Courses on Lonergan

THO 3166: Moral Existence (Dr. Ken Melchin, Faculty of Theology) Fall 2009

The course is a presentation of foundations in ethics within the discipline of theology. Christian ethics is presented as an active quest towards understanding and guiding ethical living. Part I presents a brief historical background to ethics in the Christian tradition. Part II introduces key insights on moral knowing, moral persons and the social dimension of moral life. Part III discusses human sinfulness and the response of Christian faith. Part IV presents some contemporary issues and debates in ethics.

THO 2147: Selected Topics in Ethics I: Business Ethics (Morag McConville, Coordinator of Lonergan Centre) Winter 2010

This course will introduce students to contemporary discussions on the role of business and its management practices from a Christian perspective. It will engage students in a variety of readings that contrast traditional business practices with stakeholder theory and a
common good perspective from Catholic social thought. Topics covered in this course also include corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship.

THO 4127: Economics and Ethics (Dr. Ken Melchin, Faculty of Theology) Winter 2010

The course begins with a history of economic theories. The goal is to identify ethical issues which are operative explicitly or implicitly in these theories. In the second section, readings focus
on the work of Jane Jacobs as a novel way of understanding economics and the economics-ethics relationship. Finally, the American Bishops Pastoral Letter on the U.S. economy is
examined to understand the relationship between theology and economics.

THO 2316: Religion, Culture and Diversity (Derek Bianchi Melchin, Faculty of Conflict Studies) Winter 2010

Living in contemporary societies means engaging with religious and cultural diversity as a fact of everyday life. However, it also challenges us to address the problems that emerge when people’s beliefs, values, and practices come into conflict. This course will introduce sutdents to some of the questions raised by contemporary challenges of religious and cultural pluralism. The first section of the course uses case studies to examine some of the ways we typically respond to situations of religious and cultural difference. The second section focuses on understanding the process of interreligious and intercultural engagement more fully: what are we doing when we struggle to “make sense” of others whose cultural and religious values differ from out own? The third section builds on this framework to develop elements for a theological response to the problems of religious diversity and conflict in contemporary societies. Throughout, the aim of the course is to help students gain a better undrestanding, both of the types of challenges that religious diversity presents us with, as well as some ideas about how we can respond to these challenges, both socially and theologically.

THO 6341: Political Ethics/Spiritual Movements - Their Social Context and Importance I: Democracy, Conflict, and Spirituality (Dr. Ken Melchin, Faculty of Theology) Winter 2010

This course examines diverse ways of understanding democracy, the role of conflict in thinking about democracy, and the role of spirituality in meeting the challenges of democratic living. We
introduce theories of democracy and approaches to the study of conflict. We focus on the Insight approach to conflict and examine the links between conflict and democracy. We examine theology’s contribution to politics by studying the role of spirituality in political ethics.