Religion and Philosophy
Personal Enrichment
Offered through Continuing Education
@ Forest Park | Online
Our religion classes are designed to help you develop a broad understanding of specific world religions. The primary focus of our classes is based on religious traditions, biblical literature, and historical developments of religions throughout the world.
Class schedules subject to change.
Classes offered in-person may be rescheduled, canceled or transitioned to an online format based on COVID-19 guidelines. Students are required to follow COVID-19 guidelines for classroom participation, which may include, but is not limited to, use of masks and social distancing requirements. For the latest requirements, review STLCC’s COVID-19 Information page.
Unless otherwise specified in the course description, registration for online classes closes three business days prior to the class start date.
Religion
Suicide: From Sin to Medicine
“There is only one true philosophical question, and that is suicide.” Albert Camus’
statement highlights suicide’s role as an ethical and sociological “problem” throughout
history. Learn how perceptions of suicidal behavior have changed, from the view of
suicide as “unpardonable sin” in Christian theology, to the medicalization of suicide
in the modern era.
RELG-765 | 1 session | $30 AGE 60+ | $35 REG
F01 Th 6:30-8:30 p.m. | Nick Lewis
Aug. 26 | Online
The Work of Her Hands: Catholic Women Religious
In 2016, billboards appeared around the St. Louis area with a simple message, “We
have faith in you, St. Louis,” signed “St. Louis Catholic Sisters.” The billboards
were the latest legacy of a diverse group of women religious whose lives and work
have shaped the city’s physical, social, emotional, and religious landscapes for more
than three centuries. Discover how these women lived their faith in a changing St.
Louis. We’ll explore how their lives, deeds, and way of living their religion intersected
with larger issues of race, gender, class, and power in tense moments of reckoning
and conflict in the St. Louis area and beyond.
RELG-765 | 1 session | $30 AGE 60+ | $35 REG
F02 Sa 9-11 a.m. | Amelia Flood
Sept. 11 | Online
How We Know and Why We Believe
Discover four major modes for obtaining knowledge and each mode’s impact on our beliefs.
Examine how humans have come to “know” what they believe to be true, with a focus
on comparing and contrasting knowledge and belief.
RELG-701 | 2 sessions | $37 AGE 60+ | $45 REG
F01 Tu 7-9 p.m. | Ron Mertz
Sept. 14-21 | Online
Philosophy
A Moral Perspective: The Value Humans Assign to Nature and Animals
What are our moral and ethical obligations to the natural world? Explore the expansion
of the moral community to include animals, forests and even bodies of water through
philosophical views on environmental ethics. Connect this logic to modern societal
issues in determining the inclusion of animals and non-sentient beings in moral considerations.
Please bring a pen and loose-leaf paper.
PHIL-701 | 1 session | $21 AGE 60+ | $25 REG
F01 W 6:30-8:30 p.m. | Danielle Walker
Sept. 15 | FP-C 221
NEW! Philosophy for the Modern World: Technology and Society
Many of us use advanced technology such as smartphones, mobile apps and facial recognition
for convenience in our everyday lives, without stopping to consider ethical and social
implications. Explore modern technology through the lens of applied ethics, social
theory, and engage around themes including surveillance and punishment.
PHIL-701 | 1 session | $25 AGE 60+ | $25 REG
F03 W 6:30-8:30 p.m. | Gregory Ray
Sept. 22 | Online
Philosophy for the Modern World: Social Networking
Social media is nearly essential in the modern world. But applications such as Instagram,
Facebook, and Twitter are both pro- and anti-social in their impact. Do tech companies
have moral obligations in which projects they undertake? How ethical is their data
usage? Discuss applied ethics and social theory, as well as a few references to theories
of punishment.
PHIL-701 | 1 session | $25 AGE 60+ | $25 REG
F04 Th 6:30-8:30 p.m. | Gregory Ray
Oct. 28 | Online
Putting the Human in Human Rights
What ethical dilemmas arise with human rights and civil liberties? Explore modern
challenges to equality, philosophical views on human rights, and the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights’ function within society today to construct an individual perspective
on human rights. Please bring a pen and loose-leaf paper.
PHIL-701 | 1 session | $21AGE 60+ | $25 REG
F02 W 6:30-8:30 p.m. | Danielle Walker
Oct. 20 | FP-C 221
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