Dear Friends,

Dr. Seidel is on the cutting edge of distance learning in the Unificationist world. He has found a means to offer high quality academic content, personal exchange, scheduling flexibility and convenience in a package that can earn the student a certificate or credits toward a master's degree that can be transferred to any religious studies masters program. We are proud of Dietrich's pioneering spirit and love of teaching. We encourage anyone interested in religious studies to enroll in one of his tele-courses.

Tyler Hendricks
President
UTS

Dear Students,

This year, I am pleased to announce that the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) is offering three Teleclass courses as listed below:

(1) EDU 5512 Marriage and Family Enrichment, 2 credits, (equivalent to Part A and Part B of Intensive Courses), starting on Saturday, September 15, 2007, 2:00 PM - 3:40 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time)

(2) THE 5601 Unification Theology, 2 credits, (equivalent to Part A and Part B of Intensive Courses), starting on Sunday, September 16, 2007, 3:00 PM - 4:40 PM EST;

(3) LTR 5141 Paths of Faith, 3 credits, (equivalent to Part A, B and C of Intensive Courses), starting on Saturday, September 15, 2007, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM EST;

After the successful completion of three teleclass courses in 2005 and 2006, we will again use the communication medium of a teleclass where students and instructor will meet once a week via conference telephone calls. Below, I will explain the scope and organization of each course in more detail, followed by a section of "General Information for the Three Courses".

Given the practical nature of this course with its daily applicability for married life, family interactions and successful human relationships, I am inviting you to take this course for credit or to audit it within the UTS Continuing Education Program.

From all the things we do in our lives, it is our investment in building loving relationships that deserves the highest priority. See this course as a great venture in exploring a more profound understanding of our human potential to become genuinely loving and to learn effective skills that allow us to experience our original endowment to become loving object partners for God through a healthy marriage and family life.

This course is highly recommended not only for enriching marital and family relationships but also as a preparation for marriage. The full-hearted effort and enthusiasm you put into this course will bring substantial results in accomplishing your vision of a loving marriage and family.

Based on a more scholarly approach, we will also discuss contemporary issues of marriage and family life and explore in particular Christian and Unification perspectives on the theology of marriage and family relationships. The application of theology towards the well being of family life will provide fruitful ground for interdenominational dialogue and service projects..

On the practical side, we will study authors who are internationally known for their cutting edge research in the marriage and family field such as Howard Markman, Scott Stanley, Les Parrott, Michele Weiner-Davis, Harville Hendrix, John Gray, James Dobson and Gary Smalley. Each session will provide hands on exercises for individuals and couples in order to be able to digest and apply the presented material.

The course Marriage and Family Enrichment will cover four major areas:

(1) Building a Successful Marriage (spirituality and theology of marriage, facing the myths of marriage, personal growth in marriage) Part A

(2) Communication Skills (understanding love, identify your love languages, effective communication) Part A

(3) Conflict Resolution (appreciating differences, anatomy of conflict, ground rules for problem solving) Part B

(4) Intimacy in Marriage and Family Life (becoming soul mates, protecting and fulfilling our sexual life, faithfulness, forgiveness and commitment) Part B

Part A and Part B apply also to Intensive Courses that are offered over weekends, 15 hours of instruction each. Students enrolling in the UTS Continuing Education Program may want to take Part A or Part B or both. Those who take the course "for credit" need to enroll in Part A and B to receive the full two hour credit.

Couples are encouraged to enroll together in this course. Find out about special discounts for couples who register together by reading the section below "General Information for the Three Courses".

We meet Saturdays from 2:00PM to 3:40PM EST, Eastern Standard Time (11:00 AM - 12:40 AM Pacific Time; 12:00 PM - 1:40 PM Mountain Time; 1:00 PM - 2:40 PM Central Time; 20:00 - 21:40 Central European Time).

The course starts on Saturday, September 15, 2007 and continues till December 22, 2007 covering a total of 15 sessions with 30 hours of instruction. Two Credits.

Students who took Part A of an UTS Intensive course have the opportunity to take Part B of that course by means of Teleclass courses. Please e-mail the instructor at leesei@juno.com, if you are interested in such a combination of course offerings.

Why should we study theology? Our faith guides us to trust in the fulfillment of God's promises as revealed in the scriptures. We hope to become heirs of His kingdom by transforming our hearts and our way of thinking. To accomplish such a vision, we need to develop theological insights that have the power to stimulate unity among people and to overcome past barriers of race, culture and religion. Studying theology then moves us forward to a deeper faith, a renewal of our religious heritage and an open mind that prepares us for interfaith dialogue in a spirit of universal brotherhood.

This course examines the relationship between the Jewish, Christian and Unification traditions with regard to their specific interpretative approaches of major theological teachings thus advancing the discovery of common ground and fruitful dialogue.

The scope of Christian doctrine will include the uniqueness of the Catholic, Lutheran and the Calvinist theological interpretations. In particular, we will use relevant writings of a few selected theologians such as Augustine of Hippo, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Albert Schweizer and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

The major goal of this course consists of showing creative ways of theological reflection that will point out new dimensions of compatibility between the Christian and Unification traditions. According to comments of students who took this course in the past, it became clear that they could not only discuss more effectively theological issues with Christian clergy but they also deepened their own life of faith based on a more profound understanding of the Divine Principle. Here is the opportunity to ask all those questions you always wanted to ask but did not yet have the chance to do so.

We will discuss theological doctrine in four major sections:

I. God and Creation Part A

II. The Fall of Man Part A

III. Redemption and Christology Part B

IV. Providential History and Eschatology (the "Last Things"). Part B

Part A and Part B apply also to Intensive Courses that are offered over weekends, 15 hours of instruction each. Students enrolling in the UTS Continuing Education Program may want to take Part A or Part B or both. Those who take the course ‘for credit’ need to enroll in Part A and B to receive the full two hour credit.

We meet on Sundays from 3:00pm to 4:40pm EST, Eastern Standard Time, (12:00 PM - 1:40 PM Pacific Time; 1:00 PM - 2:40 PM Mountain Time; 2:00 PM - 3:40 PM Central Time; 21:00 - 22:40 Central European Time).

The course starts on Sunday, September 16, 2007 and continues till December 23, 2007 covering a total of 15 sessions with 30 hours of instruction. Two Credits.

Students who took Part A of an UTS Intensive course have the opportunity to take Part B of that course by means of Teleclass courses. Please e-mail the instructor, leesei@juno.com, if you are interested in such a combination of course offerings.

Today, we witness the importance of developing a global consciousness as the foundation for lasting peace. While advancing life's external conditions towards the new horizon of building a global village, we become increasingly aware of the need to be internally connected by developing into a global family. One step in this effort consists of a basic knowledge of the major world religions in terms of world views, values, rituals and their practical application in daily life.

This course introduces the student to the major religious traditions of the Eastern and Western cultural spheres, in particular the religions of India, the Far East and Biblical lands.

Beyond the study of major theological ideas and their ethical implications, we will pay attention to the methodology and practical dimension of studying religion. In other words, understanding religious traditions beyond our own will impact our life and provide a greater awareness and appreciation of people from other faiths.

Students will learn the subject matter of the course through lectures, reading assignments and class discussions based on the teleclass format. Beyond the scholarly study of these traditions, students will also develop an experiential component through visitations of places of worship and engaging in dialogue with religious leaders of the discussed traditions. In this way, the study of the world’s religions intends to provide a deeper understanding of the spiritual, historical and cultural heritage of these religious traditions, thus preparing the student for interfaith dialogue.

There are no pre-requisites (Three Credits).

This course is organized in three sections, Part A, B, and C with one credit, or 15 hours of instruction, each. The course content of the three parts is structured as follows.

Part A

1. Judaism
2. Christianity, Eastern and Western
3. Islam

Part B

4. Hinduism and Sikhism
5. The Jain tradition
6. Buddhism

Part C

7. Confucianism
8. Taoism
9. Shintoism

Students who take this course "for credit" are asked to enroll in all three parts A, B and C to receive full three credits for this course, while students who take the course within the UTS Continuing Education Program are free to chose any of the three Parts A,B,C or any combination thereof.

We meet Saturdays, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM EST; (6:30 AM - 9:00 AM Pacific Time; 7:30 AM - 10:00 AM Mountain Time; 8:30 AM - 11:00 AM Central Time; 15:30 18:00 Central European Time).

The course starts on Saturday, September 15, 2007 and continues till December 22, 2007 covering a total of 15 sessions with 45 hours of instruction. Three Credits.

Academic classes operate with 50min periods for one hour of instruction, meaning

100 min class time (1 h 40 min) for a two hour class session or 150 min (2 h 30 min) for a three hour class session. The Marriage and Family Enrichment and the Unification Theology teleclass courses have 15 two-hour sessions or 30 hours of instruction, which is the requirement for a two credit course based on the semester system.

The Paths of Faith teleclass course has 15 three hour sessions or 45 hours of instruction, fulfilling the requirements for a three credit course. Each session will consist of alternate periods of short lectures and student participation including student presentations, thus giving the class ample opportunity to contribute to the discussion of the course material.

Each of these three courses can be taken either within the UTS Continuing Education Program for a tuition fee of $205. - (164.- Euros) per credit hour ( includes a UTS certificate), or as a "for credit" course that qualifies as part of a fully accredited master program with a tuition fee of $ 410.- per credit hour ( requires term papers and exams). There is an additional fee of 30$ for photocopied reading material and postage.

There is a special discount for couples who register together for any of the three courses. If one spouse is enrolled in a Continuing Education course with a tuition fee of $205.- per credit hour, or takes a course for credit (tuition fee of $410.- per credit hour), then the other spouse pays only $100.- per credit hour ($200.- for the two credit course and $300.- for the three credit course) as the tuition fee only for the courses within the UTS Continuing Education Program which includes a UTS certificate.

Full tuition fees apply for both spouses if they both take a course for credit to advance their master degree at UTS.

At registration for the teleclass courses the whole tuition fee is due.

In special circumstances installments can be made. Ask the instructor by e-mail.

To register, please go to my website ( www.homesoflove.net ), click on "Teleclasses", fill out the registration form and pay with credit card through PayPal or send a bank check or money order (in American dollars or Euros) payable to Dietrich Seidel to my address in Austria:

Rechte Bahngasse 8/7
1030 Vienna, Austria.

The tuition fee for Continuing Education two credit courses, including the fee for reading material ($440.-) will be 352.- Euros. If the two credit course is taken "for credit" the tuition fee including the fee for reading material will be $ 850.- US or 680.- Euros. The Continuing Education three credit course tuition fee with reading material amounts to $ 645.- (516.- Euros). When taking the three credit course "for credit", the tuition fee (with reading material) will be $ 1260.- (984.- Euros).

Students from America who have a leadership position in the FFWPU America and who take UTS courses for credit may be eligible for a half-tuition scholarship from the FFWPU America headquarters. Such students must enroll for the course and pay their full tuition. UTS will provide a receipt and a letter stating that the student is enrolled in the course for credit, with date, time and instructor information. The student can submit this to the office of Dr. Chang Shik Yang, Continental Director of the FFWPU America, with a request for the scholarship funding.

If you have difficulties with the Internet please send me an e-mail. We can e-mail a registration form to you. After your registration and payment of the tuition fee, you will receive the conference phone number, the access code, a syllabus and the first set of handouts through e-mail. We are using the company "freeconferencecall.com". Students and instructor simply dial the same domestic number for the US. Please compare long distance rates for US calls to find the most economic connection.

For the courses to be taught there needs to be a minimum of seven enrolled students.

Via e-mail, I will distribute handouts and additional reading materials one week in advance so that every student will have sufficient time to prepare for the particular topic of our conference call sessions. I will also send the required reading material for all 15 sessions to your home address by regular mail.

Students should be aware of the flexibility of scheduling classes for the UTS Teleclass Courses. In other words, if the need arises to reserve certain weekends for important events, I am willing to adjust the class schedule. This may lead us into the last week of 2007, or into the month of January 2008. All schedule changes will be done only based on the consensus of the whole class.

I am looking forward meeting you in our teleclasses.

God bless you,

Dietrich Seidel, Ph.D.
www.homesoflove.net