Archive as a Context for Teaching the BiblePosted on July 23, 2013 by Gregory CuéllarAxiomatic in my teaching of the Bible is the notion that all texts are produced in a context.For most of my beginning students, such a notion poses little threat to their faith convictions. Even the “more controversial” claim of non-Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch wanes in intensity after a few lectures on redaction history.Their uneasiness, however, lingers not with arguments on a text’s particular historical context but with the claim that all readings of the biblical text are the outcome of historical processes. Said differently, no reading, informed or uninformed, takes place in a social vacuum.
Backwards Course Design in Religious Studies—1 of 2Posted on July 22, 2013 by Jane S. WebsterAs a new teacher in a liberal arts undergraduate college, I had no idea how to plan a religious studies course, except to imitate the text-book dependent plans of my own teachers.I quickly felt frustrated; no textbooks quite did the trick and my creative innovations felt more like clumsy interruptions. Understanding by Design, by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, gave me some very useful tips that I now pass onto you, adapted for college-level teaching in religion, biblical studies, and theology.