Course Descriptions & Offerings: Summer & January

3 credits
Daisy Machado

The United States/Mexico border is approximately 2,000 miles long and is the only border in the world between a “first” world nation and a nation in the global south. Tejana activist and writer Gloria Anzaldúa has described it as the place “where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds.” This immersion course examines the multi-layered realities of this border region and how these realities make themselves felt in the Spanish-speaking communities that inhabit both sides of the Río Grande. Some issues that are examined include the history of the Texas/United States border, the historical imagination, immigration, nationhood and citizenship, globalization and the maquiladora industry, gender and poverty, with a focus on how these realities challenge the ethical concerns of the United States church.

Prerequisites: CH 249. Permission of the instructor.

Note: Students are expected to attend meetings, prior to the trip.

3 credits
Burton Visotzky
Ursula Rudnick
Jerusha Lamptey 

This course provides basic information about all three religions, and then confront each religion in dialogue with a sister religion. At the session’s end we approach three-way conversations and ask how we can go beyond dialogue. The course includes guided visits to a church, mosque, and synagogue, as well as an interfaith Ramadan breakfast Iftar dinner. More information on this webpage.

Note: Register with a Cross-Registration Form. Fulfills the IE requirement (except IE 102).

6 credits
Su Yon Pak

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is graduate-level theological and professional education for ministry that takes place in a clinical setting. CPE students learn the art and skills of pastoral and spiritual care by providing pastoral and spiritual care to patients, families and staff, and then reflect on their ministry experiences with a certified CPE supervisor and a small group of peers. Students may request to receive academic credits for up to one unit of CPE to fulfill the field education requirement. The senior director of integrative and field-based education will consider an application to substitute a unit of CPE taken on an extended basis through the academic year in order to fulfill the field education requirement.

Prerequisites: PS 110 is required. PS 101 is recommended. Permission of the instructor.

Note: Identical to FE 366Q.

2 credits
Sarah Azaransky

How do we construct narratives of learning and justice ministries at the center of our theological training? What is our theological voice in the public square; what are the possible roles of public theology? This intensive immersion course engages and cultivates necessary prophetic voices with communities on the margins of theological education—in particular, those communities contending against systemic injustices perpetuating the intersectionalities of racist and economic struggles that directly impact children and youth. Interrogating Biblical and theological assumptions that justify institutional complicity with oppressive systems, this course examines the present nature of theological education and consider pressing questions regarding public theology and contextual practice. This course includes contextual learning and research in forming public leaders to facilitate collective organizing/re-organizing of churches as justice-making communities.

Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

Note: Cannot be taken for reading credit. Enrollment limited to 10 students. Held during the 2018 Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry at the Children’s Defense Fund Alex Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee. Identical to PT 401Q.

2 credits
George Fitchett

Around the world, a new evidence-based paradigm is informing the work of healthcare chaplains and spiritual care providers. Fulfilling the potential of the evidence-based paradigm for healthcare chaplaincy requires that all chaplains, and those who educate them, become research literate. Being research literate means two things: 1) It means having the ability to critically read and understand basic research, and, if indicated, apply the findings of research studies to one’s chaplaincy practice. 2) It means being generally familiar with the existing body of chaplaincy research including topics that have been studied and important areas for future research. The aim of this course is to provide students with a beginning level of research literacy in both senses of the term. This is primarily accomplished by reading chaplaincy-related research and presenting critical summaries of selected studies to the class.

Note: Restricted to D.Min. students. Additional fees are not charged for identity verification in distance education programs.

1 credit
A. Meigs Ross

This course is designed to provide an overview of group dynamics theories from the systems-centered and group-as-a-whole perspectives. The focus is on applying group dynamics theories to the leadership of experiential process groups, with a particular focus on groups in Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE). Students enhance their understanding of the theory and practice of group dynamics through readings, discussion and experiential group participation.

Note: Restricted to D.Min. students. Additional fees are not charged for identity verification in distance education programs.

1 credit
Candace Simpson

“It’s what we do every day that shapes us and says more about us than those grand moments of righteous indignation…” Dean Emilie Townes. What do the daughters of Zelophehad say about livable wages? Was Jesus using the people’s mic to share the Beatitudes? What would the volunteers of the black panther party’s free breakfast program say to the folks gathered at the feeding of over five thousand people? And how do we make all that come alive in Bible study? This course weaves black liberation goals, black feminist methods of classroom design, and womanist Biblical interpretation. Participants engage in an example of a justice-oriented Bible study and offer feedback. As a class artifact, participants design a class element (a flyer, invitation, syllabus, or lesson plan) and receive feedback from peers. This class is designed for those who want a more rigorous treatment of Biblical text and modern movements for social justice.

Notes: Students are encouraged to bring an idea about a class or workshop they want to host. Religious educators, lay people, organizers and pastors are encouraged to enroll. Pass/fail. Cannot be taken for reading credit.

1 credit
Rita Nakashima Brock

Moral injury is a new concept that focuses attention on the mental health consequences of witnessing, failing to prevent, or engaging in acts that violate deeply held moral beliefs. It occurs in relation to experiences of extremity, moral ambiguity, and trauma. It manifests in feelings of shame, guilt, remorse, self-condemnation, self-loathing, and despair. Most research has focused on veterans, especially those who have experienced war, but it is not limited to a military experience. We explore precipitating experiences that can lead to moral injury, pathways to recovery, the role of communities, and theological, ritual, and spiritual implications of understanding it. We also briefly examine neuroscience research as it illuminates differences between post-traumatic stress and moral injury. Students explore the power of the arts and ritual in soul repair, and civilian moral responsibility for the aftermath of war. The goal of the seminar is to study these aspects of moral injury as they assist in helping professionals and communities in the work of soul repair after war, violence, and other conditions of extremity.

Note: Pass/fail. Cannot be taken for reading credit.