Social Justice in Western Earth-Honoring Traditions

Note from Instructor. This syllabus is under construction. Everything you need to begin the first week of the course, and links to describe much of the course content, are available. If you find there are materials or content you feel you need that are not accessible to you in this moment, please let me know.

Here is a short orienting video (2:35). The rest of the information you need to know is in the links below. https://youtu.be/IqsIDLZDMuk

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this course we explore primarily modern, Western earth-honoring traditions as they intersect with social and ecological justice. The course materials and discussions consider the ways these Western earth-honoring traditions, such as goddess spirituality/Wicca, polytheism/animism, eco-womanism, creation spirituality and deep ecology: 1) provide unique resources for the pursuit of justice and, 2) both critique and reinscribe systems of social inequality and violence. Students will explore the ways in which their own religious, a-religious and spiritual perspectives might more effectively empower them and their communities to create justice with both human and other-than-human communities.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• Explore broad views of social and earth justice through the lenses of various modern, Western earth honoring traditions, such as: goddess spirituality/Wicca, polytheism/animism, eco-womanism, creation spirituality and deep ecology.
• Consider the social justice implications of a theological reorientation from monotheism to polytheism
• Rediscover the roots and potentialities of Western earth-based religious traditions for the pursuit of social justice without appropriating indigenous cultural traditions
• Identify the pitfalls of Western-based earth-honoring traditions in perpetuating norms and practices of inequality and injustice especially in terms of racism, gender-based dualisms, and cultural appropriation.

• Margot Adler. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess Worshippers and Other Pagans in America. Penguin Books, 2006.
• Melanie Harris. Ecowomanism: African American Women and Earth-Honoring Faiths. Orbis Books, 2017.
• Bron Taylor. Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future. University of California Press, 2010.
• There will be many, many other required listening and viewing materials provided as links and files.

1) General Participation: Learning is not merely about receiving information from a variety of expert sources; it is about everyone, including the instructor, asking questions and seeking to understand from the materials and all participants. In this class, every participant is a teacher and a learner. I expect students will:

1. Invest in the course by establishing a regular and respectful online presence;
2. Genuinely try to learn the concepts, principles, and material by reading and listening; collaborate in the spirit of learning critically and enthusiastically;
3. Participate in online discussions. Respect other students' preparation by being prepared, having read and watched the assigned materials carefully and thoughtfully;
4. Participate in Zoom meetings;
5. Turn in all assignments in a timely fashion;
6. Communicate with the instructor when you anticipate being unable to participate in discussions, Zoom meetings, or turning in assignments in a timely manner.

2)  Discussion Forums:

This same information is posted under the link “Online Discussions.”

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at Midnight MST.

This course relies heavily on online discussions. This is where much of the collective aspect of the course “takes place.” Here we share ideas, ask questions, and deepen our understanding of course concepts. Every week, I will post numerous questions related to the weekly topics. By no means are you expected to answer all of questions I post. Respond to the ones that make you want to answer. What I really want you to do is to respond critically and personally to the course materials and one another. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able.

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at midnight MST. I encourage you to post your original responses earlier than that. Even if you are not ready to post your own original answers to the questions early in the week, I nonetheless encourage you to log in to the course website early on, read your classmates' posts that have posted early, and respond to them. Ideally, participation in online discussions should be completed within the week assigned. Each week, the discussions will start on Monday and last through Sunday night. This allows us all to focus on the same issues at the same time. Being present in an online format requires you to make your presence known. 

3) Zoom Meetings

We will have two different Zoom Meetings during the quarter. Each time we have a Zoom Meeting, there will be choices of time slots. You are required to sign up for one of these slots. The content and necessary preparation for each Zoom meeting will be delineated in a link on the course home page.

4) Completing Initial and Final Learning Agreements

See link on Self-Grading and Evaluation/Grading

5) Practices of Social Justice and Earth-Honoring

I expect you to develop a daily-to-weekly practice that will help you to reflect upon earth honoring and social justice.  It is essentially a kind of daily earth-devotional and journaling practice.

6) Introductory Essay, Poetic Critical Reflection on Social Justice and the Earth

These are two short, personal and critical reflections on yourself and your understanding of the relationship between social justice earth honoring traditions.

7) Final Project/Reflection

Create a final project or reflection on what you have learned this quarter about what an earth-honoring religious tradition, practices, and/or community is, particularly as such a tradition relates to social justice. You may choose to write a research and reflection paper on a Western earth-honoring tradition that has relevance to your life, that you may already be involved with. You may choose to write a reflection on your growing commitment to what it looks like to grow into and with an earth-honoring tradition that is new to you. You may choose to develop a study or guided gathering for your local community. You may decide to outline a project you would like to implement in your community. Whatever is most relevant and helpful to  you and your context. More guidelines to follow in the final assignment link.

Every day (or so, whatever works in your rhythm) an action-reflection in two parts

1) Decide on and develop a simple, individual practice of honoring the earth, whatever that might look like for you. It doesn't have to be the same practice every day, but it may be. It may already be something that you do on a regular basis, but you would benefit by bringing greater attention and awareness to the practice. It doesn't have to be grandiose. A small thing, practice, action, will do.

After you do the practice, take some time to write, either immediately or by the time that the day ends, about what that practice is about for you and for the earth, and how that practice connects you (or not) to an actual or possible action for social justice.   Consider how the religious or spiritual tradition that you come from or are currently involved in both enriches and prevents your practice of both social justice and a respectful relationship with the earth and the earth's inhabitants. Establish some kind of daily or regular notation practice so that you can document your thoughts and insights.

2) The word "social" in social justice implies society, community. Attentiveness to the earth implies attentiveness to multiplicity and diversity. At the end of each week, consider in writing how you might extend your daily practice to a more collective and diverse realm of engagement, both human and other than human. 

I will ask you to share something directly from what you document related to your practice in the discussion thread on a regular basis.

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at Midnight MST.

This course relies heavily on online discussions. This is where much of the collective aspect of the course “takes place.” Here we share ideas, ask questions, and deepen our understanding of course concepts. Every week, I will post numerous questions related to the weekly topics. By no means are you expected to answer all of questions I post. Respond to the ones that make you want to answer. What I really want you to do is to respond critically and personally to the course materials and one another. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able.

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at midnight MST. I encourage you to post your original responses earlier than that. Even if you are not ready to post your own original answers to the questions early in the week, I nonetheless encourage you to log in to the course website early on, read your classmates' posts that have posted early, and respond to them. Ideally, participation in online discussions should be completed within the week assigned. Each week, the discussions will start on Monday and last through Sunday night. This allows us all to focus on the same issues at the same time. Being present in an online format requires you to make your presence known. 

FIRST ZOOM MEETING: Monday, March 30 at NOON MST OR 6PM MST

Please add your name below to one of the meeting slots by clicking "Edit" in the upper right-hand corner of the page, typing your name below the desired meeting day/time, and then don't forget to SAVE by clicking at the bottom of the page.

If you are not able to make one of these meetings, please inform me and we will see what works in terms of adding another slot.

Here is my Zoom link for the meetings, which is the same for every meeting: https://zoom.us/j/9491804795. Click on the link at the appointed time.

Monday, March 30 NOON MST

Amelia Romo Olivas

Dennis Saavedra Carquin-Hamichand

Murph

HL Holder-Brown

Monday, March 30 6PM MST

kyndyl Greyland

Sarah Atamia

emily nagle

In the first Zoom meeting, we will discuss your initial sense of the materials from the first weeks of the quarter and introduce ourselves. What do you think constitutes an earth-honoring tradition? Are you associated with what you would consider an earth-honoring tradition or do you have particular earth-honoring individual or collective practices (which may or may not be associated with a tradition of any kind)? 

SECOND ZOOM MEETING Wednesday April 29 at NOON MST OR 6PM MST

Wednesday, April 29 NOON MST

Dennis Saavedra Carquin-Hamichand

Mary Brandt

Murph

Sarah Atamian

HL Holder-Brown

Wednesday, April 29 6PM MST

Kyndyl greyland

Content of Second Zoom meeting TBA

LEARNING AGREEMENT: I will provide written feedback on assignments, but all students will evaluate their own work in the course and assign themselves a grade. The learning agreement is an informal learning contract, a narrative description of your intentions for fulfilling all of the course requirements as they are delineated in the syllabus (see the course requirements page, and the actual written assignment links, for more detailed information on many of these items):

1) General Participation: 

1. Invest in the course by establishing a regular and respectful online presence;
2. Genuinely try to learn the concepts, principles, and material by reading and listening; collaborate in the spirit of learning critically and enthusiastically;
3. Participate in online discussions. Respect other students' preparation by being prepared, having read and watched the assigned materials carefully and thoughtfully;
4. Participate in Zoom meetings;
5. Turn in all assignments in a timely fashion;
6. Communicate with the instructor when you anticipate being unable to participate in discussions, Zoom meetings, or turning in assignments in a timely manner.

2)  Discussion Forums:

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at Midnight MST. Respond critically and personally to the course materials and one another. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able. Being present in an online format requires you to make your presence known. 

3) Zoom Meetings

We will have two different Zoom Meetings during the quarter. They are required.

4) Completing Initial and Final Learning Agreements

5) Practice of Earth-Honoring and Social Justice

6) Introductory Essay, and Poetic Critical Reflection on Earth Honoring and Social Justice

These are two short, personal and critical reflections on yourself and your practices related to earth-honoring and social justice.

7) Final Project/Reflection

By reading the syllabus and course assignments, you should be able to reflect upon what you will do. Describe how you will evaluate what you have done in each of these areas by the end of the course.

I also encourage you to include in your learning contract personal challenge goals around being a student (time management, more insightful participation in online discussions) and reflecting upon what it means to be a person committed to the earth and to social justice. 

This document will essentially serve as a learning agreement between you and me, and with yourself. This learning contract can be as long or as short as you wish in order to communicate your intentions. You may not be completely sure of what you will do for all of your project/reflections, but you can indicate where you are leaning. At the end of this narrative, please tell me what grade you intend to achieve.

By the last day of the quarter, and making reference to the first learning agreement, evaluate in writing how you think did in achieving your stated objectives and goals throughout the quarter, and whether or not you achieved the grade you anticipated. At the end of this reflection, you must give yourself a final grade.

As the instructor, I am responsible for assigning final grades. In almost all cases, I will assign the grade you give yourself. However, if you wildly overrate or underrate your work, we will enter into negotiations about the final grade.

• Each class week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday. I expect that you will communicate with me when you anticipate being unable to participate in discussions, Zoom Meetings, or turning in assignments in a timely manner..
• If either you missed something or need a refresher, any new or updated information on the class can be found in the Announcements section. Otherwise, all of the information on how to navigate the course is provided on the home page of the course, which includes links to all content in the syllabus. The end of the home page syllabus is a chronological list of items that are due. Except for the Zoom meetings, all of your assignments from weekly course materials, to Discussions, to more extensive writing assignments, should show up as due dates in your To-Do list for the course.
• Turn your notifications on.

Communications Policy: I will log on to the classroom most days. The discussion forum is generally the best place to ask most questions. If there is a question about class requirements or other questions that do not fit into a weekly discussion, I encourage you to use the internal Canvas communication system. If you need to contact me on an individual basis, please email me directly and I will try to reply within 24 hours. If you would like to arrange to communicate by Skype, Google, Zoom, or phone, please email me directly to set up an appointment.

If you need technical support for anything related to your laptop or device, how CANVAS works, how to do live video conferencing, you should contact the IT helpdesk at helpdesk@iliff.edu.

Julie Todd, Ph.D.

E-mail: jtodd@iliff.edu

John Wesley Iliff Senior Lecturer in Justice and Peace Studies

Dr. Julie Todd is a scholar-activist living in Lawrence, Massachusetts. She received her Ph.D. in 2012 from University of Denver-Iliff School of Theology Joint Program in Religious and Theological Studies. The title of her dissertation was “Evaluating Violence and (Non)violence: A Critical, Practical Theology of Social Change.” As John Wesley Iliff Senior Lecturer in Justice & Peace Studies, she teaches all of her courses in online and hybrid formats, and primarily teaches courses in the area of justice and peace. Her scholarship focuses on social change theory and praxis, violence and (non)violence, and matters of privilege, oppression and solidarity across axes of difference.

She is a published essayist and poet on matters of justice-seeking and the spiritual life. She released a book of her own personal writings in October of 2019 called 50 thorns & blossoms.

She is a trained herbalist and aromatherapist, working with other healers in Lawrence, MA on collective healing projects. She is the owner of her own business Just Julie, and was recently selected as a finalist for the small business training program Entrepeneurship for All.