Course Catalogue 2024-2025

For over thirty years, “Nothing about us without us” has been the cry of resistance from disability activists worldwide, yet disabled, neurodivergent and mentally ill people are rarely consulted or collaborated with regarding the policies, treatments and caregiving that will directly affect their bodyminds. This has led to ableist, neurotypical, and “sanist” theories and practices being normalized within the fields of medicine, psychiatry, theology, and psychotherapy. Whether or not a psychotherapist or faith leader is disabled, neurodivergent, or living with mental distress themselves, they are still often trained in models of psychotherapeutic and spiritual care that arise from and/or replicate ableist and neurotypical cultural norms to varying degrees of damage for disabled and neurodivergent individuals. This course engages with “mad” and “crip” frameworks to interrogate ableist, neurotypical, and sanist theories and practices, and to equip psychotherapists and spiritual care providers to provide treatment for disabled, neurodivergent, and mentally ill clients in more culturally appropriate ways. It also equips spiritual caregivers who may have internalized ableism and neurotypical normalizing tendencies to move deeper into their own self-understanding for this work. The course will invite those with lived experience of disability, neurodiversity and mental distress to apply their lived experience, learn to maintain appropriate boundaries and engage Safe and Effective Use of Self (SEUS).

Inspiring and profound are terms often attributed to the theology of von Balthasar. Benedict XVI said of his work, "His theological reflection maintains intact, to this day, a profound timeliness and leads many to penetrate ever more into the profundity of the mystery of faith". This course begins an exploration of his work. There is consideration of the Trilogy: Herrlichkeit, Theo-Drama and Theo-Logic; the influence of Ignatius Loyola and Adrienne von Speyr; and the place of Mary. Not a course for the faint-hearted, von Balthasar's work is at times dense and complex but the rewards are beyond price.

The course will specifically focus on the muraqabah techniques (such as silence and opening reflections) used in classical Islamic spiritual traditions and engage in comparative analysis between these practices and mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, meditation, transcendental meditation, mind-body techniques (meditation, relaxation) and body-mind techniques. We will also highlight ethical issues, emphasizing that not all Islamic mindfulness practices might be effective for all mental health issues and the importance of familiarity with classical Islamic spiritual traditions before applying Islamic mindfulness techniques.

Both Buddhism and psychoanalysis (and psychotherapy) share an interest into the nature of the mind, consciousness, and the self. While Buddhism attaches soteriological significance to its mapping of the human mind and consciousness, with the ultimate aim of Awakening to the realization of ‘no-self,’ psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic theories and practices developed in Western cultures are framed as secular, and focus on the actualization of one’s self. Over the past century, both Western and Eastern thinkers have been interpreting, comparing, distinguishing, and integrating Buddhist and psychoanalytic (and psychotherapeutic) systems, and in the process, transforming them. This course is an interdisciplinary study of these cross-cultural engagements between Buddhism and psychodynamics with an emphasis on conceptions of the mind, consciousness and self, especially as they relate to psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.

Each Clinical Practicum (A and B) provides students with the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skill necessary for providing competent spiritually integrated psychotherapy. Course A provides the basis for course B. The course explores both theoretical and applied aspects of Supervised Pastoral Education (SPE). It is located at the intersection of the theology of caring, grief and loss, and social sciences. The course emphasizes multidimensional assessments and teaches interventions that are spiritual, therapeutic, supportive, and/or educational. Professional identity and professional ethics as well as the place of spiritual care and counselling in Canada are also examined. The course highlights significant aspects of the theologies of psycho-spiritual care and therapy.

Each Clinical Practicum (A and B) provides students with the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skill necessary for providing competent spiritually integrated psychotherapy. Course B builds on course A. The course explores both theoretical and applied aspects of Supervised Pastoral Education (SPE). It is located at the intersection of the theology of caring, grief and loss, and social sciences. The course emphasizes multidimensional assessments and teaches interventions that are spiritual, therapeutic, supportive, and/or educational. Professional identity and professional ethics as well as the place of spiritual care and counselling in Canada are also examined. The course highlights significant aspects of the theologies of psycho-spiritual care and therapy.

The concept of Mission is prominent and ever-present in the contemporary church, but there remains considerable confusion surrounding the theology and practice of Christian witness. Painful awareness of the legacy of colonialism leaves many mainline churches uncomfortable with the concept of mission, for fear of ‘imposing’ their worldview on others. The course examines contemporary models and movements of mission – from “planting,” “Fresh Expressions,” and “Liquid Church,” to “social outreach” and “faith-based community organizing.” Attention will be given to theologies of mission, missional literature, and to particular local mission projects in their ecclesial contexts. Students will be equipped to formulate their own theology of mission and to become familiar with distinct practical models of mission. These discussions will all be with a view to working to understand and shape the future course of the church.

The concept of Mission is prominent and ever-present in the contemporary church, but there remains considerable confusion surrounding the theology and practice of Christian witness. Painful awareness of the legacy of colonialism leaves many mainline churches uncomfortable with the concept of mission, for fear of ‘imposing’ their worldview on others. The course examines contemporary models and movements of mission – from “planting,” “Fresh Expressions,” and “Liquid Church,” to “social outreach” and “faith-based community organizing.” Attention will be given to theologies of mission, missional literature, and to particular local mission projects in their ecclesial contexts. Students will be equipped to formulate their own theology of mission and to become familiar with distinct practical models of mission. These discussions will all be with a view to working to understand and shape the future course of the church.

This course will engage the questions of interreligious dialogue and comparative theology on the theology on the theological issues of redemption and salvation by comparing the work of some key Christian thinkers with themes in Buddhism. We will also engage comparative questions such as desire, imitation, prayer, mediation and responses to suffering and violence.

Designed for the Lay Ministry in the Roman Catholic Church. Topics include an overview of theology, sociological context; Church context and pastoral aspects; an overview of lay ministry opportunities in the Church/world; ecclesiological and sacramental principles, and the rights and obligations of lay ministers. Lectures, class participation, six one-page reflection papers, and one short essay. Prerequisite: one year of theology or by permission of the instructor.

The course is an inquiry into a range of questions concerning spatiality that arise in Christian dogmatics. Is the triune God spatial? What is meant by “omnipresence”? How do divine space and created spaces differ, and how might they be said to interact? What are the spatial dimensions of the incarnation? Students will be introduced to methodological issues concerning the use of spatial theory in theology, as well as how to best think about land and sacred places. Readings will include relevant parts of Scripture as well as theologians who addressed the topic, including Aquinas, Barth, Jenson, Gorringe, and Cavanaugh. Other resources may include authors in such ancillary fields as architecture (Richard Kieckhefer), anthropology (James C. Scott), and human geography (Yi-Fu Tuan). The course will conclude by examining concrete test cases of spatiality, e.g. Chartres Cathedral and modern storefront churches.

The Acts of the Apostles is our main source of information about the first Christian decades. It covers the movement's initial efforts to regroup following the death of Jesus, as well as its earliest expansion into the Mediterranean world beyond Judea. In this course, we will read through the Acts and reflect upon both what it tells us about Christian origins and also its continuing relevance for contemporary Christianity.