The Ground Of Be(com)ing/The Horizon Of Hope: Creation, Time, Eschatology

After being in eclipse for decades (and perhaps centuries), the doctrine of creation has become a live concern in contemporary theology. In conversation with the work of Jürgen Moltmann, and with reference to Herman Dooyeweerd’s distinction between the foundational and transcendental directions of time, we shall explore the gift and promise of an eschatologically open model of creation.

ICS220805 F12

Dr. Nik Ansell

Fridays 9:30am-12:30pm

MA, PhD

Syllabus

Community, Faith, and Judgment: Hannah Arendt and Religious Critique

This seminar will examine the role intersubjectivity plays in Hannah Arendt’s theory of judgment,in order to explore ways in which her insights might help us understand religious communities as communities of judgment. How do faith communities become sites from which to make critical judgments of society? How, in turn, can members of such communities learn from and respond to criticisms that come from outside their faith community?

ICS220502 F12

Dr. Ron Kuipers

Thursdays 1:30pm-4:30pm

MA, PhD 

Syllabus

The Aesthetics of Compassion

In light of the recent renewed interest in the meanings and mechanisms of empathy in such areas as ethics, visual studies, and the philosophy of mind, this course examines the place and role of compassion in the development of the Western aesthetics tradition. Considering a range of art theoretical texts, literature, and images for which the theme of compassion has been crucial, the course aims to clarify the ways in which the concept of compassion has been thought able to account for certain of the emotional and cognitive links that exist between an artwork and its audience.

ICS 220104 F12

Dr. Rebekah Smick

Thursdays 9:30am-12:30pm

MA, PhD

Syllabus

Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit

This course will consist in a close reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. We will pay special attention to the basic theme of the logical and historical relationship between individual and social self-consciousness. We will also address Hegel's significance in relation to both his philosophical context and ours.

ICS220603 F12

Dr. Shannon Hoff

Wednesdays 9:30am – 12:30pm

MA, PhD

Syllabus

Religion, Life & Society: Reformational Philosophy

An exploration of central issues in philosophy, as addressed by Herman Dooyeweerd, Dirk Vollenhoven, and the “Amsterdam School” of neoCalvinian thought. The course tests the relevance of this tradition for recent developments in Western philosophy. Special attention is given to critiques of foundationalism, metaphysics, and modernity within reformational philosophy and in other schools of thought.

ICS1107AC/2107AC F12

Dr. Robert (Bob) Sweetman

Tuesdays 7:00pm – 10:00pm

MWS, MA, PhD

Syllabus

Nietzsche, Foucault and the Genealogical Approach to the History of Philosophy

This seminar examines that philosophical approach to the history of philosophy that travels under the name of “genealogy”.  It does so in terms of selected texts of the tradition’s to major figures: its founder, Friederich Nietzsche and the presently ubiquitous Michel Foucault.  It examines the role that genealogical study of the history of philosophy has in the philosophical construction of its practitioners and what they think is truly first and deepest in the history they so study.

ICS120406/220406 F12

Dr. Robert (Bob) Sweetman

Tuesdays 9:30am-12:30pm

MWS, MA, PhD

Syllabus

Ways of Learning

Participants in the course will investigate and evaluate significant perspectives on the learning process in order to understand the assumptions of various theories and to interpret these from a biblically-informed standpoint. They will review current research into child development and learning (e.g. brain research, cognitive processes, multiple intelligences, learning styles) in seeking to develop a coherent understanding of the relationships between various learning theories, on the basis of a Christian view of the person and of knowledge. An action research project will enable participants to test an approach to learning in the context of their own classrooms.

ICSD120305/220305 F12

CSTC1540

Dr. Doug Blomberg

MWS, MA, PhD

Syllabus

Person, Family & Society

This course will reflect on the nature of the social world in a way that emerges from and is integrally linked with Christian faith. Challenging the common view that individuals are fully independent and self-made, we will look at the different kinds of communities that define us, in both restrictive and enabling ways: family, political society, religious community, and groups formed on the basis of other kinds of shared identities. We will look at the way in which we emerge as individuals only through these primary identifications, and at the conflicted way in which our individuality is essentially an attempt to understand and even overcome them. We will also explore the tensions that arise between these various communities and their claims upon us—between family and social membership, between religious community and political membership, between formal legal identity and concrete group identification, and so on. The course includes readings from diverse philosophical, religious, literary, and social-scientific texts. It aims to develop an existentially and philosophically rich Christian sensitivity to the complexity of the social relationships that shape us and make claims on us.

ICSD130609 F12 / ICS130609 F12
(This course is being submitted for accreditation for the CSTC)

Dr. Shannon Hoff

MWS



* Please note that this course is being offered both on-campus and via distance education. When registering be sure to indicate the desired mode of study in the course code (ICSD indicates distance while ICS indicates on-campus study)

Syllabus

Art, Theology and Religion

The course will explore significant ways that Christians have theologized the arts, artistry and art culture in Eastern and Western Christendom. The course will compare the varieties of theologies that have emerged from within the Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox traditions. The study will involve looking at paintings, icons, altarpieces, and socially and culturally engaged works of art as well as pertinent theological writings. 

ICSD120102 F12 / ICS120102 F12
(This course is being submitted for accreditation for the CSTC)

Dr. Rebekah Smick

MWS

Syllabus (On campus)

Syllabus

* Please note that this course is being offered both on-campus and via distance education. When registering be sure to indicate the desired mode of study in the course code (ICSD indicates distance while ICS indicates on-campus study)

Biblical Foundations

This course will explore the Bible as the ongoing story of and for God and creation, paying special attention to the way in which God's story is intertwined with that of humanity and the world. In asking whether and in what way the Bible is also our story, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.

ICS1108AC/2108AC F12
Dr. Nik Ansell
Mondays 7-10pm
MWS, MA, PhD

Syllabus