LIBERAL STUDIES CORE CURRICULUM
Liberal Studies/LTHE 373: The Protestant Tradition A study of the development of Christianity with special emphasis on the Protestant Reformation and the thinking of significant contemporary Protestant theologians. Prerequisites: LTHE 101 and LTHE 201
85
3 credits
Liberal Studies/LTHE 374: Protestant Christianity in the Twenty-First Century The Protestant Christianity course is an examination of contemporary Protestant expressions and the interface of religion, politics, and social movements. The course provides a context by investigating the nature of Protestantism beginning with its origins in the Reformation of the 16th century. The defining characteristics of the movement are examined, as are the ways in which these characteristics influenced subsequent church formation both in Europe and in North America. An overview of the different traditions within the Protestant movement provides the basis for the examination of several expressions of Protestantism within the Erie area. Prerequisites: LTHE 101 and LTHE 201 3 credits Liberal Studies/LTHE 377: Ancient Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome This course examines the origins of Christianity and traces its development and institutional expansion until the end of antiquity, when the Roman church of the western Mediterranean began to resemble the Catholic Church. Central themes include the diversity of early Christian traditions, theological controversy in the service of unity, and the effects of changes in intellectual trends on ordinary people. Prerequisites: LTHE 101 and LTHE 201 3 credits Liberal Studies/LTHE 381: Christianity and World Religions: Western Tradition This course will consider the teachings of the monotheistic world religions (Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Islam) in the context of Christian belief, emphasizing both the openness of a post-conciliar Catholicism to insights from other faiths, points of similarity in beliefs and in practice between Christianity and other religions, and also the distinctiveness of different religious traditions. Prerequisites: LTHE 101 and LTHE 201 3 credits Liberal Studies/LTHE 383: Christianity and World Religions: Eastern Tradition The course will consider the teachings of the South and East Asian world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism), as well as primal (pre-literate) religions, in the context of Christian belief, emphasizing both the openness of a post-conciliar Catholicism to insight from other faiths, points of similarity in beliefs and in practice between Christianity and other religions, and also the distinctiveness of different religious traditions. Prerequisites: LTHE 101 and LTHE 201 3 credits
MINOR IN INNOVATION & CREATIVITY KURT HERSCH, MBA, Assistant Teaching Professor The Minor in Innovation & Creativity has been developed in response to a growing recognition of the importance of developing in students the skills, attitudes and mindsets that will allow them to address the complex problems of our society. Creativity and innovation have emerged over the past decade as essential to success in our rapidly changing world. The Minor in Innovation & Creativity has been constructed to develop the key elements of creativity through a series of courses in which students will be asked to question respectfully, think divergently, and act collaboratively. As students work their way through these courses, they will be given opportunity to grow creative thought into actionable innovation. Creativity has been seen as the fuel of innovation, but innovation itself requires particular micro- and macro-environments that are fueled by interdisciplinary collaboration, distributed reasoning, planned failure, creativity modeling, and personal reflection, which will serve as the thread which ties the courses in the minor together.
