ICF - Courses given by Prof. Marcel Broesterhuizen


I give four courses:

Pastoral Ministry with the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing


This course is given in the first semester of the academic year in even years. The course is included in the programme of Master of Religious Studies and in the Study Abroad Programme for European Culture and Society. It is also possible for external students to register at KU Leuven only for this course. Students who finish the course, receive 4 credits. These credits are valid in all recognised universities in the European Union.

Aim of the course:

After the course students should be acquainted with views on deafness and partial hearing, deaf culture, life experiences of deaf and hard-of-hearing persons relevant for pastoral ministry, pastoral models and theological views used in pastoral ministry with the deaf and partially hearing.

Content of the course:

The course consists of seven themes:

  • Deafness made visible: history of the deaf in society, Church, and pastoral ministry.
  • Deafness - impairment or difference: this theme is about two views on deafness, hearing people's view in which deafness is primarily a medical audiological impairment, and deaf people's view in which deafness is primarily a social-cultural and linguistic phenomenon. We discuss the way in which pastoral ministry can join into the social-cultural view on deafness.
  • The influence of deafness on persons' total functioning: what is the influence of deafness on persons' communicative and psychosocial functioning, their religious experience, and on religious socialisation of deaf youth.
  • Deaf people and their language: for deaf people language is crystallisation point of alienation from or solidarity with other people. Which consequence does this have for religious communication, catechesis, and liturgy. We shall speak also about Sign Language as a religious and liturgical language.
  • Deaf people's self-experience: How do deaf people look to themselves, what do they say about themselves, about deafness? Can suffering be associated with deafness, and if yes, who is guilty of this suffering?
  • Becoming deaf: There is a large difference between persons with early deafness and person who become deaf at a later moment in life. How do people manage with acquired deafness and how can these persons be ministered to?
  • Models of pastoral ministry with the deaf: during the last thirty years, a big paradigm shift has taken place in pastoral ministry with the deaf, from an institutional care perspective and a disability approach by hearing pastors to a contextual and liberation theology perspective in which deaf persons are no longer receivers of the message, but actively involved in the creation of their own religious culture. Three examples of Christian deaf communities will be described: Deaf ministry that takes the Deaf community as a starting point, an integrated community of Deaf and hearing people, and Deaf people, pastors or lay people, who take the lead in community formation.

For each theme a course text will be provided on Blackboard (Toledo). Persons non registered at KU Leuven can obtain the texts on personal request from Prof.Broesterhuizen.

Form of the course:

The course is given by means of lectures, two hours weekly during 13 weeks. The course can be followed also by means of guided self-study, also in the uneven years. Guided self-study takes place in the following form:

  • Each of the seven themes is combined with part of the literature. Students have to write a short paper (maximum 2 A4) and send it to Prof.Broesterhuizen. This will be discussed in a short meeting (15 minutes) or conversation, personal, or by MSN/Skype (with webcam).
  • An additional literature assignment, either proposed by the student him/herself or by the professor.
  • An additional practical assignment in the form of an interview with a person, preferentially a deaf person involved in pastoral ministry with the deaf or religious education.

Evaluation:

Evaluation of the course will take place in the form of an oral examination, with written preparation (no open book). In the case of guided self-study a direct personal oral examination is preferred, but in the case of distance the examination can take place by means of MSN/Skype (with webcam).

Pastoraat bij doven en slechthorenden (Dutch)


This is the same course as the first course, but it is given in Dutch. The course is given within the programme Licentiate in Religious Sciences.

Pastoral Ministry in Care Services: Fundamental Issues


This course is a part of a course given together with Prof. Axel Liégeois, and it is given in the second semester of the uneven academic years. Six two-hours lectures are given by Prof. Liégeois, and six by me. The course is in the programme for Master in the Specialised Studies of Theology and Religious Sciences (Flemish programme) and for Master of Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion (international programme). Students can earn 4 credits with this course. These credits are valid in all recognised universities in the European Union.

Prof. Liégeois's part of the course is about the identity of the pastor, my part of the course is about the identity of the client, with special reference to deaf clients. The following themes are treated:

  • Views on functional impairment: theological and culture prejudice about functional impairment in Western culture, and the awkward relationship between religion and functional impairment.
  • Views of able people: theologians and pastors with a functional impairment.
  • The deconstruction of the concept of disability and the formulation of an alternative view on human difference.
  • Self-willing clients between appropriation and expropriation.
  • Active involvement of people in pastoral ministry: examples from Deaf Pastoral Ministry.

For each theme, a course text is written. These course texts can be downloaded from Blackboard (Toledo). External persons can get the texts on personal request from Prof.Broesterhuizen.

Evaluation takes place by means of an oral examination with written preparation. For my part of the course a short paper with 6 statements has to be written:

  • Three statements about the topics treated in the course and three statements about the reading assignments.
  • Each statement is not only a reproduction of a point of view of the course but should also express a creative and critical opinion of the student on the course.
  • A statement is no longer than 200 words, i.e. every page two statements.
  • Submission of the paper by e-mail 1 week before the oral examination

During the oral examination two of the six statement will be motivated and discussed.

Pastoral Ministry in Care Services: Practical Issues


This course is a part of a course given together with Prof. Axel Liégeois, and it is given in the second semester of the even academic years. Six two-hours lectures are given by Prof.Liégeois, and six by me. The course is in the programme for Master in the Specialised Studies of Theology and Religious Sciences (Flemish programme) and for Master of Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion (international programme). Students can earn 4 credits with this course. These credits are valid in all recognised universities in the European Union.

Prof. Liégeois's part of the course is about methodological approaches used by the pastor. My part of the course is about the circumstances and skills that influence the pastor's functioning in pastoral ministry with challenges, with special reference to deaf people. The following topics are treated:

  • A model of theological reflection in pastoral work. In this theme functional impairment, with special reference to deafness, is seen as a world creating state. Deafness is a cosmology, a world, from which people have their own view on Christian tradition, culture, and personal experience.
  • Counselling: in pastoral counselling, how can a pastor join into the own world view of the client, especially the pastor who lives in a different world. What do conversation and language mean in this context?
  • Accessibility and participation: Accessibility is not only a material fact, it has to be the first step to full participation in the community. Which prejudices and circumstances block the way to full participation? In this context the self-evidence of a hearing or normal world-view and the phonocentrism of religion in Western culture is criticised. The value of visual representation of the message in Christian tradition is discussed.
  • Collaborative ministry: the Church is the unity of all baptised people, and all baptised people share in the charisms of the Church. This has consequences of the way people are involved in pastoral ministry. Concrete examples of collaborative ministry are described.

For each theme, a course text is written. These course texts can be downloaded from Blackboard (Toledo). External persons can get the texts on personal request from Prof.Broesterhuizen.

Evaluation takes place by means of an oral examination. For my part of the course a short paper with 6 statements has to be written:

  • Three statements about the topics treated in the course and three statements about the erading assignments.
  • Each statement is not only a reproduction of a point of view of the course but should also express a creative and critical opinion of the student on the course.
  • A statement is no longer than 200 words, i.e. every page two statements.
  • Submission of the paper by e-mail 1 week before the oral examination

During the oral examination two of the six statement will be motivated and discussed.

Religion, Meaning, and Philosophy of Life


One of the ways in which KU Leuven's catholicity is manifested, is that in each faculty and each study programme there is an obligatory course of Religion, Meaning, and Philosophy of life. The faculty asked me to give this course in the programme for Bachelor of Speech Therapy and Audiology, from the viewpoint of hearing people a more logical choice than from the viewpoint of Deaf culture. In this course I present viewpoints of deaf people and deaf culture on religion, meaning, and philosophy of life.

It is an obligatory course that is given in 13 one-hour lectures during the first semester of every academic year. The course gives 3 credits. These credits are valid in all recognised universities in the European Union.

The follow themes are treated in this course:

  • Religious views on functional impairment: How do religions look to functional impairment, and why do religions have an awkward relationship with functional impairment. How do deaf people experience this?
  • Deafness as a worldview. For deaf people deafness is not an impairment, but a worldview, with specific consequences for meaning and philosophy of life.
  • What do language, conversation, and communication mean from the viewpoint of religion and philosophy of life?
  • Religious experience of deaf people.
  • Ethical aspects of intervention with deaf people: the field of deafness knows some ethical controversies, such as oral communication versus Sign Language, mainstreaming, cochlear implantation. The opinions and choices of many deaf people are very different from the choices of hearing people. Why do they think as they think? This question is analysed from the viewpoint of personalist ethics.

Evaluation takes place by means of an oral examination. Students have to write a short paper with four statements:

  • Two statements about the topics treated in the course and two about the reading assignments.
  • Each statement is not only a reproduction of a point of view of the course but should also express a creative and critical opinion of the student on the course.
  • A statement is no longer than 200 words, i.e. every page two statements.
  • Submission of the paper by e-mail 1 week before the oral examination

During the oral examination two of the four statement will be motivated and discussed.