CRITERIA FOR CATHOLIC STUDIES COURSES

RATIONALE

The mission of the Institute of Catholic Studies is to provide students, faculty, staff, and the larger community with the opportunity to deepen knowledge of how Catholicism and Catholics have interacted with the world, both shaping and being shaped by culture and society both in the past in the present. As a Jesuit and Catholic university, John Carroll University is an ideal home for such analysis. Through the development of an interdisciplinary Catholic Studies Program, the Institute will provide opportunities for encounter with the Catholic intellectual tradition as expressed in many scholarly disciplines from philosophy to science, providing courses that highlight the contribution of Catholic intellectuals and scholars. It also will provide courses that reflect the current conditions in which Catholics find themselves at the dawn of the twenty-first century. This will provide students with a solid interdisciplinary foundation for understanding the interaction of faith and culture in the past as well as for navigating their way in the future. Faculty who develop courses in Catholic Studies should possess an appreciation for this tradition and for the relationship of Catholicism and culture. Using appropriate and effective methods of scholarly analysis and pedagogy, the faculty in the program should promote serious reflection on the richness, diversity, and vitality of the Catholic tradition and its intellectual life. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the program, faculty is strongly encouraged to develop team taught course across various disciplines.

CRITERIA

Courses that receive Catholic Studies designation will devote substantial class time and assignments to the study of the Catholic intellectual tradition and the experience of Catholics and would typically meet several of the following criteria:

1) examine topics, themes, or questions pertinent to Roman Catholic doctrine
and faith in its various aspects, illuminating the principles and teachings of Catholicism as expressed in literature, art, philosophy, the natural and social sciences, historical study, business disciplines, theology, and Sacred Scripture

2) explore the historical, social, cultural, religious, scientific, and/or economic background of the dimensions of Catholic intellectual life, highlighting the contribution of the Catholic thinkers and artists as well as the influence of culture upon those thinkers and writers

3) emphasize the Church-historical framework of a topic, thereby enabling students to develop a sense of the historical development of a particular theme in Catholic intellectual life, with an assessment of its continuing value for the present and the future

4) illuminate the distinctive characteristics of the Catholic tradition within Christianity, for example: belief in the unity between faith and reason; a theory of Christian virtues; sacramental theology; devotion to Mary; emphasis on institutional and hierarchical structure; concern for corporeality; characteristic pious practices; tradition of Christian education and humanism; monasticism

5) relate the dimensions of Catholic intellectual life to ongoing concerns, discussions, or debates in the discipline(s) in question or investigate a variety of perspectives, in light of magisterial teaching, to insure that students have a critical appreciation of the central points of disagreement among scholars of the topic

PLEASE NOTE: It is highly desirable that courses fulfill core requirements in the various divisions (particularly for lower division courses) or major requirements in the particular discipline.

Students who wish to pursue the Concentration in Catholic Studies must complete 18 credit hours in approved Catholic Studies Courses distributed as follows:

1 course in Religious Studies

1 course in Philosophy

1 course in Humanities

1 course in either the Social or Natural Sciences

1 elective in Catholic Studies

1 required seminar- Great Thinkers of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

Catholic Studies Courses by Semester

• Fall 2008
• Spring 2008
• Fall 2007
• Spring 2007
• Fall 2006
• Spring 2006
• Fall 2005
• Spring 2005
• Fall 2004