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.

ICSD 1108AC F17
Instructor: Dr. Nik Ansell
Wednesdays, 9:30am-12:30 pm

(MWS)

Syllabus

The Divine (at) Risk: Open Theism, Classical Theism and Beyond

Did God take a risk in creating the world?  How are divine and human freedom related?  Can we confess God’s sovereignty in the face of evil?  This course will explore the different ways in which the God of history is viewed by advocates and critics of “Open Theism.”  Our examination will stimulate our own reflections on how we might best understand and, indeed, imagine God’s love, knowledge and power.

ICS 120803/220803 F17
Dr. Nik Ansell
Thursdays 9:30am-12:30pm

(MWS, MA, PhD)

Syllabus

Matter, Body and Gender in the Thought of Hildegard of Bingen, Bernardus Sylvestris, Alan of Lille and Thomas Aquinas

This seminar explores the themes of matter, body and gender in selected works of Hildegard of Bingen, Bernardus Sylvestris, Alan of Lille and Thomas Aquinas.  It explores the use of myth or religious story within the construction of theoretical understanding.  It does so in terms of the “story of origin” as it comes to expression within the Latin Christian world of the twelfth century in schooled creation poems and in contrast to the thematization of creation in the contemporary monastic discourse of Hildegard of Bingen and in the scholastic thematizations of the next century represented by Thomas Aquinas. 

ICS 220403 F17
Dr. Robert Sweetman 
Tuesdays 9:30am-12:30pm 
MA, PhD

Syllabus

With/Out Reason: Art and Imagination in the Western Tradition

 In everyday language, imagination is something we associate with human creativity as it gets expressed in all areas of knowledge and across all disciplines. Yet, underlying this association is the enduring notion that the imagination utilizes thought processes more germane to the arts than to the sciences. Through an examination of key texts, this course will explore the special relationship of the arts to the concept of the imagination in the history of Western thought. It will also consider the implications this relationship has had for art’s role in the areas of theology and ethics, areas where reason has been thought to fail in providing adequate knowledge.

ICS220106 F17
Dr. Rebekah Smick
Tuesdays 1:45pm-4:45pm
MA, PhD

Draft syllabus, final version TBA

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 F17
ICT3702HF L0101 / ICT6702HF L0101
Dr. Robert Sweetman
Monday 6:00pm – 9:00pm
(MWS, MA, PhD)

Syllabus

Psychotherapy and Counselling Education - Advanced

This Psychotherapy & Counselling Education Course provides students with opportunities to develop the arts and skills required for providing competent psychotherapy and pastoral counselling. Assistance is provided to the Instructor by Registered Psychotherapists (CRPO). The course sites include a variety of placements in the GTA, each providing a unique setting for the therapist-in-training. The course provides 120 hours of closely supervised clinical practice/therapy where the student provides care for individuals experiencing various levels of crisis and seeking individual or family supportive counselling and psychotherapy. The remaining 280 hours include: peer and group supervision, case study presentations, individual supervision, spiritual/theological reflection, and other structured learning activities (theoretical seminars, theory lectures, practice therapy, therapeutic skill integration exercises, etc.). Written assignments help students integrate foundational theories (psychological, sociological, theological/religious, and spiritual) and grow in their competencies related to the facilitation of the therapeutic process, the safe and effective use of self, the building of collegial and inter-professional relationships, the development of professional responsibilities, and the assimilation of recent and relevant research.

This advanced course focuses on intersubjective theory and post modern insights and strategies, and includes attention to mindfulness, experiential therapy and emotionally  focused therapy, with attention to the safe and effective use of the self in therapeutic relationships

ICS 152803 F17

Rev. Dr. Lawrence Beech

TCPCE

Psychotherapy and Counselling Education - Intermediate

This Psychotherapy & Counselling Education Course provides students with opportunities to develop the arts and skills required for providing competent psychotherapy and pastoral counselling. Assistance is provided to the Instructor by Registered Psychotherapists (CRPO). The course sites include a variety of placements in the GTA, each providing a unique setting for the therapist-in-training. The course provides 120 hours of closely supervised clinical practice/therapy where the student provides care for individuals experiencing various levels of crisis and seeking individual or family supportive counselling and psychotherapy. The remaining 280 hours include: peer and group supervision, case study presentations, individual supervision, spiritual/theological reflection, and other structured learning activities (theoretical seminars, theory lectures, practice therapy, therapeutic skill integration exercises, etc.). Written assignments help students integrate foundational theories (psychological, sociological, theological/religious, and spiritual) and grow in their competencies related to the facilitation of the therapeutic process, the safe and effective use of self, the building of collegial and inter-professional relationships, the development of professional responsibilities, and the assimilation of recent and relevant research.

This intermediate course focuses on family systems theory (Bowen and Minuchin) and relational psychodynamics (Kohut), as well as attachment theory and narrative and solution focused therapy, the use of Imago Therapy in working with couples, and includes an emphasis on transference and counter transference dynamics, with attention to boundary issues, limits of competence and the imbalance of power in therapeutic relationships

ICS 152802 F17

Rev. Dr. Lawrence Beech

TCPCE

Psychotherapy and Counselling Education - Basic

 This Psychotherapy & Counselling Education Course provides students with opportunities to develop the arts and skills required for providing competent psychotherapy and pastoral counselling. Assistance is provided to the Instructor by Registered Psychotherapists (CRPO). The course sites include a variety of placements in the GTA, each providing a unique setting for the therapist-in-training. The course provides 120 hours of closely supervised clinical practice/therapy where the student provides care for individuals experiencing various levels of crisis and seeking individual or family supportive counselling and psychotherapy. The remaining 280 hours include: peer and group supervision, case study presentations, individual supervision, spiritual/theological reflection, and other structured learning activities (theoretical seminars, theory lectures, practice therapy, therapeutic skill integration exercises, etc.). Written assignments help students integrate foundational theories (psychological, sociological, theological/religious, and spiritual) and grow in their competencies related to the facilitation of the therapeutic process, the safe and effective use of self, the building of collegial and inter-professional relationships, the development of professional responsibilities, and the assimilation of recent and relevant research.

This Basic Course focuses on foundational theoretical perspectives and relevant clinical interventions, with an overview of family systems and psychodynamic theories, attention to the development of therapeutic skills, and awareness of foundational ethical principles.

ICS 152801 F17
Rev. Dr. Lawrence Beech
TCPCE

Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit

This will be a team-taught, intensive course, in which we will study Hegel’s distinctive, phenomenological project through three works.  We will begin with the Phenomenology of Spirit itself, a rich and colourful book that studies the ways in which experience is meaningful at every level from immediate, sensory awareness, through interpersonal relationships, to political and religious life.  From this book, we will focus first on the studies of cognition and self-knowledge, in which Hegel studies the basic, dynamic parameters of our experiential life.  We will use this as a foundation to study two other works by Hegel that fill out more fully some of the ideas introduced in the later sections of the Phenomenology of Spirit.  We will study the section on “Objective Spirit” in Hegel’s Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences to investigate the nature and forms of political life, and we will study his Aesthetics to investigate the nature of art and its role in human life.  These latter studies will be supplemented with readings from the Phenomenology of Spirit on politics and religion.

The course meets Mondays from 10:00-3:00 and Tuesdays from 4:00–9:00 for 4 weeks.

ICS 220603 W17

Drs. Shannon Hoff and John Russon 

Mon/Tue: 10:00-15:00; 16:00-21:00 (Feb 27 - Mar 21)

(MA, PhD)