Tasks

These tasks are inspired and governed by my rules for the game of Christian liberal arts education. You might want to be aware of those rules.

Office hour appointment. I consider time spent with a student in person a much better investment for both of us than the same time spent writing an assignment's comments that may never be read. So I ask you to meet with me one-on-one at least once during the semester during my office hours. We can get to know each other better, address concerns, tailor the course to your particular interests and needs, and extend what you are learning. Make an appointment with Google Calendar. If you forget your appointment, just apologize and make a new one. If I cancel (or worse, miss) your appointment, please accept my apologies and make a new one.

I have no agenda for these appointments, but common topics you could think about beforehand include

What do you think I'd like to know about you, your life so far, your home context, or your present context?
What is God doing in and around you, and where you're from? (I'm asking that all year while I am on sabbatical, and learning a lot!)
How is the course going for you?
Do you have comments, criticisms, objections, or questions about specific topics, texts, or class sessions?
Have a question about interpretation of a particular Bible passage?
How is it for you at LCC right now?
Can I help you with any upcoming assignments?
Would you like advice on reading the Bible fruitfully, even transformatively?
Are there biblical or theological issues you would like to chase down on your own with additional reading or alternative assignments?
Do you have thoughts or questions about future work in your major? How about service in God's kingdom, regardless of your occupation?

I especially encourage office-hour visits if you are feeling discouraged by test results, unsure about what to do for your presentation, intimidated or overwhelmed by the material, unsure in your faith, vexed by the format, feel like you don't belong at LCC, and so on.

Class preparation. You must read material for class discussions (Bible Project videos, Bible reading, our textbook, etc.) before class. Bring up misunderstandings in class. Assignments and tests draw on lectures, readings, and discussions, so you are accountable soon anyway. Don't fall behind!

Written exercise(s). You will write a report about conversations you have had during the semester about Old Testament passage with people from outside the class. More details to come soon, but start having these to get in the habit! I may give you other minor written assignments as well, which will likely figure into your class participation grade.

In-class homily or presentation (skipped). I'd love each student to give a five-minute presentation on a biblical passage in that day's Old Testament reading. If you go long, I'll grade you down. This can be a 'sermon' or devotional message, but it may be something else: an analysis, reflection, reaction, and so on. It should be both authentic and charitable, but it does not need come from a position of personal faith in the God of Israel. Whether or not you consult secondary course materials, this must center on the passage. Please give me a copy of your presentations (or at least your outlines) before you speak. You may want to consult my list of pointers for presentations. If you decide to preach a message, then consult my tips on preparing to preach.

Examinations. You will take two in-class midterm exams and one final exam. These will cover major terms and topics in the lectures and required texts. The final exam will concentrate on the last part of the course, though it will also have a cumulative component.

Each of these factors will contribute to your final grade, roughly as follows:

~25% Class participation, including engagement with reading and online lectures. This may include discussion questions you submit before class. Participation is qualitative as well as quantitative, and is not just awarded proportionately. The word 'attendance' is related to the word 'attention': If you’re passive and paying attention to your screen instead of our environment, you aren't participating or attending, and I may mark you absent. Likewise, in the 'real world' if you miss a day of work every week, or just show up and sit at your desk doing nothing, you don't get 80% of your pay; you lose your job.

~35% Two midterm exams, in class. More detailed instructions will be given later in the semester.

0% In-class personal engagement with a biblical passage, described above. (We skipped this.)

~10% Report on your conversations with people outside class about biblical texts. This should be 500-700 words, double-spaced. Write up accounts of your most significant or insightful conversations over the semester about Old Testament texts with people outside our class, whether here at our school, at your home, or elsewhere. Did our sources (Richter, the Bible Project, your study Bible, lectures) and skills (self-test questions and discussions, your DBS experience, etc.) make specific contributions to those conversations or insights?

~30% Written final exam during finals week.

Late work. Work that is late is subject to a grade penalty.

Reading

Required textbooks: A study Bible.

Sandra Richter, Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament. InterVarsity, 2008.

Selected readings linked from Moodle and/or this online syllabus's schedule.

There is always more reading for after the course is over. Here are guidelines on finding it and some reading suggestions from my own library.

Having trouble understanding the reading? Look up unfamiliar terms in a dictionary (for instance, your assigned Pocket Dictionary, Wikipedia, or the on-line New Advent Catholic Dictionary). If even these suggestions do not help, there is still the advice of Thomas Cranmer:

"I cannot understand it." What marvel? How shouldest thou understand, if thou wilt not read nor look upon it? Take the books into thine hands, read the whole story, and that thou understandest keep it well in memory; thou that understandest not, read it again and again: if thou can neither so come by it, counsel with some other that is better learned. Go to thy curate and preacher; show thyself to be desirous to know and learn: and I doubt not but God, seeing thy diligence and readiness (if no man else teach thee) will himself vouchsafe with his Holy Spirit to illuminate thee, and to open unto thee that which was locked from thee (Preface to the Great Bible 6).

Hard work, but it's within your reach.