This course explores the topics of friendship and romance at the intersection of sociology, philosophy, theology, psychology, history, and biblical studies. For most college students, friendships and dating relationships represent two of the most important interpersonal relationships. Yet, the Church and the academy offer little in the way of helping us to think deeply about these relationships. Through the exploration of these important human relationships, the course aims to deepen our thinking with an eye toward living out our faith in the world.

 

 

 

This course is an examination of film in the US between 1945 and the present, thematically linked to the concept of “the American Dream.” Through those films this class gives students the critical equipment for encountering artistic materials and sustaining critical dialogue. Students will also better understand the ways that historical context shapes conceptions of the American Dream and ways that conceptions of the American Dream have driven thematic content in film. As an organizing framework for the course, the class will explore the concept of the American Dream through the primary theme of the Material Ideal, as well as secondary themes of individualism, civic responsibility, family, friendship, security, race, gender and faith. Through this process, students should become more thoughtful and mature people of faith. 

 

 

 

This is a course on loss and grief; but it also a course about joy, truth seeking, and vulnerability. Whether we want or expect to be, we are tossed into the vastness of vulnerability and loss of time and time again in our lifetimes. We will explore what it means to be vulnerable and the profound power that can come from it. How do we help others and ourselves embrace vulnerability and accept the role loss plays in our lives so that we might live wholeheartedly and faithfully? How do we continue to live and love, despite the pain and sorrow of loss? These are the questions central to the course – and to our lives.