This course combines the riches of the biblical text with some of Yale’s greatest treasures. Each day will explore the concept of wonder through academic study and lively conversation about a biblical text. We will then enrich our learning about this theme each day with guided e-visits to one of Yale’s collections, led by world-class …
View course details “The Bible Through Art and Artifact III”

Why are dystopian novels, movies, and television series so wildly popular? After sitting in a theater watching a film about nuclear annihilation (cozily nestled between car and beer commercials), we walk into the light of day to face the “real” media-controlled world of diversion and distraction, of ever-regenerated images that never die. Why is our …
View course details “Apocalypse Now, Then, or Never? Why We Love Dystopian Stories”

This course explores theologies of creation, sometimes called “ecotheology,” via the now sizable body of literature concerned with the growing crises of human-induced climate destruction. As we ask how early twenty-first-century fiction can give us new eyes for both humanity and other creatures, we’ll sample the emotional and spiritual issues raised by these enormous, seemingly …
View course details “Climate Theology & Storytelling”

To live in the world, we have to imagine it—to make sense of things by seeing coherent wholes in underdetermined data. Christian theology is both a way of imagining the world and a challenge to our need and capacity to imagine. It helps us bring into view both the power and the risks of our …
View course details “The Theological Imagination”

Imagination is the vital capacity to perceive and (re)conceive patterns of relation and possibility—and thus imagination is fundamental to the way the world is intelligible as a world. The overarching aim of this course is to explore and experiment with what Christian imaginations might be and how they might flourish. Given the life-encompassing scale of …
View course details “The Christian Imagination”

Exploring the Thought of a French Mystic In this seminar we will explore the thought of the French philosopher, activist, and mystic Simone Weil (1909-1943). Born to secular Jewish parents, Weil led a life of spiritual questing that resulted in a profound theological engagement with Christianity. A brilliant student educated in France’s elite institutions, she …
View course details “Simone Weil: A Mystic in Dark Times”

This is a course in “visual theology,” exploring the history of Christian art as a domain of Christian theological thinking through the centuries. Our approach will be to study works of visual art not as illustrating or translating theological texts into visual form but as theological “texts” in their own right—as theology conducted specifically in …
View course details “Visual Art as Theology”

Master Iconographer will guide students through creating one complete icon (to be determined). Any level of experience is accepted. Each step is demonstrated to students, followed by time to copy what has been taught. Students will learn: filling in, rendering clothes and flesh, 23 karat gold leafing, and varnishing. In addition, students will gain familiarity …
View course details “Icon writing Workshops”

The goal of this class is to explore the theme of “Lost at Sea” through the lens of a sacramental theology of Baptism and Creation. Just as the Spirit hovered over the waters of Creation to bring forth life from the chaos, so does Christ enter the waters of the Jordan River to initiate the …
View course details “Lost at Sea: Searching for a Sacramental Theology”

PURPOSE: The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to the history of Chinese Christian Art from the Tang Dynasty to the contemporary era, while also exploring the development of Chinese Church architecture. Additionally, I will share my personal journey as a Christian artist.   Having served as a former board member of ACAA …
View course details “Chinese Art & the Gospel: From the Tang Dynasty to Today”