Programs

Continuing Education Program

The Continuing Education Series is designed for adults who would like to further their theological formation without embarking on graduate-level academic work. In addition to these general-interest students, high school teachers in the Diocese of Virginia and the Archdiocese of Washington may use these courses toward their VCEA or CEU requirements.

Classes are offered four times a year: one course in the fall semester, one in the spring semester, and two during the summer months. These courses are not part of the Institute’s regular graduate offerings but mirror such courses in theme and content.

During the fall and spring semesters, CE courses meet once a week on Wednesday evenings. During the summer months, each course is offered in intensive format—usually both mornings and afternoons of a single week, Monday through Friday.

To bring the curriculum of the Institute to a wider audience, class sessions are offered in hybrid format, both on campus and online.

Students are not required to have completed a bachelor’s degree to participate in CE classes.

Past courses have included:

The Fall 2024 course in the Institute’s ongoing Continuing Education Series will be “Ressourcement and the Vision of the Fathers,” which will meet Wednesday evenings, 6:30-8:30 p.m., beginning September 11.

In the 20th century theologians in both the East and West turned their attention to the writings of the earliest Church Fathers. This “return to the sources” sought to reinvigorate the highly specialized and technical theology of the day with the vigor and spirit of the Church’s earliest masters. Rather than discovering merely the primitive origins of what would be perfected in later theology, these scholars discovered in the Fathers a rich, integrated theological vision in which the meaning of Christ transfigured the whole of creation and the innermost depths of man’s life. Such engagement was indispensable for the developments of key themes in 20th-century theology in the areas of anthropology, ecclesiology, and sacramentality. This course will introduce some significant patristic authors including Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius, Maximus the Confessor, and John of Damascus, as well as their 20th-century reception by theologians such as Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jean Daniélou, and Georges Florovsky.

The course will be taught in person and offered online simultaneously.

The course fee is $150. To register, please complete the online registration form. Payment can be submitted via check, cash, or credit card. To submit a credit card payment, please click here.

These courses can be taken toward renewal requirements for VCEA licensure. Numerous high schools in the Archdiocese of Washington accept the course for CEU credits.

If you have questions please contact [email protected].

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