Boston College’s theology department is launching three new minors in partnership with the philosophy department and the Lynch School of Education and Human Development (LSEHD).
“The desire is to offer an opportunity to show how theology can be a discipline that helps students to connect multiple interests,” Chairperson of the Theology Department Andrea Vicini, S.J., said.
BC theology is introducing minors in interreligious studies, Catholic education and theology, in conjunction with the LSEHD, and a joint philosophy and theology minor.
“We want to show how theology can enrich their expertise, their competence, and their ability to develop further interests that complement the other interests they already have,” Vicini said.
The theology department created the minors to appeal to students of ranging interests, according to Vicini. Theology can go hand-in-hand with any discipline, and the minors will be avenues for students to explore these interdisciplinary paths.
“There seems to be a student desire or an expansion of the dialogue courses into something that is more practical,” said Director of the Interreligious Studies Minor Natana DeLong-Bas. “How do we engage in interreligious leadership?”
DeLong-Bas said religion is often depicted as a factor of conflict in the news but that she hopes the interreligious studies minor will teach students about other ways in which religious communities can engage with one another productively in support of common goals.
“I’m hoping that the minor will help students to become more aware of a lot of the good work that’s already done at the community level and will hopefully inspire their creativity and thinking about how they want to engage areas of conflict moving forward,” DeLong-Bas said.
The interreligious studies minor begins with a “dialogue course,” which examine the relationship between Christianity and other religions. The next step will be a new course on engaging interreligious leadership, in which students will read case studies. To round out the minor, there will be four additional electives that students can take on religious traditions of their choosing, DeLong-Bas said.
“There’s a lot of choice for students, so they can really tailor the minor to their particular interests, but come out of it with a broad framework that should be helpful to them and work well with really any major,” DeLong-Bas said.
The interreligious studies minor aims to train students in methods of dialogue that will carry over into many different career fields. The new theology and philosophy minor strives to achieve this interdisciplinary engagement as well, according to Jason Donnelly, director of the minor.
“We are looking to provide another avenue for students to explore the relationship between philosophy and theology, but more intentionally, where they overlap,” Donnelly said.
The theology and philosophy minor follows much interest from students in Perspectives on Western Culture, a first-year course that teaches both theology and philosophy. The minor was created with hopes to not only expand that curiosity but to entice more students to explore theology, Donnelly said.
“The more opportunities there are for students to explore theology, the better,” Donnelly said.
Students will have the freedom to choose the rest of their elective courses, only being required to take three philosophy and three theology courses total, Donnelly said.
“The theology and philosophy minor will comprise of existing courses, two philosophies and two theologies, then allowing for flexibility in scheduling,” Donnelly said.
Charles Cownie, director of the Urban Catholic Teacher Corps, will co-direct the new Catholic education and theology minor, which Donnelly said was introduced for individuals of any major who are interested in Catholic education as an area of study or as a potential career.
“I think there’s a great desire to do a lot in Jesuit education and Catholic education at the graduate level,” Donnelly said. “But the right fit and the right opportunity I don’t think existed previously for undergraduate students.”
Liam Bergin, co-director of the Catholic education and theology minor, said the minor was created not only to accommodate interests of students in the LSEHD, but because BC is an institution that is always encouraging and thrives off the collaboration between departments and subjects.
“We want majors from across all subject areas that want to have more of the theology and Catholic [education] experience, to better understand their educational experience and why it was the way it was,” Cownie said.
The Catholic education and theology minor will follow a curriculum including three classes from the theology department and three from LSEHD, immersing students in the teaching atmosphere as well as giving a thorough background of theological studies.
With the new minors, BC theology hopes to create opportunities for students to develop their interests with the introductory courses and advanced electives, Vicini said.
“We build on the expertise of our department and are open to the possibility of collaborations, interactions, and for the students to see how these minors are related to what we offer,” Vicini said.
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