SMC Core Curriculum Course Proposal Form
1. Name of Proposer: Michael Barram
2. Email address: mbarram@stmarys-ca.edu
3. Department/Program of Proposer: Theology & Religious Studies (TRS)
4. Name of Department/Program housing the course: TRS
5. Name(s) of Program Director/Department Chair: Michael Barram
6. Course Acronym, Number and Title: TRS 117: “Wealth and Poverty in the Bible”
7. Semester(s) in which course will be offered: Fall or Spring (varies by year)
8. How often is this course taught? At least once per year
9. Course Prerequisites (if any): TRS 97: “The Bible and Its Interpretation”
10. Unit Value of Course: 1.0
11. Proper Audience for the course (delete those that don’t apply):
Sophomores Juniors Seniors (A spring-semester freshman, having
completed TRS 97 in the fall, could feasibly take the course.)
12. The Learning Goals for which the course is being submitted

Common Good
COMMON GOOD – TEACHING
A brief narrative (300 words) that explains how the course will guide students
toward achieving the Learning Goal. The CCC believes it would be simplest both for
the proposer and for the Working Groups if the narrative addressed the Learning
Outcomes one by one.
TRS 117: “Wealth and Poverty in the Bible”
1. Articulate, in prose or through another communicative medium, a critical account
of just social order.
This course focuses on a wide range of biblical texts (e.g., Pentateuch, Prophets, and
Gospels) that pertain to biblical values, assumptions, policies, and teachings related
to money, wealth, poverty, and economic justice—and the implied worldviews and
social arrangements relative to the “common good” that such texts reflect and seek
to engender. We seek to unpack not merely the content and contexts of the biblical
texts (and some basic skills requisite for academic biblical
interpretation/hermeneutics), but also the anthropological assumptions and religioethical and socio-economic values that undergird and inspire the texts. And we
reflect carefully and repeatedly on modern issues regarding poverty, wealth, power,
and economic diversity/justice as a means to help us explore even more fruitfully
biblical texts. In short, we explore throughout the class what a just socio-economic
order might look like (beginning with biblical texts and traditions), focusing intently
on what biblical values might provide in terms of a point of comparison and
dialogue relative to our contemporary economic assumptions, values, and policies.
We consider the impact of social location in interpretation, the nature and effect of
power differentials in society (e.g., in both economics and religion), social and
economic inequities (and their roots and potential remedies), and so forth.
Lectures, discussions, and the books we read in the course (in addition to the
Bible—i.e., Shipler’s The Working Poor; Labberton’s The Dangerous Act of Loving
Your Neighbor; and Rieger’s No Rising Tide), as well as videos (e.g., “Isle of Flowers”;
“Romero”; “The Story of Stuff”), online readings, and the 1986 U.S. Catholic Bishops’
Pastoral Letter, “Economic Justice for All” (among other resources), provide
students with a range of perspectives regarding what a just social order might look
like from within the framework of a biblical and/or Judeo-Christian worldview or
value system. In the process of learning about the strange world of biblical economic
justice, students develop the ability to compare and analyze our own socioeconomic perspectives. They end the course well prepared to articulate, in prose
and in oral conversation, an analytical account of just social order—in critical
dialogue with the course material.
2. Demonstrate a capacity for coherent, principled analysis of concrete social
problems.
As part of this course, students must learn a significant amount about both historical and
contemporary issues relative to socio-economic inequality and its effects on society as a
whole. By the end of the course, they are able to analyze thoughtfully, and in terms of
specific principles and values (e.g., gleaned from biblical and theological perspectives
explored in the class), a number of concrete social problems, such as the seeming
intractability of poverty and how the human community might need to respond, lack of
sustainability in much of our current socio-economic model, the ways in which power
differentials lead to problems and distortions in both economic and religious contexts,
and so forth. David Shipler’s book, The Working Poor, helps students understand some of
what is going on, concretely, with regard to poverty in the United States. Mark
Labberton’s book, The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor, wrestles with what the
author sees as some of the deeply personal roots of injustice (i.e., how we as humans see
[or fail to perceive correctly] our world, how we name our world [often incorrectly], and
what actions might need to be taken once we begin to see and name our world and others
more appropriately). The book is a carefully reasoned a theological reflection on biblical
justice, focused specifically on the effects of misguided social categories and
assessments. Joerg Rieger’s No Rising Tide is a challenging analysis of economic
diversity (e.g., inequality) that explores the ways in which both contemporary religion
and economics are rooted in problematic metaphors and structures of power (and he
assesses the effects of these phenomena on human beings and society).
COMMON GOOD – LEARNING
Learning: A brief explanation of how coursework (e.g., papers, exams, videotaped
presentations) will be used to measure student achievement of each of the Learning
Outcomes. Please address the outcomes directly and one by one.
TRS 117: “Wealth and Poverty in the Bible”
1. Articulate, in prose or through another communicative medium, a critical account of
just social order.
Almost daily written assignments (usually via the class’s Moodle website) are used so
that students can demonstrate that they have read the assigned material (whether primary
texts from the Bible or secondary class texts) and can critically interact with it. Beyond
those assignments, student learning in terms of this outcome will be assessed primarily
through significant questions (predominantly via short and major essay format) on the
mid-term and final exams. The first exam requires that students thoroughly understand
biblical views regarding just social order (e.g., Israelite understandings of God in light of
their liberation in the Exodus; Israelite values and socio-economic assumptions evident in
covenantal law codes; and anthropological and social perspectives illustrated through the
creation narratives). Also, students are held accountable for being able to engage
critically with a range of material from David Shipler’s study, The Working Poor, which
implicitly illustrates a number of ways in which the social order in the United States falls
short of complete justice. On the second exam, students are required to reflect on material
and themes from the Gospels, from Labberton’s book, and from Rieger’s, in addition to
other materials; thus, this exam is largely oriented to students’ ability to articulate, in
writing, a critically reasoned account of just social order. About half of the final exam is
devoted to treatment of Reiger’s book, via a major essay. Course discussions and biblical
exegesis papers also students to incorporate and demonstrate their learning relative to this
outcome, though the exams remain the primary mode of assessment.
2. Demonstrate a capacity for coherent, principled analysis of concrete social problems.
The means for assessing learning for this outcome are essentially the same as for the
first outcome above. Shipler’s The Working Poor (mid-term exam) and Rieger’s No
Rising Tide (second exam), in particular, focus on concrete social problems—though
students also learn from other readings and videos. Lecture and discussions in class
provide opportunities for learning about concrete social problems (e.g., poverty and
its effects; power differentials and their effects on society) and for demonstrating
learning as well. Students will be assessed on the exams, primarily, though they will
also post written assignments online.