My first seminary class for Fall 2023 semester was last night: The Ethical Self and Prophetic Witness. We're meeting virtually, every Monday night by way of Zoom. I have heard great things about this class, but it's a hard class for me to summarize. Here's the course description:
"This course will help students grapple with moral agency in public by inquiring just who is the “self” implied in various accounts of ethics and of Christian prophetic witness, inviting them to consider how traditioned, historical humans can enact moral agency in non-ideal conditions."
After last night, I'm a bit more clear on what the course will cover. My professor sees that the field of ethics is in serious trouble; the field of ethics traditionally envisions a single person making decisions about what is right and wrong, but that's not a real world vision, at least not these days, if it ever was. A more real world vision would include the larger community.
So, we'll look at some of the big traditional thinkers in the field of ethics, Kant and Mill, and then we'll move on to more modern writers. If last night's class is any indication, we'll have rich and interesting conversations. Another plus: my spouse might listen in, and we, too, might have rich and interesting conversations. He has grad level training in Ethics and has been teaching undergrad classes for years, so I was afraid he might be snarky. Happily, he was impressed, and we drifted off to sleep last night chatting about ethics.
In fact, I had some trouble staying asleep. In part, it's because I spent much of yesterday at my desk, getting a variety of tasks done. In part it's because I was excited to be back in school.
Here I am, starting year 3 of seminary. It's strange to think about the path I've taken. In some ways, I've looped back: I started taking classes virtually, then last year I was on campus, and this year, I'm back to taking classes virtually. Three years ago, I still had my full-time job and my online teaching job. This year, I'm Zooming in from a different location, and happily, my full-time job is no more. But I've picked up an in person teaching job, and I'm living in a place with a much cheaper cost of living. Hopefully it will all work out.
Speaking of those in-person classes, let me go ahead and keep this blog post short. I need to get my walk in before the rain starts again, so that I can get ready for the commute and the in-person teaching day ahead.
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