Summer 2018/Pasadena

TC517

Fee

TC517: THEOLOGICAL METHOD FOR WORSHIP AND THE ARTS (4 Units: 160 Hours). Maria Fee.

DESCRIPTION: This course introduces the students to a methodology that will undergird their theological study of Christian worship, along with narrative, performing, and plastic arts. Student will then be given opportunities to apply this method at whatever level they are proficient to various arts and/or Christian worship. Beginning with Augustine’s philosophy of language and learning as introduced and developed in De Magistro and De Doctrina Christiana, and his assertion that all we have to communicate with are signs, words, and gestures, this course will explore methods of exegeting signs and gestures to supplement the exegesis of words. This course has three elements: course readings and lectures, experiential learning through “field trips” to cultural venues such as museums, interviews with artists, etc., and class discussions and group and individual projects. This course will focus on art and its geographic location as a means to introduce concepts of reading cultural expressions and their spaces towards place-making endeavors.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: A student successfully completing this course will be able to: (1) articulate the application of Augustine’s theory of communication to worship and the arts; (2) describe in general terms the history and theology of the arts in relation to the Christian faith; (3) describe in general terms the history and theology of Christian worship in relation to the arts; (4) apply the hermeneutic model of interpretation to worship and the arts in a cursory way; (5) complete an in-depth application of this hermeneutic model to one particular artistic expression or element of Christian worship.

COURSE FORMAT: This is a hybrid course, meaning that it will be conducted on a ten-week schedule aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar with nine weeks of online instruction and one week of classroom instruction in Pasadena during week 4 of the quarter. The week of classroom instruction will include twenty-one hours of class time, as well as 12 hours of experiencing the art and architecture of L.A./Pasadena. Classroom and online instruction will include lecture and discussion, together with interviews and field experiences, and synthetic conversations, for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REGISTRATION NOTE: Students are not permitted to register for a class that meets during the same period as an immersion class unless they obtain faculty approval. If the faculty grants permission to miss class meeting(s) in order to attend the immersion class, it is the student's responsibility to be familiar with that faculty's attendance policy, including any penalties that would result from the planned absence. Students must work with their advisor to register in such cases.

REQUIRED READING: 1,250 total pages required.

Course Reader (on eReserves) [164 pp.]

Del Giudice, Luisa (editor). Sabato Rodia’s Towers in Watts: Art, Migrations, Development. Fordham University Press, 2014. ISBN:978-0823257973, Pub. Price $50.00 [220 pp. assigned]

González-Andrieu, Cecilia. Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty. Baylor University Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-1602583511, Pub. Price $ 24.95 [166 pp. assigned].

Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Vintage Books, 1992. ISBN: 978-0679741954, Pub. Price $16.95. [242 pp. assigned]

Jacobsen, Eric. The Space Between. Baker Books, 2012. ISBN: 978-0801039089, Pub. Price $26.00 [268 pp.]

Muir, Edward. Ritual in Early Modern Europe. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN: 978-0521602402, Pub. Price $43.99 [190 pp. assigned].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

Posts for week 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 (250-300 words). The subject of which is detailed in syllabus. Possible prompts will deal with reflection on: readings, lecture, online activity, off-line art activity, or personal journal response. Two response entries to classmate’s post are expected (100-150 words/links, or image examples) (35%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, and 4] [16 hours].
10 minute slide presentation that compares and contrasts two culture objects/subjects (buildings, architects, paintings, or designers) with reference to readings and lecture themes and other class resources. (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome 1, 2, 3, and 4] [4 hours].
1,300 pages of reading (including 50 pp. student research reading) (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 1, 2, and 3] [72 hours].
A final paper/project approved by the professor in which the student demonstrates his or her knowledge of the methods introduced in the class by applying them to a specific cultural form, or an element of Christian worship, or both. Integration of class resources and student’s own research must be included. [12-15 pages, double space.] If you wish to submit a creative project, it must be in conversation with class resources, and experiences, and accompanied with a reflection paper, which describes process, influences, and holds a theological dimension. [5-7 pages]. (35%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome 1, 2, 3, and 4] [35 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the TH5 or C2 requirement in the 120 MDiv program. Option to meet the C2 requirement in the 80 MATM Program (Fall 2015).

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.