In the middle of the 20th century, four women at the University of Oxford began careers that would revolutionize the fields of ethics and analytic philosophy. Elizabeth Anscombe, Wittgenstein’s student and translator, integrated ordinary language philosophy with Aristotelian practical reasoning. Philippa Foot defended the objectivity of morality, invented the Trolley problem, and articulated a modern account of ethical naturalism. Mary Midgley challenged reductionism and sociobiology while developing a fulsome account of our relationship to non-human animals. Iris Murdoch, through story as much as treatise, brought analytic philosophy into conversation with Continental philosophy, Eastern philosophy, and Platonic moral realism. This seminar examines the philosophy and legacy of these four women, friends, pioneers, and philosophers.
What Were the Women Up To? Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Mary Midgley, and Iris Murdoch
Transformative Teaching: The Role of a Christian Educator
Transformative Teaching is a course for instructional leaders as they consider their roles as Christian educators called to be transformers of society and culture by seeking justice for those who are marginalized and disenfranchised. In this course we will consider constructivism (a dominant educational theory in the twenty-first century that informs student-centred pedagogies such as Project Based Learning) through the lens of Scripture and investigate the assumptions that it makes. We will explore our calling as Christian educators to transform culture in our schools, local community, and the world.
This course seeks to help Christian educators find clarity in answers to the following questions:
Context: Who am I called to be as a Christian educator in my particular place and time?
Constructivism: How does constructivism inform my practice?
Culture: What role does education play in creating culture?
God in Flesh and Blood: Revolutions in Christology
How to Finance a Vision: Setting Direction and Managing Change within Financial Limitations
How to Finance a Vision is a course for new and aspiring principals and leadership teams. The course provides frameworks and tools for leadership in making the connections between the vision of a school, the budgeting process, and fundraising.
The course starts with an introduction to Henri Nouwen’s spirituality of fundraising. It continues with an introduction to the basic financial documents that a principal should be able to read. It explores the art of communicating the story told by school budgets as a necessary element of fundraising. It concludes with the processes necessary to gain competency in working with both school boards and staffs (with an emphasis on financial and advancement staff) on the financial aspects of school management.
How to Finance a Vision is a remote learning course consisting of three synchronous discussions and three virtual school visits using online video and thirteen weeks of asynchronous online interaction.
ICSD 260007 W24
Blended (Online Asynchronous/Synchronous)
(MA-EL)
Syllabus
Meaning/Being/Knowing: The Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Implications of a Christian Ontology
A Cosmic Theopoetics of/for Love
This seminar will explore, question and develop Olthuis’ ‘theopoetic philosophical work.’ Despite the ever present reality of brokenness, trauma and evil, in conversation with Levinas, Derrida, Caputo, Lacan and Žížek, Olthuis argues theologically, anthropologically, psychologically and etho-politically that the universe comes from Love, continues in Love, and is headed to Love.
Biblical Foundations: Narrative, Wisdom, and the Art of Interpretation
This course will explore the Bible—from Genesis to Revelation—as the ongoing story of and for God and all God’s creatures, paying special attention to the way in which humanity’s attempt to find its way is interwoven with the story of the Divine presence and with the wisdom and promise of creation-new creation. In asking whether and how the biblical story may find its future in our ongoing narratives, we will attempt to identify which hermeneutical methods and sensitivities might help us discern its significance for present day life, including the academic enterprise.
If Jesus is the Living Word at the heart of Scripture, does that change our understanding of where biblical truth is coming from and where it is going? Does the Bible have an implicit, sapiential pedagogy that we have misconstrued? Can the familiar Reformed themes of creation and covenant, election and eschaton speak to us in new, reformational ways? These are some of the questions we shall explore together as we reintroduce ourselves to the biblical writings.
Critical Theory and Religion: The Frankfurt School and Beyond
Theory of the Frankfurt School. First generation thinkers in this school understood religion,
especially Judaism and Christianity, to be integral to modern social and cultural evolution.
Religion must be studied, they felt, because it can both display forms of pathological
socialization and yet be a resource for a critique of, and eventual emancipation from, oppressive social realities. After exploring key writings of the first generation of Critical Theorists, the course will examine Jürgen Habermas’s evolving appreciation of religious contributions to social justice and conclude with a selection of readings from contemporary thinkers influenced by the Critical Theory tradition broadly understood, such as Judith Butler, Seyla Benhabib, Enrique Dussel, Achille Mbembe, and María Pía Lara.
ICS 120505 / 220505 F23
Cultivating Learning Communities of Belonging
Cultivating Learning Communities of Belonging is a course for instructional leaders and school administrators in the consideration of both school and classroom cultures. Course content will include attention to social and cultural contexts, racial justice, Indigenous perspectives, human sexuality, and restorative practices and how these topics impact and form school and classroom cultures.
This course seeks to help students find clarity in answers to the following questions:
What is the relationship between the daily behaviour of educational leaders and the cultures of schools?
How do we awaken our students’ knowledge, creativity, and critical reflective capacities in our schools and classrooms?
How do racism and other forms of oppression underlie achievement gaps and alienation within our schools?
How can classroom learning be linked to larger movements seeking to effect change in the community?
How can school culture be a vehicle for social change?
How do we cultivate learning communities of belonging in our schools?
ICSD 260008 F23*
Blended (Online Asynchronous/Synchronous)
(MA-EL)
Syllabus
Enrolment Notes:
To register for this course, email academic-registrar@icscanada.edu. Last date to register is September 14 (Note that the first class for this course takes place on September 14). Maximum enrolment of nine (9) students. ICS reserves the right to decline registrations.
*Approved for Area 2 or 3 of the CSTC