Catholic Social Thought in Australia and overseas (CH9230Y)

Postgraduate, 24.0 points

Content

This unit will examine Catholic social and political ideas and movements in Europe and elsewhere, and evaluate their impact and interpretation in Australia. It will consider key issues in Catholic social movements in Europe, outline the backgrounds to the papal social encyclicals and trace their development internationally to Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis.

Unit code: CH9230Y

Unit status: Archived (New unit)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Church History

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Yarra Theological Union

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Learning outcomes

1.

Show competence in reading and interpreting key social encyclicals
2.

Demonstrate the importance of key Catholic social concepts: the common good, solidarity, social and distributive justice, capitalism, communism, socialism, corporatism
3.

Analyse debates about Catholic social movements, with an ability to analyse and critique various views
4.

Critique the strengths and weaknesses in the development of Catholic social thought
5.

Evaluate the social and political contexts in the development of social justice traditions in the Church

Unit sequence

A foundational unit in Church History or Moral Theology

Pedagogy

Lectures, class discussion, essay writing, use of internet resources

Indicative Bibliography

  • Boswell, Jonathan E., Francis P. McHugh and Johan Verstraeten. Catholic Social Thought: Twilight or Renaissance. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2000.
  • Cullen, Philomena, Bernard Hoose and Gerard Mannion. Catholic Social Justice: Theological and Practical Explorations. London: T&T Clark, 2007.
  • Curran, Charles. Catholic Social Teaching 1891-Present, Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2002.
  • Dorr, Donal. Option for the Poor and for the Earth. Maryknoll NY: Orbis, 2012.
  • Duncan, Bruce. The Church’s Social Teaching: from Rerum Novarum to 1931. Melbourne: CollinsDove, 1991.
  • Duncan, Bruce. Crusade or Conspiracy? Catholics and the anti-Communist Struggle in Australia. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2001.
  • Dwyer, Judith, ed. The New Dictionary of Catholic Social Thought. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1994.
  • Himes, Kenneth R., ed. Modern Catholic Social Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations. Washington, DC: Georgetown UP, 2004.
  • Hogan, Michael. Australian Catholics: The Social Justice Tradition. Melbourne: Collins Dove, 1993.
  • Hornsby-Smith, Michael P. An Introduction to Catholic Social Thought. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
  • McCarthy, David M. The Heart of Catholic Social Teaching: its Origins and Contemporary Significance. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2009.
  • Palst, Adrian. The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Pope Benedict XVI’s Social Encyclical and the Future of Political Economy. Cambridge, UK: James Clarke & Co., 2011.
  • Schuck, Michael. That They Be One: The Social Teaching of Papal Encyclicals 1740-1989. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 1990.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay

3500-word essay

 0 60.0
Essay

2500-word essay

0 40.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by John Capper on 19 Oct, 2014

Unit record last updated: 2020-02-19 14:04:42 +1100