Undergraduate courses

Violence, Peace and Social Justice

This course will familiarize students with movements for peace and social justice in the contemporary world, with a particular focus on the Christian foundations of economic, racial, and political movements for justice. With a solid foundation in Christian ethics, this course will also explore peacemaking and non-violence in various religious traditions. The issues of poverty, globalization, conflict, and war are inherently complex and diverse. By engaging these topics with an acute awareness of people who exist on the margins, students will gain an understanding of how presuppositions affect views of justice and peace. 

Women, Gender, and Religion (Undergraduate course)

This course is a study of the lives of women from a variety of perspectives and in various religious traditions. It explores a wide range of issues and concerns, which have particular relevance to the religious experiences of women that will help us to understand how gender is socially constructed and how religious and cultural attitudes about gender affect all people. We will explore the historical and contemporary experiences of women with particular attention to the ways in which religious beliefs and ideologies have affected their lives in relation to religious and other social institutions. We will examine the following concepts and issues: religion, academic religious studies; androcentrism, patriarchy, feminism as both an analytical method and a social vision, the differences between sex, gender, and sexual orientation, authority (religious and otherwise), structural violence, and social justice.

Introduction to the New Testament (Undergraduate and graduate course)

This introductory course is designed to lay a foundation for critical and constructive interpretation of the New Testament. Students will become familiar with large portions of the New Testament and become more informed readers through immersion in the basic elements of critical New Testament scholarship. We will explore the significance of these ancient texts to the Church and the world today. Special attention will be given to the context of these writings, their genres and connections with ancient biography, history, and/or epistles.

The American Religious Experience (Undergraduate course)

This course is a historical survey of the role of religion in American life, focusing on the interaction between religion and culture in the United States. This interaction has given rise to a unique variety of religious leaders and religious expressions. The course will examine the development of religious pluralism in the U.S. and explore selected issues that have arisen and continue to affect American culture, such as religious liberty, revivalism, utopianism, immigration, slavery, and fundamentalism. We will also examine the contributions of women and minorities, and the interaction between religion and American popular culture.

The Story of the Universe (Undergraduate course)

This class will explore the significance of the universe, the emergence of the earth, and the evolution of life as integral creative events; it will seek to identify a comprehensive narrative description of the cosmos from its primordial origin through the formation of galaxies, the birth of the solar system, the shaping of the earth, the diversity of life, and the role of human consciousness within its unfolding processes.

Graduate courses

Unveiling Revelation

This course will situate the Book of Revelation both in its world and ours. The course will critically analyze the Book of Revelation and its reception both historically and in our contemporary moment. The course will examine Revelation as it is brought into dialogue with more contemporary critical discourses, such as feminist studies, liberation hermeneutics, postcolonial studies, and ecotheology. 

Paul in/and his Contexts (Graduate course)

The aim of this course is to situate Pauline literature in its first century context in order to see how these letters have influenced the historical development of Christianity. Paul is arguably the most influential figure in the first century religious movement that would become Christianity. Contemporary struggles over Christian identity continue to reflect the cultural, religious, and political dynamics attributed to Paul and his writings. This course will provide students with an opportunity to explore a variety of interpretative approaches, including historical-critical, feminist, liberation hermeneutics, and postcolonial studies. By bringing these critical methods to bear on biblical texts, students will further develop their own exegetical skills. 

New Testament Greek (Graduate course)

This course is an introduction to the Greek of the New Testament in which students learn basic Greek grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. By the end of the course, students should be able to utilize the skills learned to read selected texts from the New Testament. Students will attain a working vocabulary of common New Testament words and will gain basic skills in using Greek in the exegesis of scripture. 

Intergenerational Dynamics – Black Churches and Scripture (Graduate course)

This course attempts to develop students’ understanding of Scripture as a foundational element of the Black Church. Scripture is not only the basis of preaching and teaching, it is also a sustaining force and living witness that connects the past, present, and future.

We will examine the myriad ways scripture has been a tool for education and an important source for the work of justice and liberation. We will assess the ways that the Bible is used in our contemporary moment and will explore how this engagement can shape the future.

Race, Response, and Scripture in Community (Graduate course)

This course attempts to develop students’ understanding of Scripture as a part of social, political, and religious discourse. Using contextual hermeneutics, we will demonstrate the importance of contexts for interpretation. Scripture is not only the basis of preaching and teaching, but it is also a sustaining force and living witness that connects the past, present, and future. We will examine the myriad ways scripture has been a tool for education and an important source for the work of justice and liberation. We will assess the ways that the Bible is used in our contemporary moment and will explore how this engagement can shape the future. The class will require students to make connections between course materials and their own vocational contexts and to begin to develop their own intentional modes of scriptural interpretation.