17 courses with the subject CHST, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
This course offers a general introduction to the history of the Church up to the year 787. Emphasis will be placed on the main ecclesiastical and 52
This course is designed to introduce students to the institutions, personalities, and religious and theological expressions of Church life from the medieval period to the present. Special attention will be given to the history and role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
This course examines the Orthodox Church within the wider historical trajectory of the Byzantine Empire and the political, economic and social structures of Byzantine society. Particular attention will be given to popular religious expressions and movements both inside and outside of the official Church.
Students will be introduced to the historical development of Islam in the Middle East from its origins in the seventh century to the Ottoman Empire and the impact Islam had upon the Christian communities of the region. Particular attention will be given to the historical political, and social conditions of these Christian communities under Islamic rule and law. The contemporary situation of Christians in the Middle East will also be examined. This course fulfills the World Religions/Ecumenism requirement.
This course will focus on the lives of Christian women beginning in the first century CE, and moving through the early Christian period, the Byzantine and Medieval periods, and the modern period, ending with an account from the mid‐ twentieth century. The course will end with a discussion of a contemporary issue in the lives of Christian women, exploring the issue from the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox perspectives. Primary source material by and about women are the course readings. 53
This course examines the genre of early Christian and Byzantine lives of the saints (hagiography). Texts studied represent various literary forms and depict a wide range of saints’ lives. Attention will be given to the historical and religious functions of the texts. Particular attention will be given to the place and use of the lives of the saints within the life and tradition of the Orthodox Church.
and Practice This course is designed to introduce students to women saints in their historical contexts along with the development of the Church’s devotion to them. It will begin with narrative accounts of the saints’ lives, and will study their iconography, hymns, liturgical texts, and material forms of devotion and patronage. The saints under consideration include: Saints Helen, Mary Magdalene, Katherine of Alexandria, Macrina the Younger, Mary of Egypt, Gorgonia, Athanasia of Aegina, Marina-Marinos, Euphrosyne, Anna, and Marina of Antioch, as well as several nineteenth and twentieth century saints.
This course focuses on the veneration of relics, holy sites, and holy men and women in Late Antiquity and Byzantine Christianity. Beginning with the reign of Constantine, several centers of Christian pilgrimage will be examined including Rome, Jerusalem, Mt. Sinai, Qal’at Sem’an, Thessaloniki, and Constantinople. Various methodological approaches will be utilized: archaeological, art historical, textual, and socio‐ anthropological in understanding the social and religious dimensions of Christian pilgrimage.
In 1920, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople became one of the first world centers of Christianity to encourage ecumenical dialogue. Almost 100 years later, has that original vision held true? Is Christian unity possible, given the growth of denominations, the movement 54
This course focuses on the study of a number of texts belonging to the general category of early Christian literature. Texts to be read include works representative of various theological tendencies and literary forms. The study of each work will consider its form and genre, its relation to the New Testament, and its connection to the contemporary religio- philosophical world. In addition, the historical context of each text will be examined in light of the history and development of Christianity in the first three centuries.
Incorporated in 1921, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and has served the spiritual and ecclesiastical needs of Greek Orthodox faithful for nearly a century. This course begins with an examination of the early history of Greek Orthodox communities in the United States prior to the official establishment of the Archdiocese (1922) and then proceeds with a study of the institutional history of the Archdiocese, its leadership over the decades, its interface with American society, and the Archdiocese's relationships with Greece and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
This seminar will focus on the renewal of conciliarity in the Orthodox Church from the early 20th century leading to the Great and Holy Council. Following a review of the earlier Councils and their characteristics, students will examine the relationship of conciliarity, primacy, and the People of God through a review of key documents and related theological studies. Particular attention will be given to the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in promoting unity and witness. 55
This seminar examines the historical, theological, social, and political aspects of Byzantine Iconoclasm of the eighth and ninth centuries. Attention will be paid to the various explanations for the development of Iconoclasm, and, in particular, the relationship between imperial and ecclesiastical authority. One of the key themes that will run throughout the course is that of the development of Orthodox identity and the idea of “orthodoxy” as a term of self‐definition within Byzantine church and society.
Illumination (6th-11th centuries) This course explores the role that the visual manifestation of glory and emotion plays in the illuminations of Byzantine Manuscripts during the sixth to the eleventh centuries. Glory in art is reflected in luminous artistic mediums and techniques, whereas emotion can be communicated through noetic images, facial expressions, and gestures. Through analyses of word, and image we carve new pathways of understanding the relationship between miniatures, icons, architecture, and liturgy. Thus, we examine how each aesthetic phenomenon is mobilized in its historical, sociological, religious, and geopolitical context. We study closely key manuscripts from Sinai, Constantinople, and Rome from major archival collections such as the Stanford University Special Collections, the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana in Rome, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Gennadios Library in Athens, The Sinai Collection in Egypt, the Patmos Library in Greece, and the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, etc.
Examines several different methodological approaches utilized in the study of Byzantine hagiographical literature. Texts studied represent a variety of literary forms and historical contexts. Particular attention is given to the historical, social, and religious function and context of hagiography in Byzantium. 56
An introduction to the establishment and development of Orthodoxy in North America. Special attention will be given to the pastoral and historical factors contributing to the growth of the various jurisdictions.
Following a review of the issues of alienation and schism, the course will examine the documents of the cotemporary bilateral dialogues between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. The course fulfills the World Religions/Ecumenism requirement.
Source: Hellenic College-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 61
