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BTI Consortium | Last Updated November 17, 2025 - 3:00PM
Boston University
School of Theology
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTA 811
Book of Common Prayer
BTI Category
Church History/History of Religions
Semester
SP26
This course provides an overview of the development of the Book of Common Prayer beginning with sixteenth-century England and leading up to the Book of Common Prayer 1979 of the Episcopal Church. Attention will be paid especially to the content and theology of the current BCP and the supplemental materials found in Enriching Our Worship, as well as to current discussions about ongoing liturgical revision in The Episcopal Church.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Feyerherm, Elise
R
12:30-3:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 715
Introduction to Preaching
BTI Category
Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual
Semester
SP26
An introduction to the theology and practice of preaching within the context of Christian ministry and worship. Students develop skills necessary for preparation, composition, delivery, and critique of sermons.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Adkins-Jones, Tim
R
12:30-3:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 813
Contextual Theology: Latinx Religious Expressions
BTI Category
Systematic Theology & Philosophy (Western)
Semester
SP26
This course will consider the role of religion in Hispanic/Latine cultures through the exploration of popular beliefs, cultural/religious symbols, particular theologies, and experiences of the Sacred. It will discuss contributions from the fields of history, anthropology, sociology, literature, and art that assist in understanding faith practices and symbolic resource in the struggles of marginalized Hispanic/Latine communities. Particular attention will be given to the experience of Mexican and Mexican American communities where Our Lady of Guadalupe can be considered, through most fields of study, as a powerful symbolic resource across geographical and chronological fronteras. This is an interdisciplinary course facilitated through a protestant feminist/ Mujerista perspective. It will be run in a seminar style with the instructor as facilitator for critical engagement of readings, sharing of experiences, and contextual deconstruction/construction of methods, theories, and �official� historical understandings.
Professor
Class Day & Time
de la Rosa, Cristian
F
11:15am-2pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 836
Gender, Culture, and Transformative Leadership
BTI Category
Ethics (all traditions)
Semester
SP26
This course examines the relation between race, gender, and ethnicity from the perspective of different multicultural identities and theological understandings, evaluating how religious structures have constructed these relations and challenged these dynamics. Analyzing various church contexts and social constructions, we will aim to re-evaluate diverse theoretical and experimental discussions among different ethnic groups in a global context as well as in the American context. This course introduces students to of the multiple dynamics present between race, gender, and ethnicity in various church contexts such as White/African American/Asian/Asian American/Hispanic/other immigrant churches and multicultural congregations. It investigates how church life and ministry interact with sociopolitical and cultural structures and how these processes impact people's everyday lives. The course analyzes the issues of race, gender/sex, body, age, and class in the North American context seeking also to understand colonial and post-colonial structures within American society and beyond.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Choi, Hee An
R
3:30-6:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 845
Parish Preaching
BTI Category
Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual
Semester
SP26
The central, crucial role of preaching in a parish setting involves engagement with other congregational ministries and with the needs and resources of the larger community. This course is intended as a second level, advanced preaching course, with emphasis on the context of preaching. The course offers multiple opportunities to develop and preach sermons. Attention is given both to regular Sunday preaching and also to particular sermons for various occasions: special events, Stewardship Sunday, funerals and weddings, Advent and Lent, national observances (Fourth of July, Mothers' Day, New Year's, Thanksgiving, other), denominational requirements, and civic addresses. The interactive engagement of the preaching ministry with parish ministry as a whole is the focus of the course.�
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hill, Bob
M
8:00-10:45am
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTF 813
Theological Writing Workshop
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP26
This course is a general introduction to the tasks of conducting research in order to write academic theological arguments. The course focuses on honing the skills you already have in order to research more efficiently, and write more precisely.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Men�ndez-Antu�a, Luis
ARR
Mondays (Feb 2, 9, 16, 23) 5:00-8:30pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
1
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTH 860
Medieval Female Mystics
BTI Category
Church History/History of Religions
Semester
SP26
This class explores the devotional lives and theological thinking of the women of late medieval Christian mysticism. Christian mysticism was one of the main avenues of theological practice and teaching available to women in the Middle Ages. Members of the class will read writings from figures such as Hildegard of Bingen, Mechthild of Magdeburg, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, and Teresa of Avila. The class investigates these mystics� feminine language for God and Jesus, their formulations of significant theological loci, their biblical images and uses of Scripture, these women�s conceptions of ministry, vocation, and the authorization of their vocations; and these women�s relationship the Eucharist and food images. The class surveys some of the ways historians and feminist scholars have read and interpreted these medieval women.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Pak, Sujin
W
6:30-9:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTM 930
History of Missiology
BTI Category
Church History/History of Religions
Semester
SP26
Seminar on the classic Protestant mission theorists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Robert, Dana
F
8:00-10:45am
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTN 862
Methods and Exegesis:�Africana and Womanist Biblical�Approaches�
BTI Category
Scripture & Biblical Studies
Semester
SP26
This is a seminar-style, intensive course in which students critically read works of African American and Womanist biblical scholarship on the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, while critically engaging biblical passages and peers in discussions about approaches, contexts, implications, strengths and challenges. The course begins with the conviction that all knowledge is perspectival. That is, how we access and interpret texts has to do with a complex combination of factors, including ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and social-cultural history (just to name a few), that constitute who we are at one particular instance in time. In particular, the course seeks to understand the historic perspectives and approaches of African American and Womanist readings and appropriations of biblical texts as a way to build students' capacities to appreciate the interpretative strategies of others (especially historically marginalized and/or underrepresented groups) as well as to identify and articulate their own critical and socially-situated understandings of biblical passages and its implications.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Smith, Shively
R
3:30-6:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTO 837
In the Shadow of Empire: Syncretism and Resistance in Persian Period Judah and Egypt
BTI Category
Church History/History of Religions
Semester
SP26
This course investigates how the Persian and Hellenistic imperial contexts influenced and shaped the development of the Hebrew Bible. Students will read the post-exilic biblical and extra-biblical texts from Judean communities in Persian period Judah and Elephantine. This seminar course will primarily explore how the ancient people engaged in acts of syncretism and resistance with the empires that ruled over them.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Simonson, Brandon
W
8:00-10:45am
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTS 816
Paul and Continental Philosophers
BTI Category
Systematic Theology & Philosophy (Western)
Semester
SP26
Non-Christians and atheists have interpreted Paul's work in ways that have deepened our understanding of politics and social ethics of Christianity and even the legacy of Christian thought on radical philosophy and revolutionary thought. We will, among others, critically engage with the works of French philosophers Alain Badiou and Jean Luc-Nancy, Italian thinker Giorgio Agamben, and Slovenian radical scholar Slavoj 'i' ek, who are some of today's leading interpreters of Paul and his influence on political theology/philosophy, community, messianism, subjectivity, and social transformation. We will also study the works of scholars within the Christian tradition who are picking on some of their radical insights and bringing them into theology, social ethics, and biblical studies. All these new forms of scholarship making provocative proposals about society and political philosophy prompt a re-turn to classical readings of Christian texts in order to strengthen and broaden our knowledge of Christian thought as it applies to transformative praxis. Students will be encouraged to approach their study in this course with some particular social-political problem in mind so as to discern more readily the implications of the new interpretations of Paul's theological thought for dealing with contemporary moral issues.�
Professor
Class Day & Time
Wariboko, Nimi
T
3:30-6:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTS 863
Vexations: Religion and Politics in the Black Community
BTI Category
Ethics (all traditions)
Semester
SP26
This course explores the theo-ethical perspectives of selected Black Christian thinkers with special attention to how their thought intersects with and also responds to contemporary public policy issues. The challenge is to relate the essentials of Christian ethics to contemporary personal and social issues, identify basic elements of Christian ethical reflection in public discourse, consider a variety of ethical perspectives for decision making, and evaluate Black ethical thinkers as they respond to concrete social issues and public policy statements.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Townes, Emilie
R
12:30-3:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTT 898
Theology and Trauma
BTI Category
Systematic Theology & Philosophy (Western)
Semester
SP26
This course aims to bring the recent studies in the interdisciplinary study of trauma to bear on the field of theology. What unique challenges does the phenomenon of trauma pose to contemporary theology? The first part of the course explores recent studies in trauma, focusing on three areas of research: 1) neurobiology of trauma, 2) clinical/therapeutic studies, and 3) literary approaches to trauma. The second part of the course examines theological engagements with issues of radical suffering. The third part brings together the insights from the first two and focuses on the question of what it means to witness theologically to individual, societal, and global trauma. We will look at issues and contexts such as the criminal justice system, war, poverty, and racism. In this final part, students will be working towards constructive theological engagements with issues of trauma through interaction with a variety of mediums: art, literature, spiritual practices, and film. The course is not a counseling course. It aims to provide rich theological reflection around issues of suffering, violence, and trauma, both individual and global.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Rambo, Shelly
T
3:30-6:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTY 811
Object Relational Theory
BTI Category
Systematic Theology & Philosophy (Western)
Semester
SP26
Achieving familiarity with and fluency in a series of psychoanalytic theories of personality/character, development, relationships, motivation, health, and pathology, as a context in which to practice psychoanalytic interpretations of religious matters.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Schlauch, Chris
W
2:30-5:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTY 860
Introduction to Chaplaincy
BTI Category
Leadership Formation & Ministry Skills
Semester
SP26
Organized around three competencies (interpersonal, organizational, and meaning- making), this focuses on the unique dimensions of what it means to provide spiritual care in public settings. The course provides opportunities for students: 1) to identify strengths they bring to the work; 2) explore various sectors of chaplaincy; 3) interact with working chaplains; and 4) engage historical, contemporary, and future-forecasting research on spiritual care in North America. The course is highly recommended for students pursuing chaplaincy, those discerning vocation in this area, and working chaplains eager for further study. The course also welcomes those who are not pursuing chaplaincy as a vocation and interested in the practice of spiritual care in public spaces.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Rambo, Shelly
R
8:00-10:45am
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTA 825
Religious Literacy, Pluralism, & Public Life
BTI Category
Interreligious Learning
Semester
SP26
This course explores the intersection of religious literacy and pluralism in contemporary society. It aims to provide students with the fundamentals of religious literacy, so they develop an understanding of diverse religious traditions, explore concepts of religious pluralism and tolerance, and examine the role of religion in global issues such as peacebuilding, human rights, migration, and social justice. Students will acquire an understanding of the history, texts, beliefs, practices, and contemporary manifestations of several of the world�s religious traditions so that they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to provide leadership in an increasingly interconnected world.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Shenton, Andrew
M
2:30-5:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 723
UMC Polity
BTI Category
Church Polity/Canon Law
Semester
SP26
Covers the polity, structure, procedures, and ritual of the United Methodist Church along with the basic structure of and ecclesial concepts contained within its Book of Discipline. Designed to meet one of the requirements for membership in a UMC Annual Conference.
Professor
Class Day & Time
de la Rosa, Cristian
M
2:30-5:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 822
Faith-Based Community Organizing for Justice and Peace
BTI Category
Leadership Formation & Ministry Skills
Semester
SP26
Faith-based community organizing is the practice of members of religious traditions who draw on, use, and evolve religious practices in their political activism. Focusing primarily on the tradition of broad-based community organizing, with comparative reference to other models, this course invites theological, ethical, and practical questions about organizing communities for social change toward a justpeace.
Professor
Class Day & Time
McCarty, Jimmy
T
3:30-6:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 840
Paradigms of Racism
BTI Category
Ethics (all traditions)
Semester
SP26
Racism is ugly, painful, and seemingly inimical to understanding much less constructive intervention. When it comes to race, people often yell at, talk past, or simply avoid each other. Experiencing frustration, rage, and despair, some fear and may conclude that racism is intractable, even insoluble, while others "know" that racism does not exist. This course offers hope, exploring how groups of people form and defend competing systems of truth (that is, "paradigms") that hide ignorance and sustain harm. By discussing eight "paradigms" of racism and attendant forms of ignorance, we seek to enlarge our understanding as a basis for concrete practical steps that could be taken by different people in different sites.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Goto, Courtney and Chris Schlauch
M
2:30-5:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTC 851
Proclamation and the Black Experience
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP26
This course examines the history of norms, socio-cultural contexts, hermeneutics, and theologies that inform proclamation at the intersection of Black lived experiences in North America. Students will engage the preaching of key figures who have shaped the Black preaching tradition, while also attending to non-traditional and emerging voices that expand its boundaries. Alongside the study of Black preaching traditions and other forms of proclamation, the course will provide close readings of sermons, practices, and performances. In doing so, it assists students in developing a critical appreciation of proclamation as an act deeply connected to its contexts, while offering opportunities to explore how key learnings may further shape one�s ministry practices.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Adkins-Jones, Tim
W
2:30-5:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTH 828
Early Modern Piety
BTI Category
Church History/History of Religions
Semester
SP26
The literature and practice of Christian devotion between the Reformation and Pietism, in national and confessional contexts within Early Modern society. Catechisms, hymnals and prayerbooks in production, distribution, and use. Special attention to the relation between theology and forms of devotion, public and domestic piety, and to the devotional roles of women and children.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Brown, Christopher
W
8:00-10:45am
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTM 815
Christian Mission
BTI Category
Church History/History of Religions
Semester
SP26
Exploration of biblical, historical, theological, political, and cultural perspectives on the world mission of the church. This course is a requirement for United Methodist MDiv students pursuing ordination in the United Methodist Church.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Robert, Dana
T
12:30-3:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTN 724
Introduction to NT Greek 2
BTI Category
Scripture & Biblical Studies
Semester
SP26
Continues and presupposes STHTN 723 NT Greek I
Professor
Class Day & Time
Men�ndez-Antu�a, Luis
TR
8:00-9:15am
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTO 724
Biblical Hebrew 2
BTI Category
Languages
Semester
SP26
Continues and presupposes STHTO 723 Biblical Hebrew I
Professor
Class Day & Time
Simonson, Brandon
TR
8:00-9:15am
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTR 814
Advanced Qualitative Research
BTI Category
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
Semester
SP26
This course is for students involved or interested in independent qualitative research, including interviews, ethnographic projects, and/or content analysis. It will function much like a workshop, providing extensive guided practice with project conceptualization and design, finding funding, meeting university ethics requirements, gaining access to communities, recruiting participants, managing and storing data, creating coding schemes and using software, integrating mixed types of data to support an argument, balancing "home" and "field," being reflexive, and exercising respect and care for both oneself and one's interlocutors. Relative attention to these issues will depend on the needs and interests of the students.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Young, Luther
R
3:30-6:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTS 834
Warrior Chants and Unquiet Spirits
BTI Category
Ethics (all traditions)
Semester
SP26
We focus on the Christian protest tradition, in historical and contemporary contexts, through the autobiographies of people who have used their voices and actions to address and to make significant differences in church and society. Analysis of personal descriptions and basic commitments for social justice form the framework for integrating spirituality with social witness. We study the relationship of the work of such movements within and beyond church structures.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Townes, Emilie
W
8:00-10:45am
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTT 863
Theologies of Liberation
BTI Category
Systematic Theology & Philosophy (Western)
Semester
SP26
Liberation theology has been one of the most influential theological movements in contemporary Christian theology. This course surveys some of its main tenets, texts, and practices. We pay particular attention to the development of liberation theologies in light of the experience of oppressed communities and how these experiences shape their theological imagination. In addition to covering some of the pillar texts in the tradition, the course will investigate several developments in liberating theologies: womanism, mujerista theology, queer theology, postcolonial theologies, and ecotheologies.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Maia, Filipe
T
12:30-3:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTT 957
Postmodern Theology
BTI Category
Systematic Theology & Philosophy (Western)
Semester
SP26
While postmodern thought is often accused of being relativistic and even nihilistic, contemporary theologians have depended on insights from postmodern thinkers to construct theologies that address injustice and advocate for change. This course aims to examine the philosophical and theological critiques of modernity, with an eye towards the constructive possibilities emerging from thinkers such as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, and Judith Butler. The course examines theological proposals that draw on postmodern thought to re- conceptualize divinity in the midst of central challenges of our time: the value of life, alterity/difference, historical trauma, and the future. It aims to provide students with a better understanding of postmodern theories with an eye to their theological significance.�
Professor
Class Day & Time
Maia, Filipe
W
2:30-5:15pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTY 815
Trauma-Informed Leadership and Relational Systems
BTI Category
Leadership Formation & Ministry Skills
Semester
SP26
This interdisciplinary�course�will survey�theory, research, theology, and practice at the intersections of trauma, leadership, and relational systems (e.g., families, congregations, institutions). This�course�will emphasize (a) multidimensional conceptions of trauma and traumatic stress, (b) a systemic understanding of leadership and community, (c) considerations for trauma prevention and responsiveness, (d) practical applications in spiritual care, counseling, and congregational care, and (e) the self of the leader. You will also be invited to consider how you might use�course�content professionally in your respective contexts and will be encouraged to integrate theory and practice through writing assignments, self-reflection exercises, and classroom discussion.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Crabtree, Sara
ARR
Friday, February 27th 4-9pm and Saturday, February 28th 8am-5pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
1
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
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