PASTORAL CARE FOR/WITH MARGINALIZED BODIES (PS-3260)

This course can be taken as either a 1.5 credit course, meeting for the first 7 weeks of the semester (if you are in the congregational track) or as a 3.0 credit course meeting the entire 15 weeks of the semester (if you are in the chaplaincy track).

Part 1: Congregational Track
The first 7 weeks of this course aim to ground the practice of pastoral care in the empowerment and liberation of marginalized bodies and communities. Grounded in postcolonial, intersectional, and interreligious approaches to pastoral care, this course asks that students reflect on pastoral theologies, pastoral care practices, and various case studies that center experiences of marginalization, including issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, and migration. Students will be evaluated through class participation, assigned projects, and a mid-class presentation relating to the final project.

Part 2: Chaplaincy Track
“Chaplaincy is the practical application of the spiritual dimensions of compassion.” The second portion of the course seeks to deepen compassion, empathy, listening, and soul care capacities within the life of a spiritual caregiver as informed by various spiritual traditions. Through course materials, lectures, and dialogue students will identify and analyze how care is extended or stifled at various levels of the care process as well as explore emerging examples where spiritual care is being provided: such as in healthcare, universities, corrections, the military, fire and police departments, athletic teams, and corporate settings.

This course is intended for Masters level students who have already completed an introduction to spiritual/pastoral care course and fulfills the 3rd year pastoral care requirement for MDiv students in the congregational and chaplaincy track/s. Please email registrar@psr.edu to see if space is available and include proof of vaccination with your request. [Who Cares, Intro to Pastoral/Spiritual Care; Faculty Consent required; 15 max enrollment; Auditors with faculty permission]