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Theology

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The Theology Concentration
enables participants to explore new directions that have emerged since the removal of theology as a dogmatic discipline from most liberal arts curricula. The focus is on how the divine or ultimate is conceived. 

Curriculum and Requirements

Current Courses

  • Overview
    Two principal approaches to that issue may be combined. The first approach is referential; it begins with the evaluation of texts, works of art, or other aspects of human production that claim to express the meaning and purpose of experience. The second approach is constructive; it involves the investigator in an analysis aimed at evaluating or contributing to religious discourse. While the critical study of religion is designed to describe and analyze religious systems within their historical settings, theology’s purpose is to engage what these systems claim to refer to. The ethical, political, literary, and cultural are all contexts in which theological elements may be significant.
  • Requirements
    The principal issues of theology demand competence in several disciplines. For that reason, the Theology concentration involves courses from every division and competence (in the form of Moderation) in a discipline. Moderation in Theology is to be associated with Moderation in another discipline or disciplines. By Moderation, a student should have taken three theology courses. In addition to the Senior Project, theology students should complete four cross-listed theology courses from at least two divisions. The board for Moderation and the Senior Project must include at least one member of the Theology faculty. During the semester of Moderation, students who wish to concentrate in theology are to participate in a seminar, which the concentration coordinator arranges.
Faculty

Faculty

Coordinator: Susan Aberth

Daniel Berthold
Katherine M. Boivin
Nicole Caso
 		 Bruce Chilton
Richard H. Davis
Matthew Mutter
Karen Sullivan
 

Faculty Publication Spotlight

Faculty Publication Spotlight

The Tarot of Leonora Carrington
By Susan Aberth and Tere Arcq

The British-born artist Leonora Carrington (1917–2011) is one of the more fascinating figures to emerge from the Surrealist movement. The magical themes of Carrington’s otherworldly paintings are well known, but the recent discovery of a suite of tarot designs she created for the major arcana was a revelation for scholars and fans of Carrington alike. This tantalizing discovery, made by the curator Tere Arcq and scholar Susan Aberth, Edith C. Blum Professor of Art History and Visual Culture at Bard College, has placed greater emphasis upon the role of the tarot in Carrington’s creative life and has led to fresh research in this area. The Tarot of Leonora Carrington (Fulgur Press, 2020) is the first book dedicated to this important aspect of the artist’s work.

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