I know Georgetown is affiliated with the Catholic church and you have to take theology and philosophy, but besides for those courses do the other courses have a religious curriculum? Such as do they only teach things they believe should be taught because of the bible or do they teach everything? Essentially I’m asking if Georgetown’s curriculum and courses are taught with Catholic influence?
Georgetown makes a really good effort with introducing different points of views. They know that people might have reservations about catholic bias, so they purposely invite people of different religions/points of views to teach at their classes. I know a friend who has a cousin at Georgetown, and she said she took one of the required theology classes, and it was taught by an atheist. I would say that the Catholic part manifests most in their service and commitment to the community, not in their curriculums.
Short answer: no.
Slightly longer answer: every academic discipline is pursued according to the conventions of that discipline, not those of the Catholic Church. To the extent that Catholicism ‘has opinions’ about certain subjects, you may find those views receiving greater representation at Georgetown - you are likely, for instance, to find more courses taught with a Catholic focus, although the focus is never on indoctrination or dogmatism… You are likely to see more courses on Catholic history or social justice or ethics. But you will also find such courses taught from totally different perspectives. Most of the theology courses, for instance, are not ‘of’ or about Catholicism, and many aren’t centered on Christianity at all. Academic freedom is respected, and there is no expectation that what is taught will align with Church doctrine.
When we went to parents weekend, we were told that Georgetown’s goal is to take students and if they are atheists, make them question why they do not believe in God, but likewise, if they are religious, make them question their faith.
We went on a tour there a couple weekends ago, and the tour guide said that there’s also a campus imam and a campus rabbi. She made enough comments that I got the impression she’s completely not religious, too, FWIW. Oh! Also, she said that of the list of courses one can take to fulfill that requirement are something like “can dogs get into heaven,” and while I can’t remember the idea of the other one she mentioned, it seemed pretty lighthearted as well.
^^^ Two theology courses are required at Georgetown and one of those must be either a course called The Problem of God, or a Biblical literature course.
The Problem of God class is also entirely dependent on the professor you get. I’ve had friends take it with atheist professors and friends take it with Catholic professors. They had two very different classes but both fulfilled the POG requirement.
This guy has hit the nail on the head. I rather enjoyed my theology requirements and Georgetown and neither were courses of “Catholic influence”. For Problem of God, I did a sociological survey of 4 major religions and for Hindu Religious Tradition we went through the historical development of Hinduism from Aryan migrations to modern times. Both helped me appreciate how religion remained relevant for human civilisation throughout the ages. As for the other non-theology classes, say Political Economy of Asia, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Catholic agenda lol. Also, I had the pleasure of making friends with Jesuit priests and if anything, I’ve learnt a great deal about Jesuit and Georgetown’s history from the same priests who can discuss Batman and the Joker at great length.