Merry Christmas from Seminaries that Change the World
and The Center for Faith and Service!
and The Center for Faith and Service!
Seminary Spotlight:
Jesuit School of Theology
at Santa Clara University
Jesuit School of Theology's (JST's) approach to theological education prioritizes a culturally contextualized approach, and offers course work and field-education experiences that integrate faith and service for all of their degree programs.
To learn more, click or read below.
To learn more, click or read below.
Programs & Curriculum |
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Programs
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Field Ed
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Programs that Integrate Faith & Service
JST’s Master of Divinity integrates faith and service or social justice. One way that the program does this is through its field education assignments that all 2nd year MDiv students must complete. Students can serve at a prison, hospital, school, or parish and at other venues to complete this assignment. Another program is the Master of Theological Studies which incorporates a project assignment of faith and service or social justice that must be completed at the end of the program.
Courses Integrating Faith and Service
JST’s foundation for theological education and pedagogy models its faculty commitment to culturally contextualized theology. By this we mean that theological inquiry begins with a robust study of culture and the questions facing societies and individuals in their daily lives. Cultural questions are then explored through a theological lens to discern how the resources of the Catholic and Christian tradition can help us understand and address – even transform – real issues facing our world.
Comprehensively, the commitment to culturally contextualized theology has been implemented institutionally in two ways. First, the learning outcomes incorporated into every degree program at JST include: (a) skillful cultural analysis; and (2) attention to the poor and marginalized. These goals are assessed annually for each course, each program and each graduate. Second, a Professor of Sociology (Jerome Baggett) has served on JST’s faculty for nearly 20 years and leads us and mentors students in cultural analysis and social research.
Comprehensively, the commitment to culturally contextualized theology has been implemented institutionally in two ways. First, the learning outcomes incorporated into every degree program at JST include: (a) skillful cultural analysis; and (2) attention to the poor and marginalized. These goals are assessed annually for each course, each program and each graduate. Second, a Professor of Sociology (Jerome Baggett) has served on JST’s faculty for nearly 20 years and leads us and mentors students in cultural analysis and social research.
Examples of culturally contextualized theology in the curriculum:
Children of Sarah, Mary and Hagar studies women in the Hebrew Scriptures in their social location and impact. The culmination of the course is a two-week immersion in Jerusalem and Palestine, where students meet women leaders of all three Abrahamic faith traditions to discuss the social and political situation of Israel-Palestine, visit women’s employment cooperatives and work with students at a Palestinian university on social issues projects.
Race, Theology and Justice, a course co-taught by Alison Benders (systematic theology) and Margaret Russell (constitutional law), studies the distortion of American and global culture through the lens of race. The course begins with social-cultural analysis of racism, which is then examined through a lens of theological anthropology and social sin. The final module of the course immerses students in local social movements to test ideas and intuitions from the classroom discussions and readings.
Field Education Connecting Faith and Justice:
Field Education placements that connect faith and justice include:
- San Quentin State Prison, where students minister to male inmates. Responsibilities include leading bible study groups, restorative justice groups, spiritual direction of inmates.
- Federal Correction Institute, Dublin, CA, where students minister to female inmates. Responsibilities include leading groups on topics such as forgiveness, bible study, personal development (such as Enneagram workshops).
- Sojourn Chaplaincy, Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Responsibilities include visiting patients and accompanying them in the role of hospital chaplain. The hospital serves the local homeless and marginally housed and is also a Trauma Center. (Please see: sojournchaplaincy.org/)
- The Gubbio Project, Tenderloin, San Francisco, serves the homeless in San Francisco's Tenderloin district. (Please see: thegubbioproject.org/)
- East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Berkeley, “is dedicated to offering sanctuary, solidarity, support, community organizing assistance, advocacy, and legal services to those escaping war, terror, political persecution, intolerance, exploitation, and other expressions of violence.” (Please see: https://eastbaysanctuary.org/) We have a Jesuit scholastic planning to minister at EBSC for his field education placement for next academic year.