Associate Professor of Pastoral Studies and Graduate Program Director of the Master of Arts Degree (M.A.) in Religious Education, Loyola University Chicago in The Institute of Pastoral Studies; 820 N. Michigan Ave - 6th Floor; Chicago, IL 60611; U.S.A.; (800) 424-1238 or (312) 915-7477.
PASTORAL LEADERSHIP
(IPS 565-001)
Water Towers Campus, Lewis Towers, room 1202
Course Number: 4967
Instructor: Peter Gilmour
Wednesday, 4:15p.m. - 6:45p.m.
Who is a leader? What is leadership? These contemporary questions creatively haunt every organization and endeavor. Church, parish, and other structures of religion and spirituality find thse questions particularly challenging in light of their mission, their membership, and their relationship with the culture. This course examines contemporary leadership, its theories and practices, specifically focusing on pastoral contexts. The relationship between various ecclesiologies and leadership styles will be discussed. Models of leadership will be presented and processed. Distinctions between leadership and management will be explored. The role of the congregation in pastoral leadership will be highlighted. Various specific venues for leadership activity will be identified and studied, among them formation and education, program development, volunteer personnel, problem analysis, conflict management, group facilitation, and budget. Course expectations include an analysis of a specific pastoral leadership situation of the student's choice.
Required Texts:
- Clark, William. A Voice of their Own: The Authority of the Local Parish. MN: Liturgical Press, 2005.
- Rost, Joseph C. Leadership for the 21st Century. Praegar, 1993.
- Wheatley, Margaret. Leadership and the New Science (3rd edition). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
PRINCIPLES OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: Learning, Curriculum, Assessment
(IPS 486-001)
Water Tower Campus, Lewis Towers, room 1030
Class Number: 4971
Instructor: Peter Gilmour
Thursday, 7:00p.m. - 9:30p.m.
Learning is at the heart of all education, religious education included. How people best learn determines what constitutes successful teaching, and also guides the effective organization of subject matter into curriculum. Learning is also the prime criterion in educational assessment. This course examines teaching, curriculum, and assessment in religious education within the context of the learning process. Contemporary research on how the brain works and its implications for religious education will first be considered. The various styles of learning and varied teaching styles in religious education complementary to learning styles will be explored. Lastly, curriculum construction and assessment in religious education will be studied.
Required Texts:
- Egan, Kieran. The Educated Mind: How Cognitive Tools Shape Our Understanding. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997.
- Gallagher, Maureen. The Art of Catechesis: What You Need To Be, and Do. New York: Paulist Press, 1998.
- Larsen, Jerry. Religious Education and the Brain. New York: Paulist Press, 2000.
- Merriam, Sharan B. and Associates. Non-Western Perspectives on Learning and Knowing. Krieger Publishing, 2007.
Polyreligious identity and practice -- the informed awareness and participation in more than a single religious/spiritual tradition simultaneously -- is a grassroots phenomenon beginning to emerge in the pluralistic, postmodern culture of the United States. Such behavior, by transcending traditional categories, poses new questions for theology and pastoral ministry. I plan to document the experiences of a representative group of people who embrace polyreligious identity and practice through two methodologies: (1) in depth interviews and (2) participant observation. The proposed book generated from this study will present the first in depth study of this phenomenon, and also present a theological and pastoral analysis of how this phenomenon reshapes traditional understandings of religious/spiritual practice, organized religion, and the future of religion.
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