UCOR Section Descriptions

Course Description

The Gospel of John records the mission of Jesus Christ as one of coming so "that they may have life and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10). Yet, we witness the opposite when we see powerful social forces (racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, etc) disrupt and dehumanize meaningful relationships between peoples. In this course, we will explore eight social issues to get at the heart of this contradiction. The first half of the quarter will focus on global relationships under the headings of global poverty, war, and environment. The second half of the quarter will attend to national relationships under the headings of national poverty, healthcare, incarceration, affirmative action, and feminism.

Course Description

Perspectives on Jesus explores Jesus' identity and his meaning for the people of his day as well as in the present. We will try to understand what drew people to Jesus and why he has continued to inspire so many even today. To do this, we will begin with the Christology of the New Testament but will move into how Jesus' identity and significance are interpreted in more recent theological reflection and in artistic representations. We will give attention to the influences of culture and gender on how people interpret Jesus' identity and meaning and consider the social justice implications of these views.

Course Description

NT Storytellers: St. Paul : Paul was the first Christian storyteller on record. But even from the perspective of the earliest Christians, the Apostle Paul and his writings were mysterious and obscure. As Paul traveled throughout the Mediterranean world, he told mysterious stories about Jesus that were composed ad hoc, composed out of the diverse metaphors from the cultures he visited. In many ways, each story was a collage of images collected from the well-traveled highways to the darkest corners of the Mediterranean world. In this course, we will travel with Paul, examine his writings, try to make sense of his mysterious stories and letters, and appropriate them to our modern context by comparing them to movies such as The Matrix and The Truman Show.

Course Description

Perspectives on Jesus explores Jesus' identity and his meaning for the people of his day as well as in the present. We will try to understand what drew people to Jesus and why he has continued to inspire so many even today. To do this, we will begin with the Christology of the New Testament but will move into how Jesus' identity and significance are interpreted in more recent theological reflection and in artistic representations. We will give attention to the influences of culture and gender on how people interpret Jesus' identity and meaning and consider the social justice implications of these views.

Course Description

This is the study of major world religious traditions, such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, with special emphasis on their inter-religious relationship with Roman Catholicism. The objectives of the course are to introduce students to the academic discipline of theological and religious studies, and to understand the tenets and history of Catholic traditions through the dialogical relationship with other religions.

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to provide a panorama view of the vast and complex world of Asian religions in dialogue with Christianity through centuries of missionary works. The case studies of Matteo Ricci and subsequent Catholic missionaries in Asia will enable students to understand the basic theological teachings of Christian faith on God, human nature and the world. The pluralistic world of Asian religions becomes a tapestry of cultural milieu for the contextualization of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, and continues to develop and flourish until now.

Course Description

How do my theological beliefs and disbeliefs relate to my life in society? What does it mean to live a "moral life" in a world of exquisite beauty that also is brutalized by racism, a soul-shattering gap between rich and poor, gender inequity, and "ecocide"? What is my vision for a more just, compassionate, and sustainable world? In what God or ultimate reality do I disbelieve? In what God or ultimate reality do I believe? Where do I find hope and moral power? Students will explore these and other questions through the lens of Christian theological social ethics.

Course Description

Perspectives on Jesus explores Jesus' identity and his meaning for the people of his day as well as in the present. We will try to understand what drew people to Jesus and why he has continued to inspire so many even today. To do this, we will begin with the Christology of the New Testament but will move into how Jesus' identity and significance are interpreted in more recent theological reflection and in artistic representations. We will give attention to the influences of culture and gender on how people interpret Jesus' identity and meaning and consider the social justice implications of these views.

Course Description

This course will focus on understanding human sexuality as a socially constructed reality that also implies respect for universal human values. Human experiences of sexuality will also serve as a point of departure for exploring Catholic theological questions about God and spirituality. Students will consider the meanings of love and justice as they are relevant to sexuality in the context of diverse cultures and institutions. Special attention will be given to feminist, queer, and cross-cultural perspectives.

Course Description

This course explores the development of select doctrines in the history of Catholic theology (including the status of women and the problem of war) in order to show how Catholic theology is frequently shaped by political alliances, philosophical systems, and social biases. We emphasize questions surrounding the humanity and divinity of Christ, the problem of war, the problem of Christian anti-Judaism, the doctrine of the church, the doctrine of salvation, and the doctrine of the Eucharist.