Institute for Christian
Teaching
Education Department of
Seventh-day Adventists
Integration of Faith and
Learning through Curricular Design:
Interdisciplinary, Team-taught
General Education
By
Adeny Schmidt, Ph.D.
La Sierra University
Riverside, California,
U.S.A.
341-98 Institute for
Christian Teaching
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904 USA
Prepared for the
22 d International Faith and
Learning Seminar
held at Seminar Scholoss
Bogenhofen
Austria - August 1998
Introduction
In its more than one
hundred-year history, Adventist education has struggled to articulate what is
means to be an "Adventist" college or university. While Ellen White
devoted much of her counsel to education, summarized in her book Education, her concepts of centrality of
the Bible, benefit of manual labor and importance of character have often been
in tension with the church's desire for recognition and accreditation (Bull and
Lockhardt, 1989). Since the church is unwilling to reduce its expectations of
accreditation and recognized prestige, the "blueprint" of Adventist
education is often ignored. As a result, more often then not, we are unable to
clearly articulate what we mean by "Adventist" education.
Nevertheless, we continue to
strive for the unique combination that we call "Adventist Education".
We preach about it, we sacrifice for it, we worry about it, but we do not often
know what it is. When pressed, we generally talk about required religion
classes, participation in religious services (i.e. chapels, spiritual emphasis
weeks), lifestyle expectations, Adventist faculty and a high percentage of
Adventist students.
This paper focuses on an
aspect of Adventist education that is common to all colleges and universities:
religious instruction. It begins by reviewing the models used for religious
instruction and nurturance in the general education curriculum. It then
examines the questions and options that institutions must consider in reviewing
how religion is expressed in the formal curriculum. Subsequently, it argues for
an integrated curricular model that is interdisciplinary and team-taught.
Finally, it explores the first steps of curricular reform. In addition, the
appendices will include an example of the steps explored in this paper when
developing this type of curriculum.
Institutional Mission in the
Formal Curriculum
In the last fifteen years
accrediting agencies in the United States have begun asking three questions
that we should have been asking ourselves all along. These are: (1) "What are
we trying to accomplish?" (2) "How are we accomplishing it?" and
(3) "How do we know we have accomplished it? These questions lead to
institutional activities that will include (1) reexamining the mission
statement, (2) reconsidering the curriculum, including its implementation, and
(3) assessing institutional effectiveness.
While most colleges and
universities have mission statements describing goals and purposes, reading the
mission statement does not usually tell parents or students what to expect.
Mission statements must develop into institutional goals and specific
objectives. Objectives, in turn, should be articulated into institutional
activities.
Assuming that religious
instruction and spiritual development are some of the primary objectives of
religious institutions, it would follow that every Adventist college or
university should identify where this objective is being met. Table I
summarizes the institutional effectiveness model that begins with the mission
and ends with outcomes and includes assessment that loops back to lead into
reform.
Table 1
Institutional Effectiveness
Model
|
Effectiveness Loop |
|
Examples |
|
Mission Statement And Institutional Goals |
"…. Preparing students for a life of service…" |
|
|
Specific Objectives |
"…. Every student will experience and reflect on
service…" |
|
|
Institutional
Activities |
-Required class on volunteerism -Community service day |
|
|
Assessment of
Outcomes |
-Review of student and alumni service |
Although it can be argued
that everything the institution does is part of the curriculum
(Korniejczuk, 1998), with the notable exception of a few required religion
courses, carrying out the "Adventist Education" mission has been left
to the hidden curriculum (i.e. role models, institutional ethos), the informal
curriculum (i.e. chapels, spiritual emphasis weeks, student missions) and to
the efforts of faculty members who in various ways and with varying success
express their personal faith in individual classes.
However, ultimately, what a
university or college is "really about" can be seen most clearly in
the formal curriculum through requirements made of all students, in the details
of its various programs of study and in the manner in which the faculty deliver
them. Unfortunately, for the most part, Adventist colleges and universities
have missed the opportunity to develop unique, integrated programs of study
designed to maximize the religious training and nurture of students.
It does not have to be so.
Christian institutions have articulated their religious purposes through the
formal curriculum in a variety of ways. While there are almost as many ways of
accomplishing a Christian institution's mission of religious instruction and
nurture as there are institutions, these fall into five general models.
Models of Curricular Design
for Religious Instruction and Nurturance
1.
Required Religion Courses: Most Christian institutions (and certainly Adventist
ones) require that a set of courses in religion be taken concurrently with the
major. In the United States, these courses constitute part of the general
education requirement. The number and nature of the courses varies across
institutions with as many as one every quarter or semester of enrollment to one
per year and from basic Bible study to History of Religion and Religious and
Professional Ethics. Some colleges clearly require certain courses (i.e. Bible
Doctrines) while others leave a great deal of choice to students.
2.
Religion as a formal program of study for all students: A few Christian institutions
require their students to complete a formal course of studies leading to a
minor, another major or even a separate degree. For example, the doctorates in
Psychology at Biola University and Fuller Theological Seminary require a
concurrent masters in Religion.
3.
Integrated Majors: A few institutions have attempted coordinated programs in which
religion is integrated within the major. While small, one of the best known and
documented is the Integrated Studies degree in the Paracollege at St. Olaf
College.
4.
Capstone Experience : Some institutions, primarily small colleges,
require that students complete a capstone course or experience in their Senior
year integrating their discipline and their faith. La Sierra University has
done this for more than twenty years.
5.
Integrated General Education: A small number of institutions have used the general
education curriculum required of all students to integrate religion throughout
the four years of the academic experience. While these programs vary in the
format and delivery of the curriculum, they all attempt to provide a
coordinated program that incorporates religion into other disciplines of the
curriculum rather than leaving it as independent religion courses.
General Education: the Great Opportunity for Curricular Integration
In recent years educators
have argued for a redefinition of the purpose of general education. They have
questioned the current distribution practices, which leave a great deal of
choice to students within some general areas (Miller, 1988). A report issued by
the American Colleges Committee's Project in "Redefining the Meaning and
Purpose of Baccalaureate Degrees" calls for a coherent structure and is
summed up as follows:
"Our message to administrators and professors alike is that the curriculum requires structure, a framework sturdier than simply a major and general distribution requirements and more reliable than student interest... We do not believe that the road to a coherent undergraduate education can be constructed from a set of required subjects or academic disciplines". (P. 18)
A number of institutions
have responded to this 1985 challenge by reducing the number of choices
students have. Many of them have developed a coherent curriculum with a central
topic around which courses and activities congregate. For example, the Hartford
University program seeks to place learning in a contextual frame that unites
knowledge and human experience. Bradford College seeks to link liberal and
professional education with the world of work. At Alaska Pacific University,
the general education core is structured around four basic of life's
environments: natural environment, social environment, individual environment,
and spiritual environment. For St. Joseph's College the ultimate goal is a
personal synthesis of what it means to be a human and a Christian in this world
(Klein, 1990).
Our Adventist perspective
provides many themes around which the courses and activities can congregate.
Beth Casey (1994) notes this when she comments that "often, a particular
religious affiliation in a liberal arts college will suggest fruitful ways of
building toward an ethically focused, socially responsible liberal education"
(p. 59). The closer the unifying theme is tied to the mission, the easier it is
to recruit faculty to teach in the program, the more possible a satisfactory
and supportive program assessment becomes and the easier it is to explain it to
trustees, parents and students.
Several Adventist unifying
themes come to mind, such as, "Created in the Image of God", "In
His footsteps", "Human and Christian in His World", "Being
Human: the Living Temple of God". As Adventist institutions we have a
unique purpose to fulfill. A thoughtful, integrated, purposeful general
education curriculum provides us the means to do so.
Development of an Integrated
Curriculum: Considerations and Procedures
In most universities the
process of curricular design is fraught with problems. These range from faculty
members arguing that if students are not expected to take a class in their
discipline they cannot possibly be educated individuals, to turf battles
between departments or schools stemming from fears of cuts. The process can
flounder at any time or it can make what started as an outstanding and
innovative program little less than a collection of compromises.
In order to avoid the
pitfalls, two questions must be asked continuously. First, What do we want our
students to learn, do, embrace or experience? or What do we want them to "look
like" at the end? And second, How do students learn best?, What type of
delivery system will enhance their learning?, or How should we teach?
Table 2 summarizes the steps
of curricular reform. Although a careful review of the complete process would
be valuable, the scope of this paper does not allow it therefore, only the
first few steps will be discussed.
The
first question requires that we develop a clear set of objectives. These
objectives must flow from the mission statement. While each institution must
establish these on its own, starting with the mission statement, I submit that
some overarching Adventist religious nurture assumptions are common to all
institutions. These are:[1]
1.
A wholistic approach to all life, based on the
Adventist conviction of a single integrated truth, leads to "the
harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers"
(White, 1903, p. 13).
2.
Religion is a pervasive influence throughout the
various subject matters rather than a discrete educational component.
"The religion of the Bible is not to be confined between the covers of a book, nor within the walls of a church. ... Bible religion is not one influence among many others; its influence is to be supreme, pervading and controlling every other. It is not to be like a dash of color brushed here and there upon the canvas, but it is to pervade the whole life, as if the canvas were dipped into the color, until every thread of the fabric were dyed a deep, unfading hue" (White, 1898, pp 307; 312).
3.
A college or university should optimize the
likelihood that students will develop a Christian worldview that will become
the fabric of their existence (Sire, 1990).
From
these assumptions and others developed by the institution, clear objectives for
religious instruction and nurture need to be developed (See Appendix A for a
sample from an Adventist University).
The
second question, "How do students learn?" is crucial and should
inform the way in which we teach. Only recently have we seen a change in focus
from faculty teaching to student learning.[2]
Though much can be said on this topic, a few points relevant to the development
of a general education curriculum are especially relevant to curricular
development.
Early
work by Dewey and Piaget and more recent work by Perry point to the importance
of (1) reciprocal relationships between knowledge (cognition) and experience
(application) and (2) the significance of multiple perspectives for cognitive
growth and maturity. In addition to these two, the value of collaborative
learning is gaining attention in higher education.
Once
these two questions have been carefully answered we are ready to begin thinking
about what to teach and how to do it. That is, we will begin curriculum design.
General
education reform on campuses is usually a very long and laborious process in
which faculty spends countless hours trying to decide what students should know
(see account by Guy and Schoepflin, 1996). Unfortunately, more often than not,
innovative programs focusing on the institutional mission fall to the pressures of
conservatism and campus turf battles. It is therefore of utmost importance that
in the third step, the actual development of the curriculum, we continuously
keep in mind the objectives as well as the way in which students learn.
Integration Goals: Integrated Programs
Traditional curricular design
and delivery systems of general education do not easily lend themselves to
integration objectives. Scholars have recognized the problem of disciplinary
divisions. Rather than providing a sampling of what the disciplines do, general
education should expect the disciplines to lead our students in deeply
reflective study of the central issues of our existence.
Institutions of higher
education are recognizing this reality. Jerry Gaff (1988) in a presentation to
the Asherville Institute on General Education listed sixteen characteristics of
the current "curriculum reform movement". Central among these was a
tighter curriculum structure (away from distribution requirements), and the
integration of knowledge and moral reflection where "institutions are
reemphasizing values through the studies of professional ethics, social
problems, and the implications of new developments in science and technology"
(p. 4). Charles White (1994) reporting on comprehensive reform at Portland
State University, a leader in general education reform, states "we finally
concluded that we could not state with conviction that the current distribution
requirements are meaningful... we found that our current approach does little
to engage students actively in their educations" (p. 169).
We must also conclude that
while a distributive model of general education in which individual faculty
teach discrete courses along disciplinary lines and students have a great deal
of choice may be satisfying to faculty and students, it is not the best model to
achieve curricular integration of faith and learning. What some have called "cafeteria
style" curriculum leaves students on their own to find connections,
evaluate disparities and develop a worldview. Our purposes are too important to
be left to chance connections made by students and while they will necessarily
differ from secular institutions, the methodologies to accomplish them in the
formal curriculum are the same. In order to maximize student integration, a
coherent, integrated curriculum, one that crosses disciplinary lines, should be
developed.
Why should we consider such
a radical departure from traditional instruction? If we shift from presenting
students an overview, a sprinkling if you please, of the academic disciplines
to a purposeful curriculum centered in deep reflection of the human condition
and our relationship to God and each other, a new methodology will be needed.
Furthermore, if we consider that students fundamentally learn by making
connections, we will need to develop a curriculum that (1) is focused around a
theme, (2) engages students in considering their relationship to God and each
other and (3) uses the disciplines as methodologies and samples of information
in the pursuit of answers. Such a curriculum must by its very definition be
interdisciplinary and is best delivered through team teaching.
Interdisciplinary Programs and Team Teaching: a Model for Integration
Although interdisciplinarity and team teaching often occur conjointly
(interdisciplinary courses are often team taught and team-teaching commonly
provides an interdisciplinary perspective), the two are not the same and
deserve individual attention. Let us expand the definitions and considerations
of each.
Why should the curriculum
be interdisciplinary?
The dictionary defines "interdisciplinary"
as "combining or involving two or more academic disciplines or fields of
study." Why should we choose to combine two or more disciplines in our
attempt to reach integration of faith and learning in the formal curriculum?
The following is a partial list of reasons:
1.
If
we accept that there is a single integrated truth and that the disciplines are
discrete subjects with their own focus of study and lens (methodology), the
view from more than one discipline using different lenses will better
approximate truth.
2.
If
we are preparing students to encounter life issues, we must confront these
issues with them. Disciplinary specialization tends to ignore or downplay
broader issues and holistic perspectives. James Davis (1995) notes: "at
their worst, the disciplines can be reductionistic, seeing the whole world
through their own lens; more likely, they simply ignore the phenomena that
exist outside their purview, leaving them to other specialists" (p. 37).
3.
An
interdisciplinary curriculum will destabilize methodology and place it in its
true position, as a tool rather than an end in itself.
4.
In
the specific case of religious education, an interdisciplinary approach will
take religion "out of the box" of religion classes and into the real
world of the student's interest. It will provide the opportunity for religious
application to contemporary issues.
5.
When
at least two disciplines examine the subject matter, learning will be enhanced
by the comparison and contrast.
6.
Conflict
arising from disparate perspectives can enhance critical thinking and induce
the disequilibrium necessary to foster cognitive development (Hursh, Hass and
More, 1983).
Why should it be team-taught?
While an interdisciplinary
goal does not require that courses be taught by at least two faculty, team-taught
classes[3]
significantly contribute to the integration we expect our students to achieve.
The nature of a team-taught class provides significant advantages to students
and faculty. Here are a few:
1.
The
interdisciplinary nature of the course (two bodies of knowledge and two
methodologies) becomes salient when these points are made by two different
faculty members.
2.
The
professional respect that the teachers give each other is a powerful model of
decentrism for students and a model for how professionals treat each other in
the real world.
3.
The
honesty of discussion between faculty members who may disagree demythologises
them and their disciplines in the eyes of students.
4.
Team
taught courses are a safeguard against delusions of mastery in faculty, or as
Parker Palmer (1993) has put it,
"when faculty are required to teach in fields
outside their own, as in the undergraduate 'common course',... , they can no
longer lecture ex cathedra. Now they
must listen carefully to a subject whose voice they are hearing for the first
time, and to students who may have more insight into the subject than they
themselves. Under these conditions, teachers are compelled to learn consensual
methods of teaching and learning, of seeking and being sought by truth. Under
these conditions, the spiritual virtues are not only encouraged but required
for survival" (p. 114 and 115).
5.
Team-taught
courses require faculty to engage with other faculty in reflection on teaching
and integration of faith and learning.
While the arguments in favor
of interdisciplinary team-teaching are strong, this type of curriculum is not
without its problems. Among these are faculty resistance to team-teaching and
the pedagogical difficulties associated with this type of teaching as well as
students complaints about the reduction in freedom and the perceived increased
difficulty in the classes. For a careful review of all the issues read Interdisciplinary Courses and Team Teaching
by James Davis.
Curricular Reform as a Means to Integrate Faith and Learning:
Conclusions
Because of time and space
this paper has focused on what I consider the fundamental aspects of
integrating religious training and nurture into the formal curriculum. We must
clearly keep in mind that (1) religious instruction and nurture is only one of
the many goals that the curriculum, including general education, must
accomplish and (2) this paper has only addressed a portion of the process (see
Table 2). Critical steps have not been developed and the nature of the product
has not been presented. Appendix B includes a sample core curriculum, the one
developed at La Sierra University.
General education reform is
often a difficult process. There are many steps and the process can falter at
any one of these. But the outcome is worth the effort because it provides
Adventist colleges and universities the mechanisms to build our mission into
the very fabric of an academic institution, its program of studies. It allows
us to make spirituality the "thread that ought to weave a pattern of
meaning into the total learning experience" (McGrath, 1974, p. 2), the
place were we most clearly articulate what "we stand for" in the
contemporary world of higher education.
Is it worth it? I believe so
and so do others. In 1995, when La Sierra University trustees voted the current
general education multidisciplinary, team-taught program the comments from two
of them made worth the effort. They said: "If there had been this kind of
program a few years ago, my children might have gone to an Adventist college"
and "Now I can tell people what this University is really about".
Note: I am deeply indebted to the General
Education Committee and the School of Religion at La Sierra University for
developing some of the key concepts used in this paper as they have struggled
with these issues in the process of curriculum reform.
References
Bull, M. and Lockhart, K.
(1989). Seeking a Sanctuary, Seventh-day
Adventism & the American Dream. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Casey, B. A. (1994). "The
Administration and Governance of Interdisciplinary Programs" in Interdisciplinary Studies Today, Thompson
Klein, J. and Doty, W. G., eds. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no.
58, Summer 1994, Jossey-Bass.
Davis, J. R. (1995). Interdisciplinary Courses and Team Teaching.
American Council on Education Series on Higher Education, Orix Press.
Gaff, J.G. (1998). "Handout
on Curriculum Trends." Presentation to The Asherville Institute on General
Education, University of North Carolina, June, 1998.
Guy, F. and Schoepflin, R.
(1996). "Re-visioning General Education: The La Sierra Experience," The Journal of Adventist Education. 5 8,
April/May, (pp. 4-9)
Hursh, B., Haas, P. and
Moore, M. (1983). "An Interdisciplinary Model to Implement General
Education," Journal of Higher
Education, Vol 54, No. 1, (pp 42 - 59).
"Integrity in the
College Curriculum: A Report to the Academic Community" (1985). Report by
the American Colleges Committee's Project on Redefining the Meaning and Purpose
of Baccalaureate Degrees.
Klein, J. T. (1990) Interdisciplinarity: History, Theory and
Practice. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Kornicjczuk, R. (1988). "The
Integration of Faith and Learning: Theory and Practice". Presentation to
the 22" Faith and Learning Seminar, Department of Education of General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Bogenhofen, Austria.
McGarth, E. J. (1974,
October). "Careers, values, and general education." Liberal Education, 15, (3), 19-22.
Palmer, P. J. (1983). To Know As We Are Known. San Francisco:
Harper.
Sire, J. W. (1973). Discipleship of the Mind Downers Grove,
Illinois: InterVarsity Press.
White, C. R. (1994). "A
Model for Comprehensive Reform in General Education: Portland State University".
The Journal of General Education, Vol 43,
No. 3, (pp. 196-229).
White, E. G. (1903). Education, Boise, Idaho: Pacific Press.
White, E. G. (1898). Desire of Ages, Boise, Idaho: Pacific
Press.
Appendix A
The Role of Religion in the Curriculum
I
A. The University's
Mission. As a community of learning and faith, La Sierra University seeks
to instill in its students an inclusive, integrated vision of reality that
translates into moral principles, ethical living, and devoted service to fellow
humans.
B. University and Church.
La Sierra University participates fully in the symbiosis of church and
academe by combining in a single institution the activities normally associated
with higher education and the commitments characteristic of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church. The ingredients of this combination consist of people -
students, teachers and others - with religious convictions, a perspective on
education identified as wholistic and comprehensive, and an educational product
characterized by mission and service.
This combination of
university activities and church concerns accounts not only for the general
commitment to service but extends to other matters as well. For example, the
university offers the church a unique window upon the world. Through this
window the church may view the world with eyes trained to quantify, analyze and
synthesize, as it moves out into the world with the gospel and works of love.
Moreover, the university
offers the church a leading arena in which to do its thinking. In this setting,
the church does not control thinking by means of creeds or dogmas, no does the
university attempt to think in defiance of or in opposition to church
convictions. Rather the two are integrated in such a way that Christian faith
submits itself to thinking, and the truth opens itself up to the perspective of
religious belief. Here lies the goal of the Christian university:
comprehensive, wholistic, values-oriented.
In striving toward that
goal, the university provides an environment that fosters learning, growth in
knowledge, spiritual maturation. As a total environment, the university context
makes both curricular and co-curricular provision for such
development.
C. The faculty. All
teachers at La Sierra University are expected to express the religious values
and spiritual principles of the university through their respective courses and
personal interaction with students. In addition, special responsibility for
providing direct religious instruction falls upon the faculty of the School of
Religion. That responsibility is serious and complex, calling for constant
attention to the following: (1) close formal collaboration between the religion
faculty and their colleagues in other schools of the university; (2)
integration of the religion faculty in the delivery of general education
courses, in ways that make clear to the student the potential for a faith that
takes full cognizance of issues and perspectives of other disciplines; (3)
religion faculty who, along with their commitment to the general education
tasks are also qualified for and committed to the more specialized teaching
within the religious disciplines; (4) ongoing faculty development programs
designed to acquaint religion and other faculty members with the relationships
between religion and other fields, and to enhance their abilities in team-teaching
integrative courses; (5) the expected contribution of the religion faculty to
the religious profile of the university and to spiritual leadership in its
educational work.
D. The curricular
provisions. Undergraduate religion courses in the university maintain a
distinction between those which offer the specialized knowledge specific to the
religious studies major, the pre-ministerial preparation, and the general
education offerings for all students. While this reflects the seriousness with
which the academic discipline of religious studies is engaged on this campus,
all religion courses, including those in the general education curriculum, must
retain educational and academic integrity. Accordingly, students must be led in
those courses as to the generally accepted Adventist understandings of religion
- its presuppositions, methods, conclusions, and applications. Care is taken to
insure that religion course content and perspectives will not be dominated by
private or idiosyncratic presuppositions or methods of study. All religion
courses are to be theologically sound, as determined by the respective branches
of religious studies, and by the unique perspectives of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church.
II. The Place of Religion in General Education
The participation of the
religion faculty in the general education curriculum is especially crucial in
that these courses touch many more students than those who are majoring in
religious studies; such courses contribute more broadly to the religious
aspects of the university's mission, they bring together religion and other
faculty in collaborative curriculum planning, course development, team
teaching, student advisement, and common educational concerns. The religion
component in the general education program contributes a defining aspect of the
general personality of this university, identifying it as a Christian, Seventh-day
Adventist institution of higher learning.
Religious objectives include the following:
(A) A perspective which
expresses the wholistic, inclusive vision that underlies Seventh-day Adventist
thought about all of reality.
(B) An integrative approach
to the relationship between religion and other fields of knowledge.
(C) A placement of Adventist
teachings and principles within the context of the Christian faith, and as
a participant in the larger world of religion in general.
(D) Exposure of students to religion
as an academic discipline.
(E) An address to questions
arising from the student's chosen profession or career goals, thereby
assisting each student in making a religious contribution to church, community,
and society at large.
(F) Attractive presentation
of the unique Seventh-day Adventist understandings of life and faith .
This means not indoctrination, but exploration of the tenets of Adventist thought
in the context of the Christian believer's engagement with the ultimate issues
of faith. Far from mere indoctrination, such study involves serious reflection
upon and participation in the quest for fuller insights into truth, and upon
the Seventh-day Adventist contributions.
(G) A grasp of the processes
of revelation and inspiration through which the sacred writings of the Judaic
and Christian faiths have been produced, together with an understanding of the
responsible approaches to scriptural interpretation which this implies.
Through direct experience in analytical reading of scriptural material, the La
Sierra student is to be enabled to make enlightened, responsible application of
scriptural authority in daily life.
(H) A sense of one's ethical
responsibilities toward other individuals and society at large.
(I) As part of the total La
Sierra University experience, a maturation in the inner spiritual life, as
the wellspring from which moral values are developed and lived out.
III. The New General Education Curriculum at La Sierra University
La Sierra University's new
General Education curriculum is designed to participate in the University's
overall educational thrust toward the Seventh-day Adventist vision of the place
and role of religious values in life.
(A) As a vision of wholeness,
the Adventist perspective undergirds the entire curriculum, but is
especially set forth in the course GND 104, "The Idea of Being Human,"
where the human condition is presented, across three cultural contexts, as universally
conceived to be a religious matter. In GNED 305 the religious paradigm as a
wholistic understanding of all reality is directly juxtaposed over against the
naturalistic assumptions of scientific models.
(B) As a vision of integrative
truth, the Adventist perspective is expressed in the cross disciplinary
make-up of the teaching teams in the core. Such concerns are given explicit
attention especially in the capstone course GNED 404, which enable seniors to
explore the religious, moral, and social implications of their respective
disciplines.
(C) As participating in the
larger religio-cultural world in which people live and interact today, the
Seventh-day Adventist vision, always oriented toward world-wide service and
mission, is increasingly cognizant of its character as a religion among
religions. The core curriculum leads the student through three successively
focused steps:
1. The larger context of
religious experience and values as common to all people informs the
considerations of courses GNED 104, 105 and 205.
2. The Christian faith
and experience are set forth in GNED 205 as the perspective from which other
faiths are viewed.
3. The uniquely Seventh-day
Adventist faith and experience comprise the entire content of GNED 304.
(D) Religion as the subject
of disciplined, academic investigation and reflection is demonstrated
throughout the offerings of both the core and breadth offerings of the
curriculum.
(E) The course GNED 404 is
designed to provide La Sierra students with foundations from which to address
the moral and ethical issues posed in the practice of their respective professions.
(F) The Seventh-day Adventist understandings of are reviewed as part of the Advent Movement's continuing development in GNED 304 and are explored more extensively in the breadth course RELT 245, "Christian Beliefs."
(G) Issues of scriptural interpretation emerge at two points in the core:
1. In GNED 205 other scriptural traditions appear alongside Christianity in considering the foundations of religious authority. Distinctions between Christian and other understandings of scriptural authority are dealt with here.
2. In GNED 304 the biblical
foundations of Adventist belief are considered. This provides a context for
briefly sketching out the development of hermeneutics in the Adventist
tradition.
In the breadth offering RELB
104, "Jesus and the Gospels, " issues of interpretation are more
explicitly set forth, as well as modeled in the approaches applied to study of
the gospels.
(H) Ethical considerations
emerge primarily in GNED 105, where the individual's relation to social context
is explored, and in GNED 404, where moral and social issues are considered in
the context of the student's field of knowledge and practice.
(I) Several of the above-mentioned
objectives also have legitimate claim on the larger campus culture, where
worship, the devotional life, ethical responsibility and community service
reinforce the religious values treated in the curriculum. Such is especially
the case with spiritual formation, whose primary setting is rightly in
the co-curricular context.
Certain controls remain
inherent in La Sierra University's process of delivering these courses. The
first of these is simply in the character of the faculty itself. Members of the
University faculty, throughout all disciplines, are chosen with specific
reference to their commitment to upholding and modeling the values, which the
Seventh-day Adventist Church and the University represent. The second factor is
the standing General Education Committee (made up of representatives from all
the university's schools, including the School of Religion), which acts as a
screening, guidance and advisory body to faculty teams responsible for
developing all the courses, and provides oversight and assessment of what is
taught in all core courses.
The Faculty of the School of
Religion
La
Sierra University
November,
1995
Appendix B
The Core Curriculum
La Sierra University (Approved Fall 1995, implemented Fall 1996)
The Core curriculum is required of all students. This curriculum is
complimented by required competencies in English, mathematics, a modem language
and physical fitness. In addition, additional classes are required (with some
choice) from the Humanities, Social Sciences, Religion, Natural Sciences and
Fine Arts.
Besides being an object of
study in GNED 105, oral communication is a teaching and learning tool in all
courses in the core curriculum.
GNED 101 Orientation Seminar
(1)
Required of all entering
freshmen and transfer students, this course provides an introduction to La
Sierra University life, including the history and ethos of the University, the
general education curriculum, information technology and other learning
resources. The course also addresses characteristic modes of thinking and
understanding in the various areas of academic study, and develops effective
learning strategies and skills.
GNED 104 The Idea of Being
Human in Three Cultures (4)
Using three cultural
examples (e.g., African, Chinese, European), this course compares and contrasts
the changing ways in which peoples have conceived of human nature. The human
relationship to animals, the life cycle from birth to death, and the issues of
sex and gender give specific focus to the course's comparative approach.
Additionally, the course pays special attention to the influence of religion,
natural philosophy, and modem science on the formation of these cultural
understandings.
Resource-based learning. This course also introduces students to the goals
and techniques of information literacy- to identify what information is needed,
to locate that information, to evaluate it, to synthesize it, and to apply it.
GNED 105 Individuals and
Their Societies (4)
This course deals with
relationships among individuals, social groups, and institutions. Special
emphasis is given to the ways in which power and authority are used in these
relationships and to the role of oral communication and networking as tools for
constructing social ties and mediating disputes. The major social groups to be
explored are the state, the workplace, the school, and the family. The primary
social traditions to be explored are politics, economics, education, religion,
and science.
Resource-based learning. This course also expands the students' proficiency
in the skills of information literacy- to identify what information is needed,
to locate that information, to evaluate it, to synthesize it, and to apply it.
GNED 204 The American
Experience in a Global Community (4)
This course
begins with the belief that the United States does not have a single cultural
heritage. Rather, it has always been a culturally plural society, united by the
dominant cultural values of politics (republicanism) and economics
(capitalism). This cultural pluralism
is primarily the result of the peopling of America by immigration and the
regional sectionalism that characterizes the vase country. Four main sources of
American culture demand special attention: Africa, Asia, Latin America, and
Europe. The following vehicles for the transmission of American cultures will
receive greatest attention: architecture, art, cinema, dance, literature,
music, and ritual. This course also
exercises the students' proficiency in the skills of information literacy.
GNED 205 The Experience of
Religion in Three Cultures (4)
This course begins with a
philosophical and psychological exploration of the human phenomena of religious
belief and experience. It then proceeds to examine the theologies and
institutions that have been created to formalize doctrine, establish community,
and insure that preservation and perpetuation. Special attention is given to
Christianity and to two of the following: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism,
and Animism. Finally, it activates an interaction with the contemporary world
by exploring how to develop relevant persuasive individual and community value
systems and how these systems direct individual and community choices and
judgments. This course also exercises the students' proficiency in the skills
of information literacy.
GNED 304 Adventism in Global
Perspective (4)
This course takes a broad
interdisciplinary look at Adventism from its inception in nineteenth century
New England to its present situation as a multicultural community of faith,
examining the major figures and significant turning points in the history of
the movement. Students will trace the development of Adventist beliefs and
their relationship to those of other Christian denominations. The course will
also consider various aspects of the Adventist lifestyle, and will survey the
principal activities of Adventism-health care, education, media, missions, etc.
- as well as Adventist spirituality and the problems it encounters in
predominantly secular environment. This course also exercises the students'
proficiency in the skills of information literacy.
GNED 305 Scientific
Rationality and Cultural Relativism (4)
This course
explores the nature of scientific knowledge and scientific method, examines the
historical development of science in the western world and its affect on non-western
cultures, and evaluates the current issues that dominate scientific activity. A
major goal is to lead both science and non-science students to understand both
the limitations and usefulness of science for their lives. This course also exercises the students' proficiency in the skills
of information literacy.
GNED 404 Moral and Social
Aspects of the Academic Discipline (4)
A senior-level seminar
required as a capstone to the general education program and to each student's
major program of studies, this course considers epistemological, moral, and
social issues rose by the student's discipline. Students explore significant
issues both abstractly and as specific problems of contemporary life, bringing
all their experience and knowledge to bear on a consideration of the way in
which their values interacts with their discipline. This course also exercises
the students' proficiency in the skills of information literacy.