I515 Integrative Seminar
Fall 2006
Professors: Dr. Nancy M. Hawkins, IHM (585-271-3657 x 294 nhawkins@stbernards.edu)
Enrollment: Open to SBSTM senior M.Div. and M.A. students; an M.A. student must have completed at least 8 courses and an M.Div. student must have completed at least 16 courses.
Course Description: The Integrative Seminar offers the opportunity for students who have completed two thirds of their course work to employ and refine their specific methodology of pastoral-theological reflection. “Integrative” is understood as bringing together the insights of one’s academic study, ministerial and personal experience, and one’s spiritual formation in a pastoral dialogue, which is both personally and ecclesially rooted. The participants will demonstrate their integrative reflection through personal study, conversation in class, and through written work.
Course Objectives:
1. to appropriate and refine one’s own method of pastoral-theological reflection
2. to situate one’s methodology in a pluralistic context
3. to demonstrate the ability for pastoral theological reflection on a specific issue in dialogue with others and in written form.
Required Reading (*indicates available from University of Rochester online reserve):
“What is a Critical Incident?” (Two-page handout sent to each student before class begins)
Prejean, Helen. Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
*Holland, Joe, and Peter Henriot, SJ. “Social Analysis: Tool of Pastoral Action.” In Social Analysis: Linking Faith and Justice, 7-30. Maryknoll: Orbis, 1983.
*Karaban, Roslyn A. “Always an Outsider? Feminist, Female, Lay and Roman Catholic.” In Feminist and Womanist Pastoral Theology, edited by Bonnie Miller-McLemore and Brita Gill-Austern, 65-76. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999.
*Philibert, Paul J. “Readiness for Ritual: Psychological Aspects of Maturity in Christian Celebration.” In Alternative Futures for Worship, volume I: General Introduction, edited by Regis A. Duffy, 63-121. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1987.
Note: Deadman Walking can be purchased at the Nazareth College bookstore, or another local bookstore of your choice. The 3 chapters that are to be read will be available in the St. Bernard’s Reading Room (Rochester); multiple copies will be available and if desired a student could copy the article to bring home and read. (Specific instructions on how to access these chapters online through the University of Rochester Rush Rhees Library should have been sent to seminar participants in August.)
Note that additional reading/research will likely be required for analysis of and reflection on the student’s own critical incident.
Course Format: Students will have read the two-page handout on What is a Critical Incident? in order to prepare their own critical incident, and are expected to write on this incident from a social-analytical, theological, and pastoral perspective and to be prepared to present their analyses to and listen to feedback from their group. Class will consist of lecture and discussion of methodology and readings (whole class) and peer discussion of papers (groups).
Confidentiality: Members of the class are required to maintain confidentiality about the incidents that are shared in class. We consider this to be a covenant that the class agrees to before we begin sharing. The incidents are also to be written in a confidential way – especially when they involve people others. When writing about oneself, however, one should use real information, but refer to oneself by initials and change details for all other people involved in the incident.
Assignments/Requirements:
In preparation for the first class (September 23), students will have read chapters 1-5 of Dead Man Walking, the reading by Holland and Henriot, “Social Analysis: Tool of Pastoral Action,” and the handout (appended to this syllabus), “What is a Critical Incident?” Students must write up a two-page critical incident from their own experience and bring 15 copies to the first class for presentation to their group. This paper will not be graded, but will be commented upon by the group; it is to be integrated into the final paper, along with any clarifications or changes.
For the second class (October 14), students will have read chapters 6-11 of Dead Man Walking and the Philibert chapter, “Readiness for Ritual,” as an example of theological analysis/reflection. Students must write up a three-page paper that gives a social analysis of their incident and bring sufficient copies for presentation to their group. This paper will count for 15% of the final grade.
For the third class (November 11), students will have read the Karaban chapter, “Always an Outsider?” as an example of pastoral planning using the pastoral circle methodology. Students must write up a three-page paper that gives a theological analysis/reflection of their incident and bring sufficient copies for presentation to their group. This paper will count for 15% of the final grade.
For the fourth class (December 9), students will bring their final paper, consisting of revisions of the critical incident, social analysis, and theological reflection that reflects the suggestions made by instructors and peers and a new section on pastoral planning. This paper should demonstrate an integrated understanding of the pastoral circle methodology. Enough copies of the pastoral planning section should be provided for the group, and students should be prepared to present their pastoral strategies and new insights with their group. This paper should be about 12 pages (2 pages critical incident, 3 pages social analysis, 3 pages theological reflection, 3 pages pastoral strategies with an additional 1-2 pages of commentary on the methodology interwoven in the paper). This paper counts for 50% of the final grade.
Assessment of Final Grade:
· class participation (20% of final grade)
· social analysis and theological reflection papers (30% of final grade – 15% each)
· final paper (50% of final grade)
Because this is a 4-session course, students are expected to attend each class in its entirety. If a student must be absent s/he will have to make up the absence by:
1. having the lecture recorded
2. submitting to the professors a 2-page summary of the lecture and readings for that class
3. submitting to the professors a 3-page paper that highlights how this part of the circle impacts the student’s understanding of his/her critical incident, including implications and new insights.
This paper will be due one week after the missed class. The student will also be expected to hand in the paper for the missed class on the day that it is due.
Introduction to Methodology
Critical Incidents
Introduction to Social Analysis
Readings: Chapters 1-5 of Prejean, Dead Man Walking
Henriot and Holland chapter, “Social Analysis: Tool of Pastoral Action”
“What is a Critical Incident?” (see appendix of syllabus)
Written Assignment: Critical Incident due – 2 pages – not graded
Class II: Saturday, October 14
Topic: Theological Reflection
Reading: Philibert chapter, “Readiness for Ritual”
Written Assignment: Social Analysis paper due – 3 pages – 15%
Class III: Saturday, November 11
Topic: Pastoral Strategies and Responses
Reading: Karaban chapter, “Always an Outsider?”
Written Assignment: Theological Reflection paper due – 3 pages – 15%
Class IV: Saturday, December 9
Topic: Reflection and Integration
Written Assignment: Final Paper (revised Critical Incident, Social Analysis, Theological Reflection, new section on Pastoral Strategies and integrative comments) – 12 pages – 50%
APPENDIX: “What is a Critical Incident?”
For the purposes of this seminar, a critical incident (or moment) is defined as an experienced event, encounter, or situation that discloses a larger reality; an encounter that opens up new vistas. The critical incident is to be drawn from a real life situation and ideally would have occurred in the last few years of the student’s life. It can either be ministerial (e.g., involvement in ministering to a family as they decided to remove their loved one from a ventilator), or personal – (e.g., a life-transforming event such as the sudden death of family member). The ministerial case is preferable for purposes of this seminar. The critical incident needs to be “rich” enough to withstand and benefit from sustained analysis and reflection. The student should pick an incident that s/he is willing to share with the class, that merits further analysis and reflection, and that will impact the student personally and ministerially.
The incident need not be an earth-shattering event (such as a death), but it should be an event that had a great impact and has left the student unsettled. One way to think about choosing a critical incident is to think in terms of dilemmas and predicaments. A dilemma is a situation that requires us to choose between equally balanced alternatives; it is a predicament that seemingly defies a satisfactory solution. There is an unresolved tension and we face a difficult decision. We bring the incident to our peers and to the rigor of analysis and reflection in order to better understand the incident (through analysis and reflection) and thus to be better able to make informed choices the next time we are encounter a similar situation.
In writing up a critical incident, we are describing what happened. This may be written as narrative, or a combination of narrative and verbatim (a replay of a significant conversation). The incident itself will need to be placed in context (background information) and described. The student will also need to comment on her/his role in the incident. Finally the student will need to begin to identify what personal/ministerial problem remained—what issues this incident raised.
The critical incident should be about 2 pages long (double-spaced) and should be brought to the first class with enough copies (15) for group members. The incident should clearly be marked as CONFIDENTIAL and all copies should be destroyed after the class. All students in the class are asked to maintain confidentiality about the critical incidents, but the writer is also expected to protect the identity of those written about. Do not use real names (one should use initials in referring to oneself), and disguise details that could identify the particular situation (do not say this occurred at St. Louis Church in Pittsford; say this occurred at a mid-sized, suburban church in upstate New York).