DMin Seminar in Advanced Practical Theological Research

Instructor: Andy Dunning

Contact: adunning@uparkumc.org . For urgent matters, call or text at 720.346.0498.

Course Description:

This seminar provides an opportunity for a cohort of D.Min. students to collaborate in developing their research projects. Students will establish the theoretical framing of their project by engaging with relevant literature, rigorously analyze their research context, and begin the descriptive work their project requires. In that process, students will refine their research question and select research strategies that fit their project.

Required Texts:

• Bennett, Zoë, Elaine Graham, Stephen Pattison, and Heather Walton. Invitation to Research in Practical Theology . 1 edition. London ; New York: Routledge, 2018.
• Kaur, Valarie. See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love. One World Publishing, 2020.
• Elllison, II, Gregory C., ed. Anchored in the Current: Discovering Howard Thurman as Educator, Activist, Guide, and Prophet . Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

1. Understand and describe how theoretical frameworks function in research with living religious communities and analyze the heuristic value and epistemological limitations of the frameworks being used. 
2. Speak knowledgeably and critically about an analytical approach or theoretical concept central to their own project, identify academic conversation partners on that concept that they find useful to their own work, understand where those partners fit in the larger scope of the field, and demonstrate knowledge of the shortfalls of their chosen approach or concept.
3. Narrow the infinite potential descriptions of their research context to the most central ideological, historical, political, and material factors contributing to current religious practice and theological understandings in that context, and identify high quality resources that will help create descriptive contextual analysis.
4. Describe what makes for impactful, credible practical theological research that contributes to the capacity for prophetic leadership.
5. Articulate their current understanding of their own commitments and styles of prophetic leadership in their ongoing positions of leadership and ministry.

Shared Course Readings

Much of the reading for this course will be project specific to each student, established by the students in conversation with the instructor.  Each week there will also be shared reading for conversation that addresses the topics of the course. These shared readings will focus on:

1. The role of theory in qualitative and quantitative research in living human communities, the relationship of theory and practice in practical theology, and the (inescapable) perils of using theoretical frameworks. 
2. The task of description in practical theology, its power and limitations, and how it relates to reflexivity and social location.
3. The work of a contemporary prophetic leader (Valerie Kaur) and an historic prophetic leader (Howard Thurman) with which we will be in conversation about our own commitments and practices as leaders.

Required Texts

Bennett, Zoë, Elaine Graham, Stephen Pattison, and Heather Walton. Invitation to Research in Practical Theology. 1 edition. London ; New York: Routledge, 2018.

Kaur, Valarie.  See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love. One World Publishing, 2020.

Elllison, II, Gregory C., ed. Anchored in the Current: Discovering Howard Thurman as Educator, Activist, Guide, and Prophet. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020.

Supplemental Texts (These are recommended works on practical theology, each of which pays helpful attention to questions of method and theory. There is no need to purchase them for this course but they may be helpful in your work.)

Browning, Don S. A Fundamental Practical Theology: Descriptive and Strategic Proposals. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991. 

Miller-McLemore, Bonnie J., ed. The Wiley-Blackwell Reader in Practical Theology. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2019

Osmer, Richard. Practical Theology: An Introduction. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2008. 

 

 

Evaluation in the course will be based on the following:

1. Participation in discussion forums, peer review assignments, and Journey Week so as to develop a rigorous and supportive learning community that allows for diverse colleagues to grow in their capacity for advanced practical theological research. 15% of final grade.
2. Presentations during the Journey week with the initial identification of a key theoretical approach that will be central to your project. Each student will share their initial research and understandings developed through independent reading, explaining why this concept helps to address the questions of your work. Critical engagement from colleagues will expand students' repertoire of theories in the study of lived religion and develop a sense of the costs and limitations of the chosen theoretical foundation for their project. 10% of final grade. 
3. A midterm paper demonstrating thorough knowledge of a theory, school of thought, or analytical method central to the framing of their project. The paper should include a critical analysis of how that theory, school of thought, or analytical method both contributes to and limits their understanding of the situation they are investigating. 25% of final grade.
4. An annotated bibliography of 15 high-quality academic resources that help describe their research setting. 25% of final grade.
5. A “research reflections” journal that compiles their weekly exercises related to their project, their practice/grounding as a prophetic leader, and the connections between the two. The journal will be submitted at midterm and the end of the term for instructor feedback. 25% of final grade