Summer 2016/Pasadena

NS561

Stanley

NS561: WOMEN AND THE BIBLE (4 Units: 160 hours). Chris Stanley

DESCRIPTION: This course will examine a number of important questions pertaining to the depictions of women in the Bible and the ways in which biblical texts pertaining to women have been interpreted and applied in the Christian church. Issues to be discussed include (a) how women are portrayed (or overlooked) by various biblical authors; (b) how biblical images of women compare with what we know about the social lives of women and men in the ancient world; (c) how texts pertaining to women have been interpreted and applied in Christian theology and church life over the centuries; and (d) how contemporary feminist scholarship has reshaped Christian engagement with the biblical text.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Having successfully completed this course, students will have demonstrated the ability to (1) engage both critically and constructively with various feminist approaches to interpreting the Bible; (2) distinguish between religious ideologies about women and the social and religious activities of women as depicted in the biblical texts; (3) describe the lived experiences of typical women at different social levels in the cultures in which the biblical texts were written; (4) discuss how biblical characterizations of women both resemble and differ from what we see in the surrounding cultures; (5) apply the tools and insights of gender analysis to particular biblical texts, with special attention to the complex dynamics of power and authority; and (6) synthesize historical, literary, and theological modes of interpretation to produce an integrated gender-critical reading of a specific passage from the Bible.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets daily for four-hour sessions as a two-week intensive for a total of 40 instructional hours in the classroom for lecture and discussion.

REQUIRED READING: 955 pages of reading required.

Bible (NRSV, TNIV, or CEB)

Cohick, Lynn H. Women in the World of the Earliest Christians: Illuminating Ancient Ways of Life. Baker Academic, 2009. ISBN: 978-0801031724, Pub. Price $30.00 [309 pp.]

Kroeger, Catherine Clark and Mary J. Evans, ed. The IVP Women’s Bible Commentary. InterVarsity, 2002. ISBN: 978-0830814374, Pub. Price $20-30 [50 pages]. This text is out of print, but used copies are readily available online, and the book will be available on reserve at the library. Purchasing a used copy is strongly recommended for use in doing daily assignments during the class term and research for the final paper.

Meyers, Carol. Rediscovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context. Oxford University Press, 2013. ISBN: 978-0199734627, Pub. Price $26.95 [212 pp. assigned]

Newson, Carol A., Sharon H. Ringe, and Jacqueline Lapsley, ed. Women’s Bible Commentary: Twentieth Anniversary Edition. 3rd edition, revised and updated. Westminster John Knox, 2012. ISBN: 978-0664237073, Pub. Price $50.00 [50 pp.]

Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth, ed. Feminist Biblical Studies in the Twentieth Century. Society of Biblical Literature, 2014. ISBN: 978-1589835832, Pub. Price $56.95 [140 pp. assigned]

Articles on e-reserves by Meyers, Swidler, Corley, Kraemer, Wordelman, MacDonald, and others [154 pp.]

Other articles from books used for oral reports during class time [40 pp.]

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. Attend and participate actively in class sessions. [Class participation is related to learning outcomes #2, 4, and 5] [40 hours].
  2. 955 pages of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-6.] [59 hours]
  3. Five reading logs [500 words each] during the two-week course session (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #5.] [5 hours]
  4. Four oral reports during the two-week course session (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, and 5.] [4 hours]
  5. Methodology reflection paper [1250 words] (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1.] [7 hours]
  6. Two book review essays [1500 words each] (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #3 and 4.] [15 hours]
  7. Interpretive research paper [3000 words] (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-6 and serves as the Signature Assignment for the course.] [30 hours]

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Biblical Studies elective.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.


NOTE: This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. Textbook prices are set by publishers and are subject to change.

For your convenience, order these texts online through the Archives Bookshop.