Courses

• STH TH 876: Martin Luther King, Jr.: Leadership in Context
  This interdisciplinary course will review the life and ministry of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as other leaders of the civil right movement in the United States. The course will investigate how historical contexts of Rev. Dr. Martin King, are related to pastroal traditions and prophetic ministry of community and church through correlated study. The emphasis on the role of a cohort of religious and community leaders who worked with King will be explored. Our examination of prophetic ministry during the Civil Rights era, will be oriented to issues of race, gender, class and social justice.
• STH TH 902: Christianity Beyond Early Modern Europe
  An in depth study of the reach of Christianity in the early modern period (c. 1450-c.1650). The course follows the path of early modern Catholicism from fifteenth-century Europe, through the ascent of the Portuguese and Spanish seaborne empires, and examines the role of the missionary religious orders in the processes of Christianization and inculturation.
• STH TH 910: History of Christian Mission
  A seminar in the history of Christian missions, from the early church to the present. Issues of historiography, method, and the emergence of non-western church history. Required course for doctoral students in mission studies.
• STH TH 920: History of American Theological Liberalism
  American Theological Liberalism is a doctoral-level seminar that provides an overview into the historical and theological development of liberal theology in the United States. Through reading a variety of primary and secondary sources, the course is designed to provide students an historical and theological overview into the development of liberalism and assess the ongoing significance of theological liberalism in church and society today.
• STH TH 924: Women in the Reformation
  Examination of the participation of women in the reformations of the sixteenth century and the effect of theological and ecclesiastical changes on women and gender roles in early modern society. Topics include marriage, childbirth, household management, education, authorship, exercise of power, and cloistered life amid the different confessional movements of the early modern period.
• STH TH 925: The Bible in the Reformation
  Examination of the role of the Bible in the reformations of the sixteenth century, including the development and divergence of Reformation hermeneutics in late medieval and Renaissance context. Special attention will be given to the vernacular translation and popular presentation of the Bible in the sixteenth century press and pulpit.
• STH TH 930: History of Missiology
  Seminar on the classic Protestant mission theorists of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
• STH TH 937: Proseminar in Historiography
  TBA
• STH TH 945: 20th Century American Religion
  TBA
• STH TH 971: Seminar: Luther and the Radical Reformers
  Historical-social contexts, theologies, and effects of the history of the church from the Reformation to the present.
• STH TJ 876: Church and Theology in the Contemporary World
  Church and Theology in the Contemporary World is an advanced research seminar in practical theology. The course enables students to design and carry out a research project in practical theology under the guidance of the instructor and with constructive feedback from fellow students. Assignments are designed to help students to articulate a clear, significant, and manageable research question; to design a practical theological approach to the question; to develop relevant bibliographies and other research sources; and, ultimately, to complete a final project in practical theology. Through this work and additional readings, including careful reading of and theological reflection on daily newspapers, we will together identify and address a range of issues facing the church in diverse cultures and contexts. Students gain skills in identifying practical theological questions and interpreting contexts; critically incorporating social scientific research in a theological project; making normative judgments; and thinking through strategic practical theological responses to guide faithful Christian practice. The course is a required core course for all doctoral students majoring in Practical Theology.
• STH TJ 910: Proseminar in Practical Theology
  This doctoral seminar for practical theology majors introduces the primary changes that are under way in practical theology as a discipline, reviews the methodologies upon which these changes are based, and examines the implications of these changes.
• STH TJ 940: Ecclesiology
  This course asks the question, "What is the church?" in dialogue with Christian theological figures and schools representing Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian traditions. While one of the aims of this course is that students be conversant with those voices, it ultimately aims at the student's ability to articulate the ecclesiology of his or her own community and to bring that to bear on the contemporary situation and particular problems of Christian practice in church and society.
• STH TJ 976: Church and Theology in the Contemporary World
  Church and Theology in the Contemporary World is an advanced research seminar in practical theology. The course enables students to design and carry out a research project in practical theology under the guidance of the instructor and with constructive feedback from fellow students. Assignments are designed to help students to articulate a clear, significant, and manageable research question; to design a practical theological approach to the question; to develop relevant bibliographies and other research sources; and, ultimately, to complete a final project in practical theology. Through this work and additional readings, including careful reading of and theological reflection on daily newspapers, we will together identify and address a range of issues facing the church in diverse cultures and contexts. Students gain skills in identifying practical theological questions and interpreting contexts; critically incorporating social scientific research in a theological project; making normative judgments; and thinking through strategic practical theological responses to guide faithful Christian practice. The course is a required core course for all doctoral students majoring in Practical Theology.
• STH TM 801: Christian Mission in a Religiously Plural World
  This course is focused on constructing a theology of mission that is appropriate, adequate, and relevant for the 21st century's religious plurality. The aim of the course is to enable students to 1) recall a quick critical survey of the history of Christian mission, 2) grapple with the varied biblical understandings of mission, and 3) begin to frame and articulate a theology of mission that addresses the challenges posed by the religiously plural world
• STH TM 808: Three Missionary Faiths (Buddhism, Christianity, Islam) and Their Importance for Global Development
  The terms "missionary" and "development" often prompt images of Western Christians working away from home. Much has been written about European colonial era missionaries and Western-led interventions around the world. But Christianity is not the only missionary world religion nor do modern development efforts fall within the sole purview of Western powers. This course will examine the missionary nature of Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam and consider the ways in which all three faiths think about engagement with the world in an era of climate change, resource wars, and global economic inequity. Using an inter-disciplinary approach that examines religious adherents' worldviews the course will concentrate on how the thinking patterns of followers of these three faith traditions translate into actions. We will also reflect on the ways in which the modern development enterprise itself exhibits missionary characteristics. Particular attention will go towards contexts in which interactions among the religious traditions and secular development interventions are taking place. Guest speakers, site visits, and multimedia presentations will complement reading assignments and classroom discussions.
• STH TM 815: Christian Mission
  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.
• STH TM 853: NGOs & FBOs
  Explores theoretical and practical issues related to cross-cultural non-governmental and faith-based service work.
• STH TM 856: Women in Mission and World Christianity
  History of Christian women in diakonia and mission outreach, including gender issues in mission and non-western Christianity today.
• STH TM 857: Mission and Development
  An inter-disciplinary exploration of Christian mission and development studies in light of 21st century challenges. Includes policy development.

Back to full list of School of Theology