Courses

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

• STH TC 914: Worship in Times of Change
  Birth, maturation, sickness, and death are life changes that are addressed ritually in most human societies and cultures. Christian communities, though initially slow to do so, have introduced worship events/liturgies that speak the Gospel in such times of crisis or change- -those human as well as institutional. Even so, new occasions or circumstances arise in each generation where Christian communities may be called upon to supply ritual interventions that both sustain and transform. This course will focus on contemporary rites addressing human and institutional "life-cycle passages," which will be examined and evaluated with attention to contextual, theological, liturgical, ritual, and pastoral criteria. After learning basic skills for ritual writing, students in pairs or triads will work collaboratively on a project to address a "gap" in the liturgical resources available to churches and other Christian communities and institutions.
• STH TC 919: The Sacraments: Rites and Theologies
  Contemporary study of the sacraments brings together ritual studies, liturgical history, the history of dogma, and systematic reflection. This course examines the baptismal and eucharistic rites of the Church, both past and present, along with theological rationales of and commentaries on them offered by ecclesiastic writers of the patristic, medieval, Reformation, and modern periods.
• STH TC 938: Church Renewal
  Literature on church renewal abounds, as theologians and practitioners respond to the declining attendance and cultural influence of the church in Western societies. This course engages a variety of approaches to church renewal, requiring students to compare and contrast the selected proposals with respect to their contextual analyses, theological foundations, and practical strategies. The course functions as an advanced workshop in which students explore the efficacy of "church renewal" as a conceptual framework for guiding contemporary ministry praxis. The aim of the course is to equip students with the tools to construct a theologically informed plan of action for transformational leadership in their own specific contexts of ministry.
• STH TC 978: Sabbath: Theology and Practice
  This course explores Sabbath keeping as a central practice of faith and a core practice of transformative religious leadership. Drawing upon Jewish and Christian traditions, we will study theologies and practices of Sabbath keeping and reflect upon their meaning in contemporary contexts. As part of this work, we also will explore Christian theologies of the Lord's Day, including the meaning of Sabbath in light of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. The course will include attention to Jewish-Christian dialogue as well as consideration of debates internal to faith communities about Sabbath keeping. We also will focus attention on questions of Sabbath keeping and spiritual formation, Sabbath keeping as a dimension of pastoral excellence, Sabbath as countercultural practice, and implications of Sabbath for social justice. Students will be encouraged to cultivate a practice of Sabbath keeping throughout the semester and as the culmination of the course they will have the opportunity to design a practical theological project relevant to their own community and context of leadership.
• 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. (Cluster 3)
• STH TE 811: Doing Theology Aesthetically
  n 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 TF 700: First Year Formation
  This course will center and strengthen the spiritual and relational formation component of 1st year MDiv & MTS students. It will be developed to provide robust frameworks and practices aimed at identity formation in community. It takes seriously the holistic formation of students throughout the span of their MDiv/MTS program, providing frameworks and practices aimed at identity formation in community. It will address formational competencies identified by the faculty such as: - Naming commitments to communities of concern - Student identity formation & worldview recognition - Listening and talking respectfully across difference - Approaching conflict in the STH learning community constructively - Vocational discernment - Interdisciplinary research on spiritual formation - Spiritual formation and spiritual practice while at STH - Exploring self-care and mental health resources for healthy stress management and well-being to facilitate growth - Identifying one's place in dynamics of power and privilege
• 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 813: Theological Writing Workshop
  This course is a general introduction to the tasks of conducting research in order to write academic theological arguments. The course focuses on honing the skills you already have in order to research more efficiently, and write more precisely.
• 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 2 (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 TH 701: History of Christianity
  This course surveys the interconnected global history of Christianity starting with the second century Mediterranean world and moving chronologically through Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the European Reformations, including the emergence of Wesleyanism, through the rise of modern missions, down to the twenty-first century, giving particular attention to the role of women in the Christian movement, the movement of Christianity across cultures, and the encounters between Christianity and other religions.
• STH TH 803: History of Social Christianity
  The course examines the historical development of social Christianity, focusing on primary source texts that have contributed to our understanding of Christian social action today. Exploring a range of Protestant, Catholic, and ecumenical sources, the class traces the historical-theological development of social Christianity from the eighteenth century to the end of the twentieth century. The course investigates how the historical development of social Christianity contributes to contemporary conversations on economic justice, racism, human rights, environmental justice, and world peace. While focused primarily on sources from the United States, the class engages wider resources, such as the global ecumenical movement.
• STH TH 804: English Christianity from Wycliffe to the Wesleys
  TBA (Cluster 1 &3)
• STH TH 811: History of the Episcopal Church
  (Cluster 1 & 3)
• 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. Students are strongly encouraged to take STHTH 701, STHTH715, or their equivalent, before registering for this course.
• STH TH 815: History of Mystical Theology and Modernity
  History of Mystical Theology and Modernity is an advance examination of the modern intellectual history of mystical theology. The course introduces students to the modern trajectory of mystical theology through the works of eight theologians who have left a permanent imprint on the subject: St Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), St John of the Cross (1542-1591), Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717), Elizabeth Ashbridge (1713-1755), Simone Weil (1909-1943), Howard Thurman (1899-1981), Thomas Merton (1915-1968), and Raimon Panikkar (1918-2010). Employing a historical theological approach, students will scrutinize how modernity's major themes - i.e., political, and technological progress, human emancipation, reason, and secularization - informed the mystical thought of the figures under consideration. The course will trace at least one major transformation of mystical theology in the modern period: the transition from the 'monastic paradigm' (Sheldrake, 2009) to 'lay supremacy' (Roldán-Figueroa, 2021). Students will become familiar with historiographic approaches such as the history of reading, literary cultures, and the circulation of ideas, which transcend the traditional practice of intellectual history.
• 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.
• STH TH 820: Spirituality in Historical Perspective
  An 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. Students are strongly encouraged to take STHTH 701, STHTH715, or their equivalent, before registering for this course.