Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

• STH TF 704: Practicing Faith II
  Situated in the first semester of the MDiv program, the Practicing Faith courses aim: 1) to increase the student's self-awareness of lived faith in dialogue with cultural and religious traditions and with attention to formative spiritual and religious texts and practices; 2) to develop the student's ability to reflect critically about practicing faith. (MDiv Requirement) Each section of the course focuses on a different topic: A1 (Choi) Personal and communal practices of faith through an analysis of leadership, culture, religious traditions, and religious communities, learning how power, authority and leadership interact and are exercised in multicultural society. B1 (Goto) The role of the physical body in welcoming and embracing God's kingdom, and our accent will be on enacting and experiencing faith. C1 (Hassinger) Leadership in the context of congregations and other organizations, grounded in group and individual spiritual practices. D1 (Schlauch) On the incoherence of faith, and moving towards an increasingly coherent faith through examining, critically reflecting upon, and consequently revising the varieties of each of our faith. E1 (Lightsey) The expression of spirituality within the cultural traditions of enslaved African people in America, their progeny and Black people who migrated to this continent, spirituality and religion, and their influence on social justice, seen through different faith traditions and historical narratives.
• STH TF 710: First Year Formation
  This course is required of all incoming MDiv, MTS, and MSM students, including transfer students, in the first fall semester of their degree program and aims at orienting students (1) to the legacy, faculty, curriculum, resources, and community principles of the School of Theology; (2) to a wholistic framework for thinking about stewardship of body, mind, spirit, finances, and the wider ecosphere; (3) to tools for reflection and practice on personal and spiritual formation during the course of one's theological studies; and (4) to a robust embrace of and engagement with social and theological diversity, power and privilege, and one's capacity to relate across difference. The individual sessions will also make room for answering questions students might have about the curriculum or the school.
• STH TF 715: Spanish for Ministry
  
• STH TF 801: MTS Contextual Education Project
  This is a 3 credit Contextual Action and Reflection (CAR) project specially designed for MTS students. 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 or an STH course-related travel seminar, this project course affords students the opportunity to design with their faculty advisor 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. Please contact the Contextual education office for more information about the process for designing the project with your faculty advisor before you register for this class.
• STH TF 805: Introduction to Theological Writing
  Because theology frequently makes use of multiple modes of discourse, rhetoric, and communication the goal of this class will be to exercise maximal control of written expression, primarily through the practice of essay writing. With close attention to grammar, syntax, diction, rhetoric and argument, students will work to develop both their prose style and their approach to theological writing. Students enrolled in this course will study, discuss, and evaluate a wide range of prose styles peculiar to theological discourse. The course will also include three writing seminars by Professor Kathe Pfisterer Darr.
• STH TF 808: Travel Seminars
  Travel seminars are offered each year by the School of Theology, and they afford students the ability to think about theology and ministry in relationship to various local and global contexts. The descriptions of each seminar and the cluster requirements which they fulfill are listed as the courses are announced.
• 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. (Cluster 2)
• STH TF 811: Theology 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. (Clusters 2 and 3)
• STH TF 820: Dual Degree CAR Group (MTS/SSW)
  This is a 1 credit Contextual Action and Reflection (CAR) Group specially designed for MTS/SSW Dual Degree Students. 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. This course facilitates the integration of theory and practice as well as vocational discernment and leadership development in religion and theology. Dual degree MTS students take this CAR group course alongside their SSW required internship. Please contact the office of Contextual Education form more information before you register for this course.
• STH TF 821: Contextual Education I (Dual Degree)
  Integration of Theology and Practice (ITP) reflection groups for STH-SSW dual degree students in their advanced placements. Offered fall semester. 1 credit. MDIV CORE REQUIREMENT.
• STH TF 822: Contextual Education II (Dual Degree)
  Continues and presupposes STH TF821 for STH-SSW dual degree students. Offered spring semester. 1 credit. MDIV CORE REQUIREMENT.
• 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 526: Reformations
  
• STH TH 569: Rel Hist Boston
  The Greater Boston area contains one of the richest historical legacies in the United States. This course examines distinctive aspects of that historical legacy, by focusing upon the religious history of Boston. The course will include selected visits to specific Boston area historical sites. For undergraduate students only.
• STH TH 802: Christianity Beyond Early Modern Europe
  The course is dedicated to an in depth study of the reach of Christianity in the early modern period (c. 1450-c.1650). Our narrative 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. (Requires TF 701/702 or equivalent) (Cluster 1)
• STH TH 810: 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. (Cluster 1)
• 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. (Requires TF 701 or equivalent) (Cluster 1)
• 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. (Cluster 1)
• STH TH 819: American Theological Liberalism
  American Theological Liberalism 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. (Cluster 1)

Back to full list of School of Theology