Theology and Religious Studies

Sharon Suh, PhD, Chair

Objectives

Theology and Religious Studies courses require students to take responsibility for their own learning in collaboration with faculty and peers; hence faculty members employ a variety of pedagogical methods to stimulate active learning: class discussions, small group work, student presentations, on-site participation and research, service learning, multi-draft essays, mentored research, electronic literacy, and preparation for graduate studies. Theology and Religious Studies courses at Seattle University also encourage students to think critically and to respond compassionately. Teaching and learning in the department of Theology and Religious Studies are inspired by the Jesuit principle of cura personalis or care of the person. The discipline of Theology and Religious Studies explores the many complex dimensions of religious life and experience such as 1) the human impulses for transcendence, 2) spiritual traditions and practices, 3) challenges of evil, suffering, and oppression, 4) religion and ethics (e.g., biomedical, environmental), 5) the historic centrality of religious traditions across cultures, 6) the role of religion in an increasingly secular world, 7) relationships between religion, race, gender, sexuality, and poverty, and 8) religious fundamentalisms. Explorations of such complex issues demand that Theology and Religious Studies share methods and data with other humanistic and scientific disciplines; therefore, interdisciplinary approaches are practiced and highly valued. The Department of Theology and Religious Studies respects and values the diverse backgrounds of students and faculty at Seattle University (agnostic, atheist, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, as well as Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic forms of Christianity). Students need not practice or identify with a particular religious tradition in order to grasp its central ideas and engage in the process of critical reflection that reinterprets tradition and discerns its values. The department invites all to join in exploring questions that are fundamental in human life and deserving of attention by each student as part of a Jesuit education.