麻豆视频

Senior Seminar

They will also ask questions that help them reflect on their liberal arts education such as: What does it mean to be a lifelong learner? What are my abiding beliefs and convictions and how can I live them out? What is my worldview? How can I make a difference in the world?

As the historic Christian faith is central to the mission of 麻豆视频, Senior Seminar explores how Christianity engages with the broader world. The examination and discussion of both Christian and diverse viewpoints helps students to refine their own convictions even as they learn to comprehend, consider and evaluate perspectives different from their own. This is accomplished by engaging in activities that allow students to practice Hope鈥檚 Virtues of Public Discourse.

Associated Student Learning Outcomes

The following learning outcomes will be reinforced:

1. Examine fundamental or emerging questions about humanity, the natural world, or God by seeking answers through different modes of inquiry.

3. Practice 麻豆视频's Virtues of Public Discourse: humility to listen; hospitality to welcome; patience to understand; courage to challenge; honesty to speak the truth in love.

7. Explain their own values, commitments, and convictions.

IDS 452/492 level courses (3 Credits)

The specific purpose of the senior seminar is to ensure that before students graduate from 麻豆视频, they have explicitly confronted questions of value and belief in a practical and concrete way. These courses will deliberately examine 鈥淏ig Questions鈥� by seeking answers through multiple disciplines, practice 麻豆视频鈥檚 Virtues of Public Discourse, demonstrate an ability to communicate clearly, explore Christian ways of knowing, and explain what they believe and why.

Students will develop an understanding of the diverse and life-giving purposes and perspectives by which people live. They will also deepen their ability to discuss differences sensitively, reasonably, and honestly.

Because this course serves as the capstone to a student's liberal arts education, this course should be taken no earlier than the May Term of a student's junior year.

Course Descriptions

Fall 2025

452.01. Education and Christian Ways of Living
Am I a healthy person? Am I a happy person? And am I a good person? We will ask these questions and try understanding who we are through readings and discussions. As a group, we will explore how to care for our souls and add depth and meaning to our lives. We will then turn to our vocation as teachers capable of sincerely loving and serving others and together find a path toward becoming those teachers beloved of God.

492.01. Psalms for Life
This course takes a look at the biblical book of Psalms and its influence on the life and faith formation of its readers 鈥� including you! We will examine the Psalms in their biblical setting, in Christian theological understanding, in their historical use for Christian worship, and as they appear in art and culture around the world. We will also focus on the Psalms as expressions of human identity developing over time 鈥� identity lived in relationship with God and others.

492.02. Building Bonds and Fostering Belonging

鈥淎 deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all people. We are biologically, cognitively, physically and spiritually wired to love, to be loved and to belong.鈥� 鈥擝ren茅 Brown

How do we build meaningful connections and foster a sense of belonging, both now and in the future? In this senior seminar, students will embark on a journey of self-discovery by reflecting on their identities, understanding others, and envisioning their paths forward. They will explore and develop strategies to cultivate bonds and nurture belonging in various dimensions of their lives.

492.03. The Art of Listening
Author Adam McHugh wrote, 鈥渢he sort of people that we become is, in large part, determined by the voices that we choose to listen to.鈥� In this class we will explore listening to the voices of both God and others and learn about the beauty and deep value of silence. We will engage in conversation over cups of tea, and we will listen deeply to the stories of others. Be prepared to check your phone at the door, enter with a curiosity for what you will hear, and leave the class with a newfound attentiveness that allows you to, in the words of poet Mary Oliver, 鈥渆very day see or hear something that more or less kills you with delight.鈥�

492.05. What Makes for a Meaningful Life?
What makes for a meaningful life? Drawing from interdisciplinary approaches, this class will explore some of life's biggest questions to offer a unique perspective on human flourishing and finding meaning. Students will have the opportunity to articulate a meaningful life philosophy that fully accounts for the limits of being human and the reality of core existential concerns.

492.06. Friendship and Community
Drawing on the humanities, arts, and sciences, we will explore the importance of friendship and community to flourishing human life, especially in troubled times. We will reflect on our experiences of friendship and community and how to be more intentional about them. Readings will range from works by classic Christian thinkers, such as Aelred of Rievaulx, C. S. Lewis, and Desmond Tutu, to novels such as Wendell Berry鈥檚 Jayber Crow or Alice Walker鈥檚 The Color Purple, to work by social scientists and the interdisciplinary framework of Ren茅 Girard鈥檚 mimetic theory. Written requirements will include daily responses, short essays, and a lifeview paper.

492.07. A Storm of Luminous Water: Close Reading for Life
What do John Ames (a character in Marilynne Robinson鈥檚 Pulitzer-prize winning novel Gilead), 19th-century Russian story-story writers Chekhov and Gogol, the poet Jane Kenyon, and biblical authors like Paul and the writer of Song of Songs have in common? They all pay attention to the world, something we鈥檒l call 鈥渃lose reading鈥� (especially of texts, but also our lives more broadly). In this seminar, students will facilitate class discussions by responding to course readings (including the authors listed above). The final life-view paper will address the ways our close readings 鈥渃hanged you when you read them, made the world seem to be telling a different, more interesting story, a story in which you might play a meaningful part, and in which you had responsibilities鈥� (George Saunders).

492.08. Human Rights, Human Wrongs
This course focuses on 鈥渉uman rights and human wrongs鈥� in a global, interconnected world. We look at various treaties, the different forms of legal avenues available, and the impact of human rights and human wrongs on various populations of the world. Students will examine their world views, their philosophy and values in the context of understanding human rights worldwide. In the course of the class, students will look at various faiths and their treatment of human rights. Students will write a life-view paper analyzing their traditions and ways of acting, knowing, living and learning and highlighting their values, commitments and convictions 鈥� all while demonstrating their understanding of the diverse and life-giving purposes and perspectives by which we talk of human rights and human wrongs.

492.09. How Does Science Connect to the Bible and Daily Life?
Science, the Bible and daily life are three things that we don鈥檛 often discuss together. So what do they have in common or, rather, how do they inform each other. In this section, explore several relevant facets for how good scientific thinking dovetails with biblical wisdom, epistemic rituals, and how those can positively shape our lives and communities.