Fall 2014/Fuller Online

MD525

Penner

MD525: POVERTY AND DEVELOPMENT (4 units: 160 Hours). Nathan Penner.

DESCRIPTION: This course explores the challenges of empowering the poor in a world marked by marginalization, disempowerment, abuse and injustice. Poverty is explored from a number of perspectives, concluding with a biblical framework. Responses to poverty are then explored, including the goals of transformational development and the process and principles by which it is pursued. The focus is largely on development in the global South.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: (1) Able to articulate and critically apply biblical and holistic understanding of poverty in broad Christian perspective; (2) able to describe and critically assess some of the current theories of development; (3) able to articulate and critically apply a biblical and holistic understanding of transformational development; and (4) introductory knowledge of development principles and practice.

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: (1,600 pp.) If you have previously read any of the required texts, please select an alternative text from the recommended reading list or a book approved by the instructor.

Centesimus Annus. Available at http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0214/_INDEX.HTM. [48 pp.]

Christian, Jayakumar. God of the Empty-Handed: Poverty, Power and the Kingdom of God. 2nd ed. Acorn Press, 2011. ISBN: 987-0987132901, Pub. Price $30.95 [235 pp.].

Friedmann, John. Empowerment: The Politics of Alternative Development. 2nd ed. Blackwell, 1992. ISBN: 978-1557863003, Pub. Price $48.95 [166 pp.].

Hiebert, Paul, et al. Understanding Folk Religion. Baker Books, 1999. (Chapters 1-4.) ISBN: 978-0801022197, Pub. Price $34.00 [73 pp.].

Myers, Bryant. Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development. 2nd ed. Orbis, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759390, Pub. Price $30.00 [350 pp.].

Narayan, Deepa, et al. Voices of the Poor: Crying Out for Change. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. (Chapters 1-2.) ISBN: 978-0195216028, Pub. Price $24.95 [30 pp.].

Populorum Progressio. Available athttp://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/
encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_26031967_populorum_en.html. [28 pp.]

Sen, Amartya. Development as Freedom. 2nd ed. Knopf, 1999. (Introduction and chapters 1-4.) ISBN: 978-0385720274, Pub. Price $17.00 [111 pp.].

All articles in Course Reader. [Est 400 pp.].

USEFUL WEBSITES:

Christian Community Development Association (USA): www.urbanministry.org/ccda

Center for Global Development (USA): www.cgdev.org

Institute for Development Studies (UK): www.ids.ac.uk

Institute for Sustainable Development (Canada): www.iisd.org

PovertyNet (World Bank): www.worldbank.org/poverty

INTRAC (UK):www.intrac.org

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. 1,600 pages of reading [80 hours].

  2. Weekly lectures viewed on line [20 hours].

  3. Forum postings, spiritual reflections and completing pre and post-course evaluations. [20%] [25 hours].

  4. A written 4-5 page critical assessment paper using course materials and readings covered in the first five weeks of the course [20% of grade] [6 hours].

  5. Students, in teams of 4-6, will present a on-line Google document that summarizes and critiques the explicit and implicit (a) understanding of poverty and (b) theory of development of a major development organization based on the materials on its website(s).  [10% of grade] [8 hours].

  6. 12- to 15-page research paper on a topic related to the course, agreed to by the professor. [50% of grade] [21 hours].

  7. ThM students write an additional five-page theological reflection. [20% of 50% for final research paper]

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the C1, C2, or C3, requirement in the 120 MDiv Program. Required in the International Development and Urban Studies (IDUS) emphasis. Option to count in the Children at Risk emphasis. Option to count in the Just Peacemaking emphasis.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None, final paper in lieu of.


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.