Content

This unit is a 6 week supervised visit to a socio-cultural and religious community different from the student’s own for the purposes of gaining some experience of cross-cultural work and ministry. It occurs in partnership with Global Interaction, the Australian Baptist cross-cultural mission organization, and under the supervision of both a trained culture and language facilitator and a host community language and culture helper. Students will be guided through a language acquisition and culture awareness program, learning some basic vocabulary and grammar from the host community's language along with an acquaintance with aspects of the community's culture. Students will also have the opportunity to observe the working life of cross-cultural workers.

Unit code: DM9008W

Unit status: Archived (New unit)

Points: 48.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Missiology

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Whitley College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Discuss the basic elements necessary to developing intercultural sensitivities and knowledge, along with some characteristics and skills beneficial for cross-cultural living and engagement

2.

Articulate the basic processes of learning a second language

3.

Demonstrate some capacity in a host community's language

4.

Demonstrate an understanding of the tools required for cultural inquiry including, participant observation, ethnographic interviewing and writing a thick description, approaches common with cultural anthropology

5.

Analyse a host community's culture and worldview in the areas of greeting and leave taking, clothing, food, work and non-verbal communication

6.

Identify and critique key issues informing the interaction of the gospel and culture in the host community

7.

Outline and reflect on one's own growth and responses during the period of cross-cultural engagement.

Unit sequence

DM1005W/DM8005W Culture and Language *Students will require an Australian Federal Police background check, as well an interview with a Global Interaction staff member prior to being accepted into the program.

Pedagogy

Extended exposure trip

Indicative Bibliography

  • Barley, Nigel. The Innocent Anthropologist: Notes from a Mud Hut, Long Grove: Waveland Press, 1983.
  • Bevans, Stephan B., Mission & Culture: The Louis Lusbetak Lectures, Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2012.
  • Elmer, D. Cross-cultural Servanthood: Serving In The World In Christlike Humility. Downers Grove: IVP Books, 2006. (recommended for purchase)
  • Fetterman, D. Ethnography: Step by Step. Los Angeles: SAGE, 3rd edn 2010. (recommended for purchase)
  • Lane, Patty. A Beginner's Guide To Crossing Cultures: Making Friends In A Multicultural World, Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2002. (recommended for purchase)
  • Livermore, David.Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2012.
  • Moreau, A. Scott, and Campbell, Evvy Hay, and Greener, Susan. Effective Intercultural Communication: A Christian Perspective, Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014.
  • Emerson, R. and R. Fretz and L. Shaw, Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2nd edn 2011.
  • Rynkiewich, Michael. Soul, Self, and Society: A Postmodern Anthropology for Mission in a Postcolonial World. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2012
  • Spradley, J. P. Participant Observation. Orlando: Harcourt, 1980.
  • Spradley, J. P. The Ethnographic Interview. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1979.
  • Thomson, G. and A. Thomson. The First Hundred Hours: Interacting about the Here and Now: Introduction to Growing Participator Approach, Phase 1A, Version: Mar06, edits Sep09. (recommended for purchase)
  • Thomson, Greg and A. Thomson. The First Hundred Hours: Interacting about the Here and Now: Add Constrained Two-Way Communication, Phase 1B, Version: Mar06, edits Sep09. (free)

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Journal

1,000 words selected from trip journal

1000 20.0
Essay

4 x 500 word cultural reflections (thick descriptions) from the activities of participant observation and ethnographic interviewing about set culture topics.

2000 40.0
Essay

Completion of phase 1 of the language program and demonstrate an understanding and speaking capacity of 800 words in the host community's language. Equivalent to 3000 words

3000 40.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by LTC on 25 Aug, 2016

Unit record last updated: 2020-10-09 16:54:21 +1100