Courses and Programs

(See new course interim offering below)

All majors complete a core of introductory courses and upper-level research and theory courses. Majors develop a broad perspective on the social sciences and get to know each other in core courses, and then focus in their chosen track. The major in Sociocultural Studies offers four tracks for focused study: urban studies, cross-cultural mission, anthropology, and sociology.

We also offer a minor in Sociocultural Studies that allows students to blend sociocultural insights with a different major.

The minor in Cross-Cultural Mission is designed for students focusing in another area to tailor their major for mission work.

The Third World Studies major is an interdisciplinary major allowing students to focus on development issues.

Reconciliation Studies is an exciting new major at Bethel designed to help students become agents of reconciliation in our world. A minor in reconciliation studies can complement a student’s major.

The department also sponsors a master’s program in Gerontology.

Student comments about courses

"This class [Interaction with Urban Lives and Systems] requires you to get out in the community and learn by seeing, asking, and doing, not just lecture and textbook. And rather than just study our assigned neighborhood, we were challenged to interact with them on a spiritual level."

"I appreciated how the instructor made the course material applicable to everyday life. I almost always walked out of this class [Race, Ethnicity and Peacemaking] challenged."

"I felt like I actually learned how to research [Qualitative Research Methods]. We were given the freedom to be creative, too!"

"The case studies provided for us to learn helped in understanding the wide range of cultural universals. Giving personal stories that went along with each topic made it [Intro to Anthropology] more interesting for me."

"As a result of taking this [Human Origins and Diversity] course I have a much deeper respect for the professionals in this field. This class was challenging to me academically and as a Christian."

New course offering January 2010

RES210UZ Leaders for Change in Jordan

Course Leader: Naomi Ludeman Smith, Assoc. Prof. Interim 2010

Location and Course Description:

Jordan, an ideal laboratory to study Leaders for Change, is positioned in the middle of the Middle East and at the crossroads of globalization and the ancient culture and traditions of Arab Muslim culture. Daily, students attend lectures, interact with Jordanian university students and professionals, and with the beautiful Jordanian people and culture to conduct field research about change and leadership. Students live with Jordanian families, carefully selected by our Jordanian partner organization, East-West Initiatives, which is located in Amman, the modern capital city of Jordan. Students learn tourist level Arabic and Muslim greetings heard everyday and with each aquaintance. They hear local imams call people to prayer and see Muslims kneel in submission.

In the cultural touring, they walk the steps of the expansive ancient Roman city of Jerash and explore the fascades and caves of Petra, one of the 10 wonders of the world. They ride camels across the red sands of Wadi Rum, where Lawrence of Arabia rode with his Arab companions. Students also visit the Biblical sites of Mt. Nebo, where Moses overlooked the Promised Land. They float in the Dead Sea and touch the water where Jesus was baptized. Then there are the modern places to find for entertainment and local culture, fine Middle Eastern cuisine and a rich cup of Turkish coffee from the corner stand with their new Arab friends.

Fulfills:

o “U” World Cultures

o “Z” Cross-Cultural Experience

o Reconciliation Major/Minor Elective

o Leadership Minor Elective

Course Features:

· Hotel & homestays with Jordanian university students and their families

· Lectures and interaction with innovative and global minded leaders from a variety of contexts who seek societal change: business, education (Ahilliyah School for Girls), eco-tourism (Wild Jordan), government, non-profit (QuestScope: Serving at risk youth), religious (visit a mosque & talk with local imam, CMA church with service to Iraqi refugees), etc.

· Language Learning: Tourist level Arabic

· Create individual learning plan to develop cross-cultural competency

· Touring: Dead Sea, Petra, Gulf of Aqaba & beach, Wadi Rum (Bedouin camp, camel trek), Jerash, Mt. Nebo, Bethany by the Jordan, Madaba. All touring is weather dependent

· Final two days of debrief on the sands of the Gulf of Aqaba (Red Sea)

Course Leader: Naomi Ludeman Smith has studied and lived in Jordan. She is an adjunct professor in the Anthropology and Sociology Department, has an M.A. in Global Studies and is a Candidate for Doctor of Ministry in Global and Contextual Leadership. She also is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory. She has traveled to several regions across the globe and has led seven groups of students and alumni to Ukraine where she directed an annual interpreters’ conference. Contact Information: n-smith@bethel.edu, CC310, 638-6464

Estimated Cost: $3950 (Subject to change)