Decolonial Theologies of the Global South

Instructor:

Dr. Girim Jung ( gjung@iliff.edu )

Classroom Location:

Shattuck Hall, North End

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 explore the theological and critical writings of theologians and theorists of the Global South in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Resisting an Area Studies approach to theological studies in the First/Third World paradigm of the Cold War, this course adopts Alina Sajed’s definition of Global South as including necropolitical zones in the North” characterized by exploitation, oppression and neocolonial relations” while unpacking the neocolonial activity of historic Third World nation-states in East Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. Readings will include texts incorporating liberationist, anti/post/decolonial, anticapitalist, feminist, queer, indigenous, and Marxist lenses. Theoretical texts will counterbalance theological writings to assess their liberative potentialities whilst also acknowledging their limitations.

Helpful Links:

Required Purchases

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

• Althaus‐Reid, Marcella. From Feminist Theology to Indecent Theology. SCM Press, 2004.
• Cesaire, Aime. Discourse on Colonialism. Monthly Review Press, 2000.
• Colonialism and the Bible: Contemporary Reflections from the Global South. Edited by Tat-Siong Benny Liew and Fernando F. Segovia. Lexington Press, 2021.*
• Kwok, Pui-lan. Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology. Westminster John Knox Press, 2005.

*= on order at the library; may not need to purchase.

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.

Course Overview

Weekly Rhythm

• Wednesday 11:59pm (MT): Reading responses due.
• Thursday before class: post two questions on readings, lectures, videos on discussion board.
• Thursdays 1:00-4:30pm (MT): In-Person Class (Week 5/Journey Week is Virtual Only).

Course Objectives

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

• Describe several contemporary topics in decolonial scholarship
• Discuss various methodologies in decolonial scholarship
• Apply decolonial theory and/or theological perspectives to a relevant social issue
• Assess the strengths and weaknesses of various decolonial approaches in theological studies
• Construct own theological perspective on a social issue within contemporary decolonial scholarship.

Major Assignments & Evaluation

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.