Current Course Offerings

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to different methods used to interpret texts. Students will learn and develop skills of closely reading texts, analyzing historical and contemporary contexts, and thinking critically through issues. This class will introduce students a wide range of sacred and secular texts. Students will learn to apply rhetorical strategies to construct interpretations that promote inclusivity, social consciousness, social justice, and speak to the current social and political contexts. This is an introductory level course and requires no prerequisite.

This course introduces students to theories of ethical discernment, behavior, and formation in Christian traditions. The course prioritizes ecological wellbeing as an ethical demand of Christian living and will use case studies about human relationships with our other-than-human kindred to practice the ethical theories studied.

The final component of the Certificate of Sexuality and Religion (CSR) program (pre-stackable curriculum), the CSR Final Project is designed by the student with the approval of their CSR advisor/coordinator. Students sign up for CSR 3001 when the semester they are completing this project. The general topic of the project is established when you enter the CSR program and is used to direct your course of study throughout the program. The project should include both research and community application components. Students are recommended to consult with at least two CSR-related faculty (either regular or adjunct) concerning their final projects

This course provides a cohort pedagogy for DMin students to participate regularly throughout the term in a continuous online platform where they share what they are learning and experiencing in their other coursework and in their research, and where they engage the learning journeys and evolving projects of their doctoral colleagues. Regular interactions every month are guided by the rubric provided for the course.

Ministry to persons in pastoral care setting, participation in weekly individual and group reflection upon that ministry with supervisor, study of theoretical material from theology, behavioral sciences, and pastoral care. Integrates theological understanding and knowledge of behavioral science into pastoral functioning. Programs must provide at least one unit of CPE in order to receive any academic credit. CPE programs can be 4 months, 9 months, full-time summer intensives, or one-year full-time residential.

This course offers an overview and survey of past and present models of spiritual leadership and pastoral care as practiced by LGBTQ spiritual/religious leaders and caregivers. Several key figures, texts, and movements will be considered and analyzed with a view to understanding and interpreting their impact on contemporary debates. Seminar format; final collaborative creative project; and two (2) in-class presentations are required.

This course offers an historical overview and survey of attitudes toward homoeroticism and homosexuality in ancient, medieval, and modern Christianity in the West and in present-day American Christianities. Several key figures, texts and movements will be considered and analyzed with a view toward understanding and interpreting their impact on contemporary debates. Seminar format; research paper and two (2) in-class presentations are required.

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the collection of writings that we come to call the New Testament. In this course, students will become familiar with the historical context, culture, and politics that led to the production of this text. In addition to the traditional historical critical approach to the text, students will be introduced to other methods such as feminist, queer, postmodern, and postcolonial readings that will help us deconstruct these texts and reconstruct interpretations that are socially, ethically, and politically relevant to the world we live in.

One of the foundational education commitments that undergirds this course is the assertion that all knowledge is contextual. In the various settings of ministry and social transformation, context plays an important role in shaping our work, our approaches to that work, our understandings of our own role in that work, and the meaning we make of it. At its core, this course seeks to ground our theological explorations in a deeper understanding of our own social contexts, as we develop facility in translating from one context to another and engaging across difference. Focusing in particular on the case of race, this course is designed as a path for exploring and understanding the ways that race in all of its intersections operates as a social fiction and lived experience in ourselves and in the communities we serve. Making use of historical, theoretical and theological lenses, we will engage in selfexploration, deep formation, readings, dialogue, and experiences with artists and activists as we build our capacity to address issues of prejudice, power, and privilege while cultivating cultural humility and cross-cultural competency.

This course offers an opportunity to deepen spiritual life in personal, interpersonal, communal, and cosmic dimensions. It will focus on engaging contemplative practices from across the inter-spiritual tradition as well as study the teachings of mystics, privileging those who lived engaged in the pursuit of collective justice. Participants will have a chance to explore the nature of spiritual formation while discerning which practices, resources, and attitudes are appropriate for sustaining vitality, rootedness, and creativity in their personal life, faith, leadership, academic, and social justice work.