Finding Joy in Learning (Hybrid)

Finding Joy in Learning is the launch course for the MA (Phil) in Educational Leadership program at the Institute for Christian Studies. The course provides students with a motivating vision of Christian educational innovation and leadership by means of immersive learning experiences, presentations of benchmark projects, interviews with lead practitioners, and readings of key texts. Students are coached through their plan for working through the program as a whole. The course starts students on the path toward their project thesis/portfolio by helping them identify and articulate their research interest.

Finding Joy in Learning is a hybrid course consisting of in-person learning experiences and eight weeks of online interaction.

ICSDH 2100AC F18
Dr. Gideon Strauss
Hybrid (Online/In-Person)
October 25-26, 2018

For further details about in-person sessions please contact Dr. Strauss or Elizabet Aras

Religion, Life and 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.

ICS 1107AC/2107AC F18
ICT3702HF L0101 / ICT6702HF L0101
Dr. Robert (Bob) Sweetman
Thursdays, 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: ICS Boardroom, Knox College

(MWS, MA, PhD)

Syllabus

Nothing Can Separate Us…!: The Dialectical Materialism of Slavoj Žižek

This seminar will map out the Dialectical Materialism of Slovenian philosopher, psycho-analyst, and cultural critic Slavoj Žížek. A communist and atheist, Žižek's thought is an original Lacanian inspired repeat of Hegel that recalibrates Materialism. Žížek's incisive structural insights will be explored even as his faith in the Void as the eternal traumatic Real is contrasted with faith in the steadfast Love of God.

ICS 240908 F18
ICT5704HF 0101
Dr. James Olthuis
Wednesdays, 5:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: ICS Boardroom, Knox College

(MA, PhD)

Syllabus

Nature, Supernature & Miracle in the Thought of Thomas Aquinas

This seminar examines Thomas Aquinas’s distinction between nature and the supernatural from the perspective of key texts in his Summa Theologiae and its most important parallels. It does so in order to address the phenomenon of miracles and the role they play in his philosophical and theological construction.

ICS 120406/220406 F18
ICH3156HF L0101 / ICH6156HF L0101
Dr. Robert (Bob) Sweetman
Wednesdays, 9:30am - 12:30pm
Location: Classroom 2, Knox College

(MWS, MA, PhD)

Syllabus

Grace as an Aesthetic Concept

For much of the Western art tradition, the concept of grace has been an important critical concept for its ability to capture the often elusive quality of artistic affect. Often referred to as the “je ne sais quoi” of art - that something extra that cannot be explained – grace even supplanted beauty for many writers (from Giorgio Vasari to Friedrich Schiller) as the highest artistic ideal. Often missing from modern analyses of the concept, however, are its theological foundations. This seminar style course will exam the concept of grace within its theological, philosophical, literary, and art theoretical contexts in an effort to understand both its historical significance and its potential usefulness for the philosophy of art today. We will look at a variety of texts (e.g. from Plato, Cicero, the Pseudo-Dionysius, Dante, John Calvin, Alexander Pope, Friedrich Schiller, Martin Heidegger) as well as works of art for which grace is an important and defining aesthetic concept.

ICS 220103 F18
ICH3758HS L0101 / ICH6758HS L0101 
Dr. Rebekah Smick 
Tuesdays, 1:45pm - 4:45pm
Location: ICS Boardroom, Knox College

(MWS, MA, PhD)

Syllabus

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 biblical narrative finds its future in our ongoing narratives, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods and sensitivities might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise. To that end, we shall pay close attention to the shape of gender symbolism in the biblical writings, together with the nature of power, and the call of and to Wisdom.

ICS 1108AC/2108AC F18
ICB2010HF L0101
Instructor: Dr. Nik Ansell
Mondays, 1:45pm - 4:45pm
Location: ICS Boardroom, Knox College

(MWS, MA, PhD)

Syllabus

World-Viewing: An Introduction to Worldview Studies (Distance)

Who am I? Where do I belong? What is the world and what do I believe about it? What do I love? What opportunities and constraints do I face in my particular context? What am I to do with my life?

View five significant recent movies. Consider the responses to these movies by thoughtful critics. Read and talk through a short list of insightful writings. Reflect on your own lived experience. Explore and reconsider how you view the world in relation to these movies, writings, and reflections.

World-Viewing: An Introduction to Worldview Studies serves as a touchstone course for the Master of Worldview Studies program as a whole, providing students with an overview of the program, an initial set of frameworks and tools for finding their way through the program, and a selection of readings (about 1,250 pages) that will prime students for reflecting on the six inter-related wayfinding questions listed above. The course also introduces students to the Christian worldview tradition out of which the Institute for Christian Studies emerged.

This is a thirteen-week all-online course, starting in the week of September 10, 2018 and finishing in the week of December 10, 2018. There will be no assignments due during ICS’s reading week, October 22-26, 2018. For participants doing the course or credit all outstanding work will be due by no later than January 25, 2019.

ICSD 132505/232505 F18

Dr. Gideon Strauss

Distance (Online)

(MWS, MA, PhD)

Syllabus

The Observant Participant: Applying Research Craft to Professional Practice (Hybrid)

Learn to apply tools and frameworks from contemporary qualitative research craft to your professional practice. Become a more observant participant and strengthen your capacity as a reflective practitioner. Read Sarah Ahmed on how our bodies dwell in the world, Ruth Behar on being a vulnerable observer, Dara Culhane on imaginative research practices, Natalie Wigg-Stevenson on studying one’s own lived experience… and more!

While the focus of this course is on applying research craft to professional practice, the course is also a solid introduction to graduate level qualitative research and key perspectives from phenomenological philosophy. The Observant Participant will be a very active workshop-oriented learning experience for participants, rather than a more passive lecture-based experience. It will be presented in a hybrid format consisting of in-person sessions during the Fall 2018 term, along with weekly online interactions and written assignments throughout the term.

ICSDH 132501/232501 F18
Dr. Gideon Strauss
Hybrid (Online/In-Person)
October 25-26, 2018

For further details about in-person sessions please contact Dr. Strauss or Elizabet Aras

(MWS, MA, PhD)

Syllabus

World-Viewing: An Introduction to Worldview Studies (Hybrid)

Who am I? Where do I belong? What is the world and what do I believe about it? What do I love? What opportunities and constraints do I face in my particular context? What am I to do with my life?

View five significant recent movies. Consider the responses to these movies by thoughtful critics. Read and talk through a short list of insightful writings. Reflect on your own lived experience. Explore and reconsider how you view the world in relation to these movies, writings, and reflections.

World-Viewing: An Introduction to Worldview Studies serves as a touchstone course for the Master of Worldview Studies program as a whole, providing students with an overview of the program, an initial set of frameworks and tools for finding their way through the program, and a selection of readings (about 1,250 pages) that will prime students for reflecting on the six inter-related wayfinding questions listed above. The course also introduces students to the Christian worldview tradition out of which the Institute for Christian Studies emerged.

This version of the course will take a hybrid format, with five bi-weekly in-person classroom sessions as well as weekly structured interactive online forum discussions in response to reading assignments.

ICSDH 132505/232505 F18

Dr. Gideon Strauss

Hybrid (Online/In-Person)

Mondays, 6:00pm - 9:00pm (September 24, October 15, November 5, November 26, December 10)
Location: ICS Boardroom, Knox College

(MWS, MA, PhD)

Syllabus

The Observant Participant: Applying Research Craft to Professional Practice (Distance)

Learn to apply tools and frameworks from contemporary qualitative research craft to your professional practice. Become a more observant participant and strengthen your capacity as a reflective practitioner. Read Sarah Ahmed on how our bodies dwell in the world, Ruth Behar on being a vulnerable observer, Dara Culhane on imaginative research practices, Natalie Wigg-Stevenson on studying one’s own lived experience… and more!

While the focus of this course is on applying research craft to professional practice, the course is also a solid introduction to graduate level qualitative research and key perspectives from phenomenological philosophy. The Observant Participant will be a very active workshop-oriented learning experience for participants, rather than a more passive lecture-based experience.

ICSD 132501/232501 F18
Dr. Gideon Strauss
Distance

(MWS, MA, PhD)

Syllabus

Group Process in Psychopathology and Addictions in Psychotherapy

This one-semester course (36 course credit hours) explores group dynamics and professional functioning as related to psychopathology and addictions in psychotherapy. It examines experiential and theoretical factors with a focus on CRPO professional competencies. Within a small group context there will be emphasis on developmental processes, power dynamics, leadership influences and conflict resolution. Attention will also be given to deepening an understanding of psychopathology and addictions within a therapeutic relationship. The class will function as a learning space in which issues and themes related to group dynamics are examined and processed.

Year Three - FALL Semester

ICS 152817 F18
Rev. Dr. Lawrence Beech
Mondays, 1:00pm - 3:50pm
Location: TCPCE

Syllabus

Psychopathology and Addictions in Psychotherapy

This one-semester course (36 academic course credit hours) teaches the student basic concepts and skills related to a psychotherapeutic awareness of psychopathology and addictions. Areas of study include depression, bipolar, borderline, anger management, and crisis response. Priority is given to the safe and effective use of self, confidentiality, and self-care within the therapeutic relationship. Students gain an awareness of transference and counter-transference through an ethical, clinical and spiritually-integrated therapeutic framework. This course will be of interest to students preparing for certification in the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.

Year Three - FALL Semester

ICS 152811 F18
Dr. Rick Tamas
Mondays, 9:00am - 11:50am
Location: TCPCE

Syllabus

Group Process in Psychodynamic Therapies

This one-semester course (36 course credit hours) explores group dynamics and professional functioning in relation to psychodynamic approaches to psychotherapy. It examines experiential and theoretical factors with a focus on CRPO professional competencies. Within a small group context there will be emphasis on developmental processes, power dynamics, leadership influences and conflict resolution. Attention will also be given to deepening an understanding of psychodynamic psychotherapy within a therapeutic relationship. The class will function as a learning space in which issues and themes related to group dynamics are examined and processed.

Year Two - FALL Semester

ICS 152815 F18
Rev. Dr. Lawrence Beech, Dr. James Olthuis
Mondays, 1:00pm - 3:50pm
Location: TCPCE

Syllabus

Psychodynamic Therapies

This one-semester course (36 academic course credit hours) teaches the student basic concepts and skills in self-psychology and psychodynamic therapies that prepare students to work with clients. Priority is given to the safe and effective use of self, confidentiality, and self-care within the therapeutic relationship. The course includes components of psychotherapy that involve such concepts as empathy, present moment awareness, and a healthy therapeutic alliance, Students gain an awareness of transference and counter-transference through an ethical, clinical and spiritually-integrated therapeutic framework. This course will be of interest to students preparing for certification in the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.

Year Two - FALL Semester

ICS 152809 F18
Rev. Dr. Lawrence Beech, Dr. James Olthuis
Mondays, 9:00am - 11:50am
Location: TCPCE

Syllabus

Group Process in Professional Competencies of Psychotherapy

This one-semester course (36 course credit hours) examines group process and professional functioning in psychotherapy from the perspective of the CRPO professional competencies. There will be an emphasis on developmental process, power dynamics, leadership influences, safe and effective use of self, and the process of supervision. Attention will also be given to deepening an understanding of professional competencies within a therapeutic relationship. The class will function as a learning space in which issues and themes related to group dynamics are examined and processed.

Year One - FALL Semester

ICS 152813 F18
Dr. Rick Tamas
Mondays, 1:00pm - 3:50pm
Location: TCPCE

Syllabus

Professional Competencies in Psychotherapy

This one-semester course (36 academic course credit hours) teaches basic professional CRPO competencies that prepare students to work with clients in a psychotherapeutic relationship. Priority is given to the safe and effective use of self, confidentiality, and self-care in a clinical setting. The course includes components of psychotherapy that involve such tasks as assessment, record keeping, intake procedures, and closure with clients. Students gain an awareness of such psychotherapeutic concepts as transference, counter-transference and the therapeutic alliance through an ethical, clinical, and spiritually-integrated framework.

Year One - FALL Semester

ICS 152807 F18
Dr. Rick Tamas
Mondays, 9:00am - 11:50am
Location: TCPCE

Syllabus