Fall 2021

Community Intern Reflection

This course is a peer group seminar for interns doing fieldwork in community field sites. It offers the@logical 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 the@logical practices to sustain religious leadership in community ministry. Students gather multi-religious sources of wisdom and inspiration, which serve as touchstones for group spiritual reflection. The course includes a required live web-based video seminar approximately twice a month, as well as weekly online discussion postings that orient the seminar sessions. This online course is synchronous on Zoom and counts as low residency; students must have consistent internet access to relevant technology. Evaluation is based on participation, depth of engagement with peers and resources, as well as written self-evaluations. Required for MDiv/ MASC students enrolled in credit for community internship during the same semester. Fulfills thresholds based on personal learning goals.

PREREQUISITES:SIMULTANEOUS ENROLLMENT IN COMMUNITY INTERNSHIP CREDITS FOR THE SEMESTER. FULL AND COMPLETE APPROVAL OF THE INTERNSHIP AGREEMENT BY THE DIRECTOR OF CONTEXTUAL EDUCATION, SITE SUPERVISOR AND FACULTY ADVISOR. STUDENT MUST SUBMIT DESCRIPTION OF APPROVED INTERNSHIP AND COPY OF AGREEMENT TO INSTRUCTOR PRIOR TO FIRST SESSION. ECO Core Intensive is a prerequisite. MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT: 6.

Congregational Intern Reflection

The Congregational Intern Reflection course is paired with the on-site experience of Congregational Internship. This course is for M.Div students. The Intern Ministers meet twice a month by Zoom to discuss progress on Learning Goals, development of pastoral/prophetic/ preaching voices, and integrating theory with skills. Students are expected to attend the January 2022 Congregational Intern Minister gathering at Starr King. Evaluation will be based on the Zoom conversations and the content of the mid-term and final evaluations. During the Internship experience, there are opportunities for all 8 Starr King Threshold Areas to be explored, as well as each of the UU Ministerial Fellowship Committee Competency Areas.

Hindu Ecowomanism and the Black Mother Goddess

Drawing on Hindu Goddess’ traditional lore, this synchronous online course explores the relationship of identity between ecology, women, and the Goddess as not symbolic or representational, but substantive and real. This indigenous non-dual epistemology stands in contrast to dominant dualistic epistemologies that tend to contain fragmented perspectives of reality. The symbiotic, porous, interdependent nature of reality is an embodied realization that takes place when the Black Goddess Kali dissolves the solipsism, the subject-object dichotomy that is part of the human condition. This course intertwines the three strands of Hindu Goddess ecowomanism: 1) Hindu Cosmology and the feminine principle; 2) the thealogy of the Black Mother Goddess 3) the voice of activists, scholars, and grassroots organizers in the face of environmental degradation and earth justice. This course will use a lecture & discussion format. Requirements include class participation, reading of required texts, and the submission of a final 20-page paper.

This is an Online Synchronous Course suitable for MDiv, MA/MTS, DMin, PhD/ThD students. No prior knowledge of Hindu studies is required. Relates to Threshold/s # 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and to MFC competency # 3, 4, 6, 7. Limited to 20 students.

Introduction to Pastoral Counseling

This online course introduces students to culturally responsive counseling practices and multicultural awareness. Students examine societal and institutional structures of power and privilege, and become more aware of biases, prejudices, and microaggressions detrimental to the growth of the human spirit. Students study major counseling theories and practice basic helping skills centered on Person-Centered (Rogerian) counseling and Bowen Family Systems Theory. Pastoral elements will include individual, family, and congregational contexts. Asynchronous course with written lectures, readings, videos, and links to online resources. Weekly personal Moodle reflections and one synchronous component, a weekly self-scheduled dyad-skills practice session with a classmate. There are two assigned textbooks. Intermediate/advanced course intended for MDiv students, and with doctoral upgrade possible. It relates to Thresholds #2 and #5. MFC Competences #2 and #4.

FACULTY CONSENT REQUIRED. MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT: 24

Leadership Along the Way

The rationale for this course is to develop one’s own life-regenerating leadership along the long arc of social change and transformation that existed before our time and will continue after us. We will explore ways of engaging and directing energy within an ecosystem so as to encourage diversity and distribution of leadership. This includes rediscovering our agency in challenging environments while leading in a way that honors the leadership present in any given moment, as well as the leadership that preceded and will follow such moments.
This course is online, synchronous, interactive, and informed by Taoist, Zen, and Somatic praxis. Students will be expected to complete readings, reflections, and activities that will deepen their leadership practice.
Relates to SKSM Thresholds 1, 3, 5, & 7, and MFC Comps 3, 5, & 7.
RECOMMENDED PREREQUISITE: ECO CORE INTENSIVE. MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT: 12.

Liberation, Social Justice, Bible

What does the Bible actually say about slavery, homosexuality, abortion, immigration, women’s roles, and more? In this course, we will discuss the ways in which the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament have been used to support movements of liberation and social justice as well as to support and justify oppressive and violent systems such as slavery, income disparity, sexism, homophobia, racism, and xenophobia. By situating biblical verses within their literary, cultural, and historical context, we will dismantle oppressive and kyriarchal readings. The overarching ethic of both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament is liberation and social justice. However, this ethic has been obscured by oppressive readings which fail to account for context. The course will equip students with tools for countering systems of oppression through critical contextual readings of the sources, as well as by introducing intersectional feminist, postcolonial, queer, and ecological methodologies to “de-weaponize” Scripture. Students will use these hermeneutical tools to develop “flipped scripts” that speak to their own contexts. This approach will provide students with the ability to use the Hebrew Bible and New Testament to breathe strength, life, and love into those who have been the target of judgment, marginalization, and violence as well as to reclaim these sacred texts as a resource for liberation and social justice.

This is an online Zoom synchronous 3000 level course. The format is lecture/discussion. Lectures will be posted to VoiceThread each week on Moodle. Zoom session participation is mandatory and will be primarily for group discussion of the lecture and the readings. Evaluation is through reflection papers & a final paper, Zoom participation & watching VT lectures. The course is intended for M.Div., MA, Note to Ph.D. students this is a 3000 level course, but you may take the class and write a longer final paper to use for Research Readiness Review. Maximum enrollment is 20. This course falls primarily within the following SKSM Thresholds: 2) Prophetic Witness & Work 3) Sacred Text and Interpretation and 4) History of Dissenting Traditions and Thea/ological Quest.

Maximum Enrollment: 20

MASC Project

For SKSM Master of Arts in Social Change (MASC) students only. MASC students may 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. The student will work independently under faculty supervision. 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 project’s topic, proposal and final draft need to be discussed and developed with the Director of the MASC program and a second faculty member. The project may be presented publicly. A total of 3 MASC Project credits are required for graduation in the MASC degree. – Fulfills Threshold # 2. ECO Core Intensive is a prerequisite.
This project is variable credit between 0.5-3 credits.

MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT:10 AUDITORS EXCLUDED.

Organizational Management

Merging the practical and pastoral, this foundational, introductory course helps equip students for effective organizational management and leadership – whether serving congregations, leading other religious institutions, or bringing spiritual leadership to secular settings. Asynchronous online modality. Topics include non-profit administration, governance, finance, strategic planning, human resources, change management, and organizational culture – and how these relate to ministry. This interactive, multi-faceted course blends readings and written assignments with group discussion, coaching, independent research, and a praxis (action/reflection) component. With the support of the instructor, students will customize their course experience to build on their unique learning goals, aptitudes, and areas for improvement as organizational leaders.

Relates to SKSM Threshold #2: Life in Religious Community and Interfaith Engagement threshold
Relates to MFC competency for Administration.

Note: This course fulfills the leadership intensive requirement for SKSM students pursuing vocational paths other than Unitarian Universalist ministry.
Maximum Enrollment: 15. Auditors Excluded.

Peace Education/Interreligious Justice

This course is an introduction to peace education and peace building approaches. The content draws upon multiple faith perspectives and peace education scholarship. Definitions, theory, skills, and practices will be covered that are relevant for religious and interreligious leaders, educators, members of faith communities as well as members of secular society. MDiv, MA/MST students will learn various models and aspects of peace education and discern relevant applications in their own contexts culminating in designing a peace education plan for implementation. Asynchronous online with 4 optional synchronous meetings times on Friday mornings 10am -noon PST 9/17, 10/8, 11/5 and 12/3. Weekly online reading response posts. Midterm and Final Paper. Relates to Thresholds# 1, 3, 4, 6 & 7 and MFC Competencies #4 & 5. [20 maximum enrolment; Auditors excluded]

Queer Liberation Theologies

What does «liberation» mean to queer individuals and communities? How do Christian traditions worldwide relate to queer issues and queer believers? For the last twenty years queer theologians and communities have been developing contextual theologies in order to challenge and critique the ingrained heteronormativity in theological thought, spiritual practices, and institutional governance. Drawing from an interdisciplinary perspective, the course aims to examine and explore the development of queer theologies in the specific contexts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The focus of the course is intentionally non-US centered in order to offer future ministers, scholars, and activists tools to collaborate and interact with experiences, key topics, and thinkers within the complex and yet fascinating world of queer liberation theologies, thus, enriching their worldview and praxis glocally.

Thresholds: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and MFCs: 4, 6, 7

Religions and Politics

This synchronous online seminar course will give a critical overview of the relationship between religion and politics in various regions of the world. In this course, religion is defined not only as formal theological creeds but also as the societal beliefs, organizations, and subcultures associated with various religious/non-religious communities. Also, politics is not merely a set of institutional structure of statecraft but a whole dynamics of grass-root political life of each individual and community. Students will be encouraged to challenge the limitations of two prevelant concepts: religion and politics. There are two assignments for this class: class presentation and 10-12pages final paper. This class is open to any master-level and doctoral-level students. Fulfills SKSM Thresholds # 1 and 6 and MFC competency #4. This course is a Newhall Fellowship course taught by a doctoral student under the supervision of Dr. Gabriella Lettini.

Spiritual Practices for these Times

In this semester-long, asynchronous online course, students will explore, develop and/or deepen their spiritual practice and support others in doing the same. The class will be experiential and multi-religious, drawing on some of the wisdom and practices of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Earth-based traditions, as well as neuroscience, poetry, and Ecopsychology. Evaluation will be based on reflections, spiritual practice exercise, a project, and how students help create a vibrant and caring learning community.

Related to Thresholds: Spiritual Practice & Care of the Soul; Embodied Wisdom & Beauty.
Related to MFC Comp 3: Encourages Spiritual Devotion for Self & Others.

MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT: 20

Transformative Ritual Craft

Transformative Ritual Craft is an exploration into the art and technology of ritual craft. This course supports students in developing a nuanced understanding of successful ritual structures and empowers students in cultivating skills to create and guide ritual. The course itself is a ritual immersion, with each class meeting structured as a ritual experience. Students are encouraged to deepen their own ritual practices, to experience rituals in contexts new to them and to craft and guide ritual for community. Students will identify their strengths and edges in ritual craft and leadership, and will receive structured support in enhancing their existing ritual strengths and in nurturing arenas in which they seek additional growth and experience. The Transformative Ritual Craft class will also participate in monthly online SKSM chapel services, which occur during class time.

SKSM Thresholds #1,3,5,8 and MFC #1 and 7.

LIMITED TO 20 STUDENTS.

UU History

This course begins with a discussion of recent historical developments in Unitarian Universalism and then extends back through time to the various antecedents of Unitarianism and Universalism in pre-Reformation Europe, all the way back to the early church and the Council of Nicea. Students will have the opportunity to explore Unitarian Universalist heritage, as well as different historical approaches. We will examine social location in relation to class, race, and gender identities, and how these enabled or impeded social justice advances. We will discover the origins of our faith by progressing from our known contemporary experience to the unknown, and perhaps unknowable. Along the way we will consider various theological developments within this tradition, as expressed through various identities and the challenges presented by new modalities of faith including Transcendentalism and Humanism. Sources will range from primary sources to anecdote, with an emphasis on articulating contemporary experience in the context of historical identity and experience. Evaluation: Demonstrated preparation, Weekly posts on the Moodle, Final paper or project. Students who take the course for a grade instead of pass/fail are required to submit a 25 page paper with original research. Students who take the class pass/fail have the option to turn in a paper or a project. Projects must be approved in advance.

This course relates to the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Ministerial Fellowship competencies 6 and 7, and the Starr King Thresholds 4 and 6.

MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT: 30