In the past few years, signs have grown in my classroom that students hold back from frank discussion of socially freighted topics. You and I are living under conditions that penalize and chill free discourse. This assignment is intended to distance you from those conditions so you can "think out loud" more productively and freely.
Email me indicating that you are interested in participating in this exercise. I will pair you, anonymously, with one or two other students in one or another section of the class. Discuss the course topics, from lectures to readings, anonymously online over the semester. Run ideas by each other; apply the course material to current events, your own faith or church context, Westmont, and the like. Strive both to speak authentically and to listen charitably. It's necessary that you inform your thoughts from course lectures and readings, but you may supplement. You are of course still bound by Westmont's Community LIfe Statement regarding conduct towards fellow students and community members.
It is important to preserve confidentiality and anonymity both during and after the exercise, so as to free you from social pressure. If you break anonymity or confidentiality, I will treat it as an act of academic dishonesty, which is punishable by failing the course even after the course is concluded. The only way you may break anonymity is by unanimous consent of all people in your group after the course has concluded.
This exercise is experimental, so as a closing comment, reflect together on whether the format has been a success in drawing you out and encouraging you truly to listen to one another. This will help me evaluate whether to offer it in future semesters.
Where you refer to any course materials, you will of course need to cite them properly. I also still want to see proper style, clear writing, a thorough answer to the question, and explicit citations of course materials. I hope you come away with not only a better understanding of the material, but also with a new understanding of one another!