Religion and the Life Cycle
PS2125
San Francisco Theological Seminary
Spring Semester 2001
Fridays, 8:45-12:15
This course focuses on the lively dialogue between religion and developmental psychology. Starting with an analysis of Augustine’s Confessions, it goes on to examine the life cycle models of five leading developmental theorists: Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, D.W. Winnicott, Carol Gilligan, and Robert Kegan. Several other theorists will be considered, including James Fowler, Jean Piaget, Daniel Stern, C.G. Jung, James Hillman, Lewis Rambo, and Elizabeth Liebert. Issues to be discussed include early childhood experience, adolescence, gender identity, sexuality, social roles, childrearing, divorce, conversion, aging, and death. Students will critically evaluate the adequacy and relevance of these models for understanding the relationship between religion and human development.
The course will provide students with a set of practical skills for use in pastoral ministry, counseling, spiritual direction, and in general any form of caregiving or educational practice. The ability to identify the life cycle issues of a particular person in a particular place and time is valuable one, and students will be encouraged to develop this ability by a combination of reading, class discussion, autobiographical reflection, and case study observation. The course will devote special attention to the cultural dimensions of human development and the unique challenges posed by living and working in a multicultural world. Many of the “classic” developmental theories do not adequately address cross-cultural issues, so students will face the challenge of updating the theories so they can be applied to the contemporary context.
The first practical exercise for students will be a process of autobiographical reflection. All of the pioneering thinkers in the human development field drew on their own personal life experiences in creating their theories, and students in this course will be asked to do the same, carefully examining the time and place in which they grew up, their family dynamics, their physical development, their gender identity, their religious influences, their school experiences, their significant friendships and relationships, their vocational choices, and so forth. This autobiographical reflection will provide students with an experiential foundation for studying and evaluating the theories we will read and discuss in class.
The second major practical exercise will be a case study of someone the students know who is facing a significant life cycle challenge. Students will be asked to carefully examine the full context of this person’s situation, using the various theories discussed in class to discern the religious, psychological, cultural, and physiological dimensions of the person’s developmental process. A final paper of 8-10 pages will enable students to present their observations and discuss the broader implications of this case study for an understanding of religion and human development.
Required Texts:
Augustine, Confessions (Henry Chadwick translation)
Sigmund Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud, New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis
Erik Erikson, Childhood and Society
D.W. Winnicott, Playing and Reality
Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice
Robert Kegan, The Evolving Self
Class Schedule:
| Feb. 9 |
Introduction
|
| Feb. 16 |
Augustine, Confessions, Books 1-5 Autobiographies
|
| Feb. 23 |
Augustine, Confessions, Books 6-10
Autobiographies
|
| March 2 |
Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Lectures 16-21 Autobiographies
|
| March 9 |
No class.
|
| March 16 |
Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Lectures 22-25
Freud, New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Lectures 31-32
Initial Case Study Observations
|
| March 23 |
Erikson, Childhood and Society, Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 Initial Case Study Observations
|
| March 30 |
Spring recess, no class.
|
| April 6 |
Winnicott, Playing and Reality, Chapters 1-11 Initial Case Study Observations
|
| April 13 |
Gilligan, In a Different Voice, Chapters 1-6
Guest Speaker, TBA
|
| April 20 |
Kegan, The Evolving Self, Prologue and Chapters 1-3
Guest Speaker, TBA
|
| April 27 |
Kegan, The Evolving Self, Chapters 4-9
Guest Speaker, TBA
|
| May 4 |
Reading Reviews
|
| May 11 |
Reading Reviews
|
| May 18 |
Final Case Study Presentations
|
| May 25 |
Final Case Study Presentations
|
| June 1 |
(No class.) Written Case Studies due.
|
Contact Information:
I will be available to meet with students after class each Friday. I can be reached during the week by phone at 510-528-0226 and by email at kellybulkeley@earthlink.net.
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