2022-23 Academic Catalog

How does power flow and concentrate within the Catholic Church? What are the gendered aspects of the structure, history, and theology of Catholicism? Through a combination of readings, discussions, and conversations with living figures, students will develop the ability to critically and empathetically interpret issues of gender, sexuality, and power in the Catholic Church, especially as these issues appear in official Vatican texts. Topics include: God, suffering, sacraments, salvation, damnation, celibacy, homosexuality, the family, saints, the ordination of women as priests, feminist theologies, canon law, the censuring of “heretical” theologians, Catholic hospital policy, and the clerical sex abuse crisis.