Prof. Mark K. George
Office: Iliff Hall 202C, ext. 168
E-mail:
mgeorge@iliff.edu
Revision date: 2015-09-14
This course is a critical, exegetical study of the Book of Genesis. Genesis is one of the books of the Bible that is widely referenced and alluded to in US culture (as reactions to the June 2015 US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges evidenced) for support of particular viewpoints (on the political left as well as on the political right—and everywhere in between) on a variety of issues. These allusions and references typically imply that the meaning of the biblical text is clear and unambiguous. But since it is unlikely this understanding of a fixed meaning would have allowed Genesis to survive through history and become part of the Bible, we will be working hard to upset and challenge it. One way we will do so is by reading the stories carefully (i.e., with exegetical care) and, just as carefully and critically, examining our own reading assumptions that shape how we read Genesis. A second way we will do so is through consideration of the ways interpreters use different types of media to explore these stories and what they mean. This is one way in which our work online will benefit our study of Genesis.
Please note: as a depth course, either Hebrew Bible Introduction (preferably) or New Testament Introduction is a prerequisite.
Required texts
Brueggemann, Walter. Genesis: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching . Interpretation. Atlanta, GA: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0664234379 (paper). The 1986 hardback edition also is available and the same edition (but a bit more expensive): ISBN 978-0804231015 (cloth).
Cohn, Norman. Noah’s Flood: The Genesis Story in Western Thought . New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999. ISBN 9780300076486 (paper).
Crumb, Robert. The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb . New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009. ISBN 978-0393061024. Please note: this book should be rated M for Mature, due to the biblical material and images .
Levenson, Jon D. Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam . Library of Jewish Ideas. Princeton; Princeton University Press, 2012. ISBN 9780691155692 (cloth). Also available in paperback: ISBN 978-0691163550 (paper).
The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. This is the required version for all course work. If you do not own a copy or do not have access to it electronically, I recommend The HarperCollins Study Bible (NRSV)—Student Edition: Fully Revised and Updated . San Francisco: HarperOne, 2006. ISBN 9780060786841 (paper).
Recommended texts for exegesis
If you are new to exegesis, I recommend you check out from the library or purchase one (or both?) of the following books on exegesis. These books introduce different methods and perspectives for exegesis that are commonly used and discussed by scholars and commentators.
To Each Its Own Meaning, Revised and Expanded: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and Their Application . Steven L. McKenzie and Stephen R. Haynes, eds. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999. ISBN 978-0664257842 (paper).
Hayes, John H. and Carl R. Holladay. Biblical Exegesis: A Beginner’s Handbook . 3 rd ed. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007. ISBN 9780664227753 (paper).
Recommended for the craft of writing good papers : all of us are (or hopefully are) in a continuous process of developing our skills and abilities as writers. There are many books on writing available today, but here are some that I find particularly useful and commend to all students:
Pinker, Steven. The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21 st Century . New York: Viking, 2014. ISBN 9780670025855 (cloth); 9780241957714 (paper). ASIN B00INIYG74 (Kindle).
Strunk, Jr., William and E. B. White. The Elements of Style . 4 th edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000. ISBN 9780205309023 (paper).
Participation. All students are expected to participate actively in weekly discussions, exegesis exercises, and written work. Please read all assigned (required) materials carefully before contributing to the discussion. What constitutes “carefully”? Read the materials to understand their central argument(s), the evidence used in support of those arguments, the conclusions reached, and then your own reactions and arguments with them. Critically and respectfully engage the readings and then one another in discussions. The only way Genesis becomes a book relevant to the world today is through careful, critical, serious, humorous, irreverent engagement. If you are not sure you know how to read and understand the books, articles, and biblical materials, or you need to learn some ways to improve your reading, take a look at the suggestions provided by Dr. Raul Pacheco-Vega. (FYI, I am constantly learning new and better ways to read and understand the materials I am reading. I also like to read about the process of writing and how others undertake their work, in order to become a better writer myself.) In our online work, the goal is to advance our critical understandings of the biblical texts and readings and to do so through careful, respectful engagement with one another (this does not mean we can’t agree or disagree or say things honestly!).
Syllabus Quiz. There is a short quiz on the contents of this syllabus. All students are required to take it and pass it. Multiple attempts are allowed. The due date for the quiz is Friday, 18 Sept., at 11:45 p.m. MDT.
Tell a Friend (TAF)—Initial Prompts. Once during the quarter each student will serve as one of the discussion leaders with a short prompt of no more than 500 words (about 1.5 pages double spaced). Due to the size of the class, please carefully observe the length limits: no more than 500 words, although you may write less if you accomplish the task; points will be deducted for postings longer than this limit! Please sign up for the week when you will write the initial prompt using the “Sign-ups” link on the course home page schedule; please do so no later than Friday, 18 Sept. These prompts are to be focused considerations about something you learned for the week. They will be evaluated on the basis that they: demonstrate engagement with the week’s assigned reading (reference to a specific page, author’s argument or idea, short quotation, and so on), advance our understanding of Genesis in some way, and move forward the overall class discussion. Here are a few suggestions about what you might do. Write as if you are telling a friend what you are studying. Write for a church newsletter. Imagine you are writing an op-ed piece for the local newspaper because your work in class is relevant to the community discussion. Write a blog post. Be sure to indicate that setting as part of your prompt. Whatever context you assume, your goal is to communicate a key idea from the week’s readings you think is useful for your audience. These prompts are due no later than 11:45 p.m. MDT/MST on Sunday each week when they are assigned.
Genesis and the World (GW)—Initial Prompt. Because Genesis regularly is a reference in modern U.S. discourse and debates, and because this hybrid course is being taught primarily online, we will make use of the resources and opportunities the internet presents for learning. Once during the quarter each student will serve as discussion leader by providing a prompt about an object or artifact of some sort from the internet that you annotate/comment on. Your annotation/comment is to be no longer than a paragraph. Please sign up for the week when you will write the initial prompt using the “Sign-ups” link on the course home page schedule; please do so no later than Friday, 18 Sept. There are a number of ways you might connect what we are learning with the world, such as linking to a news item, a story, an image, a short video clip (not more than 3–4 minutes), a musical clip, or some other artifact of interest or relevance to the course. Explain why or how the item is relevant to you and this course.
Here is an example: I cited Obergefell v. Hodges in the Course Description because immediate reactions by those opposed to the decision often cited the Bible as the source and justification for traditional marriage. This includes one of my neighbors, a self-professed devote Catholic, who cited Adam and Eve. I pointed out to him that we might refer to them today as living together or partners or co-habitants or some other term than married, since they weren’t married, technically. (He laughed.) What I didn’t tell him was that Abraham had a first and second wife (Sarai and Hagar), that Jacob had two wives and two concubines (Leah, Rachel, Bildad, Zilpah), and therefore I was not certain what constituted “traditional marriage” in the Bible, or at least in Genesis. Granted, these are not same sex marriages, but neither are they “traditional marriage.” So what things does the Bible say about marriage? Does the Bible support “traditional marriage”? Can reference to the Bible be a point of productive conversation between people with different opinions of this Supreme Court decision?
As I hope this example illustrates, the objective in the GW initial prompts is to think beyond the readings and consider in what ways our study of Genesis leads us to understand the world in which we live in a different way. How do the Genesis stories shape the way we live in the world? How do they lead us to think through issues from alternative perspectives? How might they help us enter into meaningful discussions with those with whom we have a different theological or political perspective? Does what we are studying matter at all or have any practical application(s)? We have readings that help us begin to see how Genesis was understood to affect society at different points in history, so ask yourself, how is this happening today? These prompts are to be made no later than 11:45 p.m. MDT/MST on Sunday each week when they are assigned.
A couple of definitions:
Weekly discussions – responses. A primary means of learning for this course depends on robust conversation online. The Tell a Friend and Genesis and the World initial prompts will begin our discussions each week. Please read all the initial prompts in these discussions each week (they are available by 11:45 p.m. MDT/MST each Sunday).
First responses are due by Tuesday evening at 11:45 p.m. MDT/MST. Make at least one response in either the Tell a Friend discussion or the Genesis and the World discussion. Students who made initial prompts in one of these discussions also are to participate in one of the discussions by Tuesday evening (you will have both an initial prompt and one response by this due date).
Second responses are due by Thursday evening at 11:45 p.m. MDT/MST. Make at least one response in the other discussion from the one to which you responded on Tuesday. The minimum expectation for our discussions each week is that each student has at least one posting in the Tell a Friend discussion and one in the Genesis and the World discussion, made by the stated due dates and times.
General guidelines for online discussions are available on the "Online Discussions Guidelines" link on the syllabus.
Exegesis discussions—Google Docs. This course is a depth course, and for this reason we will work explicitly on developing and improving our exegesis skills, that is, in the critical analysis and interpretation of biblical texts. Five of the ten weeks during the quarter we will have a shared exegesis discussion on an assigned pericope posted to Google Docs. Students will be pre-assigned a pericope and discussion group for each discussion (these will change week to week). The pericopes are drawn from the assigned biblical readings for the week. Each discussion will have a set of guiding questions setting out the task for that week’s discussion (such as formulating ideas, proposing a thesis, what evidence supports your thesis). Participation in these discussions is due by Thursday at 11:45 p.m. MDT/MST. I encourage conversation with one another about these pericopes in the Google Docs so as to learn as much as possible about these pericopes and how to interpret them as critical readers. These discussions are graded as participate/not participate and become part of your Participation grade.
Gathering Days. Attendance and participation in Gathering Days sessions is required of all students. The assigned days for this course are Wednesday, 14 Oct., 1:00–5:00 p.m. and Thursday, 15 Oct., 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Please read all assigned materials prior to class, be prepared to discuss the readings, and bring your NRSV Bibles.
Exegesis Papers. All students will write two short (1000–1200 words, approximately 3-4 pages) exegesis papers during the term. This word count includes text and footnotes but not your bibliography, is the limit to observe (not pages), and is to be noted at the end of your paper. Papers are to be uploaded to the Canvas site.
Response to exegesis papers. Every student will be assigned another student’s exegesis paper to read and to provide a written scholarly response. Canvas automatically will assign papers after they are submitted through the system. Assignments will be made 24 hours after the submission deadline. To access the paper assigned to you, log into Canvas, click on the exegesis paper assignment (the same link you used to upload your paper). Once on that page, click on the “Peer Review” link in the right-hand column of the screen. Responses are to be no longer than one page, typed, single-space, although they may be shorter! Responses are due no later than Thursday, 11:45 p.m. MDT/MST in Weeks 4 & 9. Guidelines for responses are available here.
For our discussions to be meaningful conversation spaces, we all need to take responsibility for consistent and substantial participation. Instead of grading discussions based on number of words posted or on frequency, discussions will be assessed based on the degree to which you substantially engage in the conversation each week. 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 couple of longer posts in a week (be mindful there are 19 students and the professor in the course, so please don’t write term papers here) or you might have only a few strategic substantial posts. 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 engage each other with meaningful questions that open to other questions.
Weighting
Discussions...................................................................................................................50%, as follows:
Tell a Friend—initial posting........................................................................20%
Genesis and the World—initial posting.......................................................10%
Participation in discussions (including exegesis discussions)....................20%
Exegesis papers (20% each)........................................................................................40%
Response to exegesis papers (5% each).....................................................................10%
Pass/fail requests are due to the instructor by e-mail message no later than Sunday, 20 September 2015. A response approving or denying the request will be sent by the professor. Incompletes will be granted only in the most exceptional of circumstances. If granted, the procedures outlined in the 2015–16 Master’s Student Handbook will be followed.
General grading rubric: In all forms of assessment, the demonstration of critical thinking and reading skills (including identifying the central arguments of others and the evidence they use to support them, developing one’s own ideas and arguments, and so on), advancing the class discussion and work, and engaging in careful thinking about the topics of the course are major components of how students are graded. Participation grades include demonstration of each student’s reading knowledge and comprehension of assigned materials, the ability to summarize the main arguments of readings, to relate those arguments to other materials of the day, and active participation in the Canvas discussions. Exegesis papers are evaluated on the basis of the clarity of the central argument or thesis, the strength of the supporting evidence, the logic and organization of the paper, the persuasiveness of the argument, and the mechanics of writing (style, format, grammar, spelling, etc.). Grading for responses to exegesis paper are based on the care with which the paper is read, the ability to identify the thesis and argument, articulation of both strengths and weaknesses, and the professionalism of the response.
Accommodations. Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to accommodate reasonably student needs. Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations. For Iliff students, the advising center may be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by telephone at 303-765-1146.
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. All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.
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.
A....................94–100
A-...................91–93
B+..................88–90
B....................83–87
B-...................80–82
C+..................78–79
C....................73–77
C-...................70–72
D+..................68–69
D....................60–67
F.....................59 or below
Discussion postings made after the Thursday due date will not be read or graded (i.e., your grade will be zero [0] for that week's discussion). Papers more than 48 hours late will be graded zero (0) and may or may not be read by the instructor. Responses to other students' papers more than 48 hours late will receive a zero (0).
If you are interested, Mark has three short audio recordings on the syllabus, including: a welcome and overview of the books, one on the requirements , and one on grades and grading .
| Date | Day | Details | |
| Sep 16, 2015 | Wed | Wk 1: Introduction | due by 05:45AM |
| Sep 23, 2015 | Wed | Wk 2: Creations (Gen 1-4) | due by 05:45AM |
| Sep 25, 2015 | Fri | Wk 2: Creations (Gen 1-4) | due by 05:45AM |
| Sep 30, 2015 | Wed | Wk 3: Water, Water, Water (Gen 5-10) | due by 05:45AM |
| Oct 02, 2015 | Fri | Wk 3: Water, Water, Water (Gen 5-10) | due by 05:45AM |
| Oct 07, 2015 | Wed | Wk 4: Language, Call, Covenant (Gen 11-17) | due by 05:45AM |
| Oct 14, 2015 | Wed | Wk 5: Sex (&) Games (Gen 18-23) - Gathering Days (W 1:00-5:00 p.m.; Th 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.) | due by 05:45AM |
| Oct 21, 2015 | Wed | Wk 6: All You Need Is...Love? (Gen 24-27) | due by 05:45AM |
| Oct 23, 2015 | Fri | Wk 6: All You Need Is...Love? (Gen 24-27) | due by 05:45AM |
| Oct 28, 2015 | Wed | Wk 7: We Are Family (Gen 28-32) | due by 05:45AM |