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INTERRELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP
CERTIFICATE (PRE-APPROVED COURSES)

School

Boston College School of Theology & Ministry

TMPS7182

Pastoral Care in/with Communities of Faith: Creating Networks of Care

BTI Category

Semester

Practical/Pastoral Theology

FA23

Life is in inherently relational, multidimensional, interconnected, and located within larger systems and structures � i.e. communities. Thus, our practices of pastoral care and counseling must likewise attend to the multidimensional and systemic nature of relationality. This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to explore personal, pastoral, and communal processes of creating networks of care in communities of faith and para-church organizations. Both pastoral and lay leaders will learn how to engage and utilize systems theory, conflict theory, therapeutic skills and processes, and theological and spiritual resources to navigate conflict, foster dialogue, and build constructive solutions and possibilities in community as part of an overarching practice of pastoral care. Particular attention will be given to one’s self-in-relationship and the capacity to remain a non-anxious, non-reactive constructive presence.

Professor

Class Day & Time

William Roozeboom

ASYN

ASYN

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

3

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Online?

Y

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

N

School

Boston College School of Theology & Ministry

TMPT8138

Impasse and Spiritual Transormation

BTI Category

Semester

Practical/Pastoral Theology

FA23

This course gathers multi-disciplinary resources for spiritual responses to intractable conflicts. It develops a working social theory definition of identity and traces dynamics of transformation in The Dark Night by John of the Cross. Next, it examines Constance Fitzgerald�s concept of impasse and its implications for socio-political life. Finally, it reflects on wisdom, hope, and imagination in light of the foregoing challenges.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Heather M. DuBois

T

3:30-5:30

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

3

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Online?

N

Prerequisite?

Y

Notes

One year of graduate level theology

School

Boston College Department of Theology

THEO7507

Theology of Religions/Comparative Theology

BTI Category

Semester

Interreligious Learning

FA23

This seminar will focus on the various theological positions which have been developed with regard to the reality of religious pluralism as well as on the relationship between theology of religions and comparative theology. While we will focus mainly on the works of Christian theologians, we will also pay attention to analogous developments in other religious traditions.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Catherine M Cornille

T

10:00-12:25

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

3

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Online?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

N

School

Boston University Graduate Program in Religion

GRS RN766

Tolerance

BTI Category

Semester

Ethics (All Traditions)

FA23

Explores the religious roots of tolerance as an alternative to secular, more liberal foundations for pluralism. Grapples with the challenge of tolerance to the revealed religions and the ways different societies have met or failed to meet this challenge. Presents multiple case-studies and contemporary connections, explores relevance to students own experiences.��

Professor

Class Day & Time

Adam Seligman

TR

11:00-12:15

Grading Option

Audit; Letter; P/F

Credits

4

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Online?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

DOCTORAL

School

Boston University School of Theology

STH TC859

Interfaith Leadership

BTI Category

Semester

Interreligious Learning

FA23

A-TERM: This course offers an entry point into the emerging field of Interfaith Leadership. It will provide students with an analysis of the power and potential of interfaith leadership in justice work, community building, and personal spiritual maturation. It includes the study and interpretation of historic and contemporary examples of interfaith leadership, requires students hone an articulation of their own faith-based motivations for interfaith engagement, and teaches best practices for engagement across differing belief systems. Students will engage in interfaith dialogue as part of their course work. Upon completion of the course, students will have increased their ability to engage in interfaith settings, understand how interfaith leadership differs from intra- faith leadership, and be clear on their individual points of tension in interfaith leadership settings, as well as those of their denomination or faith tradition. The course welcomes people of all faiths from atheism to theism and does not require a specific affiliation.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Wendy Von Courter

A TERM

9:00-4:00

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

3

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Online?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

N

School

Boston University School of Theology

STH TC850

Identity, Preaching, and Leadership in a Postcolonial Context

BTI Category

Semester

Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual

FA23

This course provides distinctive postcolonial lenses through which students will explore and examine how persons and communities practice intercultural preaching (alternatively, public speech) and leadership in relation to identities: culture, race, gender/sex, religious traditions, and religious communities. Through investigating various historical sociocultural religious traditions and religious leaders in terms of postcolonialism, class, race and sex/gender, students will critically reflect on challenging conditions of power and authority and engage with the complexities of leadership and preaching. Building on these studies and reflections, students will gain a keen sense of understanding different leadership and preaching practices interculturally, and develop their own approaches for their varied contexts and identities.

Professor

Class Day & Time

David Jacobsen and Hee An Choi

W

8:00-10:45

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

3

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Online?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

N

School

Boston College School of Theology & Ministry

TMPS7277

Trauma Healing and Prevention

BTI Category

Semester

Practical/Pastoral Theology

FA23

Traumatization occurs at the interrelated social, psychic, and physiological boundaries of life and death. This course offers an introduction to trauma healing and prevention for contexts of pastoral and spiritual care. It surveys approaches to trauma developed in peacebuilding, public health, and psychology, as well as the emerging subfield of trauma theology. The final research paper is a vocational case study.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Heather M. DuBois

R

3:30-5:30

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

3

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Online?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

N

School

Boston College Department of Theology

THEO5437

Jewish/Christians Reading Bible

BTI Category

Semester

Interreligious Learning

FA23

This course compares how core themes in the scriptures of Israel have been received, interpreted, and disputed in their classical texts by both the Jewish and Christian communities. It will juxtapose these received readings with contemporary interpretative methods informed by the modern turn to Jewish-Christian understanding. Themes explored include creation, election, covenant, and commandment. This co-taught course will be an intentional exercise in interreligious dialogue.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Ruth Langer and Daniel Joslyn-Siematkoski

R

4:30-6:50

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

3

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Online?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

N

School

Boston University Graduate Program in Religion

GRS RN638

Philosophy and Mysticism: Jewish and Islamic Perspectives

BTI Category

Semester

Judaic Studies; Islamic Studies

FA23

A thematic introduction to mysticism and philosophy, with a focus on the dynamics of religious experience. Readings will be drawn from medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy; Sufi mysticism and philosophy; Kabbalah, Sufi poetry, Hebrew poetry from the Golden Age of Muslim Spain.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Diana Lobel

TR

2:00-3:15

Grading Option

Audit; Letter; P/F

Credits

4

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Online?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

DOCTORAL

School

Boston University School of Theology

STH TA815

World Religions in Boston

BTI Category

Semester

Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods

FA23

A-TERM: In an increasingly pluralistic society it is essential to have some understanding of the beliefs and worship patterns of other religions and to be able to engage in dialogue with them. This course utilizes the Pluralism Project at Harvard to explore new forms of interfaith engagement. Seven weekly lectures introduce the issues surrounding interfaith work and a basic understanding of the tenets and practices of five major religions. Site visits (to Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Jewish worship services) offer first- hand experiences and the opportunity for discussion and interaction with religious leaders and lay people.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Andrew Shenton

A TERM

2:00-9:00

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

3

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Online?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

N

School

Boston University School of Theology

STH TC870

Women/femmes and New Models of Leadership

BTI Category

Semester

Leadership Formation & Ministry Skills

FA23

A-TERM: This course aims to deconstruct and demystify "leadership", encourage active participation in discovering individual and communal leadership styles, and expand how we approach leadership through the lens of women/femmes.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Hee An Choi

A TERM

9:00-3:15

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

3

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Online?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

N

School

Boston University School of Theology

STH TS875

Comparative Religious Ethics

BTI Category

Semester

Ethics (All Traditions)

FA23

Comparative religious ethics, as a burgeoning academic field, strives to pursue moral wisdom across religious boundaries. In this course, we first juxtapose the ethical teaching of Christianity with another tradition to probe some perennial moral questions: ultimate end, exemplary virtue, social hierarchy, sexuality and marriage, war and peace, as well as political liberation. We then examine some contemporary issues comparatively in feminist, environmental, and postcolonial ethics. Finally, we study the moral significance of religious traditions as "spiritual exercises" (in the senses given by St. Ignatius and Pierre Hadot). There, we explore how bodily practices such as yogic movements, breathing exercises, Benedictine liturgical prayers, meditation of the cosmos, and contemplation of divine love might have far-reaching ethical consequences.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Peng Yin

R

3:30-6:15

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

3

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Online?

N

Prerequisite?

N

Notes

N

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