The theology teaching degree will prepare Rockhurst graduates with a firm intellectual foundation in all the major areas in which today’s theology teachers are expected to demonstrate competency.
Program Overview
The depth and breadth of the theology teaching program ensure that Rockhurst graduates who go into K-12 teaching in the field of theology will be prepared to meet the demands of the theology teacher education marketplace while laying the foundation for many other fields. Our curriculum accomplishes this by developing theological understanding with proficiency in skills common to the liberal arts, including critical thinking, close reading, research, clear writing and intercultural awareness.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the theology teaching degree program, students will be able to:
- Demonstrate competency in analyzing key elements of major Christian traditions, including Christology, sacramental theology, eschatology, and the prevailing hermeneutical approaches to scripture.
- Illustrate exegetical skills utilizing methods of contemporary biblical criticism.
- Discuss issues of Christianity’s engagement with culture through the prism of moral theology or questions of social justice.
- Identify key turning points in the history of Christian development from the period of the early Church to the present.
- Distinguish between and illustrate knowledge of the interpretive methods that characterize theology and religious studies.
- Describe and interpret ways that theological systems, religious practices, and institutions reflect the cultures from which they emerge and adapt to cultural change.
- Compare theological claims and ritual practices from two or more religious systems.
- Analyze diverse and competing conceptions of truth from within a shared religious discursive community.
- Explain how appealing to transcendent authority has been used to reinforce and challenge the social order with a theology teacher's education.
- Understand best practices to teach theology online, using our Canvas learning system.
Program Outcomes
The teaching track of the theology and religious studies major is available for students interested in teaching theology at the high school level, to prepare them to address the content of their teaching field more effectively.
Theology Teacher in K-12 School
Director of Religious Education for a Parish
Youth Minister
Professor of Theology or Religious Studies
Online Theology Teacher
Community Development Coordinator
Theology Teacher Education
Church Administration
Course Map
Degree and class descriptions and requirements can be found by clicking on the course catalog listings below:
Popular Courses
An introduction to the literary, historical, and social worlds of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). The course makes use of both traditional and contemporary methods of interpretation. Special attention is given to important theological aspects of the Synoptics.
This course will explore the major trends in historical Jesus research today and will examine the implications of this research for understanding the history of earliest Christianity and for theology, especially doctrines concerning Christ. The course will include an evaluation of the treatment of questions about the historical Jesus in the media, including reports of the Jesus Seminar.
An examination of the major theological emphases of Catholics and Protestants. Attention is given to the origins of the Protestant Reformation and the development of the various Protestant traditions arising from it. Areas of agreement and disagreement, both then and now, are examined with a focus on examples of contemporary Catholic-Protestant dialogue.
This course explores the interrelationships between theology, morality, and contemporary health care. In addition to methodically examining moral issues in health care, this course emphasizes the foundational roles which theology plays in engendering moral vision, the development of character, behavior, and formal arguments related to contemporary debates within and about health care.
Degree Info
- Field studies to a range of religious institutions and settings
- Expressing theological concepts through art
- Service-learning with faith-based organizations teaching theology and religion
- Capstone research projects and public presentations of student research on theology teaching education
- Presenting research at regional conferences
Find Your Program
Choose topic to quickly find specific program details