Writing skills are essential for success in graduate study and work in a variety of professional and ministerial settings. This course covers the following topics: academic integrity, grammar, research skills, citation, writing organization, thesis construction and critical thinking. Restricted to Institute of Pastoral Studies students

In the 21st century the Church is a concept best understood within a global context. We will explore the biblical and apostolic concept of Church progressing through Vatican II. We will also examine the four marks of the Church from both historical and contemporary perspectives.

This course explores the spirituality, theology, and practice of the major religious traditions. You will encounter other faith traditions by entering into their sacred prayer and worship experiences and learning from practitioners of that tradition how they encounter the sacred in their own lives.

This course focuses on theologies of suffering with written interaction and assignments, personal reflection on the theologies of suffering and substantive feedback. The readings include 1) Scriptural treatment of suffering (Psalms, Job, Lamentations); 2) Theologians on suffering (Moltmann, Schillebeeckx, Gutierrez, Hall); 3) From various perspectives (womanist, liberation theologians, pastoral care).

This course serves as an introduction to and overview of the New Testament. Students explore the world of Jesus and his interpreters from both a historical and a biblical perspective and learn about the religious and cultural world of Palestinian Judaism during the Roman occupation.

This course is an introduction to the Old Testament, the sacred literature of Christians and Jews. We will examine texts from the Pentateuch, historical, prophetic, and wisdom books. In order to reconstruct the meaning of texts for their original audiences, we will employ methods of modern critical biblical scholarship.

Investigation of the ministry of spiritual direction/accompaniment in a Christian context. Understanding spiritual direction/accompaniment as a particular form of mentoring and teaching, the course helps students to become critically aware of and explicitly articulate their working spiritual theology.

This course invites students to consider the practical conditions, requirements and main challenges of the ministry of spiritual direction/accompaniment so as to further their discernment process and prepare them for the Contextual Education component of their program of study, where they will begin to serve as spiritual directors/companions.

Dorothy Day, Catholic Worker co-founder, and Thomas Merton, Trappist monk, were outstanding American Catholics. Their lives and teaching raise important questions concerning vocation and religious commitment, war and peace, contemplation and simplicity in modern life, Christian activism, racial justice, capitalism, women, laity, and, with Merton, Christianity's relationship to world religions.

An introduction to the visual arts exploring various approaches to understanding art, art history, terminology, techniques, media, and motivating factors for creating art from secular and sacred perspectives. A secular art appreciation textbook will be used in conjunction with Sacred Art Learning Units including lectures, readings, museum visits, and discussions on art from the Catholic tradition and other perspectives.

Spirituality is the lived experience of faith. What is the lived experience of Christian faith of gay and lesbian persons? What are the classical and contemporary resources biblical, theological, scientific, psychological, spiritual and experiential by which gay Christians affirm a spiritual core from which they live their lives and faith?

The course combines theory and practice. It presents prayer as an intimate means of ongoing conversion in the Christian life. Content includes the biblical, historical, and theological foundations of prayer, psychological factors, and the actual practice of various Christian meditative and contemplative practices (lectio divina, meditation, Ignatian contemplation, centering prayer).

This course examined the prophetic literature of ancient Israel, in its ancient historical context and as it can be illuminated by the contemporary sociological and anthropological perspectives. Standard historical critical methods will be used throughout.

This course will study the Wisdom tradition and the Psalms of Israel. Formal critical analysis and history of tradition studies will be emphasized. The rich diversity of these parts of scripture will be a prime focus.

This course examines the material on the early church in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles from a historical and critical point of view. Emphasis will be placed on the theological perspective of the writer of Luke-Acts and on the relationship of that perspective to other early Christian writers (Mark, Matthew, and Paul).

This course looks to three goals: a careful understanding of Paul's thought, to be discovered through exacting analysis of often difficult Pauline passages; an attempt to formulate what is uniquely Pauline in the New Testament witnesses; and an awareness of how deeply Paul affected the formation of Christianity in its facets of spirituality, Christology, redemption, ecclesiology, worship, sacraments, sin, etc.

In this course attention will be given to the presentation of the meaning of Jesus Christ within the earliest Christian communities. Emphasis will be placed on both the variety and the development of early Christian attempts to understand the meaning of Jesus. In addition this variety and development will be placed in the context of early Judaism and Graeco-Roman religions.

This course is designed to provide the foundational elements needed to work successfully in resource development. Specifically, participants will become comfortable and confident using the donor moves management cycle with individual donors and board directors; submit grants to corporate, foundation, and government sources; and create and plan special donor events.

Course examines the dynamics of change, attachment, and loss, suffering and grief and the transition process of endings, empty spaces and new beginnings. Conscious and intentional living is recognized as the most precious gift to give to oneself, loved ones, and the world.

This course introduces students to Canon Law, also known as church law, which is grounded in the theology and ecclesiology of the Catholic Church.

This course invites students into a reflective, interactive, experiential process of exploring the place of culture, values, beliefs, and biases in the counseling context. Students examine their own cultural experiences, with special attention to power dynamics, even as they study the complex dynamics of other cultures.

Family therapy is a unique way of working with individuals, couples and families. This course will examine the foundations of, and theory and practice of family therapy as expressed in five major schools. We will integrate psychological and theological dimensions throughout. The course will balance didactic input and experiential exercises.

Addictions are among the most pervasive and potentially destructive entrapments of the human condition. Their presence in manifold forms, underscores the importance of understanding the roots and sources of its patterns, in order to ultimately shape treatment and therapeutic strategies from a holistic and integrative point of view.

This course prepares clinicians to understand and work with couples in crisis by examining five therapy approaches. Marital development, premarital counseling, healthy marital functioning, sexuality, spirituality, physiology, enrichment and working with affairs will be addressed. Class built upon lecture, case study, video presentation, role play, small and large group processing.

Participants will examine: a) historical overview of mindfulness in Christian and certain Eastern religious traditions; b) integration of mindfulness in pastoral ministry; c) emerging neuroscience regarding mindfulness; and, d) clinical research on the effectiveness of mindfulness in promoting positive mental health.

This course explains what it means to be male and masculine in this time and culture. Psychological development, influence of culture, power, the Male Code, intimacy, emotions, sexuality, spirituality, and inner life will all be explored. Individual and group, clinical and educational approaches will be discussed.

Religious education, including catechesis, evangelization, religious instruction, and faith formation, occurs within cultural settings (e.g., urban/suburban/rural; secular/religious; settled/immigrant; ethnically diverse/uniform; Millennial/GenX/Boomer/Greatest generation). This course provides the tools to analyze a cultural context, identify barriers to ongoing conversion, and teach effectively for religious and spiritual growth. Understand the educational significance of cultural context; Develop ethnographic and contextual analytical skills; Analyze and evaluate themselves, curricula and others for cultural appropriateness; Create culturally sensitive learning events.

Religious education, including catechesis, evangelization, religious instruction, and faith formation, occurs in many contexts often targeted for a particular age or cultural group. This basic course in religious education reveals the theological and educational roots and introduces the basic elements and processes including assessment, backward design, curriculum and learning. Analyze learning contexts; Apply theories to real life contexts; Evaluate oneself, curricula, and others with standards; Create a lesson addressing a real-life teaching challenge.

Focused on the process for Board Certification. Health Care Integration Project portfolio is required for completion of the Health Care Chaplaincy Concentration in the MA Pastoral Studies program. This 0 credit course seeks to assist in the process by providing supervision for the student.

Provides the skills needed for the interpersonal involvement essential in any helping relationship. Participants learn and practice the skills of communicating empathy and challenge to others as well as exploring and disclosing oneself. Learning consists of applying theory to the experience of relationships in small groups.

This course seeks to help the students think theologically about human personhood. It offers students a theological anthropology presented with developmental considerations in mind. It offers a theological dialogue partner for psychological perspectives on development.

This course focuses on the process and skills of pastoral counseling. Emphasis is on training in basic listening and influencing skills. Students practice selected strategies drawn from various approaches to counseling.

This course introduces students to the theory and practice of group approaches to counseling and preventative, psychoeducation work. Group dynamics and leadership issues are explored. Students will design and lead a group of their choosing.

This course offers students the opportunity to integrate theoretical insights with the practical issues of assessment, diagnosis and response strategies for individuals and families. Psychodynamic and theological models are used in this effort, as is a strong commitment to naming the pastoral dimensions of assessment and response.

Students will learn how to use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition (DSM-5) for diagnosing various psychopathological disorders.

Internship Supervision/Practicum I intend to facilitate entrance into the clinical internship site. Students will obtain further development of theory and skills of pastoral counseling. The course will facilitate the integration of theory and praxis, psychological and theological, and the personal and professional dimensions of one's identity as a pastoral counselor.

This course introduces students to the richness and diversity of the Christian moral tradition, giving particular attention to the deep interconnections between spirituality and ethics. It also introduces students to the codes, procedures and theoretical underpinnings of professional ethics, essential for those pursuing vocations as pastoral counselors and spiritual directors.

Supervision II/Practicum intends to facilitate ongoing development of theory and skills of pastoral counseling. Students will facilitate the integration of theory and practice, psychological and theological, personal and professional dimensions of one's identity as a pastoral counselor. The course includes the completion of the clinical integration project.

This course familiarizes students with research methods quantitative and qualitative approaches, experimental research design, interview and survey methods, descriptive and analytical statistics and evaluative research.

Models act like paradigms that inform therapists about what is important to focus on in their clients and what is healing, restorative, and growth-inducing in therapy. Each says something about what normal and abnormal functioning looks like and how therapy helps a person move from unhealthy to healthy functioning.

This course will shed light on the value of the career counseling process by integrating career counseling theory, career inventories case studies, experiential learning and class discussion.

The course is required for licensure but is not a prerequisite for other courses. This course will provide an understanding of the role of individual and group approaches to assessment and evaluation and its role in diagnosis, clinical intervention, and treatment planning. It will cover assessment of the various attributes of a person though standardized tests, and also include an overview of statistical procedures relevant to test standardization and interpretation. Students will gain first-hand exposure to specific tests and learn to read and evaluate such instruments.

CPE site must be approved prior to engagement. Clinical Pastoral Care registration for MDiv and MAPS students provides confirmation of CPE requirement for degree. This course serves as continuous enrollment and fulltime status verification for IPS students for whom CPE is a program requirement.

The course is divided into two sections: (1) the historical evolution of Christian doctrine and its theological interpretations through Vatican II; (2) the development of doctrine in the post-Vatican II era, including an in-depth study of Karl Rahner's fundamental theology and contemporary theological issues with applications to present-day pastoral ministry.

Christian life and ministry are socially located; they take place in specific social, cultural, political and economic contexts. We cannot minister effectively if we do not have a better understanding of the context in which we are called to serve. These contexts are the environment within which persons minister.

The Sacraments express our faith bringing us into an encounter with God's grace, forming us into the image of Christ. This course explores the theological, religious, and cultural origins of the liturgy and the sacraments as they have developed in response to the needs of the Church communities throughout time.

Enrollment Conditions: This course is required of all students in the MASp: Contemporary Spirituality Concentration and/or the Spiritual Direction Concentration; Is also required of all MDiv students. Christian spirituality (the "lived experience of Christian faith") is a separate but partnered academic field with theology today. Key issues are: defining "spirituality", methods in the field, spirituality vs. institutional religion, Jesus Christ (christology), major figures and movements in Christian spirituality's 2000 year history, and classical and contemporary themes.

Students should ideally complete IPS 416, 417, and 531 prior to taking this course. This course focuses on the tradition and practice of Catholic social thought. Students will become familiar with the documentary tradition of Catholic social teaching, as well as the ways that Catholic social thought has been embodied and advanced through the lives of Catholic activists and liberation theology. Particular attention will be given to history, texts, methodology, and significant figures in the tradition.

Human beings are created to grow and mature into their full humanity. Every phase of life carries particular psychological and spiritual agendas. While each person is unique, our developmental story from birth to death is also our universal human story with particular variations, sharpened around gender and cultural differences.

This practicum develops skills in preparation for preaching and presiding at liturgical celebrations. The student will become familiar with different preaching styles, as well as theories of preaching and presiding. The focus includes public communication and preaching skills, as well as supervising and training volunteer liturgical ministers. Knowledge of preaching and presiding styles and theory.

Examines recent and contemporary leadership theories, principles and practices, and assists students' applications as pastoral leaders in their own religious traditions and institutions. Offers a wide array of readings from the organizational and corporate literature, church documents, and pastoral literature from Roman Catholic, hierarchical church, and congregational church perspectives.

IPS 570: Introduction to Theology and Ministry is recommended as the first course in the program. This course explores the interplay among traditions of theology and ministry, the history of ministry and the challenge of relating foundational traditions to the present array of ministries. The course allows you to become more certain and deliberate about the skills that constitute ministerial practice and ministerial theology.

This course invites students to consider core elements and principles of Ignatian spirituality, through the study of Ignatius of Loyola's major works and relevant Ignatian literature. Particular attention will be given to the Spiritual Exercises and their use for spiritual direction and formation, discernment and prayer.

Restricted to Institute of Pastoral Studies students. Prepares students to engage in the practice of contextual education by orienting students to the contextual education framework, focusing on their own vocational identity, and reflecting on how students view the work of ministry. It also covers the logistics of procuring a site and conducting theological action research.

Restricted to Institute of Pastoral Studies students. Facilitates the student's initial foray into work at their contextual education site, through regular coaching for reflection and guidance as well as workshops on useful skills for ministry. Students gain 100 hours of hands on experience at their site of ministry and begin to develop a community-based theological action research project.

Students apply for placement with an approved site at which they will exercise & develop professional/ministerial skills. Students engage in a minimum of 200 hours of leadership praxis. Students receive practically oriented instruction, participate in practice-based workshops & reflect on their leadership experience with their peers & an experienced coach.

Students continue in their field placement exercising professional/ministerial leadership and further developing their self-identified professional/ministerial skills. While continuing to engage these contexts, students meet in class to further reflect on their leadership in ministry, discerning emerging strengths and areas of needed growth.

The Integration Project (typically a written paper) involves the personal integration and application of one's course of studies at IPS into one's vocational/ministerial identity. 593 is required for MDIV, MASJ, MASp, MAHCML and MAPS students (though MAPS-Health Care Chaplaincy concentration students take 493 instead). Enrollment Conditions: Students should register in their final semester of coursework, or when they are within 9 credits of completing the degree. Registration requires a signed copy of the Integration Project Proposal.

This course explores the philosophical, ethical and theological foundations for social justice with a particular emphasis on Catholic Social Teaching and Catholic social ethics, addressing the practice of justice with attention to concrete dilemmas which confront Christians in their efforts to do justice.

Liberation Theology refers to several related theologies that emerged in Latin America. Many more have been developed but all share the same basic methodology, focus their efforts on issues of social justice, and proceed with a prophetic voice. The course introduces the method of liberation theology and surveys a selection of primary texts from a variety of social contexts.

Intensive consideration of different examples of social entrepreneurship, including at least one utilizing Catholic Social Teaching; and more general observations of other models of social engagement and challenging unmet needs.

This course combines experiential learning with theories of community organization and development, exploring methods, strategies and key ideas of broad-based community organizing. Students will learn and practice the tools needed to organize as well as exhibit initial (foundational) competencies in social advocacy, community organizing and social change. IPS 635 is cross listed with SOWK 509: Community Intervention.

This course will provide an overview of the major areas of clinical biomedical ethics. Issues that will be examined and analyzed include problem-solving methods, the theory and practice of informed consent, end-of-life decision making, physician-assisted suicide, pediatric ethical dilemmas, spirituality in clinical encounters, the injustice of health care disparities, and the role of ethics committees.

This is a two-month long blended course of online learning and a two-day intensive experience on the HSD campus. This course examines ethical issues in health care from the vantage point of decision makers who shape the system, e.g., physicians within a group practice, administrators within a health system, or advocates within a community.

This is a two-month long blended course of online learning and a two-day intensive experience on the HSD campus. This course examines the theory, role, and elements of leadership that effectively serve non-profit healthcare systems. In particular, the nature of leadership is examined.

This course offers a topical survey of bioethical issues pertinent to clinical practice in the Catholic context. Topics and concepts considered include abortion, contraception, sterilization, nutrition and hydration, withdrawal of life support, care of the dying, cooperation, conscience, human dignity and personhood.

Course involves an historical study of the development of the body of official Catholic Social Teaching specific to its impact on healthcare delivery in the United States. Current developments in select key social issues and movements are also addressed insofar as those issues and movements influenced healthcare delivery.

A two-month long blended course of online learning and a two-day intensive experience on the HSD campus. Topics cover the role of racial and economic health disparities in the process of care and health outcomes, Cultural and Linguistic Appropriate Standards (CLAS) in health care, self-assessment and evaluation of institutional needs.

The course is structured around a framework that links strategic management with health care outcomes for today and tomorrow. Areas covered include: leadership, team building, planning, customers, markets, information and analysis, communication skills, conflict resolution, resource management, budgeting and organizational performance.

The course explores the relationship between the national economic environment and the financial context for current models of health care delivery. A variety of fiscal concepts and techniques such as cost accounting, cost behavior, budgeting, cost benefit/cost effectiveness analysis, cost-volume-profit analysis, cost variance analysis, and performance budgeting are explored.

This course offers students the opportunity to analyze, expand, and synthesize their understanding of technical, human relations and conceptual skills essential to functioning within the role of manager/administrator in health care settings.

This course explores different approaches to leadership on behalf of social justice with a strong focus on developing a personal leadership style and practices to deepen students' sense of vocation. Develops a number of practical leadership skills connected to discernment, leading through adaptive challenges, team development and bridge building, management, and visioning.

For more than a hundred years, film, radio, and television have had a profound effect on the practice on ministry and pastoral care. Now in the 21st century, the explosion of new types of interactive and social media have revolutionized our interactions, our economy, and our world. Churches and social justice organizations, however, have often been slow to adopt or even explore these new technologies.