Courses focus on Preaching, Teaching, Dramatic Arts, UU Hymnody, and Ethics

Summer Intensive Courses: Preaching and Teaching in Barack's World

January 29, 2009

Meadville Lombard's faculty present a variety of opportunities for students, ministers and lay leaders to delve deeper in the arts and music of worship, ethical models from other faith traditions, and "Teaching in Barack's World." Registration for these courses opens March 16, 2009.

Preaching As If You Mean It
The Rev. Dr. William F. Schulz 
July 6 to 10, 2009
Chicago, Illinois

A great Harvard professor of homiletics once said that all ministers must face the hard question, "How far would you go to hear yourself preach?"  If the answer is to be "A long way," then the sermons we preach will need to be both worthy in their content and felicitous in their style. This intensive course will address both elements of preaching. It will help students clarify what fundamental message they want to preach and how to do so most effectively.

Bill Schulz is a former president of the UUA, former Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, and is now Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Chancel Drama Practicum
The Rev. John W. Tolley, Ph.D. 
July 13 to 17, 2009
Chicago, Illinois

Study the use of drama in ministry in both theory and practice. Explore the history of drama within the religious setting, as well as its practical applications to modern Unitarian Universalist worship. Learn basic tools of dramatic performance and direction, including text analysis, use of space and body, and some basic elements of setting, costuming, and props.

John Tolley teaches arts of ministry in religious art and aesthetics at Meadville Lombard Theological School. He has served congregations for twenty-two years in Indiana, Tennessee, New Jersey, and Connecticut. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Theatre from New York University.

Ethical Wisdom: A comparative study of Buddhist, Native American, African American, and Humanist traditions
Sharon D. Welch, Ph.D. 
July 20 to 24, 2009
Chicago, Illinois

Explore how ethical thought and action is redefined through a critical study of three traditions: Engaged Buddhism, Native American, and African-American humanism and Christianity. Then, given the challenges of religious and ethical pluralism, consider how we see and understand difference, and how we can work together to shape a collective, ethical wisdom.

Sharon Welch is the Provost and Professor of Religion and Society at Meadville Lombard. She is the author of five books, including  Real Peace, Real Security: The Challenges of Global Citizenship, Fortress Press, November 2008.

Educating for Barack's World:
Creating Educational Experiences that Promote Justice and Cultural Intelligence
Dr. Mark A. Hicks  
August 16 to 21, 2009
Ferry Beach, Maine

One of the many insights from the election of Barack Obama to the US Presidency is the realization that the future is now. We are not preparing to live in a multicultural world--that world is already here. Explore the insights, skills and competencies that are necessary to educate for a multi-racial, multicultural world. The course concludes with participants designing a social justice curriculum, or re-shaping an existing curriculum already in use. 

Mark Hicks is the MacLean Professor of Religious Education at Meadville Lombard Theological School and a former professor of Educational Transformation at George Mason University in Arlington Virginia. He holds a doctorate degree in philosophy and education and a Master's degree in higher and adult education, both from Columbia University in New York City. He is recognized nationally for creating curriculum and educational experiences that promote forms of robust reflection that lead to social change. He is a lay leader at All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, D.C.

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Contact:
Tina Porter
(773) 256-3000 ext. 236