Theology Minor

The joint minor in Catholic Education and Theology is offered by the Teaching Curriculum and Society Department (TCS) in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development (LSEHD) and the Morrissey Theology Department.

The Catholic Education and Theology minor requires 18 credits/6 courses, which include three foundational Catholic Education courses and three Theology courses. Students will study the theological and spiritual foundations of Catholic education along with the current landscape, as well as possibilities for the future of traditional and non-traditional Catholic education.

The minor is designed for students interested in careers in Catholic education or are discerning a vocation toward post-graduate volunteer or professional service in traditional or non-traditional Catholic educational positions, such as: elementary or high school teaching; school administration (athletics, admissions, fundraising, etc.); educational consulting; instructional design; non-traditional educational settings; and other roles in diocesan or order sponsored schools at all levels.

Academically, after graduation, the students can also pursue either one of the following two masters: Dual degree with M.Ed., offered by the Boston College Gloria L. and Charles I. Clough School of Theology and Ministry; the Curriculum and Instruction M.Ed. with Urban Catholic Teacher Corps, offered by the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.

Learning Goals

Students will:

• Understand the goals and purposes of Catholic education historically and presently.
• Explore the contributions of Catholic theology to Catholic education.
• Analyze the Catholic theological and historical foundations of Catholic schooling.
• Engage with analysis of the contributions of Ignatian spirituality and Jesuit schooling to Catholic education in the United States.
• Experience and reflect upon an authentic Catholic educational praxis.

Requirements

• Three courses in Catholic education, offered by the Lynch School of Education and Human Development
• Three courses in theology, offered by the MCAS Theology Department

Requirement #1: Foundations in Catholic Education: Choose one course (3 Credits)

The courses are offered by the Lynch School of Education and Human Development

• Exploration of Faith, Justice, and Evangelization in Catholic Education: Exploring the History of Catholic Parish Schools in the United States (new course)
• Jesuit Education (potential future course)
• The Growth, Fall, and Future of Catholic Schooling in the United States (potential future course)

Requirement #2: Theological Foundations for Catholic Educators: - Choose three courses (9 credits)

• THEO 2001 Tradition and Traditions
• THEO 2002 Trajectories in Contemporary Theology
• Two alternative options:
  • THEO 1422 The Sacred Page: The Bible
  • One theology elective (level 2000 or above)

Requirement #3: Catholic Education Praxis: Choose one course (3 credits)

• Catholic schools in theory and practice (new course)
  • Includes practice seminar and 75 hours of field experience in local Catholic education

Requirement #4: Education Course: Choose one course (3 credits)

• EDUC 1030 Child Development*
• EDUC 1031 Family, School and Society*
• EDUC 1044 Education and Development for Students with Disabilities
• EDUC 2039 Learning and Curriculum in the Elementary School
• EDUC 2211 Secondary Curriculum and Instruction

* To be replaced with alternate TCS foundational courses when the department develops them and has approved them

The Faith, Peace, and Justice Minor offers students the opportunity to explore, in an interdisciplinary manner, how their own serious questions about faith, peace, and justice are related to concrete work for peace and justice in our world. The goals of the FPJ Program are to help undergraduate students acquire and develop skills in:

• empirical, social scientific analysis of concrete issues related to justice and peace.
  
• gaining a solid intellectual and moral grasp of the ethical and theological principles which arise from these issues.
  
• learning how to formulate public policy or to initiate social change which would help solve these problems.
   

The minor in Interreligious Studies is rooted in the commitment of Jesuit education and service to quality teaching, critical thinking, and rigorous academic standards. The minor seeks to provide undergraduate students with a focused opportunity to explore spirituality, engaging with more than one religious tradition toward the goals of attaining deeper knowledge, wisdom, and ethical engagement within their own spiritual experience and in connection with the experiences of others, including those in other traditions.

The minor contributes to Boston College’s commitment to formative education by enabling students to search for meaning and purpose in their overall lives through intentional engagement with more than one religious tradition as part of their training to become global citizens prepared to make a positive contribution to their communities in lives of service rooted in education and spiritual commitment. The minor equips students with a deep understanding of particular religions, as well as with real and ideal models of interaction between religious traditions. It may thus serve as a complement to any field of study as religion plays an important role in all areas of human life and culture.

Learning Goals

Students will:

• Gain a deep understanding of more than one religious tradition.
• Be able to identify and critically analyze the role(s) religion plays in political, economic and cultural life.
• Develop various strategies to resolve interreligious tensions and violence.
• Become conversant with the methods of interreligious dialogue.
• Engage the quest for truth and meaning that generate theological insight in Christianity and other religious traditions.
• Explore the fundamental texts and practices that shape religious traditions.
• Understand the dynamic relationship between religious truth-claims and their moral implications for individuals, communities and societies.
• Engage textual, historical, cultural, social, political and economic analysis as it pertains to theological reflection.
• Relate theological inquiry to the enduring questions animating the broader liberal arts tradition.
• Enrich their personal engagement with spirituality and its influence on relationships, society, and future careers.

Minor Requirements

• One course, from among the Sacred Texts and Traditions core courses, that focuses on Christianity in dialogue with another tradition.
  • THEO 1430 Buddhism and Christianity in Dialogue
  • THEO 1431 Islam and Christianity in Dialogue
  • THEO 1432 Hinduism and Christianity in Dialogue
  • THEO 1433 Chinese Religions and Christianity in Dialogue
  • THEO 1434 Judaism and Christianity in Dialogue
  • THEO 1701 Geographies of Imperialism: Theology of Colonization (EQ course, Islam and Christianity
  • THEO 1703 Building and Sustaining a Habitable Planet: Theological Perspectives (EQ course, Islam and Christianity)
• One (new) course on “Methods in Interreligious Dialogue and Understanding.”
• Four electives at level 2000 or above. Possible electives include but are not limited to:
  • AADS 2162 Muslim Africa
  • ARTH 2274 Buddhist Arts in Asia
  • EALC 4151 Readings in Chinese Literature and Philosophy
  • ENGL 2162 Gods and Heroes in Chinese Literature
  • PHIL 3147 Zen and Philosophy
  • PHIL 4476 Classical Chinese Philosophy
  • PHIL 4477 Ethical Principles in Comparative Perspectives
  • THEO 1725 Buddhism and Christianity: Contemplative Responses to Suffering
  • THEO 3000 Religion and Globalization
  • THEO 3001 Hinduism: Past and Present
  • THEO 3006 The Same God? Jewish and Christian Views
  • THEO 30XX01/ICSP30XX01 Islamic Mysticism
  • THEO 4010 The Samurai and the Cross: Christian encounters with Japan
  • THEO 5007 Mahayana Buddhism: Thought and Practice
  • THEO 505001/ICSP505001 Great Books of Islam
  • THEO 50XX01/ICSP50XX01 Christians Reading the Qur’an
  • THEO 5358 How Israel Matters
  • THEO 5436 The Theology of Abraham Joshua Heschel
  • THEO 5437 Jewish and Christian Readings of Scripture
  • THEO 5449 Jewish Liturgy
  • THEO 5474 Jews and Christians: Understanding the Other
  • THEO 5487 Passover Liturgy in Midrash and Talmud
  • THEO 550001/ICSP331001 Women and Gender in Islam
  • THEO 5533 Antisemitism, Racism, and Christian Nationalism
  • THEO 5700 Indian Christian Theology
  • THEO/ICSP 7010 Islam and History of the Middle East
  • THEO/ICSP 7855 Modern/Contemporary Islam in Practice

Advisory Committee

• Dr. Catherine Cornille
• Dr. Natana DeLong-Bas
• Dr. Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkosky
• Dr. Ruth Langer
• Dr. Matthew Vale
• Dr. Jason Welle

Affiliated Faculty

Faculty in the African and African Diaspora Studies program; Art, Art History, and Film Department; Asian Studies minor; Communications Department; Eastern, Slavic, and German Studies Department; History Department; International Studies major; Islamic Civilization and Societies program (ICSP); Jewish Studies minor; Philosophy Department; and Political Science Department.

• Marsin Alshamary (Political Science Department, ICSP)
• Kathleen Bailey (Political Science Department, ICSP)
• Benjamin Braude (History Department, ICSP)
• Aurelia Campbell (Art, Art History, and Film Department)
• Sing-Chen Lydia Chiang (Eastern, Slavic, and German Studies Department)
• David Johnson (Philosophy Department)
• Jonathan Laurence (Political Science Department, ICSP)
• Lorelle Semley (African and African Diaspora Studies program)
• Matthew Sienkiewicz (Communications Department, Jewish Studies minor)
• Erik Owens (Theology Department, International Studies program)
• Kristin Peterson (Communications Department, media, religion and cultures with expertise in Islam)
• Antoni Ucerler, S.J. (Ricci institute, History Department)

Religion and Public Life Interdisciplinary Minor

The Religion and Public Life minor will offer students a way to explore and connect diverse conversations about the role of religion in public life. Bringing together a wide array of courses to choose from, the Religion and Public Life minor will have an interdisciplinary emphasis and be composed of six courses, one introductory course and five electives.

The Theology and Philosophy Minor calls students to an interdisciplinary reflection on God, self, and world through both theology and philosophy. The Minor recognizes the proximity but also the differences between these two disciplines. Moreover, the Minor seeks to encourage students to develop a deeper understanding of the relationship between theology and philosophy by deepening the students’ knowledge of each discipline and by discovering connections and overlaps.

Boston College has particularly exceptional Theology and Philosophy Departments, with many faculty members whose research sits at the crossroads of theology and philosophy. The Minor encourages this cross-pollination, and attempts to reach those students whose interests lie between theology and philosophy. Following a Theology Department survey of theology majors and minors accomplished in 2023, it was noted that no students identified the intersection of theology and philosophy as an interest, despite numerous courses which are cross-listed, core programs which engage both disciplines (PULSE and Perspectives on Western Culture), and numerous faculty members in the Theology and Philosophy Departments who work at this intersection. Given the M.A. program in Philosophy and Theology, as well as the interests of faculty in both departments, it is clear that interest in this domain exists; and yet it appears students are not aware of this possibility, and thus both departments are not taking advantage of a key strength of the current teaching. Because the Minor works from existing strengths in both departments, it will neither require additional faculty, nor place any burdens on classroom or scheduling demands.

The Minor builds on the foundation of the core curriculum, in particular the interdisciplinary PULSE and Perspectives programs which are structured upon the intersecting nature of theology and philosophy; with over eight hundred students in these two programs, many of our undergraduates are therefore already studying at the intersection of these two fields. Therefore, the hope is to draw the first minors from this base. The expectation is to attract an initial number of six to ten students in our first year, before working towards a larger number of students in the Minor, similar to the existing Minor in Theology, which draws about forty students each academic year.

In terms of courses, from the starting point of their theology and philosophy core courses, students will be able to take advantage of the already extant thematic overlap and numerous cross-listed courses between the two departments. Finally, the Theology and Philosophy Minor will also prepare students to pursue their interests in these two disciplines by pursuing the current Joint M.A. in Philosophy and Theology, and hopefully serve as an additional entry point into this program.

Learning Goals

Students will:

• Understand the complexities of the relationship between theology and philosophy, as well as the overlaps, divides, aporias, and boundaries.
• Explore various explanations of the relationship between faith and reason as found in major theologians and philosophers.
• Encounter theological explorations of philosophical methods and concepts.
• Perform theological and philosophical reflections on matters of significance.
   

Minor Requirements

Option 1: From Theology to Philosophy

• Two core courses in theology
• One elective in theology (level 2000 or above)
• Three electives in philosophy (at least one course should be at 5000 level)

Option 2: From Philosophy to Theology

• Two core courses in philosophy
• One elective in philosophy (level 2000 or above)
• Three electives in theology (at least one course should be at 5000 level)

In both Option 1 and Option 2, the rationale for two core courses counting toward the minor is that the core courses in the Philosophy Department are always in a sequence of two, and the Minor in Philosophy counts those two core courses as its starting point. The two options give students flexibility in how they achieve their minor in relation to other potential majors or minors.
 

The Catholic Studies minor at Boston College seeks to develop an intellectual and academic approach to Catholicism which does justice to the full human reality, integrity and pluralism within this major world religious tradition.

The Jewish Studies minor examines the multiple dimensions and complexities of Jewish civilization throughout its broad chronological and geographical range. In so doing, the program contributes to Boston College’s efforts to internationalize and enrich its curriculum by creating a space for reflection on an ethnically and religiously diverse campus.