UMS : Unit: DP9750W

Content

(NAIITS Indigenous unit – open to Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants)

Students will explore both Indigenous and Christian ways of imagining the relationship between country (including its waterways and seas), human beings, and God. They will analyse particular examples of the current ecological crisis brought on by modernity’s exploitation of lands and seas in the light of those frameworks and seek to offer an intelligent assessment of what can be done to improve outcomes.

Unit code: DP9750W

Unit status: Approved (Minor revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Pastoral Theology and Ministry Studies

Delivery Mode: Online

Proposing College: Whitley College

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Learning outcomes

1.	Demonstrate that they have absorbed and understood the key theological and spiritual frameworks presented in the readings.
2.	Articulate the ways in which Indigenous and Christian frameworks may both complement and contrast with one another.
3.	Demonstrate a nuanced understanding of at least one particular ecological crisis or conundrum.
4.	Apply and adapt the ethical imagination generated by their reading to the analysis of at least one ecological issue.
5.	Articulate a series of ethical principles which may assist policymakers to plot a course towards better outcomes for the earth and its inhabitants.

Unit sequence

Prerequisites: CT8102W Introduction to Indigenous Theology and CT9122W Indigenous Theology and Method - Praxis

Pedagogy

Lectures, seminars, online (videos and/or MP3s of lectures, readings, discussion)

Indicative Bibliography

Arabena, Kerry. Becoming Indigenous to the Universe: Reflections on Living Systems, Indigeneity and Citizenship. Kew: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2015. (recommended for purchase)
Deverell, Garry Worete. Gondwana Theology: a trawloolway man reflects on Christian Faith. Reservoir, Victoria: Morning Star Publishing, 2018.
Gammage, Bill. The Biggest Estate on Earth: how Aborigines made Australia. St Leonards: Allen and Unwin, 2013.
Moltmann, Jurgen. God in Creation: A New Theology of Creation and the Spirit of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993. (recommended for purchase)
Pascoe, Bruce. Dark Emu. London: Scribe Publications, 2018.
Pope Francis, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. London: Catholic Truth Society, 2015.
Rainbow Spirit Elders with Norman Habel, Rainbow Spirit Theology. Blackburn: Harper Collins Religious, 1997. (recommended for purchase)
Steffensen, Victor. Fire Country: How Indigenous Fire Management Could Help Save Australia. South Yarra: Explore Australia, 2020.
Woodley, Randy Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmanns, 2012. (recommended for purchase)
Yunkaporta, Tyson. Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World. Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2020.

Assessment

Type	Description	Word count	Weight (%)
Essay	Practical assessment	1000	20.0
Essay	Written assessment task	2000	30.0
Essay	Written assessment task	3000	50.0

Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 21 Oct, 2022

Unit record last updated: 2022-10-21 11:00:39 +1100