ALLIANCE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
IC610 International Christian Community
Development
Winterim January 3 – 7, 2011
Room: TBA
Instructor: Dr. Stephen Bailey
Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies
Office #209, Telephone (845) 770-5755
E-mail: Stephen.Bailey@nyack.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course considers the theories and methods for doing international community development programs
in urban and rural areas. It discusses case studies from both the global context. It emphasizes a
participatory approach that seeks to empower, equip and enable local residents to seek to build healthy
communities through small scale programs and micro-enterprises. Finally, the course seeks to understand
international community development and Christian witness from a biblical perspective of justice and
peace.
REQUIRED TEXT BOOKS
David Cooperrider, Peter F. Sorensen Jr., Diana Whitney, Therese F. Yaeger eds. Appreciative Inquiry:
Rethinking Human Organization Toward a Positive Theory of Change. Stipes Publishing, LLC.,
1999. Pp. 287. ISBN: 10-0875639313. (assigned chapters only)
Sue Annis Hammond. Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry. (2nd Edition) Thin Book Publishing Company,
1998. Pp. 63. ISBN: 10-0966537319.
Bryant L. Myers. Ed. Working With The Poor: New Insights and Learnings from Development
Practitioners. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. 1999. Pp.164. ISBN-1-887983-12-0. (assigned
chapters only)
Choose One of the Following Texts (One you have not read before)
Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . .
One School at a Time. Penguin Books. 2007. Pp. 349. ISBN: 10: 0143038257.
Or
Jacqueline Novogratz. The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected
World. Rodale Books. 2009. Pp. 304. ISBN: 10: 1594869154.
ADDITIONAL REQUIRED READING
Robert Chambers. Ideas For Development. Earthscan Publications Ltd.; illustrated edition 2005. Pp. 320.
ISBN-10: 1844070883. (assigned chapters only, PDF file on I Drive in Class Folder)
Robert. Chambers. Revolutions in Development Inquiry. Earthscan Publications Ltd. 2008. Pp. 256.
ISBN-10: 1844076253. (assigned chapters only, PDF file on I Drive in Class Folder)
Ravi Jayakaran. The Ten Seed Technique. Printed in the PR of China. 2002. (On I Drive in Class Folder
as a PDF file). Pp. 57.
Tafadzwa Marange, Mutizwa Mukuti, John Woodend eds. Beyond Participatory Approaches Field
Guide. Department for International Development. 2006. (On I Drive in Class Folder as a PDF
file) Pp. 78.
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LEARNING GOALS
1. Studies will learn the theories and models used by professional community development workers
and agencies to foster community development programs and enterprises in urban and rural
global contexts.
2. Students will learn the skills of empowering members of a local community to assess their
poverty and resources, and organize, design and evaluate poverty alleviating programs.
3. Students will reflect on how international community development can be implemented in ways
that appropriately and authentically foster Christian witness.
4. Students will be able to evaluate information and its sources critically and incorporate selected
information into his or her knowledge base and value system (Information Literacy Goal).
COURSE CORRELATION
IC610 fits into the Church Phase of the ATS model of ministerial formation. Within that model, the goal
of this course is to enable the student to see the factors that shape the dynamics of poverty in order to
effectively shape the church’s witness among the poor of our world.
ASSESSMENT RESULTS
ATS may use assignments that are assessed for this course for program evaluation purposes. Individual
results may be used as exemplars but will only be available to the program reviewers and not made
public. Results of assessments will be used to show program effectiveness and program improvement.
MA IC PROGRAM GOALS ADDRESSED
6) The student will understand the dynamics of some aspects of mission strategy such as spiritual
warfare, urban ministry, holistic ministry, evangelistic methods and partnering in missions.
MA IN IC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE MAKING TRACK GOAL
4) Students will acquire skills in empowering communities to design strategies for addressing poverty
and injustice in appropriate and effective ways that are founded on a biblical theology of justice
and peace.
NYACK CORE GOALS ADDRESSED
Socially Relevant -- Preparing students to serve in ministerial, educational, healing and
community-building professions.
Academically Excellent -- Pursuing academic excellence in the spirit of grace and humility.
Globally Engaged -- Fostering a global perspective within a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural
Christian academic community.
Intentionally Diverse -- Providing educational access and support to motivated students from
diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
Personally Transforming -- Emphasizing the integration of faith, learning and spiritual
transformation.
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REQUIREMENTS/GRADING
1. Attendance and Participation. Addresses Learning Goals 1,2 & 3 10% of the grade.
2. Reflection Paper on Novogratz or Mortensen Book – The student will write a 3 to 4 page paper
critiquing the work of the author in terms of the principles of community development learned in
class. Include in your critique the following. Addresses Learning Goal #1 15% of your grade
a. Briefly describe the context and the design of the project/s
b. To what degree did the author enlist community participation in the vision, design and
implementation of the project/s. What would you have done differently?
c. To what degree did the local people own and lead the project/s? What might have been done
to strengthen this aspect of the project/s?
d. What problems did the project/s confront and how were they addressed? What might have
been done differently?
e. To what degree is the project/s sustainable? How might sustainability have been increased?
f. To what degree did the success of this project/s depend on the author’s own determination to
make this project/s a success?
Grading Rubric
1. Formatting and Clarity of Writing
10%
2. Thoroughness of responses to the questions listed above.
50%
3. Demonstration of knowledge of good community development principles
40%
3. Reading and Questions Statement – Where indicated in the Class Schedule students will hand in a
written statement indicating what percentage of the reading they have completed and a list of 3 to 5
questions that the reading has raised for them. Addresses Learning Goal 1 # 2 15% of your grade
Grading Rubric
1. Percentage of Reading Completed
80%
2. Relevance of Questions to Reading
20%
4. Focus Discussion Group (FDG) Exercise – In this assignment students will work with one or two
other students to conduct a FDG with the purpose of writing up a project proposal, log frame and
budget that proposes a plan for change toward a preferred future within an organizational group. You
will do this using the Appreciative Inquiry method that you will learn in class and through the
assigned readings. You and your group will select a group of students who represent a certain
demographic of the student body (e.g. commuters, resident students, MA students, MDiv students,
etc.) or a department in an organization (e.g. a Sunday school department, a department such as
Admissions at the college or seminary, your place of work, etc.). Addresses Learning Goals 1 & 2.
20% of your grade.
Step 1 – If you are going to use an organizational department then meet with the head of that
department to request permission to hold a Focus Discussion Group meeting with representatives
of their staff and/or faculty (whatever is relevant). If you are meeting with students work well
ahead of time to organize a time to meet. Prepare food for them. You will need about two hours
of their time.
Step 2 - Plan to have some food and drinks for the group. Be sure to explain what you are doing
and why. Also let people know that the purpose is to simulate a community development
participatory planning process.
Step 3 – Be sure to be well prepared. Ice breakers, brain storming games or processes, etc. Be
sure to think through the things we discussed in class about listening and asking questions in a
semi-structured Focus Discussion Group. Be sure to plan an evaluation of what you did and how
you did it as a team afterwards.
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Step 4 – Do some research about the institution as a whole to understand how the department
relates to other departments and what resources are available to it (whether or not it is making use
of them).
Step 5 – The FDG Questions
1) Describe a peak experience or high point in the group, what were your best experiences
in this department? At ATS?
2) Ask them to describe in detail what made it a life giving experience?
3) What values underlie these experiences?
4) What would need to happen in order to make these kinds of experience more common in
the department / at ATS?
5) Agree on the three most important actions that would need to occur to move towards the
vision of making these life giving experiences everyday experiences.
Step 6 – Write up your report. The report should be 3 to 4 pages in length (double spaced) and
should include
a. A brief description of your group and the department (what they do, how many people
there are, context of their work, etc).
b. Share a short summary of the answers you received to each of the five questions.
c. List the obstacles you encountered in the discussion process as you sought to guide the
group in the discovery and articulation of the preferred future
d. List the things you learned about group dynamics and doing semi-structured interviewing
through FDGs. What would you do differently if you had to do it again?
Grading Rubric
1. All assigned tasks for the FDG were accomplished
40%
2. All four items in Step 6 are in the paper
40%
3. Clarity and organization of the paper
20%
5. Project Proposal & Log Frame – Once the FDG Assignment described above is completed then
each student will write a project proposal and create log frame that describes a plan of action (project
proposal) for achieving the preferred future described by the FDG they met with. The proposal will be
written using the format. Addresses Learning Goals 1, 2, & 4 15% of your grade.
a. INTRODUCTION of the Proposal
b. BACKGROUND and Context of the Department or Student Group
c. FINDINGS from the FDG
i. Description of life giving experiences
ii. Description of underlying values of these experiences
d. CONCLUSIONS – Recommendations for a plan of action for change to the Department.
This section should describe the inputs (money, training, etc. needed for the activity) and
activities needed to bring about the changes needed to achieve the outcomes needed to
create an environment that would create the desired situation/impact, the indicators of
the successful change, the plan for evaluation of progress towards the desired outcomes
and the assumptions upon which the plan is based.
e. LOG FRAME (we will go over this in class and you will be provided with a template)
g. BUDGET – Each budget line will be linked by a number code to an input or activity.
Remember to include any costs related to the evaluation of the implementation of this
proposal (if you can get costs from the department great otherwise guesstimate).
Grading Rubric
1. All elements of the proposal are present
60%
2. The creativity and feasibility of the action plan
30%
3. Formatting (Turabian), Spelling and Grammar
10%
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Final Exam – Each student will take a final exam on the last day of the semester. The content of the
exam will be reviewed in class one week prior to the exam. The exam will ask short answer questions.
Addresses Learning Goals 1,2 & 3 20% of your grade
DUE DATES
1. Reflection Paper on the Mortenson or Novogratz Book
2. Reading /Questions Statement #1 on – Chambers Ideas for Development
Chapter 7, Pp.184 – 217, and Myers Working with the Poor, Chapter 1.
3. Reading / Questions Statement #2 - Beyond Participatory Approaches Field Guide
4. Reading/Questions Statement #3 - Hammond The Thin Book,
Myers Working with the Poor, Chapters 2 & 3
5. Reading/Questions Statement #4 - Cooperrider et. al. Appreciate Inquiry
Chapters 1, 2, 6-8, 15
6. Reading/Questions Statement #5 - The Ten Seed Technique, Chambers
Revolutions in Dev Chapter 7 – 8, Pp.133 – 166
7. Reading/Questions Statement #6 - Meyers Working with the Poor Chapters 4 – 5
8. Focus Discussion Group Paper
9. Project Proposal and Logframe
EVALUATION
Attendance
10%
Reflection Paper
15%
Novogratz or Mortensen Book
Reading and Questions Report 15%
Focus Discussion Group Report
Project Proposal & Logframe
Final Exam
January 14
January 18
Jan 21
Jan 26
Jan 31
Feb 4
Feb 11
Feb 16
Feb 25
20%
20%
20%
GRADING SCALE
Grades are based on your competency in performing the assignments referred to in this syllabus.
A (4.0)
B+ (3.3)
B- (2.7)
C (2.0)
D+ (1.3)
D- (0.7)
93-100
88-89
80-82
73-77
68-69
60-62
A- (3.7) 90-92
B (3.0) 83-87
C+ (2.3) 78-79
C- (1.7) 70-72
D (1.0) 63-67
F (0.0) Below 60
LATE WORK
Work will be accepted up to one week late, but grades are lowered 3 points for each day an assignment is
late. Extensions will not be given except in the case of serious illness or emergency.
IMPORTANT NOTES
1. Any student eligible for and requesting academic accommodations due to a disability, is required
to provide a letter of accommodation from the Office of Disabilities Support Services within the
first six weeks of the beginning of classes.
2. All written assignments should be formatted according to Turabian’s formatting rules. A
summary of these rules is available on the campus I Drive under the Bailey folder.
3. All assignments are due at the start of class, on the date indicated in the class schedule below
unless otherwise indicated by the professor in class.
4. Students should keep copies of handed in assignments and track of their own grades.
5. All the class notes will be on the I: Drive under the Bailey folder. You may access the
Instructional Drive with your login name (last name followed by first letter of you first name) and
your password (last four digits of your SS#).
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CLASS SCHEDULE
II. Introduction to International Christian Community Development
A. Session 1 / January 3 Morning
1. Introductions
2. Syllabus Reviewed
3. What is Poverty?
4. What is International Christian Community Development?
5. History of the Development Enterprise
6. The Evangelical Church and Development
III. Participatory Approaches to Community Development
B. Session 2 / January 3 Afternoon
1. Basic Skills in Community Development
C. Session 3 / January 4 Morning
1. Participatory Learning and Action - Participatory Development
a) You Tube Video (Village Change Agent in Uganda).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjWjtVXRQqY&NR=1
b) Robert Chambers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awL1Hpy7spA&feature=related
c) Part 1 and Part 2: Unlocking the Potential of Rural Malawai – You Tube
video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9SiXmSi24Q&feature=related
D. Session 4 / January 4 Afternoon - Appreciative Inquiry Approach
E. Session 5 / January 5 Morning - Appreciative Inquiry Approach
F. Session 6 / January 5 Afternoon - Focus Discussion Groups /Semi-Structured
Interviewing
III. Writing the Proposal and Monitoring the Project
G. Session 7 / January 6 Morning - Writing the Project Proposal and Log Frame
H. Session 8 / January 6 Afternoon
1. Monitoring, Evaluation and Ending Programs
2. Case Study WVC
IV. Christian Witness in Community Development
I.
Session 9 / January 7 Morning - Appropriate Christian Witness and Church Partnerships
V. Demonstrating What We Have Learned
J. Session 10 / January 7 Afternoon
1. Class Review for the Exam
2. Exam
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RECOMMENDED TEXTS
Global Poverty
Deryke Belshaw, Robert Calderisi, and Chris Sugden. Eds. Faith in Development: Partnership between
the World Bank and the Churches of Africa. Great Britain: Regnum Books International. 2001.
Pp. 243. ISBN: 1-870345-21-5.
Jan Knippers Black. Inequality in the Global Village: Recycled Rhetoric and Disposable People.
Kumarian Press. 1999.
David Bussau and Russell Mask Chris. Microenterprise Development An Introduction. Regnum Books.
2003.
Andy Butcher. Street Children. Authentic Lifestyle Press. 1996 (2003).
John Creedy. Dyanamics of Inequality and Poverty. Volume 13. Research on Economic Inequality. JAI
Press.
Sheldon H. Danziger and Robert H. Haveman. Understanding Poverty. Russell State Foundation Books at
Harvard University Press. 2002. Pp. 576. ISBN: 10-0674008766. Reviews current social science
thought on US Poverty and social policy.
Charles H. Karelis. The Persistence of Poverty: Why the Economics of the Well-Off Can’t Help the Poor.
Yale University Press. 2007. Pp. 208. ISBN: 10-0300120907.
David S. Landes. The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. W.W.
Norton & Company. 1999. Pp. 658. ISBN: 0393318885.
Henry Rempel. A High Price For Abundant Living: The Story of Capitalism. Herald Press. 2003.
Community Development
Robert Chambers. Whose Reality Counts? Putting the First Last. London. UK: Intermediate Technology
Publications. 1999. Pp.237. ISBN: 1-85339-386-X.
Robert Chambers. Participatory Workshops: A Sourcebook of 21 Sets of Ideas and Activities. Earthscan
Publications Ltd. 2002. Pp.224. ISBN-10: 1853838632.
Rhonda Phillips and Robert H. Pittman eds. An Introduction to Community Development. Routledge,
2009. Pp. 364. ISBN-10: 0415773857.
Philip DeVol and Terie Dreussi Smith Ruby K. Payne. Bridges Out of Poverty. Aha! Process, Inc. 2006.
Pp. 293. ISBN: 10- 1929229690.
Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett. When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. .
.and Ourselves. Moody Publishers. 2009. Pp. 209. ISBN-10: 0802457053.
Graham Gordon. What if You Got Involved? Taking a Stand Against Social Injustice. Paternoster Press.
2003.
Graham Hancock. The Lords of Poverty: The Power, Prestige, and Corruption of the International Aid
Business. Atlantic Monthly Press. 1994. Pp. 256. ISBN: 10-0871134691.
Philip McMichael. Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective. 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Pine Forge Press. 2000. Pp.303. ISBN: 0-7619-8667-7.
Bryant L. Myers. Walking With The Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development.
Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. 1999. Pp.245. ISBN: 1-57075-275-3.
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C.K. Prahalad. The Fortune At the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits. Wharton
School of Publishing, University of Pennsylvania. 2005.
Jeffrey Sachs. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities of Our Time. Penguin Press. 2005. Pp.416.
ISBN 1594200459.
David K. Shipler. The Working Poor: Invisible in America. Vintage Press. 2005. Pp.352. ISBN: 10:
0375708219.
Stephen C. Smith. Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works. Palgrave Macmillian Press. 2005. Pp.
288. ISBN: 10-1403965349.
Commonwealth Secretariat, Editor. The Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative: A Micro-Credit and
Enterprise Development to Promote Youth Employment and Alleviate Youth Poverty.
Commonwealth Secretariat. 2002.
Carl Liedhom. Small Enterprises and Economic Development: The Dynamics of Micro and Small
Enterprises. (Routledge Series in Development Economics, 15) 1999.
Theology of Economics
Victor V. Claar and Robin J. Klay. Economics in Christian Perspective: Theory, Policy and Life Choices.
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. 2007. Pp. 241. ISBN: 978-0-8308-2597-4.
Craig L. Blomberg. Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions. Apollos
(Intervarsity Press) 1999.
Clodovis Boff and George V. Pixley. The Bible, the Church, and the Poor. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
1989. Pp.243. ISBN: 0-88344-614-6.
Robert G. Clouse ed. Wealth and Poverty: Four Christian Views of Economics. Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press. 1984. Pp. 226. ISBN: 0-87784-347-3.
Daniel G. Groody. The Option for the Poor in Christian Theology. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre
Dame Press. 2007. Pp. 301. ISBN: 10: 0-268-02971-5.
David P. Gushee ed. Toward a Just and Caring Society. Christian Responses to Poverty in America.
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. 1999. Pp. 530. ISBN: 0-8010-2220-7.
Susan R. Holman ed. Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Academic. 2008. Pp.293. ISBN: 978-0-8010-3549-4.
Leslie J. Hoppe. There Shall Be No Poor Among You: Poverty in the Bible. Abington Press. 2004.
Dewi Houghes with Matthew Bennett. God of the Poor: A Biblical Vision of God’s Present Rule. OM
Publishing (Paternostor Press). 1998 (2000).
Timothy Radcliffe ed. Just One Year: A Global Treasury of Prayer and Worship. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Books. 2007. Pp. 275. ISBN: 978-1-57075-714-3.
Harding Morris Robert. The Book of Mammon: A Biblical Theology of Wealth. Author House Publishers.
2005. Pp. 216. ISBN: 10: 1420820273.
Herbert Schlossberg, Vinay Samuel and Ronald J. Sider. Christianity and Economics in the Post-Cold
War Era. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1994. Pp. 186. ISBN:
0-8028-0798-4.
William Schweiker and Charles Mathewes eds. Having Property and Possession in Religious and Social
Life. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 2004. Pp. 415. ISBN: 08028-2484-6.
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Sondra Ely Wheeler. Wealth As Peril and Obligation: The New Testament on Possessions. William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1995.
Useful Links
www.nber.org
www.imf.org
www.worldbank.org
www.iadb.org/oce/publications.htm
www.jstor.org
www.ssrn.com
hicks.nuff.ox.ac.uk/economics/growth/
www.worldbank.org/research/growth/
www.un.org
www.interaction.org
www.microcreditsummit.org
www.villagebanking.org
National Bureau of Economic Research
International Monetary Fund
World Bank
Inter-American Development Bank:
Older published papers
Many recent working papers
The Economic Growth Resources
World Bank’s Economic Growth Research
United Nations
US Council for Voluntary International Action
Micro-Credit Summit Campaign
FINCA Foundation for International Community Assistance
Academic Journals
Journal of Development Studies
Progress in Development Studies
Community Development Journal
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