Fall 2013/Pasadena
TC860/560
Dyrness
TC860/560: THEOLOGY AND CULTURE SEMINAR. William A. Dyrness.
DESCRIPTION: This is a CATS doctoral seminar, open to a limited number of master’s level students 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.
SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND 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.
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.
COURSE FORMAT: Classes will meet weekly for a three-hour session, and will be conducted in a seminar format.
REQUIRED READING:
Dyrness, William. Poetic Theology: God and the Poetics of Everyday Life. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802865786, Pub. Price $26.00 [95 pp. assigned].
Hunter, James Davison. To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy and Responsibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World. Oxford, 2010. ISBN 978-0199730803, Pub. Price $27.95 [250 pp.].
James K. A. Smith. Imagining the Kingdom: How Worship Works. Baker, 2013. ISBN 978-0801035784
Pub. Price $22.99 [250 pp.].
Jennings, Willie. The Christian Imagination. Yale, 2010. ISBN 978-0300152111, Pub. Price $25.00 [250 pp.].
Lanier, Jaron. You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto. Vintage, 2011. ISBN 978-0307389978, Pub. Price $15.00 [250 pp.].
Schrader, Paul. Transcendental Style in Film. Da Capo, 1972. ISBN: 978-0306803352, Pub. Price $15.00 [250 pp.].
Stassen, Glen H., D. M. Yeager, and John Howard Yoder. Authentic Transformation: A New Vision of Christ and Culture. Abingdon, 1996. ISBN: 978-0687022731, Pub. Price $28.00 [250 pp.].
Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age. Harvard University Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0674026766, Pub. Price $46.00 [250 pp.].
Thiong’o, Ngugi wa. The River Between. Oxford, 1965. ISBN: 978-0435905484, Pub. Price $15.95 [250 pp.].
Tracy, David. The Analogical Imagination. Crossroads, 1981. ISBN: 978-0824506940, Pub Price $39.95 [480 pp.].
Ward, Graham. Cultural Transformation and Religious Practice. Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN: 978-0521540742, Pub. Price $37.95 [250 pp.].
Course Reader.
RECOMMENDED READING: Recommended reading will be listed in the syllabus.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT: Grading will be based on:
Three class presentations (10% of final grade).
A major paper based on presentations in class and rewritten on the basis of discussion in class [MA students 18-20 pp.; PhD students 25-30 pp.] (90% of final grade).
Participation in class discussion will be a secondary factor in the final grade, especially as evidence of having done the reading.
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: None.