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Teaching this Semester

John Fea   |  January 31, 2020

Created and Called

This semester, for the first time in my eighteen-year career at Messiah College, I will not be teaching any history courses.  Instead, I will be teaching three sections of a required first-year seminar titled “Created and Called for Community.”  This course, which uses a common syllabus, is designed to introduce a Messiah College liberal arts education to first-year students.  It focuses on the writing, close reading of texts, biblical and theological reflection on human dignity and community, and the meaning of Christian vocation.

I will be teaching these texts:

Stanley Hauerwas, “Go With God“

John Henry Newman, “What is a University?“

Ernest L. Boyer, “Retaining the Legacy of Messiah College“

Genesis 1-2

James Weldon Johnson, “The Creation“

Bruce Birch, “The Image of God“

J.R.R. Tolkien, “Leaf by Niggle“

Alice Walker, “In Search of our Mothers’ Gardens“

Exodus 19-20

Matthew 5-7

 Acts 1-4

Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed

Harold Bender, The Anabaptist Vision (excerpt)

Alabama Clergyman, “A Call for Unity” and Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from a Birmingham Jail“

Robert Putnam, “Bowling Alone“

Augustine, Confessions (excerpts)

Robert Frost, “Mending Wall“

Luke 10:25-37

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Desmond Tutu, “God Believes in Us“

Plato, “The Allegory of the Cave” (excerpt)

Albert Schweitzer, “I Resolve to Become a Jungle Doctor“

Henri Nouwen, “Adam’s Peace“

Jerry Sittser, “Distinguishing Between Calling and Career“

Jerry Sittser, “What We’re Supposed to Do”

Dorothy Sayers, “Why Work?“

I will probably blog about these texts as the semester moves forward.  Feel free to read or follow along.

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Filed Under: Way of Improvement Tagged With: Anabaptism, Apostles Creed, Augustine, college teaching, community, Created and Called for Community, Desmond Tutu, Dorothy Sayers, Ernest Boyer, Henri Nouwen, Imago Dei, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Henry Newman

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