SMC Core Curriculum Course Proposal Form Fall 2013
Electronically submit this course form and attachments to the Chair of the CCC by
October 1. Please submit a separate proposal for each desired learning goal.
1. Name of Proposer: Michael Barram
2. Email address: mbarram@stmarys-ca.edu
3. Department/Program of Proposer: Theology & Religious Studies
4. Name of Department/Program housing the course: Theology & Religious Studies
5. Name(s) of Program Director/Department Chair (if not the proposer):
6. Course Acronym, Number and Title: TRS 189: “The Bible & Its Interpretation: Great
Themes”
7. Proposal is for All Sections of the course: _____ YES
Proposal is for instructor’s section(s) (Pathways to Knowledge only): _____
8. Course Prerequisites (if any): N/A
9. Unit Value of Course: 1
10. Mark with an X the Learning Goal for which the course is being proposed. (Please
submit a separate proposal for each desired goal.)
Pathways to Knowledge (at most one)
Artistic Understanding – Artistic Analysis only: ____
Artistic Understanding – Creative Practice only: ____
Artistic Understanding – Both Artistic Analysis and Creative Practice: ____
Mathematical Understanding: ____
Scientific Understanding: ____
Social, Historical, Cultural Understanding: ____
Christian Foundations: X
Theological Explorations: ____
Engaging the World (as appropriate, generally zero to two)
American Diversity: ____
Common Good: ____
Community Engagement: ____
Global Perspectives: ____
**Brief course description, including learning goals, assessment methods, and
reading list
Course Description: Intended for junior transfers (16.0+ entering credits), this
course focuses on the Bible, the sacred scriptures of the Jewish and Christian
peoples, texts that have had a profound influence on religion, art, politics, and
culture for over two thousand years. This course will introduce students to the
most important biblical texts and themes, focusing especially on the Torah and the
Gospels, and will teach students to employ critical, scholarly tools for reading and
interpretation. In addition, each section of this course will focus on a special
CCC Course Proposal Form
2013-2014
September 4th, 2013
issue, theme, or question that appears in a diversity of biblical texts and that
moves beyond the Bible to modern relevance or implications (e.g., justice,
politics, liturgy, theodicy, art). Co-curricular lectures are an integral part of this
class.
**Brief course rationale (relation to current departmental curriculum):
The new core curriculum requires a course on biblical interpretation for all
students under the “Christian Foundations” section of the Theological
Understanding goal. For the large majority of students, this course will be TRS
097, “The Bible & Its Interpretation”, which offers an introduction to both the
Bible and to academic methods of biblical criticism. The college, however, has
long faced the issue of junior transfers who cannot take lower-division courses
and still graduate on time. This course is intended as an upper-division version of
TRS 097. TRS 189 is an upper-division course owing to a higher expectation of
knowledge, a higher expectation of critical reading skill, and the addition of a
central thematic question that runs throughout the course.
Prerequisites (if any): none
Number and type of students expected (Majors? Minors? Fulfilling area
requirements? General interest?): This course will be populated with junior
transfer students (16.0+ entering credits) who must (in the new core) fulfill the
“Christian Foundations” requirement with a course at SMC, but who also need
upper-division course credit to graduate on time.
TEACHING
TRS 189: “The Bible & Its Interpretation: Great Themes”
In TRS 189, we will teach the broad core curriculum outcome #1 through the following
specific course outcomes (as numbered in the syllabus):
Learning Goals: At the end of this course, students will:
1. Know the major themes and characters of the Torah, including Abraham,
Moses, and the Covenant;
2. Know the major themes and characters of at least two of the Gospels;
3. Demonstrate knowledge of Catholic hermeneutical perspectives on the Bible as
a divine and human product;
7. Be able to articulate the ongoing relevance of the Bible with regard to the focal
issue, theme, or question of the course.
In this context, students will be required to spend significant amounts of time reading the
assigned biblical texts, which will be the focus of lectures and discussions in the class.
CCC Course Proposal Form
2013-2014
September 4th, 2013
Lectures and discussions will examine texts in their own integrity and also in dialogue
with the Catholic theological understanding of the overarching biblical narrative, the
Catholic hermeneutical perspectives on Scripture, and the modern relevance of the text.
In TRS 189, we will teach the broad core curriculum outcomes #2 and #3 through the
following specific course outcomes (as numbered in the syllabus):
4. Be able to articulate ways in which the Bible is dialogical, containing multiple
voices;
5. Be able to employ advanced critical reading skills, covering both diachronic
(i.e., historical-critical) and synchronic (e.g., literary, theological)
methods;
6. Demonstrate an ability to use one or more of the standard tools in the study of
the Bible (e.g., marginal notes, commentaries, concordances);
In this context, secondary source readings, practice with interpretive tools, and
lectures/activities/assignments geared toward the understanding and practice of historicalcritical methods will ensure that students learn how to read biblical texts in their
appropriate historical and literary contexts.
LEARNING
TRS 189: “The Bible & Its Interpretation: Great Themes”
As a course with a common core but varied instructors, TRS 189 does not have a fixed
assignment for each outcome. Instead, we have stipulated the appropriate kinds of
assignments that we will individually construct for each outcome. Course outcomes #1-3,
like core curriculum outcome #1, ask students to demonstrate knowledge about particular
topics on both the micro- and macro-levels. Instructors will measure this student
knowledge through targeted written assignments and/or specific short-answer questions
given on quizzes/exams. Course outcomes #4-6, like core curriculum outcomes #2 and
#3, ask students to employ methods and tools in contextualizing biblical passages.
Instructors will measure this student ability through substantive essay writing (in the
context, for example, of an exam or paper). Course outcome #7, like the final element of
core curriculum #1, asks students to reflect on the implications and relevance of the text.
Instructors will measure this student reflection through essay writing, whether in daily
assignments, a larger paper, or an exam.
CCC Course Proposal Form
2013-2014
September 4th, 2013