Course Syllabus

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Instructor: Pamela Eisenbaum

Description and Course Objectives

This course fulfills the requirement of a TX depth class for masters students.  The class assumes some basic knowledge of the NT equivalent to what you would obtain in the Introduction to the New Testament, which is a breadth class.  

  • The in-depth study of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, including developing better insight into Paul’s theology, the problems he faced, and the kind of people who followed and opposed him.
  • The development of more sophisticated exegetical skills; in other words, learning how to engage the biblical text with greater analytical rigor, creativity, and self-reliance.
  • Greater understanding of important and controversial issues that arise in the interpretation of 1 Corinthians, such as community integrity, ethics, sexuality, and attitudes toward women.

Requirements

  1. Completion of all required reading prior to the class for which it is assigned.
  2. Attendance and participation in class discussion. I expect students to attend class regularly, keep up with the reading assignments, and participate in discussion. BE prepared to answer questions from the instructor about the week’s reading. Missing more than one class session and/or one online discussion could adversely affect your participation grade.
  3. Participation in the online discussion. During weeks 2-7, you will be responsible to log-on to the online discussion board and participate in the week’s online discussion. You are expected to write a brief response (4-7 sentences) to the questions and comments posted by that week’s discussion leaders. Students are encouraged to log-on again before class in order to read everyone else’s comments and respond to their fellow students. With the exception of the discussion leaders (who are required to post comments earlier), all students must post by 1 pm. on the Sunday before class.       (Students may post more than once if they wish so as to converse with fellow students, but please keep comments brief.)
  4. Leading Discussion. Each week one or two students are responsible for initating discussion both online and in-class. (Each student performs this assignment only once.)
    1. Online: Class leaders should initiate the online discussion by articulating what they understand to be the central issues raised by the week’s readings and posing two or three questions for discussion. Student leaders should divide up the readings, each person taking responsibility for only a portion. Student leaders should cover all the week’s readings except the text of 1 Corinthians itself and Hays’s commentary (unless you have particular questions/issues you’d like to raise). Leaders’ postings should not exceed 2-3 paragraphs (c. 250 words). The class leaders for the week are required to post their comments by 10 a.m. the Friday before class. The class leaders are also required to review the discussion prior to that week’s class.
    2. In-class: Each leader will make a presentation raised by the week’s reading and lead discussion.       The presentation must incorporate a) some particular insights/observations/problems/questions arising out of the secondary reading, and b) interface with some portion of the text of 1 Corinthians. While leaders may draw on the online discussion, the leaders’ role in class is not to summarize the week’s readings or rehash the online discussion. Rather, the purpose of the in-class presentation is to make creative connections between the biblical text, the other reading assignments, and the class’s ongoing discussion, so as to illuminate some aspect of the day’s topic and engender lively class discussion. Each presenter is allotted 30-40 minutes, of which about 10-15 minutes should be spent presenting material, with the remaining time given over to questions.       Leaders may do an interactive presentation with the class, as long as the presenter contributes something substantive. I encourage you to use a handout (nothing complicated) or some other visual aid, for example, use of the whiteboard or a Power Point presentation.
  5. Optional Readings: a doctoral student will provide a summary and comments on an optional reading of their choice for that day’s reading. (Each student performs this assignment once.) They may do this on any day except the day they are functioning as leaders. This presentation should be 7-10 minutes. Of course, I encourage all students to peruse any of the optional readings they find interesting and to bring them into our class discussion as appropriate.
  6. Final Research Paper. In general, the paper should be exegetical and confined to 5-15 verses (if necessary, this can negotiated). If you so desire, you may choose a theme present in the Corinthian correspondence more generally (for example, “Apocalyptic themes in Corinthians”). Theme papers are more difficult than exegetical papers, because they are likely to become expansive, and thus I do not recommend them. Masters Students: Your final paper should be 12-14 typed double-spaced pages; Doctoral Students: 14-16 pages. Masters students should follow standard protocols for such papers as defined by the most recent editions of Kate Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations or The Chicago Manual of Style. Doctoral students should follow the SBL Handbook of Style and are expected to do more thorough research and work with original languages. More detailed information about the expectations for the final paper can be found in "Final Paper" in the Assignments section. During the final class sessions, we will discuss drafts of student papers. Each student must post a draft of his or her paper online by 10 a.m on the Friday before the class in which your paper is assigned.
  7. Response to a fellow student’s paper: Each student will respond to another student’s draft paper in writing and orally on the day that paper is slated. (5-7 minutes).  Please read the Guidelines for Respondents in preparation for making your response.

Evaluation

  • Participation: 15% (online & in-class discussion, preparedness, optional readings)
  • Leading Discussion 25%
    • Online Posting 10%
    • In-class Presentation/Leading Discussion 15%
  • Response to fellow student’s paper: 10%
  • Final Paper: 50% (10% for presentation of draft paper)
  • Please Note:
  • Pass/Fail Option for Masters students: If you would like to take this course P/F, please let me know in writing by 5 p.m. April 4th.
  • Incompletes: In the event of a student needing an incomplete, school policies and procedures will be strictly observed. The Iliff incomplete policy appears in the Masters Student Handbook. Doctoral students are subject to DU’s incomplete policy for graduate students. (Students should be mindful of other relevant policies and procedures, especially regarding Academic Integrity.)
  • Students with ADA needs: Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs.  

Required Books

  • Bible, preferably an NRSV study Bible.
  • Hays, Richard B. First Corinthians. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1997. 978-0664234409
  • Martin, Dale B. The Corinthian Body. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0300081725

Other readings (either optional or required) drawn from books, articles, or essays are fully cited on the schedule. Articles and essays will be available in the library on reserve.

Synopsis of Schedule and Readings (click here)

Evaluation

Policies And Services

Course Summary:

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