Winter 2018/Pasadena

PM567/867

Garcia-Johnson

 

PM567/867:  CULTURAL THEORIES, EPISTEMOLOGIES, AND THEOLOGICAL PRAXIS (4 units masters: 175 hours / 6 units PhD or ThM: 385 hours). Oscar Garcia-Johnson.

                                                                             

 

DESCRIPTION:  This is a 6-unit seminar for all PhD students in Practical Theology; at the 500-level, the 4-unit course is offered to a limited number of master’s level students as approved by the professor. This is an advanced Practical Theology seminar focused on culture, regarding both local and global contexts within multiple forms of modernity and coloniality. With attention to epistemology and praxis, matters of theology and methodology will be engaged in the study of world [global] cultures, politics, economy, subjectivity, and religions. The hermeneutical implications of a decolonizing-praxis for theology and ministry will be considered in an interdisciplinary manner, with attention to the potential participation of the Church in God’s mission within hegemonic global designs.

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES:  (1) Students will articulate an understanding of key elements and recent constructs of de/postcolonial theologico-critical frameworks. (2) Students will provide an integrative explanation of these de/postcolonial-framing devices in relationship to culture, Christian epistemology, church-and-world-systems, Christian praxis, and transnational religion. (3) Students will demonstrate skills for shaping their PT method to cope with postmodern, postcolonial, post-Christendom, Post-secular, and informational capitalistic settings. (4) (PhD & ThM only:) Students will develop a syllabus for a class on de/postcolonial theology of the Church. (5) Students will reflect critically on their own competencies and capacities for de/postcolonial-informed leadership in relationship to their current professional goals.

 

COURSE FORMAT:  This class meets once per week for three-hour sessions for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours. Students will spend 30-60 minutes weekly in web-based media and interaction; class times will include lectures, individual and group exercises, reflective discussions of materials and experiences, and student presentations.

 

REQUIRED READING:  1,468 pp. of required reading for MA/MDiv Students; 2969 pp. of required reading for PhD and ThM students.

All Students:

Dyrness, William A. Theology without Borders: An Introduction to Global Conversations. Baker Academic, 2015. ISBN: 978-0801049323. Pub. Price $22.00 [192 pages].

Kwok, Pui-lan, Don H. Compier, and Joerg Rieger. Empire and the Christian Tradition: New Readings of Classical Theologians. Fortress Press, 2007. ISBN: 978-0800662158. Pub. Price $45.00 [200 pages assigned]

Myers, Bryant L. Engaging Globalization: The Poor, Christian Mission, and Our Hyperconnected World. Mission in Global Community. Baker Academic, 2017. ISBN: 978-0801097980. Pub. Price $26.99. [282 pages]

Nayar, Pramod. Postcolonial Studies: An Anthology. Wiley Blackwell, 2015. ISBN: 978-1118781005. Pub. Price $49.95. [250 pages assigned].

Santos, Boaventura de Sousa. Epistemologies of the South: Justice against Epistemicide. Routledge, 2016. ISBN: 978-1612055459. Pub. Price $38.95/eBook $27.27 [284 pages]

Smith, Kay Higuera, Jayachitra Lalhita, and L. Daniel Hawk. Evangelical Postcolonial Conversations: Global Awakenings in Theology and Praxis. InterVarsity Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-0830840533. Pub. Price $30.00 [260 pages]

*It is assumed that students are familiar with a standard guide to writing research papers, like Wayne Booth et al. The Craft of Research (4th ed). University of Chicago, 2008 and with CMOS Online.

 

PHD & THM STUDENTS (ALL ABOVE PLUS):

Garcia-Johnson, Oscar. Spirit Outside the Gate:  A Decolonial Pneumatology of the South. Pre-published copy (pdf). [300 pages assigned]

Isasi-Díaz, Ada María  and Eduardo Mendieta, eds. Decolonizing Epistemologies: Latina/o Theology and Philosophy. Fordham University Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0823241361. Pub. Price $40.00. [321 pages]

Kanneh, Kadiatu. African Identities: Race, Nation and Culture in Ethnography, Pan-Africanism and Black Literatures. Routledge, 1998. ISBN: 978-0415164450. Pub Price $45.95/ Kindle Rent $11.83 [204 pages]

Yong, Amos. Spirit-Word-Community: Theological Hermeneutics in Trinitarian Perspective. Wipf & Stock, 2006. ISBN: 978-1597525503. Pub. Price $37.00 [368 pages]

 

Choose only one:

(Spanish) Dussel, Enrique. Filosofías Del Sur. Ediciones Akal, 2017. ASIN: B073PVJ96Y. Pub Price $20.99/Kindle $7.75 [308 pages]

or

Mignolo, Walter D. Local Histories/Global Designs: Coloniality, Subaltern Knowledges, and Border Thinking. Princeton University Press, 2000. ISBN: 978-0691156095. Pub. Price $31.95. [371 pages]

*Additional 140 pp., on Enrique Dussel’s philosophy of culture (pluriversal Transmodernity) will be on Canvas.

 

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:  [PhD: 385 hours; MDiv/MA: 175 hours; includes 30 hours in class]

1. Required reading as scheduled: PhD/ThM: 2969 pp.; MA/MDiv: 1,468 pp. Keep a reading log for submission and arrive ready to discuss readings (10%). [PhD: 200 hours; MDiv/MA: 100 hours].
2. Participate weekly in Canvas discussions (MA/MDiv: minimum of 30 minutes; PhD/ThM: minimum of 2 hours) (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, and 5]. [PhD: 20 hours; MDiv/MA: 5 hours].
3. MA/MDiv Only: Write 700 word reviews of Dyrness/Garcia-Johnson, Boaventura de Sousa Santos , Kay Higuera Smith et al (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, and 5]. [MDiv/MA: 10 hours].
4. PhD/ThM Only: In teams, prepare comparative review, with handouts, of assigned books (including Garcia-Johnson, Isasi-Díaz, Kenneh, and Yong). (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [PhD: 10 hours].
5. PhD/ThM Only: Prepare an ECD for a PT-based seminary course. (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #4]. [PhD: 25 hours]
6. In preparation for a term paper (demonstrating competence in a de/postcolonial approach with reference to at least three de/postcolonial authors) by week 7 select a theme for the term paper, provide a 1-2 page outline that includes topic/question, critical framing approach, and tentative arguments/sources (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-3, 5]. [PhD & MA/MDiv: 10 hours].
7. Provide a class presentation related to your term paper then complete your final submission (MA/MDiv students 2,500 words [40%]; PhD/ThM students 8,000 words [50%]). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-3, 5]. [PhD: 90 hours; MDiv/MA: 20 hours].

 

PREREQUISITES:  MA/MDiv students must have completed a minimum of 72 quarter units of course work and have permission of the professor.

 

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM:  Elective. Required for CATS Practical Theology students.

 

FINAL EXAMINATION:  None.