TO: Beth Dobkin, Provost

FROM: Valerie Burke, Chair Academic Senate

DATE: May 28, 2015

RE: Senate Action S-14/15-57CA New Permanent Course Approval TRS 128: The Trinity

At the May 18, 2015 meeting of the Academic Senate, the attached new permanent course proposal for TRS 128: The Trinity was approved on the Consent Agenda. The proposal was unanimously approved by the Undergraduate Educational Policies Committee (UEPC) at its May 4, 2015 meeting by a vote of 8-0-0. All documents related to this proposal can be viewed at the UEPC website (http://www.stmarys- ca.edu/faculty-governance/undergraduate-educational-policies-committee-uepc/agendas.) This action was assigned Senate Action #S-14/15-57CA.

Attachments

cc: President James A. Donahue Vice Provost Richard Carp Dean Steve Woolpert UEPC Proposal for TRS 128

SOLA – TRS 128: The Trinity Upper division for reasons: a) Prerequisite: TRS 97 or 189 (lower- and upper-division versions of The Bible & Its Interpretation, respectively) b) Builds on biblical skills and knowledge of prerequisite, with focused topic c) Reading is advanced, often theoretical, and handles mature themes d) Seminar format requires students to process advanced reading independently before discussing Justification Grounds – This course deals with the essential elements of Christian worship, both theoretically and historically, seeking to give them a critical understanding of its major themes and developments. Objectives – At the end of this course, students will be able to: Describe the history of the development and controversy over the Christian theology of the Trinity, especially through the first four ecumenical councils. Articulate the major philosophical innovations that theologians accomplished in order to express a theology of the Trinity, both in Greek Platonic and Latin scholastic reflection. Describe and reflect on the importance of worship in driving both the controversy over God and the resulting theology of the Trinity, and how worship remains important into the present age. Summarize and respond to one of the major critiques that modern theology offers to “classical” theologies of the Trinity. Relation of objectives to Department, School, or College goals – In TRS 135, I teach the Core Curriculum outcome for theological understanding #1 (i.e., understanding of Christian tradition) and I teach outcome #2 (i.e., “Demonstrate an ability to explore religious questions from a believer's point of reference and from the critical perspective of the academy"). In this context, the “subfield” of theology in question is often called “systematic” or “philosophical” theology, which both examines theologies of the past and considers present concerns in order to articulate theology in a logical/philosophical manner. Many of the contemporary age’s critiques of classical Trinitarian theology, both within the confines of faith and in the confines of the academy, have begun with a philosophical re-assessment of historical Christianity’s assumptions. The course also addresses College goals regarding the Catholic mission of the College. Assignments used to evaluate performance – Students are evaluated in four primary ways: Exams that include short essays as well as vocabulary questions. Quizzes A theological paper. A final interpretive/reflection paper. Pass / fail allowed? – yes Student Population – This course will meet the Theological Explorations goal of the Core Curriculum. It is open to all students who have completed the prerequisite: either TRS 97 or 189. As such, the majority of students in this course will be taking it to fulfill a core requirement. There will also be a minority of students taking the course to fulfill an elective within the TRS major or minor. Relationship to present College curriculum – This course is an elective in the TRS department, to be offered every 2-3 years. It will become part of a cycle of upper-division courses in Scripture. There are enough offerings in TRS each year where there is no real issue of displacement. Any extraordinary implementation costs – The course uses normal classroom space and has no special costs associated. Library resources – See attached. Course credit and grading options Value – 1.0 unit Hours in class – 190 minutes / week x 13 weeks Preparation hours – 380 minutes / week x 13 weeks Format – discussion Prerequisites – TRS 97 or 189 Course description (catalog) – This course explores the Christian doctrine of God, the Trinity. The heart of Christianity, its strangest and most fascinating set of beliefs, rests in the Trinity. This course explores the Christian doctrine of God through its most significant controversies, both ancient and modern. Students will acquire a more thorough context for the Christian understanding of God, as well as a more robust sense of this understanding as it continues in the present. Course content – Syllabus attached. Review of experimental offering – The course was offered once (fall 2014) as experimental. The readings and assignments were appropriate for the material and the course level. Pedagogically, it became clear in the semester that the pure Seminar format needs to be supplemented with short lectures by the instructor, as the material in the reading needs commentary. Those will be instituted in the next offering.