WS 613 SPIRITUAL FOUNDATIONS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE, FALL 2017 (Tentative) Instructor: Dr Susan Fowler Email: susan.fowler@aya.yale.edu Phone (203) 868-9829 Course Description What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 This prescription sums up life in the Spirit: A faithful disposition of heart, a practice of right relating, and an orientation toward the Holy One. In this context, justice and compassion are cornerstones of the spiritual life and the foundations of social transformation. As spiritual values, these are understood in the context of covenants of mutuality, inclusion and egalitarianism that foster right ordering of relationships. As transformative practices, they encompass a dialectical relationship between individuals and society, within which is an awareness of ways in which the dominant culture could be reordered to reflect life-enhancing values and just social systems. In this course, we will explore how these virtues cooperate in an engaged spirituality, grounded in the Holy One and attentive to the needs of a suffering world, in both personal and political contexts by 1) contemplating how they are embodied and operative in our own spiritual lives, and 2) analyzing a situation of oppression and injustice with a critical and compassionate eye, proposing solutions which are transformative, life-giving and just. Learning goals. In this framework, you will: 1.. Demonstrate knowledge and skills for dialogical and constructive engagement with diversity: i.e. acquire knowledge of the theological, philosophical and spiritual understandings of justice and compassion in a variety of secular and religious traditions, and explore how these are operative in the frameworks of common course readings and films, case studies and your personal spirituality. 2. Demonstrate the ability to relate theory and practice in the social contexts in which religious communities exist: i.e. learn to identify and critically analyze a situation of oppression and injustice, identify clues to the common elements that arise from a core of justice, compassion and spiritual groundedness, and propose remedies for those situations in ways that are life giving and transformative. 3. Explore how your personal spirituality impacts your way of being in the world in the personal and communal arenas. Required Texts Cimperman, Maria. Social Analysis for the 21 st Century. Maryknoll, NY. Orbis. 2105 Eyerman, Ron. Is This America? Katrina as Cultural Trauma. Austin TX, Univ of Texas Press. 2015 O Connell, Maureen. Compassion: Loving our Neighbor in an Age of Globalization. Maryknoll, NY. Orbis Books. 2009
Assessment expectations and percentages of grade. Discussion Board assignments: 60% a. Your post response to the prompt question should be 2-3 good size paragraphs (but not more than 200 words) and addressed specifically to the question being asked. b. Your response to two of your classmates posts should be no more than one paragraph (100 words max) (a suggestion is to offer a question for futher reflection, or request clarification, etc). c. Do not submit in Word.docx format: write your response directly to DBd. Final Paper:40%. Specific guidelines will be forthcoming as we approach the end of term. Assignment due dates: All modules open on previous Friday before the next week s module starts. Your DBd posts are due the following Thursday at 11:59pm. Responses to your peers are due on Friday by 5pm). Attendance Policy This course is asynchronous i.e. you do not have to log on at a particular time to do assignments, although you do have a firm submission date for assignments (see above). If you are unable to submit on time, please communicate that to me in advance so that we can make alternate arrangements. Please note that late posting is a one-time option, so be very judicious as to how you use that privilege. In the event that you have not made alternate arrangements with me, your post will not be accepted and you will receive a score of 60/100 for that week. Office hours: by appointment, either via email or by telephone. A Note About Plagiarism In all assignments it is assumed that what is submitted is the student s own original work. Plagiarism is strictly forbidden. As described in the Hartford Seminary General Guidelines for a Research Paper, plagiarism occurs when students submit another person s work, lift paragraphs, sentences, or even a choice phrase from another writer, or make use of another person s ideas (even if the student puts these ideas in his/her own words) without acknowledging the source. A related kind of dishonesty is to resubmit a paper which was done for a different course, even if it is the student s own work. These practices are not permitted at Hartford Seminary. They will be reported to the Dean s Office and may result in disciplinary action. If a paper is found to contain plagiarism, the minimum penalty will be failing that assignment, with no opportunity to rewrite. Resources: further information about these and other questions, concerns, etc. re: seminary policies can be found at: http://www.hartsem.edu/current-students/student-handbook
PART I: HOW SHALL WE LIVE? WS 613 SYLLABUS The Invitation to Compassion; the Call to Transformation; the Mandate of Justice Sep 5 The Invitation to Compassion View: Joan Halifax, Compassion and the True Meaning of Empathy http://www.ted.com/talks/joan.halifax A Buddhist Meditation on Lovingkindness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz7cpv7ersm Readings: Dalai Lama, The Ethic of Compassion. (In Ethics for the New Millennium) PDF Seppala, Self Compassion (PDF) Complete Exercise at end of Seppala article: How Self-compassionate are you? Practice: Tara Brach Sacred Pause. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-yf9emke88 Sep 9 The Call to Transformation Reading: Ellsberg, Thomas Merton: Contemplation and Compassion (PDF) Cimperman, Ch.1,2 Rothberg, Awakening for All Beings: Buddhism and Social Transformation in J Ruffing, ed. Mysticism and Social Transformation. Syracuse Univ Press 2001 (PDF) Sep 16 Philosophies of Compassion Reading: O Connell, Ch.1, 2 View: Dalai Lama on Compassion http://www.dalailama.com/messages/compassion Sep 23 Theologies of Compassion Reading: O Connell, Ch.3 Nabe, Raiyah. Sowing Seeds of Love, Reaping Blossoms of Compassion In Presence Magazine. Vol.20 #2, June 2014 (PDF) View/ listen: Mathieu Ricard Meditation on Altruistic Love and Compassion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unx4fqqm6vi Sep 30 Justice, Power and the Dominant Paradigm: Perspective from Wisdom Traditions Readings: Donahue, Biblical Perspectives on Justice (PDF) Shakir, Peace and Justice in Islam (PDF) Winter, Toward a Feminist Wisdom Spirituality of Justice/Well-being (PDF) Oct 7 Justice, Power and the Dominant Paradigm: Feminist and Philosophical Perspectives Readings: Russell, Letty. Justice and Social Change (PDF) Fowler, Enlightenment Origins of the Dominant Paradigm (PDF) Dorr, Structural Injustice (PDF) and Challenge from the Third World (PDF) in Dorr, Spirituality and Justice New York, Orbis Book 1984 Sandel, Justice and the Common Good (PDF)
PART II COMPASSION AND JUSTICE AS PRAXIS Oct 14 Listening to Voices on the Margins: Hurricane Katrina Case Study Reading: Cimperman, Ch.3 Sheri Fink, The Deadly Choices at Memorial http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/magazine/30doctors.html/ View: PBS Television, Frontline: Katrina 10 years later- three documentaries (choose one) http://pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/katrina-10-years-later-three-documentaries-to-watch/ Oct 21 Compassion as Interruption: Political Theology of Johann Baptist Metz Reading: O Connell, Ch.5 Oct 27 After Katrina: Political Compassion in Social Disasters Reading: O Connell, Ch.6 PART III TRANSFORMATION Nov 3 Cultural Trauma I (DBd to be determined) Reading: Eyerman, Intro and Parts 1 and 2) Additional reading to be assigned Nov 10 Cultural Trauma II: Forgiveness, reconciliation and restorative justice View/Listen: Margaret Farley, Forgiveness in the Service of Justice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_puv3pda Reading: Fowler: Excursis on Evil and Radical Suffering (PDF) Nov 20 27 Reading days and Thanksgiving Vacation: no classes Dec 1 Transforming the Jericho Road: a reprise of the Good Samaritan Readings: O Connell, Ch.7 Finish Eyerman Dec 8 Social Analysis Reading: Cimperman, Ch. 4 8 Dec 15 Continue work on Final Paper Dec. 21 FINAL PAPER DUE
WS 613 SPIRITUAL FOUNDATIONS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE, FALL 2017 ( TENTATIVE) WEEKLY DISCUSSION BOARD ASSIGNMENTS Sep 1 Transformation Merton, Rothberg and Cimperman stress similar themes regarding the relationship between contemplation/awareness, the experience of personal suffering and the practice of compassionate and just acts. In what ways do these resonate with your own life experience and professional practice? Sep 8 Compassion as Disposition This week s assignment is a reflection on how self-compassionate you believe yourself to be, as seen through the dual lenses of your personal experience and the wisdom from several of the world s faith traditions. Using the framing questions at the end of the Seppala reading ( How self-compassionate are you? ) as guide, reflect on your own self-compassion. Sep 15 Philosophies of Compassion O Connell notes that in order to love our neighbor in a global age, we must perfect our capacity to perceive others in their affliction, be willing to interpret injustice from this perspective, and actively commit to creating new relationships that can transform the neighbor, ourselves and society. Using her tripartite model, respond to the questions: Who is my neighbor? What does it mean to love him or her? What does compassion require? Sep 22 Theologies of Compassion In Chapter 3, O Connell explores the relationship of compassion and politically dangerous discipleship and its relationship to social transformation, and describes the encounter with others as profoundly affected by both globalization and radical inequality. Identify the factors and failures of these, and assess her solutions for how we may develop new constructs for responding as compassionate neighbors. Sep 29 Justice, Power and the Dominant Paradigm: Perspectives from Wisdom Traditions The theme for this week and next is about the nature and kinds of power and their relationship to justice, social change and structural injustice. For this week, compare and contrast the similarities and differences in each faith tradition s understandings of justice and power. Oct 6 Justice, Power and the Dominant Paradigm: Feminist and Philosophical Perspectives Synthesize major themes of readings; then use these to propose a response or assessment to the traditional faith traditions understandings of justice, power and the dominant paradigm. Oct 13: Listening to the voices on the Margins. In the coming weeks, we ll be exploring aspects of political compassion in social disasters by doing a social analysis. As O Connell and others point out, this begins by understanding the facts and interconnections about the event and listening to the voices and stories of those most affected. As you read and listen this week, immerse yourself into the events surrounding the Katrina disaster. What most struck you about what you heard and read in those voices and stories?
Oct 20 Compassion as Interruption This week s reading deepens our understandings of the intimate connection between the personal and communal. Using the elements of Johann Metz s hermeneutic of Interruption that embraces a theology, process and praxis in the task of human self-realization and meaningmaking in a context of historical consciousness, identify and assess the effectiveness of his hermeneutic of a character of corrective to understand the facts and interconnections about the Katrina event. Oct 27 After Katrina: Political Compassion in Social Disasters Assess the efficacy of O Connell s three part praxis of political compassion in addressing the Katrina event. Nov 3 Cultural Trauma I DBd TBD Nov 10 Cultural Trauma II: Radical Hospitality (DBd assignment to be determined) At its heart, radical hospitality is a transformative act and a political stance: its power to heal and transform individuals, communities, social systems and the world. Reflect on a time in your own professional, communal or family life in which you experienced inclusion/exclusion, receiving/rejecting, listening/turning away. What was your response? How might (or could) it be transformed into one of hope? Nov 20-26 Reading Days and Thanksgiving Break Dec 1 Forgiveness, reconciliation and restorative justice Farley s thesis is that forgiveness as such must never outweigh or replace the need for justice; but actions of justice must not obscure openness and readiness of the human heart to receive it. Assess her argument and respond to these questions: in light of relentless injustice, has the possibility of forgiveness died? Must restitution and restorative justice and their actions be necessary conditions in order for forgiveness to be given? Dec 8 Transforming the Jericho Road O Connell sums up her book by offering an experiential vision of justice as a way of being in the world. Having read all that came before it, assess her belief that political compassion and a new global ethic can interrupt and transform injustice. Incorporating her view and your understanding of justice and the dominant paradigm (cf. previous readings), what is your own vision of how a new global ethic based on justice can transform the world? Dec 15 Prepare and turn in a draft of final paper, using major points in detailed outline form. Dec 21: Final paper due. Upload to link.