BRIAN B. SCHMIDT (MIDDLE EAST STUDIES, Near Eastern Studies | 2020-2021
I submit this proposal in response to both the College’s call and my department’s goals for instructors to implement innovative ways of engaging students with new course content, new course methods, and new experiential opportunities to enhance active learning, inclusiveness and equity. I very recently initiated the implementation of several new components and modules in two new courses. For two other long-standing courses that I have regularly offered to undergraduates, I am making several major revisions many of which duplicate or coincide with the components and modules I am implementing in my two new courses. The courses which I am currently revising and creating, or that I plan to revise and create in the coming months, are all Middle East undergraduate topics courses (hereafter ME). They are typically 80 min. in length and meet two times a week. They include:
ME 235: An Introduction to the Tanakh or Old Testament
ME 295: Satan, Sin and Suffering in the Book of Job: A First Year Seminar (New)
ME 339: Before the Exile: The History and Religion of Ancient Israel and Its World
ME 391: Satan, Sin and Suffering in the Book of Job (New)
ME 3XX: What is the Meaning of Life? The Book of Ecclesiastes (New)