Summer Session 2011 - Courses
Policies & Logistics • Workshops & Retreats • Special Events & Worship
Courses
In 2011, PSR's Summer Session will comprise more than 20 one-, two-, and three-week courses. Read on for details about the courses that will be offered this year.
Please review all policies on the Policies & Logistics page before registering. To register, select the appropriate link below the desired course on this page.
Contact summer@psr.edu / (510) 849-8227 with any questions you may have.
Courses by Date
June
Jesus and the Gospels
Offered exclusively online in partnership with CDSP - Church Divinity School of the Pacific
Instructor: Sean Burke
Dates and Times: Eleven weeks: June 6-August 19, online
Description: This course will introduce students to the critical study of the gospels, including the four gospels in the New Testament and several gospels not included in the New Testament. The course will also introduce students to the study of the historical Jesus. The format will include online lectures and discussions as well as several live chats. Students will be evaluated on the basis of their contributions to online discussions, short essays and a final exegetical paper.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 3.0 credits - (special price) $2040 / 4.0 CEUs - (special price) $400
UCC History and Polity (at General Synod 2011, with online component)
Offered in partnership with the United Church of Christ
Instructor: Randi Walker, with Jason Donnelly, Melbalenia Evans, and K. Ray Hill
Dates and Times: Reading and participation in advance online plus two weeks on-site, June 27–July 8 at the UCC General Synod at the University of South Florida.
Description: This is a course in the History, Faith, and Polity of the United Church of Christ. It is designed to satisfy academic requirements in UCC History and Theology for people preparing for authorized ministry in the UCC, and also to provide an introduction for ministers from other denominations seeking privilege of call or ministerial standing in the UCC. Interested lay people are welcome to audit the course.
The course will have, in addition to the two week intensive session at the Synod, four online sessions starting in May. Auditors using the course for privilege of call or for preparation for ordination, please note: you will need to complete all the assignments that those taking the course for credit do. The course will be held at the University of South Florida and students will have room and board on campus. During the General Synod, the class will meet at the Convention Center and attend Synod sessions.
Registration for this course is closed.
Logistical Details and Cost: Room and Board will be $850 (double room) or $1400 (single room) for the period from June 27-July 8. In addition students will be expected to register for General Synod. Contact Randi Walker (rwalker@psr.edu, 510/849-8221) for information about the course content and questions about credit.
Course Credits & Cost: 3.0 credits (special price) - $1920 / 4 CEUs - (special price) $690
Course Number: HSST-8225 (credit); HSST-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are four required books for this course, which are available here.
July 5
The Long Journey: Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in the Biblical World
Offered in partnership with Lehrhaus Judaica
Instructor: Jehon Grist
Dates and Times: One week (Tue-Fri): July 5-8, 1:00pm-6:00pm.
Description: This vividly illustrated lecture and discussion course will introduce students to the history, culture and interconnections of the key societies at the center of the Biblical world. The first two sessions will visually overview the history, personalities and key events of Egypt and Canaan/Israel from 3000-586 BCE. The third session will explore the culture and character of the two regions, while session four will delve into the respective religious and secular texts. The final session will seek out connections: the conflicts and creativity of these regions that shaped our Biblical heritage. Where relevant, artifacts from the Bade/Tell en Nasbeh collection will be introduced.
Dr. Grist's approach to this course is to present Egypt and Canaan/Israel as two vibrant societies whose millennia-long dialog fashioned so much of the Western world’s religious and cultural heritage. A key theme in his teaching is that a student must take a holistic approach in study and research, integrating both archaeological and textual resources.\
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: BSHS-2607 (credit); BSHS-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There is one required book for this course, which is available here.
Saturday Workshop: Unlocking Creativity - A Writing Workshop
Instructor: Chris DeLorenzo
This workshop has been cancelled. We hope to offer it in future summer sessions.
Decolonizing Bible Studies: Radical Biblical Pedagogy for Ministries
Instructor: Boyung Lee
This course has been cancelled. We hope to offer it in future summer sessions.
Monastic Buddhism: Introduction to Its Theory and Practice (in Ukiah, CA)
Offered in partnership with Dharma Realm Buddhist University (DRBU)
Instructor: Martin Verhoeven and Heng Chih
Dates and Times: Two weeks: July 5-15, 1:30pm-5:30pm.
Description: This course explores the close interaction between theory and practice of Buddhism as embodied in its monastic form. Through a direct encounter with a living Buddhist tradition dating back to ancient China, students will have a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in the daily elements of a traditional Chinese Buddhist monastic way of life. To help frame the immersion experience, the course offers readings of primary sacred texts and commentaries, as well as discussion with Buddhist monks and nuns from both the Mahayana and the Theravada traditions.
The emphasis will be placed on studying Buddhism as a living, inspired, and embodied discipline. Towards this end, while living in a monastery, students will be able to participate in and experience first-hand a variety of Buddhist practices and adopt a Buddhist contemplative lifestyle. Students will study methods of Buddhist meditation (samadhi), traditional chanting, rituals and liturgies; observe a vegetarian diet; and for two weeks, follow Buddhist moral code of conduct (vinaya). This “laboratory” approach seeks to combine theoretical grasp with direct experience.
A major goal of this course is to allow students to explore and experience a religious tradition other than their own from the vantage point within rather than outside that tradition, while at the same time remain firmly grounded in their own. It encourages students to encounter the “other” with an open mind and to allow that encounter to spur a process of re-examination of their own assumptions and presuppositions on the nature of religion and the religious community, and the notion of a religious experience.
Registration for this course is closed.
Logistical Details and Additional Costs: This course is offered in a retreat setting at Dharma Realm Buddhist University in Ukiah, CA. Room and Board will be $200, paid separately to DRBU.
Course Credits & Cost: 3.0 credits - $1980 / 4 CEUs (special price) - $390
Course Number: FTHR-3820 (credit); FTHR-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There is one required book for this course, which is available here.
Saturday Workshop: InterPlay Secrets for Effective Church Groups
Instructors: Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter
Dates and Times: Saturday, July 16; 10am - 4pm
Description:
Do you want the members of your church or non-profit to have more ease, more satisfaction, less struggle and less resistance? Learn to draw on the wisdom of the “group body”:
- create webs of connection that make a group healthy and functional
- decrease stress and increase positive behaviors
- use affirmation as a tool for individual and group growth
- unlock the hidden skills of the “right–brainers” and the “left–brainers”
- learn how to create change in your congregation or organization
On top of shifting your thinking about congregations, groups and communities, you will learn practices that make a difference! Get cutting edge insights on diversity, collaboration, creativity and adapting to change.
Registration for this course is closed.
Biblical Hebrew I
Instructor: Robert Kramish
Dates and Times: Three weeks:
July 5-8 (Tue-Fri), 8:30am-1:00pm;
July 11-15 (Mon-Fri), 8:30am-1:00pm;
July 18-22 (Mon-Fri), 9:00am-1:00pm.
Description: This is the first half of a six-week intensive course in which students will work through an entire first-year Hebrew grammar book, preparing them to enter an Intermediate Hebrew class upon completion of the course. Students who plan to take the entire course should sign up for both Hebrew I and Hebrew II. By the end of the two-part course, students will have acquired a command of the basic principles of Hebrew phonology, morphology and syntax. Students will be able to translate the text of the Hebrew Bible with the aid of lexicons and other grammatical resources.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 3.0 credits - $1980 / 4 CEUs - $690
Course Number: BS-1135 (credit); BS-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are four required books for this course, which are available here.
Introduction to Christian History
Instructor: Jason Hamza van Boom
Dates and Times: Three weeks:
July 5-8 (Tue-Fri), 1:00-6:00pm;
July 11-15 (Mon-Fri), 1:30-5:30pm
July 18-22 (Mon-Fri), 1:30-5:30pm
Description: This course covers the History of Christianity from Late Antiquity to the present, taking a global perspective. It focuses on Christianity as culture rather than the church as institution. We will discuss, however, the institutional forms of Christianity as they develop over time. The course also serves to introduce basic theological concepts in contexts where significant developments and variations in Christian theology took place.
This course prepares students for basic courses in theology, and for further studies in History of Christianity. The course design also takes into consideration that there may be a significant number of students who are not Christian. The lectures and reading plans are structured to show how the History of Christianity is relevant for both Christian and non-Christian students.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 3.0 credits - $1980 / 4 CEUs - $690
Course Number: HS-1040 (credit); HS-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are two required books for this course, which are available here.
July 11
Feminist Theological Ethics for Challenging Times
Instructor: Mary Hunt
Dates and Times: One week: July 11-15, 9:00am-1:00pm
Description: Everyone is looking for answers. Feminist theologians are asking meaningful questions for understanding and changing a complex world. This course is an exploration into the many ways that feminist scholars and activists are bringing their best intuitions and sharpest analyses to the pressing issues of health, war, sexuality, racism, the environment, domestic violence, and many others.
We will read some of the classic texts by Christian feminist theologians from developing countries, as well as some of the latest thinking of U.S. Christian feminists. Our goal will be to assess how these scholar/activists shape their theo-ethical questions. In many instances, they reject the conventional wisdom and propose new ways of looking at common issues. This is constructive theology with a twist of ethics.
Students are invited to reshape their own theo-ethical thinking in order to respond adequately and meaningfully to contemporary challenges.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: CEST-3260 (credit); CEST-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are two required books for this course, which are available here.
Saturday Workshop Series: Inner-Urban Ministry
Offered by PSR partner Refuge Institute
Instructors: Refuge Institute staff
Dates and Times: Saturdays, July 19, 23, and 30, and August 6; 10am - 4pm
Description: The Inner-Urban Ministry series is comprised of four Saturday workshops exploring critical issues in progressive inner-urban ministry, including youth, justice, health, and interfaith collaboration. Workshops are geared to clergy, lay leaders, community leaders, and seminary students. The emphasis will be on the practical aspects of inner-urban ministry, taught by faculty with experience in both theological and practical aspects of ministry.
Workshops, from 10 am to 4 pm, may be taken as an entire series
(recommended; $250 for 2.0 CEUs or $190 for non-credit students ), or as individual courses ($80 apiece for .5 CEUs or $60 apiece for non-credit students).
- Saturday, July 16: Urban youth
Instructor: Toni Dunbar
Characteristics and best practices for social and ministry engagement - [TO BE RESCHEDULED FOR AUGUST]: Urban Justice
Instructor: Lateefah Simon
Gaining “street cred,” police relations, advocacy and lobbying city hall - Saturday, July 30: Urban Health
Instructor: Ann Ameling, w/ Janet Constantino & Anne Hughes
The environment; access to education, transportation, food, health care - Saturday, August 6: Urban Interfaith
Instructor: Toni Dunbar
Theological relevance, partnership and cross-pollination
Course Credits & Cost: Full series: 2.0 CEUs - $250; non-credit - $190. Individual workshops: 0.5 CEUs - $80; non-credit - $60.
Registration: Go to http://EnrollRI.net/ or contact admin@refugeinstitute.org or 510/629-3646.
Writing as a Healing Ministry
Instructor: Sharon Bray
Dates and Times: One week: July 11-15, 9:00am-1:00pm
Description: Writing is an art form that belongs to every one of us. It is also a powerful tool for healing. In recent years, a growing body of research shows that the simple act of writing down thoughts and feelings helps people with chronic illness improve their health. But the healing power of writing extends well beyond physical illness. Writing also reduces stress, discharges complex emotions and helps us gain perspective. When we suffer pain or loss, writing about our feelings can help to relieve our burdens, establish a perspective, and cope more effectively with life’s hardships. Writing helps us integrate our physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. It can be a kind of prayer—one in which you don't ask for anything, except to know your own experience and to make meaning of it.
“Writing as a Healing Ministry” is designed to provide an overview of the field of therapeutic or healing writing for lay ministers, clergy, healthcare or helping professionals. In this intensive week-long course, we will explore how writing can heal ourselves and others. Class activities will include an overview of the research on therapeutic writing, review of several different writing methodologies used to help individuals heal from pain, suffering and trauma, small group discussion and individual writing exercises.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: SP-2988 (credit); SP-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There is one book for this course, which is optional but recommended and which is available here.
U.S. Latino/a Theology and the LGBTQ Community
Instructor: Orlando Espin
Dates and Times: One week: July 11-15, 1:30pm-5:30pm
Description: Latinos/as have become the largest and fastest growing minority in the U.S. They are expected to become 25% of the entire U.S. population before 2025. Over the last three decades, U.S. Latino/a Christian theologians have developed a manner of theologizing that is uniquely reflective of Latino/a cultures and real-life issues. This brief course will study Latino/a theology and what could be its contributions to the Latino/a LGBTQ community.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: STRS-2564 (credit); STRS-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are no required textbooks for this course. Students will be assigned readings from an online source.
Saturday Workshop: Mediation for Ministry
Instructor: William Harralson
Dates and Times: Saturday, July 23; 10am - 4pm
Description: This workshop is an introduction to mediation. We will explore the basic concepts and process of mediation as a response to congregational, ministerial and other inter-personal conflict. Particular emphasis will be given to the transformative model of mediation in as much as the core principles are compatible with Judeo-Christian conceptions of
love, justice, and reconciliation. A fundamental understanding of
mediation is intended to broaden the scope of each student’s development in the area of pastoral leadership. This course is designed for clergy, seminarians, and lay leaders of all faith communities.
Course Credits & Cost: 0.5 CEUs - $80
Course Number: PS-0010 (CEUs)
This workshop has been cancelled. We hope to offer it in future summer sessions.
Transgendering Faith: A Brief History of the Trans Movement
Offered exclusively online
Instructor: Bernie Schlager
This course has been cancelled. We hope to offer it in future summer sessions.
July 18
Inhabiting Scriptures: Biblical Stories as Spaces for Imagination
Instructor: Andrea Bieler
This course has been cancelled. We hope to offer it in future summer sessions.
Meditation: Theory and Practice
Instructor: Americ Azevedo
Dates and Times: One week: July 18-22, 1:30pm-5:30pm.
Description: Meditation has long been used to deepen religious and spiritual experience, and to quiet the mind for clarity and inner knowledge. This course is a practicum, an experiential exploration of the various forms and techniques of meditation and traditions. Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and non-religious viewpoints are included to broaden our practice, and acting as openings to interfaith (including atheists/agnostics) dialogue and understanding. Explorations of mind will include concepts and practices of consciousness, awareness, mindfulness, and presence. Focus is given to the students’ integration of meditation concepts and practice into their religious understanding and spiritual formation. Attention is given to the value of meditation in developing a peaceful, diverse world and enhancement of deep nonviolence toward all of life on earth.
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: SP-1145 (credit); SP-0002 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are three required books for this course, which are available here.
Registration for this course is closed.
Sexuality Issues for Religious Professionals
Instructor: Debra Haffner
Dates and Times: One week: July 18-22, 9:00am-1:00pm
Description: Sexuality Issues for Religious Professionals is designed to offer students the knowledge and skills they need to address sexuality issues in their future ministries. The course will begin with opportunities for students to reflect on their own sexuality attitudes, values, and beliefs, as well has how their sexual identity and personal sexual history may affect their ministry. The course will cover foundational knowledge about sexuality issues, the interrelationship of sexuality and religion, and opportunities for the development of skills to provide counseling, education, preaching, and public witness on sexuality issues.
Registration is limited to 20 students.
Required texts may be purchased from Lifequest Publications at 800/774-3360:
A Time to Build: Creating Sexually Healthy Faith Communities
A Time to Speak: Faith Communities and Sexuality Education
A Time to Seek: Study Guide on Sexual and Gender Diversity
A Time to Healing: Keeping Children Safe and Ministering to Sex Offenders
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: RSFT-2493 (credit); RSFT-0001 (CEUs)
Registration for this course is closed.
July 25
reNEW: Skills for Leading New and Renewing Progressive Churches
Offered in partnership with the Center for Progressive Renewal
Instructors: Cameron Trimble and Michael Piazza
Dates and Times: One week on campus: July 25-29, 9:00am-1:00pm, followed by four weeks of study online
Description: This course teaches practical skills for starting a new progressive church or leading the renewal of a church that is stagnant or in decline. It is designed around the premise that churches are rarely resurrected, but can be born again, hence the skills needed in both situations are very similar: creating compelling vision, an effective communication strategy, data management, community development, external mission, transformational worship, etc. This class is designed and taught by the Center for Progressive Renewal.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 3.0 credits - $1980 / 4 CEUs (special price) - $549
Course Number: FT-2519 (credit); FT-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are five required books for this course, which are available here.
Creative Writing Workshop
Instructor: Pat Schneider
Dates and Times: One week: July 25-29, 9:00am-1:00pm
Description: The purpose of this workshop is twofold: (1) to enable the artist in each person to become more free and more able to write, (2) to model a methodology for using writing to create a healing community. There are no required readings or papers for this workshop. Registration is limited to 12 students.
There will also be a showing of the internationally award-winning film, Tell Me Something I Can't Forget, followed by a discussion of using writing to empower the silenced. Open to the public; Wednesday, 7pm-9pm, Mudd 103.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs (special price) - $990
Course Number: RA-3700 (credit); RA-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are eight recommended books for this course, which are available here.
Preaching Women: Examining the (Her)story and Role of Women Preachers and Enhancing Their Craft
Instructor: Yvette Flunder
Dates and Times: One week: July 25-29, 1:30pm-5:30pm
Description: This course will challenge the patriarchy of the pulpit and celebrate the preaching women who have contributed to building and sustaining churches and faith communities since the beginning of Christianity. The course will acknowledge the ways women have found to preach subversively in many unwelcoming environments and will encourage women and men to explore other possibilities beyond traditional methods, settings and definitions of preaching.
We will explore crafting sermons to address current social issues and populations that have been marginalized by church and society, along with preaching that speaks to more traditional congregations.
The course will include methods of sermon preparation, delivery and lab experience where preaching will be shared with members of the class and during worship times.
Registration for this course is closed.
CourseCredits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: HM-2730 (credit); HM-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are three required textbooks for this course, which are available here.
Biblical Hebrew II
Instructor: Robert Kramish
Dates and Times: Three weeks: July 25-August 12, 9:00am-1:00pm.
Description: This is the second half of a six-week intensive course in which students will work through an entire first-year Hebrew grammar book, preparing them to enter an Intermediate Hebrew class upon completion of the course. Students who plan to take the entire course should sign up for both Hebrew I and Hebrew II. By the end of the two-part course, students will have acquired a command of the basic principles of Hebrew phonology, morphology and syntax. Students will be able to translate the text of the Hebrew Bible with the aid of lexicons and other grammatical resources.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 3.0 credits - $1980 / 4 CEUs - $690
Course Number: BS-1136 (credit); BS-0002 (CEUs)
Register for CEUs: (print step-by-step instructions) CEU Registration
Register for academic credit, non-GTU students: complete special student status application
Register for academic credit, GTU students: WebAdvisor (select your school)
Textbooks: There are four required books for this course, which are available here.
American Buddhisms: An Experiential Introduction
Instructor: Wakoh Shannon Hickey
Dates and Times: Two weeks: July 25-August 5, 5:30pm-9:30pm
Description: The United States is home to a tremendous variety of Buddhist traditions. This two-week course will introduce basic Buddhist doctrines and practices, provide a brief historical overview of Buddhism in the U.S., and include visits to Buddhist groups in the Berkeley area. Race dynamics will be an important theme of the course. Students will be asked to make a minimum of five site visits to Buddhist communities during the course--Pure Land, Ch'an, Theravada, Nichiren, Tibetan, and/or Zen--and to write brief reflection papers on them. A final exam will occur in class on the last evening. This course satisfies the PSR MDiv requirement for a course in a faith tradition other than Christianity. (This course includes a practicum field component, meeting both on- and off-campus.)
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 3.0 credits - $1980 / 4 CEUs - $690
Course Number: HR-1640 (credit); HR-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are two required, two recommended, and one optional book for this course, all of which are available here.
Saturday Workshop: Discernment Retreat for GTU Students
Instructor: Joellynn Monahan
Dates and Times: Saturday, July 30; 10am - 4pm
Description: As
a graduate student you balance academics, work, relationships,
self-care and participation in a faith community and/or spiritual
practice. It is also a time of intense growth and transformation full
of questions requiring your attention. Retreat time is a necessity, not
a luxury. Choose this day to center, reflect, and discern in
community. Bring all of who you are to engage the source of your faith
and share in the witness and collective wisdom of the gathered
community! An intentionally multi-faith retreat designed for current
GTU students who have completed at least one semester of study.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: - $80 (no CEUs available)
Course Number: SP-0003-01
August 1
Visual Arts in Worship: Taking It To The Next Level
Instructor: Michael Bausch
Dates and Times: One week: August 1-5, 9:00am-1:00pm.
Description: Many congregations are already using, or considering the use of a screen in worship. The challenges are many: how to make it even more interesting, where to find good resources, how to preach effectively with visual material, how to find affordable equipment, how to prioritize your time, and how to evaluate whether “to screen or not to screen.” This course will cover those issues and focus on how to find and present more visuals--art, photographs, video, and movie clips--to add interest and depth to worship and preaching themes in ways that are appropriate for any congregation. Class sessions will include participants sharing their own congregation’s experience with media, practicing new skills together, and using educational theory and theological reflection to examine the why, what, who, when, how and how much of multimedia/multimodal worship.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: FTRA-3780 (credit); FTRA-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are two required and three optional books for this course, which are available here.
Theology and Dance: Flesh in Flux
Instructor: Angel Mendez Montoya
Dates and Times: One week: August 1-5, 9:00am-1:00pm.
Description: By focusing on the complexities of bodily experience, and understanding the body as a non-univocal social construct that mirrors society´s notions of nature, biology, gender, sexuality, religion, and other concepts, women´s studies and queer studies in religion can deeply inspire dance theory. They can likewise learn from dance theory and performance studies by paying greater attention to concrete material practices of dancing bodies, reconceiving the implications of materiality and transcendence, theorizing and concrete bodily practices. Moreover, from the horizon of Christian experience, the body can be envisioned as the loving encounter between God and creation: a perpetually creating human-divine dance, the union of desires in living flesh in space and time. The methodology of this course will create a space for a transdisciplinary dialogue that is inclusive of a broad spectrum of voices from women´s studies, queer studies in religion, critical theory, dance theory, performance studies, philosophical theology, cultural and gender studies, among others. This course will also include analysis of the work of current relevant postmodern choreographers.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: RAST-2025 (credit); RAST-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are no required books for this course; students will read selections in a reader.
Saturday Workshop: Poetry as a Spiritual Practice
Instructor: Christina Hutchins
Dates and Times: Saturday, August 6; 10am - 4pm
Description: During
the first month after the Twin Towers fell, nearly a decade ago,
usually-obscure books of poetry rose to the tops of bestseller lists across the country. When we memorialize the living and dying of another beloved life, when we celebrate human birth, when a relationship fails or we fall in love, and even when we are lost to ourselves, we turn to poetry for nourishment, as a mode of sustenance that honors both the beauty and the tragedy of felt living. Poems provide comfort, joy and succor for the wild motions of our souls. Poetry is for human spirits.
Poetry is also of human spirits, and the making of poems can open us and free us into the flow of the Spirit.
This is a workshop for everyone who wants to spend an intense day creating new poems. Both utter beginners and advanced, published poets are invited to simultaneously develop the craft of poetry and deepen connections with the Spirit. We will spend the day loving language and loving the holy, and immersed in the flow of poems. The poetry of others will become part of us, and our own new poems will come into existence as we are gathered.
Registration for this workshop is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 0.5 CEUs - $80
Course Number: RA-0002 (CEUs)
August 8
The Art and Technique of Effective Academic Writing
Instructor: Laura Anderson
Dates and Times: One week: August 8-12, 9:00am-1:00pm
Description: This one-week writing course is designed to orient students to the primary types of academic writing they will be asked to do during their years at PSR and the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), including reflection papers, research papers, critical essays and exegetical papers. The course is intended to help students learn or “dust off” the writing skills they will need to succeed academically while in seminary.
Through classroom lectures and discussions, extensive in-class exercises, and brief homework assignments, participants will learn the art and technique of composing critical writing in a U.S. academic setting. Among other topics, this course will cover: developing a topic; identifying reliable resources; reading and note-taking; constructing a thesis; writing and revising the outline, body, introduction and conclusion of a paper; formatting footnotes and bibliography; and preparing an audience-oriented summary of a paper. Participants will also learn how to identify and use the resources of the GTU library. Finally, the course will introduce PSR’s Plagiarism Policy and will offer students strategies for avoiding plagiarism.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: IDS-1300 (credit); IDS-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There is one required book for this course, which is available here.
Theology of Creation: An Ecofeminist Approach
Instructor: Rosemary Radford Ruether
Dates and Times: One week: August 8-12, 9:00am-1:00pm.
Description: Despite its centrality in Christian theology, creation suffers from theological neglect as scientific views move ever farther away from classical and Biblical cosmologies. Though some turn away from Christianity in light of ecological conscience, others are recovering resources within the tradition to engage environmental challenges. This course attempts to grapple with ways in which an ecologically sensitive Christian theology might understand the God-Nature relationship, and particularly with ecofeminist Christianity. Among the questions the course will address are:
Ecofeminism and ecofeminist theologies respond to domination against women and against nature, including social class. How have traditional religious dichotomies expressed and reinforced these dominations? How does an ecofeminist critique promote a new cosmology of justice and earth healing? Does ecofeminism continue the stereotyping of women and lower classes and races as "closer to nature" than dominant men? Can it overcome these stereotypes? How has an anti-ecological view of the God-human-nature relation informed ideas about Creation, end times, sin and evil, church and redemption, and covenantal or sacramental views of Nature? Has such an anti-ecological bias also impacted resources for ecological sustainability?
This course integrates both theological concerns and concrete issues, such as air, water and soil pollution, climate change, agriculture, energy, resource wars over water and petroleum, and the systems of corporate globalization.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: RSST-2749 (credit); (CEUs) RSST-0001
Textbooks: There are two required textbooks for this course, which are available here.
Leading from Within: Creating Circles of Trust
Instructor: Faye Orton Snyder and Christina Hutchins
Dates and Times: One week: August 8-12, 1:30pm-5:30pm.
Description: Based on the pioneering work of Dr. Parker Palmer and the Center for Courage and Renewal, this course emphasizes the connection between identity and integrity, and the alignment of soul and role. lntegrating theory and practice, we will explore how to develop communities of trust that support us in our work.
Students will practice disciplines that uphold the rigors of the inner journey, as they also enrich their capacity to listen deeply in community, and maintain nonviolent practices in the face of complexity. There will be opportunities for writing, reflection, small-group interaction, and inclusion of poetry and stories from various wisdom traditions; we will also offer an opportunity to practice the countercultural process of the Clearness Committee. Most important, there will be consideration of how these practices may be integrated to enrich the life and vitality of the congregation or agency we serve.
Registration for this course is closed.
Course Credits & Cost: 1.5 credits - $990 / 2 CEUs - $345
Course Number: FTSP-2410 (credit); FTSP-0001 (CEUs)
Textbooks: There are three required books for this course, which are available here.
Courses by Length
One-Week Courses
One-week courses at Summer Session 2011 include:
- The Art and Technique of Effective Academic Writing with Laura Anderson
- Meditation: Theory and Practice with Americ Azevedo
- Visual Arts in Worship: Taking It To The Next Level with Michael Bausch
- Writing as a Healing Ministry with Sharon Bray
- U.S. Latino/a Theology and the LGBTQ Community with Orlando Espin
- Preaching Women: Examining the (Her)story and Role of Women Preachers and Enhancing Their Craft with Yvette Flunder
- The Long Journey: Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in the Biblical World with Jehon Grist
- Sexuality Issues for Religious Professionals with Debra Haffner
- Feminist Theological Ethics for Challenging Times with Mary Hunt
- Theology and Dance: Flesh in Flux with Angel Mendez Montoya
- Creative Writing Workshop with Pat Schneider
- Theology of Creation: An Ecofeminist Approach with Rosemary Radford Ruether
- Leading from Within: Creating Circles of Trust with Faye Orton Snyder and Christina Hutchins
Two-Week Courses
Two-week courses at Summer Session 2011 include:
- American Buddhisms: An Experiential Introduction with Wakoh Shannon Hickey
- Monastic Buddhism: Introduction to Its Theory and Practice with Martin Verhoeven and Chih Heng
- UCC History and Polity at General Synod 2011 with Randi Walker, Jason Donnelly, Melbalenia Evans, and K. Ray Hill
Three-Week Courses
- Biblical Hebrew I with Robert Kramish
- Biblical Hebrew II with Robert Kramish
- Introduction to Christian History with Jason Hamza Van Boom
Special Courses
Courses at UCC General Synod
- UCC History and Polity at General Synod 2011 with Randi Walker, Jason Donnelly, Melbalenia Evans, and K. Ray Hill
Immersion Courses
- Monastic Buddhism: Introduction to Its Theory and Practice with Martin Verhoeven and Chih Heng
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We reserve the right to change course descriptions, instructors, dates and hours of instruction, meeting places, and prices. In the event of a conflict between printed material and information on this Web site, the information on this Web site takes precedence. Courses that have been cancelled due to low enrollment may be absent from this list. Please contact the Summer Session Office for any questions regarding cancelled courses. Before registering please ensure that you have read the information included on the Registration and Logistics page, including information about refunds.
