ICS 6833 - Intercultural Engagement

3 Credit Hours

On demand in place of ICS 6803 - Intercultural Research

A practicum focused in one of the four areas:

Intercultural Engagement and Missional Leadership

Studentsare supervised by an experienced leader who mentors them as they build on their knowledge and experience. Students may work in a traditional, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)-accredited ministerial location or an analogous context. The approved supervisor documents the equivalent of one unit of CPE, namely 400 hours of contextual engagement, full use of verbatims, and on-going theological reflection in a mentoring apprenticeship context. Alternatively, students may immerse themselves in a particular context so as to develop sound and in-depth strategic planning to launch or redevelop an existing ministry from the perspective of intercultural engagement. Students are approved for work under an experienced leader who documents the development of a robust, tested, and detailed strategic plan complete with a leadership vision and missional focus, projections over a 3-5 year period, and realistic financial and personnel projections.

Intercultural Engagement through Comparative Experience

Students develop innovative approaches and new understandings through comparative engagement with multiple contexts. Students may work alone in the examination of three or more selected contexts but will generally work as a team whereby each member brings in separate experience(s). As such, the team collectively develops a collaborative comparative approach to understanding those contexts from the perspective of theologically grounded intercultural engagement. Students are typically approved as a team working under a faculty mentor, organizational executive, or pastoral leader. The result is a collaboratively authored report suitable for a workshop-style presentation in diverse church and other organizational contexts. Students will develop and propose innovative approaches to intercultural engagement practices in the context of comparative experience.

Intercultural Engagement in Empirical Research

Students focus on in-depth, social science-based research on a topic related to intercultural engagement, particularly in pastoral or ministerial contexts. They are encouraged to utilize hypothesis-testing and other approaches as they see fit in light of their research problem. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches, including traditional ethnographic modes, may all be utilized. Students work under a faculty mentor. The result is a single-authored empirical analysis suitable for release as an article or monograph.

Intercultural Engagement for Theological Development

Students focus on the theological implications of intercultural engagement through practical theological method and methodology. They may engage any research problem that advances theological understanding. This may include hypothesis-testing or other designs. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches, including traditional ethnographic modes, may all be utilized. Students work under a faculty mentor. The result is a single-authored, practical theological analysis suitable for release as a thesis-length monograph with clear engagement of the theological literature together with empirical or other research, as appropriate.

Availability: On Demand

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