Theology \ Undergraduate Studies \

Freshman Core Course

RS 1000 - Faith and Critical Reason
A description for the use of adjunct professors of the course

The nature of the course

       The purpose of this course is to engage students in a critical examination of religious faith, as life-stance and as content. The inclusion of this course in the core curriculum reflects Fordham's Jesuit and Catholic commitments.

       The course's subject matter may include such topics as the following: 1) the meaning of faith (faith as a phenomenon of human existence, reflected in multiple religious traditions, expressed in belief systems, ethics, and ritual); 2) the media of faith (the notion of revelation, scripture and tradition, Jesus the Christ as revelation); 3) the nature of reflection on faith (theology); 4) the object of faith: God and God's relation to the world (the meaning of "God," the existence and nature of God, knowing God, God's relation to humanity); 5) the subject of faith (the search for salvation, the community of faith and the individual); 6) the content of faith (Christian creeds and doctrine, development of doctrine); and 7) the life of faith (the basis of Christian ethics; church and sacraments; contemporary issues). Obviously not all these elements need be present in every syllabus. The parenthetical expansions of the topics are meant as examples and are not exhaustive.

       As the name "Faith and Critical Reason" indicates, the course should not merely present the contents of Christian faith, but should raise the question of its meaning and truth claims. This can be done in classic ways through the use of philosophical categories and criteria. Within this general theological and critical purpose, the course can employ a broad variety of methods: foundational, dialectical, ethical, historical, systematic, etc. It can also be done through the interdisciplinary use of diverse conversation partners which contemporary theology engages: literary and cultural studies, gender studies, sociology, psychology, hermeneutics, textual criticism, etc. The course should normally include some degree of comparison with other faith stances, secular or religious. The amount and depth of engagement with other disciplines and with world religious traditions depends on the teacher's competence. But the incorporation of perspectives from other areas of the academic study of religion should be in the service of the course's theological nature and should not replace or compete with it.

       This course should be conceived neither as a course in comparative religion or the phenomenology of religion on the one hand, nor as and exercise in proselytizing, catechesis, or the indoctrination on the other. Rather, "Faith and Critical Reason" is a course in theology. This course should be ecumenically sensitive. In addition, given Fordham's historical commitments as well as the background of the majority of our undergraduate students, normally this course should engage in theology that is also connected to the Catholic tradition, taking as the point of reference for its critical examination the issues and perspectives that typify the Catholic theological tradition, most of which, of course, are shared with other Christians, and many with Jews and Muslims as well. At the same time, since its purpose is to engage in critical reflection on the basic intellectual issues raised by faith, it should be clearly understood that the course does not presume a particular faith stance on the part of either professors or students.

Relation of the Freshman Theology course RS 1000 to the core

       This is one of the two theology courses required in the Fordham University core curriculum. In their senior year, students may study theology again by opting for a specific ethics course in fulfillment of the required Senior Values Seminar. The core itself is intended to give students a broad grounding in the disciplines necessary to a liberal education as understood in Fordham's Jesuit tradition. The second year theology course deals with the reading of classical sacred texts. It is therefore oriented to the sources and data of theology. The freshman course also naturally refers to texts, and primary texts are to be preferred where possible. However, its use of them is not oriented to the textual study per se, but to the content of Christian faith insofar as it is systematically and critically represented or criticized in these texts. In the present core curriculum, "Faith and Critical Reason" should not be understood primarily as and introduction or preparation for either the sophomore course or for other later studies; rather, it has its own intrinsic purpose and value.

Preparation and mentoring for teaching RS 1000

       Given the expectations placed by the Department of Theology on instructors of RS 1000, adjuncts and first-time graduate instructors are expected to consult with veteran instructors of the course in formulating syllabi and choosing course texts. They are expected to meet with the Theology Department's Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies before the beginning of the semester, if possible, to discuss their syllabi and texts. In addition, instructors are encouraged, with the help of departmental leadership, to form a working relationship with a full-time faculty member who can serve as a resource for the mentoring and evaluation of the instructor's teaching.

       As in the case with all undergraduate courses, instructors of RS 1000, both full-time faculty and adjuncts alike, are required to submit two copies of their course syllabus to the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies. One of these is forwarded to the Fordham College Dean's office; the other is kept on file in the Theology Department.