Master's Degree in Systematic Theology and University Diploma in African Studies
Master's Degree in Systematic Theology
Since September 2019, the Institute of Theology of the Society of Jesus (ITCJ) has been offering a Master’s degree in Theology and African Studies. This is an interdisciplinary program leading to a dual degree: a Master’s in Systematic Theology and a Graduate Diploma in African Studies.
Our Master’s program in Systematic Theology is designed to be a space for mutual and interactive dialogue between fundamental theology—in its critical and hermeneutical dimensions—and dogmatic theology—in its doctrinal and apologetic dimensions. It offers our students a rich, diverse, intercultural, and interdisciplinary theological curriculum in which not only are courses offered in various areas of fundamental and dogmatic theology, but every major theological discipline is also represented through our courses.
We place special emphasis on the Holy Scriptures (the Old and New Testaments), the major theological debates of the Church Fathers and the Councils of Early Christianity, the key themes and concepts of fundamental and dogmatic theology, and significant contemporary contributions to dogmatic theology. Contemporary dogmatic theologians are studied in all their diversity—across continents, approaches, convictions, and religious denominations—but with particular attention to the contributions of Catholic theologians and the doctrinal teachings of the Magisterium.
The program's objectives:
Our program offers students the opportunity to:
• to pursue graduate-level studies in systematic theology in an environment that takes seriously the African context and the religious, sociopolitical, and cultural experiences of African peoples.
• to specialize in one of the fields of fundamental theology or dogmatic theology through core courses, seminars, elective courses, interdisciplinary courses, and a thesis or final project presented and defended before a committee.
• to gain an in-depth understanding of the concepts, issues, themes, and challenges of fundamental and dogmatic theology
• to foster a critical and creative fidelity to the Christian tradition and the Catholic heritage in a spirit of ecumenical and interreligious openness.
Master’s Degree in African Studies
Our African Studies program offers courses on issues, themes, challenges, and realities related to and in dialogue with Africa and its peoples, in all the diversity of their traditions, contexts, and experiences. These courses cover history, linguistics, literature, psychology, politics, postcolonial theory, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, theology, African religions, and more, depending on our professors’ areas of expertise and our students’ interests and aspirations.
As an interdisciplinary field, African Studies examines Africa:
a- As a field of study, research, and knowledge;
b- As a hub for scientific research and intellectual enrichment
c- As a space for encounter, dialogue, and exchange between disciplines, between peoples, between ideologies, between cultures, and between religions...
The courses in African Studies effectively reflect the African and intercultural dimension that characterizes the vision of our curriculum at ITCJ. They enrich our theological program and give it greater openness and relevance on the African continent, where theology can only be pursued in dialogue with other humanities, social sciences, and religious disciplines.
This program collaborates with the Center for African Studies and Intercultural Dialogue (CETADI) as well as with its national and international partners.
The program's objectives:
The African Studies program enables students to gain a deeper understanding of the African continent and its peoples through an interdisciplinary approach that addresses the challenges, issues, experiences, and realities of Africa by taking its history, sociology, anthropology, politics, theology, and religions seriously.
Indeed, African Studies is an interdisciplinary field of study and research that offers students a variety of perspectives from which to explore Africa and gain insight into: Africa’s major historical narratives and pivotal moments; the twists and turns of its journey toward political and democratic pluralism; its leading political figures and ideologies; its psychological perspective; anthropological perspectives, particularly its perception of the individual, the community, the family, and marriage; its philosophical and intellectual tradition; its cosmological representations; and its mythological and sapiential traditions;
its system of values and ethical principles; its aesthetic and artistic tradition, shaped by a rich ethnic diversity; its cultural and religious traditions, which are based on a hierarchical, pyramid-shaped ontology with God at the apex. The African Studies program leads to a university degree known as the Master’s Degree in African Studies.
