Spring 2008/Pasadena
TC860A/560
Dyrness

TC860A/B/TC560: THEOLOGY AND CULTURE SEMINAR. William A. Dyrness.


DESCRIPTION: This is a CATS doctoral seminar (for which students at the 800 level will register Spring and Summer, TC860A and TC860B), open to a limited number of master's level students (TC560) by permission of the instructor. This seminar is designed to encourage students to develop an intentional and critical methodology for interpreting and engaging cultural products (i.e. literary texts, films, music, etc.). In the broadest sense the course is designed to develop cultural literacy from a Christian perspective. The approach will be, first of all, to focus on particular cultural "texts" and develop strategies of reading and interpretation that are informed by biblical and theological perspectives.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of this course students will be familiar with some of the major theological perspectives on culture; in terms of these will develop their own theological and critical framework; and finally will employ this framework in interpreting and engaging theological texts and trends.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: Ministry is now carried on in a world with a growing awareness of culture and ethnic identity. Commitment to these realities often takes on a kind of idolatry that threatens to distort a person's understanding of reality, and accordingly their interpretation of Christianity. Christians need to understand both the positive and negative roles that culture plays in helping the believer understand and engage their culture in the light of Scripture.

COURSE FORMAT: Classes will meet weekly for a three-hour session, and will be conducted in a seminar format.

REQUIRED READING:

Bunyan, John. Pilgrim's Progress. [1684].

Dyrness, William. The Earth Is God's: A Theology of American Culture. Orbis, 1996.

Rowland, Tracey. Culture and the Thomist Tradition: After Vatican II. Routledge, 2005.

Schrader, Paul. Transcendental Style in Film. Da Capo, 1972.

Schleiermacher, Friedrich. On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers. Westminster/John Knox, 1994.

Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007.

Tracy, David. The Analogical Imagination. Crossroads, 1981.

Course Reader.

ASSIGNMENTS: Grading will be based primarily on a major paper that will be first presented in class and, on the basis of discussion in class, rewritten before submission. Participation in class discussion will be a secondary factor in the final grade, especially as evidence of having done the reading. At the 800 level, the course plan presented at the beginning of the seminar will specify the work on which students enrolled will be graded each quarter.

PREREQUISITES: For master's level students, permission of the instructor.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Methods core for PhD students in Theology and Culture. Elective for master's students.

FINAL EXAMINATION: No.

This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. (1/08)