Vocation: Christian Origins, Contemporary Practice

Catalog description

This course guides students in exploring the concept of vocation and their own sense of purpose. We'll trace the intellectual history of vocation from its Christian origins in vowed religious orders through its expansion in the Protestant Reformation to modern secular ideals of following your passion and doing what you love. We'll address major domains in which a person may feel called by God: explicitly religious ways of life like those of a nun, pastor, or missionary; fields of work such as medicine, education, and business; relationships such as marriage, singleness, and parenthood; and conditions such as disability, persecution, and injustice. A capstone project gathers, applies, and critically evaluates religious and philosophical resources relevant to students' own callings.