Previous Years' Course Catalogues

Development of thought and piety; monasticism and mendicants; crusades, parish life; papacy, princes and church councils; Byzantium; East-West relations; relations with Jews and Muslims; Renaissance and reformations; reformers; missionary expansion; confessionalism. 

For Buddhists, well-being/non-well-being are states of being along a continuum. Though dis-ease suggests an absence of ease, Buddhists see it less as illness than as a consequence of ignorance, attachment to ego-self, and delusion, or, failing to see reality as it is. The Buddhist response to this delusory state is spiritual, designed to release a suffering person from his burning state of mind to bring about a thorough transformation of consciousness using multiple techniques/ approaches. The natural healthy state of mind is arrived at through cultivation of the mind, ethics and wisdom. In the state of non-well-being, symptoms might include loss of control, restlessness, or failure to adapt, identified by modern clinicians as anxiety, stress, trauma, and evidence of psychopathology. Clinical psychology's task is to map out the mind with labels for every aberration of the mind from what it deems as the norm. The two traditions have, however, a common goal: to take away suffering. To that end, clinical psychotherapists and mind scientists have begun to mine Buddhist techniques/ teachings for healing patients. Techniques such as mindfulness (e.g. Mindfulness Based Stress Reductions (MBSR)), teachings of compassion and self-emptying (e.g. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)), and being present/ accepting things as-is (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy) are some examples of simulating the Buddhist model of well-being by using some aspects of it. This course will have two components: it will consider the Buddhist perspective on mental well-being by looking at the exemplary figure of the Bodhisattva whose great vow is to help all beings and whose modus operandi is compassion and wisdom. Using this model, we will attempt to understand what constitutes delusion and its effects on the mind. We will look at several therapeutic paradigms and take up case studies where clinicians have incorporated Buddhist teachings and the different techniques in secular ways/settings.

Current Buddhist views of mental health incorporate the Dharma and Western psychological approaches to mental health that include a broad range of behavioural, cognitive, and experiential approaches. Key features of approaches using mindfulness are the cultivation of a fluid sense of self, emotion regulation and the modulation of the causes of stress. These parallel the Buddhist concepts of non-self, skillful or appropriate responses, and the understanding of the causes of suffering. This understanding of mental health has shifted concepts of mental illness with promises of success and cautionary tales of risk. Buddhist and Western psychological perspectives of mental health share a commonality of being culturally influenced. To understand the impact and implications of the Buddhist view of mental health, the root Buddhist teachings need to be understood in their cultural context. Because we are embedded in a culture vastly different from the Buddha's time, the exploration must include our perspectives of mental health and how our own views are socio-cultural constructions. From this platform, we can examine how Buddhist teachings and their integration with Western models seek to sustain mental health. Secularized adaptations of the Dharma for psychological treatment will be examined with consideration of risks of appropriation, dilution, and distortion as well as potential negative effects of mindfulness-based therapies.

Current Buddhist views of mental health incorporate the Dharma and Western psychological approaches to mental health that include a broad range of behavioural, cognitive, and experiential approaches. Key features of approaches using mindfulness are the cultivation of a fluid sense of self, emotion regulation and the modulation of the causes of stress. These parallel the Buddhist concepts of non-self, skillful or appropriate responses, and the understanding of the causes of suffering. This understanding of mental health has shifted concepts of mental illness with promises of success and cautionary tales of risk. Buddhist and Western psychological perspectives of mental health share a commonality of being culturally-influenced. To understand the impact and implications of the Buddhist view of mental health, the root Buddhist teachings need to be understood in their cultural context. Because we are embedded in a culture vastly different from the Buddha?s time, the exploration must include our perspectives of mental health and how our own views are socio-cultural constructions. From this platform, we can examine how Buddhist teachings and their integration with Western models seek to sustain mental health. Secularized adaptations of the Dharma for psychological treatment will be examined with consideration of risks of appropriation, dilution, and distortion as well as potential negative effects of mindfulness-based therapies.

Current Buddhist views of mental health incorporate the Dharma and Western psychological approaches to mental health that include a broad range of behavioural, cognitive, and experiential approaches. Key features of approaches using mindfulness are the cultivation of a fluid sense of self, emotion regulation and the modulation of the causes of stress. These parallel the Buddhist concepts of non-self, skillful or appropriate responses, and the understanding of the causes of suffering. This understanding of mental health has shifted concepts of mental illness with promises of success and cautionary tales of risk. Buddhist and Western psychological perspectives of mental health share a commonality of being culturally influenced. To understand the impact and implications of the Buddhist view of mental health, the root Buddhist teachings need to be understood in their cultural context. Because we are embedded in a culture vastly different from the Buddha's time, the exploration must include our perspectives of mental health and how our own views are socio-cultural constructions. From this platform, we can examine how Buddhist teachings and their integration with Western models seek to sustain mental health. Secularized adaptations of the Dharma for psychological treatment will be examined with consideration of risks of appropriation, dilution, and distortion as well as potential negative effects of mindfulness-based therapies.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.