MN591/691: Transforming the City: Urban Field Experience, Los Angeles (4 units)
Jude Tiersma Watson, Associate Professor of Urban Mission
Winter 2008 Pasadena

DESCRIPTION:

This urban field experience is designed as a collaborative seminar with several seminaries, sponsored by the Bakke Graduate School. The seminar is designed to acquaint participants with the socio-cultural dynamics that affect the quality of life, inform theology and challenge the manner in which ministry is conducted in our urban world. Using Los Angeles as our lab, an analysis of the urban context and ministry strategies will be engaged through lectures, multi-disciplinary readings, discussions, interviews with community leaders, small groups, and site visits.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the course students will:

1. Be equipped to think critically about transformation in a global city.
2. To understand what facilitates a ministry that is transformational.
3. To learn to use and apply a Model Analysis Guide, that can be the common basis for approaching, listening, interpreting, and reporting site visits and case studies.

COURSE FORMAT:

This seminar is based on a Los Angeles course sponsored by Bakke Graduate University (BGU), to be held Jan.. 6-11, 2008. The course facilitator for BGU is Dr. Michael Mata, transformational specialist for World Vision US. Dr. Ray Bakke will be one of the key lecturers. Dr. Jude Tiersma Watson will serve as the faculty of record for Fuller students. As such she will receive all coursework from Fuller students and submit grades to Fuller’s Registrar’s Office.

REQUIRED READING: If previously read, please consult instructor for alternative texts.

1. Bakke, Ray Theology as Big as the City. Intervarsity Press, 1997.
2. Davis, Mike, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future of Los Angeles, Verso, new edition, 2006.
3. Gottlieb, Robert et al, The Next Los Angeles: The struggle for a Livable City. California Press, 2006.
4. Kotkin, Joel, The City: A Global History Modern Library, 2006.
5. Tanner, Kathryn, ed. Searching for Soul in the Urban Landscape. Augsburg Fortress Press, 2004.

RECOMMENDED READING:

1. Banham, Reyner, The Architecture of Four Ecologies.
2. Davey, Andrew, Urban Christianity and the Global Order.
3. Dear, Michael, Ed. From Chicago to LA.
4. Hayden, Delores, The Power of Place: Urban Landscapes as Public History.
5. Klein, Norman, The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory. Verso Press, 1997.
Other books and articles approved by instructor, especially on your context.

ASSIGNMENTS:

1. 1500 pages of reading.
2. Three book reports, 500-600 words (2 pages) each
3. A 3,750-6,000 word (15-24 page) Journal of the week.
4. Final 3,000-4,500 word project (12-18 pages) on a topic related to the nature and mission of the urban church.

FINAL EXAM: None.

PREREQUISITES: None. No audits.

Note: Registration for this consortium course requires two registrations. (1) Register at Fuller for academic credit and pay Fuller tuition. (2) Register with BGU and pay an additional $150.00 administration fee. Students who wish to experience full immersion may plan to lodge at the LA Union Rescue Mission with students from other seminaries; this will result in a slightly higher administration fee. The $150 administration fee should be paid to Bakke Graduate University (BGU) care of Shirley Akers, Course Coordinator at the time that you register with them.

1013-8th Ave., Ste. 401, Seattle, WA 98104 (206) 264-9100 ext. 12 Email: ShirleyA@bgu.edu

Fuller’s School of Intercultural Studies will apply a $150 rebate to the Fuller student account in or around the 6^th week of the quarter to reimburse students for this extra fee.
Class meets at Union Rescue Mission, 545 S. San Pedro St. Los Angeles, M-Th 9:00-4:30, F 9:00-12:00 noon. Students are requested to read 500 pages before the course begins. Work is due at the end of the quarter.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Elective.

Note: This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design, but is subject to modification. Last Date Edited: 10 October 2007