Theology Foundation
To fulfill the Theology Foundation requirement, students must take two, three-credit, Core-designated theology courses. One core-designated course must be at the 200-level courses and one must be at the 300-level.
Why Theology?
Providence College’s mission is to educate the whole student and to pursue Truth in a way that underscores the unity of Truth and the compatibility of faith and reason. Hence, the study of theology is at the heart of the curriculum and is an integral portion of the core curriculum. Students will engage in a practice of reasoned inquiry about God and faith and the great questions of human life (e.g., What is the origin of my existence? Why is there something rather than nothing? What might one hope for, either for oneself or for humanity?) in a manner comparable with the reasoned inquiry with which they investigate other areas of the liberal arts.
The development of theological thinking is a component of the Development of Western Civilization Program. The required courses in theology increase and deepen the exposure of students to the fruit of centuries of Christian thinking about God, their understanding of the relationship between God and humankind in such a worldview, and an appreciation of the Catholic and Dominican views of the religious and spiritual dimension of human life. In theology courses, students develop a critical understanding of the dialogic relationship between theological study and the other areas of intellectual endeavor in the liberal arts. The theology component of the core curriculum is indispensable in the College’s mission to prepare students to continue to reflect on their place in the world and to continue to grow spiritually in whatever path God’s providence takes them after graduation.
For Faculty Advisors
The information below is intended to help faculty members learn more about the Theology Foundation.
Theology Requirement Objectives
The following is a list of objectives that you may find helpful when you’re preparing to submit a course to the CCC for approval.
200-level core courses will:
- Include the study of relevant Biblical texts
- Provide students with the opportunity to read deeply and critically key Biblical texts of the Judeo-Christian tradition
- Lead students to make correlations between the Biblical tradition and theological discourse
- The identification of theological categories of thought (e.g., covenant, revelation, grace)
- The application of theological themes to issues and questions that arise in daily life
- The composition of a six to eight page essay or a comparable program of written assignments that articulates a theological question or theme and critically responds to the material under discussion
300-level core courses will include:
- The analysis of primary theological sources (ancient or modern)
- The interpretation of relevant contemporary questions as seen from a theological perspective
- The critical appraisal of a theological discussion or presentation
- The comparison of a theological issue or theme between a Roman Catholic perspective, on the one hand, and a perspective belonging to another tradition, on the other
- The composition of a research paper of eight to ten pages that provides an in- depth and reasoned analysis of primary textual material or of a question pertaining to a central issue of the course
Notes
Qualifications of Faculty Teaching Outside of Home Department
To address whether or not a particular faculty member outside of the Philosophy or Theology Departments is sufficiently qualified to teach a course which satisfies the Philosophy or Theology Core Objectives, a CCC subcommittee will make this determination. The subcommittee is made up of the chairs of those departments and a third member to be selected by the CCC. The purpose of this subcommittee will be not only to assess whether a proposed course satisfies the objectives but whether the proposer is qualified to carry them out. This subcommittee will make a recommendation to the CCC.
