Intro to the Hebrew Bible

Instructor: Dr. Amy L. Balogh

Gathering Days: Thursday, Feb. 9, 1-5pm & Friday, Feb. 10, 8am-12pm

Guiding Quote:

“…our moral heritage therefore derives from a wider human past enormously older than the Hebrews, and it has comes to us rather through the Hebrews than from them.”

- James Henry Breasted, The Dawn of Conscience , xv. 1933. Emphasis his.

Course Goals:

Goal #1: Become familiar with the general outline, history, and content of the Hebrew Bible
Outcome: ability to navigate through this large body of literature and knowledge of its basic contents, including how to handle specific genres of the literature contained therein

Goal #2: Become familiar with the ancient Near Eastern context in which the biblical authors and their audiences lived, participated, and wrote
Outcome 1: ability to see and appreciate the differences and similarities between the biblical authors and other ancient thinkers
Outcome 2: general understanding of the historical and cultural circumstances that provided the occasion for the authorship of the Hebrew Bible

Goal #3: Become familiar with historical and modern ways of reading the text, including academic methods in the field of Biblical Studies
Outcome 1: ability to constructively critique others’ ideas of what the text says
Outcome 2: ability to find and situate your own voice as biblical interpreters in the modern world

Outcome of all of the above: ability to actively engage the Bible and discussions pertaining to its content, context, and meaning.

Textbooks:

Tone of the Course:

Diversity matters. Therefore, there are certain assumptions we shall hold to in this course:

• We shall read the Hebrew Bible as a collection of human-authored, literary works, some of which are sacred to many. Whether some of these stories are also the revealed word of God is a matter of each student's individual faith and will be respected as such.
• We will not be reading these texts in their original languages but in translation. Every translation is in some way an interpretation - there is no such thing as an uninterpreted reading.
• All classroom and written discussion will respect all members of this course and their beliefs. Although scholarly discussion is encouraged, students who continue to negatively respond to other individuals or their faith may be asked to leave. Relatedly, during Gathering Days, be mindful of your bodily and spoken or written language if an uncomfortable thought arises.
• Engaging challenging or opposing ideas respectfully and thoughtfully is part of your learning.
• If you experience disrespect in any way, please do not hesitate to contact the instructor privately.

How can you be successful in taking an online class? It can be more than a little challenging - after all, in a face-to-face class, you meet once or twice a week, and, in that time, the instructor can make sure you are on-track in terms of course progress and your understanding of the material. In a hybrid course such as this one, though, we have only two face-to-face sessions during Gathering Days; otherwise, all of our interaction is online. This means that the course is different from an entirely face-to-face course in some key ways, and your success in the course hinges on understanding those differences.

Communication

You can't participate if you don't know what's going on! In your Canvas Profile (which you can access using the Profile link at the top right of every page), you can specify how you should be contacted. Make sure that your preferred email address is properly set on that page.

From that page, you also have the ability to change your notifications (that is an option on the left menu on that page). Please make sure that your notification settings are set so that you are kept reasonably informed of events related to the class. 

Finally, as each week progresses, you need to pay attention to class-related activities! Keep an eye on whatever notifications you have chosen to receive. If you choose to ignore them, you can quickly find yourself way behind (and, remember, after two weeks of non-involvement, you may be removed from the class).

Bottom line: it is your responsibility to know what is due, and to keep up! If life crises get in the way, let the instructor know as soon as possible. 

Commitment

As with any class, your commitment to learning will greatly impact your success (both in terms of grades and in terms of actually mastering new information). In this class, we don't all meet online at the same time, so it is up to you to set up a schedule that allows you to engage other students about the material. 

There is a significant difference in terms of commitment in an online class, though, and it is this: Since the learning process is highly participatory and your failure to participate will reduce the effectiveness of the class. Taking an online class really does require commitment, and a special kind of discipline, in order for everyone to be successful.

A Note About the Course Load

This is a 4-credit course. If we were meeting face-to-face for the entire ten weeks, this means that we would spend around four hours per week in class (a total of 40 hours). For each one of those hours, you would also have about two additional hours of course-related work outside of our class sessions, for a total of 120-hours (80 preparing, 40 in-class).

It's a little trickier when we are doing a Hybrid course. We will spend eight hours together during Gathering Days, so the instructor contact time is a little lighter for the other nine weeks. On average, it should all work out to around 12 hours of course involvement each week, but Week 5 is a little more intense - so our plan takes that into account. 

How things are weighted:

• Online assignments & participation: 40%
• Gathering Days participation: 20%
• Mid-term exam: 20%
• Final exam: 20%

What I am looking for in participation:

• An accurate understanding of the relevant readings and/or lectures for a given week, which means a description of the content that could be defended by referring directly to the texts (in other words, I need to see that you've done the readings, and are engaging the course content),
• An understanding of the implications (where appropriate) that the readings and/or lectures have in terms of the overall course topics, and 
• Some engagement in offering a critique of those implications in terms of real-world applications.
• Please keep your postings well-focused; aim for 250 words or less.

Grading Scale: Grading-Scale.png

P.S. I round up your final grade to the half percent. An 89.5 is an A-. But an 89.499 is a B+

Late Assignments:

• It is your responsibility to get work in on time. The professor is not required to count your late work for credit even if she agrees to let complete it.
• No extensions except in the case of true emergencies. There are two reasons for this policy:
  
  • Assignments are closely linked with the syllabus and it is essential to complete them on time.
  • The policy enables me to grade fairly the work of all students

Incompletes and Pass/Fail: No "Incomplete" or "Pass/Fail" grades will be given unless the student contacts me within the first 2 weeks of the course. The circumstances must include serious medical problems or other extreme, documentable difficulties. I will not grant in completes or pass/fails automatically, i.e., without your asking by the appropriate deadline.

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. 

Successful Study Habits

Midterm Study Guide

Open Forum for Student Engagement