Course syllabus
Welcome to the Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion
- Syllabus (enter the course code RT2714 in the search box)
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Reading List
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You will find information about the Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion on our web site www.lir.gu.se
RT2714 — Tradition, Reflection, and Formation
Course information HT20
Dr Martin Westerholm
Welcome to our course on Tradition, Reflection, and Formation, which concerns fundamental questions regarding what theology is, and how it works. It is great to have you with us to study for part of Fall term 2020. Because of the ongoing public health crisis, this course will take place entirely online. There will be no meetings on campus — I am sorry not to have the chance to meet you all in person!
This course may be taken as part of an international Masters degree program that is offered by the University of Gothenburg. Because it is an international program, English will be the primary language for our course work.
The course is divided into nine working weeks, with particular tasks assigned for each. The schedule and assignments for each week are as follows:
Week 1 (31 August — 6 September) — Introduction
STUDENT TASKS
- Watch the introductory lecture that is posted in the course ’Media Gallery’ on Canvas
- Introduce yourself to your classmates in the course Discussion Forum. Click on ’Discussion’ on the main course Canvas page and post an introduction in the forum labelled ’Introductions’ — a self-introduction of about 200 words would be great! You can, e.g., explain your interest in the course, your background with studying theology, etc. This self-introduction is to be completed by Sunday 6 September
- Begin the reading that is assigned for Week 2 — the reading must be finished, and your first reading response assignment posted, by midnight on Sunday 13 September, so it would be a good idea to get started now!
Week 2 (7-13 September) — Early Christian Thought — Reading
STUDENT TASKS
- Complete the following assigned reading:
Pierre Hadot, Philosophy as a Way of Life, chapters 3, 4, 11.
C. Kavin Rowe, One True Life, Introduction, chapters 4, 6-9.
- Post reading response assignment in the Discussion Forum labelled ’Early Christian Thought’ by midnight on Sunday 13 September. Instructions regarding the reading response assignment are posted below.
Week 3 (14-20 September) — Early Christian Thought — Discussion
STUDENT TASKS
- Engage your classmates in discussion — you are required to make at least five comments or responses to others! Discussion must be completed by midnight on Sunday 20 September.
- I recommend that you also use this week to begin the reading that is assigned for Week 4. Your reading response assignment for week 4 is due by midnight on Sunday 27 September, so it would be a good idea to get started now!
Week 4 (21-27 September) — Patristic and Medieval Thought — Reading
STUDENT TASKS
- Complete the following assigned reading:
Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, book 1 — available here:
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/12021.htm
Augustine, On the Trinity, books 8, 12-14 — follow the links available here:
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1301.htm
Aquinas, Summa Theologica, question 1 — available here:
https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1001.htm
Alasdair MacIntyre, Three Rival Versions of Moral Inquiry, chapters 4-9.
- Post reading response assignment in the Discussion Forum labelled ’Patristic and Medieval Thought’ by midnight on Sunday 27 September. Instructions regarding the reading response assignment are posted below.
Week 5 (28 September — 4 October) — Patristic and Medieval Thought — Discussion
STUDENT TASKS
- Engage your classmates in discussion — you are required to make at least five comments and responses to others! Discussion must be completed by midnight on Sunday 4 October.
- I recommend that you also use this week to begin the reading that is assigned for Week 4. Your reading response assignment for week 6 is due by midnight on Sunday 11 October, so it would be a good idea to get started now!
Week 6 (5-11 October) — Modern Thought — Reading
STUDENT TASKS
- Complete the following assigned reading:
Jennifer Herdt, Forming Humanity, Introduction, chapters 1, 2, 4, Conclusion
Kevin Hector, The Theological Problem of Modernism: Faith and the Conditions of Mineness (2015), Preface, Chapters 1-3. Text available electronically through the university library.
- Post reading response assignment in the Discussion Forum labelled ’Modern Thought’ by midnight on Sunday 11 October. Instructions regarding the reading response assignment are posted below.
Week 7 (12-18 October) — Modern Thought — Discussion
STUDENT TASKS
- Engage your classmates in discussion — you are required to make at least five comments and responses to others! Discussion must be completed by midnight on Sunday 18 October.
- I recommend that you also use this week to begin the reading that is assigned for Week 4. Your reading response assignment for week 8 is due by midnight on Sunday 25 October, so it would be a good idea to get started now!
Week 8 (19-25 October) — Contemporary Thought — Reading
STUDENT TASKS
- Complete the following assigned reading:
Paul Fiddes, Seeing the World and Knowing God: Hebrew Wisdom and Christian Doctrine in a Late-Modern Context (2013), chapters 1, 12. Available electronically through the university library.
Sarah Coakley, God, Sexuality, and the Self: An Essay ’On the Trinity’ (2013), Prelude, chapters 1. Available electronically through the university library.
Graham Ward, How the Light Gets In: Ethical Life I (2016), Chapters 1-4. Available electronically through the university library.
- Post reading response assignment in the Discussion Forum labelled ’Contemporary Thought’ by midnight on Sunday 25 October. Instructions regarding the reading response assignment are posted below.
Week 9 (26 October — 1 November) — Contemporary Thought — Discussion
STUDENT TASKS
- Engage your classmates in discussion — you are required to make at least five comments and responses to others! Discussion must be completed by midnight on Sunday 1 November.
- Complete your final essay, which is also due by midnight on Sunday 1 November. Further information regarding the essay is posted below. I would recommend that you not leave the essay until week 9 — begin early and save yourself stress at the end of the course!
ASSIGNMENT AND ASSESSMENT INFORMATION
Course assessment involves two assignment elements:
(1) Preparation for and participation in class discussions.
Preparation: every student is required to prepare for class discussions by completing assigned readings and writing a 700 word assignment that summarizes key elements from the texts for the week, and raises some questions for discussion. In preparing this assignment, think about what the key points of emphasis for each tradition are, and where contrasts emerge between these points of emphasis.
Participation: every student is required to participate in seminar sessions by engaging in discussion of the text and topic for the week. Seminar discussions are conducted through the discussion forum in that is found on the course's Canvas page. Each student is required to post their 700 word assignment in the discussion forum by midnight on the Sunday before the seminar week begins (so, e.g., the assignment is to be posted by midnight on Sunday 5 April for the text that will be discussed during week 3 of the course). Each student is then required to participate in the seminar by making *at least* five comments engaging with other students. Comments are due before the next seminar begins.
If you are unable to participate in a particular session, email the instructor and arrange an alternate assignment. Seminar participation is graded only with a 'G' or a 'U'. Participation in every seminar is required in order to receive a 'G'.
(2) Final essay. Final essays are due by midnight on Sunday 1 November. Essays are to be submitted through the 'Assignments' (or 'Uppgifter') link on the course Canvas page. They are to be approximately 2000 words, and are to address a topic that is relevant to questions and material covered in the course. Students are welcome to formulate their own essay topics; but they may work with one of the following sample questions if they wish.
- Choose two figures whom we studied and compare their understandings of the relation of theory and practice in the study of theology.
- Explain Augustine’s understanding of the relation of language and love, and critically evaluate the understanding of the relation of theory and practice that it implies.
- Choose one of either Hadot’s or Rowe’s text and one of either Hector’s or Herdt’s work and compare their understandings of intellectual inquiry as a way of life.
- Compare and critically evaluate the accounts of the study of theology that are developed by Sarah Coakley and Graham Ward. Think about which, e.g., you find more persuasive.
- Compare two understandings of how human thinking is shaped by inhabiting traditions that we encountered in the course (Rowe and Hector, e.g., give quite different accounts of how human beings inhabit their traditions).
Course summary:
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