DESCRIPTION:

The concept of the "everyday" has emerged as one of the post/modern culture's favorite themes. Ethics has also become a fashionable intellectual fetish. This class is designed to probe the meanings wired in the ambiguities of life in the `City': lifestyle dreams, mobility, time and consumption. We are still chasing Socrates' famous quip, that "the unexamined life isn't worth living." How can disciples and citizens contribute to the enchantment of the City? Why should we care? The impact on culture of such influential inventions as the watch and automobile, and of such fundamental institutions as the shopping mall and suburbia, require ethical reflection. This will include reference to the main traditions of Christian moral inquiry, immersion in cultural contexts of the everyday, and celebration of God and the city.

1. Identify central features of contemporary city life and assess their power in culture;

2. Develop the nuances of a theological and ethical approach to daily life;

3. Connect issues of ethics and society more concretely; and

4. Discern crucial implications for mission in city and church.

The course will meet twice weekly for four-hour sessions and will include presentations, workgroups, discussions, readings, and field trips. This class is designed in seminar style and presumes an interactive environment.

Banks, Robert and R. Paul Stevens. The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity. InterVarsity Press, 1997.

Dorrien, Gary. Soul in Society. Fortress Press, 1995.

1. A 3-5 page ethical reflection on your group assignment to: (1) dispensing for a period of with using your watch or car; (2) taking a hermeneutical walk about a shopping mall or suburb. This report must be on a different area than the theme of your final paper. In addition to the reflection paper, there will be a group presentation, delivering the insights of your reflections on your subject area.

2. A 6-8 page discussion of any one of the modern pressures studied in the course in a form suitable for submission to a serious Christian periodical or as an address to a thoughtful audience in church and community.

3. A notebook collection of materials from periodicals and media resources relating to the subject areas included in the course.

4. 1,200 pages of reading (or customized alternative learning arranged with Instructor). Method of evaluation for required reading will be specified in course introduction.

None.

Elective.

None.