9 courses with the subject DMIN, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
DMIN 700Theologies of Nonviolence, Justice and Peace (4 SH)
Why should people of faith commit themselves to a nonviolent way of life? Work toward peace with justice? The course begins with an investigation of nonviolent theory, its theological roots, its contemporary applications, and its power for social transformation. Students will then critically engage with a range of theologies of peace and explore why people of faith disagree when it comes to justice—surveying many of the ways nonviolence, justice, and peace have been defined and pursued in specific contexts. Finally, students will draw their own conclusions and make applications to the work of justice and peacebuilding in their vocational contexts.
Where and why did Liberation Theology emerge as a distinct movement? What makes a theology “liberationist” today? This course begins with an introduction to the historical contexts and key thinkers that gave rise to liberation theology in South America. Students will be introduced to the concerns, tools, and grounding theories of liberation theology. Students will then explore the contextual relationship between theology and grassroots social movements in analyzing and confronting problems of poverty, racism, sexual and gendered violence, and the ecological crisis. A variety of established and emerging theologies (e.g. mujerista/womanist/feminist, postcolonial, queer liberation, disability liberation) will be investigated for their approaches, differences, collaborations, and practices.
This course offers a transformational approach to conflict, which assumes conflict is ordinary and develops frameworks and practices to navigate it constructively, restore relationships, and build peace with justice. Students will explore several toolkits for practicing peace within faith-based communities and beyond, including adaptive leadership, nonviolent communication, and restorative justice. And students are encouraged to reflect on episodes from their careers to-date, experiment with new practices, and process these experiences with peers. What approaches to peacemaking and social change promote personal and collective agency in practice? How can leaders committed to nonviolent strategies grapple with troubled power dynamics in and beyond congregations?
Trauma, from the Latin for “wound,” signifies particular events in human experience that overwhelm the emotional response capacities of individuals and communities. This course explores the science and spirituality of the ways lasting wounds from traumagenic events impact bodies, brains, beliefs and behaviors. Engaging in critical reflection on theological frameworks for conceptualizing and responding to trauma, students will develop contextual ministerial and community- based practices of spiritual care that seek justice, repair and wholeness amid the ongoing impact of trauma.
DMIN 770Scriptures and the Ministry of Peacemaking (4 SH)
This course is an exploration of scriptures and traditions related to both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament as resources for the formation of theological imagination and the practices of peacemaking. Students focus on exegetical analysis; themes of violence, peace, reconciliation, restorative justice, and power; as well as how historical reception and interpretation of biblical texts and traditions have been used both to support and to hinder the work of justice and peacemaking. Students are encouraged to analyze their own understandings of peacemaking and justice and to encounter biblical texts as a resource for the formation of an alternate theological vision that can support communities of faith in dismantling and deconstructing violent and unjust powers and systems. Course Descriptions – 60
These courses prepares students for advanced library research, research design and thesis writing. Covering both quantitative and qualitative research methods appropriate to the DMin, students learn about research ethics and justice- based research approaches for their own research contexts and research question, drawing from grounded theory and critical participatory action research frameworks. This course requires a literature review according to best information literacy practices and aims toward students developing the proposal for their DMin thesis.
Guided by a phenomenological perspective, this course explores the dynamic interaction of self and systems, including how systems act upon a self and on which a self acts. The concept of self will be traced across philosophical, psychological and theological contours, noting its embodied and social identities. Utilizing a systems approach, students will engage in analysis of episodes, situations, contexts, structures and ideologies. Through participatory engagement with a case study method, students will develop their inner resources for an integrated, differentiated and relationally connected sense of self while building leadership strategies for systems change.
This course presents theories of social change and focuses on the relationship between religion and society in “large-scale” social transformation. A case study method provides a framework to explore the role of religion in social activism within historical contexts of the rise of social movements, along with the implications of social change ideas on the contexts in which they emerged and on present contexts.
In consultation with a designated faculty advisor, the student will develop a proposal for a written thesis that explores an area of ministry related to the student’s vocational calling, utilizes appropriate research methodologies and resources, and generates new knowledge regarding the practice of ministry. Once the thesis proposal is approved by a DMin faculty thesis committee, the DMin candidate will make an oral presentation about the thesis and undergo evaluation to reflect excellence and achievement of the program’s outcomes Forming the Ministering Person (FS) Course descriptions and scheduling are subject to change by administrative decision. See course offerings booklet for current offerings. Some courses will be offered on a two- or three-year rotation.
