Asian American Theologies

Instructor:

Dr. Girim Jung ( gjung@iliff.edu )

Communication Preferences:

Please contact the instructor via email. The Canvas messaging function is a less helpful way to reach your instructors, and I may be slower to respond to those messages, but I will eventually see them. If you start with my Iliff email, I am happy to set up a phone call or Zoom conversation or other means of connection if that is preferable.

Course Synopsis:

This course will survey the writings of major Asian North American theologians, with particular attention to new constructions in Asian American theological scholarship and how they relate to canonical Asian/American theologians and contemporary social issues. The course examines Asian American theological reflections on identity, liminality, colonialism, racism, sexism, and capitalism and how Asian American Christians can respond/intervene/heal in the face of social crises.

Helpful Links:

Required Purchases

Please purchase (or borrow from the library) the following:

• Brock, Rita Nakashima., and Rebecca Ann. Parker. Proverbs of Ashes : Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us  Boston: Beacon Press, 2001.
• Joh, Wonhee Anne. Heart of the Cross: a Postcolonial Christology 1st ed. Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006.
• Phan, Peter C., and Jung Young. Lee. Journeys at the Margin : Toward an Autobiographical Theology in American-Asian Perspective  Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press, 1999.
• Tan, Jonathan Y. Introducing Asian American Theologies  Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books, 2008.

Other Readings

Excerpts from the following books/journals are available at the DU/Iliff library. Links to library database or PDFs can be found in each week's discussion forums.

Tentative Readings

This is a preview of the readings for this quarter.

Volumes

Brock, Rita Nakashima., and Anne. Dondapati Allen. Off the Menu : Asian and Asian North American Women’s Religion and Theology  1st ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.

• Rachel A. R. Bundang, “May You Storm Heaven with Your Prayers: Devotions to Mary and Jesus in Filipino American Catholic Life “
• Gale A. Yee, "She Stood in Tears amid the Alien Corn": Ruth, the Perpetual Foreigner, and Model Minority”
• Boyung Lee, “Re-creating Our Mothers' Dishes: Asian and Asian North American Women's Pedagogy”

Park, Albert L, and David K Yoo. Encountering Modernity: Christianity in East Asia and Asian America. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2014.

• Carolyn Chen, “Accidental Pilgrims: Modernity, Migration, and Christian Conversion among Contemporary Taiwanese Americans” (pp. 95-116)
• David K. Yoo, “Diasporic Korean Christianity in the United States, 1922–1941” (pp. 254-277)
• Mark R. Mullins, “Kagawa Toyohiko (1888–1960) and the Japanese Christian Impact on American Society (pp. 162-194)”

Phan, Peter C., and Jung Young. Lee. Journeys at the Margin : Toward an Autobiographical Theology in American-Asian Perspective  Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press, 1999.

• Phan, Introduction, xi-xxvii.
• Lee, Jung Young: “A life In-Between: Korean American Journey, 23-40.
• Nagano, “A Japanese-American Pilgrimage,” 63-80
• Ng, “A Path of Concentric Circles,” 81-102.
• Phan, “Betwixt and Between” 113-133

Pui-lan, Kwok. Asian and Asian American Women in Theology and Religion: Embodying Knowledge. Cham: Springer International Publishing AG, 2020.

• June Hee Yoon, “Finding Home from the In-between Space for a Queer Asian American Christian Woman” 59-71.
• Helen Jin Kim, “Asian American Women’s History Is American Religious History,” 89-107

Articles

Abraham, Susan. “Asian/Asian North American Feminist Theology and the Secular Academy.” Journal of feminist studies in religion 31, no. 1 (2015): 121–126.

Campese, Gioacchino. “The Irruption of Migrants: Theology of Migration in the 21st Century.” Theological studies (Baltimore) 73, no. 1 (2012): 3–32.

Chung, Jaeyeon Lucy. “Toward an Asian American Pastoral Theology of Radical Hospitality: Caring for Undocumented Migrants.” Journal of pastoral theology 30, no. 2 (2020): 121–135.

Jung, Girim. “Prolegomenon to Asia as a Symbol: 19 Re-Signifying Korean American Identity” The Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School 12 (2017): 19-40.

Jung, Girim. “Towards a Radically Inclusive Korean American Church: Narratives of the Dechurched Millennials and Social Justice.’ Berkeley Journal of Religion and Theology 6, no. 1 (2020): 52-77.

Kim, Grace Ji-Sun. “Foreign Women: Ezra, Intermarriage and Asian American Women’s Identity.” Feminist theology 22, no. 3 (2014): 241–252.

Kim, Grace Ji-Sun. “Hybridity, Postcolonialism and Asian American Women1.” Feminist theology 24, no. 3 (2016): 260–274.

Koh, SueJeanne. “Asian American Christian Theology: Topographies, Trajectories, and Possibilities.” Religion compass 14, no. 10 (2020): 1–14.

Pae, Keun-Joo Christine. “Korean American Churches and the Negotiation of Space in Flushing, Queens.” In Ecologies of Faith in New York City, 81–. Indiana University Press, 2012.

Tran, Jonathan. “Moral Innovation and Ambiguity in Asian American Christianity.” Theology today (Ephrata, Pa.) 75, no. 3 (2018): 347–357.

Tse, Justin K.H. “Liberal Protestant Chinatown: Social Gospel Geographies in Chinese San Francisco.” Chinese America, history and perspectives (2015): 29–.

Monographs

Brock, Rita Nakashima., and Rebecca Ann. Parker. Proverbs of Ashes : Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us  Boston: Beacon Press, 2001.

• Chapters 2, 4, 6 (51-85, 117-161, 216-247).

Cheng, Patrick S. Rainbow Theology : Bridging Race, Sexuality, and Spirit  Place of publication not identified: Seabury Books, 2013.

• Chapter 3 (28-35), Chapters 6-10 (49-79)

Hearn, Mark Chung. Religious Experience Among Second Generation Korean Americans. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, 2016

• Chapter 5 (65-99), Chapter 6 (101-119)

Hong, Christine J. Identity, Youth, and Gender in the Korean American Church. New York: Palgrave Pivot, 2015.

• Chapter 3 (12-29), Chapter 7-Conclusion (73-138).

Jeung, Russell. Faithful Generations : Race and New Asian American Churches New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2005.

• Chapters 3-5: p.42-102.

Joh, Wonhee Anne. Heart of the Cross: a Postcolonial Christology 1st ed. Louisville, Ky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006.

• Chapters 3-conclusion (49-129).

Kato, Julius-Kei. Religious Language and Asian American Hybridity. 1st ed. 2016. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, 2016.

• Chapters 1-6 (1-84)

Kim-Kort, Mihee. Making Paper Cranes: Toward an Asian American Feminist Theology. Saint Louis: Chalice Press, 2012.

• Chapter 4, 6 (49-78, 95-108)

Kim, Grace Ji-Sun. The Grace of Sophia: A Korean North American Women’s Christology. Wipf & Stock, 2010.

Lee, Daniel D. Double Particularity : Karl Barth, Contextuality, and Asian American Theology  Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2017.

• Chapter 4 (153-192)

Park, Andrew Sung. Racial Conflict and Healing: an Asian-American Theological Perspective  Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books, 1996.

• Part 4 (129-160)

Presa, Neal D. Ascension Theology and Habakkuk : a Reformed Ecclesiology in Filipino American Perspective  Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

• Chapter 2 (15-26), Chapter 5 (49-58)

Tan, Jonathan Y. Introducing Asian American Theologies  Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books, 2008.

Yong, Amos. The Future of Evangelical Theology: Soundings from the Asian American Diaspora. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2014.

• Chapter 2 (67-96)

Course Overview

Weekly Rhythm

• Wednesday 11:59pm (MT): Reading responses Part 1 due.
• Thursdays 1:00-2:00pm (MT): Weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 Zoom check-in
• Saturday 11:59pm (MT): Reading responses Part 2 due.

Course Objectives

At the completion of class, students will be able to:

• Describe several contemporary topics and themes in Asian American theologies
• Discuss various methodologies in Asian American theologies
• Apply Asian American theological perspectives to a relevant social issue
• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of various Asian American theologies

Intro Video (5%):

Post your intro video here by January 8th 11:59pm MT

Here's a few guiding questions to help you get started:

• What program and/or concentration are you at Iliff?
• What led you to take this class?
• What are you most excited about exploring during this class?

Zoom Sessions (5%):

Students are expected to attend and participate in biweekly Zoom sessions, held every other Thursday from 1-2pm Mountain Time starting Week 2 of the class. If student is unable to attend the session, student must notify instructor at least 24 hours in advanced so that arrangements can be made to make-up the session.

Making up the session will involve:

1. Viewing the Zoom session recording
2. Responding to a question prompt after listening to recording and posting it on the appropriate discussion forums with the title "Zoom Session Makeup Assignment"

Attending each session will merit 1 point.

Reading Responses (20%):

Each student will write a reading response for one of the texts each week as well as a response to a question posed by a classmate in the discussions thread.

Part 1:

The initial reading response should be 300-500 words for Masters students, and 400-650 words for JDP students. Please post each week in appropriate Discussions thread. Due 11:59pm (Mountain Time) on Wednesday night.

Respond the the following questions for each reading assignment:

1. What is the thesis?
2. Cite a quotation that is meaningful to you or the argument and indicate why.
3. Discuss one new insight.
4. Discuss one challenge to the argument.
5. What is one question you have about the text?

Part 2:

Respond to one of your classmate's discussion posts in 100-200 words for Masters students, 200-400 words for JDP students. Due 11:59pm (Mountain) on Saturday night.

Class Discussion Leadership (10%):

Instructions:

Please prepare a brief (5-10 minute) video where you introduce the text that you signed up to lead discussion on.

Each video discussion should:

• Focus on one aspect of the text that was personally or intellectually compelling and present around the focus
• Offer a helpful overview of key points in the reading
• Pose several questions to the class to facilitate discussion.

Please upload these by Sunday evenings (11:59pm Mountain Time) in the respective discussion forums.

• Ex. if you signed up to present on Week 2's readings, the video should be posted by Sunday, January 9th at 11:59pm Mountain Time.

Participation (10%):

Students are expected to keep up with weekly readings and actively participate in class discussions.

Abstract and Final Project (50%):

Students are given the option to either write a traditional term paper or a creative project to fulfill this requirement. Either option requires that the project address an issue or concept related to Asian American Theologies. A rubric will be provided for either option to help students understand the requirements and evaluation criteria.

Please see guidelines on how each option is understood below for both:

Term Paper:

Abstract: Each student will write an abstract on their paper topic of 300 words or less by Week 6 of the course and post it on the Canvas forums. Students will read the abstracts and offer comments, questions, or suggestions by Week 7. The instructor will also review the abstracts and indicate whether the paper topic is approved or requires further refinement for approval.

Masters students will write one term paper at ten to fifteen (10-15) pages that will an issue or concept that emerges in Asian American Theologies, or which represents the unique departure of a particular thinker. Papers should include a grasp of issues and ideas being discussed, engagement of notable thinkers on the subject matter in question and a clear articulation of a well-supported point of view. Papers should be typed, double spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman typeface, 1” (one-inch) margins using Chicago/Turabian bibliographic format, with footnotes in 10-point font; page number on bottom left hand corner; no cover sheet.

JDP students are asked to write 30% longer (14-20 pages) term papers. Ideally the term paper would be on the level of a strong first draft for a conference paper or journal article.

Creative Project:

Creative projects use alternative mediums to the academic paper to examine the various topics and themes explored in this course. Each creative project will be accompanied by a brief 5-page essay that analyzes/interprets the project to demonstrate understanding of Asian American Theologies.

Examples of creative projects include (but are not limited to):

• A religious education unit and lessons for congregational use.
• A creative writing piece (poem, short story etc.) with accompanying analysis/interpretation.
• A podcast or vlog episode examining and analyzing Asian American Theologies.
• A musical or visual art piece with accompanying analysis/interpretation.
• Additional examples for doctoral students (pending approval of proposal):

Literature review on the research area of this course that may serve either as preparation for a relevant qualifying examination or preparation of dissertation proposal.

An annotated syllabus for an undergraduate/graduate level course in Asian American Theologies. Syllabi should include description of instructional context, student learning objectives, assignments, evaluation process, and an annotated description of each text chosen. Student should also attach (1) a précis indicating why the particular approach was taken and (2) the text for the lecture/ activity for the first class session.

Project Proposals of 300 words or less are due on Week 6 and posted for peer feedback on our Discussion Forums. The Final Project is due on the same date as the term paper.

COVID Policy for On-Campus Classes: In the event that any participant in a course meeting on campus tests positive for COVID, that course will move to synchronous virtual meeting during the scheduled class time for the next two weeks. After that quarantine period the course will then resume meeting on campus as scheduled.

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

Incompletes:  If incompletes are allowed in this course, see the Master's Student Handbook (Links to an external site.) for Policies and Procedures.

Pass/Fail:  Students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructors 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 (Links to an external site.), or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook (Links to an external site.), as appropriate.  All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant (Links to an external site.).

Core Values: As a community, Iliff strives to live by this set of Core Values (Links to an external site.).

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 (Links to an external site.), 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. Inclusive language refers to language that refers to God and humanity in terms that are not solely male, language that deals with color in ways that does not foster racism (i.e. equating “black” with “evil”, “white” with “purity or goodness”), and sensory language (“paralyzed,” “deaf,” “blind”) in ways that does not equate persons with disabilities and evil.