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Teaching to Justice: Christian Faculty Seek “Shalom” in Different Disciplines

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Teaching to Justice: Christian Faculty Seek “Shalom” in Different Disciplines Teaching To Justice: Christian Faculty Seek “Shalom” In Different Disciplines Editor: Julia Stronks, J.D. Ph.D. Director, Lives of Commitment Project Whitworth University [email protected] Copyright 2008 Julia K. Stronks 1 Table of Contents Introduction Pg. 4 Nicholas Wolterstorff on Shalom Pg. 5 Julia K. Stronks, Whitworth University Teaching to Justice: Introduction Educating Students in North American Christian Higher Education Pg. 7 from Privilege Toward Social Justice Andrew Christian van Gorder, Baylor University Just Pedagogy: The Spirit, the Self, and the Other Pg. 30 Jean Corey, Messiah College Emerson Powery, Lee University “Only Connect”: The Social Action and Justice (SAAJ) Program Pg. 37 at Pepperdine University Maire Mullins, Lee Ann Carroll, Jeff Banks, Pepperdine University Teaching to Justice: International Education Whitworth Central America Study Program: Pg. 48 IDI (Intercultural Developmental Inventory) Mary A. Alberts, Whitworth University Learning from Inequity: A Case Study in International Education Pg. 51 Pamela Corpron Parker, Whitworth University Teaching to Justice: Theology Moving from Sunday Mornings to Every Square Inch Pg. 56 Matthew Kaemingk, Princeton Seminary student at time of writing A “Women and Faith” Class Engaged in On-line Dialogue With Middle Eastern Women Sister Martha Ann Kirk, University of the Incarnate Word Pg. 62 Certificate in Urban Congregational Ministry Pg. 79 Tim Dolan, Whitworth University 2 Teaching to Justice: Economics Doing “Good” and Doing “Well”: Shalom in Christian Business Pg. 83 Education Smith, Steen & VanderVeen , Hope College Reprinted with permission from the Christian Business Academy Review The Spokane Neighborhood Action Program (SNAP) Project Pg. 94 Douglas F. Laher, Whitworth University Teaching to Justice: Theatre Re/Creating Communities: Case Studies in Pg. 99 Community-Based Theatre Brooke Keiner, Whitworth University Theatre Freshman Seminar Pg.116 Diana Trotter, Whitworth University Teaching to Justice: Oral History The “Whitworth Rock”, Japanese American Alumni, and Pg.123 other Issues of Justice Janet Hauck, Whitworth University Teaching to Justice: Math and Computer Science Preparing for a Career in Mathematics and Computer Science Pg.129 Donna Pierce and Peter A. Tucker, Whitworth University Teaching to Justice: Communications Being George Pg.137 Virginia Whitehouse, Whitworth University Teaching to Justice: Education Literature and Shalom: Teaching Freshman Students to Read Pg.141 Deborah Bowen, Redeemer University Starbucks, Education and Literacy Pg.153 Lisa Laurier, Whitworth University 3 A Call for Reaching the “Least of These”: A Conceptual Framework for Equipping Educational Leaders to Reach the Marginalized Peoples of the World Linda D. Grooms, Regent University, Laurie R. Matthias, Trinity International University, Louis B. Gallien, Jr., Regent University Pg.157 Teaching to Justice: Biology The Biology of HIV/AIDS: A Case Study in Pg.172 Community Engagement Frank Caccavo, Jr., Whitworth University 4 Introduction In 1999 I attended a conference that had a profound impact on my life as a teacher-scholar. As a tenured political science professor at Whitworth University, two books under my belt and a decent reputation with students, I was nonetheless uneasy with the professional life I was living. I love the law and I taught a lot of law-related courses. I was at an institution that valued the perspective I brought to faith and political life— everything should have been wonderful. Still, I was restless, searching for meaning, and I began to think about returning to the practice of law which I had left years earlier. Then, things changed. The conference I attended was called “The Good News About Injustice” put on by the International Justice Mission. Gary Haugen’s book of the same name had just been released and IJM was a new organization in Washington D.C. dedicated to freeing enslaved children from bondage around the world. I attended it because I thought I would get some information about lawyers doing justice work in different fields, but what I received was a powerful new way to think about the work I was already doing. I have grown up in the Reformed Christian tradition and I know all the right words about teaching through the eyes of faith. My scholarship integrated faith and learning in my field and I was known on our campus as a leader in this type of thinking. But, at this conference, at the age of 39, I suddenly “got it.” The Christian life is about loving God with all my heart, soul and mind, and loving my neighbor as myself. It may sound silly but I had never really thought this through with respect to my vocation as a professor. Nicholas Wolterstorff was one of the keynote speakers at the conference and his words and guidance have changed my teaching. These days, working toward God’s shalom in this broken but redeemed world characterizes all that I do in the classroom. And, I am always on the lookout for others that can challenge me and share with me their perspectives on this task. This collection of “Teaching to Justice” projects demonstrates that Christian faculty all over the country are working to help students understand the role they can have as agents of shalom. These faculty are eager to share their work in the hope that others will join the effort. Julia K. Stronks, J.D. Ph.D. Whitworth University 5 Nicholas Wolterstorff on Justice and Shalom Julia K. Stronks, Whitworth University Nicholas Wolterstorff is the Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. He has written over a dozen books on topics from aesthetics to politics, and he is known internationally for his commitment to the pursuit of God’s shalom. Recently most of Wolterstorff’s speeches have been collected in two books, Educating for Life and Educating for Shalom, both edited by Clarence Joldersma and Gloria Goris Stronks of Calvin College. In his writing, Wolterstorff makes a plea for Christians to consider the unique task of a Christian educational institution. In these days of accreditation, concerns about academic excellence, diversity, culture wars and the explosion of technology, it is all too easy for Christians to get caught up in the academic discourse of every other educational institution in the country. Writing from a Reformed Christian perspective, Wolterstorff challenges Christian educators to be different. In doing so, Wolterstorff invokes the claim of the Dutch Christian prime minister and theologian Abraham Kuyper: “No single piece of our mental world is to be hermeneutically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: “Mine’” --Abraham Kuyper Wolterstorff argues that the task of a Christian college is to seek God’s justice in all the disciplines. He explains, “What I mean is that we must not just teach about justice – though we must; I mean we must teach for justice. The graduate whom we seek to produce must be one who practices justice.” Grounding his plea in Biblical guidance, Wolterstorff provides six theological principles as foundation for his argument. 1) A Good Creation What God produced was good. “God’s intent was that we would flourish, that we would find our shalom, in this world. And flourish in spite of the incursions of evil into this created order. God has not abandoned the creation; on the contrary, Christ’s resurrection is the vindication of the created order.” (Educating for Shalom, p. 280) God is working within humanity for the world’s maintenance and even progress through his redemptive and common grace. 2) The holistic effects of evil and sin. Sin impacts our will, our reason, our technology, our discourse, our relationships, our social structures, all of created is depraved. 6 3) The holistic scope of Christ’s redemption. God as the creator of all things has made himself the redeemer and reconciler of all things fallen. 4) Authentic faith is not an addendum to our lives but is holistic and pervasive It is the “fundamental orientation and energizer of our lives. Authentic faith transforms us…[however] The scope of divine redemption is not just the saving of lost souls but the renewing of life as a whole, and beyond that, the renewing of all creation.” 5) God’s Sovereignty over All of Life “…the scriptures are a guide not just to salvation but to our walk in the world – to the fundamental character of our walk. They are a comprehensive guide.” 6) His “Lordship must remain over all life” It “cannot be closed up within church walls or Christian circles.” If our God “works in the world, then there [we] must put our hand to the plow so that there too the Name of the Lord is glorified.” Basing his perspective on these principles, Wolterstorff argues that the Christian university should work to teach three things. First, students have to understand the modern day dynamics of capitalism, nationalism, and religious diversity. Universities must help students think through what Scripture has to tell us about these things. Second, we have to give students alternative ways of thinking and living in the modern world. We need to ask “what should be the goals of medicine, and of law, and of business, and of farming, and of education, and of recreation?... we must struggle to see to it that no one of these sectors dominates our life as a whole – that our life together does not become economized or politicized or whatever; and that each sector pursues goals leading to health rather than illness.” (p.98) And, third, students must see that a commitment to justice should impact our world locally and globally. We must work to be sure that the weak and the sick and the young are protected from oppression and that they also have a voice in our communities.
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