Spring 2015/Fuller Online

MC509

Bolger

MC509: CHURCH/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 Google, Facebook, Youtube, Blogging, Wikipedia, Twitter, Second Life, and mobile phones. We will be exploring how this cultural change impacts churches. How do we pursue the reign of God in these new cultures? We will be drawing on historic missiological understandings as well as contemporary insights to seriously 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 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 1269 pages from the following books:

Bevans, Stephen B. and Roger Schroder. Prophetic Dialogue. Orbis, 2011. ISBN: 978-1570759116, Pub. Price $35.00 [208 pp.].

Campbell, Heidi. Digital Religion. Routledge, 2012. ISBN: 978-0415676113, Pub. Price $44.95 [288 pp.].

Detwiler, Craig. iGods: How Technology Shapes Our Spiritual and Social Lives. Brazos Press, 2013. ISBN: 1587433443 Pub. Price $17.99 [256 pp.].

Rainie, Lee and Barry Wellman, Networked. MIT Press, 2014. ISBN: 0262017190, Pub. Price $17.95 [358 pp.].

Robinson Brett T. Appletopia: Media Technology and the Religious Imagination of Steve Jobs. Baylor, 2013. ISBN: 160258821X Pub. Price $24.95 [159pp.].

 

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. 1269 pp. of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [85 hours].

  2. Weekly online videos. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [20 hours].

  3. 750-word weekly forum posts (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2 and #3] [20 hours].

  4. 250-word weekly forum responses (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2 and #3] [10 hours].

  5. Students will write 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 the church, and create a social media plan for the their church (40%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #4] [25 hours].

 

PREREQUISITES: None.

 

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective. Option in the Worship and Music Ministry and the Worship, Theology and the Arts emphases.

 

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.