occurred and what fundamental shifts were behind the changes.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS U239 Experience of Grace 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Pre-modern
This course examines the experience and theology of Christian conversion and grace in Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, the Council of Trent, Rahner, and contemporary liberation theology. The course will discuss the meaning of Christian conversion and will reflect on a variety of understandings or models of grace that arise from Christian experience.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS U247 New Testament as Literature 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Pre-modern
This study of the New Testament as literature will consider the various factors involved: the New Testament is ancient, religious literature which is regarded as revealed by Christians. All these factors will be examined in order to appreciate this body of writings as literature.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS U248 Christian Origins 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Pre-modern
This course studies the rise and development of primitive Christianity within the context of Hellenistic culture and civilization. Attention is paid to such questions as Christianity’s development of distinctive ritual, its millennial tendencies, its ethical code, and community structure and organization, against the background of similar developments.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS U386 Medieval Synthesis 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Pre-modern
This course is an introduction to the major personalities and problems in medieval theology focusing on the construction and disintegration of the medieval synthesis.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS U388 Sin: History of an Idea 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Pre-modern
This course links together central human questions of personal and social moral responsibility and of relationship with God. Sin will be studied in historical and biblical contexts. Ethical, psychological, sociological, religious, and literary perspectives will be used in reappraisal of this key category of Judeo-Christian tradition.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS V242 Christian Ethics 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Modern
This course examines significant attempts by various Christian thinkers to relate their religious beliefs and practices to the realizing of moral aspirations and the solving of moral problems.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233

RELS V252 Catholicism 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Modern
This course is a theological study of the principal doctrinal, ethical, and ritual symbols of the Roman Catholic tradition. The course will focus on those elements of the tradition that are distinctive to Catholicism with special emphasis on the meaning of church and the role of the sacraments.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS V294 The Identity of Jesus
This course treats the theology of the person and mission of Jesus Christ. While providing the biblical foundation for an understanding of Christ, the course is primarily directed to studying Christology from a historico-dogmatic perspective. The course will examine such important texts such as the De Incarnatione of St. Athanasius, the Cur Deus Homo of St. Anselm, and selections from the Summa theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas.

RELS V330 Faith, Science, and Religion 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Modern
This course will critically analyze various ways of knowing: faith, science, and theology (critical analysis of faith). The methods of the physical sciences and the life sciences will be discussed. Topics will include the epic of creation, evolution, and quantum theory. (Also listed as PHYS Z130).
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233

RELS V344 Social Policy and the Christian 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Modern
This course is a critical analysis of the role of Christianity and ethics in both responding to and shaping of social policy.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

RELS V358 Ignatius Loyola 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Modern
The course will analyze the vision of God, the world and the human person presented by Ignatius Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises. The course will also develop themes of creation, sin and mercy, discipleship, Christian discernment, and the Paschal Mystery, and will study the Ignatian vision as embodied in the 20th-century writer, Teilhard de Chardin.
Prerequisite: RELS T122 or RELS H233.

VISA A210 Survey of World Art I 3 crs.
This course is designed to introduce students to art and visual culture of all periods. It seeks to emphasize significant patterns of representation and thinking which recur throughout history. Texts which reveal particular approaches to these materials will be examined in parallel with visual examples in order to introduce students to a variety of ways of working with words and images.
Required of all art majors.

VISA A211 Survey of World Art II 3 crs.
This course will continue the process of developing visual and critical literacy outlined above. Whilst visual materials will continue to be drawn from all periods, you should note that the patterns of critical thinking and visual practice addressed in this section will be conceptually challenging.
Required of all art majors.
Prerequisite: VISA A210.

VISA A420 Renaissance Art 3 crs.
This course covers the arts in France, the Low Countries, and Germany, with emphasis on painting and the graphic arts, from the late 13th century to the middle of the 16th century and a survey of the major architects and their principal achievements in theory and design during the period 1400 — 1600.

VISA A425 Baroque Art 3 crs.
This course studies the architecture, painting, and sculpture in Rome, Bologna, Naples, and Northern Europe from 1550 to 1700.

VISA U130 Medieval Art
This course studies the emergence and development of the art styles of the age of faith, when foundations of Christian art were laid. From the reign of Constantine to the beginning of the Renaissance, we follow the spread of Christianity and see how arts expressed spirit and values of the time and contributed to the fabric of our culture.

VISA U230 Medieval Art 3 crs.
Common Curriculum: Humanities/Arts Pre-modern
This course studies the emergence and development of the art styles of age of faith, when foundations of Christian art were laid. From the reign of Constantine to the beginning of the Renaissance, we follow the spread of Christianity and see how arts expressed spirit and values of the time and contributed to the fabric of our culture.