Catholic Studies

Director: Joe Mudd 
Associate Director: Bryan Pham, S.J. 

The program offers one minor:

Minor in Catholic Studies

The Catholic Studies minor at Gonzaga University provides students with an opportunity to enrich their undergraduate experience through a focused engagement with the historical and intellectual traditions, theological and moral teachings, and cultural legacies of the Catholic Church. In addition to providing a rigorous interdisciplinary grounding in the history, ideals, and practices of Catholicism, the program invites students to take part in the ancient and ongoing conversation between the Church and the various cultures in which it is found. In seeking to understand and more fully appreciate the relationship between the eternal truths of the Catholic faith and their various expressions in history, the program faithfully and rigorously responds to Pope John Paul II's call for "a fruitful dialogue between the Gospel and culture" (Ex Corde Ecclesiae, Part I A.3:34). The Society of Jesus, in its most recent General Congregation, echoes this same desire in its commitment to serious and rigorous research and dialogue between Catholicism and the contemporary world, culture, and other religions. (General Congregation 35 Doc. 1 par.7).

Courses that fulfill the program requirements incorporate, but are not limited to, the disciplines of art history, literature, languages, history, philosophy, and theology.

Intellectual Methodology:

The Catholic Studies program identifies Catholicism as a tradition that both informs Gonzaga University's mission and inhabits the world beyond the university as a phenomenon palpably present, but often difficult to detect, in its influences on various cultures and domains of knowledge. Students will discover that Catholicism, and the world it interpenetrates, can be better understood by investigating its universal meanings and values alongside particular manifestations. We do this through a series of integrated courses that consider Catholicism as both the over-arching theme of the program's curriculum, and a central theme of each individual course. Accordingly, the Catholic Studies  minor provides students a basis in Church doctrine and offers a guide for interpreting how Catholicism has developed in the course of history and how it reveals itself in philosophy, theology, literature, science, and the visual arts. A fundamental course on Catholic Doctrine (RELI 228) provides the distinguishing parameters for core elements of the Catholic intellectual tradition such as creation, incarnation, sacramentality, the complementarity of faith and reason, sin and historical decline, and redemption and justice.

Advising:

Each student in the program will be assigned an advisor who will help students reach a comprehensive understanding of the program through periodic consultation and guidance on the capstone project.

Required Courses:

The following courses are required for the minor and may also be used to fulfill courses required by the University Core or specific major requirements where applicable.