Summer 2017/Fuller Online
MB526
Aasland
MB526: ANTHROPOLOGY FOR GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT (4 Units: 160 hours). Erik Aasland.
DESCRIPTION: In a globalized world, profound opportunities for cultural interaction and exchange exist. Anthropology offers critical resources for understanding cultures, both our own and those of peoples worldwide. This course focuses on application of anthropological and sociological insights for engagement and witness in diverse cultural settings. Exploring the interface of proposition, story, and wisdom in cultural context serves as one of the foundational approaches to cultural competence.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon successful completion of this course, students will have demonstrated: (1) application of anthropological theory to their inter-cultural ministry engagement for intercultural mission approaches, (2) competence with a limited set of field-based culture-learning techniques, (3) understanding of Biblical foundations for care of all peoples within their unique contexts, and (4) understanding of philosophical and theological issues of postmodernism and our globalized reality.
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,. 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: approximately 850 total pages required.
Hiebert, Paul G. The Gospel in Human Contexts: Anthropological Explorations for Contemporary Missions. Baker Academic. 2009. ISBN: 978-0801036811, Pub. Price $25.00 [224 pp.].
Rynkiewich, M. Soul, Self, and Society: A Postmodern Anthropology for Mission in a Postcolonial World. Cascade Books, 2011. ISBN: 978-1606087732, Pub. Price $35.00 [296 pp.].
Selected Readings pertaining to A Christian Perspective of Anthropology. On e-Reserve. [275 pp.]
Aasland, Erik. 2009. “Two Heads are Better than One: Using Conceptual Mapping to Analyze Proverb Meaning”. Proverbium: Yearbook of Annual Proverb Scholarship. (26): 1-18. [21 pp.]
Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1988. Chapter 6. “Honor and Poetic Vulnerability” Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society. University of California Press. Pp. 186-208. [23 pp.]
Basso, Keith. 1996. “Quoting the Ancestors”. Chapter 1. Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language Among the Western Apache. Albuquerque, NM, University of New Mexico Press. Pp. 3-37. [35 pp.]
Behar, Ruth. 1996. “”The Vulnerable Observer”. Chapter 1. The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology that Breaks Your Heart. Boston: Beacon Press. Pp. 1-34. [35 pages]
Bloch, Maurice E.F. 1998. "What Goes Without Saying: The Conceptualization of Zafimaniry Society". Chapter 2. How We Think They Think: Anthropological Approaches to Cognition, Memory, and Literacy. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. pp. 22-38. [17 pp.]
Davies, Douglas. 2002. "Embodiement and Incarnation". Chapter 1. Anthropology and Theology. New York: Berg. pp. 19-53. [35 pp.]
Groothuis, Douglas. 2000. "Truth in Jeopardy". Chapter 1. Truth: Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism. IVP Books. pp. 17-31 [15 pp.]
Howell, Brian M. 2011. "Multiculturalism, Immigration and the North American Church: Rethinking Contextualization." Missiology: An International Review no. 39 (1): 79-85. [7 pp.]
Kuipers, Joel C. 2009. "Unjuk Rasa ("Expression of Feeling") in Sumba: Bloody Thursday in Its Cultural and Historical Context." In Ritual Communication, edited by Gunter Senft and Ellen B. Basso, 223-242. New York: Berg. [20 pp.]
Lyotard, Jean-Francois. 1984. “Introduction” and “The Field: Knowledge in Computerized Societies”. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Translated by Geoff Bennington and Brian Massumi. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. [10 pp.]
Priest, Robert. 1993. "Cultural Anthropology, Sin, and the Missionary." In God and Culture: Essays in Honor of Carl F. H. Henry, edited by D.A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. [11 pp.]
Priest, Robert. 2015. “The Value of Anthropology for Missiological Engagements with Context: the Case of Witch Accusations”. Missiology: An International Review. Vol. 43(1) 27–42. [16 pp.]
Turner, Victor. 1967. ""Symbols in Ndembu Ritual". Chapter 1. The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. pp. 19-48. [30 pp.]
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
Reading a total of 850 pages. [56 hours]
Class activities such as video lectures, PowerPoint presentations, etc. [20 hours].
250-word weekly forum posts (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #] [10 hours].
250-word weekly forum responses (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #] [10 hours].
Ethnographic Interviews (3) with a person from a cultural background substantially different from the student’s own. Students will complete one analytic journal per interview (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1 & 2] [10 hours of DLA and 18 for writing].
Research paper: 2500 to 3000 words describing and analyzing a ritual, tradition, performance, or event with mission relevance from a different society (45%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2 & 3] [30 hours].
Initial and Final Terminology Test (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2 & 3] [6 hours].
PREREQUISITES: None. Enrollment priority will be given to students in SIS Mission Partnership organizations.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the C2 requirement in the 120 MDiv and 80 MATM Programs (Fall 2015).
FINAL EXAMINATION: Yes.