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HIST 7310 - WILDERNESS AND
FAITH
Spring Semester, 1999 Philip
Anderson and James Bruckner
Tuesday, May 25 - Friday, June 4 Two semester hours
Description
This offsite, experiential course,
based on substantial reading and reflection, explores the theme of wilderness
in relation to the Bible, Christian history, theology, and spirituality,
as well as the American context of stewardship and a land ethic. Set in
the Arrowhead Country of northeastern Minnesota this May course includes
a wilderness experience in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The
course is open to six students per year. Acceptance into the course by the
instructors is based on an application essay and demographic considerations.
Required Reading
Articles provided in the Anthology.
(See seminar schedule below.)
Olson, Sigurd F. Singing
Wilderness. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997 (New York:
Knopf, 1956).
Gruchow, Paul. Boundary Waters" The Grace of the Wild. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1997.
Recommended Reading
Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County
Almanac: And Sketches Here and There. New York: Oxford University Press,
1987 (1949).
Requirements
- Read all assigned material before the
departure date.
- Take brief notes on the content of each
article and write questions for our discussion..
- Prepare for and participate in all seminars
and sessions.
- Keep a journal during the experiential
portion of the course. Selected excerpts from written reflections will
be submitted at the end of the course.
- Adding to the selected journal excerpts,
write a concluding, integrative post-script (6-8 pages) of observations
on the entire experience (i.e., reading, seminars, canoeing, solitude).
Due Friday, June 11, 1999.
SCHEDULE
Tues. May 25 travel to
Hovland, MN 6am-6pm
Seminars: reading to be discussed
(read and prepare questions before May 25)
Wed. May 26
1. 9am-noon Introduction and Bible:
Cronon, "The Trouble with Wilderness," 69-90.
Waller, "Getting Back to the Right
Nature: A Reply to Cronon," 540-67.
Mays, "Psalms," 65-70,
331-37.
Fretheim, "Nature’s
Praise of God in the Psalms," 16-30.
Tucker, "Rain on a Land Where
No One Lives," 3-17.
2. 1:30pm-4:30pm History:
White, "The Historical Roots
of Our Ecologic Crisis," 15-31.
Barr, "Man and Nature," 48-75.
Macquarrie, "Creation and Environment," 32-47.
Evening: Tour
Thurs. May 27
3. 9am-noon Bible:
Anderson, Creation Versus Chaos,
11-42, 171-77.
Levenson, Creation and the Persistence
of Evil, 53-65.
Habel, The Land is Mine, 134-58.
Society of Biblical Literature Group,
"Guiding Principles for an Ecojustice Hermeneutic," 1-4.
4. 1:30pm-4:30pm Theology:
Sittler, Essays on Nature and
Grace, 112-22.
Hendry, Theology of Nature,
11-30.
Achtemeier, Nature, God, and Pulpit,
40-49.
Santmire, Brother Earth, 192-200.
Evening: Adventurous
Christians Canoe Base.
Fri. May 28 Ethics:
5. 9am-noon
Nash, J., "Loving Nature," 139-61.
Cobb, "Christian Existence in a
World of Limits," 172-87.
Gustafson, "The Sense of the
Divine: A Moral Stance," 1-54.
Helfand, "The Earth is the Lord’s:
Judaism and Environmental Ethics," 38-52.
6. 1:30pm-4:30pm Ecology:
Leopold, A Sand County Almanac,
165-226.
Muir, The Wilderness World of
John Muir, 231, 181-90, 311-23.
Newsome, "To Have Dominion in the
Earth," The Amicus Journal, 15-17.
Olson, S., Reflections from the
North Country, 21-36.
Evening: Grand Marais
dinner, municipal pool
Experience
Sat. May 29 packing, orientation,
leisure.
Sun. May 30 8:30am Worship:
Trinity Lutheran Church;
11am depart for the
BWCAW, to West Pike Lake
Mon. May 31 to Mountain
Lake
Tues. June 1 to North
Fowl Lake
Wed. June 2 camp North
Fowl Lake
Thurs. June 3 exit BWCAW
morning, cleanup, pack, leisure; dinner at Naniboujou
Fri. June 4 travel to
Chicago, 8am-8pm
Fri. June 11 Written integrative
work is due.
COST
Travel: no cost to
student
Permit: $11.00 per participant
(89.00)
Food: For traveling to and
from Chicago and for the dinner at Naniboujou lodge, bring your own resources.
For the food at the cabin and in the BWCAW, we will divide the grocery costs
equally (approximately $60.00 per person).
________
updated 4-25-99. Student Services/Wilderness
and Faith/1999 Syllabus.doc
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cronon, "The Trouble with Wilderness," 69-90.
Waller, "Getting Back to the Right Nature:
A Reply to Cronon," 540-67.
Mays, "Psalms," 65-70; 331-37.
Tucker, "Rain on a
Land Where No One Lives," 3-17.
Fretheim, "Nature’s
Praise of God in the Psalms," 16-30.
White, "The Historical Roots of
Our Ecologic Crisis," 15-31.
Barr, "Man and Nature," 48-75.
Society of Biblical Literature
Group, "Guiding Principles for an Ecojustice Hermeneutic," 1-4.
Habel, The Land is Mine, 134-158.
Levenson, Creation and the Persistence
of Evil, 53-65.
Anderson, Creation versus
Chaos, 11-47, 171-77.
Macquarrie, "Creation and Environment," 32-47.
Sittler, Essays on Nature and Grace,
112-34.
Hendry, Theology of Nature,
11-30.
Achtemeier, Nature, God, and Pulpit,
40-49.
Santmire, Brother Earth, 192-200.
Cobb, "Christian Existence in a
World of Limits," 172-87.
Gustafson, "The Sense of the Divine:
A Moral Stance," 1-54.
Helfand, "The Earth is the Lord’s:
Judaism and Environmental Ethics," 38-52, in Religion and the
Environmental Crisis, ed. by Eugene Hergrove.
Nash, James A. Loving Nature: Ecological
Integrity and Christian Responsibility. Churches’ Center for
Theology and Public Policy. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1991.
Leopold, A Sand County Almanac,
165-226.
Muir, The Wilderness
World of John Muir, 231, 181-90, 311-23.
Newsome, "To Have Dominion in the Earth,"
People Magazine, 15-17.
Olson, S., Reflections from the North
Country, 21-36.
OTHER POSSIBILITIES:
SEE ANNOTATED VERSION.
Student Services/Wilderness
and Faith/1999 Syllabus.doc
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