Matt

Matt

by Matthew (Matt) Schlimm -
Number of replies: 0

As far as the difference between intercultural competence and global awareness, I'm treating the former as intercultural competence domestically and global awareness as international interaction.

As far as a sample bibliography of works, a lot of that work has already been done initially by the Institute for Biblical Research and now Every Voice. I share this bibliography in my African American Biblical Interpretation class where students need to select a work and write a book review on it (instructions here).

IN THE CLASSROOM:

  • Almost everything in African American Biblical Interpretation (BI652) relates directly to intercultural competence. Here's the syllabus.
  • My Old Testament Intro class (BI511) features lectures on:
    • Interpretive problems, treating Genesis 9:18-27 as a case study. This passage functioned, to quote David M. Goldenberg, as "the single greatest justification for Black slavery for more than a thousand years."
    • "Race and Biblical Scholarship," which examines the European domination of biblical studies and invisible whiteness, as well as alternatives found in African American interpretive traditions.
  • The same class avoids the use of an introductory textbook by a single author, which would inhibit awareness of cultural diversity. Instead, it uses materials in two study Bibles so that students are exposed to dozens of biblical scholars from an array of cultures:
    • Coogan, Michael, ed. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. 5th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. ISBN: 978-0190276089.
    • Green, Joel, ed. The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Common English Bible, 2013. ISBN: 978-1609260286.
  • The same class attempts to alert students to ableism in churches and alternatives (here).
  • Hebrew Exegesis (BI624) encourages students to make use of Jeremy Schipper's Anchor Bible Commentary on Ruth, which is indebted to advances in Disability Studies.
  • My English Exegesis of Genesis (BI628) class contains assignments where students need to respond pastorally to minorities as they interpret particular texts. They are required to write responses to these hypothetical emails:
    • Example 1
      • Pastor,
      • As an African American, I’ve always related to Hagar. However, one part of her story really bothers me. She escapes from slavery, but then God tells her not only to return to her slave master but to “submit” to her (16:9). How could God support slavery like that?
      • Sincerely,
      • Taya
    • Example 2
      • Dear Pastor,
      • As I think I’ve shared with you before, I’m Native American. While I find many points of similarity between my ancestors’ faith and Christianity, it really bothers me how the Bible talks about Canaanites. As I’m sure you know, historically white folk have seen themselves as a type of new Israel and treated us Native Americans as a type of Canaanites.
      • If God is love, why does the Bible contain so many bad things about Canaanites? It’s not just Joshua either. Just today, I was reading in Genesis. I came across Gen 26:34-35 and then 27:46-28:9. What am I supposed to do with those texts? I don’t want to give up on the Bible, but when it’s caused my people so much harm, I sometimes feel like I need to choose between my heritage and the Bible.
      • Thanks,
      • Alo

OUT OF THE CLASSROOM

  • As I mentioned at our last faculty meeting (see link here), attending to matters of racial diversity is an important component of my scholarship. Since then, Christian Century said they intend to publish a piece I wrote on the so-called curse of Ham in Gen 9:21-27 and its reception among African American faith communities. 
  • Much of my continuing education has pertained to cross-cultural competence.
    • At the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, I frequently attend sessions put on by Minoritized Criticism and Biblical Interpretation, as well as African-American Biblical Hermeneutics.
    • At the Institute of Biblical Research, I have attended a meeting of the Asian-American Biblical Interpretation: Evangelical Voices group.
    • As I write my commentary on Genesis, much of my research has focused on minority voices.
  • I have also played a role in the Nathaniel Morgan Memorial Committee, a group that seeks to create a monument remembering the 1840 lynching of African American Nat Morgan in Dubuque, Iowa. 
  • I helped lead a group of students to Chicago Illinois in 2022 where we toured a stop on the Underground Railroad and the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center.
  • I actively participated in a December 2021 conference in Montgomery that included touring:
    • The Legacy Museum
    • The National Memorial for Peace and Justice
    • The Martin Luther King, Jr. parsonage
    • Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
    • Freedom Rides Museum