The world of Mahayana Buddhism includes China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan, and Nepal. This course explores Mahayana Buddhist thought, meditation practices, narratives, and ritual practices across Asia. We consider texts ancient and modern. After a basic introduction to Buddhism, we take up topics ranging from meditation, to nirvana, compassion, emptiness, Buddha nature, Zen, and ethics. Our focus is on fundamental theological questions: What are the causes of suffering? How can meditation and ethical practices illuminate sufferings causes, and put an end to them? What is the state of unconditioned awareness, freedom, and joy that lies beyond suffering? Most importantly, what does this all have to do with me? No background in Buddhism is required.

Mesopotamian imperial politiesAssyria, Babylon, and also Persiarepresented a nearly constant threat to the kingdoms of the Eastern Mediterranean during the period between the ninth and late sixth centuries B.C.E. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah, like their neighbors, absorbed punishing military defeats, but also many cultural and material influences. One group of intellectuals, the prophetic figures in Israel and Judah, consistently responded to these Mesopotamian influences. This course examines a selection of prophetic texts from the Hebrew Bible as evidence for the intellectual and cultural engagement with the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian polities. Biblical texts will be studied alongside Mesopotamian and other epigraphic West Semitic texts to understand how prophets perceived and accounted for the Mesopotamian influences. Modern methods for reading prophetic texts will be introduced, alongside examination of Assyriological scholarship on the historical and archaeological contexts of these texts. The material culture of Israel and Judah, but also of the urban centers of the East, can also illuminate the political valences of prophetic texts.

This course will examine the Ressourcement of early and medieval theology by leading representatives of the so-called Nouvelle théologie movement in the mid-twentieth century, including: Jean Daniélou, Marie-Dominique Chenu, Henri de Lubac, Yves Congar, and Étienne Gilson.

For graduates or undergraduates who have completed one theology Core.Can you be Queer and spiritual? Trans or non-binary and religious? Straight, hooking up, and Catholic? Can you combine pleasure and piety? Of course you can. But how? This course surveys progressive thinkers examining the close relationship of sexuality, gender, the body, and spirituality. We look at evolving views of marriage and single life. We reflect on sexual violence. We ask how traditional religion distorts or supports these issues. Catholic, Protestant, and Episcopal authors explore developments and disagreements! -- that nurture authentically spiritual sexuality. The aim is to promote understanding and care for self and others. Graduates and undergraduates welcome.

Will treat major voices connecting feminist theology and ethics/politics( (e.g., Mary Daly, Elizabeth Johnson, Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, Margaret Farley, Ivone Gebara, representatives from Asia and Africa, and applied ethics (e.g., economics, racism, sex, abortion).

The purpose of this class is to introduce theological ethicists to some philosophers who have been influential in discussions in theological/religious ethics over the past fifty years. The particular aims are threefold: (1) to allow students to engage with major works of philosophy; (2) to enable the seminar to collectively familiarize itself with the discussions these works have generated in the field of theological ethics; and (3) to encourage doctoral students to engage deeply with one or more of these philosophers in articulating and pursuing questions that will animate their own research, including their comprehensive exams. There are four basic areas covered (1) distributive justice (Rawls, Sandel, Walzer, Nozick); (2) virtue theory (MacIntyre, Nussbaum); (3) rights talk (Finnis, Dworkin, Glendon (on international law)); (4) cosmopolitanism (Appiah, Benhabib). Students will be required to produce two 12-15 page papers; one assessing the role of a philosopher's thought in the field of theological ethics, and the second furthering the student's own work in either comprehensive exam prep or dissertation research.

The course looks at the most important works that shaped Catholic Theological Ethics in the twentieth century. It analyses the innovative works of Lottin, Tillmann, and Gilleman whose works challenged the classical paradigm of manualists like Davis, Jone, Ford and Kelly. The course then looks at Häring, and at the roots of proportionalism that result from that same Council. The legacy of Fuchs as well as twentieth century papal encyclicals are also studied. The course concludes with the emerging work of Latin American liberationists, American feminist and black moral theologians, African inculturationists, and Asian theological ethicists

Events over the past decade have illustrated how antisemitism, racism, and Christian nationalism are intertwined ideologies. This course will offer a historical and thematic investigation into how these three ideologies emerge within Christian contexts, the ways in which Christian theologies and institutions inform them, and modes of resistance to them. A core outcome of this class will be to recover and generate theological positions that actively counter these ideologies.

Mental health conditions and mental distress have become more visible in our public discourse today. Focusing on depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, this course asks the following questions: how has the Christian theological tradition understood what we now name as mental illness? How do contemporary psychiatric and psychological approaches enhance theological approaches to mental illness, and vice versa? How and why do mental distress and suicidality especially affect LGBTQ people, indigenous communities, and white men? How can we cultivate proper self-love while processing shame in a healthy way? How do we talk well about mental health without obscuring the structural injustices bound up with imperial, ableist, sanist white supremacist heteropatriarchy? In exploring these questions, we will articulate together what it means to do theology, to work for justice, and to build a society that serves everybody.

This course explores the topic of moral agency through texts in theological ethics treating autonomy, human rights, conscience, and sin. It also incorporates interdisciplinary literature that considers ways in which agency is impacted by social practices, structures, and cultural norms. Case studies will be incorporated to consider how concrete social questions may impact standard understandings of autonomy and agency and the influence of nonrational factors on human freedom.

This course will explore the history of medieval Christian Hebraism and its consequences for the perception of the Jewish other. Starting with Jerome, Christian scholars have seen the Hebrew Bible, rather than the Septuagint, as the authoritative version of the Old Testament. In the course of medieval history, this led Christian scholars to seek contact with Jews and Jewish sources, to better understand this text. In various ways, these encounters shaped Christians perceptions of Jews, both in negative and positive ways. The course will survey the work of patristic and medieval authors such as Jerome, Bede, Andrew of Saint Victor, Nicholas of Lyra, Paul of Burgos, and Matthias Doering.

The purpose of this course is to develop strategies by which the anti-Judaism endemic to Christian traditions can be recognized and undone. This course will begin with an examination of the development and workings of Christian anti-Judaism. Attention will then turn to how such anti-Judaism has entered into Christian life and practice, especially within the context of teaching, preaching, and worship. The course will conclude with developing new approaches to resisting anti-Judaism in Christian contexts and public spaces.

This course will be offered in conjunction with the Duffy lectures on Global Christianity which will be delivered in 2023 by the famous Indian theologian, Felix Wilfred. In addition to focusing on the particular characteristics and challenges of Christianity in India, it will also reflect on what Hindu-Christian comparative theology may offer Christian theology more broadly.

Israel, both the people and the land, are central to Jewish theology as concrete manifestations of Gods covenants. This course will explore the evolving meanings of these concepts from the Bible to today, looking at themes like peoplehood, life in the land, exile from it, and (messianic) return. The second part of the course will focus specifically on the theologies of a range of modern Jewish thinkers, with the goal of helping students to understand aspects of contemporary Israel and its meaning to world Jewry.

The course builds on the grammar and syntax learned in Intermediate Biblical Hebrew I. Students will develop more sophisticated knowledge of Hebrew grammar and syntax and refine their ability to read Hebrew prose narratives in the first part of the course. In the second part, students will be introduced to Hebrew poetry. Selections from the Psalms and Prophets will dominate course readings.

In this course students will read ancient Christian authors as part of a long tradition of attempting to understand God through the reading of sacred texts. The course will cover three basic topics, which will be kept distinct even while the class examines them simultaneously. The first topic is early Christians' own understanding of, and consistency with, the principles of their exegesis, especially the "rule of faith." The second topic is the early Christian practice of scriptural exegesis, especially as this exegesis was relevant to doctrinal and theological debates, and to preaching. The final topic is the social and religious context of the principles and practice of Christian exegesis. To this end I am assigning significant readings in non-Christian sources to provide context for the Christian ones. The course will proceed in a generally chronological fashion, in order to allow students to note patterns of development and change over time. Selected secondary readings will be assigned for each session as a way to introduce students to the ongoing scholarly discussions in this field. All readings will be in English translation, though students with facility in the original languages are encouraged to employ this in their reading and research. The course is aimed at doctoral students in Historical Theology/History of Christianity, though there should be significant material appealing to students in Biblical Studies, Systematics, Comparative Theology, and Ethics.

A seminar investigating the emergence and development of the Christian Bible from the first to the fourth centuries C.E. This seminar will discuss the development of a New Testament canon as well as different views of Biblical writings as revelation that developed along with competing claims to a secret or higher truth in "esoteric," non-canonical works of the same period. Students will explore the understanding of Scripture in four early Christian exegetes: Irenaeus, Origen, Eusebius and Jerome. This seminar will incorporate a survey of scribes, book circulation and the role of reading circles in antiquity.

Much of our artistic heritage was commissioned to embellish places of worship and to deepen understanding of the ceremonies celebrated there. These works of art offer often-ignored insights into Christian sacraments that complements more traditional theological approaches. This course seeks to deepen our appreciation of Christian sacraments by acknowledging painting, sculpture and architecture as a locus theologicus. Both historical and thematic in approach, it explores sacramentality, incarnation, iconoclasm, typology as well as selected themes from sacramental theology. The course will include off-site visits.

This course will analyze the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth confessed by the Church as messiah dead for our sin and risen for our salvation (Romans 4: 25).The original event of the messianic time and of the Christian tradition will be analyzed in a decolonial perspective as a source of meaning for the survivors of all times.Drawing on trauma studies, social sciences and the phenomenology of vulnerability as a lens to inhabit the biblical texts on the empty tomb and the apparitions of the risen Crucified One, the course will propose a horizon of meaning and hope in the midst of the civilizational collapse of our time of systemic violence.

This seminar will explore diverse topics in a theology of grace from both an historical and systematic perspective. Specific consideration will be given to the salvific will of God and predestination, the distinction of nature and grace, the role of participation in justification, sanctification, and divinization, the relation of grace to distinct contexts and forms of life, and the liberating and social dimensions of grace in the coming Kingdom of God. Selected authors will range from Paul, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, Aquinas, Baez, and Molina to Henri de Lubac, Karl Rahner,Hans Urs von Balthasar, Roger Haight, and Kathryn Tanner.