Dr. Vial | Office: Iliff 109 |
Fall 2018 | Phone: 303-765-3166 |
Office Hours: by appointment | E-mail: tvial@iliff.edu |
Each student will prepare 3 papers of 3 double-spaced pages each (plus a final paper). You will choose which three readings you will write about in the Paper Sign up assignment. Papers will be posted Tuesday mornings. All students will post a one-paragraph response to the paper and/or reading by Wednesday at midnight. All students will read all postings and post an additional one paragraph reflection or comment by Friday at midnight. Each paper is worth 20% of your grade, and the quality of your postings over the quarter is part of your participation grade, worth 10% of your final grade. Late postings will not be accepted.
Papers will be graded according to the following 4 criteria:
In a short paper the claim typically appears as the last sentence of the introductory paragraph (if it is not there the writer needs clearly to mark where it is, since otherwise readers will assume that sentence is the claim). A claim states the conclusion of the argument put forward in the paper. You have a great deal of freedom here. A claim might state what is the most important idea in the reading, or what the author must assume to make his or her argument, or what the logical extension of that argument might be, or how that argument relates to other readings on our syllabus, or what the author gets right or wrong, etc. In a short paper you will likely not be able to summarize the all the points the author makes, nor should you try. Part of your task of analysis is to prioritize what is most important to lift up for discussion for our class. Your paper will likely not follow the same organization as the reading under analysis, since the logic of your argument will not be the same as the logic of the argument of the reading. If your paragraphs tend to begin “And then . . .; Next . . .” then it is probably time to go back and do at least one more draft and re-think what you are presenting and how. Papers for this class are a little closer to the summary end of the spectrum than a term paper might be, since they are the basis for our discussion. But they are still papers that make engage the text by making a point about the text.
The purpose of the papers is three-fold: the first is to encourage deep engagement with the texts; the second is to encourage a habit of discussion that is open, respectful, and rigorous. This is best accomplished when the analytical essays take a charitable stance towards the readings. Some of them will seem old-fashioned, and the writers may have different concerns than do we. As in any good conversation, it is important first to try to see where the writer is coming from, rather than to be dismissive of his or her ideas. There will be plenty of time later to decide what is useful to you and what is not. We must begin with an accurate understanding of what is actually going on in the essay. Third, these section papers will help develop your skills as readers and writers. A great number of studies show that “peer-review” is a very effective way to teach writing. The feedback you get on these papers during discussion will be quite valuable.
Papers will be graded on the following scale:
4 = A
3 = B
2 = C
1 = D
0 = F
Throughout the quarter, we will have several discussions which will compose a large part of our engagement with each other in this online learning space. For these discussions to be meaningful conversation spaces, we all need to take responsibility for consistent and substantial participation. Over the course of a conversation, substantial engagement means:
Each post need not do all of these things, but your overall participation in each conversation should demonstrate all of these components. You might have several short posts and a handful of longer posts in a week or you might have only a few strategic substantial posts (minimum of 2 posts per discussion). Either way, your overall participation in each conversation will be evaluated for substantial engagement. The goal of this discussion design is to encourage and reward interchange, so post often and engage each other with meaningful questions that open to other questions.
I am looking for posts that help us understand and analyze the text at hand. Application of our texts to new situations is of course the ultimate goal, but we can't do that responsibly without understanding what the author is doing first. And that can be hard!
If your first post (due Wednesday) focuses on one of the assigned papers/readings, please focus your second post on a discussion about another paper/reading.
Course Description:
This introduction to Christian theology will focus on systematic theology, that is, what are the traditional loci (topics or rubrics) that form a complete theological system, how do they fit together, and how does thinking them as a system influence theological thinking? We will look at how the Christian theological tradition provides resources for contemporary theology. As examples we will take a close look at the locus of Christology.
Professional Degree Learning Goals for Constructive Theology Area:
Constructive Theology (TH) : critically engage historical and contemporary theological expressions of religious traditions and articulate one's own constructive theological position in relation to contemporary events and/or situations.
Learning Outcomes:
After taking this class, students will be able to:
Readings:
The following books are for purchase:
James Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree
Anne Joh, Heart of the Cross
B. A. Gerrish, Christian Faith: Dogmatics in Outline
Further readings will be provided via Canvas
Date | Day | Details | |
Sep 11, 2018 | Tue | Week 1 Papers | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 11, 2018 | Tue | Sign up for papers | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 13, 2018 | Thu | Week 1 Discussion | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 15, 2018 | Sat | Week 1 Continued | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 18, 2018 | Tue | Week 2 Papers | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 18, 2018 | Tue | Introductions | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 20, 2018 | Thu | Week 2 Discussion | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 22, 2018 | Sat | Resource Page 1 | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 22, 2018 | Sat | Week 2 Continued | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 22, 2018 | Sat | Resource Page #1 | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 25, 2018 | Tue | Week 3 Papers | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 27, 2018 | Thu | Week 3 Discussion | due by 05:59AM |
Sep 29, 2018 | Sat | Week 3 Continued | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 01, 2018 | Mon | Week 2 Backgrounds | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 02, 2018 | Tue | Week 4 Papers | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 04, 2018 | Thu | Week 4 Discussion | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 06, 2018 | Sat | Week 4 Continued | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 06, 2018 | Sat | Resource Page #2 | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 08, 2018 | Mon | Week 3 Backgrounds | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 09, 2018 | Tue | Week 5 Papers | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 11, 2018 | Thu | Week 5 Discussion (Gathering Days) | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 15, 2018 | Mon | Week 4 Backgrounds | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 16, 2018 | Tue | Week 6 Papers | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 19, 2018 | Fri | Week 6 Discussion | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 20, 2018 | Sat | Resource Page #3 | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 21, 2018 | Sun | Week 6 Discussion Continued | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 22, 2018 | Mon | Week 5 Backgrounds | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 23, 2018 | Tue | Week 7 Papers | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 26, 2018 | Fri | Week 7 Discussion | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 27, 2018 | Sat | Week 5 Continued (Gathering Days) | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 28, 2018 | Sun | Week 7 Continued | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 29, 2018 | Mon | Week 6 Backgrounds | due by 05:59AM |
Oct 30, 2018 | Tue | Week 8 Papers | due by 05:59AM |
Nov 02, 2018 | Fri | Week 8 Discussion | due by 05:59AM |
Nov 04, 2018 | Sun | Week 8 Continued | due by 05:59AM |
Nov 05, 2018 | Mon | Week 7 Backgrounds | due by 06:59AM |
Nov 06, 2018 | Tue | Week 9 Papers | due by 06:59AM |
Nov 09, 2018 | Fri | Week 9 Discussion | due by 06:59AM |
Nov 11, 2018 | Sun | Week 9 Continued | due by 06:59AM |
Nov 12, 2018 | Mon | Week 8 Backgrounds | due by 06:59AM |
Nov 13, 2018 | Tue | Week 10 Papers | due by 06:59AM |
Nov 15, 2018 | Thu | Week 10 Discussion | due by 06:59AM |
Nov 17, 2018 | Sat | Week 10 Continued | due by 06:59AM |
Nov 19, 2018 | Mon | Week 9 Backgrounds | due by 06:59AM |
Nov 20, 2018 | Tue | Final papers | due by 06:59AM |
Nov 20, 2018 | Tue | Resource Page | due by 06:59AM |
Nov 26, 2018 | Mon | Week 10 Backgrounds | due by 06:59AM |
Dec 08, 2018 | Sat | Participation | due by 06:59AM |