Summer 2020/Fuller Online

MC509

Bolger

MC509: THE CHURCH IN A CULTURE OF TECHNOLOGY (4 Units: 160 Hours). Ryan K. Bolger.

DESCRIPTION: In this course, we will document the social media revolution through an analysis of platforms such as Google, Facebook, Youtube, Wikipedia, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. We will be exploring how these cultural changes impact churches. How might local communities pursue the reign of God in light of the brokenness of mediated cultures? We will be drawing on historic missiological understandings as well as contemporary insights to engage participatory cultures with the gospel of Christ.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will have: (1) exegeted structures of new media missiologically; (2) imagined approaches to new media transformation in light of the reign of God; (3) created a social media engagement strategy for a local congregation or denomination.

COURSE FORMAT: This course will be conducted online on a ten-week schedule aligned with Fuller’s academic calendar for a total of 40 instructional hours, which is outlined below in the assignment and assessment section. Students are required to interact with the material, with each other, and with the instructor regularly through online discussions, reading, and other assignments that promote active learning.

REQUIRED READING: Students must read a total of 1500 pages from the following books:

Bevans, Stephen B. and Roger Schroder. Prophetic Dialogue. Orbis, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759116, Pub. Price $37.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [208 pp.].

Benjamin, Ruha. Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Polity, 2019. ISBN: 978-1509526406, Pub. Price $19.95. [172 pp.].

Campbell, Heidi A. and Stephen Garner. Networked Theology. Baker Academic 2016. ISBN: 978-0801049149, Pub. Price $24.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [192 pp.].

Rainie, Lee and Barry Wellman, Networked. MIT Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0262017190, Pub. Price $20.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [358 pp.].

Zuboff, Shoshana. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. Public Affairs, 2019. ISBN: 978-1610395694, Pub. Price $38.00. [570 pp. assigned].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 1500 pp. of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [75 hours].
2. Weekly online videos. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [15 hours].
3. 1500 word total weekly forum posts (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2 and #3] [30 hours].
4. 500-word weekly forum responses (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2 and #3] [10 hours].
5. Students will create a proposal, the equivalent of a 3000-word paper in which they summarize key insights of the course material, present a missiological basis for social media, assess the current state of social media in their particular church, and create a website/platform/social media plan for their church (40%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #4] [30 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: 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. Copyright 2019 Fuller Theological Seminary.