Minor in Catholic Studies
Roman Catholic ways of thinking, living, and organizing the world have been fundamental to the making of the world’s cultures since the fifth century of the Common Era and remain important around the globe today. The Catholic Studies minor offers the opportunity to interpret the civilizations and cultures of the world through interdisciplinary approaches to Catholicism. Students apply the critical tools of contemporary academic research and conversation to the study of the engagement of Catholics and Catholicism with the realities of their worlds.
Students must take at least six courses to complete the minor: one of the three core courses listed below and five other courses chosen in consultation with the director of Catholic Studies (these may include other core courses). The core courses are designed to introduce students to contextual, interdisciplinary approaches to the study of Catholic culture, thought, and history and to explore the interaction between Catholic ideas and institutions and the broader world in which Catholicism finds itself. The electives permit students to explore a particular set of questions more deeply.
Requirements (6 units)
- At least 1 of the following 3 courses:
- Religion 381
- Religion 382
- Religion 383
- 5 elective courses, chosen from any department’s offerings in consultation with the director of Catholic Studies, normally organized around a single focus. For example, this focus may be historical (medieval Catholicism); regional (Catholicism in Latin America); comparative (Catholicism and Islam); by field (Catholicism in literature); or thematic (political Catholicism, Catholic bioethics, etc.). If appropriate, students may use additional core courses to fulfill part of this requirement.
Core Courses
- Religion 381: Global Catholicism in the Contemporary World: Historical and contemporary global Catholicism. Topics include the church and political modernity; local saints; controversies over worship styles; Catholics and political revolutions; the Vatican; and the pontificate of John Paul II.
- Religion 382: Catholicism in the Making of the Modern World: 16th-17th-century Catholic influences on missions, colonial ventures, science, and the development of non-European history; the effects of these efforts upon Catholicism’s understanding of itself and early “global culture.”
- Religion 383: Catholic Social Ethics: Ecclesiastical, academic, and popular Catholic social ethics from 1891 to the present: including the living wage movement, the Catholic Worker movement, peace initiatives, liberation ethics, immigration, environment, sexuality and gender.
- Religion 384: Soundings in the Catholic Tradition: Topics in Catholic religious thought or religious movements. May be taken multiple times with different content.
- Religion 385: Topics in U.S. Catholicism: Historical and contemporary subjects in the study of Catholic culture in the United States. May be taken multiple times with different content.
- Religion 386: Topics in Latin American Catholicism: Historical and contemporary subjects in the study of Catholic culture in Latin America. May be taken multiple times with different content.
Students in Catholic Studies are encouraged to seek out appropriate courses across the university’s offerings, including occasional courses taught in other departments and programs, for approval by the director of the program.
Core Faculty
- Robert Orsi, Grace Craddock Nagle Professor of Catholic Studies
- Michelle Molina, John W. Croghan Assistant Professor of Catholic Studies
- Richard Kieckhefer
- Barbara Newman
- Sarah McFarland Taylor
For more information, contact the Director of the Undergraduate Studies and see the Undergraduate Catalog.
To submit a petition to minor in Catholic Studies see Declaring a Major or a Minor.