Summer 2015/Fuller Online

SP500

Hernandez

SP500: SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS AND PRACTICES (4 Units: 165 hours). Wil Hernandez.

DESCRIPTION: Spiritual practices emerge out of spiritual traditions which, in turn, often emerge from the life and experience of spiritual pioneers. In this course we will explore the lives of seven spiritual pioneers from various traditions (Antony of Egypt, Patrick of Ireland, Hildegard of Bingen, Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, Ignatius of Loyola, and Teresa of Avila) and the spiritual traditions they founded (or influenced). Within each tradition a spiritual practice will be examined and employed with an eye to its use in the contemporary church. Additionally, we will allow these traditions to interact with their contemporary counterpart from the worldwide church. All this will be set in the context of the broad sweep of the history and theology of Christian spirituality.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: The students will (1) understand the life, ministry, and spiritual practices of seven spiritual pioneers in the context of a broad understanding of the history and theology of Christian spirituality; (2) explore and experience various spiritual disciplines and practices from these traditions; (3) develop a broader understanding of one particular school of spirituality via a small group collaborative research process online; (4) develop skills that enable the student to lead others in the practices of spiritual formation.

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 are required to read 1000 assigned pages from the required books plus materials drawn from a particular chosen spiritual tradition.

Foster, Richard J. & James Bryan Smith. Devotional Classics: Selected Readings For Individual & Groups. Revised Ed. HarperSanFrancisco, 2005. ISBN: 978-0060777500, Pub. Price $16.99 [355 pp. assigned].

Holt, Bradley. Thirsty for God: A Brief History of Christian Spirituality, Second Edition. Fortress Press, 2005. ISBN: 978-0800637095, Pub. Price $21.00 [226 pp. assigned].

Maas, Robin, and Gabriel O’Donnell. Spiritual Traditions for the Contemporary Church. Abingdon, 1990. ISBN: 978-0687392339, Pub. Price $33.00 [459 pp.].

McGrath, Alister. Christian Spirituality. Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 1999. ISBN: 978-0631212812, Pub. Price $ 54.95 [204 pp. assigned].

Supplementary Resources (SR - found on Moodle).

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 1,000 pp. of Required Reading (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [50 hours].

2. Audio/Video Listening/Viewing (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, & 4]. [25 hours].

3. 200-word Weekly Forum Posts based on the spiritual tradition in focus. (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1 & 4] [15 hours].

4. 150-word Weekly Forum Responses (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1& 4 ] [10 hours].

5. Personal/Communal Formational Exercises and Blog Entries based on each of the seven spiritual traditions (25%) – Students do one assigned spiritual exercise per tradition and blog about it (250-300 words max each post). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2]. [30 hours].
6. Personal Journal Reflections corresponding to each spiritual tradition (15%) – Consists of 1-page per entry following a prescribed Lectio template (about 250-300 words max each post). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [15 hours].
7. Small Group Collaborative Research Project (20%) – Involves each group gathering and assembling various resources focused on a particular tradition and presenting final product via Wiki on Moodle (about 5-6 pages worth of collected data ranging from 8-10 sources per category (e.g., bibliographic texts, audio-visual, web-links, etc.). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #3 & 4]. [20 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets program requirement for MAT, MATM, MACL, MAIS (2010); meets the following MA spirituality requirements: FSP, SP2, or SPIR.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.