Topic for Fall 1999--Family Values
Tuesday 3:30-5:30, Beasley Hall 204
The
Nature of Values: HCOL 4033
Topic
for Fall 1999--Family Values
Tuesday 3:30-5:30, Beasley Hall 204
Professor David Gunn
Beasley Hall 207 or 221; tel: 257-7441;
email: d.gunn@tcu.edu
Class web site: www2.tcu.edu/depts/religion/discuss
Course Description
In this colloquium we shall explore the nature of values by focusing on a term much in vogue today, namely "family values." Among questions to be asked:
·
What is a "family"? Where are its boundaries?
·
What are "biblical" family values?
·
Are certain gender roles essential
for families?
·
Should gay and lesbian marriages be
allowed legally?
·
Do values change in line with physical
and psychological development?
·
Should traditional models of marriage
be encouraged?
·
Are values specific to race or ethnicity?
Our goal will be to establish some viable categories and modes of argument that better enable us both to frame our specific questions and to address more cogently the underlying issue of what constitutes "values."
Class Schedule
August 31 Introduction
to the Course
Families of Origin / Family Values
September 7 Identity
and Others
View Babe
Read Orwell, Animal
Farm (132 pp)
September 14 Race/Ethnicity
View My Family
(Mi Familia)
Read Appiah (in Critical Terms),
"Race" (14 pp.)
Read Sollors (in Critical Terms),
"Ethnicity" (18 pp.)
Read Tekiner, "Race and the Issue of National
Identity in Israel" (14 pp.)
September 21 Gender
Roles
View Fried Green
Tomatoes
Read Male/Female Roles (Opposing Viewpoints),
ch. 1, "How are Sex Roles Established?" (66 pp.)
Read Berger (Ways of Seeing), chs.
2, 3, and 4 (46 pp.)
September 28 Development
and Boundaries
View Slingblade
Read Crossin (About Virtue), ch.
4, "Structural-Developmental Approaches" (23 pp.)
Read Langdale (in Approaches to Moral
Development), "Moral Development, Gender Identity, and Peer Relationships
in Early and Middle Childhood" (25 pp.)
Read Gilligan (in Approaches . . .),
"Adolescent Development Reconsidered" (29 pp.) (cont.)
October 5 The
Family in America
View Stepmom
Read The Family (Opposing Viewpoints),
ch. 2, "How Have Divorce Law Reforms Affected the Family?"; ch. 3, "How
Do Work-Related Policies Affect the Family?"; ch. 5, "Which Values and
Policies Most Benefit the Family?"
October 19 Family/Community:
Seeing and Believing
View The Apostle
Read Berger (Ways of Seeing), ch.
7 (26 pp.)
October 12 Families/Values
Due at noon October 11: assignment
(10 pp.) on a family service organization.
October 26 Family
and Biblical Values
View The Handmaid's
Tale
Read Genesis 16-17; 21-22; 25; 28:1-30:24;
35
Read Countryman (Dirt, Greed &
Sex), "Woman and Children as Property in the Ancient World" (20 pp.)
November 2 Family
and Biblical Values (cont.)
Read Leviticus 11-15; 18; Exodus 20-21
Read Grabbe, Leviticus, ch.3, "Clean
and Unclean, Purity and Pollution" (14 pp.)
Read Fewell and Gunn (Gender, Power,
and Promise), ch. 5, "The Subject of the Law" (19 pp.)
November 9 Homosexuality
Read Homosexuality in the Church:
ch. 1, Hays, "The Witness of Scripture Concerning Homosexuality" (14 pp.);
ch. 2, Furnish, "The Bible and Homosexuality" (15 pp.)
Read Homosexuality and Christian Community:
Miller, "What the Scriptures Principally Teach" (10 pp.); Duff, "How to
Discuss Moral Issues Surrounding Homosexuality When You Know You Are Right"
(12 pp.)
Read Boswell (in Sexuality and the
Sacred), "Homosexuality and Religious Life" (13 pp.)
November 16 Homosexuality
(cont.)
View Priest
Read Homosexuality in the Church:
ch. 7, Jones and Workman, "Homosexuality: The Behavioural Sciences and
the Church" (10 pp.); ch. 8, Burr, "Homosexuality and Biology" (17 pp.)
Read Greenberg (Construction of Homosexuality),
"The Medicalization of Homosexuality" (37 pp.)
November 23 Workshop Planning
November 30 Workshop: Sex and Singles
December 7 Workshop: Families and Media (Last class )
December 14 Due at noon: final
review.
Assessment will be based on:
(1) An electronic journal (at www.tcu.edu/depts/religion/discuss) giving (i) a report of reading/viewing - of relevant books, articles, films, etc. - in preparation for each class; (ii) preparatory analysis of the material being discussed; and (iii) critical reflection after the class on the discussion as a whole or some selected item of particular interest arising from the class discussion. Clearly regular attendance is vital if requirement (iii) is to be met. Details on how to post the journal entries will be given in class. [Worth 50% of final grade]
(3) A workshop (designed in consultation with the instructor). This will involve cooperation in a small group to present a topic for the whole class. Presentation may take various forms, including oral presentations, distribution of written reports or documentation, visual or other art. Creativity is encouraged. Further details will be given in class. [Worth 20% of final grade]
(4) A critical review
(c. 1500 words) of central issues raised in the class over the semester.
Further details will be given in class. Due on the web site by noon December
14. [Worth 10% of final grade]
Required Reading and Viewing
Listed above under each topic. There may
be some additional material occasionally. Directions for obtaining the
required reading will be given in class. Likewise arrangements will be
made in class for obtaining and viewing videos (which will be viewed outside
class times).
There will be no set office hours for this
class; students are welcome to come to Dr Gunn's office (Beasley Hall 207)
at any time (he may or may not be available) or to arrange a meeting either
directly with Dr Gunn (email d.gunn@tcu.edu) or through his secretary,
Ms Link (Beasley Hall 221; tel 257-7441; email a.link@tcu.edu).
Addendum for workshop on Sexuality and Singles:
Read Nelson (Body Theology), "Sexuality and Spirituality: Agenda for a Continuing Revolution" (14 pp.)
Read Rosenau (in Christian Perspectives on Sexuality and Gender), "Sexuality and the Single Person" (8 pp.)