Div 3067

Professor Karen Stroup                                                 1:10-3:00 Tuesdays
Office hours:                                                                                G-27

Course description: Class will be conducted in seminar format; students who are able to participate in class discussion will do best.  This course covers, first, the theology of sexuality, including choosing a method, the connection between sexuality and spirituality, gender relations, men’s and women’s experience, and gender orientation. From theology the course moves to ethics, including singleness, marriage, celibacy, disability, aging. HIV/AIDS, sexual violence, and pornography. Finally, the course moves  to pastoral practice, or how to implement theology and ethics in a day-to-day setting. Students should leave the course with a sense of their theology of sexuality and a level of comfort with implementing this theology in a ministry setting.

Course requirements 1) Each week students will turn in a reflection paper, 1-2 pages. Sometimes the topic will be assigned; usually, it’s up to the student 2) A take-home midterm exam. 3) A research paper due at the end of the semester.

Grading:

Weekly reflection papers                          10 percent
Attendance/preparation/participation         20 percent
Midterm                                                   25 percent
Final paper                                                45 percent

Textbooks:

Tikva Frymer-Kensky. In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women Culture and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth

James B. Nelson and Sandra P. Longfellow. Sexuality and the Sacred Sources for Theological Reflection.

L. William Countryman. Dirt Greed and Sex: Sexual Ethics in the New Testament and Their Implications for Today.

Peter Rutter. Sex in the Forbidden Zone: When Men in Power--Therapists, Doctors, Clergy, Teachers, and Others--Betray Women's Trust.

Alice Walker. By the Light of My Father's Smile.

 

Shape of the semester: We'll spend the first half of the semester on theology.  This is also the time when you'll do the most reading.  This is to prepare you for the midterm, which will involve watching a movie and responding to the following:

   1) Outline the movie community's theology of sexuality. Don't worry about trying to accurately report this community's theology in "real life" -- I don't expect you to know anything you can't get from the movie itself.  2) Tell me how Sonia's theology of sexuality changes by the end of the movie.  3) Tell me your theology of sexuality.  Don't forget to begin with your method.  How do your contemporary author's ideas (from the reserve reading) fit with your own?

    After that we'll have some fun during the ethics section. The reading load will be light and each time we meet we’ll have a guest speaker who will represent a sexuality that will persuade you to think about the theological ethics involved, and may also challenge your chosen theology of sexuality. I’m planning to have someone to represent five of the following sexualities celibacy; sado-masochism; prostitution; pedophilia, pornography; exotic dancing; and swinging. The speakers we end up with will depend on whether I can find someone to speak on a particular topic. Finally,we'll spend a couple of sessions where the rubber hits the road when we address pastoral practice.

The Rules (everybody has 'em — I'm just letting you know what mine are in advance.)

• Written work Reflection papers should be typed. double-spaced. and stapled if they’re more than one page. Use one-inch margins on all four sides, 12-point readable type and no "make-it-fit." I’m more interested I in what you have to say than whether you have exactly the number of lines of type you think I want.

• Research papers All of the above. PLUS: some consistent form of
  references, complete enough that I can find the text if I want to. Give me a bibliography, and if it’s reasonably easy with your word processor,   put notes at the bottom ttom of the page.
  
• Plagiarism: Just don't do it.  If you do and I figure it out, you're toast.  If you don't know what it is, talk to me.
  
• Inclusive Language: for the human race, use it.  This is non-negotiable. You may use gender-neutral language (it's ok to use "they" as the 3rd person singular pronoun) or alternate masculine and feminine language.  For God, use feminine imagery and refer to God as "she." That applies to God as a whole and the first and third persons of the trinity.  See my article, "God Our Mother: A Call to Truly Inclusive God language" for my reasoning.  You may refer to God in other ways (e.g., gender-neutral language, masculine/feminine language, even solely masculine language) IF AND ONLY IF you give me a written rationale equivalent to my own.  Complain to each other about this policy all you want, but do realize that in a course on sexuality and theology, this is an important matter.
• The "Attendance?preparation/participation" part of your grade measures you against this ideal:  You show up to all classes, on time, having read all the material on the syllabus, and engage the discussion with passion.  (FYI: the professor's pet peeves shouldn't matter, but in real life they do.  I really hate it when people come into class after we've already started.  Let those who have ears, hear.)
• Manners: There is no political correctness in this class. You may say whatever you want as long as you back it up. NEVER try to figure what I want; it’s a waste of your time and makes me cranky. It’s fine to show emotion; we will all agree that feelings are facts." On the other hand, use language and show emotion in ways that are appropriate, i.e., that don’t hurt other people. For example, your vo example, your voice may show anger, and you may say, "That makes me angry." but you may not shout, call people names, be verbally abusive, or act out physically. You may say, I think you're wrong but you have to give reasons.  All this is particularly important when our speakers are here.  Again, you may disagree with them, but you must do so with consideration and politeness.  (For example: You may say, "My theological framework holds that stripping is demeaning to God's daughters."  You may not say, "My God, you're a pervert.")  This is excellent practice for your future ministry setting; screaming in the face of one of your parishioners/clients/students won't get you very far.
• Confidentiality:  although you, in particular, are completely mature about matters of sexuality, there are some folks in the class who aren't wholly comfortable discussing such things.  it will be easier for all of us if we agree that everything said among us remains among the members of the class.  this is doubly important when we have speakers.  they will be telling us information about themselves that could ruin their lives if it got around.  Whatever your planned vocation, confidentiality is likely to be an important aspect of it.  Start practicing now.
• And finally, the honor code is in effect at all times.

                Reading/Assignment                                     nt                                     Pages In Sexuality

                                    And the Sacred