Teaching

In Spring 2014, Dr. Johnson is teaching the following courses:

J-Term:

AA04322-The Forgotten Prophet: The Prophetic Rhetoric of Bishop Henry McNeal Turner

Dates: Monday-Friday 
January 6-17, 5:00pm-9:00pm

Henry McNeal Turner (1834-1915) was one of America’s earliest black activists and social reformers, and, as such, he made an indelible mark in history and left an enduring social influence. While Turner was widely known as a great orator, theologian and bishop, history has not been kind to Turner. One reason may be that much of Turner's rhetoric took on a harsh tone. However,it is important to note that Turner’s rhetoric reflected the times in which he lived. In order to find his voice to speak out against the indignities he and his people faced, he adopted a prophetic persona and much of his oratory took on a prophetic tone.

In the class, students will examine Turner’s prophetic discourses and analyze how he was able to communicate unpopular messages to his audiences. Students will also examine the times in which Turner produced his rhetoric and examine other figures germane to Turner’s career. By engaging in a rhetorical trajectory of Turner’s rhetoric, students will examine Turner's life and career along with his successes and failures. At the end of the class, students will examine how Turner anticipated some of the arguments that many African Americans presented in the twentieth century and how Turner's discourse continues to shape civil rights rhetoric today. 


Spring 2014:

SR 04430-Introduction to Rhetoric and Religion

Time: Mondays 5:30-8:30pm

Students in this survey class will examine sacred rhetoric from classical times to the present. By engaging in a careful reading of books, essays, and other texts, students will examine (1) how early theologians and rhetoricians used the secular art of rhetoric in their formations of theology; (2) how an understanding of religious rhetoric broadens the scope of language; and finally (3) how the use of the sacred formulate arguments and ideology.

AA/CH03429-African American Religious Personalities

This class meets the First Fridays (from 9-5pm) in February, March, April, and May

This course focuses on the lives of outstanding African-American religious personalities either in multiple groupings or on a rotating basis. This particular offering will focus on biographies of particular African American Religious leaders; both inside and outside the institutional Black Church. We will study leaders such as, but not limited to: Richard Allen, Maria Stewart, Henry McNeal Turner, Sojourner Truth, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Anna Julia Cooper, W.E.B. Du Bois, Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X, Prathia Hall, and others.

NC 50000-Bible and Ministry (Netters Certificate Program)

Dates: Saturdays, 9:00-1:00pm (March 8-April 19, 2014)

How do we come to understand biblical texts to relate them to the life of discipleship in the contemporary world?  In this course, we will consider different ways to interpret the Bible. In addition, we will discover how context is important in understanding biblical texts, and how we share biblical meanings with other people of faith.