Course Descriptions and Student Learning Outcomes for Core Curriculum and Electives

TRS 563 Ressourcement Theology for Evangelists

This course explores the rich theological heritage of the 20th century ressourcement movement and its continuing relevance for contemporary evangelization. Students will engage with the foundational works of theologians such as Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Joseph Ratzinger, and others who sought to renew Catholic theology by returning to patristic and medieval sources. The course examines how these thinkers' retrieval of classical theological aesthetics, metaphysics, and biblical exegesis provides intellectual resources for addressing contemporary cultural challenges to faith.

Special attention will be given to how ressourcement theology illuminates the beauty, goodness, and truth of the Catholic tradition in ways that speak to modern seekers. Students will explore how these theological insights can be translated into effective evangelistic approaches that engage with contemporary culture while remaining rooted in the Church's intellectual tradition. The course incorporates Bishop Robert Barron's distinctive emphasis on the Catholic intellectual tradition as a vital component of the New Evangelization, demonstrating how deep theological understanding enables more compelling proclamation of the Gospel in today's secular context.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Discuss the ways in which the Church’s approach to systematic theology relates to evangelizing the culture.
  2. Identify key principles of Eucharistic theology, dogmatic theology, and ecclesiology.
  3. Assess ways in which major themes in systematic theology can be used in the task of evangelization.
TRS 564 Reading for Evangelists

This course invites students into the rich landscape of the Catholic literary tradition to explore how great stories can illuminate the path of evangelization. Through close reading of authors such as Dante, Newman, Chesterton, Flannery O’Connor, Tolkien, and others, students will reflect on how narrative, imagination, and beauty reveal truth and speak to the deepest human longings. In dialogue with a culture shaped by story, this course considers how literature can form the heart and imagination of the evangelist, offering a compelling witness to the Gospel in a postmodern world.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Describe the Catholic literary tradition.
  2. Discuss the Catholic literary tradition’s power to evangelize the culture.
  3. Assess various examples in which Catholic literature is used to evangelize the culture.
 TRS 565 Christology for Evangelists

At the heart of evangelization is the person of Jesus Christ—true God and true man. This course explores the mystery of Christ through the lens of evangelization, engaging both the biblical witness and the Church’s doctrinal development from the early councils to contemporary theology. Students will examine key questions about the identity, mission, and saving work of Christ, while also considering how to proclaim Him compellingly in a secular age. Emphasizing both intellectual clarity and pastoral sensitivity, this course prepares evangelists to speak of Christ as the answer to the deepest longings of the human heart.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Explain orthodox Christology
  2. Compare important Christological heresies with orthodox Christology
  3. Illustrate the significance for evangelization of the Catholic doctrine that the eternal logos entered history
TRS 566 The True: Philosophy for Evangelists (apologetics)

This course introduces students to the intellectual tradition of Catholic apologetics, equipping them to engage the modern world with clarity, reason, and charity. Rooted in the philosophical foundations of truth, being, and the human person, students will examine common secular objections to the faith—such as the existence of God, the problem of evil, the relationship between science and religion, and moral relativism. Drawing from classical and contemporary thinkers, the course forms evangelists to respond thoughtfully and persuasively to the questions of our time, always pointing toward the fullness of truth revealed in Christ.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Accurately describe some common secular objections to Catholicism.
  2. Explain the principles behind Catholic responses to some common secular objections to Catholicism.
  3. Practice responding to some common secular objections to Catholicism.

TRS 567 The Good: Moral Theology for Evangelists

This course explores the foundations of Catholic moral theology through the lens of evangelization. Drawing from sources such as Scripture, the Church Fathers, the moral thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, and contemporary authors, this course equips evangelists to present the moral life as a path to freedom, joy, fidelity to God, and happiness in Christ.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Describe the Catholic conception of authentic happiness and its relation to virtue, divine law, and Christian discipleship.
  2. Explain the relationship between the moral life as a whole and happiness.
  3. Explain the relationship between various moral topics and debates and Christian happiness.
TRS 568 The Beautiful: Art and The Sacred Arts for Evangelists

This course explores the Catholic understanding of way of beauty, the via pulchritudinis, as a powerful means of evangelization. Rooted in the Church’s sacramental imagination, students will examine how beauty reveals the divine, awakens wonder, and draws the soul toward truth and goodness. Topics include beauty in the theological tradition, beauty in the liturgy, the unity of the transcendentals, and the dynamic interplay between “high art” and “popular art” in contemporary culture. Through engagement with sacred music, visual arts, architecture, and film, students will consider the human experience of beauty in nature and the arts as an effective path in evangelization.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Explain the notion of beauty from a Catholic lens.
  2. Describe how beauty can serve as an effective tool of evangelization.
  3. Discuss examples of beauty serving as an effective tool for evangelization.
TRS 569 Biblical Studies for Evangelists

This course offers an introduction to the Old and New Testaments, approached through a hermeneutic of evangelization. Students will explore how the grand narrative of Scripture—from creation and covenant to Christ and the Church—reveals God’s saving plan and calls forth a response of faith. Emphasizing Catholic approaches to interpretation, the course equips evangelists to read and proclaim Scripture as a living Word that speaks to the heart of every culture and generation.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Engage in biblical interpretation with a “hermeneutics of evangelization.”
  2. Deepen understanding of Scripture through appropriate use of resources.
  3. Describe the role of the Bible in the life and liturgy of the Church.
TRS 570 Advanced Topics in Evangelization I: Summer Residency (elective)

Spend part of your summer immersed in study and fellowship on the beautiful campus of The Catholic University of America in the heart of the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. This intensive course explores some of the most pressing issues facing evangelists today, including evangelization and new media, politics and the Gospel, evangelization in times of persecution, Church history for evangelists, and the demands of cross-cultural mission (topics will vary based on the expertise of the faculty instructor). Combining theological reflection with practical strategies, the course prepares students to bring the timeless message of Christ into the complex realities of the contemporary world.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Discuss various topics from the MA in Evangelization and Culture in person with professors and fellow students.
  2. Debate various approaches to evangelization.
  3. Argue for a thesis related to the residency topic in written form OR complete a practical project related to evangelization based on the topics of the MA in Evangelization and Culture program.
TRS 571 Advanced Topics in Evangelization II: Summer Residency (elective)

Spend part of your summer immersed in study and fellowship on the beautiful campus of The Catholic University of America in the heart of the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. This intensive course explores some of the most pressing issues facing evangelists today, including evangelization and new media, politics and the Gospel, evangelization in times of persecution, Church history for evangelists, and the demands of cross-cultural mission (topics will vary based on the expertise of the faculty instructor). Combining theological reflection with practical strategies, the course prepares students to bring the timeless message of Christ into the complex realities of the contemporary world

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Discuss various topics from the MA in Evangelization Culture together in person with professors and fellow students.
  2. Debate the merits and challenges of various approaches to evangelization.
  3. Argue for a thesis related to the residency topic in written form OR complete a practical project related to evangelization based on the topics of the Evangelization and Culture MA program.
TRS 572 Dante for Evangelists (elective)

This course explores how Dante Alighieri—one of history’s greatest poets—offers a profound and enduring vision of the Catholic philosophical, theological, moral, and artistic tradition. Through a close reading of The Divine Comedy, students will examine how Dante’s masterpiece integrates the truths of faith with the beauty of art, offering a powerful resource for evangelization today. Special attention will be given to Dante’s portrayal of the human journey toward God, his synthesis of reason and revelation, and his ability to speak across centuries to the deepest longings of the human heart.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Accurately state the content and narrative of some select works of Dante.
  2. Discuss Dante’s relationship to the Catholic literary, philosophical, theological, moral, and artistic tradition.
  3. Illustrate Dante’s contemporary relevance for evangelization.
TRS 573 The Evangelical Legacy of Vatican II (elective)

This course examines the true evangelical spirit at the heart of the Second Vatican Council. Rather than a rupture with the past, Vatican II represents a deep renewal rooted in Christ aimed at proclaiming the Gospel to the modern world. Students will engage the Council’s key documents to understand its vision for evangelization: a Church confident in her mission, luminous with beauty, truth, and goodness, and fully engaged with the culture without compromising her identity and mission. Students will reflect on how Vatican II offers a vital blueprint for missionary discipleship today.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Accurately relate the contents of key Vatican II documents.
  2. Accurately state common misconceptions about the purpose and content of Vatican II.
  3. Evaluate common misconceptions about the purpose and content of Vatican II by reference to the texts of Vatican II.
TRS 574 Spirituality for Evangelists (elective)

This course explores how the thought and practice of the great spiritual masters and saints of the Church can serve as potent tools for inviting people into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Student Learning Outcomes:

  1. Learn about and compare the spiritualities of some of the great spiritual masters and saints of the Church.
  2. Explain the relationship of spirituality to evangelization.
  3. Illustrate ways in which the Catholic spiritual tradition can serve as a tool of evangelization.
TRS 575 Patristics for Evangelists (elective)

This course introduces students to the riches of the Church Fathers, highlighting their enduring relevance for evangelization today. Through a study of key figures such as Augustine, Athanasius, Chrysostom, and Gregory of Nazianzus, students will explore how the early Church confronted theological, cultural, and philosophical challenges with clarity, conviction, and pastoral wisdom. Special attention will be given to how the writings of the Fathers can help address secular criticisms of the Catholic Church.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Discuss the thought of select Fathers of the Church.
  2. Evaluate Protestant critiques of the Church with the thought of the Fathers of the Church.
  3. Evaluate secular critiques of the Church with the thought of the Fathers of the Church.
TRS 576 Evangelization and Anthropology (elective)

This course examines the full complexity of the human person as both the subject and object of evangelization. Drawing from biological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual perspectives, students will explore how a true understanding of human nature informs and shapes the Church’s missionary efforts. Attention will be given to the integration of natural and supernatural dimensions of the person, the social nature of belief, and the ways in which culture, identity, and human longing impact the reception of the Gospel. Students will be equipped to evangelize with greater depth, realism, and compassion.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Discuss the biological dimensions of being the subject and object of evangelization
  2. Discuss the psychological and spiritual dimensions of being the subject and object of evangelization
  3. Discuss the spiritual dimensions of being the subject and object of evangelization
TRS 577 Practical Evangelization (elective)

This course focuses on the concrete “how to” of effective evangelization in today’s world. Students will explore practical strategies for proclaiming the Gospel across a range of contemporary contexts, both digital and physical. Topics include using social media for evangelization, creating and sustaining evangelical communities, building a culture of life, and responding to indifference, opposition, and hostility with wisdom and charity. Combining theological insight with practical application, this course equips students to evangelize with creativity, courage, and pastoral sensitivity in an increasingly complex cultural landscape.

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply lessons from other courses in the MA in Evangelization and Culture to the task of evangelization.
  2. Employ media technology in a project aimed at evangelization.
  3. Assess various media for their suitability with regard to different types of evangelization messages.
TRS 578 Evangelization and Culture Capstone

This course is designed to give students an opportunity to design and implement a project that reflects a concrete commitment to evangelizing the culture that is implemented in the student's home, parish, or in other apostolic endeavors.