Spring 2019/Online

TC564

Taylor

TC564: A THEOLOGY OF BEAUTY: FROM DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE TO THE DOVE CAMPAIGN FOR REAL BEAUTY (4 Units: 160 hours). W. David O. Taylor.

DESCRIPTION: This course explores how different eras of history and how specific cultural contexts have informed theological ideas about beauty. Beginning with ancient Hellenistic views of beauty, the course reviews Patristic, Medieval, Reformed, Enlightenment, twentieth and twenty-first–century construals of beauty (Global South, secularist, contextualist, popular, etc.). The goal of the course is a clearer theological understanding the role of beauty in the theoretical and practical work of the church, whether in academic or ecclesial, liturgical or missional contexts.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: That students (1) practice a close reading of primary and secondary sources in order to demonstrate the capacity to articulate and analyze the arguments presented in class; (2) clearly understand and explain the nature of a theology of beauty in distinct historical, cultural, philosophical, and biblical contexts; (3) discern critically and creatively the wide-ranging role that beauty might play in Christian worship and mission; 4) demonstrate an understanding of the course’s hermeneutical model; and (5) complete an in-depth application of this hermeneutic model to one particular artistic expression or element of Christian worship or mission in a specific cultural context.

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: 1,250 pages required total.

Primary Readings:

Scarry, Elaine. On Beauty and Being Just. Princeton University Press, 1999. ISBN: 978-0691089591. Pub. Price: $19.95 [120 pp.]

Steiner, Wendy. Venus in Exile: The Rejection of Beauty in Twentieth-Century Art. University of Chicago Press, 2002. ISBN: 978-0226772400; Pub. Price: $26.00 [100 pp.]

Taylor, W. David O. For the Beauty of the Church. Baker, 2010. ISBN: 978-0801071911. Pub. Price: $18.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library. [75 pp.]

Treier, Daniel J., J. M. Husbands & R. Lundin, eds. The Beauty of God: Theology & the Arts. IVP Academic, 2007. ISBN: 978-0830828432. Pub. Price: $25.00. [150 pp.]

Secondary Readings (chapters/articles/essays on E-Reserves): Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Dionysius the Areopagite, Aquinas, Jonathan Edwards, Humberto Eco, Timothy Verdon, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Belden Lane, Makoto Fujimura, Deborah Sokolove, David Lyle Jeffrey, Kimberly Vrudny, Maureen H. O’Connell, Jerome Stolnitz, Cecilia González-Andrieu, Natalie Carnes, Wladyslaw Tatarkiewicz, Robin Tolmach Lakoff, Raquel L. Scherr, Paula Black, Debra Gimlin [805 assigned].

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. 1,250 pages of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes 1 & 2]. [68 hours].
  2. 20 hours with class activities such as video lectures, PowerPoint presentations, podcasts, etc. [This assignment is related to learning outcome 1 & 2]. [20 hours].
  3. Write an essay in which you examine the ways in which your family, church, education, cultural background and society, past and present, have shaped your ideas about beauty. What attitudes about beauty were conveyed; what value was placed on it; how was beauty promoted and practiced; what was assumed; what was said but not done, displayed but not explained. 750-1000 words (5 points; 5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome 3]. [5 hours].
  4. Ten video posts 2-minutes long in response to specific topics of the week (10 Points; 10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome 2-4]. [1 hour].
  5. Five online posts (no more than 500 words) and responses to classmates as outlined in the syllabus (25 Points; 25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome 2 & 3]. [10 hours].
  6. A 750-1,000-word essay review of Elaine Scarry, On Beauty and Being Just. (15 points; 15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome 2]. [14 hours].
  7. Ten online posts that involve an exegesis of an example of beauty in popular culture (these examples will be provided by the instructor). (20 points; 20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome 1 & 3]. [14 hours].
  8. A 2,000-2,500-word synthesis paper approved by the instructor providing an in-depth application of the hermeneutic model learned in class to one particular expression or element of beauty in a specific cultural context. (25 points; 25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome 4 & 5]. [28 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the TH5 requirement in the 120 MDiv Program.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.

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. Copyright 2019 Fuller Theological Seminary.