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Concentration in Dominican Studies

Sample Course Offerings

The Concentration in Dominican Studies is being re-structured to meet distance-learning needs. If you would like more information, please inquire about the curriculum at theology@mail.barry.edu.

A total of five courses (15 credit hours) are required for a Concentration in Dominican Studies.

The two required core courses are:
I) Dominican Spirituality: Medieval and Modern
II) The Evolution of Dominican Thought: Eight Centuries of Theological Contemplation

I. Dominican Spirituality: Medieval and Modern
Dominican SpiritualityAn introduction and overview of the sources and development of Dominican spirituality, this course will analyze the fundamental structures of this spirituality, and survey its evolution over its 800 year history. Locating the foundations of Dominican spirituality in the life and milieu of St. Dominic and the evangelical and ecclesial movement that he began in the 13th century, this course will trace his legacy and the trajectory of this movement through the representative persons and events that shape its history. Through the hermeneutical analysis of the primary sources and the study of diverse patterns of historical praxis dominant themes and categories will emerge as characteristic of the whole tradition. Special attention will be given to the contemporary situation of Dominican spirituality and the resources it offers to contemporary cultures.

Proposed Instructor: Michael Demkovich, O.P., Ph.D.

Primary Bibliography

Ashley, Benedict, O.P. The Dominicans, Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1990.

Meister Eckhart. Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher, The Classics of Western Spirituality Series, Bernhard McGinn, editor and trans., New York: Paulist Press, 1986.

Davies, Oliver. God Within: The Mystical Tradition of Northern Europe. New York: Paulist Press, 1988.

Catherine of Siena. Catherine of Siena: The Dialogue. Suszanne Noffke, O.P., trans, New York: Paulist Press, 1980.

O'Driscoll, Mary, O.P. editor. Catherine of Siena - Passion for Truth Compassion for Humanity: Selected Writings. New York: New City Press, 1993.

Nolan, Albert, O.P. Jesus Before Christianity, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Press, 1976.

Radcliffe, Timothy, O.P. Sing A New Song: The Christian Vocation, Springfield, Illinois: Templegate Publishers, 1999.

II. The Evolution of Dominican Thought: Eight Centuries of Theological Contemplation
This course seeks to identify and appreciate the general patterns and themes as well as possible variations of the Dominican school of thought as it engages culture and history over time. It offers an overview of the tradition of Dominican theological reflection as it responds to cultural and historical developments from the 13th through the 21st centuries. Although originally configured in response to the cultural, ecclesial and philosophical movements of the middle ages, the method and principles of the Dominican theological tradition evolved in response to the changing situations and new events that confronted it over the centuries. This course will examine the development Thomism as a theological school and the history of interpretations of this school. The Dominican response to the Protestant Reformation and the discovery of the Americas, the renewal of Dominican tradition in the 16th century in Italy and Spain, the growth and adaptation of the tradition before and after the French Revolution and the dramatic rise and influence of the Dominicans in the 20th century will be explored.

Proposed Instructor: John J. Markey, O.P., Ph.D.

Primary Bibliography

Vicaire, M.H., O.P. Saint Dominic and His Times, Kathleen Pond, trans, Green Bay Wisconsin: Alt Publishing Co., 1964

Tugwell, Simon, O.P. Editor and trans. Jordan of Saxony: On the Beginnings of the Order of Preachers. Dominican Sources: New Editions in English, Dublin: Dominican Publications, 1982.

Humbert of Romans, "Treatise on the Formation of Preachers" in Early Dominicans: Selected Writings. Simon Tugwell, editor, New York: Paulist, 1982.

O'Meara, Thomas, O.P. Thomas Aquinas, Theologian. Notre Dame Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997.

Sullivan, Francis Patrick, S.J., editor and trans, Indian Freedom - The Cause of Bartolome de las Casas, 14-84-1566: A Reader. Kansas City, Missouri: Sheed & Ward, 1995.

Lacordaire, Henri. Essay on the Re-Establishment of in France of the Order of Preachers. Dominican Sources in English. Dublin: Parable, 1983

Congar, Yves. Tradition and Traditions. New York: Macmillan, 1967

Schillebeeckx, Edward, O.P. Christ, the Sacrament of the Encounter with God. New York: Sheed & Ward, 1963.

Hilkert, Mary Catherine, O.P. Naming Grace: Preaching and the Sacramental Imagination. New York: Continuum, 1997.

III. The Life, Times and Thought of Thomas Aquinas
Thomas AquinasAn introduction to the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas, this course presents the major themes of Thomistic thought in the historical and intellectual milieu in which they emerged. In particular, through the study of various primary sources, the contribution of this Medieval Dominican to the Catholic understanding of God, Christian anthropology, the moral life, the person of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit will be examined; and his significance of contemporary theology and pastoral practice will be explored.
IV. A Special Area in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas
An advanced study in the theology of Thomas Aquinas, this course examines one particular dimension of Thomistic thought in greater detail. Theological topics (e.g. Revelation, Christology, Sacraments...), methodological issues (e.g. the use of philosophy, scripture, biology and the sciences), or pastoral implications (moral reasoning, ethical analysis, and law) will be studied. The effect of Thomas thought in this area on the subsequent tradition and its relevance for our own time will be investigated.

Proposed Instructor: John J. Markey, O.P., Ph.D. or other visiting scholars.

Primary Bibliography

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae: A Concise Translation. Timothy McDermott, trans., Westminster, Maryland, 1989.

Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles: On the Truth of the Catholic Faith. A.C. Pegis, J.F. Anderson, V.J. Bourke, C.J. O'Neil, editors and trans., 5 volumes, New York: Herder, 1955-57, reprinted Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1975.

Thomas Aquinas, On Evil. Jean Oesterle, trans., Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1995.

Torrell, Jean-Pierre, O.P. Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Person and His Work. Volume I. Robert Royal trans., Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1996

O'Meara, Thomas F., O.P. Thomas Aquinas, Theologian. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997.

Weisheipl, James, O.P. Friar Thomas D'Aquino: His Life, Thought and Works. Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1983.

Chenu, M.D., O.P. Towards Understanding St. Thomas. Chicago, 1964

V. Dominican Mystics in the 14th and 15th Centuries
This course will focus primarily on the emergence of two significant traditions of Dominican spirituality, often characterized as "mystical," that appear in Western Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. The first tradition originates with the theologian Meister Eckhart in the early 14th century in Northern Europe. This tradition develops through work of Dominicans Johannes Tauler and Henry Suso and the movement of various of forms of women's religious life in the German Rhineland that grounds and influences this form of mystical experience. The second tradition begins Northern Italy in the second half of the 14th century with the life and work of St. Catherine of Siena. The profound contribution of St. Catherine to the Dominican understanding of the spiritual life will be examined in some detail. St. Catherine's profound influence on the development and rapid spread of lay Dominican spirituality and the change it effects in whole Church in the 15th century will also be examined

Proposed Instructor: Michael Demkovich, O.P., Ph. D.

Primary Bibliography:

Meister Eckhart. Meister Eckhart: Teacher and Preacher, The Classics of Western Spirituality Series, Bernhard McGinn, editor and trans., New York: Paulist Press, 1986.

Davies, Oliver. God Within: The Mystical Tradition of Northern Europe. New York: Paulist Press, 1988.

Catherine of Siena. Catherine of Siena: The Dialogue. Suszanne Noffke, O.P., trans, New York: Paulist Press, 1980.

Catherine of Siena. The Letters of Catherine of Siena. Introduction and translation by Suzanne Noffke. Binghampton, New York: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1988

O'Driscoll, Mary, O.P. editor. Catherine of Siena - Passion for Truth Compassion for Humanity: Selected Writings. New York: New City Press, 1993.

Mechtilde of Magdeburg. Revelations of Mechtilde of Magdeburg 1210-1297. Translated from the manuscript in the library of the monastery of Einsiedeln by Lucy Menzies, Longmans, 1953.

VI. Dominicans in the Americas, the 16th Century
This course explores the work of Bartolome de las Casas and his work in collaboration with other Dominicans in the new world and in Spain on behalf of the indigenous peoples in the Americas. This course will investigate the theological, philosophical and political developments that occur in response to the dramatic events and debates of this century.

Proposed Instructor: Edward Sunshine, Ph. D.

Primary Bibliography

Sullivan, Francis Patrick, S.J., editor and trans, Indian Freedom - The Cause of Bartolome de las Casas, 14-84-1566: A Reader. Kansas City, Missouri: Sheed & Ward, 1995.

Helen Rand Parish, editor. Bartolome' de las Casas: The Only Way. Francis P. Sullivan, S.J., translator, New York: Paulist Press, 1992.

Gutierrez, Gustavo. Las Casas: In Search of the Poor of Jesus Christ. New York: Orbis Books, 1992.

VII. Prudential Reasoning in the Dominican Moral Tradition (3)
The Dominican tradition of growth and development in the spiritual life figures prominently in the development of a moral theology of prudential reasoning and the virtues. This moral theory builds on the Aristotelian-Alberto-Thomistic embrace of the immanent nature of human action and its subsequent influence on the formation of a rightly ordered life. Acquired and theological virtues and grace become the source of the transformation from sin (and its disorderedness) to new life (and its right orderedness). This prudent reasoning about the moral life encompasses the breadth of Christian theology and its openness to the insights of other religious and philosophical traditions. This course will explore the Dominican undercurrents in the contemporary return to virtue theory and its implications for the moral and spiritual growth of the person in community and the community in society.

Proposed Instructor: Mary Jo Iozzio, Ph.D.

Primary Bibliography:

Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologiae, Secunda Pars. Translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province. Westminster: Christian Classics, 1948.

Thomas Aquinas. Disputed Questions on Virtue. Translated by Ralph McInerny. South Bend: St. Augustine Press, 1999.

Thomas Aquinas. Commentary on Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by C.I. Litzinger, OP. Notre Dame: Dumb Ox Books, 1993.

Ashley, Benedict, OP. Living the Truth in Love: A Biblical Introduction to Moral Theology. NY: Alba House, 1996.

Chenu, Marie-Dominique, OP, Taylor, James, and Little, Lester K. Nature, Man and Society in the Twelfth Century: Essays on New Theological Perspectives in the Latin West. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998.

Gilson, Etienne. The Christian Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Translated by I.T. Shook. South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press, 1993.

Gilson, Etienne. The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy. Translated by A.H.C. Downes. South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press, 1991.

Pinckaers, Servais, OP. The Sources of Christian Ethics. Translated by Mary Thomas Noble, OP. Washington, DC: Catholic university of America Press, 1995.

Torrell, Jean-Pierre, OP. Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Person and his Work. Translated by Robert Royal. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1996.

Weisheipl, James, OP. Friar Thomas D'Aquino: His Life, Thought and Works. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1983.

VIII. The Dominicans and Their Patronage of the Arts
The priories of the friars, the monasteries of the nuns, and the convents of the sisters have provided an important setting for a unique Dominican patronage of the arts throughout Western history. This course will examine the historical, theological and religious factors that contributed to that unique patronage. Dominican houses sponsored some of the most important images in Western history. Masaccio, Fra Angelico, da Vinci, Michelangelo, El Greco, Murillo, Rubens, Rouault, Chagall, Picasso, Matisse, Le Courbusieer collaborated with Dominican friars, nuns and sisters to create sacramental iconology. The sponsorship and the images themselves together reveal a Dominican aesthetic spirituality.

Proposed Instructor: Mark Wedig, O.P. Ph. D.

Primary Bibliography

Belting, Hans Likeness and Presence: A History of the Image Before the Era of Art Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994

Cannon, Joanna "Dominican Patronage of the Arts in Central Italy: The Provincia Romana c. 1220-1320," reprint: Ph.D. dissertation, University of London, 1980.

Couturier, Marie-Alain Sacred Art, University of Texas Press, 1983

de Borchgrave, Helen A Journey into Christian Art , Minneapolis: Fortress, 1999

Goffen, Rona "Masaccio's Trinity and the Early Renaissance," in Massacio's Trinity, Rona Goffen, ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Hamburger, Jeffrey F. Nuns as Artists: The Visual Culture of a Medieval Convent, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.

Hood, William Fra Angelico at San Marco New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.

Roberts, Ann M. "Chiara Gambacorta of Pisa as Patroness of Arts," in Creative Women in Medieval and Early Modern Italy, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994, 120-154.

_______. "Simone Martini, the Dominicans and the Early Sienese Polyprych," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 45 (1982): 69-91

IX. Theology, Mysticism and Ministry: Dominican Women Through the Ages
At the very beginning of the movement that would quickly bear his name, St. Dominic founded a community of cloistered women at Prouille, France (1215). These women and those that followed them, referred to as the "Second Order," remain central to the life of the Dominican movement to this day. As communities of friars and nuns spread throughout Europe in the mid-thirteenth century, groups of laywomen began to form around these communities and share in the spirituality and mission of the two Orders. Eventually, as their numbers grew and their ministry and lifestyles multiplied, they came to be known as the "Third Order" and took their place in the mainstream of the Dominican tradition. This course will study the development and contribution of these two fundamental parts of the Dominican movement. From the early life and works of the "Beguines" and the mystic Mechtilde of Magdeburg, through to emergence of the network of communities referred to as the "Rhineland Mystics", to the rapid expansion of Second Order convents throughout Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries, and reaching a watershed with the life and work of Catherine of Siena the early women of the Dominican movement can be characterized by their profound commitment to prayer, contemplation and direct service to the poor and neglected members of the world. This course will attempt to sketch out the primary patterns of development of these movements and investigate the cultural, sociological and ecclesiological impact of these women on their milieu. The course will then examine the change and expansion of these movements during the Counter-Reformation and Baroque period in Western Europe. Special attention will be paid to transition to America and the unique historical development of Dominican women in the United States in 19th and 20th century. In this context, their dramatic growth in numbers and expansion into universities, schools, hospitals, missionary and evangelical service, and direct ministry to the poor and marginalized in our society stands as one of the most significant achievements of both the Church and the Order in the U.S. This contribution will be determined and analyzed. Contemporary questions, problems and possibilities of these types of Dominican life will also be explored.

Proposed Instructor: Sarah Fairbanks, O.P., Ph.D. or Visiting Scholars

Primary Bibliography

Catherine De Ricci, Selected Letters. Edited, selected and introduced by Domenico Di Agresti, J. Petrie and Simon Tugwell, trans., Oxford: Dominican Sources, 1985.

Catherine of Siena. Dialogue of Divine Providence. Introduction and translation by Suzanne Noffke. New York: Paulist Press, 1980.

Catherine of Siena. The Letters of Catherine of Siena. Introduction and translation by Suzanne Noffke. Binghampton, New York: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1988

Mechtilde of Magdeburg. Revelations of Mechtilde of Magdeburg 1210-1297. Translated from the manuscript in the library of the monastery of Einsiedeln by Lucy Menzies, Longmans, 1953.

Curry, Lois. Women After His Own Heart. The Sisters of St. Dominic of the American Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Caldwell, New Jersey: 1881-1981, New York: New city Press, 1981.

Hacket, Shiela. Dominican Women in Texas. Houston, Texas, Sacred Heart Convent, 1986.

Kohler, Mary Hortense. Life and Work of Mother Benedicta Bauer, O.P., 1937.

Ryan, Mary Philip. Amid the Alien Corn. St. Charles, Illinois: Jones Wood Press, 1967.

X. Dominican Theologians of the Twentieth Century
This course will examine the renewal of the Dominican traditions and charisms in the areas of philosophy and theology responding to modernity and the needs of the contemporary Church. Beginning with the renewed interest in Thomism in the later part of the 19th and the early part of the 20th centuries, special attention will be given to the contribution of LaGrange in biblical studies, the ressourcement (return to sources) of the French Dominicans beginning in the 1920s to the influence of the Dominicans at the Second Vatican Council. Chenu and Congar will exemplify the return to sources and Schillebeeckx will exemplify the relationship of philosophy to theology to pastoral practice.

Proposed Instructor: John O'Grady, S.T.D., S.S.D.

Primary Bibliography

Selected articles by LeGrange provided by the professor.

Chenu, M.D., O.P. The Theology of the Twelfth Century. Paris: Du Cerf, 1957

Congar, Yves, O.P. Lay People in the Church. Paris: Du Cerf, 1966

Congar, Yves, O.P. True and False Reform in the Church. Paris: Du Cerf, 1950.

Schillebeeckx, Edward, O.P. Jesus. New York: Crossroad, 1979.

Schillebeeckx, Edward, O.P. Christ. New York: Crossroad,1980

XI. A Special Area of Interest in Contemporary Theology or Spirituality from the Dominican Perspective
An advanced study of some specific area for contemporary theology or spirituality using Dominican sources or investigating an important question or problem for theology/spirituality using a methodology derived from studying the Dominican tradition. Generally, the themes chosen for this study should include significant cultural issues that go beyond narrow ecclesial interests. Given the characteristics of Dominican theology articulated earlier, this course will engage the experience of contemporary people and cultures in a dialogue with the relevant theological, philosophical or spiritual resources the Dominican tradition has to offer.

Proposed Instructor: To be determined by the chair.

XII. The Sacramentality of the Word in the Dominican Tradition: Toward a Theology of Preaching
The Order of Preachers was founded on the assumption that proclaiming the Word of God through both communal and individual speech and action was a fundamental act of Christian discipleship. Moreover, the Order came to regard the direct preaching of the Word, in the liturgical context and in other forms of teaching and evangelization, to be a manifestation of the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation called to proclaim the gospel in word and deed to the whole world. This course will attempt to articulate a contemporary theology of preaching as naming the grace present in the Christian community, as well as exploring the new types and varieties of preaching called forth in the Catholic Church in the Second Vatican Council. Since Vatican II revalorizes the baptismal identity of the laity and validates their full participation in the mission of Christ and the Church, this course will also explore the question of who are the preachers of God's Word for our time.

Proposed Instructor: Sarah Fairbanks, O.P., Ph.D.

Primary Bibliography

Aquinas Institute of Theology Faculty. In the Company of Preachers. Edited by Regina Siegfried and Edward Ruane, Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1993.

Foley, Nadine, editor. Preaching and the Non-Ordained. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1983.

Hilkert, Mary Catherine. Naming Grace: Preaching and the Sacramental Imagination. New York: Continuum, 1997.

Flannery, Austin, editor. Vatican Council II: Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations. A Completely Revised Translation in Inclusive Language. Northport, New York: Costello Publishing Company, 1995.

Parachini, Patricia. Lay Preaching: State of the Question. American Essays in Liturgy. Edward Foley, series editor, Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1999.

XIII. Scripture and Theology in the Dominican Tradition
This course explores the relationship between the interpretation of sacred scripture and the development of theological systems in the Dominican tradition. This course will primarily examine the use, patterns and interrelationship of scripture, prayer/spirituality and systematic theology in the selected writings of Thomas Aquinas and Edward Schillebeeckx.

Proposed Instructor: Veronica Koperski, SFCC, Ph.D., S.T.D.

Primary Bibliography

Selected Books from Aquinas Scripture Series (others as available):

Aquinas, Thomas. Commentary on Saint Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, Aquinas Scriptrue Series 1. Albany, NY: Magi Books, 1966.

Aquinas, Thomas. Commentary on Saint Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, Matthew L. Lamb, trans., Aquinas Scripture Series 2. Albany, NY: Magi Books, 1966.

________. Commentary on Saint Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians and the Letter to the Philippians, F.R. Larcher and Michael Duffy, trans., Aquinas Scripture Series 3. Albany, NY: Magi Books, 1969.

Other works of Aquinas:

Selections from the Summa and other "systematic" writings, such as the treatise on resurrection, to illustrate the use of scripture in systematic theology. (Valkenberg has a good discussion on this.)

Aquinas, Thomas. Catena Aurea: A Commentary on the Four Gospels Collected Out of the Works of the Fathers,

Aquinas, Thomas. Commentary on John,

Koperski, Veronica, "Symbol and Revelation in the Early Writings of Edward Schillebeeckx," unpublished M.A. thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 1987, ix + 66 pp.

Meier, John P. The Mission of Christ and His Church, Good News Studies 30. Wilmington, DE: Glazier, 1990, chapter two, pp. 33-48: "Jesus among the Theologians: I. Küng and Schillebeeckx."

Ryan, Thomas F. Thomas Aquinas as Reader of the Psalms. Notre Dame, IN: University Press, 2000, chapters one and two, pp. 11-60: "The Informative Structure of Super Psalmos and "The Authority of Scripture in Super Psalmos.

Schillebeeckx, Edward. Jesus: An Experiment in Christology, Hubert Hoskis, trans. New York, NY: Random House (Vintage), 1981, selected chapters.

Schillebeeckx, Edward. Christ: The Experience of Jesus as Lord, John Bowden, trans. New York, NY: Crossroad, 1983, selected chapters.


Torrell, Jean-Pierre, Saint Thomas Aquinas, vol. 1, The Person and His Work, Robert Royal, trans. Washington, DC: CUA Press, 1996, chapter 4, pp. 54-74: "Magister in Sacra Pagina." The entire book would be good background on the overall life and work of Thomas.

Valkenberg, W.G.B.M. Did Not Our Heart Burn? Place and Function of Holy Scripture in the Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Utrecht: Publications of the Thomas Instituut, 1990. x + 440 pp.

XIV. Missiology and Ministry in the Dominican Tradition
The missiology of the Dominican tradition will be explored. The model and style of mission of Dominic will be studied. Preaching as the witness of the shared life and the priority of engagement through the incarnational principle: "life precedes words" will set the foundations of this course. The early Dominican Mission in the Americas, North and South, will be surveyed. Bartolome de las Casas, San Martin de Porres, Santa Rosa de Lima as well as the early mission of the Dominican women in the U.S. will be examined to inform the Christian vocation today.

Proposed Instructors: Alicia C. Marill, D.Min., Fr. Alberto Rodriquez, OP, or other visiting professors

Primary Bibliography:

Helen Rand Parish, editor. Bartolome de las Casas: The Only Way, Francis P. Sullivan. New York: Paulist Press, 1992.

Garcia-Rivera, Alez. San Martin de Porres: The Little Stories and the Semiotics of Culture (Faith and Culture Series). New York: Orbis, 1995.

Ryan, Mary Philip. Amid the Alien Corn. St. Charles, Illinois: Jones Wook Press, 1967.

O'Meara, Thomas F., OP: Theology of Ministry. New York: Paulist Press, 1999 (Rev.)