Course Catalogue 2025-2026

This course introduces students to the origins of philosophy in classical antiquity, from the 7th c. BC to the 4th c. AD. The course will treat the most important Greek and Latin philosophers. Important topics that will be considered are cosmology and physics, philosophical theology, moral and political philosophy, with an emphasis on Plato and Aristotle, their sources and followers or critics.

This course introduces logic, critical thinking, and the philosophy of language. It presupposes that human beings are social and linguistic creatures endowed with the gift of communicating, meaning acquisition, and transmission. Language has a well-defined structure, a set of logical and grammatical rules that enables people to communicate and understand themselves and each other effectively. This course contains three parts. The first part is logic as an art of reasoning, including deductive reasoning and categorical and propositional logic. The second part, critical thinking, is related to philosophical and scientific reasoning but deals with informal and formal fallacies in ordinary, everyday reasoning and argumentation. The third part focuses on theories of meaning (from the ancient to the contemporary authors), pragmatic theories, and various expressive linguistic forms. The course will instruct students to express themselves clearly in speech and writing, which will be indispensable in their further theological studies.

This course introduces logic, critical thinking, and the philosophy of language. It presupposes that human beings are social and linguistic creatures endowed with the gift of communicating, meaning acquisition, and transmission. Language has a well-defined structure, a set of logical and grammatical rules that enables people to communicate and understand themselves and each other effectively. This course contains three parts. The first part is logic as an art of reasoning, including deductive reasoning and categorical and propositional logic. The second part, critical thinking, is related to philosophical and scientific reasoning but deals with informal and formal fallacies in ordinary, everyday reasoning and argumentation. The third part focuses on theories of meaning (from the ancient to the contemporary authors), pragmatic theories, and various expressive linguistic forms. The course will instruct students to express themselves clearly in speech and writing, which will be indispensable in their further theological studies.

This course is an introduction to the Qur'an and will familiarize students with the hallmarks of both traditional Muslim and western scholarships. It will cover topics such as the collection of the Qur'an, abrogation, mysterious letters and the Quranic sciences. Students will become acquainted with some of the main classical and modern commentaries and will learn to identify poetic figures and organizational techniques that structure the Qur’anic text. Knowledge of Arabic, though useful, is not required.

An introduction to the foundations of Catholic moral theology (Part 1 of 2). Among topics to be studied are scripture, natural moral law and the law of the Gospel, anthropology, relationship between faith and morality, freedom and law, responsibility, etc.

An introduction to foundations of Catholic moral theology (Part 2 of 2). Among the topics to be studied are conscience, aspects of moral decision-making, virtue and vice.

Basic principles of Christian ethics, with special attention to the pastoral application of moral theology.

Mystery of the Triune God with its Biblical sources and Patristic development, and an examination of the development of the understanding of the Immanent Trinity, with attention paid to particular issues, e.g. Filioque, notion of 'Person'. Also stressed is the development of a Trinitarian spirituality with some attention to the mystics.

In alternate years, this course will include an overview of either the Wisdom tradition or the Prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. We will focus on one or two books, attending to the historical and cultural context in which they took shape but also pay attention to their significance of wisdom or the prophetic message for the Christian tradition.

This course examines Buddhist notions of mental and spiritual health in historical and contemporary contexts, with an emphasis on their practical application in the form of Buddhist spiritual care, spiritually integrated psychotherapy and leading Dharma communities. The first part of the course grounds us in a Buddhist framework of relationality and non-self, and develops the foundational skills of deep listening, compassionate presence, and being comfortable with silence. The second module outlines a Buddhist informed framework for counselling drawing from the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path. The third module focuses on Buddhist informed emotion-focused therapy, with attention to moral stress/ injury and post traumatic syndrome or response) disorder (PTSD), as well as contemporary Buddhist therapies, such as Naikan and Morita Therapy and working with Buddhist sacred literature. In the final module, we re-ground ourselves in our inter-relationality, focusing on Buddhism and wise and compassionate social action. Topics include Buddhistinformed approaches to equity, diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility; decolonization; Truth and Reconciliation; and ecological sustainability.

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.

This course introduces students to the theory and professional practice of Buddhist contemplative care, through scholarly literature on the roots of this form of Buddhist engaged practice in various Buddhist traditions, as well as the educational foundations of Buddhist pastoral and spiritual care, the understanding of the Buddhist approach to death and dying, and the art of end-of-life care. Students will also learn from the experiences of successful models of Buddhist contemplative care in North America and Asian countries like Taiwan. The knowledge will be practical to professional medical caregivers, to allow them to understand the anxiety and fear of their patients with a Buddhist worldview, so as to provide more suitable and meaningful palliative care. Through such discussions, one also comes to understand Buddhist contemplative care as the next stage of engaged Buddhist practice, and the new vision of the role of Bodhisattvas through the perils of everyday life.