Educational resources for marriage and family
Norberto González e Manuel Uzal
30 May 2017
The Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family, University of Navarra
(
www.unav.es/matrimonioyfamilia
)
The MA in Marriage and Family of the University of Navarra offers an
interdisciplinary view of family and marriage, through the rigorous and
systematic study of thirty-six different subjects,including various
humanities disciplines, biomedicine, psychology, psychopathology and
family therapy, education, social sciences, theology, politics and law,
communication and the arts.
It is a two-year program, divided into trimesters final exams. The
educational methods are varied. There are courses that require
attendance in class and others are made for distance learning, which is
directed toward students from all over the world, preferably with a
background in one of the themes mentioned. The complete program is
based on 120 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System), each equivalent to
25-30 hours of study.
The student’s work functions on a virtual plan, which involves all
members of the educational community: students, professors and
administrative staff. There is no doubt the proximity of the direct
assistance of the teaching staff are crucial for a correct
understanding of the materials.
The program’s integral vision of marriage and the family is also
important to the enrichment of the professional development and applies
to a wide array of careers and jobs.
The faculty consists of more than thirty professors from various
schools of the University of Navarra, from various fields, as well as
visiting professors from other prestigious Spanish universities.
Participation in the program is fully compatible with work and family
responsibilities, but its academic excellence requires a systematic
order. As with all goals that are worth achieving, individual effort
and the support of family are paramount.
Tuition for the first year is 3948 Euro. The annual increase of the
living cost is added to the cost for the second year of studies.
Master of Science in Marriage and Family from the John Paul II
Institute of the Pontifical Lateran University (Rome)
The Master’s program began in the context of the Pontifical Institute
for Studies on Marriage and the Family, founded in 1981 by Pope John
Paul II, who desired that “the Church would become enriched with the
philosophical, theological and pastoral reflection on the truth of the
person, marriage, and family, with the help of the human sciences.” It
is designed especially for those in positions of pastoral guidance of
families in the dioceses and parishes, as well as family counselors.
The program lasts two years, the first of which requires attendance in
Rome with a course load of 20 hours of class per week (63 ECTS
credits). The second year is set up for distance learning with the help
of an online tutor. It essentially requires the submission of three
papers (8 ECTS). At the end of the program, a 50 page thesis is
required.
The Master’s offers two specializations: pastoral and educational
psychology. The courses are taught in Italian. The cost is 2,000 €.
The materials and references reflect the strong personalist philosophy
of Pope John Paul II and its biblical foundation. Take, for example,
the well renowned book, Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body. This
catechesis on human love belongs to one of the collections of the
Institute and is used as a basic text in program.
There is an international teaching staff consisting of about 20
professors. Most of the professors are Italian, Polish, or Spanish,
almost all come from the personalism school of thought, such as
Stanislaw Griegel, a disciple of Karol Wojtyla in the chair of Ethics
at the University of Lublin. Among the highly qualified professors are
Cafarra, Scola, Ouelet, etc. The Master’s Program has a strong
background in research and in publications that give it considerable
prestige, as can be seen in the five collections of books on issues
related to the family, the person and marriage, published by the
Institute with more than 60 titles . In addition, the Institute runs a
journal of studies on marriage and family every semester.
Unfortunately, the webpage on the Master’s Program as well as the
website of the Institute are not up to date.
Love, Family and Education, Institute of Religious Studies at the
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
(
www.pusc.it/issra /famiglia.html
)
This graduate program is not a Master’s degree. It is directed towards
those who are dating, married couples, family counselors and educators
with the objective of deepening “the anthropological, psychological and
theological foundations for the Christian vision of love, marriage, the
family and children’s education.”
The program lasts two years with a total of 60 contact hours and is
structured in three intensive courses over the course of two days each
year in February, May and October. The total is 60 credits and requires
a program of study with both compulsory and optional readings. The
course fee is 820 Euro.
The 13 professors are all teaching at the University of the Holy Cross
or in its Institute of Advanced Religious Studies branch.
Master’s Degree in Family Sciences for the University of Malaga
Now in its seventh version, the Master’s Program in Family Sciences in
the University of Malaga boasts of being the first of its kind
organized by a state university in Spain.
The head coordinator, Professor Tomás Melendo, specifies three basic
objectives of the program: to cultivate a scientific knowledge of the
family and its potential for improvement; to show to what extent the
quality of the family affects all activities of the person and in
society; and finally to facilitate a deep understanding of current
issues: sexuality, the meaning of work, happiness, the media and
technology, the most debated topics within bioethics, and the
legislative reforms in all these fields.
Thanks to a very successful balance of theoretical and practical
content, this curriculum is primarily directed toward parents who want
to gain the knowledge needed for adequate formation. It also greatly
draws people in three areas of professional development: education
(managers of educational centers, teachers, mentors); family care
(family mediators and counselors, security officers, lawyers, social
workers, and political consultants); health care (pediatricians, family
physicians, child caretakers, psychologists and psychiatrists); and the
whole wide field that links work and family (entrepreneurs, directors
of human resources, etc.).
It is a two-year program with a course load of 72.5 credits: 36 credits
the first year and 36.5 the second, distributed among 7 subjects and 20
modules. There are two different ways to do the program: distance
learning on-line or traditional class attendance. The distance learning
method follows University of Malaga’s format for the virtual learning.
Tuition of the Master’s Program costs 4,300 Euro.
