Course Timetable for Online Courses by Department: Winter of 2013

This online course provides an introduction to the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible and its three main canonical divisions with an emphasis on theological interpretation. Students will be familiarized with the biblical books and their historical context. The course also explores the history of biblical interpretation with an application to Old Testament texts. Lectures, readings, online participation, written assignments, final paper.

This introductory historiographical course surveys select 'sacred' and 'profane' works of church history by some of the most important ecclesiastical historians and philosophers active from the mid-first century AD until the mid-twentieth century (including, but not limited to, Luke, Augustine, Foxe, Bossuet, Voltaire, Hegel, Ranke, and Acton). Participation in online discussion group, research paper, critical response/book report, online final exam.

This introductory course examines the influence of, and contemporary reaction to, natural theology, evolution theory, and Charles Darwin's "natural selection" theory, from the late eighteenth century until the Scopes Trial (1925). Although the course focuses on England and the United States, we will also make a tertiary examination of defenders and critics of natural theology, evolutionary theory, and natural selection theory in Continental Europe and Canada. Two short research summaries submitted online (40%), participation (20%), final exam submitted online (40%)

Offered On-Line: From the subapostolic age to the “Triumph of Orthodoxy” in the East and the Carolingian revival and Treaty of Verdun in the West. Geographical expansion of the church; the relation of Christian faith to cultural settings and other religions; the development of doctrinal and ethical positions; forms of Christian life and worship; the rise of Islam. Weekly on-line participation, short papers, research paper.

Curriculum is the selection and organisation of experience for pedagogical purposes. The criteria  that determine what is selected and how it is organised articulate fundamental values about the nature of the world and our calling in it. This course will encourage critical evaluation of the criteria that are commonly employed and of how the curriculum can be shaped to better reflect a Christian worldview. Curriculum is conceived not as a static collection of materials, but as a dynamic plan that directs the learning process and governs the organically developing relationship between teachers and learners. The course employs an extensive Study Guide, two books plus book chapters and journal articles, with an online discussion forum and Skype/ telephone conferencing. Participation in the forum and a professionally- oriented research paper will provide the basis for evaluation. Study Guide to accompany texts and readings; online discussion forum; Skype/ telephone conferencing. Online Forum participation (30%); Research paper (70%). 

This course is an introduction to the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), the most influential Catholic theologian of the last millennium. No previous knowledge of Aquinas or of philosophy is presumed. We will start by looking at Aquinas' program of remaking Christian theology in light of the best philosophy and science of his day; then we will examine his views on human action, human nature, human knowing and philosophical theology. Lectures, discussion, short papers and final exam. On-line discussion, book review, 2,000 word paper.

”The attitudes to save the environment should be imbued with a vision of the sacred.”
—David Suzuki at the Global Forum of the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 5 June, 1992

Critics often blame Christian culture, and sometimes rightly, for either ignoring or contributing to the global ecological crisis.  This course will examine some Christian responses to the ecological crisis that contest this characterization. These include claims that the responsibility for the global ecological crisis is complex and multifaceted as well as arguments that Christianity can resist and undo the attitudes that helped create the crisis. We shall explore agrarian essays, ecological theology, and international initiatives on ecological activities. We may also visit a farm whose inhabitants integrate their faith and their lifestyle. In this discussion-intensive seminar, participants will consider what role Christian faith can and should play in a strong environmental ethic.