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BTI Consortium | Last Updated August 15, 2025 - 11:00AM
INTERNATIONAL MISSION & ECUMENISM CERTIFICATE (Pre-Approved Courses)
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMST8016-01
Seminar: Global Catholicism in the Twenty-First Century
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
This seminar traces the evolution of global Catholicism in the light of demographic shifts within the Roman Catholic Church from 1910-2010. Drawing upon insights and perspectives from church history, ecclesiology, theology, world mission studies, and post-colonial theory, the seminar examines the interactive dynamics of faith and culture as it explores the transformation of Roman Catholic ecclesial consciousness in the twenty-first century. Additional resources for research and analysis include the working documents, proceedings, and outcomes of recent Special Synods as well as international, regional, and national General Conferences of Episcopal Conferences, Assemblies of Conferences of Religious, and World Youth Days.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Guider, Margaret E
T
03:30PM-06:20PM
Grading Option
Letter
Professor
3
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
(Foundational course in ecclesiology)
School
Boston College Department of Theology
THEO5426-01
From Nile to Niger: African Christian Fathers and Mothers of the Church
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
This course counts as an elective towards the interdisciplinary Minor in Ancient Civilization. Introduction to the Fathers of the Church, with special emphasis on the period after the apostles to the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325). The lives, writings, and teachings of the Church Fathers will be studied through readings in English translation.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Schatkin
M
3:00 p.m. - 5:20 p.m.
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Professor
3
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
GRAD/UGRAD SPLIT�
School
Boston College Department of Theology
THEO7037-01
Practical Theological Ethics and Global Christianity
BTI Category
Semester
Ethics (all traditions)
FA25
The doctoral seminar explores four selected topics in contemporary practical theological ethics: bioethics, sustainability, politics, and theological ethics in the local and global Church. By engaging the contributions of representative, diverse theological-ethical voices in global Christianity from the Global South particularly from Asia, Africa, and Latin America the seminar aims to strengthening the students familiarity with current global scholarship on these topics.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Vicini
M
2:00 p.m. - 4:20 p.m.
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Professor
3
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Doctoral Seminar
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTM 835
Asian Christianity
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
This course explores the dynamism, co-option, stagnation and renewal of East Asian Christianity throughout its history--from the 7th century to the 21st. Special attention is given to Christianity's complex interaction with the religious, political, and social realities of Japan, China, and Korea. Students are introduced to important Christian leaders and movements across the centuries, and they investigate the implications of East Asian Christianity's recent expansion both at home and abroad.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Ireland, Daryl
M
2:30pm-5:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Professor
3
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2319
Evangelicalism and Political Culture in the United States Since c.1950
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
The aim of this course is to investigate the relationship between evangelical religion and political culture in the United States from the end of the Second World War until the present. Key questions to be asked include: What is evangelicalism? When, where, and how did it arise? What were its religious, cultural, and political characteristics from its origins in Europe to its establishment in the United States? How is evangelicalism to be distinguished from fundamentalism? What were the most important demographic and political characteristics of evangelicalism at the end of the Second World War? What factors shaped its political evolution in the decades after World War Two, especially around issues relating to race, gender, culture, media, identity, political parties, and foreign affairs? How does the political culture of white evangelicals differ from that of evangelicals of color? Who were the most important personalities, and which were the most notable events and processes shaping evangelical political consciousness? What is the current state of evangelicalism’s political consciousness and how can one explain its close relationship with the Republican Party and Donald Trump? What contribution will/did evangelicals make to the 2024 presidential election? What factors need to be considered in assessing what may happen to evangelical political consciousness in the next several decades? What impact has political consciousness had on evangelical religiosity and spirituality?Jointly offered with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as REL XXXX.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hempton
T
09:00am-11:45am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Professor
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
INDS 6150 Z1
Eastern & Oriental OrthodoxChurches
BTI Category
Semester
Interreligious Learning
FA25
Professors: This course is team-taught, organized by Christine Chaillot and facilitated by Rev. Dr. Gary Alexander. Ms. Chaillot has written several books and articles on relations between the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox Churches in the past and present. Fr. Gary Alexander has studied theology and law; he also holds a doctorate in education. Course Description: The course will introduce students to the Armenian, Syrian, Coptic, and Ethiopian Churches. Guest lecturers will include leading representatives, ecumenical and theological specialists, both Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, from various countries in North America and Europe, to address Christological issues at the time of the Council of Chalcedon (451) as well as subsequent developments up to the recent exchanges and dialogues. A number of texts from the unofficial and official theological dialogue will also be analyzed and discussed. Students will be exposed to the history, literature, liturgy, and spirituality of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, while studying the doctrinal
Professor
Class Day & Time
Rev. Dn. Gary David Alexander
SYNC
1:00pm-3:20pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Professor
3
Online?
SYNC
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Boston College Department of Theology
THEO5011-01
Revolutionaries, Diplomatic Theology, and Catholic Missionaries: Challenges in Twentieth-Century China
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
This is a survey course. Each of these three groups challenged the witness of Catholicism in China since 1900. Understand how American ambassadors, business and military interests responded to Chinese political and social change. Learn how they then enabled zealous and adventurous Catholic missionaries to balance their dual identity as American citizens as well representatives of the Pope in Rome to preach the Gospel and provide social relief as China quested stability amid decades of war. Discover how the Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek and the Communists inspired by Mao Zedong responded to and tested the resolve of these missionary foreigners. After 1949, the focusshifts to see how the U.S., the Holy See, and international Chinese Catholics have had to renegotiate their participation pertaining to religious freedom and human rights in China till the present day.No background on Chinese history is required. Theology, history, political science and international relation students are welcome.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Carbonneau
M
1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Professor
3
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
GRAD/UGRAD SPLIT�
School
Boston College Department of Theology
THEO7005-01
Christian Ethics and Migration
BTI Category
Semester
Ethics (all traditions)
FA25
This course examines the phenomenon of global migration from a Christian theological perspective. Texts from social scientific, legal, and policy perspectives will frame the phenomenon of contemporary migration. The seminar will then undertake ethical analyses of migration paradigms, policies and practices in light of resources from the Christian tradition, considering questions related to globalization, citizenship, economic justice, gender, family ethics, and integration.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Heyer
W
10:00 a.m. - 12:25 p.m.�
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Professor
3
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Boston University School of Theology
STHTH 701 A1
History of Christianity
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
This course surveys the interconnected global history of Christianity starting with the second century Mediterranean world and moving chronologically through Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the European Reformations, including the emergence of Wesleyanism, through the rise of modern missions, down to the twenty-first century, giving particular attention to the role of women in the Christian movement, the movement of Christianity across cultures, and the encounters between Christianity and other religions.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Brown, Christopher and Roldan-Figueroa, Rady
TR
9:30am-10:45am
Grading Option
Letter
Professor
3
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary-Boston
CH/WM621
The Church in China: Suffering and Witnessing
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
In contemporary discourse of missional church, the Chinese Church, especially the house church movement feature prominently, and often serve as a model of minority churches witnessing in an unfriendly world. By providing a survey and interpretation of the Christian presence in China from the 7th century to the present, this course provides an opportunity to examine the Church in China as a missional church, and to draw lessons for global church in the 21st century.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Yao, Xiyi
F Sat
Fri 6:30-9:30pm; Sat 8:30am-4:30pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Professor
3
Online?
SYNC
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Sept. 12-13, Nov. 7-8, Dec. 12-13
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3187
Global Religious Change: Babies, Converts, Migrants
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
This course uses social scientific perspectives to understand religious change in the 20th and 21st centuries by investigating six dynamics: births/deaths (fertility), converts in/converts out (switching), and emigration/immigration (migration). Students will be introduced to important debates in the sociology of religion such as theories of religious change and issues related to data availability, interpretation, and communication. Relevant questions include: What data sources exist to interpret religious/non-religious global trends? Is the world becoming more or less religious? Under what conditions does an individual or community switch religions? What causes declines in fertility rates, and how do rates differ by religion? Will Islam become the world�s largest religion and, if so, by when and how? How does migration effect religious belief and practice? By investigating the six dynamics of religious change in the past, we can make reasonable assumptions for the religious and non-religious future. Four case studies detailed in the course are Christianity�s demographic shift to the global South with a focus on Nigeria, the Jewish diaspora, demography of religion in India, and religious decline in the West. Students will have the opportunity to write a final research paper or produce a demographic report.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Zurlo
M
12:00pm-02:45pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Professor
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2150
Christianity and Fascism: Complicity and Resistance
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
What is the relationship between Christianity and fascism? In the twentieth century, Christian thought and practice were sites of intense political struggle, as fascists presented their movements as building properly-ordered Christian societies at the same time as antifascists presented resistance as a Christian duty. This course explores the ambivalent place of Christianity amid the rise and rule of fascist movements between 1920-1945, with a particular focus on Christian complicity and resistance in Nazi Germany. We will read twentieth-century attempts to understand Christian theology�s relationship to the politics of fascism, investigate what a church service and a theology education in Nazi Germany were like, and learn from antifascists how to imagine a Christian theology of resistance, with particular focus on the theologian and anti-Nazi resister Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Loftin
M
12:00pm-02:45pm
Grading Option
Letter
Professor
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
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