Course Descriptions
Field Education
Clinical Pastoral Education
This course is for Starr King students engaged in part-time or full-time Clinical Pastoral Education. Participate in ministry to persons, and in individual group reflection upon that ministry. Theoretical material from theology, the behavioral sciences, and pastoral care. Integrates theological understanding and knowledge of behavioral science into pastoral functioning. Upon completion, a written evaluation from the program supervisor will be placed into the student’s permanent files. Discuss first with your advisor and then faculty. Final evaluation from CPE supervisor needs to be sent to faculty by the last day of the semester to receive credit. Every year SKSM offers an orientation to CPE and to the application process; students are responsible for applying and securing a place in a CPE program. Please check the SKSM Student Handbook for more information.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Field Education
Location
Off-site
Course ID
FE-4012
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
1-10
Community Field Work Fall
Field work describes an involvement in community work for up to 15 hours a week with the ongoing support of a mentor. Community Field Work includes work in gender, racial and economic justice, queer activism, disability advocacy, immigration issues, environmental responsibility, civil liberties protection, HIV response, youth at risk, peace building, participating in a fundraising campaign for a non for profit or grassroots organization, chaplaincy, teaching and more. Students should discuss the field work opportunity with their advisor before making arrangements with the professor. Student and community mentor should discuss and sign a learning agreement before the official beginning of the field work experience. Midterm and final student/mentor evaluations will also be required by midterm and the last day of SKSM classes. All forms available from the professor at the beginning of the semester and on the SKSM Website. Please see Student Handbook for more information.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Field Education
Location
Off-site
Course ID
FE 4060
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
0.5-5
Community Internship Fall
Community Internships involve engagement at a field site from 15 to 40 hours a week, under weekly supervision at the site and the support of the SKSM Community Intern Reflection class (an integrative seminar). Community Internships include a variety of settings, such as supervised placements in a non-profit service agency or grassroots organization, hospice work, chaplaincy, teaching and more. They can also entail creating new projects such as starting a new organization or planning a national conference with a board of mentors. Those who register for this course should also register for Community Intern Integrative Reflection Fall. Students should discuss the internship with their advisor before making arrangements with the professor. Student and supervisor/mentors should discuss and sign a learning agreement before the official beginning of the internship. Midterm and final student/supervisor evaluations will also be required by midterm and the last day of SKSM classes. All forms available from the professor at the beginning of the semester and SKSM Website. Please see Student Handbook for more information.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Field Education
Location
Off-site
Course ID
FE 4221
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
5-10
Congregational Fieldwork FA
Field work in Unitarian Universalist congregations includes teaching a religious education class for children or adults, working with a youth group, participating in a stewardship campaign and more. This course does fulfill requirements toward achieving “Candidate” status, part of the process toward Unitarian Universalist ordination. Please arrange with the professor.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Field Education
Location
Off-site
Course ID
FE-4050
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
0.5-5
MASC Project Fall
For SKSM Master of Arts in Social Change (MASC) students only. MASC students can split this course over two semesters or sign up for it during their last semester. This final project can take a variety of forms and should be representative of the student’s learning and creative work in the MASC degree. Projects include research thesis, public presentations, designing and implementing educational curricula, organizing local/national conferences and special events, multimedia art-work, writing a book and more. The thesis topic, proposal and final draft need to be discussed and developed with the faculty. The project can have a public presentation. A total of 3 MASC Project credits are required for graduation in the MASC degree. Please discuss with instructor.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Field Education
Location
Off-site
Course ID
MA 5300-01
Faculty Approval Required
No
Units
1-3
Parish Intern Reflection FA
All Starr King students working as intern ministers in Unitarian Universalist congregations are expected to participate in this time of theological and spiritual reflection on their ministry. All participants will be expected to attend the Starr King Intern Gathering for two days – January 26-27, 2017. This is a Hybrid course.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Field Education, Residential Hybrid
Location
Off-site
Course ID
FE-4210
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
5-10
Parish Internship Fall
This is a 10-month full-time (one year), or part-time (two year) ministry experience in a teaching congregation under the supervision of a Minister in final Fellowship, an intern committee, and a professor at the school. Those who register for this course must also register for Parish Intern Reflection Fall.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Field Education
Location
Off-site
Course ID
FE-4212
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
5-10
Immersion
No courses found
Intensive
No courses found
Online
Faith-Rooted Organizing for Social Change
This foundational course – applicable to all vocational paths, from community organizing to parish ministry to non-profit leadership to theological scholarship – explores tools and best practices for faith-rooted organizing for social change. Paying close attention to the intersections of social issues, identities, and religious traditions, participants will draw lessons from a diversity of historical and contemporary movements, ranging from Black Lives Matter to climate justice. Merging the pastoral with the practical, students will learn to articulate their unique faith-rooted organizing style and strategize on how to take concrete, spiritually grounded action in their own congregations and communities.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Online
Location
Online
Course ID
RSFT-8405
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
3
Download
Foundations of Religious Freedom in the United States
A blended learning course on the origins and development of religious liberty in the US from the colonial and founding periods to the mid-twentieth century. It offers a thorough understanding of the historical and legal foundations that currently govern the relationship of religion and government, define protection for the free exercise of religion, and provide the civic framework for living among people of all religions and none. Part of a pilot program for the Certificate in Religion in Public Life in cooperation with the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum, http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/programs/religious-civic-leaders/. Online during the Spring 2017 Semester (February-May 2017) plus three day immersion at the RFC in Washington, DC (March 20-22 Travel expenses are the responsibility of the students. Separate application must be made to the Religious Freedom Center by December 11, 2016 at the latest. Designed and administered by Rev. Nate Walker, RFC Executive Director, supervised by Christopher Schelin. (http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/contact/directory/)
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Online
Location
Online
Course ID
HSRS-8210
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
3
Download
Global Religious Traditions
This course will examine the major global religions from a cross-cultural, multi-religious perspective. Taking into consideration that a course that explores many religions cannot be comprehensive, we will consider the religions from a thematic perspective by analyzing fundamental beliefs and practices in the various religious traditions. In addition, we will also examine assumptions underlying the discipline of religious studies. Students will engage through weekly readings and forum discussion, as well as other interactive learning activities, as part of the online learning community. Students of all faiths and backgrounds are invited and encouraged to enroll. Priority given to off-campus SKSM students.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Online
Location
Online
Course ID
HR-8401
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
3
Download
Illness, Health and Healing
This course invites students to listen for the voices of the ill and/or disabled, even when those voices are full of pain or have been long ignored. Students will develop spiritual care skills and practices to promote health and healing that will enhance their ministries and their lives. The course will draw from narrative medicine as well as scriptures and healing stories from a variety of religious traditions.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Online
Location
Online
Course ID
PS-8450
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
3
Download
Introduction to Counseling Theory
This online theory of counseling course is the first half of a two part theory-and-practicum curriculum. Students taking the online theory component must commit to the 1.5 credit practicum course that will be taught as a residential intensive during 2017 intersession.
Students will study major counseling theories, basic helping skills, and professional issues related to the counseling process. The course will foster multicultural awareness, and introduce students to culturally responsive counseling practices. We will examine intentional and unintentional oppressions and privilege, and become more aware of the biases, prejudices, microaggressions, processes of intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination, and other culturally supported behaviors that can be detrimental to the growth of the human spirit
The course will provide the theoretical bases for students to then develop skills in the experiential intensive intersession practicum course.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Online
Location
Online
Course ID
CEPS-8410
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
1.5
Download
Religion and News Media
This course is a blended learning course will offer the following for religious leaders and introduce a diverse group of graduate students to the challenges that the media present in communicating and engaging with belief within the context of the First Amendment and freedom of religion or belief.
In order to be an effective and authoritative religious leader in a diverse democracy, lay and ordained leaders must cultivate multiple competencies and literacies. This course will help students expand religious, media and digital literacies. These competencies will be measured via multimedia engagement, key readings, videoconferences, Socratic seminars, analysis (case studies), and media production.
Part of a pilot program for the Certificate in Religion in Public Life in cooperation with the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum, http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/programs/religious-civic-leaders/. Online during the Spring 2017 Semester (February-May) plus three day immersion at the RFC in Washington, DC (March 20-22). Travel expenses are the responsibility of the students. Separate application must be made to the Religious Freedom Center by December 11, 2016 at the latest. Designed and administered by Dr. Debra L. Mason, of the RFC of the Newseum, supervised by Christopher Schelin. (http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/contact/directory/?entry=24)
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Online
Location
Online
Course ID
HSRS-8220
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
3
Download
Religious Liberty and Contemporary American Public Life
A blended course on the evolution of the First Amendment religious Freedom principles from the 1940s, through the civil rights era, to today. Participants will address contemporary issues that concern the constitutional relationship of religion and government along with current debates over the meaning of free exercise of religion.
Part of a pilot program for the Certificate in Religion in Public Life in cooperation with the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum, http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/programs/religious-civic-leaders/. Online during the Spring 2017 Semester (February-May) plus three day immersion at the RFC in Washington, DC (March 20-22). Travel expenses are the responsibility of the students. Separate application must be made to the Religious Freedom Center by December 11, 2016 at the latest. Designed and administered Lauren W. Herman (JD, MTS) of the RFC, supervised by Christopher Schelin. (http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/contact/directory/?entry=23)
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Online
Location
Online
Course ID
HSRS-8211
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
3
Download
SKSM and Institute of Buddhist Studies: Our Co-Sponsored Courses Fall 2016
During Fall 2016, the Institute of Buddhist Studies will offer the following courses. Please note ~ we participate in the same GTU registration periods. To register for an IBS course, follow the same instructions as registering for a Starr King course. See How to Register. Most, but not all, IBS courses do not require faculty approval, so pay close attention when registering. View IBS Course Listings, including:
- HR-8160: Readings in Early Buddhist Texts with Professor Gil Fronsdal
- HRPS-8320: Psychological Aspects of Buddhism I with Professor Richard Payne
- HRPH-8450: Topics in Japanese Religions with Professor Lisa Grumbach
Again, the Institute of Buddhist Studies and Starr King School have different requirements for registration. For example, SKSM does not accept auditors. Although sponsored by SKSM, IBS courses follow IBS rules. Please check course descriptions carefully before registering.
Session
Fall 2016
Instructors
TBD
Course Type
Online
Location
Online
Faculty Approval Required
No
The Human Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief
The course introduces students to the human right of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB), based on a review of the conceptual and operational tools, as well as illustrative empirical evidence, necessary for advanced study of the issue. FoRB is widely recognized by scholars, policymakers, and practitioners of human rights as the oldest of the universal human rights recognized under international law. The course is designed so that students of religious studies and/or theology, as well as religious leaders, can develop an understanding of how this right has come to be defined, protected, interrogated, and addressed, in a global order that remains organized according to the (evolving and problematic) political entity known as the state.
Part of a pilot program for the Certificate in Religion in Public Life in cooperation with the Religious Freedom Center of the Newseum, http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/programs/religious-civic-leaders/. Online during the Spring 2017 Semester (February-May) plus three day immersion at the RFC in Washington, DC (March 20-22). Travel expenses are the responsibility of the students. Separate application must be made to the Religious Freedom Center by December 11, 2016 at the latest. Designed and administered by Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodromou of the RFC, supervised by Christopher Schelin. (http://www.religiousfreedomcenter.org/contact/directory/?entry=25)
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Online
Location
Online
Course ID
RS-8404
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
3
Download
Residential
Introduction to Islam
This experiential course is an introduction to the history and theology of Islam. It will introduce the student to Islamic religious teaching and practices. It will explore the diversities of Islam among Sunni, Shi’a and Sufi groups from multiple cultural perspectives. Students will be invited to participate in spiritual practice and community events in hopes that the combination of study and practical experience will deepen their experience.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Residential
Location
Starr King Campus (Oakland, CA)
Room
Fireside Room
Days
M
Time
2:10p.m.-5:00p.m.
Course ID
HR 4822
Faculty Approval Required
No
Units
3
Download
Introduction to Theater of the Oppressed
Theater of the Oppressed is a collection of games, techniques, exercises for using theater as a vehicle for personal and social change. It uses the dynamized human body and the charged theatrical space as laboratories for exploring power, transforming oppression, and finding community-building solutions to the fundamental problems of conflict, inequality, injustice, and human suffering. Based on the radical pedagogy of Paolo Freire and Augusto Boal, it is a collective artistic exploration into the fullest expression of our human dignity, potential, and creativity.
This introductory class will cover the theory, application and facilitation of TO, including:
- Demechanization
- Dynamization
- Image Theater
- Forum Theater
- Rainbow of Desire/Cop-in-the-head
- Theory & Pedagogy
These techniques will be introduced with the goal of understanding their application as practical and essential tools for artistic development, creative expression, social engagement, and personal transformation, while developing spontaneity, fluidity, presence, and critical intelligence.
The workshop will be 80% experiential and 20% reflective/didactic. No prior theater or performance experience is required.
Elements and theories of related counter-oppressive approaches will also be introduced, and prominent practitioners of TO or popular education may be invited as guest facilitators.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Residential
Location
Starr King Campus (Oakland, CA)
Room
Fireside Room
Days
W
Time
7:10p.m.-10:00p.m.
Course ID
RSED 4036
Faculty Approval Required
No
Units
3
Download
Transformative Ritual Craft
Ritual Craft as Transformative Practice supports students to develop a nuanced understanding of successful ritual structures and empowers them to cultivate and strengthen skills to create and guide ritual. The course is a ritual immersion, with sessions guided as ritual experience. Students are encouraged to deepen their own resonant ritual practices, to experience rituals in contexts new to them and to craft and guide prayer and ceremony for community. Students identify their strengths and edges in ritual crafting and leadership enhance their existing ritual strengths and nurture and build skills in arenas in which they seek additional growth and experience. Course topics include Ritual Form, Flow and Intention; Ritual and the Body; Ritual and the Earth; Ritual, Revolution and Counter-Oppression; Ritual, Prayer and the Divine; Personal & Communal Ritual; Altar-Practice and Tending Sacred Space; and Initiation and Life-Cycle Ceremony.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Residential
Location
Starr King Campus (Oakland, CA)
Room
Round Chapel
Days
W
Time
2:00p.m.-5:00p.m.
Course ID
RALS-4301
Faculty Approval Required
No
Units
3
Download
Residential Hybrid
Community Intern Reflection Fall
This course assists the intern doing fieldwork in a community field site through a peer group seminar. It offers theo-ethical reflection, linking the experience in the internship to the student’s broad educational and vocational goals (praxis). The class is designed for students to assess their personal progress, gather support from peers and the instructor, integrate their internship experience into their degree program, and deepen theo-ethical practices to sustain religious leadership in community ministry. Students gather multi-religious sources of wisdom, which serve as touchstones for group theological reflection. Each week features a process of theological reflection bringing intern experiences to a collective dialogue that engages these sources and yields new “truths” to introduce into personal spiritual practices. The course includes a required weekly live web-based video seminar and frequent online discussion postings; readings and discussion are in service of the professional experience in the internship as well as creating lasting tools and knowledge for a career in community ministry. This is a Hybrid course.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Residential Hybrid
Location
Starr King Campus (Oakland, CA)
Room
Reading Room
Days
Th
Time
4:00p.m.-5:30p.m.
Course ID
FE-4222
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
2
Introducting Thea/ological Ethics: “Work our Souls Must Have”
Thea/ological ethics has been described as “an art of doing the work our souls must have” (Emilie M. Townes). This course introduces diverse methods of moral decision-making to religious leaders. Using on-line tools and live web-based video sessions, students will engage concepts and tools related to the opportunities and challenges of prophetic moral leadership in congregations, organizations, and society. The class gathers weekly to build moral community, reflect on key multi-religious sources of ethics, and exercise their skills in applying concepts to real-life situations and providing ethical guidance to individuals and communities. Readings, multimedia resources, and assignments educate to counter systemic oppression and promote diverse forms of scholar-activism and leadership. Serving as a foundational course in ethics, students will be given the opportunity to tailor course requirements to fit their particular tradition. This is a Hybrid course.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Residential Hybrid
Location
Starr King Campus (Oakland, CA)
Room
Reading Room
Days
T
Time
2:10p.m.-5:00p.m.
Course ID
CE-4900
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
3
Download
Parish Intern Reflection FA
All Starr King students working as intern ministers in Unitarian Universalist congregations are expected to participate in this time of theological and spiritual reflection on their ministry. All participants will be expected to attend the Starr King Intern Gathering for two days – January 26-27, 2017. This is a Hybrid course.
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Field Education, Residential Hybrid
Location
Off-site
Course ID
FE-4210
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
5-10
Womanism and Earth Justice
The ground of ecowomanist ethics is watered by multigenerational responses to racial and gender stereotypes in relation to communal knowledge of the land. This wisdom survived through centuries of violence and the daily lived experience of bigotry and abuse in a white supremacist world, and rests on pluralistic understandings of the sacred relationship between human and non-human nature. It remains today as part of the womanist call to accountability and spirit defined in Alice Walker’s writings. This course will explore the emergent field of ecowomanist ethics in a global context through a wide variety of voices including those of activists, scholars, and grassroots organizers. What do the lived experiences of women in the African Diaspora have to teach us about earth justice and environmental degradation? What moral guidance can we learn from those perspectives? And how might we integrate such wisdom into the wider environmental canon?
Session
Fall 2016
Dates
9/6/16 – 12/16/16
Instructors
Course Type
Residential Hybrid
Location
Starr King Campus (Oakland, CA)
Room
Fireside Room
Days
Th
Time
9:40a.m.-12:30p.m.
Course ID
CEST-4554
Faculty Approval Required
Yes
Units
3
Download
Thesis/Final Project
No courses found