George Fox Evangelical Seminary

Catalog Description

An interactive course that engages students in three online venues: emails, discussion postings on FoxTALE and real-time connectivity via technology that allows for synchronous interaction. An interactive course in which students explore how, specifically, their cross-cultural experiences will impact their practice of leadership in their particular ministry context. Students will also be challenged to consider how they might modify their action plan developed in Module Two to incorporate these new insights.

A Note to Students with Disabilities

If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accommodations, please let Chuck Conniry or Loren Kerns know early in the semester so that your learning needs may be appropriately met.  You will need to provide current documentation of your disability to Disability Services.  For more information, contact Rick Muthiah, Director of Disability Services (ext. 2314 or rmuthiah@georgefox.edu), or go to www.ds.georgefox.edu.

Methods

As a result of this course students will:

1. Read materials assigned by Len Sweet.
2. Discuss the assigned reading materials in the FoxTALE discussion area:
   1. A specific forum will be created for each week's discussion.
   2. Students are to initiate discussion topics or questions based on their reflections concerning the week's assigned reading
   3. Student discussions are to be self-organizing.
   4. Len Sweet will seldom intrude upon student discussions. Nevertheless, he does read student postings.
3. Participate in the synchronous chat conversations.
   1. Students are expected to attend and participate in all synchronous chat conversations.
   2. Len Sweet, Loren Kerns, and Chuck Conniry are to be notified if one is unable to attend.
   3. See the the assignment schedule for dates and times.
4. When appointed in the assignment schedule, write an abstract of a weekly synchronous chat conversation.
   1. Students are to sum up the key ideas in the chat conversation in an organized fashion
   2. Students will then email the abstract to Loren Kerns and he will post it in the Archive.

Reading

The following texts are assigned for the module:

• Bauckham, Richard. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2006.
• Berger, Arthur Asa. Signs in Contemporary Culture: An Introduction to Semiotics. 2nd ed. Salem, WI: Sheffield Publishers, 1999.
• Browning, Tod, Irving G. Thalberg, Willis Gordon Leon Goldbeck, Al Boasberg, Edgar Allan Ford Wallace Woolf, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates, Tod Robbins, and Spurs. Freaks. Videorecording (vid); DVD video (dvv); Videodisc (vdc). [United States]: Turner Entertainment Co. Burbank, CA: Distributed by Warner Home Video, 2004.
• Ehrenreich, Barbara. Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy. 1st ed. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2007.
• Heath, Chip, and Dan Heath. Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 2007.
• Martin, Regis. Garlands of Grace: An Anthology of Great Christian Poetry. San Francisco, CA: Ignatius Press, 2001.
• Taleb, Nassim. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 2007.
• Valente, Judith, and Charles Reynard. Twenty Poems to Nourish Your Soul. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2006.

Documentation

All papers in the program will be evaluated for form and style based on:

• Strunk, William and White, E.B. The Elements of Style. 4th ed. New York: Macmillan, 1979.
• Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. 7th ed. Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Requirements

I am assigning no written or multi-media projects for this semester, only extensive readings with the expectation that your online contributions will be significant—-the functional equivalent of a “paper.” The quality of your participation in the conversation will be the basis for your grade.

The course requirements include the following:

• Read all assigned reading materials.
• Make consistent and substantive contributions to the online discussions.
• Attend and participate in all synchronous chat conversations.
• When appointed, write up an abstract for a synchronous chat conversation.

Evaluation