Course Description: Much is being written about present and impending environmental crises around the world. But in the 21st Century, the environment will increasingly take a central role not only as a set of concerns that human beings throughout the world will have to address, but as a lens through which the global society will have to apply all other concerns. How will this lens develop? What priorities will it reveal? How might the Christian faith be seen through the lens? What resources might Christianity contribute to its development? And what might be the implications of this new way of thinking and being for ministry? This course will explore these and similar questions, developing theological resources through which to better understand the environment and environmental crises and examining some of the ways that the church and other programs are attempting to address the problems of a changing environment.
Columbia Theological Seminary and the U.N. office of the P.C. (U.S.A.)
January Term
Instructor: Mark Douglas Logistics: January
DouglasM@ctsnet.edu Presbyterian U.N. Office
P.O. Box 520 777 United Nations Plaza
Decatur, GA 30031 New York, NY 10017
404-687-4650 212-697-4568
U.N. Staff: Mark Koenig (Director of the United Nations Office of the PC(USA))
mark.koenig@pcusa.org
Ryan Smith (Presbyterian Representative to the United Nations)
ryan.smith@pcusa.org
Ricky Velez-Negron (Office Administrator)
Required Texts:
Richard Bauckham, The Bible and Ecology (Baylor, 2010)
Steven Bouma-Prediger, For the Beauty of the Earth (Baker, 2010).
Linda Fasulo, An Insider’s Guide to the UN. (Yale UP, 2004)
Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac (Oxford, 2001)
E.O. Wilson, Anthill (Norton, 2010)
Plus various readings from the U.N. and elsewhere posted to CAMS
Requirements:
- Attendance and Participation. This class is driven by daily discussions about
readings, lectures, and site visits. The livelier the conversation, the better the class.
All required readings completed before Jan. 19. [30% of grade]
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Each student will read and write a brief (<1000 words) review of a contemporary book that addresses environmental issues and present the review to his/her classmates. These should be available in electronic form by putting them in the designated drop box for the class’s “CAMS” learning system site. Please have this completed before arriving for the first day of class. See Syllabus, p. 2 for details. [30 % of grade]
Requirements (cont.):
The books we’ll look at include:
[This section intentionally left blank until the student assignment list is completed and all students know who is leading conversation on which book]
Students should feel free to be as creative in their presentations as they wish, sharing texts or artwork, using powerpoint, etc. I will evaluate these presentations based on their detail, accessibility, usefulness, and creativity.
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Final Project. Choose one of the following two options (and tell me which option you’ve chosen by Jan 20). Due March 1
[40% of grade]a. Teaching Option: Imagine a parishioner approaching you and saying “What is our church doing to be more environmentally conscious? And what do you think we might do?” Design a five or six (5-6) week adult education course that answers that question. Turn in a three-page overview of each week’s lesson material (15-18 pages in total). Make use of the readings, lectures, discussions, and any other material you feel is pertinent. I will evaluate these overviews based on their accessibility, coherence, and sophistication.
b. Preaching Option: Design a four-week sermon series around the theme of “Christian Perspectives on the Environment in the 21st Century.” Write out sermons for two (2) of those four weeks and turn them in along with single-page summaries of the other two (2) weeks’ sermons. (14-16 pages in total) Make use of the readings, lectures, discussions, and any other material you feel is pertinent. I will evaluate these sermons and summaries based on their accessibility, coherence, sophistication, and fidelity to the texts you have chosen for each week.
Hints, Tips, and Rules for a Good Seminary Class
Columbia Theological Seminary
Because seminary classes regularly deal with matters that are both personal and potentially divisive, we all need to keep several points in mind as we communicate with each other in this class. Among these are:
- We are unified in Christ, not in opinion. There is no special reason to think that we all must agree on an issue in order to be part of Christ’s church. Christians have been disagreeing with each other at least since Peter and Paul, and there is no reason to think that will change this side of eternity. In fact, as a general rule of thumb we ought to be suspicious about any issue about which we all agree. When all heads nod in the same way, we are either exerting illegitimate control over other persons’ heads or we have stopped using our own.
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Disagreement can be many things: intellectual, heated, productive, mild, etc. Our burden is to keep it from being destructive or splintering. Toward that end, there are three rules for disagreement within this class:
- Always remember that the person with whom you disagree is, like you, a finite creature created in the image of God who is no more or less likely to sin than you and no more or less capable of being redeemed than you. Demonizing others based on their positions is disrespectful to persons, contrary to the faith, and in poor taste.
- You should be able to state your opponent’s position so clearly and fairly that your opponent would say, “Yes, that is what I mean.” Only then can you rightly give a critique of that position.
- You have the responsibility of following your thought through to its logical conclusions. If you don’t like those conclusions, back up, figure out where you went wrong, and then either clarify or qualify your thought accordingly.
- Although the Holy Spirit is not necessarily hindered by grammatical error, we who have the privilege of formal theological education bear the responsibility of learning how to communicate clearly and correctly. For that reason, grammar will be graded on all written work. If you are worried about the quality of your writing, I recommend a trip to the writing center and/or the use of Strunk and White’s Elements of Style.
- The seminary position regarding inclusive language is as follows:
All members of the seminary community are expected to use inclusive language in classroom lectures and discussions, in written work, in seminary publications and official statements, and in seminary worship. While this policy expresses the expectations of the seminary, the use of inclusive language will not be a factor in the grading of students or in any person’s acceptance by the community.
The Basic Degree Student Handbook, 58.
This position will be maintained in class. However, I will grade those instances where
the generic use of gendered nouns and pronouns results in imprecise expression as
grammatical errors (e.g., use of “man” when you mean both men and women). Likewise,
instances of awkwardly employed inclusive language will be marked as grammatical errors
(e.g., improper use of the plural, gender-neutral pronoun “their” to avoid writing “his” or “hers”
when your subject is singular).
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Please remember that CTS now has an academic honor code that addresses classroom behavior and plagiarism and is available in the handbook. Your job is to know and adhere to it. Mine is to make temptations toward breaking it unlikely.
- There are few greater joys in life than sharing in theological conversation with colleagues, and few more important conversations than those about the way we ought to live. This class can be filled with both types of conversation. Revel in it.
Very Tentative Overview of Course
Each day will begin with a brief (15 minute) devotion and daily overview. This schedule is open to revision based on the availability of our visiting lecturers; students should be aware that it is subject to change. We will do our best to alert students to changes and ameliorate any negative effects of those changes.
Ethics and Ecumene: Frameworks for Analysis
8:30 a.m. Meet at Eastgate; Walk to UN Office
9:00 – 9:45 Arrival at Presbyterian UN Office, Welcome, Introductions
9:45 – 10:45 Review of course expectations, themes, and course goals
10:45 – 11:00 Break
11:00 – 12:30 Introduction to the United Nations Office of the PC(USA): What
does it do, how does it do it, and who else is involved?
Mark Koenig and Ryan Smith, The UN Office of the PC(USA)
12:30 – 1:30 Lunch – Amish Market
1:30 – 2:30 Exploring Theology and The Environment: Why this Course?
Mark Douglas, Columbia Theological Seminary
2:30 – 2:45 Break
2:45-4:00 Discussion: Thinking of the Environment as a Lens
4:00 – 4:30 Wrap-up discussions, moving forward into the course
4:30 – 5:00 Closing Worship
The United Nations and Environmental Concerns
9:00 – 9:30 Arrive, Devotional
9:30 – 10:00 Getting Through UN Security
10:15 – 11:30 UN Tour and return to UN Office
11:30 – 12:30 Q&A on the United Nations; Discussing Fasulo’s book
12:30 – 1:30 Lunch (on own)
1:30 – 2:30 Overview of the UN and its place in Environmental Issues:
Jim Sniffen, Programme Officer, UN Environment Programme
2:30 – 2:45 Break
2:45 – 3:45 The Ecumenical Church and the Environment:
Cassandra Carmichael, Director, NCC Eco-Justice Program
3:45-4:45 Processing time
Climate Change
9:00 – 9:30 Arrive, Devotionals by student
9:30 – 10:30 Preparing for Rio+20
Bill Somplatsky-Jarman
10:30 – 10:45 Break
10:45-11:45 Climate Change and the Small Island States
Vanuatu has been invited but not confirmed; we may travel to their office
11:45 – 12:15 BOOK REVIEW: Katie Preston
Joseph E. Aldy and Robert N. Stavins, eds., Architectures for Agreement: Addressing Climate Change in the Post-Kyoto World (Cambridge UP, 2007).
12:15 – 1:15 Debriefing and Processing
AFTERNOON FREE
Land and Water
8:45 – 9:00 Arrive, prepare for chapel
9:15 – 9:45 Lead Chapel
9:45-10:30 The Church Center for the United Nations
Kathleen Stone, Chaplain
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-11:45 The Environment and Water
Rebecca Barnes-Davies, associate for Environmental Ministries,
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
11:45 – 12:30 Lunch
12:30 – 1:30 Book Discussion: Bauckham’s The Bible and Ecology
1:30 – 1:45 Break
1:45-2:30 Book Discussion: Bouma-Prediger’s For the Glory of the Earth
2:30 –3:30 Land Grabbing, Arable Land, and Urbanization
Valery Nodem, associate for International Hunger Concerns, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
3:45-4:30 Debriefing and Processing
4:30-5:00 BOOK REVIEW: John Weems
David Zetland, The End of Abundance: Economic Solutions to
Water Scarcity (Aguanomics Press, 2011)
The Environment and Vulnerable Persons
9:00 – 9:30 Arrive and Devotionals
9:30 – 10:30 The Environment and Women
Lynne West, researcher/writer, Church World Service
10:30 – 10:45 Break
10:45 – 11:45 The Environment and Indigenous Persons
Kevin Dance, Passionists International, NGO Working Group on Indigenous
11:45 – 12:30 Processing
12:30 – 1:30 Lunch – Chinese Six Happiness
1:30 – 2:00 Group Discussion: Comparing human and non-human vulnerability
2:00-3:00 The Environment and Children
Dawne Basinski, Director, Office of Strategic Partnerships
Lacey Stone
Officer, Office of Strategic Partnerships,
U.S. Fund for UNICEF
3:00-3:15 Break
3:15-3:45 BOOK REVIEW: Peppe Hibbert
Jane McAdam, Climate Change and Displacement:
Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Hart, 2010)
3:45-4:45 Debriefing and Pulse-taking
Free Days
Enjoy the City! On Sunday, students are encouraged to join with each other and visit houses of
worship in the New York area.
Free Day: Martin Luther King Holiday
For those interested, we might arrange a tour of Harlem for this day.
Environment, Conflict, and Resources
9:00 – 9:30 Arrive and Devotional
9:30 – 10:30 Conflict and Its Effects on the Environment
Mark Douglas
10:30 – 10:45 Break
10:45 –12:15 Climate Change and Its Effects on Conflict
Mark Douglas
12:15 – 1:30 Maharaja Indian lunch brought in
1:30 – 2:30 Consumption: Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas (working title – topic may particularly focus on fracking)
Tyler Edgar, NCC Eco-Justice Program
2:30 – 2:45 Break
2:45 – 3:45 Debriefing and Processing
3:45 –4:15 BOOK REVIEW: Elizabeth Adams
Simon Dalby, Environmental Security (Minnesota UP, 2002)
Food, Hunger, and Waste
9:00 – 9:30 Arrive and Devotional
9:30 – 10:30 Environment and Poverty
Leslie Woods, Associate for Domestic Issues, Office of Public Witness, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
10:30 – 12:15 Garbage Tours (details to be explained in class)
12:15 – 12:45 Reporting Back from our Garbage Tours
1:00 – 2:34 Lunch and Conversation with Food and Hunger NGO Working Group:
Climate Change and Agriculture: Looking toward Rio+20
2:45 – 3:45 Reflections on Environment, Food, Hunger, and the NGOs
Joe Donnelly, Caritas Internationalis
3:30-3:45 Break
3:45 – 4:30 Book Discussion: Leopold’s Sand County Almanac
4:30 – 5:00 BOOK REVIEW: Carol Underwood
Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma (Penguin, 2007)
The Church and Practices for Engagement
9:15 – 9:45 Chapel
9:45 – 10:30 Book Discussion: E.O. Wilson, Anthill and “Open Letter”
10:30 –10:45 Break
10:45 – 11:30 Brian Ellison, MRTI
11:30 – 12:15 Presbyterians Earth Care
Conversations: What Are Your Churches Doing?
12:15 – 1:15 Lunch (on own)
1:15 – 2:45 Committee on Sustainable Development
First Secretary, Finland
2:45-3:00 Break
3:00-5:00 Practical Engagement II: Congregational Approaches
Rebecca Barnes-Davies
Invitation to area Presbyterians to join us for a conversation
5:30-8:00 GROUP DINNER
Concluding discussions: final theological and other reflections
9:00 – 9:30 Arrive, Loose Ends
9:30 – 10:30 Exploring Implications for our Ministries
10:30 – 11:00 PUNO Closing discussions
11:00 – 12:00 Concluding Worship