Theology and Culture Concentration

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Whatever else is in view, the amazing diversity of expression in contemporary culture certainly raises a multi-faceted challenge for the Christian Faith.  Turmoil in the world of the arts and media is accompanied by (and in some ways reflected in) a debate within the Churches on appropriate worship styles and evangelistic methods.  Within this environment theological questions become ever more urgent:  How does one understand the theology of the church and worship in a way that can power a genuinely biblical and contextual congregational life?  How can one understand God's presence and activity in the context of modern cultural expressions? How can postmodernism provide resources for the study of theology in an Evangelical tradition? These questions force themselves upon us and will help shape the nature of theology and church life in the years ahead.

This concentration focuses on issues of theology and culture and makes use of resources present both in theology proper and practical theology, as well as those in the School of Intercultural Studies.  This concentration is proposed in the light of plans for a Center for Worship, Theology and the Arts, with its sub-concentrations in Film, Music, and the Visual Arts.  It is expected that related concentrations could be developed for these areas that would retain the central elements of the Theology and Culture Concentration we propose.

Major Concentration

PhD students majoring in Theology and Culture will take the following doctoral seminars as part of their major concentration:

1. Theology and Culture: Methods (Dyrness/Johnston)

2. one "Theology [TH8xx]" or "Christian Ethics [ET8xx]"[1] seminar

3. one seminar/Directed Reading from the following types of seminars dealing in an interdisciplinary fashion with Theology and Culture (list not exhaustive and subject to change):

a.  Worship, Theology and Art (Dyrness)

b.   Dante and Medieval Theology

c.  Theology and Contemporary Culture (Johnston)

d.  A Theology of Beauty (Johnston)

e.  Theological Uses of Postmodern Philosophy (Murphy)

f.  Postmodernity (Shenk)

4. Shape of Practical Theology[2] (faculty)

ThM students majoring in Theology and Culture will take:

1. (seminar) Theology and Culture: Methods (Dyrness/Johnston)

2. (Directed Reading) ThM Thesis

3. 8-units (in major field at either 500 or 800 level[3])

4. 24 units (in any field at either 500 or 800 level)

5. 1 research language

 Minor Concentration

 Although minors are optional, PhD students majoring in Theology and Culture are encouraged to take a minor concentration.  This minor will normally be in Practical Theology and will consist of the following two seminars/readings prior to Comprehensive Examinations:

1. Shape of Practical Theology (faculty)

2. Another Practical Theology seminar/Directed Reading, or a seminar/Directed Reading with Dr.  Eddie Gibbs on a subject related to Practical Theology

 If the minor concentration is not Practical Theology (e.g., ethics), two pre-Comp seminars/readings (i.e., seminars #5-6) will be taken in the minor field(s).  These are in addition to the four required seminars/read­­ings listed above for the major concentration.

Comprehensive Examinations

Four comprehensive exams will be taken after completing five seminars (or six if minor is not practical theology):

1. Theology and Culture: methodology

2. Theology or Christian Ethics

3. Interdisciplinary study of Theology and Culture

4. minor field or student’s sub-concentration

Research Languages

PhD students will complete two research languages (Spanish, French, or German). (Demonstrated expertise in the practice of one of the arts/cultural practices may on petition be substituted for one of the required modern languages.)  If no biblical languages were taken prior to entering the program, only one modern language will be required and the second research language should be Hebrew or Greek.

ThM students will complete one research language (options as above).

The Theology and Culture PhD degree is meant to be an integrative degree.  This means it is expected that students coming into the program will have a background both in theology and in one of the arts (e.g., dance) or some specific cultural practice (e.g., urban planning).  Such integration obviously needs to assume prior expertise in one of the arts or in a cultural practice, as these are not a part of the CATS curriculum.  Each of these areas moreover has its own measurable skill and standard of expertise that could be considered necessary to the student’s research and teaching goals.  Such skills may in fact be considered equivalent to the knowledge of a modern language—just as students working in practical theology might consider statistics important for their research, and therefore an appropriate alternative to a modern language. 

Therefore, a PhD student in the Theology and Culture concentration can petition the CATS Committee to substitute expertise in the practice of one of the arts or cultural practices for one of the two modern languages.  The student would also petition the CATS Committee to waive this “research language” requirement based on achievement in such a measurable skill.  Achievement in such a measurable skill would be determined in one of two ways:

1)                 By transcript evidence from am MFA program (which is a terminal studio degree concentrating in one of the arts) or its equivalent (e.g., MFA in painting, or and MA in screenwriting).

2)                 By a minimum of five years of professional experience in one of the arts (e.g., as a professional actor/mime/dancer) and/or appropriate publications, which would be evaluated according to the strength of the resume.

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