• the social teaching of the Catholic Church
  • the relationship between responsible citizenship and Catholic faith
  • the Catholic Church’s teachings on justice and peace
  • using Catholic social doctrine to evaluate current events

You’ll enjoy the Abbey’s Justice and Peace Studies Minor if you:

  • have a strong desire to understand the Catholic Church’s social teaching
  • enjoy service through volunteer and missionary work
  • have an interest in cultural, economic, or political issues

A minor in Justice and Peace is an excellent supplement for any bachelor’s degree from Belmont Abbey College. In this program, the student:

  • takes TH 340 – Catholic Social Teaching
  • chooses three courses from an approved interdisciplinary list
  • completes an internship
  • is encouraged to consider the Benedictine Volunteer Corps

You will practice better citizenship and be able to pursue a variety of career opportunities, including:

  • Social work
  • Missionary activities
  • Sociology
  • Seminary

The Abbey Difference:

Guided by the tenets of Catholicism and the Benedictine hallmarks, Belmont Abbey College strives to provide its students with a well-rounded education that promotes wise and ethical decisions. The Interdisciplinary minor in Justice and Peace Studies offers students an opportunity to develop knowledge of many of the world’s major problems and a responsible social conscience guided by Catholic social teaching. For additional experience, students may apply for missionary service with the Benedictine Volunteer Corps

Modern Catholic social teaching is a response to social conditions affecting justice and peace that have arisen in the 19th – 21st centuries. It provides a view of society and fundamental principles for a moral evaluation of social conditions. It draws upon centuries-old teachings, such as the just war tradition, and develops new concepts, such as the preferential option for the poor. The Church’s social teaching is part of its theological tradition but relies upon many academic disciplines to understand social problems and propose solutions. This interdisciplinary minor makes Catholic social teaching more widely known and enables the student to enter into the important conversations that this social teaching has nurtured.

Program Requirements:

  • TH 340: Catholic Social Teaching
  • Three (3) elective courses approved by the Coordinator of the Justice and Peace Minor (see list below)
  • Internship approved by the Coordinator of the Justice and Peace Minor

Elective Courses currently approved for the Minor include:

  • BI 312: Issues in Natural Sciences
  • BU 410: Business and Society
  • CJ 365: Juvenile Justice
  • CJ 403: Ethics & Criminal Justice
  • CJ/TH 375: Theological Perspectives on Restorative Justice
  • EC/PO 355/356: Political Economy
  • ED 308: Perspectives in Education
  • EN 303: 20th & 21st Century Women Writers
  • EN 400: Special Topics: Love in the Literary Tradition
  • EV 300: Introduction to Environmental Science
  • ET 401: Social Ventures (Nonprofits)
  • HI 412: The History of American Civil Rights Movement
  • PC 360: Social Psychology
  • PO 401/402: Classical/Modern Political Philosophy
  • SO 313: Race and Ethnic Relations
  • SO 351: Social Problems
  • TH 330: Introduction to Moral Theology
  • TH 345: Theology of Sexuality and Marriage

It is the student’s responsibility to see that all degree requirements for graduation are fulfilled.

Program Director:

Sr. Jane Russell, O.S.F
Coordinator of Justice and Peace Studies
Associate Professor of Theology
B.A., Alverno College
M.A., University of San Francisco
Ph.D., University of Notre Dame