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Catholic Studies

Program Codes: CST
Minor

Mission Statement

The Catholic Studies Program at Mercyhurst incarnates the Catholic identity and Mercy heritage of the University. Inspired by the University’s core values, it aims to deepen appreciation of Catholicism, both past and present, through commitment to serious intellectual inquiry and hospitable dialogue in an atmosphere where faith and reason flourish. The program’s primary focus will be interdisciplinary engagement with the Catholic Intellectual Tradition through a variety of scholarly disciplines.

Program Outcomes:
  • Discover the meaning and richness of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition as found across academic disciplines
  • Analyze the development of Catholic creeds, doctrines, traditions, spiritual practices, aesthetic contributions, historically and globally
  • Compare and contrast a variety of perspectives that both support and challenge church teaching on a variety of contemporary issues
Program Requirements:

Catholic Studies Minor Requirements

The Catholic Studies Minor is composed of six, three credit courses chosen from the following three areas: Catholic Studies, Religious Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies.

Catholic Studies

Courses specifically designed to deepen understanding of the Catholic tradition, both past and present. All students seeking the minor must take CST 100, Exploring Catholicism, and one other course from this category.

Religious Studies

One of many courses in Religious Studies will be designated as meeting this requirement; only one course may count for both Religious Studies and the Catholic Studies minor; that course must have a RLST or CST designation.

Interdisciplinary Studies

Any one course in this category is acceptable.

Electives: Students may choose two other courses from any of the three categories.

Catholic Studies (Choose 2)

EXPLORING CATHOLICISM
Course Code:
CST 100
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Spring Term
/ All Years
Course Description:
This course will comb the rich history and tradition of Roman Catholicism from the life of Jesus to the contemporary church. It will highlight key social and historical developments, major Catholic thinkers, and fundamental teachings related to Catholic belief, life, and discipleship in the 21st century.
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
CST 100
EXPLORING CATHOLICISM
3

REQUIRED + any other CST course

Religious Studies (Choose 1)

PEACE AND JUSTICE
Course Code:
RLST 440
Active Term:
Randomly
/ Randomly
Course Description:

In the face of oppression, people of faith and people of good will have argued for a principled world of peace and justice for all. This course examines how it is that oppressed people and groups have grounded the pursuit of peace and justice in terms of social and spiritual liberation. This course will explore global and domestic cases of oppression, which may include: imperialism and exile, racism and civil rights, sexism and homophobia. Diverse religious responses to oppression may include: Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, and Hindu views. 

Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
Prerequisites:

100 or 200 level RLST or CST course

x
RLST 440
PEACE AND JUSTICE
3
MYSTICISM
Course Code:
RLST 420
Active Term:
Randomly
/ Randomly
Course Description:

A study of the significance of mystical experience in the world’s religions. What is the meaning of particularly vivid, intense religious experiences reported by sages, saints, and seers in the faith traditions of the world? This course will examine classic analyses of mysticism, the nature, context, and conditions of mystical experience, the “perennial philosophy,” the scope of ineffability, and the cognitive merit of mystical experience.

Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
Prerequisites:

100 or 200 level RLST or CST course

x
RLST 420
MYSTICISM
3
POETRY OF THE SACRED
Course Code:
RLST 385
Active Term:
Randomly
/ Randomly
Course Description:
A study of poetry as an expression of and a vehicle for awakening in the world's religious and spiritual traditions. Exploring notions of the sacred and theological anthropology, this course examines the context, content, and goals of poetry self-reflexively located in faith and spiritual traditions. Poetry of Hindu bhakti traditions, Sufism, Zen and Christian mysticism will be central, though not exclusive, to this course.
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 385
POETRY OF THE SACRED
3
RELIGION & ENVIRONMENT
Course Code:
RLST 375
Active Term:
Randomly
/ Randomly
Course Description:

An examination of key texts, historical movements, and ideas pertaining to the relationship between "religion" and "the environment." Several religious traditions are considered, including: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Native American religions. 

Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
Prerequisites:

100 or 200 level RLST or CST course

x
RLST 375
RELIGION & ENVIRONMENT
3
EVOLVING RELIGION
Course Code:
RLST 310
Active Term:
Randomly
/ Randomly
Course Description:

An analysis of the intellectual challenges to religious belief since the Enlightenment to the present day with a special emphasis on postmodern philosophy and the theological responses to the postmodern critique.

Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
Prerequisites:

100 or 200 level RLST or CST course

x
RLST 310
EVOLVING RELIGION
3
DEATH & DYING
Course Code:
RLST 305
Active Term:
Randomly
/ Randomly
Course Description:

Issues surrounding death and dying are both deeply personal and central to the human experience. This course is designed to explore ideological frameworks around death and relate them to concrete issues. The course is designed in two parts. The first part engages ideas found across the globe related to death and dying. The second part of the course examine practical and ethical considerations.

Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 305
DEATH & DYING
3
LIBERATION RELIGION & SOCIETY
Course Code:
RLST 275
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Randomly
/ Randomly
Course Description:
This course examines the origin and growth of liberation theologies in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the United States. Students will be introduced to the work of major liberation theologians and the diverse contexts in which liberation theologies are done. The critical roles they play within diverse religious, cultural and societal contexts and the impact of economic globalization has upon them will also be considered.
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 275
LIBERATION RELIGION & SOCIETY
3
WOMEN & SCRIPTURE
Course Code:
RLST 270
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Fall Term
/ Even Years
Course Description:
An exploration of the biblical texts dealing with the themes relating to women: their presence and neglect, images, and roles. The course will study the contributions, challenges and significance of women in Scripture with particular concern for contemporary interpretations by Jewish and Christian women.
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 270
WOMEN & SCRIPTURE
3
GLOBALIZED RELIGION
Course Code:
RLST 266
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Spring Term
/ Even Years
Course Description:
This course provides a basic introduction to the descriptive and explanatory models in the sociological study of religion that prove helpful in examining the enculturation of diverse traditions such as Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism into the U.S. religious landscape. In addition, this course examines strains of anti-immigration in the United States that resist such efforts of religious enculturation. Finally, this course acknowledges the distinctiveness of these enculturated religious traditions in order to move toward a pluralistic engagement of religious traditions.
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 266
GLOBALIZED RELIGION
3
AMERICAN RELIGION
Course Code:
RLST 265
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Fall Term
/ Odd Years
Course Description:

A survey of religious beliefs and practices in an American context. This course examines various expressions of American religiosity and aims to contextualize, understand, and analyze the variety and plurality of the American religious landscape.

Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 265
AMERICAN RELIGION
3
RELIG PERSPECTIVE HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
Course Code:
RLST 255
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Fall Term
/ All Years
Course Description:
This course will examine the many ways religious and cultural traditions have interpreted the dynamics of human relationships, including (but not limited to): concepts of relating to oneself, to others (or, friendship), relationships with divine, sexual relationships, the status of one's gender in relation to others, as well as definitions of marriage and family. The course offers descriptive, comparative and critical analyses of the teachings of individual theorists (religious, cultural, and/or philosophical) in order to better understand how religious and cultural perspectives bear on the questions and controversies about human relationships in the modern world.
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 255
RELIG PERSPECTIVE HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
3
THE SACRED & CINEMA
Course Code:
RLST 235
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Spring Term
/ Odd Years
Course Description:

Film has become the dominant medium of popular cultural expression in the contemporary era, and as such offers a vital space where the re-contextualization and re-interpretation of religious themes can be studied. Understanding the use and presence of religious ideas and symbols in film allows perspective on how traditional religious themes are imagined and challenged through contemporary experience. 

Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 235
THE SACRED & CINEMA
3
JESUS THE CHRIST
Course Code:
RLST 230
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Spring Term
/ Odd Years
Course Description:
An examination of the development of images, concepts, and doctrines about Jesus of Nazareth. It moves chronologically from New Testament materials to contemporary theological discussions about the person and message of Jesus and their significance for the post-modern world.
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 230
JESUS THE CHRIST
3
NEW TESTAMENT & CHRISTIAN ORIGINS
Course Code:
RLST 210
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Spring Term
/ Odd Years
Course Description:
This course engages the foundational documents of Christianity and examines how these texts emerged over time as an authoritative collection that came to be regarded as Scripture. In addition to contextualizing these documents in their indigenous religious/philosophical/cultural environments, special attention will be paid to the formation of diverse early Christian communities based on differences in their use of a multiplicity of Jesus traditions.
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 210
NEW TESTAMENT & CHRISTIAN ORIGINS
3
CHRISTIANITY
Course Code:
RLST 205
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Spring Term
/ Even Years
Course Description:

This course examines the impact of significant Christian thinkers. As we will see, the development of Christianity was neither monolithic nor predetermined.  It is rather the historical result of argument and debate among a plurality of voices throughout the centuries.  We will explore the influence these voices have on the way various contemporary Christians groups conceptualize theology and authority.

Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 205
CHRISTIANITY
3
SACRED TEXTS
Course Code:
RLST 110
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Fall Term
/ All Years
Course Description:
An introduction to religious studies that examines the origins and developments of sacred texts. The course will focus especially on how later texts and traditions reconfigure earlier traditions in the light of new experiences. By the end of the term the student will have developed the skills necessary to become a close and careful reader of primary texts.
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 110
SACRED TEXTS
3
WHAT IS RELIGION?
Course Code:
RLST 100
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
All Terms
/ All Years
Course Description:
An introduction that provides students with the foundational skills of the academic study of religion in order to apply them to an increased understanding of the role of religion in contemporary society. The course presents a broad overview that will provide students with a foundation for topical courses in the religious studies department as well as the ability to engage religion thoughtfully and knowledgably in other disciplines.
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
RLST 100
WHAT IS RELIGION?
3

Interdisciplinary Studies (Choose 1)

LITURGICAL DANCE:CONCEPTS&PERCEPTIONS
Course Code:
DANC 175
Active Term:
All Terms
/ Randomly
Course Description:
This course examines both past and present trends using dance in a liturgical context. The course covers historical, theological, and cultural milieus addressing and analyzing how dance is woven into the fabric of Roman Catholic liturgical celebrations.
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
DANC 175
LITURGICAL DANCE:CONCEPTS&PERCEPTIONS
3
ECONOMICS OF POVERTY
Course Code:
ECON 250
Course Group(s):
CONTEXTS AND SYSTEMS, ENVIRONMENT-THEMED NON-SCIENCE - BIO, ENVIRONMENT-THEMED NON-SCIENCE - GEO
Active Term:
Spring Term
/ Odd Years
Course Description:

This course introduces students to economic theories of poverty, ways to measure it (and the problems associated with these measures), and a description of the success and failures of public policies designed to curtail it. It features a blending of economic reasoning from theoretical and empirical perspectives, which will become part of the students' toolkits in their further endeavors, and a critical comparison of the economics approach and Catholic social teaching. The students will come out of the course becoming critical and intelligent participants in public policy debates and learn to form their own policy recommendations based on their analysis.

Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
ECON 250
ECONOMICS OF POVERTY
3
CATHOLIC LITERARY IMAGINATION
Course Code:
ENG 354
Active Term:
Randomly
/ Randomly
Course Description:

This seminar traces a century of novels in America written by Catholics. First and foremost, the novelists are well-recognized in the literary community: Willa Cather, Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, Mary Gordon, Ron Hansen, and Alice McDermott. The seminar will explore how literature and religion converge in their novels, how (or if) Catholic novelists embody a distinctive imagination, and whether the advent of Vatican II has produced a new kind of Catholic novel.

Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
ENG 354
CATHOLIC LITERARY IMAGINATION
3
FOUNDATIONS OF CATHOLIC PHILOSOPHY
Course Code:
PHIL 270
Course Group(s):
REASON AND FAITH
Active Term:
Randomly
/ Randomly
Course Description:
An exploration of the rich, complex, and diverse foundations of the Catholic worldview. Students will develop an understanding of the key movements (Platonism, Aristoteleianism, Neo-Platonism, Gnosticism, Manichaeism, Scholasticism, etc.), individuals, and texts that have motivated the growth and development of Catholicism in the ancient, medieval and modern world. Special emphasis will be placed on the conceptual frameworks and narratives of Greek philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus), early Christian scriptures (the New Testament), and Christian theologians (Boethius, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas).
Credit:
3
Instruction methods:
Lecture
Total hours: 45
x
PHIL 270
FOUNDATIONS OF CATHOLIC PHILOSOPHY
3
CATHOLIC POLITICAL & SOCIAL THOUGHT
Course Code:
POLI 201
Course Description:

A study and analysis of significant political, social, and economic ideas that can be classified as Roman Catholic. The course covers a range of historical thinkers and aims to place each thinker's ideas in their engendering context. The course begins with an examination of what constitutes Catholic political and social thought and then examines prominent Catholic and Christian thinkers and ideas such as social justice, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Orestes Brownson, Henri de Lubac, John Courtney Murray, G. K. Chesterton, Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy and C.S. Lewis.

Credit:
3
x
POLI 201
CATHOLIC POLITICAL & SOCIAL THOUGHT
3

Electives - Choose two (2) additional courses from the previous three categories.

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