Study in this area requires an interdisciplinary approach to the fields of Christian Ethics and Social Theory. It is distinctive of this program that ethicists acquire grounding in social sciences and social theorists acquire grounding in moral theory. While moral theory and social theory are distinctive fields of study, they are intrinsically related. Doctoral students choose to concentrate their studies in ethics or social theory, and then they demonstrate competency in the other field. The area focuses special attention on ethical theory and history, Protestant ethics and Roman Catholic moral theology, Scripture and ethics, and methodology. Specializations include feminist ethics, sexual ethics, bioethics, and ethics in the political, economic, professional, and environmental arenas.

Objectives
The doctoral program in Ethics and Social Theory prepares students to contextualize the major figures in the development of ethics and social theory, to do research, construct an ethical argument, and conduct critical social analysis. With these skills, students have gone on to teach ethics, social ethics, and social theory in undergraduate and graduate programs in colleges, universities, and seminaries; to provide leadership to organizations, agencies, or corporations; and to serve churches at the local, regional, and national levels. As one matures in the program, one becomes more capable of speaking and writing on ethical matters in the public sphere.

Language Requirements
Students are expected to show proficiency in one modern research language (ordinarily either French or German). In addition, students are expected to show proficiency in any other language(s) necessary for their planned area of specialization.

Course work
Students are required to complete a sequence of four courses, which are offered over a two-year period. These courses are History of Western Social and Ethical Thought I and II, which are offered in the fall and spring semesters of one year; and Methods in Ethics and Foundational Social Theory which are offered in the fall and spring semesters of the other year. Additionally, there are “recommended” courses taught on a regular basis (e.g. Theories of Justice, Human Rights, Scripture and Ethics, etc.) as well as other supplemental courses. The course work enables the student to demonstrate her/his abilities to contextualize the major figures in the development of ethical theory and social theory, to construct an ethical argument, to conduct critical social analysis, and to develop bibliographies relevant to their research interests.

Comprehensive Examinations
Students are required to successfully complete five written exams and an oral comprehensive examination. The first of two general comprehensive exams is the History of Western Social and Ethical Thought examination. The purpose of this exam is to assess the student’s capacity to contextualize the major contributors to the development of ethics and social theory.

The second general comprehensive examination represents the student’s area of concentration. This exam covers methodological approaches to Ethics and Theories of Justice/Human Rights for those students concentrating in Ethics, and in Fundamental Social Theory for those students concentrating in Social Theory. The purpose of Exam II is to document the student’s ability to evaluate the strengths of the major modes of ethical argument and assess the strengths of the various approaches to justice theory and human rights theory; or to document the student’s ability to assess the usefulness of the major modes of social analysis.

Comprehensive Examination III is based on the student’s complementary field; for those whose concentration is in Ethics, the exam is based on Social Theory, for those in Social Theory, the exam is based on Methods in Ethics. Exams IV and V are individualized; students examine topics that are specific to the area, but reflect their particular research interests. The purpose of these exams is to document critical reading of key issues in the student’s chosen concentration as well as the breadth of her or his field of study.

Dissertation
After successfully completing the oral examination on the written Comprehensive Exams, the student forms a dissertation committee and proceeds to formulate a dissertation proposal approved by the Area faculty and the Doctoral Council. An oral defense takes place upon completion of the dissertation.

Allied Field Requirements
The student must take and pass:

• Exam 1: the History of Western Social and Ethical Thought general comprehensive examination;
• The "Methodological Approaches" examination (from Exam II) in the student's primary area of concentration;
• Exam III in the student's complementary area of concentration
  

CORE DOCTORAL FACULTY IN ETHICS AND SOCIAL THEORY

JEROME P. BAGGETT • JSTB (Religion and Society)
Sociology of religion; American Catholicism; culture; social movements; social theory.

JOHN BERKMAN • DSPT (Philosophy and Moral Theology)
Biomedical ethics; fundamental moral theology; beginning and end of life issues; ethics and animals; action theory; ethics and architecture.

JAMES A. DONAHUE • GTU (Ethics)
Virtues, practices and religious ethics; professional ethics; ethical perspectives in the media; institutional and organizational ethics; religion and politics; construction of identity in an interreligious world.

RICHARD M. GULA, SS • FST (Moral Theology)
Professional ethics; ethics and spirituality; fundamental moral theology; medical ethics.

MICHAEL M. MENDIOLA • PSR (Ethics)
Biomedical ethics, assisted suicide and genetics in particular; sexual ethics--gay and lesbian issues; the conceptual and practical interrelationships of religious faith and practice in human health; human suffering and its implications for biomedical ethics.

WILLIAM O’NEILL, SJ • JSTB (Social Ethics)
Issues in human rights, the rhetoric of human rights; ethics of social reconciliation; Christian social ethics; international and domestic justice; theological inculturation of ethics.

CAROL S. ROBB • SFTS (Social Ethics)
Environmental ethics, particularly climate change and agriculture; feminist ethics; economic ethics; methods in ethics.

MARTHA ELLEN STORTZ • PLTS (Ethics)
Christian practices; vision and the moral life; power and passion; power and leadership; Luther’s theology and ethics; spirituality and ethics.

CONSORTIAL FACULTY RESOURCES

DORSEY O. BLAKE • SKSM (Religion and Society)
Prophetic justice and society; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Dr. Howard Thurman.

FAUSTINO CRUZ • FST (Practical Theology)
Immigration and ethic studies; congregational studies; contextual theologies; educating for a multicultural Church and society; Filipino immigrant theology and ministry; contemporary issues in faith and culture.

JOSEPH DAOUST, SJ • JSTB (Religion and Society)

MARIANNE FARINA • DSPT (Philosophy and Theology)
Moral theology; philosophical ethics; Islam; sexual ethics; social justice.

LISA FULLAM • JSTB (Moral Theology)
Moral theology; theories of conscience; Christian sexuality; spirituality.

EDWARD KRASEVAC • DSPT (Philosophy and Theology)
Theological implications of the Third Quest of the Historical Jesus; the natural law theory of Aquinas; the concept of the "indirectly voluntary"; the relations of "proportionalism" to the moral theology of Aquinas.

GABRIELLA LETTINI • SKSM (Public Ministry)
Contemporary theological perspectives on otherness; models of identity construction and their implication for theology and ethics; movies as a source of theological reflection.

WILLIAM McKINNEY • PSR (American Religion)
Congregational studies; religious leadership; American denominationalism.

LEWIS S. MUDGE • SFTS Emeritus (Systematic Theology and Hermeneutics)
Responsibility theory; Abrahamic dialogue; Christian ecumenism; nature and value of human life studies.

JAMES NOEL • SFTS (American Religion)
American church history; Black church history; African-American religious experience; urban ministry.

ARCHIE SMITH, JR. • PSR (Pastoral Psychology and Counseling)
Social psychology; microsocial analysis; family and black family in U.S. society; role of the arts in mental health.

MARK WILSON • PSR (Ministry and Congregational Leadership)
Organizational leadership in Church and community.