Reflection Papers

Reflection papers give students an opportunity to respond to issues, themes, and questions raised in the video series -- This Far by Faith -- and its companion volume. Each is to be two to three pages in length, typed, and double-spaced. These essays should focus on the topics noted below and are to be handed in at the end of each class session, beginning on 25 January 2006. 

The traditional letter-grade system in which “F” represents failing work, “D” signifies poor work, “C” indicates satisfactory work consistent with course expectations, “B” designates good work that exceeds course expectations, and “A” represents superior performance that exceeds -- in quantity, quality, originality, and rigor -- academic expectations, will be used in the evaluation of all coursework.  Reflection paper evaluation form available at Evaluation Form.

 

Session Topic Topic Questions Due
 1
Africana Spirituality None  1/18/06

 2
The Black Church in Historical, Sociological, and Theological Perspective
To what extent is African American religious history an epic story involving the creative encounter of many cultures and faith traditions? 
What sensitivities and intellectual capacities must one cultivate to develop a deeper appreciation of such a complex story?
 1/25/06

Faith and Ontology
What impact has the interaction of culture, political disenfranchisement, and the quest for freedom had in shaping African-American conceptions of God, the Church, and the social implications of Christian faith?
 2/1/06

 4
Africana Spiritualities of Liberation
Comment on the ways in which the Moorish Science Temple of America, the African Orthodox Church, the Black Muslim Movement, and the work of Rabbi Arnold Josiah Ford of Beth B’nai Abraham used spirituality to address the social realities of Urban Blacks in the early 20th century.
 2/8/06

 5
The Unique Witness and Legacy of Africana Catholicism
How do Gandhi’s teachings shape Howard Thurman’s conception of Christian faith, the Church, and the quest for freedom? Does Thurman’s vision have continuing relevance today? In what ways does it resonate with Catholic social teaching?
 2/15/06

6
The Bible and Africana Spirituality
What are some of the strengths and limitations of Albert Cleague, Jr.’s Black Christian Nationalist theology?
 2/22/06

 7
The Perennial Quest for Unity, Diversity, and Common Ground in Africana Spirituality In Joy Unspeakable: Contemplative Practices of the Black Church, one of the recommended texts for the course, author Barbara Holmes makes the following statement about the need for a liberating and innovative 21st century spirituality:
 
Even those who remain faithful church members suffer from devastated self-esteem, nihilism, and debilitating health issues. Since the intensity of these afflictions has not been assuaged by the ritual enactment of cathartic practices, I am suggesting a turn inward to face the inner conflicts and seeping psychic wounds that can no longer be ignored. One solution will not fit all. We are in need of all of our spiritual resources. Accordingly, as bell hooks suggests, we must seek an emancipatory spirituality, the soul’s guiding light in the midst of collective blindness. This light has never left us. We need only make the contemplative turn to restore our inner sight” (185)

How might knowledge of the historical sweep of the African American faith experience aid in the construction of an “emancipatory spirituality” such as that of which Holmes speaks?
What theological and practical challenges might such efforts encounter?
What role can institutions of higher learning, such as Notre Dame, and departments such as Africana Studies, play in facilitating such work? To what extent is an initiative of this kind consistent with the University’s mission?
 3/1/06