dongfang0109

You know Notre Dame has a university requirements for courses. They ask undergraduates to take at least two theology courses and two philosophy courses during four years. I've no idea how hard they are, and don't know whether I should choose a theology or philosophy seminar in the freshman year. Anyone has suggestions?

Could you recommend some books about theology and philosophy? I want to gain some knowledge before entering the college, since I almost know nothing about such topics, especially theology.

Thanks so much.

Toclafane

Most people take both a theology and a philosophy class in their freshman year (one a semester). However, neither of these need to be a seminar - you take them as regular classes, if you wish.
I had little knowledge of both subjects when I took these classes. However, I found that the focus of theology and philosophy classes are less about knowledge (which they will teach you, hence the purpose of a class), but more about being able to make good arguments with the text (the Bible, the works of whatever philosopher you're studying). If you can read and think critically and write convincingly, you should be all set.

Of course, different professors will have different levels of difficulty, so do your research on them beforehand.

notre dame AL

Our student took the Philo as the seminar and a Theo as a regular class during Fall Semester of freshman yr. As I recall, the seminar was smaller and therefore much more interactive. I also remember that writing convincingly according to Toclafane's post was another element that helped him in the classes. I don't know if it makes much difference whether one or the other is taken as a seminar, it just happened that his schedule shaped up to fall that way and it worked out well.

Irish45221

The best way to prepare for the THEO and PHILO courses is to get in touch with your professor ahead of time and ask what material will be covered. I would love to say that you could prepare for THEO by surveying the Bible but some professors only use Scripture once or twice the entire course. Unfortunately, much of the reading that you will be doing during the year will come from expensive course packets that contain various readings. It is hard to get a gauge of what is in these packets unless you contact your professor in advance of the class. If you have had zero exposure to theology (not so much philosophy) it might be a good idea to contact your professor by e-mail.

dongfang0109

I'd like to contact my professor, but I even don't know which class to join right now. When will the final results of course selection come out? Maybe next month, I'm not so sure.

Thanks for all your replies.

Irish45221

It may still be too early in the process but your advisor will contact you and will work out a schedule with you. Don't worry, you will have some say over the process and your advisor might know a bit of information about some of the professors.

If you are still looking for books to satisfy your curiosity you might want to look at what some of the students in last semester's intro courses read. Just go to the bookstore's website and search for Spring 2008 and THEO or PHIL. The 100 level course are pretty much all intro and they will give you a good idea of what people read.

Locate Course Materials

dongfang0109

That's a good idea.
I've searched in the website. Different sections of the same course uses different textbooks. And I did not find any further information about the books in the site. So it's hard for me to decide which books to read.

Irish45221

Nearly every intro course requires that you purchase the study Bible. It is a great Bible and the first half is essentially a textbook that covers different subjects in detail. In my intro course I had to read about a quarter of it. It you are still looking for a general book on Catholicism I suggest anything written by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. He had a way with words and his anecdotes and teachings sum up the Catholic faith very well. If you can replicate his conviction and teachings on a paper you will probably impress the prof and yourself. Aside from digging through encyclicals and Papal decrees, this is probably a great way to gauge the Catholic faith.