Synchronous Learning (SL) courses allow students to attend Dallas International courses virtually. SL students attend class with on-campus students using video conferencing software. Attendance during scheduled class time is required. Assignments and other activities can be submitted via Dallas International Online.
DIU uses Zoom’s videoconferencing software for our Synchronous Learning courses. To use Zoom, you will need Internet access and a compatible device. Zoom has very modest Internet bandwidth requirements and is compatible with Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android devices. View Zoom’s System Requirements page for more details.
This course emphasizes ethnographic research methods and analysis. After completing this course, students will have satisfied DIU’s requirements in this regard.
This course introduces students to learner-directed second language and culture acquisition with an emphasis on the beginning stages. Throughout the course students explore and examine perspectives on language and culture learning and develop strategies for dealing appropriately with cultural differences. The course includes a lab component which provides practical experience in learner-directed second language acquisition in a small group, non-instructed setting with a native speaker of another language.
This course considers the relationship between language and society. The main purpose of the course is to help students understand the multilingual nature of the world’s societies. Subjects covered include factors influencing the choice of language varieties, factors influencing language maintenance and shift, and factors affecting language change and variation. An important aspect of the course is the application of these principles to a specific multilingual community.
Oral traditions, especially storytelling, may include aspects of entertainment, but they are art forms and a discipline of academic study. This introductory course will integrate information from various disciplines and include topics that contribute to and are related to the general field of oral traditions. The course examines four broad genres of oral traditions: proverbs, riddles, verse, and stories. For each of these four genres, the course covers three approaches: How to collect/observe the genre; How to analyze the genre; and How to apply the genre in ways that benefit the community.
This course is an undergraduate introductory cultural anthropology course designed to acquaint students with major concepts of anthropology and cross-cultural work. It introduces students to well- known names in anthropological theory, and a variety of research methods for collecting ethnographic data. The course is centered around the Ethnographic Project, which involves several sub-projects through which each student is to carry out first person research in a cross-cultural context. On campus students should find a context within the Dallas-Fort Worth area. SL students should find a context near where they are residing. Students should NOT attempt to carry this project out via reflection on past experiences, over a phone, or via a computer app. Students may discuss this with the professor. This research will employ multiple methodologies and involve at least six visits outside class hours, culminating in a core values paper and in-class presentation.
This course is an introduction to political and social systems worldwide. Subjects treated include basic types of political organizations, concepts and practices of authority, power, law, and decision-making.
The course reviews adult learning theory. Students design and teach learning sessions to people of their own culture and to people of another culture, and analyze some of the cultural factors affecting learning and teaching.
For the student who is working on an MA Thesis Proposal but is not registered for other DIU courses in a specific term. No tuition is charged for this course, but the student will be expected to pay the registration fee and technology fee in order to access DIU Library resources. Access to DIU Faculty will be limited. This course is graded Pass/Fail and no credit is earned for this course.
The Cross-cultural teaching seminar allows students to analyze a teaching process from the perspective of both learning and teaching styles, and identify factors relevant to teaching cross-culturally.
This course covers techniques and skill development for researching and writing a thesis. Topics include distinction between quantitative and qualitative research and the uses, advantages and disadvantages of each, Word style sheets and use of a thesis template to enforce the required style sheet, common parts of a research paper/thesis, description and implementation of the proposal writing process, ethical perspectives and implications for research, and problem areas in technical writing and critical thinking.
Note: This course is graded P/F. Completion of the course will count as one hour of thesis credit but will not trigger the requirement for continuing registration. For applied linguistics see AL5190.
This course explores factors that leaders may encounter in multicultural settings, specifically the impact that cultural values, beliefs and worldviews have on leadership definitions, leadership styles, communications, authority and accountability dynamics, decision making procedures, conflict management and ethics. Attention is given to Biblical input (for faith-based organizations) when wrestling with the multicultural aspects as well as offering the opportunity to formulate practical cultural expressions when responding to conflicting assumptions and allegiances. Other similar suggestions may result from in-class discussions and from the readings. A student who has taken this course and its prerequisites will be better able to lead a team composed of people who have a variety of cultural backgrounds.
This course will provide an overview of global migration and diasporas; and factors that influence migration, including geographical, historical, economic, security, and political aspects. The student will understand human migration and will gain objective skills in identifying issues facing immigrant communities in local settings. Additionally, students will explore migration from a biblical perspective, noting the significance of migration in God’s plan of redemption.
Migrants respond to new linguistic contexts in a variety of ways. This course investigates the specific sociolinguistic dynamics of various multilingual diaspora communities. Attention is given to the various factors influencing language choice including economic factors and social pressures. Generational differences in language choice will be examined along with the emergence of hybridized identities and the resulting blended language approaches in some multilingual contexts.
Anthropological examination of population movements around the globe, including voluntary and forced, migration, displacement, diaspora, and refugee flows. Students will analyze the underlying political, economic, and social dynamics of both internal and international migrations, and they will examine the personal and cultural experiences of movement. Students will assess international policies and efforts to address mobility. They will also consider connections between conflict and humanitarianism, urban displacement, the effects of climate change, the formation of refugee identities, and the social and economic relations of diasporas with their home countries. Students will use ethnographic methodologies to explore and better understand a diaspora community.
The goal of this course is to provide analytical tools and knowledge that is essential for diaspora economic development, including an overview of global migration, international political economy, and development studies. The students will gain objective skills in identifying diasporas as full of potential which can impact the economic development in a country of origin and in a destination country. Additionally, the students will explore diaspora economic development from a biblical perspective or transformational development perspective, considering the ministry opportunity to and through diasporas, based upon the biblical-holistic understanding of transformation.
Begins Spring 2024. Diaspora communities often exist in religiously complex contexts. This course will provide an overview of home country religious expression. It will consider the challenges of contextualization within the unique experiences of migrant and refugee communities. Consideration will be given to language use, modalities, and felt needs related to Scripture engagement. Methodologies most appropriate to various diaspora contexts will be explored. (This course combines relevant components of AA5373 Religion and Worldview, AA5374 Christianity Across Cultures, and AA5355 Scripture Engagement Strategy and Methods but narrow the content by focusing on direct application to diaspora contexts.)
This course is designed to give students a good introduction to the theory of second language acquisition as well as the practice of teaching (overseeing the learning) of a second language. Course content will give attention both to language acquisition for adults as well as for children. A particular focus of the course is second language acquisition and teaching for populations of migrants and refugees wherever these might be. Accordingly, the learning focus will be on learning a national or international language in a structured environment. The course includes a practicum in which students participate in a program designed to help these populations learn the language(s) of their new region.
Using a variety of methods, including much student hands-on work, the course prepares students to work with communities to conduct vernacular literacy programs where vernacular literacy does not exist or is very weak.
In this course students will study, apply, and discuss the values and liabilities of a variety of research methods for collecting ethnographic data. They will review principles of analyzing problems, choosing appropriate means of measuring data, and methods of conducting research. They will read about the fieldwork experience of others and reflect on the process of gathering and analyzing data they employed. They will conduct four research projects in which they will apply particular methods of research, and will evaluate the kinds of data they produce.
This course introduces students to the issues involved in planning and implementing research programs in the social sciences. Two major research traditions will be introduced and examined – qualitative methods and quantitative methods.
The course in Statistical Methods is designed to give students a good introduction to the logic and methods of formal statistics. The course will cover both descriptive and inferential statistics and parametric as well as non-parametric approaches to decision-making. The focus of the course will be much more on the logic and use of statistics for analytical and decision-making purposes than on the mathematical basis for various statistical measures. The course also includes an introduction to selected software packages in doing statistics.
This course is designed to introduce students to the models, methods, and theory of multilingual education. Particular attention will be given both to particular exemplars as well as to the impacts of such programs in terms of educational outcomes. Experiences in multilingual education in both low-income and high-income countries will be reviewed along with the many practical issues involved in implementing programs in multilingual education.
This course engages students in strategic planning procedures for working with communities to design and manage development programs. Students will learn to differentiate key contextual factors, interpret community-based stakeholder input, and collaboratively formulate a program plan. Students will learn to appraise indicator data, deduce lessons being learned, and use their conclusions to revise the original program plan. The course will highlight the management skills crucial for collaborating with local community based organizational stakeholders, including a program goal to improve their capacity for managing development program activities.
The course addresses language-planning principles from an interdisciplinary perspective and applies these in language-development projects. The many topics included are status planning, involving language choice, policy and use decisions at the international, national, and local levels; corpus planning, involving graphization, standardization, and modernization; acquisition planning, involving the provision of opportunity and incentive to adopt innovations; and ethical issues relating to language rights and language ecology.
The purpose of this course is to discuss phenomena which occur when different language communities come in contact with each other, including such areas as multilingualism (societal and individual), creolistics (Pidgins and Creoles), and obsolescence (language maintenance, shift, and death, language-contact-induced language change, reversing language shift, etc.).
After completing the course, students should be able to discuss the sociolinguistic, socioeconomic, sociopolitical and socioreligious factors that either hinder or foster the engagement with vernacular literature. They will be able to describe and implement strategies for activities that promote engagement with Bible translations in public and private venues.
Note: For those participating remotely, meeting times are flexible. The instructor will reasonably accommodate time zones availability and other availability issues.
Oral traditions, especially storytelling, may include aspects of entertainment, but they are art forms and a disciplinary study. This introductory course will integrate information from various disciplines and include topics that contribute to and are related to the general field of oral traditions. The course examines four broad genres of oral traditions: proverbs, riddles, verse, stories. For each of these four genres, the course covers three approaches: 1) How to collect/observe the genre, 2) How to analyze examples of the genre, 3) How to apply the genre in ways that benefit the community. Each student will select a community/area to study during this course. The student will study proverbs, verse, and stories in the area of their choice and write a paper about each. At the end of the course, each student will integrate these papers into one longer paper, this paper will include at least two suggested ways to apply the community’s oral arts in a way that benefits the community.
Students study the linguistic and sociolinguistic criteria that can be used to define language and dialect boundaries. They learn to form appropriate research questions and choose appropriate research tools to discover ethnolinguistic identity, determine linguistic similarity, measure inherent intelligibility, assess bilingual proficiency, and describe language attitudes and patterns of language use. To implement these ideas, each student selects a particular language community in the world and prepares an appropriate survey proposal for that community.
Students study a variety of survey tools, then construct their own examples of these tests, implement them by using them with real people, and then write reports about their results.
Upon completion of this course students will be able to describe and discuss sociolinguistics variation at the level of a single language. Topics include but are not limited to: the theory of variation, variationist data collection; dialectology, ethnography of communication, pragmatics (power, solidarity, politeness); language and gender; social factors (time, generation, social class, kin/peer group social network, ethnicity and identity); and standard and non-standard usage.
This course is designed to introduce students who anticipate working with people from other societies to a range of topics and cultural phenomena they are likely to encounter. Although the course will introduce technical terminology and formal theories, the focus will be on promoting an exchange of ideas among students, leading to more holistic cross-cultural perspective on development and programs. Readings range from classical anthropological works to contemporary issues and case studies. Readings were selected to highlight clashes of expectations which people experience when cultures come into contact. The focus of this course is on identifying and understanding the sources of potential conflicts, many of which are situated within cultural systems, but expressed through worldview paradigms communicated through various modes, models, and agencies (including missions and NGOs), economic systems, and ideologies, such as gender, political representation, agency, and participation.
The course is an introduction to social and political organization worldwide. Subjects treated include social groups of various kinds and their principles of recruitment and organization – e.g., kinship, descent, marriage, residence, age, and choice. Also treated are various kinds of social and political relations, rites of passage for both persons and groups, basic types of political organization, concepts and practices of authority, power, law, and decision-making.
Religion and Worldview is a graduate-level introductory course to the anthropology of religion and worldview. It compares and contrasts a range of approaches to religion and worldview, and examines a range of religious systems worldwide, including folk varieties of the major universal religions, and the worldviews that underlie them. The readings, discussion and personal research components are intended to guide students to examine the roles worldview ideologies and concrete factors such as subsistence, kinship and social and political organization play in shaping religion, including the Western practice of Christianity.
The emergence of World Christianity and the growth of the church in the southern hemisphere has shifted the focus of mission toward questions concerning the components of Christianity that are variable across cultures. The course will explore questions of cultural context and tradition, the world Christian movement, the meaning and expression of contextualization and syncretism, and the cross-cultural embodiment of Christianity through conversion, ritual and worship, incarnational ministry, and church models. Through the analysis of case studies students will explore how Christianity is challenged to address social values, needs, and behaviors across a wide range of cultures, ethnic groups, and religious traditions.
The course is an introduction to the geography, history, cultures, language families of interest, and other aspects of one area or sub-area of the world. Cultures are emphasized. Areas may be all or significant parts (not single countries) of sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, Asia, Eurasia, or Oceania, depending on instructor availability.
To prepare for teaching and training people of different cultures, this course introduces students to adult learning theory, and equips them to analyze cultural factors affecting teaching and learning.
This course has a unique Applied Anthropology topic and syllabus for each offering. It may be repeated when topic changes with permission of your graduate advisor.
May be repeated when topic changes, with permission of graduate advisor.
This course is used for an individual student/s to study with a professor outside of the regularly scheduled course offerings. An Independent Study Permission form must be completed and submitted to Academic Affairs.
This course introduces students to the basics of Biblical Hebrew, focusing on reading, writing, and vocabulary. Identifying key verses from the lectionary cycle helps students navigate scripture as displayed in a Torah scroll. To practice skills, students will work with partners. Together the class will develop a variety of activities to stimulate interest in Hebrew learning.
This course introduces students to the Hebrew trope marks used to identify accented syllables, pauses and phrasing, punctuation, and the application of cantillation melodies for public reading of the Torah.
This course provides an in-depth understanding of the first five books of the Bible. More than law, Torah is “Instruction” for how a people can live and prosper in covenant relationship. Students in this class practice telling the Torah meta narrative according to this portion-based organization and prepare an in-depth presentation to feature a section of particular interest.
As an introductory survey of the history, literature, and message of the Old Testament, this course explores the unfolding of over-arching themes, narrative storyline, and intertextual relationships as understood by the history and historiography of the Hebrew scriptures. How Jewish, Christian, historical critical and post-modern approaches have shaped the reading of the canon will be a focus of class discussions.
As an introductory survey of the history, literature, and message of the New Testament, the course traces the unfolding of over-arching themes, narrative storyline, and intertextual relationships as experienced in its religious Jewish context within Greco-Roman society. How Christian, rabbinic and historical critical approaches shaped the reading of the canon will be a focus of class discussions.
This course introduces students to basic elements of Islamic societies in their diverse expressions, including origins, historical developments, beliefs, practices, worldviews, and cultural and religious patterns. Particular emphasis is given to understanding common barriers to communication and approaches for bridging worldview, cultural, and religious differences for purposes of transformation.
In light of scriptural and anthropological principles, this course explores the nature, dynamics, scope, and challenges of appropriate and effective service in Muslim contexts. The class meets virtually at a time mutually agreed upon by each of the enrolling students.
This course introduces a collection of shared stories found within Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sacred texts. By comparing faith traditions and visual art representations, students identify points of commonality as well as divergence. Storytelling, the practice of oral communication, enhances effective communication both within and across Abrahamic communities.
This course is the first step toward learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Students will learn the Arabic alphabet, basic grammar and a vocabulary of 400 words. The course will prepare students to begin reading any Arabic text.
This course is the second step toward learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). It will help the student to achieve advanced beginner-level proficiency in speaking, reading, listening, and writing, accessing a vocabulary of 800 words. The student will also be introduced to important aspects of Arab culture.
This course enables students to speak a dialect of Arabic at a beginning level using either traditional classroom methodologies or else a Growing Participatory Approach (GPA). If the latter, then students will meet in small groups with a native-speaker language consultant, under the instructor’s guidance. The dialect offered will depend upon the language consultants that are available for the course.
AC4344 Reading Arabic (Fall/By arrangement) (3 undergraduate credits)
This course is the third step toward learning to read Arabic. It will enable students to read significant Abrahamic texts in classical and Modern Standard Arabic.
This course is the first step toward learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). Students will learn the Arabic alphabet, basic grammar and a vocabulary of 400 words. The course will prepare students to begin reading any Arabic text.
This course is the second step toward learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). It will help the student to achieve advanced beginner-level proficiency in speaking, reading, listening, and writing, accessing a vocabulary of 800 words. The student will also be introduced to basic aspects of Arab culture.
This course enables students to speak a dialect of Arabic at a beginning level using either traditional classroom methodologies or else a Growing Participator Approach (GPA). If the latter, then students will meet in small groups with a native-speaker language consultant, under the instructor’s guidance. The dialect offered will depend upon the language consultants that are available for the course.
AC5244 Reading Arabic (Fall/By arrangement) (2 graduate credits)
This course is the third step toward learning to read Arabic. Having learned the Arabic alphabet, basic vocabulary, and grammar, this course enables students to read key Abrahamic texts in Arabic.
Introduction to the history, literature, and message of the Old Testament. The course explores the over-arching themes, intertextual relationships, and unfolding narrative storyline of the Hebrew Scriptures. Students will compare Jewish and Christian ways of organizing the Hebrew canon.
As an introduction to the New Testament in its first century context, this course traces the unfolding of over-arching themes, narrative storyline, and intertextual relationships as understood by various Jewish and Gentile audiences in the first century of the Roman Empire. Special attention is given to communicating over-arching themes through storytelling.
This course explores translation studies at the intersection of applied linguistics and exegesis. This course will provide resources for students to develop methods for assessing and improving biblical translation at hermeneutical levels.
This course examines core elements which must be dealt with in relating to Muslims—worldviews, values, symbol systems and other cultural expressions of Muslim peoples. Specific attention is given to the major influences that shape assumptions, allegiances, and diverse social and religious expressions of contemporary Islam. Attention is also given to surmounting relational and communication barriers with Muslim peoples.
This course explores practical and ideological variations within Islam’s current social, anthropological, political and economic concepts and structures, noting struggles with contemporary development needs, modernization, and relations with the West, in general. Insights that can facilitate understanding, communications, and relationship building between East and West will be noted and emphasized.
This course focuses on contemporary Islamic reform and revitalization movements, their rise and development, current status, and impact for Muslim self-understanding. Individuals of strategic importance and their specific contributions will be noted. Attention is also given to Muslim-Christian communications about human rights, freedom of expression, democracy, religious minorities, and Christian religious activities in Muslim areas.
This course explores the origins and characteristics of monotheism including ways that religious cultures with no prior history of this concept have adopted it. The course considers “Abrahamic” and “non-Abrahamic” forms of monotheism within cultural life, individual identity and cross-cultural encounter.
This course seeks to explore the nature of culturally sensitive service (contextualization), noting its scriptural basis, history, challenges, successes and failures. Attention is given to honor/shame dynamics, mysticism, spiritual powers, popular versus formal religion, and religious idiom translation. While special emphasis is given to the Islamic religious tradition, accommodations may be made for those interested in other religious traditions. Appropriate guidelines for effective service will be explored. The class meets virtually at a time mutually agreed upon by each of the enrolling students.
This study of the Qur’an examines its organization, history of compilation, variant manuscript readings, and major themes. Students will become familiar with the major approaches to its interpretation, historical and biblical subtext, and how this affects interpretation of key texts that are problematic for adherents to biblical teachings. Practical issues of etiquette, characteristics of various English translations, and how to read the Qur’an will also be studied.
The symbol of the messianic (for savior and eschatological figures) has emerged as one of the most transferable of cultural and religious categories. This course serves as a basis for understanding some of the profound theological, cultural, and political implications of the symbol in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam into the modern era. Connections to non-Abrahamic traditions will also be studied.
This course explores hermeneutical issues central to the understanding and interpretation of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sacred texts, examining stories shared by all three traditions. The approach to each narrative is to describe its components, explain its Abrahamic worldview context, and then use intertextual analysis to reformulate shared themes and retell the story in new cultural contexts.
Drawing from the fields of anthropology, communication, history, linguistics, philosophy, and religious studies this course will enable each participant to think holistically about how culturally embedded perspectives shape individual and corporate approaches to interreligious engagement and localization.
This course is used for an individual student/s to study with a professor outside of the regularly scheduled course offerings. An Independent Study Permission form must be completed and submitted to Academic Affairs.
This course introduces the theory and practice of sign language phonetics. It provides intensive practice in the recognition and production of a wide range of manual and non-manual phonetic elements that are used in natural sign languages, along with terminology for describing those elements precisely. It also teaches reading and writing one or more notational systems that are useful in recording phonetic details when conducting research on sign languages. This course is taught in American Sign Language and written English.
AL4207 Field Data Management (Spring/Summer - Even numbered years/Fall) (2 undergraduate credits)
With a focus on methodology and good praxis, this course instructs students in the use of computational tools for managing and presenting phonological, textual, and lexical data collected in linguistic field research.
Using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), students will be able to identify, pronounce, and transcribe sounds and suprasegmentals in natural human speech and describe the mechanisms by which a speaker produces these sounds. Students will also be introduced to basic techniques of acoustic analysis.
This course provides practice in recognizing the difference between phonetic (etic) and phonological (emic) data through numerous practical exercises. Theoretical topics of focus include the use of distinctive features, natural classes, phonetic plausibility, complementary distribution, free variation, contrast in identical/analogous environments, phonological processes, common conditioning environments, typological universals, tone analysis, and morphophonemics. This is an ideal course for field-workers preparing to help develop or revise an orthography for any language.
This course provides a basic introduction to language sounds and structures. It will enhance students’ ability to learn another language as they use natural language data to discover and analyze word and sentence formation in a variety of different languages. Students will also have the opportunity to identify, pronounce, and transcribe the most common sounds found in the world’s languages.
This beginner-level course introduces students to American Sign Language (ASL) and basic knowledge of Deaf culture. Emphasis is on the acquisition of comprehension, production, and interactional skills using basic grammatical features with respect to use of ASL in the context of everyday life experiences.
ASL2 is a continuation of ASL1. This novice-level course is designed to continue development of American Sign Language expressive and receptive skills, grammar, vocabulary, cultural awareness, and related terminology. It expands the range of communication skills, with special emphasis on being able to convey prior knowledge in the new language.
Working with a speaker of a non-western language, students in this course elicit data which they then use to analyze the phonological system and produce a mini-lexicon and a grammar sketch of the target language.
This course introduces students to techniques for analyzing and describing basic morphological and syntactic issues in natural languages. By working through numerous practical exercises from a large variety of languages, students gain confidence in their ability to determine word classes and allomorphy and to deal with inflectional and derivational morphology. Students also learn to analyze different types of phrases, clauses, and sentences. This course serves as a prerequisite for several graduate linguistics courses.
For the student who is working on an MA Thesis Proposal but is not registered for other DIU courses in a specific term. No tuition is charged for this course, but the student will be expected to pay the registration fee and technology fee in order to access DIU Library resources. Access to DIU Faculty will be limited. This course is graded Pass/Fail and no credit is earned for this course.
This course introduces specialized hardware and software tools for researching sign languages, including recording, documenting, analyzing, and presenting textual, grammatical and lexical data. This course is taught in American Sign Language and written English.
This course covers techniques and skill development for researching and writing a thesis. Topics include distinction between quantitative and qualitative research and the uses, advantages and disadvantages of each, Word style sheets and use of a thesis template to enforce the required style sheet, common parts of a research paper/thesis, description and implementation of the proposal writing process, ethical perspectives and implications for research, and problem areas in technical writing and critical thinking.
Note: This course is graded P/F. Completion of this course will count as one hour of thesis credit but will not trigger the requirement for continuing registration. For Applied Anthropology, see AA5190.
With a focus on methodology and good praxis, this course instructs students in the use of computational tools for managing and presenting phonological, textual, and lexical data collected in linguistic field research.
AL5301 Morphosyntax (Spring/Summer/Fall) (3 graduate credits)
This course introduces students to techniques for analyzing and describing basic
morphological and syntactic issues in natural languages. By working through numerous practical
exercises from a large variety of languages, students gain confidence in their ability to determine
word classes and allomorphy and to deal with inflectional and derivational morphology. Students
also learn to analyze different types of phrases, clauses, and sentences. This course serves as
foundational for several graduate linguistics courses.
This course situates translation within the domain of human communication. It presents an overview of changing perspectives about translation (including Bible translation) throughout history. Through translation exercises, students learn about the need to apply best practices in translation to achieve a communicative final product. Students also learn how the context in which a project is situated impacts the way that the translation team translates the Bible for their community.
This course introduces students to advanced analyses and descriptions of the phonology of human languages from various theoretical perspectives, including Optimality Theory. Analytical and descriptive skills will be developed through the study of phonological data from a variety of natural languages, focusing on morphophonemics. Readings are designed to provide a solid introduction to several important issues in phonological theory and argumentation.
This course introduces universal trends in sign language phonology and how the basic phonetic elements in a natural sign language function together in the language’s phonological system. It provides practice in applying various theoretical frameworks to analysis of specific sign languages. It considers the interaction between phonology and morphology. This course is taught in American Sign Language and written English.
AL5308 Oral Translation (Spring - Even numbered years/Summer - Odd numbered years) (3 graduate credits)
This course introduces students to orality and its implications for translation. The concepts of teaching within an oral framework and the internalization of a pericope are explored along with the process of oral drafting. Students explore ways of transforming a passage into an artistic product suitable for another linguistic and cultural environment and discuss means of appraising the quality of an oral translation. Finally, students participate in an oral translation project which produces a high-quality oral draft appropriate for a specific audience.
[NOTE: Students should expect to meet with their team to work on the group project daily.]
This course focuses on morphological and syntactic properties that are characteristic of sign languages and which distinguish them from spoken languages. These include: grammaticalization of space (including deixis and agreement), verb classes, borrowing (particularly fingerspelling and mouthing), nonlinear morphology, classifiers, and nonmanual markers. Students will be taught the principles of analysis of such features, including glossing conventions, theoretical frameworks, analytical procedures, and appropriate means for presenting grammatical analysis. This course is taught in American Sign Language and written English.
Beginning with the historical and theoretical roots of relevance theory, this course explores relevance theory’s account of the principles and mechanisms of human communication. Building on that theoretical foundation, students explore implications of the theory for our explanation of tropes, linguistic analysis, and interlingual communication.
This course is designed to help students understand how languages structure texts and how the resulting structure influences communication and translation. The course focuses on the discourse structure of narrative texts, with a brief survey of the structure of nonnarrative texts. Students practice analyzing texts for various discourse features such as sentence structure, macrosegmentation of texts, the use of particles and conjunctions, and information structure. Salience schemes, transitivity, participant reference, and paragraph analysis are some of the other topics included.
This course is designed to equip students to write, and assist others to write, grammatical descriptions, incorporating insights from both syntactic typology and formal syntax. The analytical framework adopted in the course is a simplified version of Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG), but the emphasis is on understanding the linguistic phenomena rather than the details of the framework itself.
This course examines the relationship between form and meaning in human language. We consider the rules for combining word meanings to derive sentence meanings in a predictable way, and we explore the principles which allow speakers to communicate more by uttering a sentence than is contained in the sentence meaning itself. We apply these concepts not only to content words but also to grammatical morphemes such as tense, aspect, and modality markers. This course is required for the MA in Applied Linguistics.
Building on a theoretical understanding of translation, students explore the implications of translation theory and standard practice for addressing several translation issues commonly encountered by Bible translators. Students learn these principles and procedures through reading, discussion, and assignments.
This course involves reading and synthesizing major concepts in the foundational literature, as well as more recent publications in documentary linguistics. Readings are augmented by training in the core technical tasks of a language documentation project, including project planning, audio and video recording, metadata management, and archiving. The final project brings together the theoretical concepts and the technical skills.
This course is an investigation into the key historical, political, religious, and ideological environments for understanding the bible. As the background to the Old Testament, students will explore the civilizations of the Ancient Near East, particularly those in Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel. The New Testament’s first-century context depends both on the second-temple era Jewish religious environment and the broader Greco-Roman world.
Offered Fall, odd-numbered years with Ancient Near Eastern lectures and even-numbered years with Greco-Roman lectures.
This course contributes to students’ professional growth in the consulting skills and attitudes needed to successfully function as translation advisors and consultants. Students develop a personal growth plan for translation consultants. Class sessions involve discussion that incorporates each participant’s knowledge and experience. Students put into practice the skills and attitudes that are discussed.
This course introduces students to the grammar and vocabulary of Biblical Greek with a focus on reading, studying, and translating the Greek New Testament. It offers a quick and efficient path into reading the Greek New Testament. The course is designed for anyone wanting to become a Bible translator and desiring to learn Biblical Greek.
AL5322 Greek 2 (Spring) (3 graduate credits)
This course is built in tandem with AL5321. Students continue studying Koine Greek with a focus on syntax and fluent reading of the Greek New Testament. This course is available for any student who has successfully completed AL5321 and has good reading comprehension of the Greek Text.
This course teaches the most essential features of New Testament Greek discourse to improve the student’s interpretation and translation of New Testament texts. The course emphasizes the semantic and pragmatic aspects of Greek discourse features at the local and the global levels. In addition to learning a specific method for analyzing a Greek discourse, students will evaluate and learn from a variety of methods currently used in New Testament discourse studies.
Note: This course will next be offered in Fall 2023.
This course is concerned with discovering the meaning of a New Testament text as intended by the original author. As an aid in that discovery process, students are introduced to textual criticism. Also covered is how to best do lexical studies. The course looks at issues in grammatical analysis, background studies, and how to proceed in various genres of texts: narrative, epistolary, and apocalyptic. The use of the Old Testament in the New Testament is surveyed as well as the use of biblical theology in interpretation. Finally, each student puts all the elements together to produce an exegetical paper over an assigned text.
In this course students learn the steps needed to evaluate and understand the original author’s intended meaning of Old Testament passages. As part of this process, students learn how to evaluate lexical and syntactical issues, interact with textual criticism, perform background studies, and interact with the various genres of the text. These steps enable students to interpret the original meaning and underlying theology in order to translate well and to apply the text, which students demonstrate in an exegetical paper over an assigned text.
This course introduces students to the foundational features of the Classical Hebrew language. Beginning with the basics of phonology, the course then moves into foundational morphology and grammar, including nouns, prepositions, and verbs. This introduction to the language is the first step in enabling the student to become a competent translator of the Hebrew Old Testament.
This course continues where AL5326 left off. It continues introducing students to the basic morphology and grammar of Classical Hebrew. Once the foundational elements are understood, the course continues by introducing students to the translation of large portions of text over a variety of genre types. This course (along with the previous one) provides a solid foundation for understanding the basic features of the language and translation and prepares students to move into the following course which teaches the more complex features of interpretation.
Note: This course will next be offered in Fall 2023.
Through this course students move beyond traditional grammatical analysis to an analysis and evaluation of the various discourse features of the Hebrew Old Testament. The types of discourse features studied include: discourse types, participant reference, coherence and cohesion, information structure, and many other features. The field of Hebrew discourse analysis is flourishing, and this course is updated every year to include the most recent advancements in the field.
Students develop their language skills by reading extended passages of Old Testament texts of different genres in Hebrew. In this class students will focus on developing their skills in analyzing complete poems in Hebrew in order to explain the functional meaning and pragmatic effect of the Hebrew text. Completion of this course will include translating a text from the Hebrew Bible, writing explanatory notes highlighting points of interest in the exegesis and translation process, and transforming the passage into an artistic product suitable for another linguistic and cultural environment.
Students apply linguistic and translation knowledge to translation tasks in a non-western language. They will increase their abilities to identify and solve translation problems, and to evaluate translations in light of the linguistic norms of the target language. Students will also gain experience training and mentoring a speaker of the target language by doing translation alongside them. This course provides students with interpersonal and intercultural training that will help them develop facilitation skills.
AL5333 Tone Analysis (Spring - Odd numbered years/Summer - Even numbered years) (3 graduate credits)
A majority of the world’s unwritten languages are tonal, and this course will prepare those hoping to do language development work in these languages. The course includes extensive practice and coaching in hearing and transcribing tone, review of phonological theory that especially applies to tone, surveys of tonal phenomena by geographical area, and a multi-week project of tone analysis of a specific language that will cover beginning transcription, analysis, and a paper about the system.
This course provides students with an overview of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to function successfully as translation consultants, as defined by a consortium of Bible translation agencies. Students learn consulting best practices, communication theories, translation theories and approaches, and assessment strategies. They also learn how to consult with a team through observing and carrying out actual translation consulting sessions. Students develop a proper understanding of the need for consultants to continually improve their interpersonal and technical skills.
(Fall term, even-numbered years for syntax and semantics topics and odd-numbered years for phonology topics)
This course serves as a cap-stone seminar for students in the Descriptive Linguistics concentration, providing an opportunity to integrate knowledge from preceding courses through intensive study of some issue of current interest for linguistic analysis and description. The course aims to develop basic skills of linguistic scholarship through reading and critically discussing a variety of articles on the selected topic(s), and through writing and presenting a paper related to the issues discussed in the seminar.
This course has a grammar topic in even numbered years and a phonology topic in odd numbered years.
This course has a unique linguistic topic and syllabus for each offering. It may be repeated when topic changes with permission of your graduate advisor.
May be repeated when topic changes, with permission of graduate advisor.
This course is used for an individual student/s to study with a professor outside of the regularly scheduled course offerings. An Independent Study Permission form must be completed and submitted to Academic Affairs.
This course serves as the capstone course for the Certificate in Applied Linguistics. Working with a speaker of a non-western language, students in this course elicit data which they then use to produce a mini-lexicon, a phonological description, and a grammar sketch of the target language.
This course is a survey of the contents of Christian Scripture with special attention to its historical framework and the nature of progressive revelation. Students will learn to read Christian Scripture with attention to key events and persons, themes, prophecy, fulfillment, and inner-biblical interpretation.
This course is an overview of the entire sweep of Christian history. Pivotal events will be discussed in detail, and we will attempt to discern how those events are relevant to present-day world Christianity, both in terms of their effect on the present, and how they can inform a Christian interpretation of our times. Some turning points in the history of cross-cultural missions will be included.
At our core, do all individuals think, feel, and behave in the same ways? How do psychology and culture interact? In this course, we will look at several major concepts in traditional psychology and consider the extent to which they may apply across cultures.
This course introduces students to the mechanics of writing clear and coherent essays and presenting them orally. Special attention is given to the process of planning, writing, and revising. Students read a variety of texts from different genres in order to expose them to the rich possibilities of English prose.
An introductory study into concepts of spiritual formation and the various ways people deepen their understanding of and relationship with the supernatural. Emphasis is given to approaches to a covenantal life, the nature and consequence of religious practices and rituals, and the motivations for a worldview integrating religious faith.
This course is designed to introduce undergraduate students to statistics. Mathematical concepts basic to an understanding of statistics will be reviewed. Descriptive and inferential statistics and their application to social sciences research will be introduced.
Grief and trauma are part of the human condition. In this course, students will study the universal psychological impact of suffering and begin to develop their own personal theology of suffering. They will also discuss the importance of resilience as a building block of successful cross-cultural service.
Throughout history, societies have organized themselves into a variety of political and economic systems. Those who work cross-culturally may live and interact within a political or economic system different than one to which they are accustomed. This course introduces the student to basic political and economic ideas and systems, with the goal of equipping the student to understand them better and to operate more effectively within them.
Learning valid forms of arguments, standard fallacies, how to draw inferences, and how to arrange arguments are crucial skills for thinking critically and communicating effectively about any issue. This course will teach students how to think well, how to understand and critique arguments using the basic elements of logic, and how to arrange ideas effectively.
This course will examine the role of various concepts that underly globalization with particular attention to the role of the West in cultural, economic, and political harmonization around the world.
This course is designed to teach students to gather and evaluate information from a variety of sources and to incorporate ideas from these sources into the writing of a research paper.
This course introduces the major religious traditions of the world, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, as well as indigenous religious traditions. Students will learn about the origins, major figures, basic beliefs, and sacred practices of each of these major religious traditions, as well as the phenomenon of fundamentalism.
This course provides an overview of topics related to the theory and practice of Christian Missions including the biblical/theological basis of missions, the history of missions as well as cultural and practical issues that relate to cross-cultural ministry.
This course explores the theory, purpose, and dynamics of cross-cultural service, multi-cultural team building as well as issues of personal living in a cross-cultural setting.
All languages change over time, and one language can, given enough time, develop into many different daughter languages. Often these related languages provide the only surviving clues about their ancestral language. This course is an introduction to the techniques of linguistic reconstruction, and to the basic concepts underlying the genetic classification of languages. Both the comparative method and internal reconstruction will be taught. The emphasis will be on developing the practical skills of linguistic reconstruction, rather than on theoretical issues.
This course examines basic human rights norms and concepts as well as identifies contemporary human rights issues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Along with a survey of the history of human rights, this course will explore how these rights have been actualized and impeded in the Middle East due to the impacts of colonialism, economics, communalism, and global and regional politics. Themes that will surface throughout the course include tradition, religion, the universalism of human rights, problems of impunity and accountability, “exceptionalism,” and the “shamelessness” of authoritarian regimes.
In this course students will be introduced to various theories and definitions of development, and led through the process of examining, critiquing, and assessing their merits. Students will be walked through evaluations of case studies of development projects, as per scope, results, obstacles, pitfalls etc., with the intent that they comprehend what kinds of development are appropriate to specific contexts. Students will be presented with the ways social and political structure, environment, religion, and the greater economic context affects how development unfolds. Students will briefly be presented with ideas of how new ideas or methods are introduced and spread, the roles that the modern state and local elite play in development, and the possible unintended side effects that development efforts may precipitate.
IS4309 Hermeneutics (Spring - Even numbered years) (3 undergraduate credits)
This course examines the history of biblical hermeneutics, the process of interpreting the Bible and other ancient texts, and select topics within the field of hermeneutics. Special attention is given to analyzing texts according to their genre and in their literary, historical, cultural, linguistic, philosophical, political, and religious contexts. Throughout the course, cross-cultural aspects of hermeneutics are examined.
The New Testament is full of ancient documents by ancient authors, but their context is still largely accessible to us today. In order to better read, interpret, and apply the New Testament, students will learn about the historical, religious, and cultural environment in which Christianity arose.
Students will explore linguistic, historical, socio-cultural, political, and religious contexts of Ancient Near Eastern civilizations. Specific focus is given to epic, social, and religious texts from civilizations of the Ancient Near Eastern world, particularly those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel.
IS4344 Chinese I (Fall) (3 undergraduate credits)
An introduction to modern standard Chinese, commonly called Mandarin, which is the official language of China and is the most widely used variety of Chinese in the world. This course is for beginners. The emphases will include pronunciation, acquiring core vocabulary in both spoken and written forms, and beginning conversation skills. There will also be an introduction to the lifelong process of learning the Chinese writing system.
Students will learn factors relevant to communication in a multi-cultural setting. They will be able to identify concepts from intercultural communication that can facilitate or impede communication in a cross-cultural context.
This course has a unique International Studies topic and syllabus for each offering. It may be repeated when topic changes with permission of your academic advisor and the course instructor.
This course is used for an individual student/s to study with a professor outside of the regularly scheduled course offerings. An Independent Study Permission form must be completed and submitted to Academic Affairs.
Note: With permission of your academic advisor and the course instructor.
Students will achieve a basic level of competence in Mandarin conversation, reading, and writing, and will build a solid foundation for continued acquisition of the complex writing system.
This course looks at various artistic traditions from communities around the world, showing how these artistic expressions perform important cultural functions and serve as markers of identity. The course uses experiential activities and media resources to expand the students’ appreciation of the complexity and significance of various world art traditions.
Through this course, students will develop preliminary skills for researching and analyzing artistic genres within their cultural context. Student research will focus on an ethnolinguistic group of the student’s choice, including diasporic groups.
For the student who is working on an MA Thesis Proposal but is not registered for other DIU courses in a specific term. No tuition is charged for this course, but the student will be expected to pay the registration fee and technology fee in order to access DIU Library resources. Access to DIU Faculty will be limited. This course is graded Pass/Fail and no credit is earned for this course.
Techniques and skill development for researching and writing a thesis. Strongly recommended for all students writing a thesis at the master’s level in World Arts.
Note: This course is graded P/F. Completion of this course will count as equivalent to WA5191 Thesis, but will not trigger the requirement for continuing registration.
After completing this course, students will be able to describe and interact with the people, structures, dynamics, meanings, and processes involved in creativity and performance in an ethnolinguistically defined community. They will be able to plan, perform, and critique research tasks using methodologies such as interview, observation, participation, note-taking, and audio and videorecording, in ways that will help answer questions such as the following: What kinds of arts exist locally? How do arts function in local, regional, and international communities? Which art forms might best help communities reach their spiritual and social goals? What factors might affect the acceptance or rejection of local performance genres by community members?
This course prepares students to work with a local community to catalyze the creation of new vernacular Scripture-based and community-development messages in indigenous forms of artistic communication. Students learn to encourage sustainability and integrate these expressions into local community life by designing interactive, dialogue-based learning activities for arts-discovery and arts-creation workshops; mentoring local artists; promoting the dissemination of indigenous Christian works; and encouraging the positive self-identity that these forms may engender.
This course trains students to perform initial structural analysis of musical, verbal, dramatic, dance, and visual features of an ethnolinguistic community’s artistic genres. Such analyses contribute vitally to local communities’ efforts to address their needs and aspirations. Instructional methodologies include participation in these arts.
This course builds on the foundations established in the Arts and Trauma Healing course. It explores culturally appropriate approaches to trauma healing, including contextualized arts, community/collective healing, and the role of spirituality in healing. It focuses on developing and honing facilitation skills and provides ongoing practice in class as well as leading two healing groups.
This course teaches a holistic, interactive approach to engaging culturally relevant arts in the healing process. The course combines biblical truths, basic mental health principles, and community-based approaches. In particular, students will learn spiritual and neurological applications of how expressive arts assist in the healing process, addressing physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual issues related to trauma.
This course has a unique World Arts topic and syllabus for each offering. It may be repeated when topic changes with permission of your graduate advisor.
This course is used for an individual student/s to study with a professor outside of the regularly scheduled course offerings. An Independent Study Permission form must be completed and submitted to Academic Affairs.
