Mission and Dominican Heritage

The Department of Theology and Philosophy promotes the ongoing search for truth and the practice of justice by interpreting the historical and contemporary world, engaging human experience, and responding to God’s revelation through the Catholic and Dominican traditions of reasoned analysis and faith.

Barry University was founded and is sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan. The Dominican charisms of study, prayer, community, and preaching, inform the Department’s cutting-edge approach to the integration of praxis and reflection. Believing that theological study was not just for the academy, St. Dominic preached the use of study to meet the challenges of the times. In his day, the heresy of the Cathars and revolutionary change in medieval economy were among some of the challenges.

The heresies and challenges of our times are different, and just as pressing. The ecological crisis, ongoing wars, genocides, and oppressive poverty afflict the 21st century. With its Catholic, Dominican foundation, the Department seeks to prepare young men and women to meet these challenges through an academic preparation that is joined to transformative action and based in the recognition of God's love for all Creation and God’s desire for its flourishing.

Barry’s Department of Theology and Philosophy offers several degree options at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Class sizes and our well-recognized faculty are available to assist you as you discover the relationship between theology, philosophy, and transformative action.