PULSE Course Offerings


THE PULSE CORE COURSE: PL088-089/TH088-089
Person and Social Responsibility



This two-semester, twelve-credit course fulfills the entire Philosophy and Theology core requirement. Enrollment requires class work in conjunction with ongoing involvement in a PULSE field placement. The field placements put students directly in contact with people experiencing the consequences of one or another form of social injustice- delinquency, poverty, prejudice, alienation, and requires a 10-12 hour per week commitment. Drawing on traditional and contemporary works of Philosophy and Theology, the classes engage the students in the challenge of self-discovery and growth as related to questions of what it means to assume responsibility for overcoming these injustices.


PL 216 Boston: An Urban Analysis
Instructor: David Manzo


This course is intended for PULSE students who are willing to investigate, analyze, and understand the history, problems, and prospects of Boston's neighborhoods. Community service at a PULSE placement is required for participation in this course. Assignments will require spending time observing, researching, and writing about the neighborhood in which the PULSE placement is located.

PL 216 Web Site


PL 233 Values in Social Services and Health Care
Instructor: David Manzo

This course is designed to communicate an understanding of the health care and social services delivery system; to explore ethical problems of the allocations of limited resources, regulations, experimentation, the press, the homeless, the provider-patient relationship, the responsibility for the dependent person; and to consider the possibilities for positive changes in the social service and health care system. Community service at a PULSE placement or an extensive research project are required for participation in this course.

PL 233 Web Site


PL 221 Self and the City: An exploration in Writing
Instructor: Kathleen Hirsch
Prerequisite: Philosophy Core Fulfilled



This PULSE elective, which requires a PULSE placement, will aim at a deepened understanding of "the Self" as it evolves in the major life experiences of contemplation, relationship, education, and our encounters in the world. Readings (e.g., Weil, Merton, Eliade, Dillard, the New Testament) will prompt discussion of such questions as how do we become self-aware; how do we "do" self awareness in the world; how do we best witness to Self and others? Emphasis will be on exploring the rich potential in submitting our experiences to a variety of literary forms: essays, creative non-fiction, fiction, journal writing and prose poetry.


PL 291/292 Philosophy of Community I & II
PL 293/294 Culture and Social Structure I & II
(Restricted to PULSE Council)



A four semester-long sequence of courses studying community: its structure, power and change. The dynamics of community, the interrelatedness and interdependence of its various sectors, will be examined by sharing impressions and insights. Specific theoretical models of analysis will be studied and critiqued. The purpose of the course is to begin developing new approaches for learning about social change and for building new visions for the direction that a PULSE students' responsibility to social change might take.


 Syllabi

James Bernauer, S.J., PL/TH 088
James Bernauer, S.J., PL/TH 089
James Boettcher, PL/TH 088
James Boettcher, PL/TH 089
Patrick Byrne, PL/TH 088
Patrick Byrne, PL/TH 089
Joseph Flanagan, S.J. / David McMenamin, PL 293
Joseph Flanagan, S.J. / David McMenamin, PL 294
Roberto Goizueta, PL/TH 088
Roberto Goizueta, PL/TH 089
David Manzo, PL 233
David McMenamin, PL/TH 088
David McMenamin, PL/TH 089
David McMenamin, PL 291
Matthew Mullane, PL/TH 088
Andrew Peach, PL/TH 088
Steve Pope, PL/TH 088
Steve Pope, PL/TH 089
Linda Riviere, PL/TH 088
Linda Riviere, PL/TH 089
Eileen Sweeney, PL/TH 088