Winter 2015/Sacramento

YF521

Howell

YF521: YOUTH AND FAMILY MINISTRY IN A CULTURE OF DIGITAL RELATIONSHIPS (4 units: 165 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 class meets once per week for three-hour sessions for a total of 30 hours of classroom plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours. Students are required to interact with the material, with each other, and with the instructor through lecture, class and group discussions, reading, and other assignments that promote active learning. Each student will also complete a contextualized final project.

REQUIRED READING: Approximately 1,325 pp. assigned.

Adams, Paul. Grouped: How Small Groups of Friends Are the Key to Influence the Social Web. New Riders, 2012. 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 [214 pp. assigned].

Clark, Chap. Hurt 2.0: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers. Youth, Family, and Culture Series. Baker Academic, 2011. ISBN: 978-0801039416, Pub. Price $17.99 [202 pp. assigned].

Livermore, David A. Cultural Intelligence. Baker Academic, 2009. ISBN: 978-0801035890, Pub. Price $22.99 [273 pp. assigned].

Turkle, Sherry. Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. Basic Books, 2011. ISBN: 978-0465031467, Pub. Price $16.99 [200 pp. assigned].

Wagner, Rachel. Godwired. Routledge, 2011. ISBN: 978-0415781459, Pub. Price $39.95 [266 pp. assigned].

RECOMMENDED READING: See course syllabus.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. Complete ~1,325 pages of required reading and submit for each required book a 2-page review that reflects on the following questions: What is the purpose of the book? Who is the intended audience? What contribution does the author make to the field of study? What is your opinion of the book and why? (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, 3, and 4]. [75 hours].

2. Attend and participate in class and the online directed learning activities. (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, 3, and 4]. [40 hours, including 10 hours of DLAs].

3. A 5-page research paper that develops an adoptive theology of mediated spiritual community. (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, and 2]. [13 hours].

4. A 15-page final project that reflects a programmatic interpretation of the course content in a given context. (40%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, 2, 3, and 4]. [37 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: C2 for MDiv. Elective option for Youth, Family, and Culture emphasis.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.