Spring 2018/Online

YF521

Howell

YF521: YOUTH AND FAMILY MINISTRY IN A CULTURE OF DIGITAL RELATIONSHIPS (4 units: 160 hours). Bradley Howell.

DESCRIPTION: This course provides a background to the psychosocial, technological and spiritual reasons for the almost universal adoption of the Internet and social media among adolescents. The course will provide an understanding of adolescent social media use, theological implications for youth and family ministry and historical and contextual responses of the Church to mediated communication. This course is designed to help the student think theologically about social media concerns and practices of youth, families and Christian communities, providing practical tools to enable the student to design a theologically informed social media strategy in a local ministry context.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon the successful completion of this course, students will have (1) an understanding of social media, its influence and affect on adolescents and their families; (2) an ability to communicate a theology and philosophy of social media informed by a ministry of adoption into a local church body; (3) an awareness of the unique social media ministry needs of early, middle and late adolescents; (4) developed a social media strategy that enables discipleship and Christian nurture within a theological framework of congregational ownership and strategic adoption of adolescents.

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. Each student will also complete a contextualized final project.

REQUIRED READING: 1,252 pp. required.

Adams, Paul. Grouped: How Small Groups of Friends Are the Key to Influence the Social Web. New Riders, 2011. ISBN: 978-0321804112, Pub. Price $29.99 [168 pp. assigned].

Boyd, Danah. It’s Complicated: the Social Lives of Networked Teens. Yale University Press, 2014. Pub. Price $25.00. Offered free online by author at http://www.danah.org/books/ItsComplicated.pdf [214 pp. assigned].

Clark, Chap. Adoptive Youth Ministry: Integrating Emerging Generations into the Family of Faith. Youth, Family, and Culture Series. Baker Academic, 2016. ISBN: 978-0801049705, Pub. Price $34.99. [300 pp. assigned].

Detweiller, Craig. iGods: How Technology Shapes Our Spiritual And Social Lives. Brazos Press, 2013. ISBN 978-1587433443. Pub. Price $17.99. [218 pp. assigned].

Twenge, Jean M., iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared forAdulthood—and What That Means for the Rest of Us. Atria Books, 2017. ISBN: 978-1501151989. Pub. Price $27.00 [352 pp. assigned].

RECOMMENDED READING: See course syllabus.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. Weekly instruction will include Prezi presentations that incorporate both audio and video material. Additionally, each week there will be related readings, video, research and case studies along with guided questions and directions from which students will focus their assignments and various forum works. [20 hours].
  2. 250-word (or optional 3 minute video) weekly forum posts and 250-word replies (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1,2,3&4] [20 hours].
  3. 1,252 pages of required reading that will inform and be graded within your weekly forum work. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1,2&3] [63 hours].
  4. A 1,500-word research paper addressing a specific social media concern. (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [15 hours].
  5. A 1,500-word theological paper that processes the social media concern through a practical theology model taught in class. (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2] [15 hours].
  6. A 500-word ministry proposal (essay format) that proposes faithful praxis. (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3] [5 hours].
  7. A 2,000-word final project that reflects a programmatic interpretation of the course content in a given context. (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #4] [22 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the C2 requirement in the 120 MDiv and 80 MATM Programs (Fall 2015).

FINAL EXAMINATION: No.

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.