RELI30593

This survey course will introduce students to historical developments, key figures and institutions within the history of Catholic Christianity from the High Middle Ages (ca. 1250) to the present. The course will begin by examining the roots of high medieval Catholic expansion into East Asia and its subsequent expansion into other continents during the Late Middle Ages. It will then examine the development of Catholicism in those geographic areas outside the USA, Western Europe, Australia and Russia. This course is an opportunity for students to take a pilgrimage into Catholic Christian identity across time and across the globe, primarily in those areas colonized by European kingdoms and nations. Topics such as colonialism, missions, enslavement, religious movements, enculteration, spiritual practices, indigenous clergy and local religious life will be examined in their historical context. The overall aim of the course is to deepen students' capacities for historical reflection on Catholic culture, beliefs, practices and institutions across the globe. Participants, whatever their religious identity (or lack thereof), will learn more of what it has meant historically to think, pray and live as Catholic Christians in the Majority World so that they can apply these insights to their own work in today's pluralistic context.

CORE - GA (Global Awareness), CORE - HT (Historical Traditions), CORE - WEM (Writing Emphasis-TCUCC)