Praxis of Accompaniment

The Praxis of Accompaniment equips students with the historical, theological, intercultural, and counseling tools to provide pastoral care and chaplaincy accompaniment in Latin American contexts.

In partnership with Solidarity Bridge, this course analyzes pastoral care case studies from Solidarity Bridge, Doctors without Borders, and other like organizations through the lens of theology, history, counseling, and Catholic social theory. Students will reflect on the nuances of providing pastoral care in Latin America, while also interrogating the particularities of Latinidad within the United States context. It does so through a unique en conjunto pedagogy that brings together five expert scholars and practitioners who will co-teach this course using an integrative approach to education that will help students see how theory and practice combine to promote a praxis of accompaniment.


General Program Information

This course is a partnership between the Hispanic Scholars Program and Solidarity Bridge, an organization founded in 1999 that partners surgeons in the United States with medical professionals in Paraguay and Bolivia in order to increase access to safe, affordable surgery and other essential health care. As part of this partnership, students who complete The Praxis of Accompaniment for credit will be eligible to apply with Solidarity Bridge to accompany a team of surgeons to Paraguay or Bolivia as the team’s pastoral care professional.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this course, students will be able to: 

  • Articulate the relationship between “theory” and “practice,” all while constructing a method of “praxis” that can be applied to their academic and ministerial contexts;
  • Integrate insights from theology, history, counseling, and social theory as interlocking fields in pastoral care;
  • Explain the history of colonial imposition and anti-colonial resistance in Latin America to academic and non-academic audiences alike;
  • Accompany medical professionals and patients through the emotional and spiritual challenges and opportunities that emerge in cross-cultural medical contexts. 

CREDITS

Students who complete this course will receive three graduate-level credits, conferred by an ATS accredited school.

2025 Program Information

Coming soon!