Syllabus Document for Studies in Catholic Thought

Studies in Catholic Thought is available for study as both a 1unit, 60 hour course and a 2unit 120 course for students in Year 11 and Year 12.

The 1unit course requires students to complete three core modules at 20 indicative hours in Year 11 and another three core modules at 20 indicative hours in Year 12.

The 2unit course requires students to complete the three core modules in both Years 11 and 12. In Year 11, students complete an additional two 30 hour modules. The Year 12 course offers four depth studies of 30 hours. Students complete two of the the four modules offered.

Studies in Catholic Thought is structured around the study of two themes central to the Catholic tradition; Who is a human person? and The Good Life. It is through the exploration of these themes that students come to a deeper understanding of the richness of Catholic belief, thinking and tradition.

In the Year 11 course, students will begin by developing an understanding of humanhood and personhood as understood by the Catholic tradition that is, and appreciate that every human is a person. The human person is a foundational concept of the Catholic Church, founded in Scripture and informed by theology, philosophy and science.

Throughout the Year 12 course, students will explore and develop an understanding of how a moral and ethical life naturally flows from the Catholic Church’s understanding of what it is to be human.

The Good Life begins with students developing an understanding of humanity’s place in creation, the idea of freedom and opening the concept of an ordered creation and the introduction of sin through biblical examples. Drawing on this knowledge, students will explore the key ethical understandings that underpin the Catholic approach to living a good life, beginning with philosophy and the works of the great thinkers in the Catholic tradition.