Explore Faith and Tradition’s Impact on Society
From the classroom to the Vatican, study Catholicism through spiritual practice, service and peer discussion.
What will you learn?
Learn to approach Catholicism from the perspectives of literature, history, philosophy and theology. Deepen your understanding of the Catholic faith through spiritual practice, service, peer discussion, and even study abroad.
A few examples of courses students in this major take:
- Justice, Peace and Liberation: This course examines the issues of justice and peace within the context of the Gospel of Jesus. Grounded in the teachings of the Israelite prophets and the New Testament teachings of Jesus, and given theological form in the writings of the great theologians such as Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, this course examines current issues in light of modern Catholic social doctrine.
- Catholicism and Literature: This class explores timeless theological questions along with some of the greatest authors of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. All of the texts examined incorporate Catholic concepts and themes. As this is a literature course, students also learn strategies for analyzing fiction, drama and poetry. In doing so, superior analytical reading, writing and thinking skills are developed.
- Introduction to the New Testament: This course takes a multifaceted approach to the study of the gospels, the epistles and the Book of Revelation. The course emphasizes the methodology of historical criticism for the purpose of identifying the authors of each New Testament work, as well as their respective theologies and witness to Jesus Christ and considers also the literary genre and cultural assumptions associated with biblical texts, per Dei Verbum.
What skills will you gain?
Upon completing the Catholic Studies program, you’ll be ready to…
- Think and write analytically;
- Identify authors in foundational Catholic texts;
- Examine current issues of justice and peace in light of contemporary Catholic social teaching.
What do our graduates do?
Catholic Studies majors go on to a variety of careers and graduate schools from St. Edward’s. Here’s a sample.
- Coordinator of Youth Ministry at St. Catherine of Alexandria Catholic Church
- Campus minister at Gannon University, Pennsylvania
- Director at the Global Livingston Institute, a Denver-based non-governmental organization that focuses on development in East Africa
- Teaching fellows with the Alliance for Catholic Education through the University of Notre Dame
- Year-long volunteer with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps
- Peace Corps volunteers
- Recipient of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship
- Graduate students at the University of Notre Dame, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, and Yale Divinity School.
I think about the idea of educating the heart and the mind a lot. I'm challenged to be a better thinker, and I'm also consistently challenged to confront and understand perspectives that are different from my own—whether it be a classmate or somebody who wrote on a scroll 2,000 years ago.
Explore Details About the BA in Catholic Studies
Major Requirements: The BA in Catholic Studies requires 39 hours of courses offered through the departments of Religious and Theological Studies, Philosophy, and English Literature.
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