DECOLONIZING MISSION (RSST-8410)
(01/30/2023-05/19/2023)
Course Memo
This course is designed to advance dialogue between missiology and decolonial studies. Locating Christian mission in a postcolonial, fractured world is a perilous task. The purpose of this course is to arrive at nuanced and, hopefully, fruitful understandings of mission, coloniality, and their relationship. The course will examine ideas from decolonial studies (scholarship that rejects Western European epistemic supremacy) and their potential impact on contemporary missiology (the study of the mission of the Christian Church). This three-part seminar will explore 1) missiology texts, 2) decolonial studies texts, and 3) texts at the intersection of mission and decolonial thinking. Course requirements include class participation, discussion facilitation, and three 5-7-page critical analysis papers following each of the three parts of the course. This course will be taught by Geoffrey Nelson-Blake (a Latino pastor, faith-based community organizer, and Newhall Fellow) under the advisement of Dr. Eduardo Fernandez, SJ, a missiologist. This online seminar is intended for doctoral and advanced master’s level students across the consortium.