Vanderbilt University Department of  Religious Studies, College of Arts and Science

REQUIREMENTS:

• (20% of semester grade) Active participation in discussion: each week you should be come to class with, and thus be ready to bring in the discussion, FORM Parts A & B, i.e., your own contextual interpretation of the specific passage of the Gospel Matthew for that week and FORM Part C, i.e., your discernment of the differences between your interpretation and one scholarly reading, as well as [unless you are leader of a group) the interpretation of one other member of the class (your leader).
  • The "Contextual Bible Interpretation Form" is found at the end of this syllabus and also in computer form on our Webpage under the tab "Form"
• Your weekly Contextual Bible Interpretation Reports will be graded twice early in the semester to make sure you use the form correctly: 2 x 5% = 10% of semester grade.
• Two Seminar presentations (2 x 10 % = 20% of semester grade):
  • One Oral Presentation in the First part of the semester, EITHER AS THE LEADER of a group (presenting your own contextual interpretation [FORM Parts A & B] AND the differences with the assigned scholarly reading, FORM Part C-1; with handout outlining these for the group); due by e-mail on FRIDAY, before 11 am preceding the presentation), OR AS THE SCRIBE FOR THE GROUP (using a SCRIBE FORM [=FORM Part C-1 and C-2], preparing a handout for the group outlining the differences between your own contextual interpretation AND both the Scholar's interpretation and your Leader's interpretation; then adding to this form during the discussion the views of other members of the group; then presenting the main differences to the entire class.
  • One in the Second part of the semester, EITHER AS THE PRESENTER of a part of your paper in the making (with handout; due on FRIDAY, before 11 am preceding the presentation), OR AS A FORMAL RESPONDENT (with handout; due at class time):
• Proposal for your Paper; See the Guideline in Appendix to this syllabus. Due Monday October 3 before class (by e-mail). 10% of semester grade. (Choice of your text is due Monday Sept 26 at 10am.)
• A Research Paper prepared over the second part of the semester: See the Guideline for your Paper in Appendix to this syllabus ( Due M-Dec. 12 at 3:00pm...Both digital copy and hard copy are required ) . 40% of semester grade.

   

  Grades: A = Excellent, exceptional; demonstrating special creativity and insightfulness in analysis; very well written (= very well organized; well constructed paragraphs and sub-headings; transitions well used); excellent use of sources (all assertions clearly supported by reference to biblical texts and by a good choice of scholarly works; good note-format [MLA; APA; SBL); and, of course, correctly raising and addressing all the questions of the topic.

  B = Good and solid; well written (= well organized; well constructed paragraphs, fairly good transitions; some sub-headings); good use of sources (most assertions are supported by reference to biblical texts and by a fairly good choice of scholarly works; notes, but haphazard format); correctly raising and addressing all the questions of the topic, although without special creativity or insightfulness.

  C = Fairly Good; fairly well written (= information is organized; but paragraphs are not well constructed; transitions are poor); most questions of the topic addressed correctly, but some questions of the topic have not been raised and addressed or have not been addressed correctly (assertions are often poorly supported by reference to inappropriate biblical texts and by a weak choice of scholarly works; notes, but haphazard format);

  D = Poor = poorly written (= poorly organized, etc.); many questions not addressed or addressed incorrectly.

   

  Late work: Late handouts, as well as late proposals, and late papers-in-the-making hurt the rest of the class; when you sign up for an assignment organize your schedule accordingly. Late work will be accepted but graded with 10 points penalty per day (a paper a few minutes late is one day late, based on e-mail time and date as received).

   

  HONOR CODE: Throughout the semester, you are under the Honor Code of Vanderbilt University. All your reports and your paper should represent YOUR OWN work. Yet you are also expected to learn from others. So as to avoid plagiarism, identify your sources (including from the Web) and the input you received from other members of the class (footnotes mentioning the names of other students in the class should be common). Sign your work as a pledge of compliance with the Honor Code -- i.e., you wrote it without receiving aid from (or giving aid to) any other person, except as specified.

   

  Conversely, the instructor is mindful of the fact that poor teaching elicit cheating as Alfie Kohn (author of a dozen books, including What Does It Mean to Be Well Educated? and No Contest: The Case Against Competition) wrote (New York Times July 13, 2010, OpEd): "an environment conducive to cheating is one where (1) instructors have no real relationship with their students, (2) students experience academic tasks as pointless or overwhelming, (3) how well students are doing (e.g., grades and test scores) matters more than what they're doing, or (4) achievement is construed competitively such that the goal is to outperform others." We shall strive to avoid these 4 pitfalls throughout the semester. At any time during the semester, if you do not see the point of what we are doing or of an assignment, raise your hand or come and see one of the instructors.