There are several assignments for this course that require work outside
of class: a reflection on your economic perspective, your 3 short reaction/ reading papers, seminar leadership and responses, and the final research paper. Directions for
these follow; topic ideas for the research
paper are available at the Research tab to the left.
If
you are interested in writing an extra credit report, use the link to the left
for directions and a list of eligible events.
In this 6-page double-spaced paper, you will use the readings from the first two weeks of class to reflect on your own economic perspective. This paper should have the following three parts:
First, describe your view of our economic system and how you are or hope to be engaged in it in the years ahead. Address issues related to one or more of the topics we discussed during our first week: wealth, work, and features of a capitalist economy. Reflect on both the benefits and the disadvantages of the system that you have witnessed firsthand
(2 pages).
Next, discuss the differences between the two competing Christian ethical positions on capitalism that Daniel Finn introduces in chapter 1—the Christian socialist and the Christian libertarian (this reading is scheduled for Thursday of week 2). Introduce each, and then evaluate which one is more persuasive to you and why. Don’t simply state your opinion in response, but defend it, explaining why your position is persuasive to you (2 pages).
Finally, discuss what traditions "live" for you that affect your economic decisions; these need not be religious traditions, as Finn presumes, but may be entirely secular. As you try to imagine this section, think about what accounts of our economy, of prosperity or success, of appropriate allocation of resources are most persuasive to you—stories that are inculcated in our national mythology, in your family, in your major, in your work experience, or in the media (2 pages).
Format
The paper should be typed and double-spaced, and should follow the margin, typeface/size, and citation style given on the Style Sheet (available from the
tab to the left). For this paper, no separate title page is needed; simply put the required header on top of your first page. As for citations, no bibliography is needed; your footnotes will adequately reference the course readings (note: no outside reading or research is needed for this assignment). The footnote format is clearly listed on the Style Sheet; it is a variant on the Chicago Manual of Style, but it is different from MLA or APA, if those are the what you're accustomed to. Microsoft Word makes it easy to insert footnotes (or references).
Here are templates you can use that have the correct fonts, footnote format, margins, and pagination. Underneath each is a video showing how to insert footnotes using each of these programs.
download this file, open a new Google Doc file, and drag this file into the window
download this file, open it, and start typing
Submission
Submit the paper in doc or docx format (Microsoft Word) to the assignment drop box on Camino before class on Thursday, January 19. You can find the drop box either through the Assignments tab on Camino, or by clicking on the link to the assignment on the Camino syllabus. Here are videos for how to convert a Google Doc and Pages file to Microsoft Word before uploading them to Camino:
Google Doc Conversion to MS Word
Pages File Conversion to MS Word
The professor's feedback will be posted on Camino.
Three short 2-3 page, single-spaced papers will be spread out during the quarter that ask you to engage an ethical question raised by the previous readings. These papers are the only typed work that will be turned in in hard copy in class. The topics are listed below; further suggestions will be offered in class:
For this paper, you will analyze the earliest sources we have for the historical man Jesus—the Gospel of Mark and Q (from the German word "Quelle" ["source"], the name given by scholars to a hypothetical list of Jesus' sayings that predates the gospels and is later embedded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke). The picture of Jesus that we get in these sources is of a man who abandons his kinship-household network and his work as a τέκτων (manual laborer, Mark 6:4) and becomes homeless and dependent on the support of others. Not only that, but he encourages his followers to abandon their jobs (Mark 1:16-20; 2:13-17), families and homes (Q 14:27) to follow him as well. As you consider the evidence, address the following questions each in a paragraph, with scriptural ch:vs examples to support your conclusions (you don't need to retype the actual verses, just include the ch:vs designations, using Luke's ch:vs for Q references):
Was Jesus lazy, or at the very least irresponsible? Consider what your parents might say if you actually followed this kind of advice.
Did all of Jesus' followers adopt this lifestyle, or did those who uprooted themselves depend on those who remained in their homes?
Is Jesus creating an alternative, "fictive" kinship-household structure, and how is this posed as an alternative to the state of Herod Antipas and the tribute-exchange system of Rome?
Was Marx right?
Tuesday, March 7
A week before the due date, you chose one chapter in the book by Terry Eagleton, Why Marx Was Right. Each chapter takes up a critique of Marxist thought or practice. Your task in this paper, will be to summarize the critique of Marxist thought or practice taken up in your single chapter, along with Eagleton's defense of Marx on this point. Spend about a page and a half on that summary and synthesis, and then conclude the paper with one- to one-and-a-half pages on your evaluation of the arguments, tying in the biblical material or Christian interpretation as you see fit.
Because this paper focuses on one "primary" text—Eagleton's book—you can cite it as we normally do the Bible: the first time you quote directly from your chapter, footnote the source, but from then on, inline citations with the page number alone will be adequate, like this (181).
Format
The paper should be typed and single-spaced, and should follow the margin, typeface/size, and citation style given on the Style Sheet (available from the
tab to the left). For this paper, no separate title page is needed; simply put the required heading on top of your first page. As for citations, no bibliography is needed; your footnotes will adequately reference the course readings (note: no outside reading or research is needed for this assignment). The footnote format is clearly listed on the Style Sheet; it is a variant on the Chicago Manual of Style, but it is different from MLA or APA, if those are the what you're accustomed to. Microsoft Word makes it easy to insert footnotes (or references), and there are video demos for how to do it on the Style Sheet.
Here are templates you can use that have the correct fonts, footnote format, margins, and pagination. Underneath each is a video showing how to insert footnotes using each of these programs.
download this file, open a new Google Doc file, and drag this file into the window
download this file, open it, and start typing
Submission
Bring a hard copy of the paper to class on the due date.
Evaluation
Click here for the grading rubric. The papers are worth 7-6-7 points, 20% of grade total.
Seminar Leadership & Response
Leadership
Working with one other person, you will be responsible for presenting a critical analysis of the primary and secondary readings for two separate meetings during the quarter, and leading a discussion on those readings. You will select your group and topics in the second week of class. Your task will be to summarize the material briefly, outline the key issues in the secondary material, and lead the class in the application of these insights to the primary readings for the day (if any are assigned) or to prior course readings.
You will prepare a handout (2 sides of one page) that lists your names, your topic, and the day’s readings, outlines the key ideas in the secondary readings (use no more than 1 page for that outline), and presents your questions and sub-questions to stimulate class discussion. Post a copy of your handout on the Pages tab on our course Camino page by 5 p.m. the night before your presentation so that your respondents and the other stu-dents can prepare their remarks. The professor will bring hard copies of the handout to class as well. Since the other class members will each have prepared the readings, you should spend no more than five minutes summarizing the readings; just refresh our memory about the key points of each secondary author. Plan to lead at least 50 minutes of discussion, and leave some time after your discussion to field questions "from the floor"—questions that others in the class might have had from the reading. For the grading rubric, click here. 20% of grade total (10% each occasion).
Response
At two points in the quarter, you will team up with one other student and lead the class response to another seminar leadership team, preparing answers to the questions they post in advance on Camino to help stimulate the class discussion of the topics the team has chosen. You do not need to type, post or submit your response; just prepare it in whatever way suits you best so that you can confidently speak to the questions the group poses. Keep a careful balance between responding regularl but not dominating the class discussion, since all members of the class will need to speak as well.
Your grade for your remarks will be one factor in the "oral remarks" portion of your grade for the entire class, which amounts to 15 points or 15% of your grade in total. It will be based more on the quality than the quantity of your remarks (though quantity is a lesser factor in the evaluation).
Research Paper
You will prepare a 15-20 page, double-spaced research paper examining a single biblical passage or teaching and how it might be or is being applied to a situation today. You’ll start with a close study of a single biblical passage or teaching— something in the neighborhood of 5-20 verses. You will read a professional commentary about your passage and five professional sources that explore the economic background and significance of the teaching. You will write a paper in which you:
summarize briefly the passage,
discuss the economic circumstances within which it was originally written,
explain its ethical point of view within that context,
correlate that original economic situation to a modern situation that is analogous, making a clear and thorough case for how and why the two situations are analogous, and
"translate" the original ethical message into the new situation, remaining faithful to the concerns expressed by the original author.
As you adapt or translate the original situation and perspective to the modern corollary, you can be creative in your choice of modern analogies or you can follow the lead of a Jewish or Christian ethicist; you’ll be evaluated in this section on how well you explain the similarities between the biblical and contemporary examples, and how well you comprehend the point of the biblical teaching as you explain what it might say to the modern case.
Specific ideas will be offered at the Research
tab by the third week of the quarter.
Whatever topic you choose, you will likely need access to reliable information about the economic circumstances on the issue. Here are some resources for statistics on poverty and inequality in the U.S. (the first three are national poverty research centers in the U.S. sponsored by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services):
Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality (CPI) - the center monitors trends in poverty and inequality, explains what's driving those trends, and develops science-based policy on poverty and inequality.
Center for Poverty Research, UC Davis (CPR) - the center focuses on labor markets and poverty, the non-cash safety net (including education and health policies), children and intergenerational mobility, and immigration and poverty.
The Equality of Opportunity Project - a project of Harvard and Berkeley economists Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, Patrick Kline and Emmanuel Saez, this site offers longitudinal analysis of trends in economic mobility in the U.S.
After you submit your general topic
of interest and bibliographies, the list of projects will be posted at the Research
tab to the left, and the professor will make further bibliographic recommendations
there.
This paper will be due in the stages listed below:
Research Colloquium 7-minute synopsis of your research in class
10th week
Thursday, March 16
Optional draft of entire paper E-copy in Microsoft Word or Pages attached in email to prof, or Google Doc shared with prof on Google Drive; for templates, see "Final Research Paper" below
10th week
Friday, March 17
Final Research Paper Submit to assignment drop box on Camino by 4:30 p.m.
Here
are some specific directions for the various stages of the paper:
Topic Statement and Initial Plan for Sources
A 1-page single-spaced assignment that identifies the biblical passage you've selected, the contemporary situation you've identified that is analogous to the original economic situation of the biblical author, and, if possible, some sense of the ethical teaching you find in the biblical text that might "translate" to the situation today. Then list the five professional
or academic sources and the biblical commentary (a sixth source) that you've found that you believe will help you examine
your topic. For the format of a short assignment (header, title, margins, etc.)
and for proper bibliographic format, see the Style
Sheet. To see a sample of what this assignment should look like, click here. Use these links for templates that have margins, font face/size, pagination, and footnote style pre-set for the requirements of this course (Microsoft Word, Pages, Google Docs).
Annotated Bibliography
In this 3-4 page, single-spaced paper, you will identify the working title of your paper, provide a short description of the biblical focus and historical or contemporary issue that you will examine, and then select six of your professional, secondary sources to annotate. For each annotation, provide the bibliographic entry in bold face. Underneath that entry, in plain face, type a 1/2 page paragraph that identifies the thesis and the basic argument of the source, along with one closing sentence for the paragraph that indicates how you anticipate weaving this material into your paper. For the format of a short assignment (header, title, margins, etc.)
and for proper bibliographic format, see the Style
Sheet and feedback on your topic statement. To see a sample of what this assignment should look like, click here (this sample has more than six sources listed). Use these links for templates that have margins, font face/size, pagination, and footnote style pre-set for the requirements of this course (Microsoft Word, Pages, Google Docs).
Outline
A 2- to 3-page single-spaced assignment
that breaks down your argument. Think of this document as the strategic plan of
your paper: what do you want to demonstrate, and how will you demonstrate it?
There are four main components of the paper, along with your introductory and concluding paragraphs, so the logical framework for the paper would include these four body sections, in addition to an introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph (see the template below). Do NOT organize the paper in terms of your sources, as this would really be just like an annotated bibliography rather than an outline indicating the thesis you have chosen.
Include references to the "proofs"
or warrants for your claims, whether these be primary texts (like the Bible
or an economic theorist's or ethicist's reading), secondary source citations, or established
facts. Don't type in entire quotes at this point; it wastes too much space. Just
use some notation system to remind yourself of the particular source you will
need at that point in your argument. If you include chapter:verse and page references
for your proofs here, it will save you looking them up all over again later.
There are no requirements for how you choose to outline (I.A.1 or bulleted lists
are fine), but all normal formatting styles apply (see Style
Sheet). To see a sample of what this assignment should look like (from another class), click here. Use these links for templates that have margins, font face/size, pagination, and footnote style pre-set for the requirements of this course (Microsoft Word, Pages, Google Docs).
Draft
This stage is optional. This is your complete 15-20 page double-spaced paper,
including unnumbered title page, footnotes or endnotes, and bibliography. Check it in advance for spelling and grammar
errors, and ask a friend to review it for coherence of argument and clarity of
style before you bring it to class.
All of the formatting expectations at the Style
Sheet should be observed. To see a sample of what this assignment should look like, click here. Use these links for templates that have margins, font face/size, pagination, and footnote style pre-set for the requirements of this course (Microsoft Word, Pages, Google Docs).
Final Paper
Prepare a clean, corrected
copy of the final paper, incorporating the feedback from the professor if you turned in a draft. Submit it online to the assignment drop box on Camino by the deadline posted above.
All of the formatting expectations at the Style
Sheet should be observed. To see a sample of what this assignment should look like, click here. Use these links for templates that have margins, font face/size, pagination, and footnote style pre-set for the requirements of this course (Microsoft Word, Pages, Google Docs).
Evaluation
Click here for the grading rubric. 30% of grade total.
