Convocation 2008

Glenn Miller

January 2008

Purpose: The Convocation Seminar offers students an opportunity to attend the Seminary’s Convocation as a group.  Students learn during the experience by reading some works by the convocation speakers, if available,  in advance, attending the sessions as a group, eating meals together, interviewing the speakers, where possible, and reflecting on their experience.  Part of the work of the class is to learn how to use an event like the Convocation as an effective learning and career advancing experience.  Our focus is on learning how to make a continuing education type experience professionally and religiously valuable.

Pre-Convocation Preparation: Our speakers this year are known primarily as preachers and do not have long bibliographies.  You should buy and read Kate Braestrup’s Here If You Need me before class.

Class Meeting.  We will have a meeting for organization and discussion via Video Conferencing on January 16, 2008 at 4:00 PM.  The meeting should last between one and one and a half hours.  During the meeting, we will be sure that some is reading all of the principle books written by our guests, talk about mechanics, and make plans for meals and conversations.  This is also the time when we talk about networking and other, non-academic, values of convocation.  If you must miss the meeting, you are responsible for getting the material.

During Convocation:  We meet in the basement of Hammond Street Church one-half hour before the day’s activities begin.  Be Prompt.  We eat together as a group.  Do not purchase meal tickets as we usually meet away from the site.  Always use intelligence guided by experience.  Convocation is a very long day that reaches into the night.  If you get tired, take a rest.

This convocation has some special features.  Among these are special workshops conducted by faculty and guest around specific topics related to preaching.  You will be expected to make choices from among these and to attend those that seem most valuable to you.

Reflection Paper:  After conversation is completed, you will prepare a six-page maximum reflection paper on your experience and your reading.  The paper and the course are graded pass-fail.  The paper is due by the February 1, 2007, although wiser students will sit down and write it after our last meeting on Wednesday.