Wrestle with the ancient message of Jeremiah to discover its significance today. Bring your questions about trauma and pain to a prophet who ministered amidst threat, war, fear, and impending exile. Together we’ll explore the text—which is raw and at times shocking, reflecting the anguish of its time—to understand the prophet’s life, a nation’s obstinance, …
View course details “Jeremiah: Pain and Hope for Troubled Times”
Explore the Connection Between Faith and Service, No Matter Where You Are The online Master of Theological Studies – Franciscan Theology (MTS) is a two-year academic program offered by the Franciscan School of Theology in partnership with the University of San Diego. Designed for working professionals and recent undergraduates alike, this unique online program is …
View course details “Online Master of Theological Studies Degree at Franciscan School of Theology”
This course studies the black gospel tradition, focusing on the genre’s distinctive combination of sound and belief. Music, movement, and conviction, the three expressions gospel holds together, will be explored through three interpretive lenses: exemplary performers, pivotal periods, and formal processes. This week’s work will bring material and approaches from the fields of musicology, music …
View course details “Black Gospel Music–Not for credit”
In this course, we will bring theological and scriptural understandings into conversation with the current digital technological shifts. In response to the new technologies, we will practice ethical discernment for our everyday digital lives and examine approaches grounded in forgiveness, integrity, diversity, and social and ecological justice. We will center the question: what does God …
View course details “Hacking Christian Ethics: Spiritual Resources for Living in a Digital World–Not for credit”
Can reading poetry be one way of thinking theologically, or even of ‘doing theology’? In this course we will study poetry as a source of theological reflection and insight through close readings of individual poems and poetic sequences by some of the best poets of the English language in modern times. As we proceed, we …
View course details “Reading Poetry Theologically–Not for credit”
In the midst of what Aetna Insurance calls a “loneliness epidemic,” which has only been exacerbated by a global pandemic, with political polarization of historic magnitude wearing away connections, we could all use a primer on how to build robust community. Blessedly, that’s what the apostle Paul did for a living. His First Letter to …
View course details “The Lost Art of Community-Building: A Study of Paul’s 1 Thessalonians–Not for credit”
Many people in the modern world claim to espouse biblical values. This course will examine what the Bible has to say about several issues that are controversial in the modern world, including right to life, gender, social justice and the environment . It will also reflect on the difficulty of identifying a single, or even …
View course details “Biblical Values–Not for credit”
This course begins by briefly outlining the history and development of Islam. After surveying the economic, racial and cultural landscape of the global Muslim community, it examines the internal diversity of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims: Who are they? What do they really think and do? What are the differences between culture and religion? What …
View course details “Unity in Diversity: Making Sense of Muslim Culture and Practice–Not for Credit”
This course follows the story of the Bible from its formation as a book in Palestine and Egypt in the fourth and fifth centuries to the rapid expansion of Christianity in the Global South today. When Donald Trump held up the King James Bible in Washington after demonstrators were dispersed with tear gas, what did …
View course details “The Global Bible–Not for credit”
Our sense of “being” is grounded in a healthy self-esteem and satisfaction with our lives. These can be burdened by our feeling wounded with hidden grief and mourning. Today’s uncertainty and anxiety make it even more difficult for us to engage in self-care, and to theologically frame our understanding of self-care as something positive and …
View course details “Living a Life of Forgiving: Honoring the Life, Ministry and Legacy of Archbishop Desmond Tutu–Not for credit”
