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Interdepartmental Courses Fall 2009

INT500 — Theological Education and Formation

Students who plan to apply for admission to the MDiv degree program are required to enroll in this seminar. The design of the seminar involves biweekly, yearlong small group meetings. Students share personal narratives regarding ministry and church, develop a growth plan in spiritual disciplines, take personality tests, and discuss reflection papers and reading. Through the seminar process, a student may apply for admission to the MDiv degree program or choose to study toward an MA degree. Persons admitted to the MDiv program will be incorporated into The Minister in the Church and Growth in Ministry seminars in later years.
Instructor: Janeen Bertsche Johnson; Gayle Gerber Koontz Course category: Seminars

INT511 — Peace Colloquium

This colloquium for MAPS and other students interested in peace and justice issues provides a setting for sharing information and concerns; for encouraging the integration of action, reflection and prayer; and for nurturing a corporate identity. Meetings are primarily presentations and discussions of topics chosen because of their interest to participants. The colloquium serves as a forum for the research projects of advanced MAPS students (may run jointly with the Mission Colloquium).
Instructor: Ted Koontz Course category: Colloquia

INT512 — Mission Colloquium

An informal setting open to all members of the AMBS community interested in working through intercultural issues. The agenda is set by the participants. The emphasis in the fall will be the overseas setting, and in spring, the North American setting. Registration is not necessary, but the colloquium may be taken for one hour of credit (may run jointly with the Peace Colloquium).
Instructor: Walter Sawatsky Course category: Colloquia

INT514 — Bible Reading Colloquium

Bible department faculty lead weekly informal sessions to read biblical texts in their original languages, alternating by semester between Hebrew and Greek. Students may enroll for one hour of credit each semester, but enrollment is not required. Prerequisite: one semester of Hebrew or Greek.
Instructor: Bible Department Course category: Colloquia

INT516 — Youth Ministry Colloquium

This colloquium provides a forum for exploring an eclectic range of youth ministry questions and issues presented by guest speakers or readings. The setting allows for reflecting on experiences of ministry with youth, listening to the stories of others, and encouraging others toward growth in knowledge and practice.
Instructor: Andy Brubacher Kaethler Course category: Colloquia

INT522 and INT522E — Theology of the Church

Different views of the nature and purpose of the church shape practices of baptism, the Lord’s Supper, leadership, decision making, and approaches to interchurch and church-world relationships. Using a comparative approach, this course examines theology of the church in some of its biblical, historical and contemporary expressions, introduces research tools and method in theological study, and underlines the connection between theological reflection and congregational practice.
Instructor: Gayle Gerber Koontz Course category: Courses

INT601A — Growth in Ministry

The primary focus of this yearlong seminar, which follows the experien-tial learning of The Minister in the Church, is the completion of the senior portfolio, the integration paper, and the senior interview process required for graduation. This seminar provides the opportunity and structure for students to focus intentionally on the growth and integra-tion of the cognitive, skill, and affective aspects of their learning, with particular reference to their ministry vocation.
Instructor: Gayle Gerber Koontz Course category: Seminars

INT601B — Growth in Ministry

INT603 — MA Colloquium

The interdisciplinary MA Senior Seminar provides to students the oppor-tunity to think critically about and to discuss with each other issues of method, topics of controversy, and recent developments in the disciplines represented by the seminary’s MA programs. The seminar’s purposes are to enable advanced students to (1) better understand their own academic disciplines and fields of study within the larger theological-education curriculum; (2) reflect on and articulate the pressing issues in their disciplines in an interdisciplinary context; (3) appreciate the relationships among the theological disciplines; (4) identify the issues—theological and intellectual, spiritual and social—facing the church in its mission and ministry. Enrollment is open to students who have advanced to candidacy in an MA program. The seminar will meet for six sessions each semester. Students will discuss articles (or chapters in books) on disciplinary or methodological issues or controversial topics in the subject areas repre-sented in the MA programs: Bible (OT and NT), Christian formation, church history, ethics, mission and evangelism, and theology. Students concentrating in those respective areas initiate the discussions.
Instructor: Loren Johns Course category: Colloquia

INT606 — MA Comprehensive Exams

Students in the Master of Arts programs normally write a comprehen-sive examination in the spring semester of their second year, or in their final semester of course work. They must register for this course in order to do so. Faculty members of the department or committee in which the program is lodged compose the examination questions. A student writing a thesis does not write a comprehensive exam. For details, see the current "MA Student Manual."
Instructor: MA Director Course category: Examination and thesis

INT607 — MA Thesis Research

Students in the Master of Arts programs may petition to write a thesis instead of a comprehensive examination. They must register for this course in each semester following the approval of their petition, until the thesis is completed and defended successfully. In the semester following the approval of a thesis petition, and in each subsequent semester, a student must register for the MA Thesis Research course. For details, see the current "MA Student Manual."
Instructor: MA Director Course category: Examination and thesis