The area of Theological and Philosophical Studies fosters a transdisciplinary community of inquiry among students, with emphases on constructive, philosophical, systematic, and ecumenical approaches. These emphases entail strong intersections with feminism, ecology, postcolonial and empire studies, and the philosophical traditions of pragmatism, process, and poststructuralism. Our faculty bring their distinct commitments and approaches to the fields of theology and philosophy, and their various sites of interconnection, to a common table of open, dialogical discourse. Students are invited participants in this collegial and rigorous table talk, learning not only concrete content specific to particular fields of interest, but also appreciation for and negotiation of the complexities and ambiguities of those fields as they take shape within material contexts marked by interdisciplinary and interreligious conversation. Incoming students are expected to identify in either theology or philosophy.
The Area teaches the major theological and philosophical schools, including Process Theology, Asian Theologies, Liberation Theology, Feminist Theology, and American Philosophy. More distinctive offerings include interdisciplinary course on “The Thought of C.G. Jung,” “Studies in Selfhood,” and “Theory and Theology,” and such topics as “Nature, God, and the New Cosmology” and “Challenge of World Religions to Christian Practice,” an examination of the questions that the reality and teachings of other religions pose for the church’s self-understanding, faith, and mission. Courses that deal with specific thinkers include “Schleiermacher and Tillich,” “Kant and Hegel,” “The Theology of Karl Barth,” and “Theology and Derrida.”
