King David and Multicultural Leadership*

Course Objectives

• Through this course students will become familiar with the content of Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, and 1 Kings 1-11.
• Students will have greater understanding of the historical and socio–political context in which David, Saul, Samuel and judges were active.
• Students will explore leadership in general and in multicultural contexts in particular.

Requirements & Grades:

• Attendance and Participation:  Students are expected to attend all class sessions and to participate actively in class; 20% toward the final grade. 

Attendance Policy:  Attendance in class is required.  If you know you will be unable to attend a class session, please inform the instructor in advance; one excused absence will not count toward the total.  Missing two to three sessions will result in an automatic lowering of your final grade by a full letter grade (A to B;  A- to B-;  B+ to C+;  B, B-, or C+ to C;  and C to F). Missing four or more sessions will result in automatic failure of the course.

• Plagiarism Policy [See page 4]
• Bible Content Exam: May 30; 30% toward the final grade.
• Research Paper: due August 10; 50% toward the final grade.  Write a research paper on a specific topic, character, or passage related to leadership in ancient Israel; 15 to 18 pages long, double spaced; must incorporate at least five works in addition to the readings from the course; a more detailed instruction will be given on May 30.

Class Schedule

Week 1:  May 21, 23, 25   Reading the text and the context

Reading Assignment

• Killebrew, Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity [read the entire book]
• Judges [May 21], 1 Samuel [May 23], 2 Samuel and 1 Kings 1-11 [May 25]

Week 2:  May 30 Exam and Leadership   

Bible Content Exam

Leadership (Judges, Kings, Priests, Prophets, Sages, Warriors) in Ancient Israel

Paper Proposal Instruction and Discussion

Reading Assignment

• Czövek, Three Seasons of Charismatic Leadership

Week 3:  June 4, 6, 8 Judges, Samuel, and Saul

Reading Assignment

• Miller and Hayes, Chapters 4-5 [June 4]
• Steussey, Samuel and His God [June 6]
• Green, King Saul’s Asking [June 8]

Week 4:  June 11, 13, 15 David

Reading Assignment

• Miller and Hayes, Chapter 6
• Kim, Identity and Loyalty
• Uriah Y. Kim, “Preaching David and Saul from Multicultural Contexts,” Living Pulpit 21/1 (2012), pp. 8-11

Week 5:  June 18, 20, 22 Solomon

Student Presentations on Final Papers [20-30 minute presentation and discussion per student]

Monday:

Wednesday:

Friday:

Reading Assignment

• Brueggemann, Solomon

Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism, the failure to give proper credit for the words and ideas of another person, whether published or unpublished, is strictly prohibited. Credit will not be given for written work containing plagiarism, and plagiarism can lead to failure of a course. All written material submitted by students must be their own original work; where the words and ideas of others are used they must be acknowledged. Additionally, if students receive editorial help with their writing they should also acknowledge it appropriately.

Credit will not be given for work containing plagiarism, and plagiarism can lead to failure of a course. Faculty will report all instances of plagiarism to the Academic Dean. The Academic Dean will then collect documented details of the case and advance any recommendations for further action to the Academic Policies Committee. Through this process the situation will be reviewed and any additional penalties that may be warranted (up to and including expulsion from the school) will be determined.

For clarity as to what constitutes plagiarism, the following description is provided:

1. Word for word plagiarism: (a) the submission of another person’s work as one’s own; (b) the submission of a commercially prepared paper; (c) the submission of work from a source which is not acknowledged by a footnote or other specific reference in the paper itself; (d) the submission of any part of another person’s work without proper use of quotation marks.
2. Plagiarism by paraphrase: (a) mere re-arrangement of another person’s works and phrases does not make them your own and also constitutes plagiarism; (b) paraphrasing another person’s words, ideas, and information without acknowledging the original source from which you took them is also plagiarism.  See Part II of Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses and Dissertations, (7th Edition, University of Chicago Press, 2007) for an explanation of the proper ways to acknowledge the work of others and to avoid plagiarism.
3. Reuse of your own work: Coursework submitted for credit in one course cannot be submitted for credit in another course.  While technically not plagiarism, this type of infraction will be treated in the same manner as plagiarism and will be subject to the same penalties. If you are using small amounts of material from a previous submitted work, that work should be referenced appropriately. When a student is writing their final program requirement (paper, project or thesis) it may be appropriate, with their advisor’s permission, to include portions of previously submitted material if properly referenced.