During Schools Week, Celebrating LGBTQ+ Studies in Catholic Higher Ed
This week is National Catholic Schools Week, a time for Catholic schools across the United States to celebrate their identity, gifts, and service. The week often includes special Masses at the schools as well as open houses and other events for students, parents, and community members who are looking to learn about Catholic education.
To celebrate the week, New Ways Ministry contacted select Catholic campuses to encourage their campus ministry offices to include their support for LGBTQ+ students in their National Catholic Schools Week celebrations. While our readers might remember our Bondings 2.0 posts about the negative experiences of LGBTQ+ students in Catholic education, we invite you to celebrate with us the steps some Catholics schools have taken to include care for LGBTQ+ students in their school identity.
As part of New Ways Ministry’s celebration of Catholic education, we have compiled a brief list of courses on LGBTQ+ topics available at several Catholic colleges and universities in the U.S..
Common course topics across campuses include introductory classes to LGBTQ+ issues academically referred to as “queer theory,” a perspective on interpreting and critiquing culture through the eyes of LGBTQ+ people. Many schools also have courses on the intersection of LGBTQ+ studies with other academic departments and fields (e.g., ethnic studies, literature, theology, history, drama, communications, psychology, sociology).
Some of the more unique courses are listed below with links to other related courses and the school’s LGBTQ+ student resources.
All of the listed universities offer the courses through their respective Women’s and Gender Studies major/minor programs, except for DePaul University which has a dedicated Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Studies minor. All the colleges listed are Jesuit institutions, except for DePaul, which is run by the Vincentians, and the University of San Diego, a private Roman Catholic university.
If you know of other Catholic colleges offering courses on LGBTQ+ topic, please share the information with us either by making a “Comment” on this post OR by contacting New Ways Ministry’ college outreach coordinator at [email protected].
DePaul University
DePaul University(Chicago, Illinois)
Queer Writers Of Color
Movements For Gender And Trans Justice
Fairfield University
(Fairfield, Connecticut)
The Battle over Family Values in American Politics
Sociology of Gender and Sexuality
Fordham University
Fordham University(New York City, New York)
Bible and Human Sexuality
Love and Sex in Early Modern Literature
Georgetown University
(Washington, DC)
Sexual Politics in the Arab World
Violence/Gender/Human Rights
Gonzaga University
(Spokane, Washington)
Philosophy of Sex & Gender
Gender and Pop Culture
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University(Los Angeles, California)
Christian Marriage and Sexuality
Sex and the City of God
Loyola University Chicago
(Chicago, Illinois)
Theology Capstone: Queer Theology
History of Sexuality
Complete Course List (click summer, fall, or spring semester links)
Marquette University
Marquette University(Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Gender, Sexuality, Literature
Human Sexuality
Santa Clara University
(Santa Clara, California)
Gender and Sexuality in East Asia
Catholic Theology and Human Sexuality
Seattle University
Seattle University(Seattle, Washington)
Topics in Race, Class, Gender, Sexuality Studies
Gender Roles and Sexuality
University of San Diego
(San Diego, California)
LGBTQ in Business & Economics
Sexual Ethics in the Catholic Tradition
–Glen Bradley, New Ways Ministry, February 1, 2017
God bless those listed colleges!!! 🙂
Delighted to add several courses in Gender Studies and Queer Theory, taught by Assistant Prof. K. J. Rawson — who is himself a transgender academic –, at the (Jesuit-run) College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, which also happens to be my own undergraduate alma mater. See the listings here:
http://www.holycross.edu/academics/programs/english/faculty-staff/kjrawson
The Jesuits really rock, especially when it comes to promoting social justice issues and pedagogy. And I can’t imagine that Jesus Himself — who embraced the marginalized and dispossessed people of His time — would want His Church to behave in any other way.