Distance Education
It is a new era! Now neither time nor distance need hinder you from taking courses at Hartford Seminary.
Students can take Masters level courses for credit or audit just like the face-to-face classes at the Seminary. Recent changes in our accreditation policies mean that Hartford Seminary MA students can now have up half their courses toward their degree requirements as distance education courses.
The Seminary offers an online religious studies certificate program - essentially allowing a student to take all 18 credits of that certificate degree - approximately 6 courses - online. Then, after this graduate certificate, it is often possible to transfer all those credits into a MA program here, the rest of which would have to be done in face-to-face coursework.
We are committed to offering at least two online courses each semester in diverse subject areas. We also offer a variety of other non credit educational opportunities online.
Through our membership in the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium and using Blackboard software, students will have a host of resources, in addition to the Seminary faculty, to draw from to make their distance learning experiences smooth and painless as well as educational.
Visit our "Frequently Asked Questions" section to learn more about distance learning at Hartford Seminary.
If you have further questions, or to enroll in an online course, contact the instructor or email Scott Thumma, Distance Education Director at sthumma@hartsem.edu, David Barrett, Educational Outreach Director at dbarrett@hartsem.edu, or Karen Rollins, Registrar at registrar@hartsem.edu. Registered students will receive an email a few days prior to the start of classes with instructions on how to access the course web site and log in information.
If you have registered for an online course, please note that you will be contacted a few days before the course begins and then be given their information such as password, course site, instructions, etc. Prior to this, check the specific course's page on the Seminary website for book lists and initial course instructions. This is the procedure for every online course, every semester. thanks!
Online Course Schedule
Fall 2010 Credit Courses:
Mental Health: An Islamic Perspective (AM-653)
Online, beginning the week of September 13
This course will familiarize students with the basic concepts of mental illness to facilitate their communication with multidisciplinary teams including both health and mental health professionals. We will focus on the cultural factors particular to the Muslim community. Students will obtain skills such as how to approach individuals in a mental health treatment context and when to make referrals to mental health specialists. Students will be required to write a term paper. Selected papers will be considered for the publication in the Journal of Muslim Mental Health. Hamada Hamid, Adjunct Professor of Arts of Ministry and Fellow, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding
Religion as a Social Phenomenon: The Sociological Study of Religion* (RS-536)
Online, beginning the week of September 13
All religion is a social phenomenon. Although faith has a private dimension, human beings experience religion in groups or through forms created by social organizations. Every religion creates and is maintained by institutionalized rituals or concrete organizational forms. Professed beliefs are passed down by religious traditions, and ideally, these beliefs have consequences for one’s social behavior. Religious life has spawned times of war and times of peace; changed human beings and human history. Each of these social dimensions of religion can be investigated with the research methods of the social scientist. Much can be learned about religion from a sociological perspective, from reading classical sociological theories of religious organization and practice including those of Weber, Durkheim, and Marx. Faculty to be determined
