TRL 320 Christian Vocation to Justice (Summer 2016) 3.0 CreditsThis course will be conducted online via the UGF Moodle system.

Professor Kristen McGuire (750-5481; kristen.mcguire@ugf.edu) Office Hours: By appointment only. Always available by phone or email. Prefer by request at office 201B in Sullivan Hall, at a mutually agreeable time.

I. Course DescriptionTRL 320 Christian Vocation to Justice. Through practical experience, theory, and selected is-sues, this course explores the call to contribute as Christians toward a more just society. The practical dimension includes examination of one’s own social stances and encourages action for justice. The theoretical aspect includes discussion of moral norms for life in society and how they develop. The issues represent questions of importance to church and society, such as peace and nonviolence, economic justice, the sacredness of human life, racial and sexual equality, and human rights.

II. Course Objectives/Student-Learning Outcomes Describe what is meant by the term “social justice” and its implications for society and the

human person Identify and define the fundamental principles of social justice Describe how social justice contributes to the search for world peace. Explain the ways in which economic systems can lead to just or unjust conditions for the

worker. Identify the implications of seeing the relationship between man and the environment as one

of either stewardship or dominion.

III. Prerequisites to this Course and/or Requirements this Course FulfillsTRL 200 is required prior to taking this course, or instructor approval. This course satisfies a portion of the requirements for a major or minor in Theology and Ministry.

IV. Required Texts The Compendium of Social Justice . Available at:

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html. You can read the required sections online, but this will be more time consuming – you can also download it and save to a Word doc. Abbreviated as Comp. in the assignment table.

Additional texts as provided via Moodle You will find a Bible useful, as well as a doctrinal document for any Church you may be

affiliated with. Roman Catholics should look at the Compendium above & the Catechism. For your papers, please use the following reference, the notes/bibliography style, not the

author/date style. Turabian, Kate. Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 8th ed., 2013) Here is a short guide: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html

TRL 320 Christian Vocation to JusticeRevised On 5/1/2023

1

V. Course Requirements Quizzes (=Qz): four, with multiple choice and short answers. Final Examination : A comprehensive examination, comprised of only essay-type questions. Questions will be provided by July 3, and the final must be submitted by July 15. Paper(s): Two papers are required, each five - seven pages long. One will be an interview paper DUE June 17, the other a reflection paper DUE July 2. Grading will be based primarily on content.

o 1) The interview paper due June 17, the student will conduct an interview with a person (or persons) involved in social justice work in their local community. A list of social justice agencies in the Great Falls area will be provided via Moodle. This person (these persons) can be from a public, private or religious agency. The student will find out what the person(s) does and most importantly why. The student will then analyze the person’s work in terms of the definitions provided in the first weeks of class related to the “common good,” “justice,” “praxis,” and tensions between individual goods versus societal goods. What elements of the person’s values would you describe as Christian? What challenges does this person face on the job related to faith and the practice of religion? Are there doctrinal issues related to the work this person is doing? Does this person engage with those doctrinal issues? Demonstrate the correspondence between what the interviewee is doing and the Catholic social justice values.

o 2) The reflection paper (DUE July 9) will require the student to reflect on their own stance towards a selected contemporary social justice issue and how it does or does not reflect a Christian understanding of the issue. It will also include a personal plan of action (real or hypothetical) on how the student would approach the given issue if they were in a position to do so. For example, if the student chooses to analyze immigration in the US, the student would present the needs of immigrants, how Christians might frame their understanding of immigration and immigrants’ rights based on the Bible and/or church doctrine, and summarize the various ways that individuals and agencies are trying to help meet the needs of immigrants. The paper should conclude with the student’s personal plan of action that would bring justice to immigrants. Citations of Bible or official church teaching(s) are required.

General information on the Format of Paperso Format for PapersPapers will be submitted electronically. Text should be black, double-spaced, with margins set at one inch all around. Use Times New Roman font, 12 pitch (size). Quotations of three lines or more should be in 10 pitch, indented and single-spaced. Emoticons, and “text message” style shorthand are not to be used. Use footnotes, not end notes or parenthetical references, based on Turabian text in required book section. All pages of the body should have a header containing the student’s name and page number in the upper right-hand corner. Cover page and bibliography (both required) are not included in the page count.

o Late Submission of PapersAny paper submitted after the designated time on the due date will be considered one day late. For each day that a paper is late, points will be deducted. No more than 15 points will be deducted for late papers.

TRL 320 Christian Vocation to JusticeRevised On 5/1/2023

2

o Grading Criteria for the Paper

Each paper is worth 30 points

Item Points Was the paper submitted on time? Correct length = 5 pages Grammar and spelling adequate.

4 points possible

Is the paper formatted properly? 2 points Are a bibliography and footnotes included,

and are they accurate? 5 points

Is the thesis statement clearly identifiable? 2 points Are biblical and/or doctrinal documents cited

to support the presentation of a Church or Christian value system?

6 points

Are definitions of social justice concepts ac-curate and reflect the content of this course?

2 points

Does the student compare and contrast their own view (thesis) with the interviewee or scholars mentioned?

3 points

BOTH Are concepts of social justice included with definitions, and does the student address these concepts in thesis, arguments and con-clusion

6 points

VI. GradingGraded Assignments Worth…

Quizzes & Forum Posts (four throughout the semester at 5 points each) 20 Interview Paper (20 June by 5:00pm) 30Reflection Paper (9 July, by 5:00pm) 30Final Examination (midnight 15 July) 20

Total Points 100The final grade, should the student fall into this grading track, is: 100-94% = A, 93-83% = B, 82-70% = C, 69-60% = D, below 60% = F.

Classroom Discussions: Key aspects of any college level learning are: 1) Peer Learning and 2) Student-Instructor interaction. In an online class, this occurs in the discussion forums. The value of “peer learning” is that it allows you to see things not just from the instructor’s perspective. You give voice to your own perspective and benefit from hearing how others approach the same material. (Just reading the material is boring – sharing ideas and alternative views is what makes the online environment an engaging experience.) We will have one discussion board that will remain active throughout the summer session. Since there are a limited number of students involved, the structure of the discussion board will be somewhat informal. Students are required to read all posts and to post at least once per week.

TRL 320 Christian Vocation to JusticeRevised On 5/1/2023

3

VII. Class AttendanceA. “Students are expected to attend all classes and complete all assigned work. Attendance

includes attending on-campus classes and logging on a minimum of 3 times per week for on-line courses. The specific attendance and grading policy for each class is determined by the instructor and is listed in the course syllabus. Students who miss classes due to participation in University sanctioned events are required to make up any work or assign-ments they have missed in an equitable manner determined by the instructor and should not have their grade affected by the absence itself. In isolated cases involving family or medical emergencies, students are encouraged to speak with their instructors. Instructors may require documentation of family or medical emergencies.” (UGF Catalog: “Aca-demic Policies”)

B. Instructor’s additions to the attendance policy: Attendance will also be measured by a review of Moodle links accessed and completed assignments.

C. Habitual unexcused absences (defined as failing to sign onto the Moodle site and/or failure to complete assignments for fourteen consecutive days) will result in a failure of the course; regardless of the scores received from other graded assignments.

D. Missed Work: Students are responsible for completing all work. Normally, this would include downloading documents from the course website. All graded assignments must be completed as noted in the syllabus. Assignments not completed (unless alternate arrangements have been made) will be graded as “0” points

VIII. UGF Policy on Academic Misconduct“Students should exhibit high standards of academic conduct. All acts of dishonesty in academic work constitute academic misconduct. Such acts include:

Cheating: use or attempted use of unauthorized material or the work of another student in any academic assignment, paper or examination. Plagiarism: representation of another’s work as one’s own. This includes the unautho-rized and unacknowledged use of the phrases, sentences, paragraphs, ideas, illustrations, drawings, photographs, or computer programs of another whether by using exact or nearly exact words without quotation marks or by omitting citations or both.

The course instructor is the initial judge of whether a student is guilty of academic misconduct. Should a student disagree with an instructor’s judgment, the student may appeal the instructor’s decision by following the "Academic Related Appeals Process" on page xxi of the UGF Catalog.

The minimum penalty for an act of academic misconduct shall be a grade of "F" (failure) on the paper, assignment or examination involved. More severe penalties may be enforced by individ-ual instructors, provided that such penalties are identified in the course syllabus. The maximum penalty for plagiarism that may be levied is a grade of "F" (failure) for the course. Copies of pla-giarized work will be placed on file with the Coordinator of Student Faculty Relations. Severe or repeated instances of academic misconduct will result in more severe sanctions up to and includ-ing expulsion.” (UGF Catalog: “Academic Policies”)

TRL 320 Christian Vocation to JusticeRevised On 5/1/2023

4

IX. UGF Provision for Special NeedsAccommodation for documented disabilities: If you have a documented disability and would like the professor to make accommodations, visit with Kay Seilstad, Disability Counselor, in the Center for Academic Excellence or call Kay at 406-791-5212.

X. Assignment Schedule Week Dates Lecture Topics Reading Assignment(s)

To be read before classAssignments

1 23 May Intro. to class and materials

Please try to read these articles and watch these videos before class begins. If possible.

What does Social Justice look like?

Article on Mitch Snyderhttp://www.nationalhomeless.org/news/RememberingMitchSnyder.htmlVideo on Mitch Snyderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzZJe8oTSu4Article on Carol Fennelly in NY Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/13/garden/at-home-with-carol-fennelly-sheltering-storm.html

Reaction Forum 1 on Moodle

2 23-27 May.

OT/Biblical Perspectives

NT/Biblical Perspectives on Justice

Who is a Prophet?

The Prophets (Heschel), Chapters 1 &11

The Prophetic Imagination ch 5 (Brueggeman) online reading

Something Beautiful for God, optional

3 30 May – 3 June

In Depth – The Dignity of the Human Person

Definitions: What is the Common Good? What is Solidarity? Truth? Justice? Freedom?

What is the “Preferential Option for the Poor?”

Comp. §34-48 Comp. §124-151

Comp. §164-191

Comp. §197 - 208

In the Company of the Poor, Ch 4 & 5 (Gutierrez & Farmer)

1st Paper Interview Subject Due

4 6-10 June

In Depth - The Family as the Basis for Society

What is Subsidiarity?

Christian within the Society

Comp. §209 - 245

Comp. §185 - 191

Catholic Social Teachings Summary

Quiz on 7 Catholic Social Teachings

TRL 320 Christian Vocation to JusticeRevised On 5/1/2023

5

Week Dates Lecture Topics Reading Assignment(s)To be read before class

Assignments

5 13-17 June

Church and State

Christians and Citizenship

Immoral Man and Moral Society (Niebuhr) online reading Ch 1,2 & 3

Centesimus Annus

1st Paper DueReaction Forum 2 on Democracy

6 21-24 June.

Workers and Working Conditions

Catholic Worker Movement

Comp. §255 - 300

Rerum Novarum

Dorothy Day, By Little and By Little

2nd Paper Topic Due

7 27 June. – 2 Jul.

Globalization and World Economy

Foreign Debt and Foreign Aid/Subsidizing War

Comp. §428-450

Populorum Progressio (Paul VI)

Pope Francis Reading on UN

Reaction Forum 3 on Global Poverty

8 4-9 July World Peace in a Nuclear Age/Christian Pacifism

Sustainable Living

Caring for God’s Creation

Comp. §488 - 520

Comp. §451-487

Laudato Si. Excerpts (optional)

Reflection Paper Due

9 10 – 15 July

Review for Final Open Book Essay Test Final Due July 15 by Midnight.

Final Exam Must be Submitted by 12 am (midnight) on July 15, 2016

TRL 320 Christian Vocation to JusticeRevised On 5/1/2023

6

XI. The GridUniversity Goals and Objectives

Major/Minor/Concentration Competency Objectives

(Class) Behavioral Objectives

Assessment Measures

What does it mean to participate in intellectual inquiry?

Construct a critical, grounded understanding and appreciation of the roots and function of religion in life.

Ask questions, challenge assumptions and share your insights with the class.

Graded assignments; Use of the online discussion forums.

What does it mean to be human?

Identify and explain central Christian and Catholic social doctrines and ethical principles.

Explain/describe the basics of social justice.

Graded assignments; Use of the online discussion forums.

What does it mean to “make a living” and to live as a productive human being?

Demonstrate consistently the value of community and the interrelatedness of all creation.

Explain/describe how living a morally “just” life contributes to the common good

Graded assignments; Use of the online discussion forums.

What does it mean to participate in the spiritual and religious dimensions of life?

Make sound moral decisions that contribute to a world of respect, service, and justice.

Explain/describe the basics of social justice

Graded assignments; Use of the online discussion forums.

TRL 320 Christian Vocation to JusticeRevised On 5/1/2023

7

XII. Additional Reading and Selected Bibliography

Heschel, Abraham. The Prophets. (New York: Harper & Row, 1962)

Farmer, Paul and Gutierrez, Gustavo. In the Company of the Poor (NY: Maryknoll, 2008)

Niebuhr, Reinhold. Immoral Man and Moral Society. (NY: Doubleday, 1932)

Ellsworth, Russ. By Little and By Little: The Selected Writings of Dorothy Day.

Muggeridge, Malcolm. Something Beautiful for God. (New York: Harper & Row, 1972)

Pope Francis. Laudato Si, 2015.

Pope Paul VI, Populorum Progressio, 1967.

TRL 320 Christian Vocation to JusticeRevised On 5/1/2023

8