|
On this page you will
find information on the evaluated assignments for HDS 1202
But first: A word about grades and grading during an ongoing public health crisis. Even in the best of times, grades have a pernicious effect on learning in the K-12 and university classroom, much less at the tail end (?) of a global pandemic. I am not a fan of grades or grading. But I understand that students often require grades in order to advance in our current academic and professional climate. I shall use the calculations below, generously apportioned, in order to assign you a grade at the end of the semester. Students who would like to take this class pass/fail are more than welcome to do so. All written work should be turned in through Canvas and will be returned through Canvas. You will find initial assignment dates below: you can turn in each assignment any time after that date until the last week of class. You can also revise and resubmit written work until the last week of class, in consultation with the professor and your teaching fellow. |
1. Discussion section participation (20%). The goal of discussion sections is to create a cooperative learning environment where students can help each other better understand and interrogate the readings and topics for the week. Even before the global pandemic disrupted “normal” classroom participation, we have all found different ways to participate comfortably and effective in this cooperative learning endeavor. Your own participation can be satisfied by any of these means that you find suit your own pedagogical and accessibility needs: a. Section attendance: Showing up and speaking in discussion in a way that helps you and your classmates better understand and interrogate the readings and topics for the week. b. Forum posting before section: Posting your thoughts about readings and topics in advance of discussion section so your discussion leader(s) can incorporate your thoughts into discussion. c. Forum posting after discussion section: Posting your thoughts about readings, topics, and discussion after discussion to create a space for your and your classmates to digest what you have all grappled with. d. Responding to forum posts, before or after discussion: Generating discussion and response online to your classmates, either in advance of section or to continue discussion throughout the semester. Ideally, you will find a way to participate in some modality each week: by attendance, forum posting, or responding on forums. 2. Movie response (20%). Available to submit beginning in week three (February 10). The goal of this assignment is to evaluate ways that Jesus can be understood through the various pieces of surviving evidence and how he can be adapted to current cultural and social circumstances. Write a critical response to the movie King of Kings (1927) in 500-750 words. (You can access the film through Kanopy; you may be asked to log in using your Harvard Key). You can learn more about this film here. What is surprising about how the director portrays Jesus? How does he use citation from the New Testament? For whom would you imagine this Jesus would resonate? Choose one scene to describe in detail that you think captures DeMille's version of Jesus. 3. "Meet Paul!" (20%). Αvailable to submit beginning in week seven (March 10). The goal of this assignment to is synthesize the information you have about the apostle Paul based on his writings and writings about him (from antiquity and modernity). You have been asked to write a candid letter of evaluation for the apostle Paul in 500-750 words. Your evaluation should explain who Paul is (in as much detail as you can), what he does, and how he does it. You may include things you have heard about Paul but you should distinguish these details from things you have heard from Paul (although you may also express skepticism about Paul's own self-presentation). Your evaluation may also contain recommendations on how Paul can improve his performance. 4. Noncanonical analysis (20%). Available to submit beginning in week eight (March 24). The goal of this assignment is to critically engage with assumptions about canon and institutional authenticity. Choose one of the following noncanonical texts which circulated among Christians in the first centuries but were not included among the canon of New Testament texts. In 500-750 words provide the following: a. a brief description of the contents of the text (if there are aspects that are unclear or ambiguous, you can indicate that: you don't need to demonstrate complete understanding of the text!) b. discussion of how it is similar to and different from texts included in the canonical New Testament c. speculation on why such a text might have been appealing to early Christian readers and why it might have been excluded from the canon of the New Testament texts | further information Infancy Gospel of Thomas | Bible Odyssey Protevangelium of James | NASSCAL Gospel of Peter (fragment) | James Tabor Acts of Thomas | Wikipedia Gospel of Judas | Bible Odyssey Paul's correspondence with Seneca | NASSCAL 5. Final project (20%). Due May 6 (graduating students) or May 13 (everyone else). You have a choice of several final projects, the goal of all of them is to give you space to synthesize information from across the semester while pursuing your own interests and questions around the New Testament. All students are welcomed and encouraged to meet with the professor early and often to discuss options! a. Annotated bibliography. Choose any topic we have covered (or that you have developed an interest in) related (broadly!) to the New Testament and develop a bibliography that would help you research this topic further. Items on the bibliography should have brief annotations indicating how you understand the topic. You do not need to read everything on the bibliography, just become familiar with the contents! The bibliography should have at least ten items; at least two should be books and at least two should be journal articles (or essays in academic collections). You can find tools for developing your bibliography on the links & resources page. b. Exegesis or homily. Choose a passage (no more than one chapter) from a canonical text and develop a persuasive interpretation of that passage in 1000-2000 words. Your audience may be scholarly (an exegesis) or confessional (a homily); either way you must indicate in a brief paragraph how you envision your audience and why you think your interpretation will be persuasive to them. Your interpretation should rely on some additional sources, including resources we used in class or resources you find on your own (you will find some tools for finding resources on the links & resources page); your sources should be persuasive to the audience you envision. c. Writing-back. Imagine you are a member of community that has received one of the letters we read for this class from the New Testament (1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, 1 Timothy, 1-2 John, James, or any of the seven communities in Revelation). You have the opportunity to write a response on behalf of yourself and select members of your community. Craft a response in 1000-1500 words that engages with what you understand to be the original letter's arguments; you don't have to respond to all of a letter, but may choose to reply to certain passages or arguments. You can agree or disagree with the letter writer, but your position must be grounded in your understanding of how a member of this community might react and respond. d. Academic books review. Choose an academic book written in the past twenty years on some aspect of the New Testament and a write a professional review of this book in 750-1500 words. A professional academic review contains the following: - a concise summary of the contents and arguments of the book - an analysis of which arguments were persuasive and which were not - a context for the book's arguments (what are the larger issues/conversations with which it engages?) - identification of the prime audiences for this book Your review should be honest but collegial (imagine you will have to read it out loud to the book's author). e. Creative apocrypha. In whatever medium you feel comfortable working, create an apocryphal "text" that responds to your own concerns, questions, or confusions surrounding the New Testament. You can write in a biblical genre or a modern genre, or you can work in a nontextual medium. Your creative apocrypha must be accompanied by a 500 word explanation of the inspiration for your apocrypha and the creative choices you made in creating in. |