Imagining Christian Practice

Instructors : Jeffrey Mahan and Eric Smith

Course Description : Imagining Christian Practice explores Christian bodily practices, and the ways in which Christian identity is created in art, architecture, and other media across times and places. Examining both ancient and contemporary contexts through lenses both visual and lived, this course also intends to introduce the graduate study of religion and scholarly practices. The course focuses on 1) image, 2) spaces and material objects, and 3) practices as expressions of religion and suggests that particular religions and religious communities are most fully understood by paying attention to the way they use or resist images, by the spaces and material objects they create, and by their bodily practice of faith. Students will be invited to experience how particular communities are formed by and expressed in their art, architecture, worship spaces and objects and practices, and to read works by scholars who have thought about these things, to engage in classroom discussion and written reflection on both the theories and experiences.

Degree Learning Goals: Please take some time to look over the Professional Degree Learning Goals (MDiv, MASC, MAPSC) and the Academic Degree Learning Goals (MTS, MA).

Incompletes:  If incompletes are allowed in this course, see the Master's Student Handbook for Policies and Procedures.

Pass/Fail:  Masters students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor by the second class session.

Academic Integrity and Community Covenant:  All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate.  All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.

Accommodations:  Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs.   Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations.  The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146. 

Writing Lab:  Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments.  Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft. 

Inclusive Language:  It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community. 

Requirements and assignments:

Participation: This course includes experiential elements that make your consistent presence necessary. To be fully present you need to have done the assigned reading identified in the syllabus and come prepared to participate in the class discussion. (25% of final grade)

Readings: Essays and book chapters are listed below under the week they are due. Readings will be posted in Canvas with one exception. You need to purchase Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel, Maus for session three. It is available from Amazon at the link below or from other sources.

http://www.amazon.com/Maus-Survivors-Father-Bleeds-History/dp/0394747232/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1432225912&sr=8-2&keywords=maus

Assignments:

You will be graded for participation and on three additional assignments. To focus your assignments we ask you to choose one of the three foci or themes of the course (image, spaces and material objects, or practices) and to build your assignments around this theme or foci.

•  Assignment One, Bibliographic Essay: Visit and Iliff and/or DU Library and begin looking for resources related to the theme you have chosen to focus on. Take some time to explore, then identify three people who have written about your focusing theme in helpful ways, identify key or helpful essays, book chapters, etc. You might choose authors who focus on historical examples or those who explore the theme in contemporary culture.

  Write a bibliographic essay that summarizes the approach and key insights of each author, and which compares and contrasts their thinking. Here the goal is demonstrate your understanding of these thinkers, their accomplishments and limitations, rather than to offer your own opinions on the topic. Think of this as laying the groundwork for your later paper, which will be more synthetic and will see you making your own argument. Here, though, your task is simply to understand the arguments of others. Six to eight pages. Post your essay in Canvas. (25% of final grade).

• Assignment Two, Synthesizing Essay:In conversation with the sources you explored in the Bibliographic Essay, articulate your own understanding of the topic and articulating how it contributes to our consideration of religion and of particularly religious communities. Here it is appropriate to argue with your sources and to develop arguments that go beyond them. Ten pages. Post your essay in Canvas (25% of final grade).
• Assignment Three, Talking Circles: During the last session we will organize three talking circle group discussions of about 40 to 50 minutes each. During these the people who worked on each of the three themes (image, spaces and material objects, or practices) will present and discuss the ideas and issues they explored in assignments one and two. A grade will be assigned to the group. We will take an hour on Week nine for the groups to meet and plan their session. (25% of final grade).

 A note about Writing: An Iliff paper should typically be double spaced and in a readable 12 point type. Its language should be more formal than casual discourse. You should footnote your sources (whether directly quoted or not) and carefully set quotations off from your own work. There a variety of styles for academic style and notation. We are happy for you to use any of them as long as you are consistent. If you would like a useful guide you might use Kate L. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers.

The Writing Center in Iliff’s Taylor Library is a great resource. They will help you clarify and develop your argument and provide feedback on a draft. If you have concerns about your writing or have been out of school for some time we particularly encourage you to consider taking advantage of this resource.

Grades: There are 100 total points available for this course, 25 for participation, and 25 for each of the three assignments described above. The grading scale is as follows:

A:   25

A-: 23 

B+: 22

B:  21

B-: 20

C+:19

C:  18

C-: 17

D:  15