Program description:

This program will provide professional training for those involved in promoting care for our common home, Mother Earth, and award a professional certificate in environmental justice for those completing the program over one year to eighteen months.  Courses will involve study of Pope Francis' seminal document, Laudato Si’, and lectures by specialists in the fields of climate justice and creation spirituality. Participants will study and discuss an interfaith understanding of nature-derived spirituality as first developed by Native peoples in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They will explore the role of the arts in approaching nature from a contemplative perspective rather the exploitative model that has led to the present environmental crisis.  Finally, students will learn sustainable strategies to heal Mother Earth, and to develop rituals that can become part of the spiritual communities in which they are members.  Each student will be assigned a mentor who will assist them in designing an environmental education project for a school, neighborhood or faith-based organization.  Implementation of the project and identification of the participants and sponsoring group or organization will comprise the capstone course for this professional certificate program.

Program requirements: 

1) In 18 months or less students will complete four courses from among GMU's courses that pertain to its focus on creation spirituality, environmental justice, and their interaction; and complete CS301, an environmental education project design that will serve as the final project in fulfillment of the requirements toward the professional certificate.

2) One foundational course is required:  CS300: Laudato Si’: Pope Francis’ Call to Care for Our Common Home.  This is a synchronous course that will include Zoom sessions and be offered to all program enrollees at once. See course syllabus for more details.

For the other 3 courses, students may choose from among the following independent study courses:

TH509 Ecological Theology

TH516 Evolutionary Theology

TH517 Spiritual Ecology

TH542  Empowered by the Living Light

TH543 Teilhard de Chardin: Insights of an Evolutionary Mystic

TH575 Mysticism in Christian Tradition

TH580 Creation Spirituality

TH646 Journey Into the Spiritual Center

DR913 Art & Mysticism

These are asynchronous, independent study courses to be taken at the students' own pace; they may, however, include some Zoom sessions.

They are located in the GMU Classroom as follows:

TH509:  Under Masters Level Courses/Ethics & Moral Theology

TH516, TH517, TH542, TH543, TH 575, TH580, and TH646:  Under Masters Level Courses/Spirituality 

DR913:  Under Doctoral Level Courses/Spirituality

Students may take any of these courses concurrently with CS300; however, GMU strongly recommends completing CS300 before proceeding to these other courses. 

CS300 and the three independent study courses must be completed within 15 months of beginning the CSEJ Certificate Program.

 

3) CS301: CSEJ Certificate Program Project Design

Design of an environmental education project for a school, neighborhood or faith-based organization will be the capstone course and project for this professional certificate. Work on the project may begin as soon as all coursework is completed.  Students will be assigned a mentor who will assist them in the design of the project and identification of the participants as well as sponsoring group or organization. (You'll have the option of drawing upon the project design described in your final paper from the Laudato Si' course).

 

 

CS300 Laudato Si’: Pope Francis’ Call to Care for Our Common Home

We will immerse ourselves deeply in the text of Laudato Si’ with its many layers of understanding, inspiration, and action.  Our approach will address the intellectual and emotional challenges of this work, as well as deepen our spiritual resources. Classes will take place in a Zoom format with a mini-lecture, discussion, short video or guest speaker on implementation. We will integrate prayer and reflection in every session.

CS301 Issues in Environmental Justice and Climate Change

This course is required for students working toward a certificate in Creation Spirituality and Environmental Justice.  It will guide them through the basics of understanding environmental justice and climate change and provide an introduction on how these concepts apply to race, gender, and geography.

CS302 CSEJ Certificate Project Design

Design of an environmental education project for a school, neighborhood or faith-based organization will be the capstone course and project for the CSEJ professional certificate. Work on the project may begin as soon as all coursework is completed.  Students will be assigned a mentor who will assist them in the design of the project and identification of any participants as well as of a sponsoring group or organization. (Students will have the option of drawing upon the project design described in their final paper from the Laudato Si' course).

Students have three months to complete this project; more if they complete their coursework in less than 15 months.

Additional information on CS301 will be posted as it becomes available.

CS303a Eco-Art & Creation Spirituality

The purpose of this course is to explore and awaken one’s natural creativity through participation in seven Eco-Art activities, performed within nature and approached from the perspective of creation spirituality and its four paths.  Such exploration and awakening can surface the authentic self, thereby enabling inner healing. They can also engender a deep sense of sacredness and an appreciation for the oneness of all things, leading to the discovery of a deep and lasting set of values – including a passionate desire to care for the earth, and to address the sacred connection one should have with her, with all her creatures, and especially with the Creator.