Individual courses

E-seminar in Theology
by John J. Lynch
From 02 october to 27 november 2023

E-seminar in Philosophy and Social Sciences
by Jaco Kruger
From 11th April to 6th June 2022

E-seminar in Religion
by Isaac Mutelo
From 15 April to 10 June 2024

SEM48 - Human Rights, Philosophy and Religious Studies

4th October - 29th November 2021 

presented by Isaac Mutelo

This course critically reviews early Christian and Byzantine art from the 2nd to 6th Century.

This course will look at some issues of theological controversy between East and West.

This course explores the mystery of the Church as seen in the light of Vatican II.

The aim of this first set of readings is to gain familiarity and/or to review the literary history of the Bible: namely, religious, socio-political, cultural factors which shaped the structure and content of both testaments.

In the lives of the sains lifes " lives" the Christian vision of God, man, and the world which stand all​ out very clearly. Men can learn almost as much about the real meaning of Christianity from the legends of the saints produced within the tradition of the Church as from the authentic lives themselves. Through the reading and studying the lifes of the saints​ who arrived before us in the promised land​, we came to know how God works in the daily lives of Christians and how faith can be lived not only in good times but especially during persecution and suffering. This helps us to appreciate more our faith and make us grow in loving our brothers as part of God's providence.

As reasoned discourse about God ecumenical theology is focussing on God’s will for unity among Christians. 

This course aims at expanding students’ vocabulary and improving their understanding of the body of knowledge in Economics.

This course is aimed at students who have a level B1 (CEFR) or higher in English.

Etymologically, the word Epistemology is derived from two Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (the science of knowledge). Thus the word ‘Epistemology’ would mean knowledge of knowledge or science of knowledge and is more commonly called a theory of knowledge. This philosophical term is commonly associated with the inquiry of truth and knowledge.

This course will take students through ethical discourse from the time of Plato to Aristotle, then to Kant and utilitarians. 

To understand the basic notion on financial management specially on the key principles of finance, the important role that financial markets have on the economy.

The course introduce the students to the complex architecture of the global food governance, its historical evolution and the inherent challenges.

Ethics, like philosophy, is in search of principles and universals. Ethics reflects on a particular human experience, namely, the experience of the good or of being good, and sets it in the context of the whole. One could also say that ethics reflects on what is the good and how our lives are oriented towards it

The aim of this course is to discuss the precepts, principles, and values of Catholic morality.

Distinctions need to be made regarding the subject of moral theology : first – as distinct from moral philosophy or ethics; second – as distinct from other theologica l studies.

An Accommodation for a Christian Approach to the World Religions and Interreligious Dialogue in the Line of Jacques Dupuis

The Hegelian philosophy presents itself as a system, a systematic knowledge. It is not the expression of a feeling or an intuition. Philosophy is a science, a knowledge. It's not a way of life like ancient philosophy...

In this course we look at the Hebrews’ arrival in the Promised Land and continue right up to the end of their existence as an independent nation when disaster overwhelmed them.

Like all movements, ecumenism had its beginnings and thus it has a history to be studied.

Often legislation is based on the consensus of the majority feeling of a group of people rather than on solid philosophical and theological arguments. This frequently leads to superficial legislation with short term benefits for a group of people, but long-term misery for all. The author of this book provides us with a foundation upon which healthy legislation can be built.

The notion of human rights refers to the norms, basic rights and freedom that protect people from political, economic, legal, and social abuses or unjustified infringements. There is clearly a profuse assertion of rights which individuals, groups and institutions make. Today, people encounter claims of rights frequently and in a greater variety than before. The main aim of this section is to help one understand the concept of “rights”. Having dealt with the notion of “rights” itself, this section will explore the categories and forms of rights in general. The section will conclude by discussing the concept of human rights.

Human dignity based on the concepts of the image of God and Christ’s redemption becomes the basis for human rights debate from a Christian theological perspective. It is in the community of the human family that a human person realizes his/her being the imago Dei.

The main objective of this unit is to get an above all understanding of what Indian Philosophy is and in what circumstances it has developed. Though Indian Philosophy has developed in different parts of India it has many common characteristics hence the student is likely to know a few important ones. Furthermore, one should have a basic understanding of what Indian philosophy is accused of.

By Studying this particular unit one must be able to understand what is the meaning of Upaniṣad, how it was developed from Vedas and what are its main teachings and how they reach their logical culmination in the identity of the self and the Brahman. One must also be able to understand the Upaniṣadic view point of bondage and liberation along with the cosmogony and puruṣārtas.

The main objective of the conclusion is to introduce the students to the different systems of Indian Philosophy as it deals with various philosophical thoughts of several traditions originated in Indian Subcontinent.

This course examines the general principles of international criminal law, providing a practical and theoretical framework for the rules, concepts and legal constructs key to the subject. Jurisprudence will be included to assist the student to fully understand the core concept of international criminal law.

The course seeks to explain the concept, nature and history of International Humanitarian Law (“IHL”) in such a manner that the student will become familiar with its operations in international law. Some concrete case studies will be included to assist the student to fully understand the core concept of IHL.
Wars have been waged from time immemorial and its practice continues to change over time. Our interest in this module is the law regulating conflicts.

This course will cover some fundamentals questions: Why companies should go international? Is it a benefit for them? Whatis an international product strategy? How can a company adapt its product to the new market? Should we create a new product or maintain a similar product?

This course intends to provide students with an overview of international law and the structure of the international legal system.

This course gives a survey on the Catholic tradition by examining a series of documents like Lumen Gentium and other documents of Vatican II.

Etymologically, the word "Epistemology", from the Greek, means the science of knowledge. It is an investigation of knowledge and its problems. A synonymous term is Criteriology which again from the Greek means to distinguish or judge. It deals with testin g knowledge to find truth or detect error.

The modern epistemological problem has two aspects:

1. The opposition between science and philosophy or truth and error. We find this basically in Descartes and Kant.

2. The conflict between science and science or that of contemporary and classic physics and not an opposition between science and philosophy or truth and error.

We derive our inspiration from at least two distinct traditions: the Jewish and the Christian. It is important that we should be aware of this! A whole set of questions are implied here. What is the relationship between God and the Jewish traditi on, God and Jesus, God and the church?

As an introductory course on contemporary challenges in international human rights law, the course is designed to offer basic insights on various topics.  Students are encouraged to do further reading so as to deepen and expand their appreciation of the complexity that characterises the various topics.

This course provides some insight about principles of Marketing. 

This course will introduce the students to the historical beginning of bioethics, as well as some of the moral theories employed in bioethics discourse.
 

This course is the second part to Introduction to Moral theories in Bioethics I.
The course will introduce the students to the historical beginning of bioethics, as well as some of the moral theories employed in bioethics discourse.

The course aims to show that from its origins through the early efforts made by the earliest oriental thinkers before the era of ancient great Greek thinkers, philosophy has remained a branch of knowledge concerned with fundamental questions concerning existence, human values, language, knowledge and many other matters.

Important issues in legal philosophy range from abstract conceptual questions about the nature of law and legal systems, to normative questions about the relationship between law and morality, politics and other norms as well as the justification of various legal institutions. Although this course will deal with conceptual themes of philosophy of law especially in the first section, the course generally focusses on the practical and readily applicable aspects of the field.

Plato ranks as one of the most important thinkers in the Western philosophical tradition. This module introduces the student to some of the fundamental ideas that inform his works as well as guiding the student through some developments in his presentation of these ideas.

The course aims at furnishing the student withe the appropriate tools for a meaningful of the Biblical text, with particular reference to its spiritual, liturgical and pastoral context. The course will further aim at providing a basis familiarity with, and a critical assessment of contemporary exegetical methods.

An introduction to the Life, Epistles and Theology of Saint Paul.

The Gospel of Mark is distinctive within the New testament. It may be the oldest Gospel, but it post-dates some of Paul’s letters, from which we already have a good picture of the preaching of Peter and Paul. Mark paints Jesus in down to earth human form, willing to change his mind, vulnerable to the opinions of others, and especially those of the ones who opposed him.

All the Bibles, either Hebrew or Catholic or Protestant or Orthodox, agree on the first part of the Biblical Canon, that is the Pentateuch.

This course helps us to get in touch and explore with the this 16th century religious movement the originated in western Europe over against the prevailing Roman Catholicism.

How are the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke interrelated? Did Matthew and Luke both use a written source 'Q' and Mark, when composing their Gospels? Did they each have their own sources as well? 

This course introduces you to the debates about the meaning of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke/Acts. What were the theological interests of the authors of the Synoptic Gospels?

What is the Jesus presented in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke like? How did he understand himself? How did the Evangelists understand him? Is that the same or different to the understanding of the disciples?

This course will provide a general introduction to Theology.

The history of the debate about the possibility, nature and validity of knowledge is one of the very oldest, and one about which virtually every great philosopher has had something to say. "Is knowledge possible?" is a very broad question.

A Systematic Review and Hermeneutic Exploration of the Management of Incidental Findings in Genomic Research

In order to have a better understanding of Dupuis’ viewpoints, the study will put side-by-side Dupuis’ ideas and those of pluralism, exclusivism and inclusivism. For this reason, the three approaches to the theology of religions will be briefly discussed. Likewise, the study also briefly presents the understanding of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) concerning the issues raised.

The Unique and Universal Mediation of Jesus Christ in Relation to the Theology of Religions

Students will be introduced to the methods known as Rhetorical Biblical Criticism and Theological Criticism of the Bible.

John Locke : seventeenth century English philosopher, one of the greatest Enlightenment thinkers and forerunner of Liberalism and British Empiricism. 

According to Gibelin in his Foreword to Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone, Freedom is the central theme of Kant’s philosophy. This course will introduce to Kant, centering on Freedom as a key concept to understand his philosophy, in the three spheres defined by the critical project: Metaphysics, Moral and Aesthetics.