Courses

• STH TE 808: Creative Pedagogy
  This course examines the transformative potential of creative pedagogy, in which individuals and communities learn through the free play of possibilities that deepen faith. By engaging practical, historical, theological approaches, students learn to consider the tensions, risks and opportunities of creative pedagogy, while acquiring skills to teach and learn through the body, the imagination, and the senses.
• STH TE 811: Doing Theology Aesthetically
  In this course learners explore the aesthetic dimensions of meaning-making through visual art and aesthetic practices. Discussion of texts, experiences of making art, and engagement in aesthetic practices shed light on the potential strengths and limitations of using aesthetic experience as an effective teaching approach in religious education.
• STH TE 812: Introduction to Christian Education: Person, Community, and Religious Education
  This course is a practical introduction to ministries of learning and teaching in Christian communities. It will explore the dynamics of individual and communal faith formation in diverse contexts, drawing on a range of perspectives from theology and the philosophy of education. Students will analyze the education offerings of religious communities, evaluate educational resources, practice effective teaching approaches, and design educational strategies appropriate to their community of faith.
• STH TE 819: REligious Education for Social Transformation
    This course explores a religious pedagogy that enables communities of faith to integrate the personal formation of their members with their communal public actions for social transformation. Both the history and the current practices of Christian religious education reveal a division between two educational dimensions: the formation of "self" and the transformation of society. Rather than separate tasks, participants are invited to understand these as one integrated task. The pedagogy of practicing theology will be introduced to show how it enables people in communities of faith to develop their personhoods, as they participate in the communities' actions for social transformation.
• STH TE 822: Spirituality and Liberative Pedagogy
  The purpose of this course is to draw from the depths of Christian spirituality and liberative pedagogy to discover insights, questions, and directions for future educational practice. The course takes seriously both Christian spirituality and liberative pedagogy in their own rights, exploring practices and pedagogies in their many forms, and pays attention to the creative overlap between the two. The underlying hope is that the class will discover and construct educational practices that deepen spiritual life and contribute significantly to liberation in this world.
• STH TE 845: Religion and Education
  The relationship of government with schools and colleges based upon religious convictions and the efforts of educators to shape and maintain a distinctive character in such institutions. Issues of educational freedom and the rights of parents in historical and comparative international perspective.
• STH TF 701: Reading the World I: History, Theology, Contexts
  This two-course sequence invites students to read the world historically, theologically, and sociologically through the lens of Christian traditions. In studying challenges faced by communities of faith, both past and present, students acquire an understanding of the basic theological categories and frameworks that have guided Christians through the ages, gain an overview of the chronology of Christian history, and learn the arts of thick contextual description and analysis. MDIV & MTS CORE REQUIREMENT.
• STH TF 702: Reading the World II: History, Theology, Contexts
  Continuation of TF 701.
• STH TF 703: Practices of Faith I
  The purpose of this year-long course is to deepen participants? prehension and practices of faith in relation to the larger Christian narrative and the more particular narratives of diverse human communities and persons. To accomplish this, students will study communities of faith through reading, the arts, and observation, and they will reflect on their own faith traditions, spiritual formation, ethical commitments, and vocational discernment. Throughout the year, participants will also engage with ministering communities through guest lecturers, contextual immersions, and service in contextual placements. Such experiences will be enriched through ongoing reflection and faith sharing in weekly small groups. MDIV CORE REQUIREMENT (OPTIONAL CORE FOR MTS).
• STH TF 704: Practices of Faith II
  Continuation of TF703.
• STH TF 801: MTS Contextual Education Project
  All MTS students fulfill a contextual education requirement that incorporates 1) active as well as reflective learning; 2) out-of-classroom as well as classroom learning; and 3) self-reflective learning in which students become aware of their position in, and effect on, the contexts in which theological education and religious leadership are performed and enacted. While this may be fulfilled through a standard contextual education internship, the year-long TF 703/704 Practices of Faith sequence, or an STH course-related travel seminar, the TF 801 course affords students the opportunity to designed a customized, one-semester project that facilitates the integration of theory and practice as well as vocational discernment and leadership development in religion and theology. Guidelines for developing the project are available on the Contextual Education website at STH. Students taking TF801 meet weekly with a Contextual Action and Reflection (CAR) group throughout the semester.
• STH TF 808: Travel Seminar: Montreal Cross-Cultural Mission/Service
  Travel seminar conducted in conjuction with Montreal City Mission, a century-old community ministry of the United Church of Canada. Students will explore culture, language, religious and ethnic identity in relation to multiple populations. Special themes to include ministry challenges and opportunities when thinking in terms of otherness and belonging. Cost estimate: $250-$300/student. Limited enrollment and subject to instructor's approval.
• STH TF 810: Global and Community Engagement Capstone
  MDiv students on the Global and Community Engagement track design a customized practicum or seminar with the help of their advisor that serves as an integrative capstone course and culmination of their degree program.
• STH TF 811: Church and the Arts Capstone
  MDiv students on the Church and the Arts track design a customized practicum or seminar with the help of their advisor that serves as an integrative capstone course and the culmination of their degree program.
• STH TF 901: Doctoral Colloquium 1
  All first-year ThD and PhD students at STH are required to take this two-semester doctoral colloquia associated with the Doctoral Research and Teaching Internship Program (DTRIP). The colloquia focus on (1) research methods, (2) teacher training, and (3) professional identity.
• STH TF 902: Doctoral Colloquium 2
  The continuation of TF901.
• STH TH 812: The Church in Late Antiquity
  The development of the Christian Church, its institutions, theology, and social and political roles, from Constantine to Charlemagne, in the context of the transformations of late antique culture and society, East and West. COUNTS AS A MDIV CHURCH HISTORY II CORE REQUIREMENT.
• STH TH 817: Varieties of Ancient Christianity
  Surveys the many different and often competing forms of Christianity that arose and flourished in the second to the seventh century, from the "apostolic period" to the Arab conquest in the Middle East. It is highly recommended that students have taken at least one prior course in biblical or New Testament literature.
• STH TH 820: History of Western Christian Spirituality
  TAn introduction to the historical study of Western Christian spiritual practices. The course exposes students to the historical-critical study of spiritual practices through careful examination of selected narratives of Western Christian spirituality, primary texts, and participatory observation. Participants will learn to analyze spiritual practices--such as reading, fasting, and prayer--by the twofold process of "abstracting/isolating" practices and "reading/interpreting" them in their historical context. While emphasis will be placed on the synchronic interpretation of practices, due attention will also be given to their development over time. Readings will include selected articles representative of current methodology in the field. Participants will gain a better understanding of continuity and change of spiritual practices in Western Christian traditions.
• STH TH 821: History and Doctrine of United Methodism
  An exploration of Methodist origins, the Wesleys, the rise of Methodism in England, and the distinctive doctrines of Wesleyan theology. There is a particular focus on the development of the various United Methodist traditions in America and their impact on society. The course is designed to meet one of the requirements for membership in a UMC Annual Conference.

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