Saturday 29 October 2011

Work - Pete B

Oh my goodness, what happened there? We blinked and two months flew by with hardly a moment to look up from the books. So the work has really kicked in now here at Duke Divinity School and it’s tough but exciting. I seem to be hanging in there, like a squirrel on a rollercoaster. Sorry - strange analogy - there are many squirrels around here but I’ve not encountered any rollercoasters yet. OK, what was I saying? Oh yes, the first difference here is that here we do less classes or subjects but each subject is done far more intensively. It’s homework, tests and quizzes from day one. In order to cram the Duke experience in to my relatively short time here I’m attempting to do five subjects (the norm is four per semester). Five doesn’t seem much from our English viewpoint but I’m really beginning to feel the pain now.


There is a more subtle difference in the ethos of the work. It may be because of the cultural difference, or it may be because the people training for ministry here are mostly younger than in Durham back home. Either way, there is a greater emphasis here on the need to know and be able to recall information in an exam situation. Both here and at home there is a balance between knowledge and understanding, but here I think the unwritten philosophy is that you need to know it before you can understand it. The philosophy is unwritten but the tests are not. What difference it makes in the long run is yet to be seen. The retention of information has always been one of my weak areas and so this has been a particular challenge for me, but strangely enough I’m enjoying it. It’s exciting to feel that tangible shift in knowledge when you can measurably say that you know something you didn’t know before.

The third difference (insert Methodist three part sermon joke here) is the way they are less concerned with levels based on years. Instead courses seem to relate to each other like a tree with what are called ‘core classes’ which form the trunk and ‘electives’ that branch off from the trunk as the three years progress. Each of the core classes have two lessons a week plus and additional group tutorial for discussion. For the most part people training for ministry here have three years on the Master of Divinity program on top of four years in a more generalized undergraduate degree so they have time to grow this educational tree in a way that would be difficult to do in the two years that most of us have in the Durham UK.

With all the differences I think it important to stress the similarities. In both universities there are great lecturers who inspire and challenge us; who sensitively move us towards a wider understanding of the diversity and historical contexts of the Christian faith, who try to prepare us for both the predictable and the unknowable challenges of ministry. Both places have quirks, flaws, geniuses and crazy people; both are goldmines of great wisdom. However, the greatest similarity I feel at the moment is that this training is hard work on both sides of the water - and now I need to take a short break before I start my next three assignments...

You know you're in America when...
(No. 4) There is no off switch.

1 comment:

  1. Great to hear how you are getting on Pete.
    Hope Debs is flourishing also.

    Thanks for the plug pic. They are the same in Antigua....

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