Intersession 2019

A TheoEthics: #Black Lives Matter

Students MUST contact the instructor for approval prior to registering for this course.

Evaluation Method: Term paper, daily assignments, presentation, pre-assignment and class participation.

Intended Audience: Mdiv, MASC, DMin

Counter-Oppressive Agrarian Theologies – Introductory Intensive

COUNTER-OPPRESSIVE AGRARIAN THEOLOGIES – INTRODUCTORY INTENSIVE
How does a perspective of the divine grounded in the soil, in the humus that makes us human, shape our relationship to each other, to the planet, and to God? This experiential and embodied course will help religious leaders gain first-hand experience in the spiritual and structural nuances of our food systems and in how our lives and ministries fit within them. We will explore how systems of oppression intersect with our own bodies through how we produce and interact with the food we eat, and create space for creative imagining and exploration of solutions to food systems problems. This intensive, in-person class will provide a foundation and common language for students to bring with them into Part 2 of this course, which will be conducted online and which will require weekly volunteering at a local farm or garden in the student’s community (the instructor can help make connections for this). Students are required to enroll in both parts.

The course is intended for all students. This course may help meet the Starr King thresholds for Prophetic Witness and Work, Spiritual Practice and Care for the Soul, Educating for Wholeness and Liberation, and Embodied Wisdom and Beauty. It may also help meet the MFC competencies of Spiritual Development for Self and Others, Social Justice in the Public Square, and Leads the Faith into the Future.

Click here for the syllabus.

Educating to Counter Oppressions “ECO” CORE Intensive

Educating to “Create Just and Sustainable Communities that Counter Oppressions” (“ECO”) is a core goal of Starr King’s M.Div. and M.A.S.C. degree programs. In this required core intensive, M.Div. and M.A.S.C. students work together to form a framework for counter-oppressive spiritual leadership. We will ask: how can spirituality, ministry, and religious activism respond to the multiple and intersecting realities of injustice, suffering, and oppression in our lives and our world? What models of justice and sustainable community invite our commitment? Drawing on Unitarian Universalist and multi-religious sources, we will explore how in the midst of a world marked by tragedy, sorrow and injustice there remain abiding resources of beauty and grace that nourish resistance, offer healing and call us to accountability and community building. Reading and writing assignments to be completed before the course. Final paper. This course has a special focus on economic and racial justice addressed intersectionally.

Relates to Thresholds #2,5,7 and 8 and MFC Competency #4.

The course will take place 9-5 Monday to Friday Jan. 14-18.

Issues in Ministry and Aging

In this one week intensive course, we share our attention between focused pastoral care and broader societal aspects of aging. We examine aging-related issues both as individuals’ personal circumstances and as clear manifestations of the broader societal context in which individual situations and problems are situated. Issues include (and are not limited to) developmental theories, marginalizations/inequalities/microaggressions, role changes/identities, spiritual development, caregiver supports, end of life issues. Activities include lectures (guest and instructors), discussions, films, enactments/role plays, art/music activities. Brief daily journaling and final paper required. Prerequisite reading of one book and some articles. Suitable for students interested in chaplaincy, hospice work, pastoral care, as well as students interested in aging and broader sociological perspectives.

Intermediate/advanced course intended for MDiv/MASC students, with doctoral upgrade possible.

The course relates to Thresholds #2 and #5. MFC Competences #2 and #4.

Students must contact the instructor via e-email prior to enrolling in order to receive permission to register. Registration is contingent upon faculty approval.

Multi-Religious Core Intensive

Multireligious Intensive: Amidst the Blessing of the Ancestors weaves teachings on organic multireligiosity from Ibrahim Baba (Dr. Ibrahim Farajae) with practices of ancestor reverence and healing. According to Ibrahim Baba, organic multiregliosity “interrupts practices of considering religions as monolithic, rigidly-separated traditions in conflict with one another [and] rather understands them as having complex and constantly-morphing relationships in successive generations and in ever-widening geographical and cultural contexts.” His intensive focuses on embodying multireligiosity in personal practice, tending multireligiosity in spiritual leadership and public worship, and engaging multireligiosity toward countering oppression and cultural (mis)appropriation.

The intensive engages embodied practice around ancestor reverence and healing – in spiritual lineage and family / blood lineage – as a way of anchoring multireligious expression, countering oppression, and aligning to blessing. Each day of the intensive combines conceptual exploration of multireligiosity, embodied practice of counter-oppressive devotion and tending work in ancestral lineage ritual and repair. Course texts include multi-media selections from Ibrahim Baba, The Cave of the Heart by Swami Abishiktananda and Ancestral Medicine by Daniel Foor. Prior to the intensive, students are expected to complete selected readings as well as to submit a reflection paper on personal experiences of multireligiosity and ancestral tending. At the completion of the course, students submit a second reflection paper weaving together their learning and experiences in the intensive.

This is a required course for SKSM MDiv and MASC students.

Relates to SKSM Thresholds 1 & 2 and MFC Comps 3, 5 & 7.

Trauma-Informed Ritual I

Trauma Informed Ritual for Self and Community I is an intensive course that will introduce students to practical skills for identifying and leading compassionate, caring, and transformative rites for self, families and congregations/communities. Each day will include art-based creative practices in a studio setting. There will also be discussion/lectures and student presentations that explore concepts in trauma informed spiritual care. Special attention will be given to understanding the role of vigils, anniversary commemorations and the liturgical year as healing containers for community recovery. Daily reflection papers and an integrative final project will be required.

Intended Audience: MDiv and MASC

Required for Trauma Informed Ritual II offered in Spring 2019.

Relates to SKSM thresholds #1: Life in Religious Community and Interfaith Engagement, #5: Spiritual Practice and Care of the Soul, #7: Educating for Wholeness and Liberation, #8: Embodied Wisdom and Beauty. Relates to MFC competencies #1 Worship and Rites of Passage and #3: Spiritual Development for Self and Others.