Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Summer 2015 - HIST 388 D100

Christianity and Globalization (4)

Class Number: 3577

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    May 11 – Aug 10, 2015: Wed, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units, including nine units of lower division history credit.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An examination of select topics in Christianity and globalization, with an emphasis on the early-modern period. Students will explore the connections between regions rather than individual regional histories.

COURSE DETAILS:

Globalization can be seen as the sum of three expansions—of empire, of commerce, and of religion. This course looks at the global growth of Christianity, the most widespread of religions, in the context of imperialism and the world economy. We will survey the history of Christian missions through twenty centuries (with an emphasis on the last 500 years), from Jerusalem to Antarctica. We will consider the collision of cultures, the role of the mission in modernization and the spread of literacy, the evolution of diverse syncretic Christianities, and the tensions and harmonies between the local and the global, and between the particular and the universal.       

Our primary sources will include scripture, church histories, letters and lives of missionaries, papal pronouncements, non-Christian sources, and Christian propaganda in writings, film, and art. Secondary historical materials will draw from public history, biblical hermeneutics, sociological, anthropological, and cultural history, postcolonial and women’s-history perspectives, case studies, and historical missiology.

Grading

  • Tutorial participation 15%
  • First paper (4 pages) 20%
  • Second paper (8 pages) 35%
  • 3 quizes 30%

NOTES:

Tutorials will meet the first week of class. For your information, a previous year's syllabus is available online (subject to change): www.sfu.ca/~lclossey/hist388.html

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Hudson Taylor, Hudson Taylor
Brother Andrew, God’s Smuggler
John McManners, The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity [optional] other readings will be made available online

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS