College teams up with Notre Dame for online theology course

THEY might be studying texts thousands of years old but it's all part of a high-tech course available without leaving home. Future theologians can earn their college qualifications with tutorials from staff at Notre Dame university in the US – as part of an online course.

The world-famous college in Indiana has teamed up with Mary Immaculate College (MIC) as part of the Limerick institution's first accredited online theology course.

As well as internet lectures by MIC staff, students will take a monthly live tutorial from staff at Notre Dame.

The course is an extension of college's department of theology and religious studies NOSTRA programme, whose student numbers have doubled in the last year alone.

The idea is that people who might not otherwise be able to travel to lectures in Limerick, or at MIC's outreach classes in Cork city, can now earn the Certificate in Theology and Religious Studies.

According to NOSTRA coordinator Alan Hilliard, the range of participants is hugely varied.

"We have young, old and middle-aged people, people who are religious in their daily lives and those who have a particular interest in theology as an academic subject. Many of our lectures are open to the public and we had quite an interest in one just last weekend, for example, in the poet Patrick Kavanagh. An awful lot of his writing addressed a lot of theological questions."

In the course, which has places for up to 20 students, each of the five modules can be taken at the students' chosen time. The modules available are Christology Today, Introduction to Liturgical Studies, The Synoptic Gospels, The Doctrine of Salvation in Jesus Christ, and Catholic Social Teaching.

Participants do not need any formal qualifications to enter the course, which culminates in a Level 6 higher certificate award.

"We've had a lot of people who left school early doing the course, and we can also help community groups to get involved," Mr Hilliard said.