Fall 2018/Pasadena

TC568/868

Dyrness (Nick Barrett, IIT)

TC568/868: THE CULTURES OF MODERNISM (4 Units: 195 hours; 6 Units: 385 hours). William Dyrness.

DESCRIPTION: The rise of industrial modernism and its subsequent offspring offered a challenge to traditional culture and notions of beauty. This seminar will explore the ways in which the development of cultures spawned by this movement dispersed through a broad range of social and poetic practices that make everyday life meaningful and even spiritual. The seminar will explore ways of thinking about these spaces as loci theologicae—that is places where God is present and active.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: That students (1) demonstrate a close reading of primary sources in order to articulate and analyze the various arguments; (2) understand a spectrum of views of responses to modernity, and understand their historical, biblical, and philosophical rootage; (3) be able to assess critically and imaginatively the central issues and options present while developing a constructive theology of culture so as to see its role in worship and the Christian life.

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.

REQUIRED READING AND VIEWING: 3,000 pages required reading for 800 level students; 1500 pages for 500 level students.

Anderson, Jonathan and William Dyrness, Modern Art and the Life of a Culture. IVP, 2016. ISBN: 978-0830851355, Pub. Price $30.00. [300pp.]

González-Andrieu, Ceclia. Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty. Baylor University Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-1602583511, Pub. Price $24.95. [232pp.]

Guite, Malcolm. Faith, Hope and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination. Ashgate, 2012. ISBN: 978-1409449362, Pub. Price $39.95. [242pp.]

Jennings, Willie James. The Christian Imagination. Yale, 2011. ISBN: 978-0300171365, Pub. Price $26.66. [384 pp.]

McGrath, Alistair. Darwinism and the Divine. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. ISBN: 978-1444333442, Pub. Price $41.46. [268pp.]

Smith, James K. A. You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit. Baker, 2016. ISBN: 978-1587433801, Pub. Price $19.99. [200pp.]

Williams, Raymond. Culture and Society 1780-1950. Columbia University Press, 1983. ISBN: 978-0231057011, Available on Google Books. [337pp.]

EReserves readings: Taylor Secular Age pp. 25-54; Weber “Science as a Vocation”; Covolo “Fashion Theology” Ch. 1; McGrath; van der Leeuw, Dyrness, Forte. [c. 400pp.]

Films: The Tree of Life (d. Malick, 2011), City of Gold (2017).

RECOMMENDED READING (further recommended reading on the syllabus):

Dyrness, William. Poetic Theology: God and the Poetics of Everyday Life. Eerdmans, 2011. ISBN: 978-0802865786, Pub. Price $26.00.

Goizueto, Roberto. Caminemos con Jesus: Toward a Hispanic/Latino Theology of Accompaniment. Orbis, 1995. ISBN: 978-1570750342, Pub. Price $28.00.

Gorringe, Timothy. The Education of Desire: Towards a Theology of the Senses. Trinity Press, 2001. ISBN: 978-0334028475, Pub. Price $12.35.

Greeley, Andrew. The Catholic Imagination. University of Cal., 2000. ISBN: 978-0520232044, Pub. Price $26.13.

Holmes, Richard. The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science. Pantheon, 2009. ISBN: 978-1400031870, Pub. Price $18.95.

Morrison, Toni Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination. Vintage, 2014. ISBN: 978-0679745426, Pub. Price $15.00.

Schwartz, Regina. Sacramental Poetics at the Dawn of Secularism: When God left the World. Stanford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0804758338, Pub. Price $20.95.

Sorett, Josef. Spirit in the Dark: A Religious History of Racial Aesthetics. Oxford University Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-0199844937, Pub. Price $34.95.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

3,000 total pages of required reading [200 hours] for 800 level students; 1500 total pages [100 hours] for 500 level students. [This is related to learning outcome #1].
Three class presentations for 800 level students; two presentations for 500 level (10%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #2, #3]. [40 hours/25 hours for 800/500 level. Includes 10 DLA hours as preparation for in-class presentation].
A major paper based on presentations in class and rewritten on the basis of discussion in class [25-30 pp./18-20 for masters students]. (90%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #2, #3]. [90/40 hours for 800/500 level students].
Participation in class discussion will be a secondary factor in the final grade, especially as evidence of having done the reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1, #2, #3] [30 hours for 500 level students. 40 hours for 800 level].

PREREQUISITES: None.

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

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.