Syllabi
My work in the classroom is centered around helping students develop critical thinking skills and connecting them with notions of empathy. I believe in empowering students to take control of their own learning situations and take out of the class what it is they find important rather than prescribing for them what I find important. My courses are geared towards students who are taking them as a core requirement, and so are often not majors/minors.
Theo 107, Spring 2024
Loyola University Chicago
Introduction to Religious Studies
This course is an introduction to the study of religion through the lens of story and storytelling. The central questions that guide the course are what is “religion” and what can the stories that come out of different faith traditions tell us about the communities they grow out of? The objective of the course is for students to be able to identify, understand, and critically engage with the stories found both in ancient and contemporary texts, films, and other medias. This work is done through examinations of major themes found in stories including (but not limited to) creation, gender, politics, and popular culture (with an understanding that these categories often overlap with one another).
Jesus in Film
Theo 267, Fall 2023
Loyola University Chicago
This course is an examination of ancient and modern depictions of Jesus through the lens of modern film. The central questions that guide the course for the semester are: how is Jesus portrayed on-screen and how do those presentations relate to both the ancient sources and the contemporary cultures out of which the films grow? The course is structured around extensive film watching and film analysis to assess their presentation(s) of Jesus at the levels of both history and theology. Through these analyses students will learn to draw connections from the ancient material to how it is employed by directors on-screen for contemporary audiences.