B 301: Reading from Cultural Spaces: The Difference that Culture Makes in Biblical Interpretation

McCormick Theological Seminary

Summer Session 2017

May 15–19, 2017: Mon 12–5pm,

Tu–Th 9am–5pm, Fri 9am –12pm

Professor: Frank M. Yamada

773-947-6301; Office: 202

Course Summary: Fernando Segovia, in his essay, “Toward a Hermeneutics of the Diaspora: A Hermeneutics of Otherness and Engagement,” argues that the time has come for biblical scholarship to address real “flesh-and-blood” readers. His challenge, issued at the end of the 20th C., represented a call to take the cultural and social location of interpreters seriously within the field of biblical criticism. Segovia’s work is part of an emerging theme within biblical hermeneutics, in which interpreters read the biblical texts in conversation with their different cultural, racial, and ethnic perspectives. This course will explore the difference that “culture” makes in reading and interpreting the Bible. We will explore recent anthologies from scholars of color—African American, Latino/a American, and Asian American—in the U.S. contextand the “cultural context” of 19th and 20th C. German scholarship. This last step is included since German scholarship has had a profound impact on contemporary biblical criticism, and it is usually not considered to be “cultural.” This course will argue that what is considered to be “traditional” biblical criticism is also culturally context specific.

Masters Level Learning Outcomes:McCormick’s Masters level curricula are tied to student learning outcomes. There are four outcomes that are common to all Masters level degree programs. They are as follows:

1.Think critically

2.Construct theological meaning using Christian tradition(s)

3.Communicate effectively

4.Exhibit cross-cultural competence

There are two M.Div. outcomes and one MAM outcome that are specific to their respective degree programs:

5a.Serve effectively in congregational ministries [MAM only]

5b.Exhibit pastoral imagination [M.Div. only]

6Lead just and sustainable communities [M.Div. only]

Course Objectives:B301 has the following course objectives that are tied to Masters level curricula outcomes:

1)To familiarize students with and critically examine the scholarly discipline of culturally contextual biblical interpretation (Outcome 1):

  1. To examine biblical texts with an eye to how various interpreters foreground race, ethnicity, and social location in their interpretations of the biblical texts.
  2. To examine historical criticism and other traditional modes of biblical criticism within their cultural contexts.

2)To assist students in the development of an informed and contextual reading strategy for the biblical texts (Outcome 2).

3)To enhance students cross-cultural competence through a critical engagement of their own reading strategy and through an active engagement of the reading approaches of others from different cultural perspectives (Outcome 4).

4)To engage the students’ creativity and leadership through the construction of a project that engages the biblical text, culture, and community (Outcome 5a and 5b).

5)To introduce students to and give them tools for building cross-cultural engagement and coalition (Outcome 6).

Requirements:

1)Regular attendance in class – Since this course only meets five times, any absences are equivalent to missing multiple weeks in class. Any unexcused absence will adversely affect your grade.

2)Reading of assigned material including, most importantly, the biblical texts.

3)Active participation in class discussions.

4)Because of the compact nature of a J-Term course, the assignments will build toward the final project described below. This process will be more fully explained on the first day of class. Note that there is only one assignment (the self-inventory) that will be due on the first day of class. The other assignments will be part of a process that will lead up to and prepare you to complete the final project. You will not need to begin the other assignments (b.–e.) until after the course begins. The final project scaffolding will include:

  1. Identifying and articulating your own way of reading.

ASSIGNMENT 1 –Pre-Class Assignment: Complete self-inventory (from the Peoples’ Companion) and write out responses.Due: May 15, 2017 [NOTE: PRE-CLASS ASSIGNMENT DUE ON FIRST DAY]

  1. Identifying and interpreting biblical texts.

ASSIGNMENT 2 – Identify texts and cultural convergence points within the texts (we will begin this in class). Write out a summary of possible texts and these points of convergence in a report. Due: May 18, 2017.

  1. Developing and presenting your project plan.

ASSIGNMENT 3– We will begin developing project plans in class on the first week. Project plans will be presented to classmates on the last day of the class, May 19, 2017.

  1. Building and broadening your understanding of theories of reading from different cultural locations.

ASSIGNMENT 4 – Write a brief, one paragraph summary for one essay in each of the anthologies from biblical scholars of color (essays will be assigned on first day of class). Due: May 26, 2017.

  1. Final Project – Each student will do a final project. There are three basic criteria: 1) it must deal with the biblical text(s); 2) it must address self-consciously the issue of culture/race/ethnicity; and 3) it must address your community (as you understand or construct it). You may do a final interpretative paper on a biblical text that has cultural themes or do a cultural reading of a text (10–15 pgs; see examples); create a bible study curriculum on a biblical book or passage(s) that engages cultural contexts of the text and/or the reader; construct a lecture or sermon series on cultural identity and the biblical text; write a short midrashic story about a biblical text told from a particular cultural perspective; burn a CD that addresses contemporary themes of culture/race/ethnicity and the Bible; think up a movie series that addresses themes of cultural identity and biblical themes. Be creative. Consult with the professor about your projects idea and shape. Due: June 2, 2017.

Grade Breakdown:

25%Attendance, Participation, and Preparation

15%Self-Inventory

10%Essay Summaries

10%Text IDs and Cultural Convergence Summary

15%Project Plan and Presentation

25%Final Project

Required Books:

  • Latino/a Biblical Hermeneutics: Problematics, Objectives, Strategies, Society of Biblical Literature Semeia Studies 68, ed. Francisco Lozada, Jr. (SBL Press, 2014) [ISBN 1589836545; Call# not available].
  • The Peoples' Companion to the Bible, ed. Curtiss Paul DeYoung et al. (Fortress Press, 2008) [ISBN 0800697022; Call# BS511.3 .P46 2010].
  • Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation, ed. Cain Hope Felder (Fortress Press, 1991) [ISBN 0800625013; Call# BS511.2 .S86 1991].
  • Ways of Being, Ways of Reading: Asian American Biblical Interpretation, ed. Mary F. Foskett and Jeffrey Kah-Jin Kuan (Chalice Press, 2006) [ISBN 0827242549; Call# BSBS511.3 .W39 2006].

Recommended

  • The Africana Bible: Reading Israel's Scriptures from Africa and the African Diaspora,ed. Hugh R. Page, Jr., et al. (Fortress Press, 2009) [ISBN 0800621255; Call#BS1171.3 .A37 2010].
  • Musa W. Dube, ed. Other Ways of Reading: African Women and the Bible. (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature; Geneva: WCC Publications, 2001) [BS 521.4 .O87].
  • Justo L. González, Santa Biblia: The Bible through Hispanic Eyes (Nashville: Abingdon, 1996) [BS476 .G66].
  • Nyasha Junior. An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 20150 [BS521.2 .J86 2015].
  • Tat-siong Benny Liew, "The Bible in Asian America," Semeia 90/91 (2002) [Order back issues from the Society of Biblical Literature].
  • Fernando F. Segovia and Mary Ann Tolbert, eds, Reading From This Place. Volume I: Social Location and Biblical Interpretation in the United States (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995) [BS476 .R4].
  • , Reading from This Place (vol. 2): Social Location and Biblical Interpretation in the Global Perspective (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995) [I believe same as above, but v.2].
  • R. S. Sugirtharajah, Voices from the Margin: Interpreting the Bible in the Third World, 3rd revised expanded edition (Orbis, 2006) [BS476 .V64 1995]. Note library copy is 1995 version.
  • They Were All Together in One Place? Toward Minority Biblical Criticism, Semeia Studies 57, ed. Randall C. Bailey, Tat-siong Benny Liew, and Fernando Segovia (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2009) [BS521.88 .T44 2009eb].
  • True to Our Native Land: An African American New Testament Commentary, ed. Brian K. Blount, et al. (Fortress Press, 2007) [ISBN0800634217; Call#BS2341.52 .T78 2007].
  • Vincent Wimbush, African Americans and the Bible: Sacred Texts and Social Textures (Continuum, 2001) [BR 563 .N4A373].
  • Renita J. Weems, Just a Sister Away: Understanding the Timeless Connection Between Women of Today and Women in the Bible (Walk Worth Press, 2007) [ASIN B001DAI7BK; Call# BS575 .W39 1988].
  • Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse, Semeia Studies 85, ed. Gay L. Byron and Vanessa Lovelace (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2016) [BS521.4 .W66 2016].

Schedule:

______

5/15:Understanding Culture and Background to

Culturally Contextual Biblical Criticism

Topics:

  • Introduction to Class and Culture
  • The Cultural Context of Historical Criticism
  • The Turn Toward Culture: African American Biblical Interpretation
  • Reading the Hagar narratives

Biblical Texts:

  • Read Genesis 16 and 21:1–21 (the Hagar narratives)

Classwork:

  • Process Self-Inventory
  • Building understanding and theory of cultural interpretation

ASSIGNMENT 1: Self-Inventory Due

______

5/16:Culturally Contextual Biblical Criticism, Cont.

Topics:

  • The Turn Toward Culture: Asian American Biblical Interpretation
  • Reading Ruth and Esther
  • The Turn Toward Culture: Latino/a Biblical Interpretation
  • Reading the Exodus Narratives

Biblical Texts:

  • Skim the Books of Ruth and Esther for cultural motifs
  • Read Exodus 13:17–15:21

Classwork:

  • Building understanding and theory of cultural interpretation, cont.
  • Assign essays from anthologies
  • Identifying and outlining project plan
  • Identifying biblical texts and cultural convergence points

______

5/17: Culturally Contextual Biblical Criticism, Cont.

and the Practice of Cultural Interpretation

Topics:

  • The Real Cultural Jesus
  • Reading the Jesus and the Syrophoenician/Canaanite Woman
  • Women of Color Reading/Resisting Violence in the Prophets
  • Reading against Hosea 1–2

Biblical Texts:

  • Read Mark 7:25–30 // Matthew 15:21–28
  • Read Hosea 1–2

Classwork:

  • Update on project plan and biblical texts/cultural convergence points

______

5/18 and 5/19: The Practice of Cultural Interpretation, Cont.

Topics:

  • The Practice of Cultural Biblical Interpretation
  • Tools and Skills for Cross-Cultural Engagement
  • Class Debrief

Classwork:

  • Presentation of project plan

ASSIGNMENT 2: Report on Biblical Texts and

Cultural Convergence Points Due (on 5/18/17)

ASSIGNMENT 3: Present Project Plan in Class (5/18/17 and 5/19/17)

______

ASSIGNMENT 4: Anthology Essay Summaries (Due 5/26/17)

FINAL PROJECT: (Due6/2/17)