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Module Specifications.

Current Academic Year 2024 - 2025

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Date posted: September 2024

Module Title Theological Anthropology
Module Code TP322 (ITS) / RET1048 (Banner)
Faculty Humanities & Social Sciences School Theology, Philosophy & Music
Module Co-ordinatorAlyson Staunton
Module TeachersGabriel Flynn
NFQ level 8 Credit Rating 5
Pre-requisite Not Available
Co-requisite Not Available
Compatibles Not Available
Incompatibles Not Available
Coursework Only
Essay 1500 words
Description

The aim of this module is to explore a Christian understanding of human existence. Taking up standard themes in theological anthropology (e.g., grace, creation eschatology, sin, free-will, human knowledge, finitude, desire, embodiment, etc.), this module enables students to develop knowledge and skills in an important area of theology, in both its historical context and contemporary setting. Special features of the module shall include study of patristic and medieval notions of nature, grace, sin, creation and the imago Dei, attending principally to the Latin tradition. Other aims of the module are to study some of the Great books, notably, Augustine's Confessions and City of God. Consideration of contemporary challenges will appeal to 20th-century debates, framed in ecumenical perspective (nouvelle théologie, retrievals of Kant’s transcendental philosophy, narrative theology, Liberation theology, science and religion). Students will participate in learning activities such as attending lectures, keeping up with weekly reading assignments, writing a long research essay. The module attempts to formulate a vision for a renewed Christian humanism.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify and reflect upon the sources and traditions which have contributed to Christian anthropology;
2. Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the themes of Grace, Creation and Eschatology, in addition to important philosophical categories, as they pertain to the question of theological anthropology;
3. Engage in effective written and oral communication through essay work and participation in classroom discussions;
4. Make a theologically informed response to the question 'Who am I?';
5. Communicate a vision of the human person which celebrates diversity and overcomes insularity and sectarianism.



Workload Full-time hours per semester
Type Hours Description
Lecture24Lecture Presentations
Report10Book Review or Report on an item viewed from List of Sources 500 words
Assignment Completion25Long Essay 1500-2000 words
Independent Study66Reading/ Online Research/ Library Acquisitions/ Study of Items on Module Loop page
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment100% Examination Weight0%
Course Work Breakdown
TypeDescription% of totalAssessment Date
Report(s)CA 1 Book Review 500 Words20%Week 6
EssayCA 2: Long Essay 1500 words80%Week 12
Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories:
Resit category 1: A resit is available for both* components of the module.
Resit category 2: No resit is available for a 100% continuous assessment module.
Resit category 3: No resit is available for the continuous assessment component where there is a continuous assessment and examination element.
* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a Continuous Assessment/Examination split; where the module is 100% continuous assessment, there will also be a resit of the assessment
This module is category 1
Indicative Reading List

  • Augustine, Saint: 2008, Confessions, trans. Henry Chadwick, Revised, OUP, Oxford,
  • Augustine, Saint: 1984, The City of God: Against the Pagans, 5th, Penguin Books, London,
  • Brown, Peter: 1967, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, Faber and Faber, London,
  • Boeve, Boeve and others: 2014, Questioning the Human: Toward a Theological Anthropology for the Twenty-first Century, 1st, Fordham University Press, New York,
  • Bouyer, Louis: 1958, Christian Humanism, Trans. A.V. Littledale, Geoffrey Chapman, London,
  • Davies, Douglas J.: 2002, Theological Anthropology, Berg, Oxford,
  • Duffy, Stephen 1993,: 1993, Dynamics of Grace: Perspectives in Theological Anthropology,, Liturgical Press, Collegeville MN,
  • Fry, Timothy, Ed.: 1982, The Rule of St Benedict in English, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN,
  • Irenaeus, Saint: 0, Against the Heresies online, https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103.htm,
  • King, Peter: 2010, Augustine: On the Free Choice of the Will, on Grace and Free Choice and Other Writings, 1st, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
  • Maritain, Jacques: 1996, Integral Humanism, Catholic University of America Press, Washington, DC,
  • Mackey, James P.: 2006, Christianity and Creation: The Essence of Christian Faith and its Future among Religions, Continium, New York,
  • Mackey, J.P.: 1966, Life and Grace: An Essay in Basic Theology, Gill, Dublin,
  • Ouellet, Marc: 2006, Divine Likeness: Toward a Trinitarian Anthropology of the Family, Eerdmans,, Grand Rapids, Michigan,
  • Rahner, Karl: 1963, Mission and Grace: Essays in Pastoral Theology, Sheed and Ward, London,
  • Ratzinger, Joseph: 1988, Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life, Catholic University of America Press, Washington, DC,
  • Scheeben, M.-J.: 1957, Nature et Grâce, Desclée De Brouwer, Paris,
  • Wetzel, James: 2012, Augustine's City of God, 1st, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
  • Williams, Rowan: 2016, On Augustine, 1st, Bloomsbury, 2016,
  • Zimmermann, Jens, Ed.: 2017, Re-envisioning Christian Humanism: Education and the Restoration of Humanity, 1st, OUP, Oxford,
Other Resources

None

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