The course also provides students with an opportunity to begin to reflect critically on the content of the Catholic tradition in the diversity of its cultural expressions and in the broader context of other Christian traditions and faiths. The second-level courses all focus on the themes of revelation, the theology of the human person, relationships between the believing community and the wider culture, and worship and spirituality. On this level, courses differ from each other on the basis of particular theological areas of inquiry and are tied together through the four themes. Students will have the opportunity to deepen and expand in content and skill the theological literacy developed on the first level. In addition, they do so in view of the new methodological achievements of the modern period.
Students learn how cultures shape faith and how faith informs cultures.
Emphasis is given to issues that connect theology to other disciplines in the liberal arts tradition. Students will be expected to make more sustained use of analytical skills. Beyond the three levels that introduce and develop the skills of all students in theological inquiry, the department offers a way to study theology further through its major and minor. The major in theology is an intensive investigation of theological questions in biblical, historical, systematic and moral theologies. The minor provides students majoring in other disciplines a certain core of theological questions and analysis.