The Religion, Culture, and Family Project

Project Resources

Sample Course Syllabi

The following courses on issues concerning religion and the family have been taught at colleges and universities in the United States. Click on course title to link to description and bibliography.

Religious Ethics and Family Theory
Love: Human Fulfillment in Religion and the Social Sciences
Family Life, Faith, and Society
Pastoral Care of Families
Psychology and Theology: The Family
Pastoral Theology and the Family
Catholicism and the Family
Genetics, Theology, and Family Ethics
Ethics of Sex and Gender
The Family
Families in Theological Perspective

Religious Ethics and Family Theory

Objectives: Introduces the student to central secular and theological alternatives for conceptualizing the family in the Western cultural traditions.

Marxism and Historicism on the Family

Feminism and Rational Choice Theory
Aquinas and the Family
Luther and the Family
Calvin and the Family

Love: Human Fulfillment in Religion and the Social Sciences

Objectives: Examines contemporary and classical theological, philosophical, and social scientific resources for understanding the meaning and purpose of love.

Some Contemporary Theological Alternatives

Anders Nygren, Agape and Eros, pp. 27-60
Reinhold Niebuhr, Nature and Destiny of Man II, pp. 68-97
Gene Outka, "Universal Love and Impartiality," in Santurri and Werpehowski,
    The Love Commandments, pp. 6-91
L. Janssens, "Norms and Priorities of a Love Ethic," Louvain Studies
Christine Gudorf, "Parenting, Mutual Love, and Sacrifice," Woman's
    Consciousness, Women's Conscience
Andolsen, "Agape in Feminist Ethics," Journal of Religious Ethics
Some Models of Love in the Social Sciences
Jonathan Lear, Love and Its Place in Nature: A Philosophical Interpretation of
    Freudian Psychoanalysis, Intro.-ch.3
Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents
David Buss, The Nature of Desire
Stephen Pope, "'Equal Regard' vs. 'Special Relations': Reaffirming the
    Inclusiveness of Agape"
Richard Posner, "Sex and Rationality" and "Sexuality from the Perspective of
    Economics," in Sex and Reason
Some Classic Ancient Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
Plato, Symposium
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, bks. 8-9
Victor Furnish, "Love of Neighbor in the New Testament," Journal of
    Religious Ethics
Marcus Barth, Ephesians, selections
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica 2a2ae, QQ. 23 and 26
Stephen Pope, "The Order of Love and Recent Catholic Ethics,"
    Theological Studies

Family Life, Faith, and Society

Objectives: Explores the relationship of theological ethics to historic and contemporary forces shaping family life and sexual behavior. Focuses on directions for theological ethics, pastoral practice, and church policy.

Some Common Bases for Discussion

Leon Kass, "Man and Woman: An Old Story," First Things (no. 17, Nov. 1991).
David Popenoe, et al., Promises to Keep (Rowman and Littlefield, 1996),
    chs 1, 5-8, 10-11, 13.
E. O. Lauman, et al., The Social Organization of Sexuality (U. of Chicago, 1994).
Michel Foucault, History of Sexuality, Volume 1 (trans. R. Hurley, 1978).

What are the Churches Saying?

Max Stackhouse, Covenant and Commitments (Westminster/
    John Knox Press, 1997).
Phyllis Airhart and Margaret Lamberts Bendroth, Faith Traditions
    and the Family (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996).

Sex and Gender

Anne Carr and Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, Religion, Feminism and
    the Family (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996).
Lisa Sowle Cahill, Sex, Gender, and Christian Ethics
    (Cambridge U. Press, 1996).
Choon-Leong Seow, Homosexuality and Christian Community
    (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996).

Divorce and Children

Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up With a Single Parent:
    What Hurts, What Helps (Harvard U. Press, 1994).
John Witte, Jr., "The Legal Transformation of the Western Family,"
    Criterion (Spring 1995).

Family Theology

James Gustafson, Ethics from a Theocentric Perspective, Volume 2
    (U. of Chicago, 1984), ch. 5.
Max Stackhouse, Covenant and Commitments (Westminster/
    John Knox Press, 1997), ch. 5.

Pastoral Care of Families

Objectives: To learn how to think systems about families, identify the ordinary and extraordinary transitions in a families history of significance for the church, to be aware of the relation of family to society, and to develop a theology of the family.

Every Family Has a Legacy

Herbert Anderson, The Family in Pastoral Care (Philadelphia: Fortress
    Press, 1984), ch.s 1, 3, 5, 7
Edwin Friedman, Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church
    and Synagogue (New York: Guilford Press, 1985), ch.s 1 and 2
Froma Walsh, ed. Normal Family Process (New York: Guilford Press, 2nd
    edition, 1993)
The Delicate Art of Living Through Transitions
Edwin Friedman, Generation to Generation, ch. 7
Herbert Anderson, "The Family as a Context for Change and Changing
    Context: A Sign That God is Always Making Something New," Journal of Psychology and Christianity, Vol.3, No. 4, 1984
Frank S. Pittman, III MD, "A Theory of Crisis," Turning Points: Treating
    Families in Transition and Crisis (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1987)
The Context of the Family
Jaime Inclan and Ernesto Ferran, Jr., "Poverty, Politics, and Family
    Therapy: A Role for Systems Theory," The Social and Political Contexts of Family Therapy, ed. M. P. Mirkin (Allyn and Bacon, 1990)
Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, "Dan Quayle Was Right," Atlantic Monthly,
    April 1993
Judith Stacey, Brave New Families: Stories of Upheaval in Late
    Twentieth Century America (New York: Basic Books, 1990)
McGoldrick, Pearce, and Giordano, eds., Ethnicity and Family Therapy
    (New York: Guilford Press, 1982)
If You Want to Know How Well a Family Functions, Ask About Leaving Home
Herbert Anderson, Leaving Home (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox
    Press, 1993)
Edwin Friedman, From Generation to Generation, ch. 6
B. Carter and M. Goldrick, The Changing Family Life Cycle (New York:
    Gardner Press, 1988), ch.s 13, 14, 19
You Must Leave Before You Can Cleave
Herbert Anderson and Robert Cotton Fite, Becoming Married (Louisville:
    Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993)
Edward Foley and Herbert Anderson, "A Wedding of Stories," Mighty
    Stories, Dangerous Rituals: Waving and the Human and the Divine (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997)
Edwin Friedman, Generation to Generation, ch.s 3, 7
Wallerstein and Blakeslee, The Good Marriage: How and Why Love Lasts
    (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995)
Popenoe, Elshtain, and Blankenhorn, eds., Promises to Keep: Decline and
    Renewal of Marriage in America (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996)
Raising Children
Herbert Anderson and Susan Johnson, Regarding Children: A New
    Respect for Childhood and Families (Louisville, Westminster/John Knox Press, 1994)
Urie Bronfenbrenner, "Discovering What Families Do," in Blankenhorn,
    et al., eds, Rebuilding the Nest (Milwaukee: Family Service America, 1990)
Victor Fuchs, "Are Americans Underinvesting in Children?," ibid.
Edwin Friedman, Generation to Generation, ch. 4
Promising Again
Herbert Anderson, et al., Promising Again (Louisville:
    Westminster/John Knox Press, 1995)
Carter and McGoldrick, The Changing Family Life Cycle, ch.s 13, 14,
    16-18
Living Alone
Herbert Anderson and Freda Gardner, Living Alone (Louisville:
    Westminster/John Knox Press, 1997)
Schwartzberg, Berliner, and Jacob, Single in a Married World: A Life
    Cycle Framework for Working with the Unmarried Adult (New York: W.W. Norton, 1994)
Interventive Methods in Pastoral Work With Families
Augustus Napier and Carl Whitaker, The Family Crucible (New York:
    Harper and Row, 1978)
Deborah Anna Luepnitz, The Family Interpreted: Feminist Theory in
    Clinical Practice (New York: Basic Books, 1988)
Michael Nichols and Richard C. Schwartz, Family Therapy: Concepts and
    Metaphors (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1995)
Carl Whitaker and David Keith, "Counseling the Dissolving Marriage," in
    Stahmann and Hiebert, eds, Klemer's Counseling in Marital and Sexual Problems (Baltimore: Williams and Wilkens)
Michael Lawler, Secular Marriage, Christian Sacrament (Mystic Ct:
    23rd Publications, 1985)

What We Believe About Families and What Families Believe

Herbert Anderson, The Family in Pastoral Care, ch.s 2, 4, 6
Gerald Foley, Family-Centered Church: A New Parish Model (Kansas
    City: Sheed and Ward, 1995)
Pope John Paul II, "The Apostolic Exhortation on the Family," Origins
    Vol. LL, Nos. 28, 29.
Phyllis Airhart and Margaret Bendroth, Faith Traditions and the Family
    (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996)

Psychology and Theology: The Family

Objectives: Focuses on images of generativity in contemporary society in order to acquaint students with changes in patterns of work, love, marriage, and family.

Loving and Working

Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Work and Family as Theological Dilemma
    (Abingdon, 1994)
Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, Gender and Grace: Love, Work and Parenting
    in a Changing World (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity, 1990)
Rosemary Curran Barciauskas and Debra BerryHull, Loving and Working
    (Meyer-Stone, 1989)
Sara Ruddick and Pamela Daniels, Working It Out (Pantheon, 1987)
John Raines and Conna Day-Lower, Modern Work and Human Meaning
    (Westminster, 1986)
Francesca Cancian, Love in America (Cambridge, 1987)
Lisa Sowle Cahill, Between the Sexes: Foundations of a Christian
    Ethics of Sexuality (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985)

Family and Kin

Judith Stacey, Brave New Families (Basic Books, 1990)
Susan Miller Okin, Justice, Gender, and the Family (Basic Books, 1989)
David Popenoe, Disturbing the Nest (Aldine De Gruyter, 1988)
Barrie Thorne and Marilyn Yalom, eds., Rethinking the Family
    (Longman, 1982)
Janet Fishburn, Confronting the Idolatry of Families: A New Vision for
    the Household of God (Nashville: Abingdon, 1991)
Richard Louv, Childhood's Future (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1990)
Harriet McAdoo, ed., Black Families (Beverley Hills: Sage, 1988)
Sanford Dornbusch and Myra Strober, eds, Feminism, Children, and the
    New Families (New York: Guilford, 1988)

Pastoral Theology and the Family

Cultural Critiques

Christopher Lasch, Haven in a Heartless World
Robert Bellah, et al., Habits of the Heart
Stephanie Coontz, The Way We Never Were
Dizard and Gadlin, The Minimal Family
David Popenoe, Disturbing the Nest
Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, Growing Up With a Single Parent

Psychology and the Family

Jessica Benjamin, Bonds of Love: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and the
    Problem of Domination
Boyd-Franklin, Black Families in Therapy: A Multisystems Approach
Friedman, Generation to Generation
Minuchin and Fishman, Family Therapy Techniques
David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America
William Doherty, Sould Searching: Why Psychotherapy Must Promote
    Moral Responsibility

Social Science and the Family

Collins, Black Feminist Thought
Berry, The Politics of Parenthood
Brazelton, Families: Crisis and Caring
Leach, Children First
Weston, The Families We Choose: Lesbians, Gays, and Kinship

Pastoral Theology

Herbert Anderson and Johnson, Regarding Children
Herbert Anderson, The Family and Pastoral Care
David Balch, Let Wives Be Submissive
Olson and Leonard, Ministry With Families in Flux
Patton and Childs, Christian Marriage and Family
Deotis Roberts, Roots of a Black Future: Family and Church
Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, After Eden

Catholicism and the Family

Objectives: To develop a richer understanding of the theology, history, and existential situation of the Catholic family.

History of the Catholic/Christian Family

Leo Perdue, et al., Families in Ancient Israel (Louisville:
    Westminster/John Knox Press, 1997)
Carolyn Osiek, "The Family in Early Chrisitanity." Catholic Biblical
    Quarterly, 1/1/96
Lisa Sowle Cahill, Sex, Gender, and Christian Ethics (Cambridge,
    1996), selections
Robert W. Shaffern, "Christianity and the Rise of the Nuclear Family,"
    America, 5/7/94
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Families, the Economy, and
    the Church, 1988

Catholic Family Theology

Alvin Werth, "The Family," from Papal Pronouncements on Marriage and
    the Family, From Leo XIII to Pius XII, 1955
John Paul II, On the Family: An Apostolic Exhortation, 1981
John Conley, "Family, Tradition, and Papacy," America, 4/29/95
Mary M. Pedersen, "The Family: A Symbol of God's Love," The Catholic
    World, 7/1/93
Dennis Edwards, "The Open Table: Theological Reflections on the
    Family," The Australasian Catholic Record, 7/1/95
Tim Unsworth, "Anatomy of an Annulment," in Here Comes Everybody,
    1993
Ernie Cortez, "Reflections on the Catholic Tradition of Family Rights,"
    in One Hundred Years of Catholic Social Thought, 1991

The Catholic Family Today

Christine Hinze, "Catholic: Family Unity and Diversity Within the Body
    of Christ," in Faith Traditions and the Family, 1996
Jane Redmont, Generous Lives, 1992 (selections)
Toinette Eugene, Black Catholic Belonging, 1983 (selections)

Genetics, Theology, and Family Ethics

Ted Peters, For the Love of Children: Genetic Technology and the Future
    of the Family (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996)
Ted Peters, Playing God? Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom
    (Routledge, 1997)
Lisa Sowle Cahill, Sex, Gender, and Christian Ethics (Cambridge, 1996)
Roger L. Shinn, The New Genetics (Wakefield, RI: Moyer Bell, 1996)
Thomas A. Shannon and Lisa Sowle Cahill, Religion and Artificial
    Reproduction (New York: Crossroad, 1988)
Ronald Cole-Turner, The New Genesis: Theology and the Genetic
    Revolution (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993)
Ruth Hubbard and Elijah Wald, Exploding the Gene Myth (Boston: Beacon,
    1993)
David Heyd, Genethics: Moral Issues in the Creation of People
    (Berkeley: Univ. California, 1992)
John Paul II, The Gospel of Life(New York: Random House, 1995)
Paul Lauritzen, Pursuing Parenthood: Ethical Issues in Assisted
    Reproduction (Indiana University, 1993)
Bruce R. Reichenback and V. Elving Anderson, On Behalf of God: A
    Christian Ethic for Biology (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1995)
Barbara Katz Rothman, Recreating Motherhood: Ideology and Technology
    in a Patriarchal Society (New York: Norton, 1989)
William Storrar and Iain Torreance, Human Genetics: A Christian
    Perspective (Edinburgh: Church of Scotland, 1995)
David Suzuki and Peter Knudtson, eds, Genethics: The Clash Between
    the New Genetics and Human Values (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, rev. ed. 1990)

Ethics of Sex and Gender

C. Curran, M. Farley, R. McCormick, eds., Feminist Ethics and
    Catholic Moral Tradition (Paulist Press)
M. Foucault, History of Sexuality, Vol 1 (Vintage)
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pastoral Care for Homosexual Persons (US Catholic Conference)
John Paul II, On the Family (US Catholic Conference)
S. Parsons, Feminism and Christian Ethics (Cambridge University Press)
J. Noonan, Contraception selections (1-6, 509-533)
J. Bernauer and D. Rasmussen, "Michel Foucault's Ecstatic Thinking" in The Final Foucault (Cambridge University Press)
E. Schussler Fiorenza, "Patriarchy and Diuscipleship" in Feminist Ethics (Cambridge University Press)
M. Hunt "Friendship as Inspiration: Friendshp as Theo-Politics" in Feminist Ethics (Cambridge University Press)

The Family

S. Hewlitt, When the Bough Breaks (HarperCollins)
D. Blankenhorn, Rebuilding the Nest (Family Service America)
S. Okin, Justice, Gender and the Family (Basic Books)
B. Thorne, Rethinking the Family (Longman)
Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, Gender and Grace (Intervarsity Press)
P. Couture, Blessed are the Poor? (Abingdon)
M & K Finley, Christian Families in the Real World (Thomas More Press)
John Paul II, On the Family (U.S. Catholic Conference)
U.S. Bishops Follow the Way of Love (U.S. Catholic Conference)
Cahill and Mieth, eds., Aging (Orbis)
B. Emecheta, The Joys of Motherhood (George Braziller)

Families in Theological Perspective

Objectives: To address key family problems of fundamental concern to pastors from the perspective of classic and contemporary Christian theology in conversation with contemporary socio-cultural analyses, and looking at possible practical implications for ministry and the church.

Introduction

Introduction to the issues and scope of the course
Video: Bill Moyers, "Listening to America: Families Matter"
In-class writing assignment: my own family story

Family as a Theological Issue

Don Browning, et al., From Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), Introduction, chapters 1-3 (optional: chapters 6 and 8)

Marriage and Divorce I: Early Christian Traditions

Don Browning, et al., From Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), chapter 5
Augustine, "The Good of Marriage," in Augustine, Treatises on Marriage and Other Subjects (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1969), pp. 3-51
John Witte, Jr., From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), Intro. and chapter 1

Marriage and Divorce II: Reformation and Enlightenment Traditions

John Witte, Jr., From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), chapters 2, 3, and 5
Either: Luther, "The Estate of Marriage," in Luther's Works, Volume 45
Or: Calvin, Commentaries on the First Book of Moses, Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1948), pp. 57-66, 128-37

Marriage and Divorce III: Practical Approaches

Scott Stanley, et al., A lasting Promise: A Christian Guide to Fighting For Your Marriage (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1996)
Report due analyzing a church's marriage ministry

Parenting I: The Contemporary Problem

Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Cornel West, The War Against Parents: What We Can Do For America's Beleaguered Moms and Dads (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998), chapters 1-6
Optional: Amato and Booth, A Generation at Risk: Growing Up in an Era of Family Upheaval (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997), final chapter

Parenting II: Two Christian Traditions

Steven Ozment, When Fathers Ruled: Family Life in Reformation Europe (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983), chapters 3 and 4
Friedrich Schleiermacher, Christmas Eve: Dialogue on the Incarnation, trans. Terrence N. Tice (San Francisco, CA: EM Texts, 1990)

Parenting III: Practical Approaches

Kathleen and James McGinnis, Parenting for Peace and Justice (Ten Years Later) (Orbis, 1990)
Report due analyzing a church's parenting ministry

Families and Work

Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Also a Mother: Work and Family as Theological Dilemma (Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1994), selections
Christie Cozad Neuger and James Newton Poling, eds., The Care of Men, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1997), chapters 3 and 4
Don Browning, et al., From Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), chapter 9

Constructive Conclusions

Don Browning, et al., From Culture Wars to Common Ground: Religion and the American Family Debate (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997), chapters 10-11
Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Cornel West, The War Against Parents: What We Can Do For America's Beleaguered Moms and Dads (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998), chapters 7-9

 

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