Year
2024Credit points
10Campus offering
No unit offerings are currently available for this unitPrerequisites
Nil
Incompatible
THCP614 - Catholic Sexual Ethics
Teaching organisation
This unit will be taught in Attendance or Multi-mode.
Unit rationale, description and aim
Understanding the theological and ethical underpinnings of Catholic perspectives on human sexuality, intimacy, relationships and sexual ethics is valuable forto anyone who seeks to integrate such perspectives in their work in a variety of fields, in future research into such topics, and in their own lives. Thise unit explores such issues by considering them in relation to our understandings of God, the human person, and human society, as well as to various approaches to moral reasoning. Thise unit is necessary for anyone seeking such knowledge as part of their course learning outcomes. This unit addresses a variety of contemporary issues related to Catholic perspectives on sexual ethics.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
| Learning Outcome Number | Learning Outcome Description |
|---|---|
| LO1 | Reflect on the relationship between conceptions of God, human beings, and human society and Catholic thought relating to sexual ethics and intimacy |
| LO2 | Integrate faith-based claims, and reasoned argument into analysis, critique, and reasoning about sexual ethics |
| LO3 | Create plausible solutions to the challenges of communicating meaningfully and effectively about issues of sexual ethics in contemporary society |
Content
Topics will include:
- Faith and reason as characteristic of a Catholic perspective
- The human person as the image of God
- The equality of male and female
- Relationships and human flourishing
- Love and marriage
- Natural law
- Sin and Sins against chastity
- Formation of Conscience and modes of moral reasoning
- Contemporary issues concerning sexual morality
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit will be taught in Attendance or Multi-mode.
Attendance Mode strategy and rationale
The attendance mode will be selected when this is required by the needs of stakeholders who are funding cohorts of students to undertake the unit to meet stakeholder requirements. This will typically be as an intensives. The students in this model, coming from the same stakeholder(s), benefit from direct interaction with their peers, many of whom share similar positions working for the stakeholder. This ensures a common understanding of the learning outcomes and their attainment, which is of benefit to the students and their stakeholders funding them, because they take this shared understanding into the workplace.
Multi-mode strategy and rationale
The multi-mode mode will be used when the attendance mode cannot be run due to insufficient numbers on a single campus, or at the request of a stakeholder funding funded cohort.
Assessment strategy and rationale
Campus Attendance Mode
The oral presentation enables peer review and comment, which supports the development of critical and reflective thinking, especially for sponsored cohorts of peers. This is then integrated into a written task requiring the creation of solutions which will have practical relevance in current or future employment. The written task provides the students with an opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of terminology and reasoning specific to the topics covered by the unit.
Multi-mode
The oral or written presentation enables peer review and comment either in a webinar or via forums in Canvas, which supports the development of critical and reflective thinking. This is then integrated into a written task requiring the creation of solutions which will have practical relevance in current or future employment. The written task provides the students with an opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of terminology and reasoning specific to the topics covered by the unit.
Overview of assessments
Attendance Mode
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Oral or Written Presentation: Requires students to demonstrate their ability to think critically and reflectively | 50% | LO1 |
Written presentation: Requires students to demonstrate their ability to integrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession in the development of informed ethical decisions. | 50% | LO2, LO3 |
Multi-Mode
| Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment Tasks | Weighting | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
Oral or Written Presentation: Requires students to demonstrate their ability to think critically and reflectively | 50% | LO1 |
Written presentations: Require students to demonstrate their ability to integrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession in the development of informed ethical decisions. | 50% | LO2, LO3 |
Representative texts and references
Benedict XVI, Pope. (2005). Deus Caritas Est - Encyclical Letter. Vatican. Retrieved from http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est.html
Finnis, John. "Personal integrity, sexual morality and responsible parenthood." Why Humanae Vitae Was Right: A Reader (2014): 171-92.
Francis, Pope. (2016). Amoris Laetitia – Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation. Retrieved from https://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf
John Paul II, Pope. “Theology of the Body.” The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 3, no. 2 (2003):165-176
Knieps-Port Le Roi, Thomas, and Roger Burggraeve. “New Wine into New Wineskins: Amoris Laetitia and the Church's Teaching on Marriage and Family.” Louvain Studies 39, no. 3 (2015-2016): 284-302.
Paul VI, Pope. (1968). Humanae Vitae – Encyclical Letter. Retrieved from http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html
Rubio, Julie Hanlon. "Family Ethics: Beyond Sex and Controversy." Theological Studies 74, no. 1 (2013): 138-161.
Salzman, Todd A., and Michael G. Lawler. Sexual ethics: A theological introduction. Georgetown University Press, 2012.
Selling, Joseph A. "Regulating Fertility and Clarifying Moral Language." The Heythrop Journal 55, no. 6 (2014): 1033-1043.
Sherlock, Richard. "The Beauty of Marital Love in the Thought of Saint John Paul II." Quaestiones Disputatae 6, no. 2 (2016): 120-131.