Assistant/Associate Adjunct Faculty in Theology & Religious Studies (TRS 097) The Bible & Its Interp

Assistant/Associate Adjunct Faculty in Theology & Religious Studies (TRS 097) The Bible & Its Interpretation

Location: Moraga, CA
Open Date: Nov 10, 2021
Deadline: Nov 24, 2021 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Description:Founded in 1863, Saint Mary's is a residential campus nestled 20 miles east of San Francisco in the picturesque Moraga Valley. Based in the Catholic, Lasallian and Liberal Arts traditions, Saint Mary's currently enrolls more than 4,000 students from diverse backgrounds in undergraduate and graduate programs. The De La Salle Christian Brothers, the largest teaching order of the Roman Catholic Church, guide the spiritual and academic character of the College.

As a comprehensive and independent institution, Saint Mary's offers undergraduate and graduate programs integrating liberal and professional education. Saint Mary's reputation for excellence, innovation and responsiveness in education stems from its vibrant heritage as a Catholic, Lasallian and Liberal Arts institution. An outstanding, committed faculty and staff that value shared inquiry, integrative learning and student interaction bring these traditions to life in the 21st century. The College is committed to the educational benefits of diversity.

Saint Mary's College seeks to hire a per-course adjunct faculty member to teach
TRS 097, The Bible & Its Interpretation in the traditional undergraduate program in Spring 2022.

TRS 097-06, The Bible and Its Interpretation
Mondays and Fridays, 1:00 - 2:35 PM

This section will be taught in person on the Moraga campus. Please note the expectation for regular office hours, though, depending on guidelines, they might be held on-line.

Course Description:

The objective of this class is twofold. First and foremost, its goal is to facilitate a direct engagement with the Bible, the sacred scriptures for the Jewish and Christian faiths. Through its stories, teachings, practices, and rituals, the Bible plays a critical role in the formation of Jewish and Christian senses of identity and vision while also supplying the normative challenge for how they should live. Second, while introducing students to the most important events, themes, and characters in the Bible, this course aims to give students the opportunity to practice using scholarly tools, methods, and lenses for reading and interpretation. Since the text is inevitably interpreted, even by those who say they are simply letting the text speak for itself, this course will help students learn to identify the interpretive assumptions used by various communities throughout the centuries and today, skills that will serve students well in many areas of study and thought.

All sections of the class feature shared course goals and a flipped classroom format that prioritizes practice and application-based learning of what students encounter in the agreed-upon assigned readings and recorded lectures.

Qualifications:
Candidates for this position should possess an earned doctorate in Biblical Studies or a sub-field thereof. Those who have reached the ABD stage in their active progress toward such a doctoral degree (i.e., completion of all qualifying and competency examinations) will also be considered. So too will those who have an earned doctorate in theology and/or religious studies with a documented concentration in biblical studies. Documented specialization in biblical criticism through the lenses of race and gender is most welcome. Significant study in the Hebrew Bible is also appreciated. Preference will be given to candidates with evidence of teaching effectiveness in classes for undergraduates. Preference will also be given to those with evidence of successful collaborative teaching and skills in teaching in flipped classroom format.

Faculty need to be able and willing to work in a collaborative fashion as part of a leader-led team as we work together to refine our list of shared readings and lectures, create largely common exams, discuss pedagogical strategies, and develop new units. This includes weekly hour-long meetings on Zoom for all faculty teaching the course. Probable meeting times will be on Thursdays from 11:30 to 12:30.

NOTE: This course has been significantly restructured in terms of expectation and qualifications. (Please study the second paragraphs of both the course description and qualifications.) Those desiring to teach this course should ensure that they have been qualified for the class in its new format pursuant to Article 10 of the CBA.

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