The Second Challenge: Field Trips

The second challenge I am facing in relation to Semester at Sea is the planning of field trips.   Twenty percent of the student’s grade in every course is to be based on field experiences and I am required to plan one field trip for each of the sections I teach.   Students will be required to attend that field trip.  The will have the opportunity for many, many other field experiences as well.

So, I am having to plan at least three field trips in different port cities, two for my World Religions sections and one for Liberation Theologies. 

Here’s what I have in mind:

In London, I may take student to visit the London Interfaith Centre (affiliated with the Church of England) and meet with its leaders.  The Centre will facilitate 1) visits to Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist (or other) communities in the area; 2) meetings with some leaders in those communities who could give an introduction to the experience of people from their religious traditions in the West/Great Britain; 3) a presentation by Centre leadership and affiliated religious communities on the basis for interfaith cooperation in the various religious traditions and the particular challenges to their work in a context of religiously-inspired terrorism and the “war on terrorism.”

Here are the objectives for this field experience:

1.  To deepen students understanding of Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism as these are practiced in the West/London.

2.  To introduce students to the basis for interfaith cooperation in the World’s Religions, with particular emphasis on the basis for such cooperation in Christianity.

3. To introduce students to the particular challenges for interfaith dialogue and cooperation in Great Britain, particularly in the context of religiously inspired terrorism and the “war on terrorism.”

In Cape Town Students will visit the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative and meet with its leaders.  The Initiative will facilitate 1) visits to Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and traditional African religious communities in the area; 2) meetings with some leaders in those communities who could give an introduction to the experience of people from their religious traditions in Cape Town; 3) a presentation by Centre leadership and affiliated religious communities on the basis for interfaith cooperation in the various religious traditions and the place of “the Charter for Compassion” in that work.

Here are the objectives for this field experience:

1.  To deepen students understanding of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and African Tradition Religions as these are practiced in the West/Cape Town.

2.  To introduce students to the basis for interfaith cooperation in the World’s Religions, with particular emphasis on the basis for such cooperation in Christianity.

3. To introduce students to the particular to the role of religion in the struggle against apartheid and the building of a just society in South Africa.

4. To introduce students to the “Charter for Compassion” as a vehicle for interfaith dialogue.

I should explain that the Interfaith Initiative in Cape Town puts the Charter for Compassion at the center of its work.  It is based on the world of renown scholar of the World’s Religions, Karen Armstrong.  Check out their website,

I am particular excited about what I am planning in Buenos Aires for my Liberation Theology class. I will be asking the faculty at ISEDET (the Instituto Superior de Education Teologica, where I studied for two semesters)—led by Nestor Miguez and (possibly) his father Jose Miguez-Bonino—to plan and lead a one day seminar on the theology of liberation in Argentina.   ISEDET is the leading ecumenical protestant seminary in Argentina and has long been a leading center for theological reflection in the tradition of liberation theology.  Indeed, Jose MIguez-Bonino, who taught there for years, is generally recognized as the leading Protestant liberation theologian in Latin America. 

In the 1960s and 1970s, many regarded Argentina as experiencing a “revolutionary situation.” (Jose Miguez-Bonino’s most well-known work is Doing Theology in a Revolutionary Situation.)   To discourage revolutionary change, the military regime waged a “dirty war” that resulted in the widespread use of detention, torture, and the “disappearance” of political foes.  In response, a human rights movement emerged, one in which the Methodist Church of Argentina and Bishop Aldo Etchegoyen provided important leadership.   After the “dirty war” and partly as a result of church-led human rights work, a vibrant democracy developed in Argentina that has changed the nature of the struggle for justice there.

The purpose of this seminar will be to enable students to understand the way in which liberation theology contributed to the “revolutionary situation” of the 1960s and 1970s; its role in inspiring the work of the Methodist (and other) churches in protecting and promoting human rights; and, the way in which those shaped by liberation theology see the ongoing struggle for justice in a democratic context.   Students will be given the opportunity to reflect on the relevance and implications of the Argentine experience for the ministry of Christian communities in their own settings.

Here are the “official” syllabus objectives related to this experience.

1. To deepen student understanding of the contribution of liberation theology in Latin America through contact with educational and ecclesiastical leaders whose work is inspired by it.

2. To familiarize students with the impact of liberation theology on the ministry of Christian communities in the struggle for justice and human rights in a particular setting, Argentina.

3. To engage students in creative reflection on the relevance of liberation theologies developed in Latin America to the understanding and practice of Christian life in their own countries.

I also have two other possibilities in mind. 

The first is related to our stop in Takoradi, Ghana.  A previous professor of World Religions for SAS took students to the St. Nicholas Seminary in Cape Coast. She has told me that it was a great experience. The whole seminary turned out for the event, which was a discussion of Christian-Muslim relations in Ghana, the transformation of Ghanian Christianity (to something truly Ghanian rather than merely a European transplant), the relationship of Christianity in Ghana to tribal religions or African Traditional Religion, and issues such as polygamy and homosexuality.   “After we gathered,” she wrote me, “the seminarians played two or so hymns.  It was wonderful... fine voices, drums, etc.  My students all said they would have liked to have more of this.”   She has provided contact information for me at the Seminary.

Another thing I have been thinking about is a field trip in Rio De Janiero related to Candomble, an African-Brazilian religion similar to Haitian Voodoo.  I have found a website that offers a local guide that takes people to an authentic Candomble ceremony.  I’m suspicious, of course, but I’m going to be looking into whether something of that nature is possible.