- Academics
- Quick Links
The basic graduate theological studies required for those seeking ordination as deacons in the United Methodist Church include courses in the areas of Old Testament, New Testament, church history, theology, mission, worship, evangelism and United Methodist history, doctrine and polity. These courses are offered regularly on the Dallas campus and in the Houston/Galveston Program.
The following courses satisfy these requirements:
OT 6301, 6302 Interpretation of the Old Testament I and II
NT 6301, 6302 New Testament
HX 6305, 6306 Church History
ST 6300 Theology
WO 6313 Worship
XS 6310 XS 8350 Mission
EV 7307 Evangelism
HX 7565 United Methodist History
CA 7013 United Methodist Polity
ST 7034 United Methodist Doctrine
The Mexican American Program was founded in 1974 so that Perkins School of Theology could become a center for preparing church leaders with the knowledge and skills for effective ministry in Spanish-speaking contexts and cultures. From its beginning, the Mexican American Program has had a commitment to the ongoing work of recruiting, preparing and providing continuing education of people for ministry with Latinos. It continues to enable Perkins School of Theology to be a center of Hispanic theological thought and writing and to advocate before the general church with and in behalf of Hispanic congregations and ministries.
Some of its academic program areas include oversight of the Hispanic Studies Program in the M.Div. program and support of L@s Seminaristas (a student organization for Perkins students focused on Hispanic Ministry).
The Global Theological Education program at Perkins has two purposes. Through immersion courses, the GTE program offers students a study of theology, Scripture, missions, ministry or inter-religious relationships in a cultural context different from the students’ own cultural context, usually outside the United States. These courses give special attention to the role of theological reflection in an environment affected by globalization in all its dimensions through a focused, on-site study in a particular region of the world.
The GTE program is also tasked with facilitating missiological reflection among laypersons engaged in cross-cultural missions and ministry. Working through Annual Conference leadership of Volunteers in Mission/Partners in Mission programs, the GTE program provides resources and organizes training events as they focus on the theological and spiritual meaning of Christian mission by laypersons.
Perkins School of Theology, located in the Southwest with its significant Hispanic population and close proximity to Latin America, has committed itself to the preparation of church leaders with the knowledge and skills for effective ministry in this context. The Hispanic Studies Program is offered to students in all Perkins degree programs and is intended specifically for students who want to prepare for ministry in a bilingual and bicultural setting. Interested students should consult with the director of the Perkins Mexican American Program.
A certificate will be granted to any student who fulfills the following requirements:
The following courses are currently designated as those that can be taken to fulfill the 15 term-hour Hispanic Studies requirement. Other courses that include Hispanic theological and ministry concerns may also be considered for credit through consultation with the director of the Mexican American Program. The office of the Mexican American Program will maintain a record of new courses that can be applied for credit. Enrollment in Hispanic Studies courses is not limited to those admitted to the program, but is open to all students. Students may also receive credit for courses taken under the Hispanic Summer Program. International study opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean are also available for credit.
BB 8015, 8315 Biblical Exegesis from a Hispanic Perspective
HH 8023, 8323 The Church and the Mexican American Community
HH 8027, 8327 Christianity and Social Justice in the Southwest
HX 7322 Christianity in the Hispanic Tradition
HX 7324 Christianity in Latin America
HX 8329 Mary in Christian Tradition
HX 8356 Popular Piety in Mexico and the Southwest
HX 8358 A History of Hispanic Protestantism: “Chicanos and Crackers”
MN 8026, 8326 Ministry in the Hispanic Church
ST 8027, 8327 North American Hispanic Theology
ST 7029, 7329 Doing Theology from a Hispanic Perspective
XS 8302 Race Relations and the Church
XS 8326 Broad-Based Community Organizing: Holiness and Politics in the Urban Church
In collaboration with several other seminaries, Perkins sponsors the Hispanic Summer Program, which takes place for two weeks each summer at a different site in the United States or Puerto Rico. Hispanic students, as well as others who are bilingual and who are interested in Hispanic ministries, may attend this academic program and take a maximum of one course for three credits. Courses in the Hispanic Summer Program cover a wide range of the theological curriculum and are always taught with the Latino church in mind. The program provides students with the opportunity to study and reflect with other seminarians who are from across the nation and Puerto Rico and who are preparing to do ministry in the Hispanic context.
Students with sufficient Spanish language skills may be able to do a term of studies in Costa Rica or an internship in Mexico or Central America. Immersion experiences in Mexico and Central America are also periodically offered through the Global Theological Education program.
Perkins does not offer instruction in Spanish for credit. Students are encouraged to seek instructional programs in Dallas and/or attend a Spanish-language school in Cuernavaca, Mexico, or elsewhere. The director of the Mexican American Program maintains information on these opportunities and will assist students in making appropriate plans to gain the necessary competence.
Since its inception in the hush harbors on slave plantations in North America, the African American church has been the primary context for shaping the black Christian experience. The life and ministry of the black church is concretized in its forms of fellowship, public presence and, most importantly, in its worship. Perkins School of Theology affirms the importance of the institution of the African American church and has committed itself to the preparation of church leaders with the knowledge and skills for effective ministry in and with the black church.
The certificate in African American Church Studies is available to all students who are enrolled in the M.Div. degree program and who wish to broaden their understanding of African American religious experiences as well as prepare for leadership in the black church or related social agencies. Interested students can declare their intent to earn the certificate with their adviser and the registrar.
Students pursuing the certificate will be expected to appreciate and analyze the complexity of black life and culture and how it shapes the African American church. It is intended that students will develop the following competencies:
A certificate will be granted to students who fulfill the following requirements:
Students pursuing the Certificate in Urban Ministry
and African American Church Studies may double-count those courses designated
for both certificates.
BB 8330 African American Perspectives on the Bible
CA 8015 The Pastor as Financial Leader
CA 7309 The Minister as Administrator
CA 8319 Dynamics of Pastoral Leadership
CE 8020, 8320 Ministry with Children
CE 8072, 8372 Multicultural and Global Dimensions of Educational Ministry
CE 8330 Youth Ministry
CE 8338 Emancipatory Educational Ministry with Adolescent Girls: Liberating Ophelia and LaTomika
CE 8340 Adult Ministry
CE 8362 Christian Education in an Urbanizing World
CM 8250, 8251 Music Ministry in the Black Church Experience
HH 8027 Christianity and Social Justice in the Southwest
HX 8341 Salvation and Social Justice in the Reformation
HX 8354 African American Christianity in the United States
MN 7342 Women In Ministry
MT 8345 African American Liberation Theology
MT 8381 Theology and Ethics of Ministry
MT 8385 Martin and Malcolm and Theological Ethics
PC 8333 Pastoral Care and Counseling of Women
PC 8335 Sexual and Domestic Violence: Theological and Pastoral Concerns
PC 8345 Justice Issues in Pastoral Care
PR 8332 Feminist Emancipatory Preaching
PR 8345 Preaching Public Issues: Biblical, Theological and Homiletical Perspectives
ST 8375 Feminist, Womanist and Mujerista Theologies
TC 8310 Theology, Religion and Cultural Studies
TC 8375 Advanced Feminist Theory
XS 7302 Issues in Urban Ministry
XS 8302 Race Relations and the Church
XS 8326 Broad-Based Community Organizing: Holiness and Politics in the Urban Church
XS 8332 Contemporary Issues in Urban Ministry
XS 8350 The Social Mission of the Church
With roots in the Methodist tradition, Perkins School of Theology strives to provide a hospitable environment for the formation and education of students from other theological traditions. The Certificate in Anglican Studies has been designed to meet that obligation by preparing students for ordination in the Episcopal Church USA and the larger Anglican tradition. Interested students declare their intent to earn the certificate with the adviser and the registrar.
In the case of students seeking Holy Orders, the certificate adviser also works with diocesan officers to craft formational experiences that build upon this academic core. Students enrolled in the Anglican Studies program should be aware that their bishop may require their participation in the extra-curricular aspects of the program, such as Morning Prayer, as a prerequisite for ordination.
Students awarded the certificate are required to complete the following coursework. Those who complete these requirements and obtain the approval of the certificate adviser will receive the certificate at graduation.
The graduate certificate in Pastoral Care allows Perkins students to concentrate on theory, skills and practices of pastoral care to equip them for specialized pastoral care ministries. Specialized pastoral care ministries include but are not limited to the following: ordained clergy whose ministerial focus is pastoral care, clergy in agency settings and clergy in social outreach or social work. The certificate can serve as an introduction to professional counseling for those desiring further education and training to pursue certification with the American Association of Pastoral Counselors or the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists. The certificate can also serve as an introduction for those desiring pursuit of a state license as a Professional Counselor and/or as a Marriage and Family Therapist. The executive director of The Pastoral Counseling and Education Center in Dallas serves as a consultant to the certificate students if they desire affiliation and advanced training beyond the foundational work offered at Perkins.
Competencies are based on theory, skills and practices.
Competency in theory includes:
Competency in skills includes:
Practices will focus on:
A certificate will be granted to students who fulfill the following requirements:
The required courses will be offered each academic year. A minimum of one elective will be offered each term. An appropriate internship would be Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in a hospital, prison or congregational setting; however, when CPE is taken as an internship, it cannot be counted for elective hours. A student may complete an internship with emphasis on pastoral care experiences and supervision approved by the Intern Office.
The nine hours of required coursework includes:
Three term hours in PC 7321 The Caring Congregation
Three term hours in PC 7322 Pastoral Care and Family Systems
Three term hours in PC 8348 Pastoral Self-Care
The six hours of required electives may include:
Three term hours in PC 8301 Pastoral Care: Special Problems
Three term hours in PC 8333 Pastoral Care and Counseling of Women
Three term hours in PC 8326 The Pastor’s Crisis Ministry
Three term hours in PC 8318 Mental Health Skills for the Pastor
Three term hours in PC 8330 Pastoral Care and Counseling of Adolescents
One and one-half term hours in PC 8036 Premarital Counseling
Three term hours in PC 8341 Spirituality and the Human Life Cycle
Three term hours in PC 8335 Sexual and Domestic Violence: Theological and Pastoral Concerns
Three term hours in PC 8345 Justice Issues in Pastoral Care
Six term hours in Clinical Pastoral Education (Level One cannot be counted as an internship.)
With its main campus in Dallas and a program in Houston/Galveston, Perkins School of Theology is well situated to equip church leaders to serve as transforming agents in an urbanizing world. In the 21st century, ministry will require understanding the dynamics that create tension and oppression in our society, a willingness to hold up the vision of God’s justice and a commitment to work for righteousness in the social, economic and political realms of life.
The Certificate in Urban Ministry is available to students enrolled in the M.Div. degree program and is intended especially for those called to engage communities in articulating and living the Gospel personally and socially in ways that bring healing to the lives of men, women and children.
The certificate is administered through the Urban Ministry Steering Committee, which designates the list of courses meeting certification requirements. Students who declare their intent to earn the certificate normally will be advised by the Urban Ministry adviser. Students must register for the certificate through the registrar.
Students pursuing the certificate will be expected to work toward developing the following competencies:
A certificate will be granted to students who fulfill the following requirements:
The following courses are currently designated among those that can be taken to fulfill the 15 term hours required for the Certificate in Urban Ministry. Students should consult the list of designated courses each term for new courses.
BB 8315 Biblical Exegesis from a Hispanic Perspective
CE 8312 Liberation Themes and Educational Ministry
CE 8338 Emancipatory Educational Ministry with Adolescent Girls: Liberating Ophelia and LaTomika
CE 8362 Christian Education in an Urbanizing World
EV 7307 Theory and Practice of Evangelism
HH 8023, 8323 The Church and the Mexican-American Community
HH 8027, 8327 Christianity and Social Justice in the Southwest
HX 8354 African American Christianity in the United States
MN 7320 Ministry in the Black Church
MN 8026, 8326 Ministry in the Hispanic Church
MT 8345 African American Liberation Theology
MT 8385 Martin and Malcolm and Theological Ethics
PC 7321 The Caring Congregation
PC 7322 Pastoral Care and Family Systems
PC 8345 Justice Issues in Pastoral Care
ST 7029, 7329 Doing Theology from a Hispanic Perspective
ST 8311 Contemporary Theology
ST 8027, 8327 North American Hispanic Theology
ST 8345 Theologies of Hope and Liberation
ST 8347 Theology in a Post-Modern World
TC 8375 Advanced Feminist Theory
TC 8310.Theology, Religion and Cultural Studies
TC 8340 The Christian, the Church and the Public Good
XS 7302 Issues in Urban Ministry
XS 8302 Race Relations and the Church
XS 8003, 8303 The Church in Society
XS 8326 Broad-Based Community Organizing: Holiness and Politics in the Urban Church
XS 8330 The Social Ministry of the Church
XS 8321 Christian Mission in Cultural Context
XS 8332 Contemporary Issues in Urban Ministry
XS/WX 8340 The Church’s Global Nature and Mission: A Planetary Connection
XS 8350 The Social Mission of the Church
In addition, students may do independent reading or field-based courses in urban ministry with the approval of (1) a sponsoring faculty member willing to supervise the course and (2) the Urban Ministry adviser, Dr. Hal Recinos, before proceeding through the normal channels for obtaining permission to take such courses.
Students pursuing the Certificate in Urban Ministry and the Certificate in Hispanic Studies may double-count those courses designated for both certificates.
The graduate certificate in Women’s Studies is offered through the Women’s Studies Program and jointly based in the Dedman Graduate Program and the Perkins School of Theology. It is an interdisciplinary graduate-level certificate designed to enhance the lives of students, both female and male, by facilitating the integration of theories about gender and knowledge about the roles and achievements of women, both past and present, in the global society. The courses are designed to provide comparative and historical perspectives on women, gender and feminism. The certificate program draws upon courses from a variety of disciplines; including anthropology; history; literary studies; media and film; and theology.
Formal registration for the certificate through SMU Dedman College and/or the Perkins School of Theology registrar. This shall include a proposed program plan for completion of the certificate developed with an adviser from the office of the Women’s Studies program or a Perkins adviser.
An Advanced Feminist Theory course. This course will include the “classic” literature from feminist, womanist and mujerista perspectives and address current theoretical issues across relevant disciplines. The course will be taught in rotation by interested faculty associated with the Women’s Studies Program and Perkins School of Theology.
Four additional courses that are Women’s
Studies graduate-level approved core courses and Dedman undergraduate departmental
courses (See the list below.). Students must register for Dedman undergraduate
courses using a 6000-level number and arrange a separate syllabus and assignments
in conjunction with the professor of record. Students are encouraged to
petition the director of Women’s Studies for credit for other graduate
courses in which they will engage in study appropriate to the intent of
the certificate. Appropriate courses taken during matriculation at SMU
yet prior to enrollment in the certificate may count toward program hours.
Dedman
Course Options
ANTH 3310 Gender and Sex Roles: A Global Perspective
ENGL 3331 Gender, Race and Class: Non-Western Culture and Literature
ENGL 3367 Ethical Implications of Children’s Literature
FL 3349/HIST 3392 The African Diaspora: Literature and History of Black Liberation
HIST 3312 Women in American History
HIST 3329 Women in Early Modern Europe
HIST 3330 Women in Modern European History
HIST 3348 American Families: Changing Experiences and Expectations
HIST 3355 Class and Gender in Ancient Society
PLSC 3370 Women in Politics
PLSC 4339 Women and the Law
WS 2308 Revisions: Woman as Thinker, Artist and Citizen
WS 2315 Gender, Culture and SocietyPerkins Course Options
CE 8338 Emancipatory Educational Ministry with Adolescent Girls: Liberating Othelia and LaTomika
HR 8331 Women in World Religions
HX 8328 Women in the History of Christianity
HX 8329 Mary in the Christian Tradition
HX 8337 Sex/Gender in Greek and Latin Patristic Thought
MN 7342 Women in Ministry
PC 8333 Pastoral Care and Counseling of Women
PC 8335 Sexual and Domestic Violence: Theological and Pastoral Concerns
PC 8345 Justice Issues in Pastoral Care
PR 8332 Feminist Emancipatory Preaching
ST 8345 Theologies of Hope and Liberation
ST 8375 Feminist, Womanist and Mujerista Theologies
WO 8308 Women and Worship
As part of one of the four courses, students will complete a major research project that addresses issues concerning women and/or gender. A performance or exhibit may also constitute the major project, with approval of the director of Women’s Studies.
Students may substitute an internship for one of the four courses and the associated major research project. The supervised internship must involve an organization or setting that addresses issues concerning women and/or gender. This project shall be delineated with an appropriate time of completion included in the program plan in consultation with a Women’s Studies or a Perkins Internship Office faculty member. A supervised internship setting for Perkins M.Div. students will require a learning goal for women’s studies and shall be done in consultation with the Perkins Internship Office. Women’s Studies internships can also be arranged in conjunction with the Dedman College internship program and the Women’s Studies adviser.
The landscape of spiritual life in America is undergoing rapid transformation. The multifaceted character of the Christian tradition is becoming apparent. It is clearly far more appropriate to talk about Christian spiritualities than it is to talk about Christian spirituality. Alongside the recovery of ancient traditions that marked the development of the church in the West, there is an ever greater awareness of and interest in the spiritual traditions of individual Christian communities that lie outside that broad tradition. Each community has been shaped by differences in theological vision; race; gender; ethnicity and history; and their involvement in the conversation has helped to underline the extent to which all four factors have helped to make the Christian spiritual tradition what it is today.
As the larger global community becomes a reality, the church also finds itself in a conversation with other religions. Inevitably, many of those conversations focus on the differences in spiritual practice, but the similarities are of great interest as well. Conversations between East and West are the leading edge of a global conversation that has only just begun, and they will assume greater complexity as time passes.
In addition, an ever more complex array of personal spiritual practice is taking shape. Highly eclectic in character and shaped by radically different goals, these practices defy easy characterization. In fact, an increasing number of people distinguish between spirituality and religion, and, to some extent, spirituality and theology. In making these distinctions, spirituality is often construed as something both universal and positive while religion and theology are characterized as the creatures of organizational life.
It is in this context that today’s students of theology are called upon to shape their own spiritual practice and to guide others in the effort to do the same. They do so drawing on long-held and profound convictions that mark Christian spirituality in all its forms. These convictions are:
The program in Spiritual Life and Formation at Perkins School of Theology is also based on the conviction that a complete theological education and thorough preparation for ministry gives attention to identifiable needs and capacities, including:
Led by facilitators in groups of five to 10, students share in a formative experience designed to provide them with the framework of a common experience, emphasizing:
Other experiences include retreats, service projects and worship. In addition to the programmatic work at Perkins itself, the Office of Spiritual Life and Formation also facilitates retreats and workshops.
© Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas | Legal Disclosures | A-Z Site Index | Contact SMU
Share