VST Summer School Courses
Week One: July 5 – 9
Morning: 9:00am – 12:00pm
1. God and Evolution
Dr. Michael Bourgeois is Associate Professor of Theology and Director of Basic Degree Studies at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto.
An examination of evolution by natural selection and its implications for Christian theology, including biblical interpretation; sin and evil; human origins and the place of humanity in creation; the argument from design and “intelligent design”; divine immanence, transcendence, and interaction with creation; and the relation of science and theology.
2. Canadian Narratives and Moral Wisdom
The Rev. Dr. Marilyn Legge is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto and former June Callwood Professor in Social Justice at Victoria University.
Using a kaleidoscopic lens of difference, power, and complex identities, participants will explore Canadian ‘multicultural’ narratives, policies, and scriptural interpretations, and begin to develop practical knowledge for their lives and work/ministries as they imagine themselves as intercultural moral agents.
Afternoon: 1:30pm – 4:30pm
3. Ancient (Celtic) Gifts for Modern Times
John L. Bell is a hymn writer, author, and member and employee of the Iona Community.
The origins of ‘Celtic Spirituality’ are open to debate. However, fragments of song, poetry, liturgy and theology have percolated down, showing approaches to prayer, reading of scripture, organisation of religious life, and offering refreshing perspectives for living and believing today.
4. Ignited by the Spirit
The Rev. Emilie Smith is a Canadian Anglican priest currently priest-in-charge of San Juan Apostol, Chichicastenango, Guatemala.
A dynamic-interactive course that will open up our understandings of the historical structures of domination and the Spirit of Liberation that moves through our age. This course will make use of the instructor’s extensive life-experience in Latin America, and participants’ own gathered wisdom. Together we will co-create understandings of the cosmic and material forces at work in the world, and how to engage with these to be part of Creation’s flourishing.
Week Two: July 12 – 16
Morning: 9:00am – 12:00pm (Please note different times for Course #5)
Logo used with permission
5. Circle of Courage: Reclaiming Youth at Risk 9:00am – 4:30pm
In conjunction with NMC Summer School
The Rev. Dr. Martin Brokenleg, Lakota, Vice President and Co-Founder of Reclaiming Youth International and recently retired Director of the VST Native Ministries Program, and Dr. Larry Brendtro, Past President and Founder of Reclaiming Youth International.
In order to raise caring, responsible children we must meet their basic needs for Belonging, Mastery, Independence and Generosity. You will be using the Circle of Courage principles as a birthright for all children and a blueprint for reclaiming troubled children at risk, to grow and thrive.
Course Fee: $500 (includes course texts and materials)Auditors only: Monday & Friday AM; Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 9:00am – 4:30pmClick to view the Course Syllabus
6. This is Your Brain on Prayer: Body, Mind and Soul in Dialogue
The Rev. Dr. Therese DesCamp teaches, writes, and leads retreats on cognition, contemplative prayer, and developing a personal prayer practice.
This course integrates neuroscience findings with prayer and meditation practice. Students will sample multiple spiritual practices; learn about brain structure, plasticity, and the debate between materialists and dualists; explore the effect of prayer and meditation on one’s own brain.
7. Understanding Islam: Demystifying the Passion and Politics of Islam
Ms. Raheel Raza (Iona Pacific Visiting Author) is an award winning writer, public speaker, interfaith and intercultural diversity consultant, documentary film maker, poet, playwright, interfaith advocate and is the author of Their Jihad . . . Not My Jihad!
There is an intense struggle going on in the Islamic world today about what it means to be Muslim. Too often Islam is seen only in light of oil and turmoil. In an effort to unravel some of the confusing messages given by media and by some Muslims themselves, this course is an effort to give clarity to the lives of Muslims (primarily in North America) focusing on the diversity within Islam, with special emphasis on the lives of Muslim women.
Afternoon: 1:30pm – 4:30pm
8. Digitally Divine: Projecting the Liturgy CANCELLED
The Rev. Dr. Richard Bott is a worship leader, workshop facilitator and ordained minister in The United Church of Canada, who has been using digital projection in worship for over ten years.
Digital projection can work to build up or to tear down the ability of Christian community to worship. We will develop skills for using digital projection in worship (text, imagery, music and video) with integrity. Theological, educational, staffing, copyright and technical issues will be explored, with a view to introducing this tool to congregational life.
9. A Meaningful Life: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Perspectives
Dr. Christopher Ocker (Iona Pacific Visiting Scholar) is Professor of History at the San Francisco Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley, and an affiliate of the History Department at the University of California at Berkeley.
This course will examine the meaning of life according to three of the great teachers of the “Abrahamic” traditions, twelfth-century contemporaries who lived in an age of deepening religious conflict: the Muslim Al-Ghazali, the Jew Yehuda Halevi, and the Christian Bernard of Clairvaux. What common sense of life’s purpose do the three traditions share?
