Theology and Ecology (Seminar)

Course Information
TitleΘΕΟΛΟΓΙΑ ΚΑΙ ΟΙΚΟΛΟΓΙΑ (ΣΕΜΙΝΑΡΙΟ) / Theology and Ecology (Seminar)
CodeΔΘ39
FacultyTheology
SchoolSocial Theology and Christian Culture
Cycle / Level2nd / Postgraduate
Teaching PeriodWinter/Spring
CoordinatorElpidoforos (ioannis) Lampryniadis
CommonYes
StatusActive
Course ID60005125
Class Information
Academic Year2016 – 2017
Class PeriodSpring
Faculty Instructors
Instructors from Other Categories
Weekly Hours3
Total Hours39
Class ID
600054426
Course Type 2016-2020
  • Skills Development
Mode of Delivery
  • Face to face
Digital Course Content
Language of Instruction
  • Greek (Instruction, Examination)
  • English (Instruction, Examination)
Learning Outcomes
After the successful completion of the course the students will be able to: (1) describe and explain the Orthodoc Church teaching regarding creation and engage it in a dialogue with natural sciences (2) trace in this teaching those components that are significant in the discussion regarding ennvironmental issues (3) analyze with the help of natural and social sciences the ecological issue and trace its roots (4) develop a theological discourse that will define the position and relation of humans to the rest of the creation by making use of the Christian tradition (5) to manage international Fora ecology issues from the standpoint of theology in collaboration with science.
General Competences
  • Apply knowledge in practice
  • Retrieve, analyse and synthesise data and information, with the use of necessary technologies
  • Adapt to new situations
  • Make decisions
  • Work autonomously
  • Work in teams
  • Work in an international context
  • Work in an interdisciplinary team
  • Generate new research ideas
  • Appreciate diversity and multiculturality
  • Be critical and self-critical
  • Advance free, creative and causative thinking
Course Content (Syllabus)
The focus of the course will be on the possibility of engaging Orthodox Theology (and especially the Church teaching on creation and incarnation from its origins in the biblical text to its further development in patristic and modern Orthodox Theology) in the formulation of an ecologically aware theological discourse and of an eco-friendly ethos of the members of the Church community. The dialogue with the natural sciences will also contribute to this. More specifically, the outcomes of ecology, biology, earth sciences, mechanics, and nanotechnology as well as the discussion regarding waste managements will be introduced in the discussion through the presentations of invited speakes. 1. Theology and Ecology: Co-operation for the safeguarding of Creation 2. The challenge of the environment in a society of risk 3. Ecological approach of Orthodox texts (Old Testament) 4. Ecological approach of Orthodox texts (New Testament) 5. The Green Patriarch: Environmental initiatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate 6. Climate change: facts and fiction 7. The global problem of poverty and food scarcity as a result of environmental degradation 8. The central role of water in Christian tradition and the depletion of water resources 9. Nanotechnology: Friend or foe? 10. Orthodoxy and technology 11. Field trip 12. Paper presentation 13. Paper presentation
Keywords
Church Fathers, Holy Scriptures, ecology, natural sciences, Orthodox theology, sciences.
Educational Material Types
  • Notes
  • Multimedia
Use of Information and Communication Technologies
Use of ICT
  • Use of ICT in Course Teaching
  • Use of ICT in Communication with Students
Description
(1) Use of the e-platform of blackboard (2) Communication through e-mailing and electronical submission of assignments (3) Use of computer programmes (e.g. Microsoft Power Point) in the teaching process
Course Organization
ActivitiesWorkloadECTSIndividualTeamworkErasmus
Lectures✓✓
Seminars✓✓
Reading Assigment✓✓✓
Field trips and participation in conferences / seminars / activities✓✓✓
Project✓
Written assigments✓✓
Total
Student Assessment
Description
Written assignment
Student Assessment methods
  • Written Exam with Multiple Choice Questions (Summative)
  • Written Exam with Short Answer Questions (Formative, Summative)
  • Written Assignment (Formative, Summative)
  • Performance / Staging (Formative, Summative)
Bibliography
Additional bibliography for study
I. Λ. ΓΑΛΑΝΗΣ, Άνθρωπος και κτίση στη βιβλική παράδοση (ΒΒ 44), Πουρναράς, Θεσσαλονίκη 2009. Κ. Ι. ΖΑΧΟΣ, Η Χαμένη Οικειότητα: η Οικολογική Κρίση υπό το Φως του Αγίου Μαξίμου του Ομολογητή, Τerra incognita, Λάρισα 1998. ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣ Δ. ΖΗΖΙΟΥΛΑΣ, Η κτίσις ως ευχαριστία. Θεολογική προσέγγιση στο πρόβλημα της Οικολογίας, Ακρίτας, Αθήνα 1992. Κ. ΖΟΡΜΠΑΣ, Εκκλησία και φυσικό περιβάλλον, Τέρτιος, Κατερίνη 1998. Α. ΚΕΣΕΛΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ, A. Άνθρωπος και φυσικό περιβάλλον: σπουδή στον Άγιο Συμεών τον Νέο Θεολόγο. Αθήνα: Δόμος 1989. Γ. ΜΑΝΤΖΑΡΙΔΗΣ, Η εμπειρική θεολογία στην οικολογία και την πολιτική, Πουρναράς, Θεσσαλονίκη 1994. Η. ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΟΥ, Θεολογική Οικολογία: Θεωρία και Πράξη, Μαυρομμάτη, Αθήνα 1994. ΚΑΛΛΙΣΤΟΣ WARE, Οικολογική κρίση και ελπίδα. Ορθοδοξία και Οικολογία 1. Μετάφρ. Π. Τσαλίκη-Κιοσόγλου κ.ά., Ακρίτας, Αθήνα 2008. L. CLARKE, Elements of ECOLOGY, JOHN WILEY & SONS: New York 1954. ANNA BRAMWELL, ECOLOGY IN THE 20TH CENTURY A HISTORY, Yale University Press New Haven and London 1989. DIANA L. WALSTAD, Ecology of the Planted Aquarium. A Practical Manual and Scientific Treatise for the Home Aquarist, Echinodorus Publishing, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (U. S.A. ) 1999. DAVID W. ORR, The Nature of Design, Ecology, Culture, and Human Intention, Oxford (Univ. Press) 2002. DAVID LANDIS BARNHILL - ROGER S. GOTTLIEB, Deep Ecology and World Religions New Essays on Sacred Grounds, State University of New York 2001. LAWRENCE B. SLOBODKIN, A Citizen's Guide to Ecology, Oxford (Univ. Press) 2003. Where the Trees stories from the ground are a Desert, FASE-ES and Carbon Trade Watch, Transnational Institute, Vitória – ES Brasil 2003. DAVID JOSEPH WELLMAN, Sustainable Diplomacy. Ecology, Religion, and Ethics in Muslim–Christian Relations, Paigrave Macmillan: New York 2004. LAURA YORDY, Ecology, Eschatology, and Christian Ethics, (Diss.) Duke University 2005. MICHAEL BEGON - COLIN R. TOWNSEND - JOHN L. HARPER, ECOLOGY From Individuals to Ecosystems, Blackwell: Oxford 2006. DAVID M. WILKINSON, Fundamental Processes in Ecology. An Earth Systems Approach, Oxford (Univ. Press) 2006. Laura Marie Hartman, An Ethics of Consumption: Christianity, Economy, and Ecology, University of Virginia May, 2008. THOMAS N. SHERRATT - DAVID M. WILKINSON, Big Questions in Ecology and Evolution, Oxford (Univ. Press) 2009. PAMELA WALKER - ELAINE WOOD, Facts On File science experiments. Ecology Experiments, New York 2010. ATHENA PERALTA, Poverty, Wealth and Ecology in Asia and the Pacific, Ecumenical Perspectives, Wanida Press, Chiang Mai, Thailand 2010. Britannica Illustrated Science Library, Ecology, 2010. KEVIN J. O’BRIEN, An Ethics of Biodiversity Christianity, Ecology, and the Variety of Life, Georgetown University Press Washington, d.c. 2010. DAVID LANDIS BARNHILL - ROGER S. GOTTLIEB, Deep Ecology and World Religions New Essays on Sacred Grounds, State University of New York 2001. DAVID JOSEPH WELLMAN, Sustainable Diplomacy. Ecology, Religion, and Ethics in Muslim–Christian Relations, Paigrave Macmillan: New York 2004. LAURA YORDY, Ecology, Eschatology, and Christian Ethics, (Diss.) Duke University 2005. MICHAEL BEGON - COLIN R. TOWNSEND - JOHN L. HARPER, ECOLOGY From Individuals to Ecosystems, Blackwell: Oxford 2006. DAVID M. WILKINSON, Fundamental Processes in Ecology. An Earth Systems Approach, Oxford (Univ. Press) 2006. PAMELA WALKER - ELAINE WOOD, Facts On File science experiments. Ecology Experiments, New York 2010. ATHENA PERALTA, Poverty, Wealth and Ecology in Asia and the Pacific, Ecumenical Perspectives, Wanida Press, Chiang Mai, Thailand 2010. Britannica Illustrated Science Library, Ecology, 2010. KEVIN J. O’BRIEN, An Ethics of Biodiversity Christianity, Ecology, and the Variety of Life, Georgetown University Press Washington, d.c. 2010. MARK WALKER, NAZI SCIENCE MYTH, TRUTH, AND THE GERMAN ATOMIC BOMB, PERSEUS PUBLISHING: Cambridge, Massachusetts 1995. MARISKA LEUNISSEN, EXPLANATION AND TELEOLOGY IN ARISTOTLE’S SCIENCE OF NATURE, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS 2010. WENDYWAGNER - RENA STEINZOR, Rescuing Science from Politics REGULATION AND THE DISTORTION OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS 2006. JOHN HEDLEY BROOKE - RONALD L. Numbers, Science and Religion around the World, Oxford (Univ. Press) 2011.
Last Update
29-09-2016