General Education Submission Form
Electronic submissions are preferred.
A.
GE component for which course is being proposed:
B.
Submitted by
C.
Ideally, submissions should be discussed by the entire department prior to submittal.
Helen Rhee and Edd Noell
x Chair has reviewed and approved the course.
D.
Course being proposed (please attach syllabus):
E.
This course
Has not been modified, but is being submitted to check its suitability
Has had its syllabus rewritten to communicate the course’s contribution to GE
Has had its contents modified to address the relevant GE issues
x Is a new course designed to fulfill the GE requirement
F.
This course is being submitted as
A Template. Applicable to courses with multiple sections which require only general
training in the discipline. The submission should come from the department chair and
should clearly identify what course content and what elements of the syllabus the
department has agreed will common to all sections. Upon approval by the GE
Committee, any course whose syllabus is determined by the department to meet the
specifications of the template is approved to satisfy this area requirement. A copy of
each syllabus should be forwarded to the G.E. committee for record keeping purposes.
x An Individual Course. Applicable to courses requiring specialized training in the
discipline or are typically offered by a particular instructor. The course should be
resubmitted and reassessed in the event of a change in staffing or syllabus.
G.
Statement of rationale:
(Include a list of the area objectives. After each objective, list several course activities (lectures,
readings, assignments, etc.) that address it. If it is not completely obvious, explain how the
activities relate to the objective. Please attach a copy of the syllabus which has been annotated to
identify the corresponding activities. Electronic annotations are preferred. Please use the
comment feature in Word to annotate electronic copies. )
This course seeks to meet the Serving Society; Enacting Justice in Competent and
Compassionate Action GE requirement. For a class that deals with theology and
economics of wealth and poverty, it is an imperative that the students’ educational
process involves their active participation in service projects that expose and/or deal
with various issues of social justice, economic disparity (in relation to class and race),
disenfranchisement, and distribution of wealth. Students are required to spend 12-15
hours throughout the semester working for a local non-profit organization helping the
poor and the under-privileged in town. The aim of this services project is to raise
students’ awareness of the economic and theological dimensions of justice questions
related to social class. Students will be oriented in class to the context of non-profit
work and the specific journal requirements, which include their observations and
reflections on how their own assumptions regarding wealth and poverty have been
challenged and refined in light of their internship and how their course and reading
material to their work experiences. Students submit their journals for evaluation twice
during the semester and the service component weighs in at 20% of the grade for the
course.
Service Practicum and Reflection Journal (20%): Students are required to spend
12-15 hours throughout the semester working for a local organization helping the
poor and the under-privileged in town. The professors will provide a list of
organizations/agencies with contact information. Students are to choose one from the
list and contact the agent directly. While conducting a practicum, students are to keep
a reflection journal, connecting the course and reading material, and their
experiences. The journal entries should include specific tasks/responsibilities, key
events or moments of learning, questions/issues/concerns raised, and thoughts
processed and progressed in light of lectures, class discussions and readings.
Among the course objectives for SLO, the relevant outcomes, activities and assessment
for Serving Society, Enacting Justice include the following:
Student Learning Outcome
Articulate a fundamental thematic knowledge of
the development of Christian understandings of
and dealings with the issues involving wealth and
poverty in written works, including its relation to
the theology and practice of the contemporary
church (Christian Understanding; Competence in
Written Communication; RS—Hermeneutical
Competence)
Utilize the critical methods of biblical and
historical interpretation and contextual thinking
and the analytical tools of economics with respect
to the central economic institutional practices of
resource allocation and distribution (Critical
Thinking; Diversity; EB- Analyzing Complex
Economics and Business Processes and Policies;
RS—Hermeneutical Competence; Theological
Judgment)
Explore the ways in which we can articulate an
economically and theologically informed reflection
on Christian social justice, engage in the
responsible stewardship of wealth, empower the
poor to act on economic opportunity, and move
Instructional
Activity
Lecture
Discussion
Assessment
Exam
Group Research
Project
Critical Reading
Notes
Analysis Paper
Journal
Lecture
Discussion
Exam
Analysis Paper
Journal
Lecture
Discussion
Critical Reading
Notes
Journal
toward personal and systemic action in pursuing
Christian social justice in a global context
(Christian Practices/Affections; Active Societal
and Intellectual Engagement; Diversity; Global
Awareness; RS—Christian Orientation; Ecclesial
Engagement)
Please see the attached course syllabus for a fuller description of the course.