Catholic Studies Program

Georgetown's Catholic Studies Program

The Catholic Studies Program at Georgetown University develops an intellectual and academic approach to Catholicism as both a religious institution and a culture. Georgetown’s Jesuit heritage lends itself to the interdisciplinary approach of Catholic Studies. Catholicism is more than an institution, a set of moral or ritual practices, a body of doctrine, or an individual or even communal experience, rather it is all of these and more so that no one discipline or method of study can interpret its cultural influences and identity. Central to the Catholic Studies curriculum is the investigation of how the Catholic faith interacts historically, globally, and currently with the needs, questions, and concerns of humanity and the larger secular culture. Learning “to read the signs of the times,” as pronounced by Pope John XXIII, requires both a sense of history and the recognition of the contemporary world.

Thereby, an interdisciplinary approach that coordinates but integrates the findings of the many academic disciplines available at Georgetown University can offer the multiple perspectives of Catholicism as a religious institution, a historical tradition, a culture, and a social identity. The Catholic Studies Program consciously pursues the goal of offering students and faculty the opportunity to pursue an understanding of Catholicism through interdisciplinary study, merging for example theology with politics, scripture with gender studies, religion with science, and cultural history with the arts and new media.

The Catholic Studies Program at Georgetown University strives to be inclusive as it welcomes students and professors from widely divergent intellectual and religious backgrounds to study, explore, and understand the multi-leveled meaning of Catholicism in history and in the contemporary world.

The Interdisciplinary Program in Catholic Studies

Students may wish to pursue a Minor in Catholic Studies or to take courses on an elective basis which would expand and deepen their understanding of Catholicism. The Catholic Studies Program sponsors courses designed specifically to foster the interdisciplinary approach to the study of Catholic culture as it draws widely on courses which as a whole or in substantial part deal with aspects of Catholicism offered independently by various academic departments.

The requirements for the minor and the interdisciplinary courses sponsored by the Catholic Studies Program which serve to fulfill those requirements are described on the Minor Requirements page.

Minor in Catholic Studies

All students wishing to minor in Catholic Studies must complete the introductory course (CATH 111: Introduction and Explorations in Catholic Culture) plus one additional Catholic Studies core course, three approved electives, and the senior capstone (CATH 301: Catholic Studies Tutorial).

Core Courses
Students who have declared a minor in Catholic Studies are required to take one additional CATH course as identified and approved by the Program Director as a core course. However as course offerings vary from semester to semester, students should check the Catholic Studies Program website regularly for updated information such as course offerings, faculty research, and events.

Electives
Catholic Studies minors should work with the Catholic Studies Program Director to select elective courses either within the program proper or from other academic departments—typically with a limit of two courses of any one department—which logically connect with the issues and themes encountered in their Catholic Studies coursework. Every semester, the Catholic Studies Program compiles a list of courses that meet the qualifications of electives and can be used to meet this requirement. The most current information for “cross-listed” courses can be found on the Catholic Studies Program website.

Senior Capstone Course
During the senior year, candidates for the Minor in Catholic Studies are required to take an independent reading course identified as CATH 301: Catholic Studies Capstone Tutorial. This individualized course provides the student with the opportunity to develop an in-depth examination of a question or topic through the lens of the Catholic imagination. Students may choose to investigate the links between their academic major or their anticipated careers with Catholicism. Throughout the semester, students will meet with their faculty mentor to engage in discussion of their study.

Please direct all questions or inquiries to the Catholic Studies Program Director, Fr. Robert Lawton, S.J., ICC 303.