Justice & Spiritual Care

Welcome to Justice & Spiritual Care!

In order to facilitate a deep listening assignment with Dr. Doehring, all students in the course will be required to attend a Zoom Meeting on Tuesday, April 5 at 6:00p.m. Mountain time. This conversation will be 75 minutes.

In addition, I have scheduled another Zoom Meeting on Wednesday, May 18 at 6PM Mountain Time. This meeting is to facilitate some integration of the course materials and ideas together. Please sign up

To indicate that you intend to attend this Zoom meeting on Wednesday, May 18 at 6PM Mountain Time, please Edit this page, add your name to the list of attendees, then don't forget to Save!

Yes, I plan to attend this Zoom Meeting on 5/18 at 6PM Mountain:

Julie Todd, Kyra Williams, Madi Denton, Carla Lanting Shibuya, Baylee Davis, Jess Radicic, Mai Gross

for this Zoom meeting if you are willing and able to attend.

As of 3/14/22, I have provided the course materials through Week Four, as well as links to all of the major assignments. In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to be in touch with me.

Course Description: This course on socially just spiritual care focuses on how social change leadership builds on capacities for spiritual self-differentiation within organizational systems. Course learning outcomes will be taught and assessed through peer
experiential learning demonstrating self-differentiation using spiritual self-care practices that enhance healthy boundaries. With that foundation, the course will address the contextual shift from interpersonal caregiving to the structural considerations of collective care in social justice movement spaces. 

Learning Outcomes: The following outcomes will be demonstrated and assessed in online course discussion posts and responses, and assignments:

    1. Demonstrate self-differentiation using spiritual self-care practices that (a) increase students’ self-awareness of how they experience leadership moral stress physiologically and emotionally; (b) increase their self-compassion; (c) enhance healthy boundaries.
    2. Demonstrate spiritual and social empathy by listening for, assessing, and responding to the ways that stress and suffering generate contextual values, beliefs, and coping practices. Recognizing and addressing the additional stressors of activist practice and how to care for self and others under the pressure of collective resistance: social justice campaigns, intra-social movement conflicts, oppositional politics, street activism, and state repression of resistance to oppression.
    3. Address the complexities of collective spiritual care by examining the role of social location in caregiving related to identity and power in the pursuit of collective among and across communities of difference.
    4. Consider various models within social justice spaces for addressing collective care and harm, such as: pleasure activism, healing justice, transformative justice, abolition, and disability justice perspectives.

In addition, this course meets a requirement for the MASJE program, whose professional degree goals can be found here, which include: Demonstrate a complex interdisciplinary understanding of historical and contemporary social change strategies and movements, develop and practice an inclusive and collaborative approach to social change leadership, and demonstrate the cultural capacity and organizational skills necessary for civic agency and efficacy in diverse social, political, and educational institutions.

:

adrienne maree brown. Emergent Strategy (2017) AK Press. This book is available digitally through Taylor Library.

Ejeris Dixon & Leah Piepzna-Samarasinha (2021). Beyond survival: Strategies and stories from the transformative justice movement. AK Press. This book is available digitally through Taylor Library.

Ana Louise Keating (2013). Transformation Now! Toward a post-oppositional politics of change. University of Illinois Press. This book is available digitally through Taylor Library.

1) General Participation: 

  1. Invest in the course by establishing a regular and respectful online presence;
  2. Genuinely try to learn the concepts, principles, and material by reading and listening; collaborate in the spirit of learning critically and enthusiastically;
  3. Participate in online discussions. Respect other students' preparation by being prepared, having read and watched the assigned materials carefully and thoughtfully;
  4. Participate in Zoom meetings;
  5. Turn in all assignments in a timely fashion;
  6. Communicate with the instructor when you anticipate being unable to participate in discussions, Zoom meetings, or turning in assignments in a timely manner.

2)  Discussion Forums:

This same information is posted under the link “Online Discussions.”

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at Midnight MST. In the case of the WEEK 2 requirements to reflect upon your 1-1 spiritual self-care conversation, you have until Saturday of Week 2 to complete that assignment.

This course relies heavily on online discussions. This is where much of the collective aspect of the course “takes place.” Here we share ideas, ask questions, and deepen our understanding of course concepts. Every week, I will post numerous questions related to the weekly topics. By no means are you expected to answer all of questions I post. Respond to the ones that make you want to answer. What I really want you to do is to respond critically and personally to the course materials and one another. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able.

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at midnight MST. I encourage you to post your original responses earlier than that. Even if you are not ready to post your own original answers to the questions early in the week, I nonetheless encourage you to log in to the course website early on, read your classmates' posts that have posted early, and respond to them. Ideally, participation in online discussions should be completed within the week assigned. Each week, the discussions will start on Monday and last through Sunday night. This allows us all to focus on the same issues at the same time. Being present in an online format requires you to make your presence known. 

3) Spiritual Self-Care Practice, Collective Care Practice

4) Zoom Meetings: April 5 meeting and subsequent analysis of transcript in Week Two Discussion and May 18 

5) Initial and Final Learning Agreement

6) Mid-Term Spiritual Care Interview

7) Final Project Reflection

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at Midnight MST.

This course relies heavily on online discussions. This is where much of the collective aspect of the course “takes place.” Here we share ideas, ask questions, and deepen our understanding of course concepts. I will post numerous questions related to the weekly topics. By no means are you expected to answer all of questions I post. Respond to the ones that make you want to answer. What I really want you to do is to respond critically and personally to the course materials and one another. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able.

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at midnight MST. I encourage you to post your original responses earlier than that. Even if you are not ready to post your own original answers to the questions early in the week, I nonetheless encourage you to log in to the course website early on, read your classmates' posts that have posted early, and respond to them. Ideally, participation in online discussions should be completed within the week assigned. Each week, the discussions will start on Monday and last through Sunday night. This allows us all to focus on the same issues at the same time. Being present in an online format requires you to make your presence known. 

How many times am I supposed to respond to others' posts? This is going to be up to you. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able. In your learning agreement, you will define what "as often and as well as you are able" means to you. 

LEARNING AGREEMENT:

I will provide written feedback on assignments, but all students will evaluate their own work in the course and assign themselves a grade. By the end of the first couple of weeks you should have a clearer picture of the expectations of this course. The learning agreement is an informal learning contract, a narrative description of your intentions for fulfilling all of the course requirements as they are delineated in the syllabus (see the course requirements page, and the actual written assignment links, for more detailed information on many of these items).

By reading the syllabus and course assignments, you should be able to reflect upon what you will do. Describe how you will evaluate what you have done in each of these areas by the end of the course. This document will essentially serve as a learning agreement between you and me, and with yourself. This learning contract can be as long or as short as you wish in order to communicate your intentions. You may not be completely sure of what you will do for all of your assignments, but you can indicate where you are leaning. At the end of this narrative, please tell me what grade you intend to achieve.

I also encourage you to include in your learning contract personal challenge goals around 

I will not consider this learning agreement complete unless you assign yourself an intended final grade.

(By the last day of the quarter, and making reference to this first learning agreement, you will evaluate in writing how you think did in achieving your stated objectives and goals throughout the quarter, and whether or not you achieved the grade you anticipated. As the instructor, I am responsible for assigning final grades. In almost all cases, I will assign the grade you give yourself. However, if you wildly overrate or underrate your work, we will enter into negotiations about the final grade.)

By the last day of the quarter, and making reference to this first learning agreement, you will evaluate in writing how you think did in achieving your stated objectives and goals throughout the quarter, and whether or not you achieved the grade you anticipated. At the end of this reflection, you must give yourself a final grade.

As the instructor, I am responsible for assigning final grades. In almost all cases, I will assign the grade you give yourself. However, if you wildly overrate or underrate your work, we will enter into negotiations about the final grade.

This is a hard thing to require, but nonetheless, the course requires you to commit to a spiritual self-care practice that you will speak to in your learning agreement. This is not something that anyone else can define for you. This is something that you will be reflecting upon throughout the course in the discussions, but also will be a central part of your final project reflection. So commit to something that helps you to be yourself, be within yourself, to regulate your nervous system, and allows you to create more present care with and for others. It doesn't have to be a big something. Perhaps you already do something on a daily basis. That's great! Maybe you want to identify or start another practice, or redefine and deepen one you have, or have used in the past. In addition, however, you are also going to reflect on how this spiritual practice of self-care consciously and intentionally relates to a collective care practice in the context of your life and your work for justice. How does what you do with yourself impact and inform a care practice that involves others? What is the relationship between your practice of justice and your practices of spiritual care for yourself and with others? 

Communications Policy: I will log on to the classroom most days. The discussion forum is generally the best place to ask most questions. If there is a question about class requirements or other questions that do not fit into a weekly discussion, I encourage you to use the internal Canvas communication system. If you need to contact me on an individual basis, please email me directly and I will try to reply within 24 hours. If you would like to arrange to communicate with me, please email me directly to set up an appointment.

If you need technical support for anything related to your laptop or device, how CANVAS works, how to do live video conferencing, you should contact the IT helpdesk at helpdesk@iliff.edu.

Iliff's Policies & Services

Julie Todd, Ph.D.

E-mail: jtodd@iliff.edu

John Wesley Iliff Senior Lecturer in Justice and Peace Studies

Dr. Julie Todd

Dr. Julie Todd is a scholar-activist living in Lawrence, Massachusetts. She received her Ph.D. in 2012 from University of Denver-Iliff School of Theology Joint Program in Religious and Theological Studies. As John Wesley Iliff Senior Lecturer in Justice & Peace Studies, she teaches all of her courses in online and hybrid formats, and primarily teaches courses in the area of justice and peace. Her scholarship focuses on social change theory and praxis, violence and (non)violence, eco-justice, and matters of privilege, oppression and solidarity across axes of difference.

She is a published essayist and poet on matters of justice-seeking and the spiritual life. In 2019, she released a book of her own personal writings called 50: thorns & blossoms (Links to an external site.). In 2020, she released a self-published rewrite of her dissertation called Struggling with (Non)violence (Links to an external site.).

She is also a trained herbalist and aromatherapist. She is the owner of her own business JustJulie (Links to an external site.). She is one of the resident artists & healers at Colectiva Wellness & Healing (Links to an external site.) in Lawrence, MA. 

DateDayDetails
Mar 28, 2022MonWeek One Materialsdue by 07:00AM
Mar 31, 2022ThuWeek One Discussiondue by 05:59AM
Apr 05, 2022TueWeek Two Materialsdue by 05:59AM
Apr 10, 2022SunWeek Two Discussiondue by 05:59AM
Apr 11, 2022MonWeek Three Materialsdue by 07:00AM
Apr 12, 2022TueInitial Learning Agreementdue by 05:59AM
Apr 14, 2022ThuWeek Three Discussiondue by 05:59AM
Apr 18, 2022MonWeek Four Materialsdue by 07:00AM
Apr 21, 2022ThuWeek Four Discussiondue by 05:59AM
Apr 25, 2022MonWeek Five Materialsdue by 07:00AM
Apr 28, 2022ThuWeek Five Discussiondue by 05:59AM
May 02, 2022MonWeek Six Materialsdue by 07:00AM
May 05, 2022ThuWeek Six Discussiondue by 05:59AM
May 08, 2022SunMID-TERM SPIRITUAL CARE INTERVIEW due by 05:59AM
May 09, 2022MonWeek Seven Materialsdue by 07:00AM
May 12, 2022ThuWeek Seven Discussiondue by 05:59AM
May 16, 2022MonWeek Eight Materialsdue by 07:00AM
May 19, 2022ThuWeek Eight Discussiondue by 05:59AM
May 23, 2022MonWeek Nine Materialsdue by 07:00AM
May 26, 2022ThuWeek Nine Discussiondue by 05:59AM
May 30, 2022MonWeek Ten Materialsdue by 07:00AM
Jun 02, 2022ThuWeek Ten Discussiondue by 05:59AM
Jun 04, 2022SatFinal Self-Evaluation & Gradedue by 05:59AM
Jun 04, 2022SatSpiritual Care, Spiritual Vision: Creating Collective Possibilitiesdue by 05:59AM