Resources

This essay chronicles the academic odyssey of a young professor who sets out to revise the department's Introduction to Religion course only to realize that she must first clarify her vocational commitments before she can create a teachable course. She is convinced through working with many students who express disdain or even hostility toward the subject matter that she wants to model a relationship to the subject matter that says religion matters, but is uncertain how to do this. After an autobiographical foray into her academic upbringing in active learning, the author articulates four values to model in her teaching: personal relevance, academic responsibility, ethics, and community. The author then engages current scholarship in active learning, and narrates the process of translating those four values into concrete course goals and particular assignments. The essay concludes with an assessment of teaching the revised course.

A pervasive, yet under-discussed, problem in religious studies classrooms is the presence of faith crisis. Many students face a type of cognitive dissonance when faced with the critical-analytical approach in the academic study of religion. This essay, in an open and conversational tone, addresses the learning opportunity underlying such crisis moments. The discussion begins with a delimitation of what constitutes the secular university's goals in pedagogy and research. After arguing that a reductive limitation of knowable knowledge construction is to be the focus of the university, the discussion moves to the presence of cognitive stages of development, or liminal rites of passage as analogous for explicating the learning process in which crisis moments emerge. Finally, the discussion concludes with a reflection on the coherence of reductive limitation and collaborative pedagogy.

The paper explores the impact of the change in populations, the impact of electronic communication, and the multiplicity of methodological approaches on the ethos and practices of biblical studies. It proposes a rhetorical emancipatory educational paradigm and explores its possibilities for the professional education of biblical scholars on the doctoral level. Since both college and seminary teachers are shaped in and through their doctoral studies, it is necessary to focus on doctoral education in order to address the growing recognition that the discipline of biblical studies in its present form needs to cultivate transformative intellectuals who are not only at home in the academy but also can critically intervene in the public discourses and uses of the Bible in religious communities, democratic publics, or global inter-religious relations.

Teaching music in certain seminary contexts poses particular challenges for teaching and learning. The theme of disjuncture between teacher and student in courses that aim to incorporate music in the seminary curriculum are more vital than ever before because of the extreme cultural diversity of our population and integral nature of music in the worship life of religious communities. This essay tackles the difficulties associated with teaching worship music in seminaries where there are a plurality of religious traditions represented and a host of expectations held by diverse student bodies about what connotes worship music. Topics addressed include issues concerning terminology, repertoire, pedagogical methods for teaching worship music, and current issues in church music.

International seminarians seeking an education at academic institutions located in the United States often face a host of learning challenges. Seminary faculty that teach in these institutions are often confronted with a need to adjust their teaching methods to facilitate learning by international students. This essay outlines specific strategies to facilitate academic success of international seminarians by offering specific teaching methods for faculty and learning strategies for international students. Topics include training faculty in how to respond to diverse learning styles, expanding learning environments beyond the classroom, methods for enhancing student participation, and development of assignments. Strategies for student success include developing skills in how to improve note taking, critical reading, and writing.

Student assignments and assessment – is there life beyond the ten-page essay? Drawing on the theory of multiple intelligences and experience with an assignment in which students were asked to address course content in anything but an essay, the author considers the challenges and virtues of a creative format that does not rely exclusively on linguistic intelligence. The process, presentations, and evaluative approach employed in an assignment that called upon student creativity in a "Women and the Bible" course are described, and pedagogical and practical considerations explored. The analysis of a particularly memorable student submission reveals layers of complexity seldom achieved in a conventional essay format.

How will we teach the Bible in the twenty-first century? This essay is intended to contribute to that larger discussion in three ways: after a brief introduction, I will, first, state some general working assumptions about the present situation of the church and about teaching the New Testament in the context of a seminary or divinity school; second, I will describe the course "Reading James in Haiti" which I designed and taught in the Spring of 2002; finally, and much more briefly, I will comment on the implications of transformational travel experiences like this one for the ability of seminarians to understand New Testament texts more deeply than the classroom setting allows.

Older, second-career and non-traditional students in seminaries present challenges for theological curricula and teaching in situations where theological study and the actual practice of ministry are no longer sequential but simultaneous. The author proposes a threefold response to these challenges, combining scholarly excellence and compassionate pedagogy with an eye toward seamless integration of study, formation, and life. The axis connecting past and future within this trinity is compassionate pedagogy: an approach to teaching in which passionate mutual participation yields creative contextualizing of academics and practice, guiding students toward a comprehension of their lives and work as the central arena of theological inquiry.

The article explores the distinctiveness of Hispanic or Latino/a persons and implications for teaching practice in theological education. It reports on findings from a workshop for non-Hispanic faculty that was conducted at the Hispanic Summer Program in 1901. The content is broadly defined, and the context and persons of theological education are considered in addressing the particular learning characteristics that can typify Hispanic persons. The work draws upon the pioneering work of Dr. Eldin Villafañe (The Liberating Spirit) who identifies cultural distinctiveness among Hispanic persons in the United States. Suggestions related to each of those characteristics are proposed for teaching practice with the expectation that transformation in practice can foster greater inclusion of Hispanic persons in theological education.

In this essay, I explore "narcissistic pedagogy," a pedagogy that centers disproportionately on the needs of the teacher – especially the need for admiration. I engage psychological discussions of narcissistic patterns, and I retell the ancient myth of Narcissus. The core of narcissistic pedagogy is that the teacher experiences students not as centers of their own activity but as part of the teacher's self. All educational situations are vulnerable to narcissistic dynamics, and I will consider strongly narcissistic pedagogy as well as milder narcissistic dangers. I will, additionally, explore healthy narcissism. I pose "conversational education" as an alternative to narcissistic patterns.