Resisting Christian Nationalism with the Gospel of Peace
An online short course
Taught by Drew Strait, PhD
Dates: April 12 – May 9, 2023
Early registration deadline: March 22, 2023
Final registration deadline: April 5, 2023
This short course defines White Christian nationalism and offers practical suggestions for how pastors and leaders can challenge White Christian nationalism. During this course, you’ll join Drew Strait, PhD, for conversation in online forums and weekly hour-long synchronous meetings.
Drawing on the disciplines of biblical studies, theology and peace studies, this course will explore what realistic, everyday and effective nonviolent resistance can look like in the context of congregations. This course will give special attention to defining White Christian nationalism, political idolatry, nonviolent civil resistance and strategies for animating the whole life of Jesus for disorienting theologies of oppression.
Drew will host live video meetings from noon – 1:15 p.m. EDT on Wednesdays during this short course (April 19, April 26, May 3 and May 10). Attending the live meetings is not required to take the course, and the meetings will be recorded for those who can’t attend.
Designed for students of various backgrounds, whether or not you have completed graduate-level work.
Featuring input from five prominent scholars
Drew has invited the following scholars to contribute pre-recorded guest lectures to the course, offering their unique insights into Christian nationalism:
- Pamela Cooper-White, author of the Psychology of Christian Nationalism
- Angela Denker, author of Red State Christians: A Journey into White Christian Nationalism and the Wreckage it Leaves Behind
- Bradley Onishi, author of Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism
- Lisa Schirch, author of The Ecology of Violent Extremism
- Andrew Whitehead, co-author of Taking America for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States
Other information about this course
Short course students are expected to read assigned materials and complete short assignments, writing in an online discussion forum. Students manage their own time to meet weekly assignment deadlines.
Cost
- Early registration: $300 US per course
- Regular registration: $350 US per course
- Anabaptist Short Course Bundle: $995 US total for four courses!
- Global South Scholarships are available. Apply for short course financial assistance.
- Participants should expect to pay for one or two textbooks.
Anabaptist Short Course Bundle discount!
Only $995 US total for four Anabaptist short courses. Register online and select the bundle price.
Short course details
How short courses work
Courses are offered online and typically last six weeks each. Short course students are expected to complete coursework on their own and post to an online forum weekly. Some short courses also include optional, weekly, live video conversations. These conversations are typically recorded for class members who cannot attend.
Short courses explore topics like Anabaptist history, biblical study, spiritual and ethical issues, worship, and more. These non-credit courses involve readings from textbooks and online articles and include written forum discussion. You won’t receive a grade, but readings and discussion are comparable to seminary-level work, and professors assume you have critical thinking skills and some previous academic study.
Online course requirements
You will need:
- High speed internet access
- Access to a computer with a web browser, a word processing program, and a PDF file reader (such as Adobe Reader)
- An email account
- Basic computer skills
- One or two textbooks selected by the professor, available from a web source
Continuing Education Units (CEUs)
Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available. Upon the completion of course requirements, you can earn 2.4 CEUs. However, no academic credit is awarded and these courses do not meet any requirements in the AMBS Master of Divinity or Master of Arts programs of study.
Before you register
Online learning is not for everyone. To help evaluate your skills and abilities to benefit from an online course, please follow this link to a quiz provided by Washington Online. Question 5 asks about available time to devote to the course. Short courses require, on average, 5-10 hours per week rather than the 10-15 hours mentioned in the quiz. With this in mind, we encourage you to take the quiz and find out whether you are a good candidate for online learning.
Refunds
Before the early registration deadline, cancellations will be refunded, less US$50. After this date, cancellations will be granted credit, less US$50, toward a future short course within one year. Refund credits must be requested within one week of the beginning of the event.