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BTI Consortium | Last Updated November 14 - 9:00AM
INTERNATIONAL MISSION & ECUMENISM CERTIFICATE (Pre-Approved Courses)
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2248
The Medium and the Mission: Technology and Communication in Global Christianity
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
SP24
This course will explore the many diverse mediums through which Christianity travels around the globe to save, heal, touch, prophecy and connect Christian communities from diverse places. In order to do so, we will combine ethnographic case studies and theoretical analysis. The case studies will vary in locale (providing a global scope) and in the medium. Some weeks might consist of a Zoom visit from a Pentecostal deliverance minister or faith healer. Others might require watching a Pentecostal Ghallywood film. Some weeks might center on technology as a material object, while still others will consider television programming, radio programming, telegraphs, or the ubiquity of the Jesus Film. This ethnographic breadth seeks to capture some of the dynamism of medium in World Christianity.
We will pair each case study with a theoretical consideration of how technology has played a significant role in shaping Christian ideas of the human, sin, senses, the body, transference/impartation, gifts, evangelism, and the world around them. While considering these topics, special attention will be paid to how marginalized communities have incorporated various mediums as means of resistance. Assignments will include participation in class conversations, leading seminar discussions, analyzing diverse mediums, and a final paper.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Nathanael Homewood
M
12-2PM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary-Hamilton
WM662
NGOs and Development in Mission
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
SP24
The course is an overview of the role of non-governmental agencies (NGOs) and development in Christian mission. It covers biblical, theological, historical, and current perspectives on the global trend toward integration of development and mission. The course also looks at the role of globalization in the spread of the gospel. It examines plans made by Christians to alleviate social problems.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Johnson, Todd
TR
8:00-9:25am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
SYNCHRNOUS
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STH TM815
Christian Mission
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
SP24
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
T
12:30pm-3:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
IME Certificate
School
Boston University School of Theology
STH TH853
Christianity in Colonial Latin America
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
SP24
Christianity in Colonial Latin America is a graduate-level survey course that introduces students to the historical trajectory of Christianity in Latin America from the arrival of Christopher Columbus (1492) to the period of the Latin American wars of independence (1791-1821). Attention is given to the encounter with pre-Colombian religions as well as the transactional adaptation of core Christian theological, institutional, and ascetical traditions. Accordingly, special consideration will be given to theological discourses of the other, the adaptation of ecclesiastical institutions such as the episcopacy, and missionary practices. Reading selections include primary source material as well as secondary scholarly literature. Students will have the opportunity to acquire both a general appreciation for the historical trajectory of Christianity during the colonial period as well as an in depth understanding of selected topics intended for independent research.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Roldan Figueroa
R
12:30pm-3:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston College School of Theology & Ministry
TMHC8148
Stones, Bones, Spaces and Places: A History of Christianity's Relationship with the Material World
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
SP24
This course will explore the relationship of Christians with the material world and with materiality particularly during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, but with some contemporary discussion as well. Christians, on the one hand, have embraced materiality on account of the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus. On the other hand, some Christians have preferred to find a tension between the material and the spiritual. This course will explore those perspectives as well as the material culture of Christianity in its places, objects, relics, and thought. Students will encounter historical methodologies including the reconstruction of landscape and soundscape as well as theories of material culture.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Stephen Molvarec, S.J.
T
3:30-5:30 PM
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
At least one previous graduate level course in Church History or History
School
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
INDS 7100 H1
The Ecumenical Movement-TheSources
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
SP24
The Ecumenical Movement that started in the second half of the 19th century does not constitute an ideology but rather reflects the authentic commitment to reconcile divided Christians in the unity of the Church and the reality of communion. Throughout the past century, the quest for Christian unity has assumed many shapes and forms that may be studied through major documents produced along the history of the 20th century and beyond. This course will define the boundaries of Ecumenism and its challenges for contemporary Orthodoxy by looking inward as well as outward as faithful and thoughtful Christians.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Rev. Dr. Nicholas Kazarian
M
6:30-8:50p
Grading Option
L/PF/AUD
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
HYBRID
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary-Hamilton
WM601
The World Mission of the Church
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
SP24
Recognizing the responsibility of all Christians to complete Christ's commission, this course gives an overview of the strategic and historical progress of worldwide missions today. The ways in which a local congregation can fulfill its worldwide biblical mandate are also considered.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Yao, Xiyi
Module 4: Feb. 23-24; Mar. 22-23; Apr. 26-27
Fri 6:30-9:30pm; Sat 8:30am-4:30pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
SYNCHRNOUS
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STH TO838
Biblical Interpretation from Hispanic and Latin American Perspectives
BTI Category
Semester
Scripture & Biblical Studies
SP24
An examination of the setting, origin, purpose, and religious outlook of Second Temple Jewish writings usually labeled Old Testament Apocrypha/Pseudoepigrapha, with attention given to the continuity of the Biblical traditions and the background they provide for an understanding of first-century Judaism and the New Testament.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Botta
W
2:30pm-5:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
PREREQ: STH TO704 Introduction to Hebrew Bible or equivalent
School
Boston University School of Theology
STH TM863
African Christianity: Narratives, Beliefs, and Practices
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
SP24
This course examines the history of Christianity in Africa, with focus on the 19th-21st centuries. It pays particular attention to themes in African theology, gender and social action, environmentalism, Pentecostal spiritualities, African missions, and church/state relations-- including issues of colonialism and democratization. A highlight of the course will be a conference on African Christian Biography with leading scholars, in late October.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Robert with Wariboko
F
8:00am-10:45am
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Boston University School of Theology
STH TC835
Evangelism and Contemporary Cultures
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
SP24
This course explores the practice of bearing faithful, visible, and embodied witness to God's commonwealth in contemporary contexts and cultures. The course covers the biblical, historical, and theological foundations of evangelism, its practice within congregational life, and contextual strategies.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Stone
T
3:30pm-6:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
PAST 7351
Missions And Evangelism
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
SP24
This course will help one understand the central importance and role in the Church of witnessing our faith through missions and evangelism. The "spirit of missions" is central in our ecclesiology and Orthodox worldview and identity. The need for Christians and churches to continue the work of Christ, welcoming and reaching out to those outside our Christian faith is paramount. We need Churches which instill in its members the spirit to raise up, train and send out missionaries and witnesses locally, nationally and globally. This course will educate and inspire students to understand the central spirit of missions and evangelism in the Church. The first part of the course will focus on the lives, ministries and methods of some of the greatest Orthodox missionaries - the Apostle Paul and the early Christians, Cyril and Methodios, Innocent Veniaminov of Alaska, Nicholas Kasatkin of Japan - along with exemplar witnesses of the faith from last century like St Maria Skobtsova, St Tikhon (Bellavin) of Moscow, and St. Raphael (Hawaweeny) of Brooklyn, Sister Gavrillia Papayiannis, and contemporary missionaries like Archbishop Anastasios (Yannoulatos) of Albania and OCMC missionary Lynette Hoppe. The last third of the course will apply the studied missionary methods to evangelism in the contemporary American context. How should the Orthodox Church carry on this spirit of evangelism in its present reality in America?
Professor
Class Day & Time
Rev. Luke A. Veronis
R
2:10-4:30p
Grading Option
L/PF/AUD
Credits
3
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
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