Catholicism and the Sexes

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course engages with the discipline of gender studies from a Catholic theological perspective. The work of Catholic philosopher Prudence Allen provides the backdrop of the course, namely her framework for categorizing different approaches to conceptualizing the sexes based on the criteria of equal dignity and meaningful difference. We will use (and modify) this basic schema in considering various theological, philosophical, and literary approaches to the nature and relationality of the sexes, from ancient cosmologies and scripture to the theories that arise in the era of modern feminism. The course will culminate by considering questions and controversies about men and women in our current cultural context, both within the Church and across society as a whole.