Director of the Center for Catholic Studies
Monsignor Richard Liddy, S.T.L., Ph.D.
The program in Catholic Studies aims to reflect upon the relation of Catholicism to all areas of culture and study. It is open to all students of all traditions and is essentially interdisciplinary. While rooted in historical religious studies, it is also theological and seeks to link Catholic self-understanding to all areas of the curriculum and the professions. It is the perfect complement to and a deepening of the new University Core Curriculum. The program's interdisciplinary approach and opportunities for sustained reflection on current issues invite students to enter into a deeper understanding of the Catholic intellectual tradition in history.
Students may choose a major, minor or a certificate in the program. Note: students declaring Catholic Studies as a second major at the end of their first year must have sophomore status and a GPA of 2.5.
The Catholic Studies Program has recently revised its major that leads to a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree as of fall 2009. Students who entered the program under the old major have the option of either completing the original requirements in effect when they first declared their major, or fulfilling the new requirements as outlined below.
View the College of Arts & Sciences Core Curriculum requirements »
Major in Catholic Studies
A. Core Courses (9 Credits)
|
|
Credits |
| CAST 1302 (RELS 1302) |
Introduction to the Catholic Vision |
3 |
| CAST 3193 |
Integrating Seminar in Catholic Studies |
3 |
| CAST 3940 (CORE 3746) |
The Catholic Classics and Interiority |
3 |
B. Electives (21 credits, including one Signature III course)
Students take four 1000–2000 level courses and three 3000 level courses from the following four areas inspired by the document, Gaudium et Spes (The Church in the Modern World) from the Second Vatican Council.
1. The Catholic Intellectual Heritage
|
|
Credits |
| CAST 1202 (RELS 1202) |
Christian Belief and Thought |
3 |
| CAST 2153 (RELS 2153) |
Letters of Paul |
3 |
| CAST 2160 (PHIL 3595) (CORE 3595) |
19th & 20th Century Catholic Thinkers |
3 |
| CAST 2223 (RELS 2223) |
Modern Christian Thought |
3 |
| CAST 2224 (RELS 2224) |
Eastern Christianity |
3 |
| CAST 3950 (RELS 3950) |
Faith & Reason Seminar |
3 |
| PHIL 2030 |
Medieval Philosophy |
3 |
| PHIL 3010 |
St. Augustine |
3 |
| PHIL 3015 |
St. Thomas Aquinas |
3 |
| RELS 2111 |
Genesis and Exodus |
3 |
| RELS 2151 |
Matthew, Mark & Luke |
3 |
| RELS 2152 |
The Gospels and Letters of John |
3 |
| RELS 2221 |
Early Christian Thought |
3 |
| RELS 2222 |
Medieval Christian Thought |
3 |
2. Catholicism and Human Dignity
|
|
Credits |
| CAST 2313 (RELS 2313) |
Christian Spirituality |
3 |
| CAST 2514 (RELS 2514) |
Theology of Sexuality |
3 |
| CAST 2520 (RLS 2520) |
Catholic Social Teaching |
3 |
| RELS 2160 |
Women in the Biblical Tradition |
3 |
| RELS 2231 |
Jewish-Christian Relations |
3 |
| RELS 2241 |
Introduction to Ecumenism |
3 |
| RELS 2315 |
Theology of Marriage |
3 |
| PHIL 1107/8 |
Self & Community: Philosophy in Theory & Practice I/II |
3 |
3. Catholicism and Human Culture
|
|
Credits |
| ARTH 2112 |
Medieval Art |
3 |
| ARTH 2113 |
Italian Art of the Renaissance |
3 |
| ARTH 2115 |
Baroque and Rococo Art |
3 |
| CAST 2011 (RELS 2011) |
Catholicism and Art |
3 |
| CAST 2101/2 (LATN 2101/2) |
Intermediate Latin I/II |
3 |
| CAST 2207/8 (GREK 2207/8) |
New Testament Greek |
3 |
| CAST 2291 |
Literature of Christian Conversion |
3 |
| CAST 2410 |
Bible as Literature |
3 |
| CAST 3015 (ENGL 3015) (CORE 3372) |
Catholicism and Literature |
3 |
| CAST 3150 (LATN 3150) |
Medieval Latin |
3 |
| CAST 3311 (ENGL 3311) |
Chaucer |
3 |
| CAST 3320 |
Chesterton, Lewis and the Sacramental Tradition |
3 |
| CAST 3433 (ENGL 3422) |
Catholic Literature and Film |
3 |
| CAST 3428 (ENGL 3428) |
Contemporary Lit and Religion |
3 |
| ENGL 2105 |
Poetry of Courtly Love |
3 |
| ENGL 3211 |
Medieval Literature |
3 |
| ITL 2311/2 |
Contemporary Italian Prose I/II |
3 |
| MUHI 1137 |
Gregorian Chant |
3 |
4. Catholicism and the Human Community
|
|
Credits |
| CAST 2236 (HIST 2236) |
Catholicism, Tradition and Reform Since 1500 |
3 |
| CAST 2291 |
Roots of Catholic Ireland |
3 |
| CAST 3230 (HIST 3230) |
Europe in the Middle Ages |
3 |
| CAST 3233 (HIST 3233) |
Dante & His World |
3 |
| CAST 3234 (HIST 3234) |
Medieval Italy |
3 |
| CAST 3264 (HIST 3264) |
Modern Ireland |
3 |
| CAST 3354 (HIST 3354) |
Modern Italy |
3 |
| CAST 3387 (HIST 2387) |
Catholic Church in the United States |
3 |
| CAST 3397 |
Latin American Catholicism |
3 |
| CSAT 3955 (SOCI 3881) |
Catholicism and Social Sciences |
3 |
| CAST 3999 |
Emergence of Christian Rome |
3 |
| HIST 3240 |
Renaissance and Reformation |
3 |
| SOCI 2412 |
The Sociology of Religion |
3 |
C. Foreign Study Opportunities (optional)
Students may apply credits from Seton Hall Catholic Studies courses conducted as part of foreign travel and/or credits from overseas Catholic Studies programs conducted by other universities with the prior approval of the Director. The maximum number of credits that can be applied to the Catholic Studies major is six. The Center for Catholic Studies annually offers its own Foreign Study Programs.
D. Service Learning (optional)
Students in the Catholic Studies Program regularly participate in service-learning programs with the Division of Volunteer Efforts (DOVE) and other agencies.
Minor in Catholic Studies
A Minor in Catholic Studies consists of five courses:
|
|
Credits |
| CAST 1302 (RELS 1302) |
Introduction to the Catholic Vision |
3 |
| CAST 2000-4000 |
Four Electives at the Intermediate or Advanced Level |
12 |
| |
Total: |
15 |
Certificate in Catholic Studies
A Certificate in Catholic studies consists of four courses:
|
|
Credits |
| CAST 1302 (RELS 1302) |
Introduction to the Catholic Vision |
3 |
| CAST 2000-4000 |
Three Electives at the Intermediate or Advanced Level |
9 |
| |
Total: |
12 |
Enrichment
The Interdisciplinary Program in Catholic Studies appeals to students, Catholic or not, who seek to deepen their knowledge of the riches of the Catholic intellectual tradition. Its interdisciplinary nature allows students to encounter the beauty and vitality of Catholicism as it is expressed across the disciplines.
By examining the role Catholicism has played in various cultures, students are challenged to take seriously its influence in every aspect of intellectual, spiritual and social life.
Because of its emphasis on close interaction between faculty members, students and alumni, those who choose to participate in the program enter into a unique type of intellectual community. Such community can be instrumental in forming character and good intellectual and spiritual habits.
The program is flexible. Most courses are cross-listed with other departments. Students who major or minor in other disciplines are invited to take an occasional course in the program. Such courses can shed light on the religious and humanistic dimensions of the various disciplines.
Course Descriptions
See cross listed courses for additional course descriptions
CAST 2011 (RELS 2011) Catholicism and Art
3 credits
This course considers the relationship between the Catholic faith and artistic expression and why art is an inextricable aspect of Catholicism. Particular attention is paid to the various forms and ages of Catholic art, and the rich theological/spiritual messages conveyed through nearly two millennia of painting, sculpture and architecture.
CAST 2291 Special Topics: The Roots of Catholic
3 credits
This course explores the distinctive experience of Christianity in Ireland from its beginnings in the 4th/5th centuries to the coming of the Reformation. It examines those one thousand years as a vibrant period that was characterized by monastic spirituality, ascetic practices, delight in the wonder of creation, love for life of the mind as well as the spirit and a compelling missionary zeal that eventually re-energized the European Church and Western civilization. This course is part of the Catholic Studies Foreign Study Tour Program.
CAST 2292 Special Topics: Literature of Christian Conversion
3 credits
The experience of conversion is central to Christianity, and throughout the millennia writers have recounted their paths to faith in Christ. The course examines a number of these accounts and authors from the Catholic and broader paths to faith in Christ. The course examines a number of these accounts and authors from the Catholic and broader Christian tradition, including such figures as Saint Augustine, Saint Edith Stein and C.S. Lewis.
CAST 3193 Seminar in Catholic Studies
3 credits
This course represents an integrating experience of the student's participation in the Catholic Studies Program, whereby theological understanding and lived experience of Catholicism become intertwined. Particular attention is paid to how Catholicism's incarnational theology necessarily applies to and acts within the specific setting of the student's life, parish and community.
CAST 3293 Special Topics: Catholic Faith/Resurrection of Poland 1795-1990
3 credits
Few countries exhibit as strong a connection of its history, culture and identity with the Catholic Faith as does Poland, a factor which proved decisive in its return to freedom. The course examines how the Polish people and Church endured through the periods of partition and Nazi/Soviet tyranny until their resurgence in the epochal pontificate of Pope John Paul II and the collapse of Communism. This course is part of the Catholic Studies Foreign Study Tour Program.
CAST 3320 Chesterton, Lewis and the Sacramental Tradition
3 credits
This course examines the works of two of the most prominent 20th century British Christian writers. Although both authors are renowned as apologists, the course focuses upon their imaginative writings and how these served as invaluable expressions of their thought and spiritual vision. Works considered include Chesterton's novel The Man Who Was Thursday and Lewis' novel Out of the Silent Planet and Till We Have Faces.
CAST 3940 (CORE 3746) The Catholic Classics and Interiority
3 credits
This course flows from the new Seton Hall University Core Curriculum and endeavors to flesh out the meaning of "the Catholic intellectual tradition." Its aim is to analyze the Catholic classics in the light of human interiority, particularly the human passion for meaning, for the good and for God.
CAST 3994 Foundations of Christian Culture
3 credits
Drawing from a variety of sources - historical, literary, philosophical and theological - this course examines the origins and nature of Christian culture, exploring in particular the value of culture itself as an aspect of revelation and incarnation. Looking at figures such as the historian Christopher Dawson, the poet-philosopher-playwright G.K. Chesterton, the novelist-philologist J.R.R. Tolkein, the theologian Bernard J. Lonergan and the novelist-Christian apologist C.S. Lewis, it offers some answers from the contemporary Christian tradition to the ancient questions: How am I meant to understand the world? How am I meant to understand myself? This course is part of the Catholic Studies Foreign Study Tour Program.
CAST 3997 Latin American Catholicism
3 credits
Catholicism is not only an inextricable part of Latin America's history and identity, but the region's experience of the Faith has a profound influence on the universal and future life of the Church. This course examines in particular Catholicism in Mexico, which embraces a rich ensemble of the humble and the heroic, the struggles for human dignity and the miraculous. The course culminates in an intensive immersion experience. This course is part of the Catholic Studies Foreign Study Tour Program.
CAST 3998 (HONS 4195, RELS 3998) Special Topics: Italy in the Footsteps of the Saints
3 credits
Italy enjoys a pre-eminence as a spiritual center for the Christian world alongside its importance in the development of Western civilization's art, music, architecture and political thought. The course will examine the interplay between Italy's profound spiritual heritage and cultural achievements, focusing on the contributions of such key figures as the Apostles Peter and Paul, Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi, Saint Catherine of Siena, and Saint Ignatius of Loyola. This course is part of the Catholic Studies Foreign Study Tour Program.
CAST 3999 Emergence of Christianity in Rome
3 credits
The Church in Rome has manifested the greatest durability, adaptability and influence of all the early Christian communities mentioned in the New Testament. The course begins with the Roman Church's Jewish roots, the Apostles Peter and Paul and the age of persecutions and continues through its increasingly central role in shaping Western Christianity from the time of Constantine to the early Middle Ages. Special focus is given to the developing office of the papacy and the self expression of this vibrant community through its art and architecture. This course is part of the Catholic Studies Foreign Study Tour Program.
CAST 4290 - 4292; 4390 - 4392 Special Topics in Catholic Studies
3 credits
Topics to be set by instructor.
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