|
|
||
| hope college > academic departments > gen ed |
|
Senior Seminar Course Descriptions, Spring 2010 EDUCATION COURSES This seminar asks you to examine your own complex and arduous search for the moral high ground. Our discussions will be framed by the seminar’s on-going concern with search, struggle, sacrifice and service. The course readings will be varied and will include works by the novelist Walker Percey and the moralist and child psychiatrist Robert Coles, as well as the libretto from “Les Miserables.” IDS452-02A – Education and Christian Ways of Living Dianne Portfleet (Meets first 5 weeks of semester only. For Education Majors in Professional Semester.) An examination of how Christians think they ought to live, how and why they think they ought to live that way, and how Christian ways of living can and should affect teachers, teaching and learning. Special attention is given to the influence teachers have on the values of their students.
IDS452-03A – Education and Christian Ways of Living C. Baars Bultman See description listed above. IDS452-04A – Education and Christian Ways of Living Lynn Japinga See Hope catalog under “Interdisciplinary Studies” under IDS 431. OTHER COURSES IDS 402-01 – Crossing Borders Sander deHaan See Hope catalog under “Interdisciplinary Studies” under IDS 402. IDS 442-01 – Pondering the Big Questions Timothy Pennings See Hope catalog under “Interdisciplinary Studies”. IDS457-01 – Christian Thought and Spiritual Life Anthony Perovich See Hope catalog under “Interdisciplinary Studies”. IDS 467-01 – God, Earth, Ethics Steven Bouma-Prediger See Hope catalog under “Interdisciplinary Studies”. IDS 495-01 – Call of the Wild Wayne Brouwer In Jack London's famous novel, The Call of the Wild, the main character Buck, a dog, has to hear the true call of the powers in his world in order to find his ultimate identity and vocation (becoming, essentially, like a wolf in the wilds of Alaska). All of us want to hear the call of vocation, but we find many competing voices, and are often stymied in our attempts to hear clearly or interpret appropriately. During this course we will read the spiritual autobiographies of people who have listened and discerned well, and try to gain from them tools for hearing the voice of conscience or society or values or inner testimonies or God as we make our way into the next phase of our lives. We will reflect on these themes together, in a systematic review of our own life stories, and write chapters of a spiritual autobiography with the intent of, as T.S. Eliot said, returning to ourselves after a long journey, and knowing the place again for the first time. IDS495-02 – Decoding Pluralism Donald Luidens Perhaps at no other time in human experience has religion been in greater flux than during this twenty-first century. In a way unprecedented in human experience, we have come face-to-face with the religious "other," and we are not always equipped to deal with that reality. This course will draw on writings by Harvey Cox, Peter Gomes, and Dan Brown to think through how we "world citizens" can come to terms with the pervasive pluralism of our age. IDS 495-03 – Writing Everyday Sacred Elizabeth Trembley When it comes to the spiritual, are you more interested in mystery than in answers? Have you known those mysteries to occur in the concrete events of your own life, moments when you sensed a divine presence blowing through you like a sharp but enlivening wind? Are you interested in messing around with words, stories and ideas to capture this experience of the sacred and share it with others? This course explores creative writing and the sacred in everyday life. We'll explore writing as a spiritual practice, as a way to engage with the wonder-full sacred in the everyday, every day, on the page. And we'll practice writing in ways that bring the sacred alive for readers. Through fiction, poetry, memoir and essay we'll explore: who are we? where are we going? how should we act along the way? and ultimately, why are we here? It will be a chance for all of us to articulate our ways of being and our value commitments and to honor the differences people affirm and live by, all considered in the context of Christianity. No previous creative writing courses are required, just a willingness to honor a first-person approach to the sacred through creative writing. This approach grows from each person's sharing of stories, histories and imaginings. It transforms conversations about values and life views because it is so different from talking about doctrine and conclusions. The life view paper will be a multi-genre collection developed and revised throughout the course. Lots of reading, lots of writing, lots of mystery. "Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves . . . Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer." Rilke IDS 495-04 – How Much is Enough? Kim Hawtrey We live in a society where consumerism exerts a powerful effect. Are we defined by what we own? How can we nurture a different kind of life? In this seminar we explore the connection between material goals and our worldview. We will engage with manuscripts and memoirs that help us discern the times we live in, and our own impulses. We will reflect on the meaning of contentment, learning from spiritual classics by those who have wrestled with this question before us. These explorations will serve as a framework for the reflective essay that students will write, and for life beyond College. IDS 495-05 – Family, Faith and Calling Eva Folkert During the past four years, you have prepared yourself for a career with a Hope College education. Coursework in your major has helped you to reason, rationalize, and formulate knowledge for a chosen line of work. But how have you prepared yourself for “a life,” all of life, not just work? Have you given as much thought to your life as a spouse, parent, friend, and community member as you have to becoming an employee? Now is the time to think about these matters before you are actually living them! Will you marry or remain single? Will you be a parent? If so, will you stay at home or reenter the workforce? What unique challenges do you face as a parent worker? How will you know if a place of employment supports your views on family, faith, and calling? But, ultimately how will you discern God’s call in each new phase of your life – single, married, gainfully employed, switching careers, working parent, supportive friend – ever trying to live the life you imagined? This course will explore the intricate relationships and balancing acts between family and work, faith and calling, job and vocation. By applying the Christian ways of understanding stewardship, service, family dynamic, and calling, students will come to recognize and articulate their own personal values and convictions in their responsibilities to God, family, and employer. Through assigned readings, films, op-ed reaction pieces, a life view paper, responsive journal entries, and contributions to class discussion, students will form reasoned positions on a variety of issues relating to family, faith, and calling in contemporary American society. IDS 495-06 – Bringing Hope to our World Steve Smith Bringing Hope to our World is a senior seminar centered on the writings of two different authors, Ronald Sider (Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger) and John Schneider (The Good of Affluence). One is based on the premise of how can we live in affluence in the West as rich Christians while the world is starving. The other is how can we not appreciate the affluence we have and we should enjoy it as a gift from God. We will explore both books and discuss the content. We will also focus on how can we make a difference in God's kingdom regardless of our chosen careers. The case will be made that bringing hope to the poor and marginalized in our world is not just for social workers and missionaries but for all of us. The format of the course includes discussion, presentation and guest speakers. IDS 495-07 – Faith and Friction in Literature Stephen Hemenway With Kafkaesque craftiness, I have metamorphosed two previous seminar topics--“Faith and Friction in Fiction” and “Faith and Friction in Nonfiction”--into a single course that explores many genres: novels, memoirs, short stories, films, dramas, poems, and biographies. Scary “F” words--fate, failure, foolishness, fear, and friction--meet sacred “F” words--faith, family, friendship, freedom, forgiveness--in this seminar. Students of every belief and disbelief are welcome to examine issues of dogma and doubt, grace and good works, suffering and salvation, relativism and reconciliation. Many writers echo Christian perspectives, but some open doors into the riches of world religions. For every assumption, another challenge appears; for every answer, another question surfaces. Among the writers currently in the list of finalists are Edward Albee, Mitch Albom, Frederick Buechner, Dorothy Day, Emily Dickinson, Mahatma Gandhi, Hope College's Rhoda Janzen, Anne Lamott, Donald Miller, Hope College's David Myers, Barack Obama, Mary Doria Russell, and Philip Yancey. IDS 495-08 – Life is a Journey Michelle Bombe What does it mean to travel a fulfilling intellectual, spiritual, and physical path and how do you find it? How do you handle the curves, roadblock, or detours on your trip? How do you cultivate the habits and practices such as reflection, curiosity, being present, and mindfulness best help you lead a life of purpose? How can you be open to the opportunities that present themselves on your journey? What have been the significant events in your life that have shaped you and brought you to the place you are now? What clues do they offer for the journey ahead? Who are your heroes? How does your faith intersect with your career path? What do you believe? What are your values and core beliefs and how do they fit with the road you want to travel? How do you create balance in your life? IDS 496-09 – Building the Bridge Steve VanderVeen We’re about to embark on a journey to a place we’ve never been before. So what happens next? What will we do? Who will we be? If we’ve been educated for a life of leadership and service in the context of the historic Christian faith (Hope College’s mission), how will we lead and serve? What can we learn from those who have gone before us? In short, we are all asked, throughout our lives, to build a bridge (into our future) as we walk across it. This course will give us tools to explore the role Christianity might have in building that bridge. IDS 495-10 – Routes and Roots - Travel, Writing, and Hope in the New Millennium Jesus Montano Travel. Journey. Faith. Why is it that the farther we venture afar the deeper we go into the recesses of our hearts? Footsteps on the beach, on the desert floor, or slowly winding their way up a creek in the mountains. Why is it that the farther we venture afar the more we discover that we are following those who came before? The road of the vagabond, the highway of tomorrow and tomorrow, or the spiritual journey of the mystic, leading to paradise or to nothing. Why is it that the farther we venture afar the more we come to realize that the path on earthen ground and the path on ethereal heaven are one and the same, interlocked and intertwined because flesh-bound spirit-carriers must walk on earth and in heaven? Home. Home. Home. Why is it that the farther we venture afar we always return home, even if we do not know exactly what home is, especially now after our venture? This is a course on creative writing, photography, and travel. This course is about local and global concerns, about the creative powers of literature and the restorative powers of the imagination, about the need to wander far on routes both lonely and well traveled and the need to dig roots deep into the dark ground, and about Today and Tomorrow. Take this course if you want to discuss travel, writing, and Hope in the new millennium. IDS 495-11 – Vocation and Health Care Steve Hoogerwerf This course is designed to explore what it means to think about the meaning of vocation (from the Latin vocare, to call) especially in the context of health care. Using the concept of vocation suggests several questions that might be addressed: What would it mean to be "called" as a care-giver or healer? How would health care be different if one approached it as a vocation than if one considered it simply a career? How does theology, spirituality and ethics become an integral part of the vocation to care for those who are sick? If do not expect to be working in health care, similar questions can be posed within the context of your own life and work. In fact, I encourage you to frame some of your own questions and share them with me early in the course. When we consider our vocations or callings, we do not only think about jobs. Our life is more than our work, and our sense of calling can (and I think ought to) inform all of life: our relationships, leisure, citizenship, use of natural resources, and our service to the wider communities we live in. So, while we will often talk about vocation in the context of health care, we can and should expand our considerations to the whole of our lives. The way we frame our questions and answers will unavoidably draw on the religious or philosophical perspectives we bring, so our topic is inescapably concerned with our worldviews. Throughout the course it is my intention that our class provide a safe and nurturing context in which each student can explore, clarify, verbalize, and question his or her worldview. As the course draws to a close, students will be invited to formulate their answers to these and other questions as they work toward completing their life view paper and presentation. A variety of readings, video presentations, classroom guests and creative learning activities will provide the basis for our semester-long conversation. IDS 495-12 – Ethical Issues in Sport Dean Kreps R 6:00-8:60 p.m. DeVos 2A07 |
|||