Doctoral Program
Courses
The Department of Theology offers a wide variety of courses at the graduate level each semester. Our courses are led by prominent scholars who embrace teaching and welcome graduate students into our dynamic community.
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Ph.D. Course Descriptions - Spring 2010
All courses and dates/times subject to change without notice. Please check Inside ND for latest information on course time and place. Unless otherwise noted, all courses are 3 credit-hours.
Theo 83001: Intermediate Hebrew: Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Poetry
CRN# 26314
Mark Nussberger
MW: 3:00-4:15
This fourth-semester course in biblical Hebrew will continue and build upon THEO 60006/83001. While the latter was devoted to the reading of biblical prose, this installment of Intermediate Hebrew will introduce students to the beauty of biblical Hebrew poetry. Our efforts will be focused on the preparation, oral reading, and translation of selected biblical passages. But time also will be spent continuing to review basic grammar as well as developing an appreciation of syntax and poetic structure (e.g., parallelism) in this powerful medium of prayer, prophetic revelation, and the quest for Wisdom in ancient Israel.
Theo 83005: Advanced Hebrew II
CRN: 24240
James VanderKam
R: 8:15-10:45
The course is designed to continue developing the students’ ability to read Hebrew texts and increase vocabulary. Selections for reading and analysis will be drawn from the Hebrew Bible, Qumran, and the Rabbinic corpus, with some use of Modern Hebrew as well.
Theo 83009: Elementary Akkadian II
CRN: # 24570
Avi Winitzer
MW: 1:30-2:45
The second in a two-semester sequence, this course completes the introduction to the grammar of Akkadian, specifically the Old Babylonian dialect of that language, using still the grammar by J. Huehnergard, A Grammar of Akkadian, 2nd edition (Eisenbrauns, 2005). Via the grammar and its exercises we will begin to familiarize ourselves with the some of the genres of writings from Mesopotamian civilization, a “stream of tradition” whose legacy can hardly be overestimated for students of later Near Eastern cultures and literatures. Readings will include selections from contracts and other legal/administrative texts, laws, letters, omens, royal inscriptions, prayers, and epics. Finally, we will also pay attention to the place of Akkadian within the Semitic-language family, especially by way of a(n inductively based) comparison of the Aramaic material with that found other Semitic languages, especially Hebrew.
Theo 82117: The Decalogue and its Early Interpreters
CRN# 27968
Tzvi Novick
M: 8:15-10:45
This course examines the meaning and use of the Decalogue within the Hebrew Bible and among its early interpreters. Our survey of the history of interpretation centers on the Second Temple period and classical rabbinic literature, but also includes some early Christian material. Students must have at least two years of Hebrew. Greek is preferable but not required.
THEO 83118: New Testament Seminar: Roman Imperial Moral Propaganda and Ancient Jewish and Christian Family Values
CRN: 28400
Mary Rose D’Angelo
T: 3:30-6:00
This course explores Roman and particularly Augustan propaganda on what are now termed “family values” as the context for the moral apologetic of early Judaism, Christian origins and second century Christianity. The focus will be on reading Roman period texts that propound or celebrate imperial moral standards and the Jewish and Christian texts that respond to the moral claims made in justification of the imperial rule. The material will be organized chronologically according to the Roman imperial dynasties: Augustus and the Julio-Claudians (31BCE-68CE, e.g. Augustus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Seneca, 2 Maccabees, Sibylline Oracles 3, Philo, Paul), the Flavians (69-96; e.g. Musonius Rufus, Josephus,Sibylline Oracles 4, Mark, Matthew)and Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian (96-138, e.g. Pliny the Younger, Dio Chrysostom, Plutarch, Sibylline Oracles 5, 4 Maccabees, Pastorals, Luke-Acts, Hermas). Art, visual imagery and epigraphical sources will also play a major role in the course. Students may choose to focus on any Jewish or Christian author from 2 Maccabees through the end of the second century CE. In special cases, students may treat third century texts.
All of this material is heavily inflected by gender; students who wish to take the course for GS credit will find plenty of material in both primary and secondary literature, and must make gender the focus of their written work and presentations.
All texts are available in translation, and masters students in Biblical Studies and graduate students from other areas or departments are welcome. But CJA doctoral students must work in at least one original language. About 40 minutes at the beginning or end of each class session will be devoted to translation from Greek or Latin. Students who do not read these languages need not attend the reading session, so the actual seminar period is about two hours and twenty minutes.
Goals:
- to become conscious of the workings of Roman politics, especially sexual politics, in the context of Christian origins.
- to learn to see past the dichotomy between “Hellenistic” and “Jewish” backgrounds of early Christianity and recognize ancient Jews and Christians as Roman subjects
- to represent the early Jewish and Christian texts and their authors as creative agents, addressing Roman politics from within.
- to recognize a dialectic of accommodation and resistance in the moral apologetic of the these texts, especially in the area of gender roles and sexuality.
Requirements:
Participation in class discussions, short presentations and occasional quizzes (50%), and a Seminar paper (50%).
Theo 83215: Islamic Origins
CRN: 27969
Gabriel Reynolds
T: 3:30-6:00
Few questions are more controversial in religious studies than that of Islam’s origins. According to Islamic tradition Islam – not only the Qur'ân but all of the religion – is divine. There can be no question of examining Islam’s relationship to earlier religions or historical circumstances. Pre-modern Christian tradition, on the other hand, largely understood Islam to be a Christian heresy. Our focus in the present seminar, however, will be with critical theories on the question. We will begin with the standard paradigm established by 19th century scholarship, that Islam is effectively the product of one man, Muhammad, and his socio-political context. Thereafter we will turn to Revisionist theories, that is, those theories which reject the standard narrative of Islamic history. We will analyze, on one hand, the reason for this historical skepticism and, on the other hand, the cogency of alternative narratives (including those of Crone, Lüling and Luxenberg) which suggest that Islam’s origins are more intimately connected with Late Antique Christianity than has heretofore been assumed.
Theo 83219: Patristics Seminar: Two Ancient Apologists: Origen and Augustine
CRN: 228414
John Cavadini
R: 11:00-1:30
In the introduction to his translation of Origen’s Contra Celsum, Henry Chadwick singles it out as possibly the most accomplished and extensive work of apologetics in ancient Christian theology, without equal except for Augustine’s City of God. This course will take up Chadwick’s hint, and offer an in depth examination of these two great works of patristic apologetics, one pre-Nicene and Greek, the other post-Nicene and Latin. We will take up the comparison implied in Chadwick’s lifting up of these two masterpieces of theological critique and synthesis, attempting to situate them in their historical context and in that very attempt hoping to find in them, as well, resources for contemporary Christian theology. In an age when interest in apologetics has once again arisen, it may be that the sophistication of these works, with their carefully constructed responses to pagan critiques of Christian claims (so hard to reduce to a simplistic “either/or”) and their equally carefully articulation of Christian alternatives, may assist us in thinking about similar projects in our own day even as they increase our appreciation of the significance of these works in their own time and place.
Theo 83226: Grace in Medieval Theology: Aquinas
CRN: 27970
Joseph Wawrykow
F: 9:00-11:30
Aquinas’s discussion of grace in the Summa theologiae is richly textured, and dense in historical and systematic insight. The very placement of the treatise on grace underscores the centrality of grace for Aquinas. Located at the end of the Prima Secundae (qq.109-114), the Summa’s treatise on grace brings to completion the general reflections that constitute ST I- II, on the movement of the rational creature to God as end, and sets the stage for the more specialized inquiries of the Secunda Secundae. This course examines the Summa’s teaching on grace in various contexts—as a discrete treatise that is itself carefully designed; in connection with such related topics elsewhere in the Summa as virtue, gifts of the Holy Spirit, providence and predestination, and, the missions, of both Son and Spirit; in comparison with discussions of grace in his other major writings (including the biblical commentaries); and, in dialogue with the principal interlocutors (both Christian and non-Christian, both ancient and more ecent) on whom Aquinas drew in presenting his analysis of grace. Close reading will drive the course, supplemented by reports (on adjacent themes, on the key sources) and a final term paper.
Theo 83403: Medieval Liturgies
CRN: 27971
Michael Driscoll
T: 8:15-10:45
The purpose of this seminar is to examine the various sacramental rites in the Middle Ages, especially the Eucharistic liturgy, and to attempt to reconstruct them within the context of liturgical enactment, architectural space, artistic and musical decoration, etc. The seminar must necessarily deal with liturgical texts, but this is only a first step for understanding the broader dimensions of the liturgy. Architectural, artistic and musical components will be taken into consideration. Numerous commentaries on the liturgy are also an important source for garnering the medieval understanding of the liturgy, especially in its allegorical interpretation. A tangential but key element for the understanding is the devotional and spiritual practices that grew up alongside the official liturgy. Therefore, some attention will be given to these dimensions, including liturgical drama.
Theo 83417: Liturgical Sacramental Theology
CRN: 28762
Nathan Mitchell
W: 3:30-6:00
This course, required for Ph.D. students in the Liturgical Studies area, focuses principally on the history and theology of sacraments in the Roman Catholic tradition from the patristic to the postmodern periods. Particular attention will be paid to the creation of a "scholastic synthesis" of the sacraments in the thought of Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae, III Pars, QQ. 60-65, de sacramentis in genere; QQ. 73-83, de eucharistia). The thought of significant twentieth- and twenty-first century theologians (e.g., Karl Rahner and Jean-Luc Marion) will also be highlighted.
Theo 83621: Modern Catholic Moral Theology
CRN: 27972
Paulinus Odozor
R: 3:30-6:00
This course is a study of some of the important developments in moral theology from the late 18th century to date, the significant questions and trends which characterize the period, and some of the authors whose work have made significant contributions to the development of recent moral theology in the Catholic tradition.
Theo 83624: Practical Reason, Personal Identity and the Moral Act
CRN: 27973
Jean Porter
W: 8:15-10:45
In this course we will explore recent work on practical reason, character and the moral act, paying special attention to ways in which Kantian and Aristotelian and broadly Thomistic lines of thought have intersected in recent work.
Theo 83809: Systematic Theology Seminar: Theological Anthropology
CRN: 27974
Mary Catherine Hilkert
T: 8:15-10:45
After an initial exploration of the impact of the early twentieth-century nature/grace disputes on the development of theological anthropology in the Catholic tradition, this seminar will focus on the contributions of selected Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox theologians to a theological understanding of the mystery of being human. Particular attention will be given to contemporary theological efforts to address the question of what constitutes human personhood and/or to retrieve one or more of the classic anthropological symbols of creation in the image of God, original sin, redemption/divinization, and resurrection of the body. Seminar discussion will include consideration of how authors assess the major challenges that theological anthropology needs to address today and the sources and starting points for their projects as well as their constructive proposals.
In addition to regular seminar preparation and participation (including at least one seminar presentation), course requirements will include a final research paper or two critical review essays.
Theo 83813: Comparative Theology Seminar
CRN: 27794
Bradley Malkovsky
R: 8:15-10:45
The purpose of this seminar is to introduce students of systematic theology to recent developments in the theological dialogue between Christianity and other religions, and to deepen their theological understanding of God, christology, grace, eschatology and religious experience through the encounter with three specific faiths: Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. This course presupposes no previous knowledge of other religions; it is designed to provide the student with a solid theological foundation for further scholarly research or for incorporation in the classroom. Required: oral presentation, class discussion, and two analytical papers.
Theo 83825: Doing Theology Today
CRN: 28927
Gustavo Gutiérrez
This seminar considers the sources, methods and goals of doing Christian theology, beginning with an historical overview, with particular attention to the French Nouvelle Theologie and the impact of the Second Vatican Council, and will proceed to a discussion of contemporary issues in theology. Among other points to be considered are the role of Scripture in theology, the place of experience, the ecclesial context of theology, and the importance of history. Requirements: participation in class discussions, one presentation, and a final research paper. The seminar will be taught on the following dates: 3/3, 1:15-3:15; 3/5, 3:00-5:30; 3/17, 1:15-3:15; 3/19, 3:00-5:30; 4/7, 1:15-3:15; 4/9, 3:00-5:30; 4/14, 1:15-3:15; 4/16, 3:00-5:30; 4/21, 1:15-3:15; 4/23, 3:00-5:30; 4/28, 1:15-3:15; 4/30, 3:00-5:30. This course requires permission (email the DGS at ashley.2@nd.edu). No audits will be allowed.
Theo 88401: Liturgical Studies Dissertation Seminar
CRN#
Max Johnson
T: 4:00-5:15
The Dissertation Seminar is a non-credit compulsory course for Liturgy students, taken in the second semester of the second year. The purpose of the seminar is to assist students toward the formulation of a dissertation topic in collaboration with the liturgy faculty and students with a view to a timely submission of the topic.
THEO 87001 Special Studies (variable credit hours)
Permission required (see Carolyn Gamble)
THEO 98699 Resident Dissertations and Research
(variable credit hours, but students who are not in coursework MUST register for 1 credit hour)
THEO 98700 Non-resident Dissertation and Research
(1 credit hour)