Module Descriptions
Bachelor of Theology Community Leadership in Sociology and Community Development (NQF 7)
For a description of each module, see Module Descriptions below
Core Curriculum
The Bachelor of Theology in Community Leadership is designed for a minimum duration of 3 years, involving a total of 384 credits. The programme is delivered through a combination of in-person contact sessions and distance learning.
If the required number is not reached by the end of the registration period, the programme will only receive new students in the next registration period. New students already registered for the programme will be advised on the options available to them, and paid fees will be refunded where applicable. Students who have already completed one or more semesters will not be affected.
Study Year 1 of 3 (NQF 5) (Basic level) 120 Credits
This module is designed to enhance students' academic writing and research skills while fostering critical thinking and analytical abilities.
The module introduces students to the principles, concepts, history, and major approaches to the study of society. It provides an overview of what sociologists' study, the methods they use, the different ways of thinking (paradigms) within sociology as well as the key terminology (concepts) that serve as analytical tools to understand social systems and the social construction of human life.
The first half of this module is designed to introduce the student to the nature, purpose, and interpretative process of the Scriptures. Attention is given to the historical backdrop of the Old and New Testaments and to the development of the biblical canon (Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic). Tracing the narrative trajectory of the Bible, this module is designed to equip students with a basic skill set necessary for the artful and faithful interpretation of the biblical text both within the church and public space.
Developmental Psychology 1: This module provides students with an overview of the major theories of Developmental Psychology. Furthermore, the module aims to help the student understand the course of human development from conception to late adulthood. The module also seeks to address contemporary concerns in lifespan development from conception to late adulthood.
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Counselling and Life Skills: This module provides students with training in how to develop and design life skills programmes, psycho-educational training, and individual counselling interventions. This module provides an understanding of persons, ideas, and principles in the sphere of human behaviour and examines how to manage structured psycho-educational activities in personal and group interventions and how to evaluate their success.
Ethics and Global Citizenship (15 Credits)
This module is designed to help the student build an ethical
framework that considers a holistic understanding of the human person (head, heart, and hands). Students are exposed to ethical theories that enable them to reflect on ways in which to respond to current moral, intellectual, and social questions. Students work to integrate ethical theory into their experience of life and explore how this contributes to the good of the world.
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Navigating Change and Conflict (15 Credits)
This module offers a comprehensive understanding of leadership from various theoretical perspectives, aiming to empower individuals for effective leadership in various contexts, particularly within South African and African settings. It delves into transformative leadership theory and practice, fostering personal and character growth. Additionally, the module introduces students to conflict resolution theory and practice, imparting essential communication skills to enrich inter-group and interpersonal relationships. Students gain insights into their conflict attitudes, self-reflect on approaches, and explore diverse conflict types through case studies. The module underscores the interconnectedness of communication, behaviour, and conflict, with a focal point on reconciliation strategies, enriching the learning experience.
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Group Studies and Communication (15 Credits)
This module seeks to introduce the student to the fundamentals of intergroup dynamics and communication in the global context of cross-cultural engagement. The themes of group formation and behaviours, social structure, and societal hierarchies will be introduced alongside the themes of intergroup relations and the practice of communication with and between groups with diverse values, belief systems, and societal standing. The module will reflect on the demands and required skills for social change interventions when working with diverse cultural, religious, language, socio-economic, and citizen communities, among others, including also the local and global realities of migration and immigrant communities.
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Worldviews of the South (15 Credits)
This module presents a comprehensive exploration of worldviews, specifically focusing on the philosophies of the global South, Africa, and the West. Its primary objective is to cultivate a deep understanding and appreciation of how these worldviews have influenced knowledge traditions and societal dynamics across our continent and the wider world. The course critically examines the essence of history, unveiling the impact of position, perspective, and power on historical narratives. This analysis is carried out through a detailed examination of South African and African histories, commencing with the indigenous peoples and tracing the trajectories of pre- and post-colonial development. By scrutinizing cultural movements, narratives, and pivotal events, the module illuminates the forces that have both historically and presently moulded our nation and continent.
This module explores the ways identity shapes and is shaped by diversity in terms of race, culture, class, gender, sexual orientation, and disability, and how the social construction of difference can have a significant impact on people’s life opportunities. A fundamental objective of the module will be to develop critical diversity literacy and identify ways to promote mutual understanding, tolerance, and cooperation among communities.
Theology: An Introduction
This module is designed to introduce the student to the methodology and discourse of both systematic and practical theology and provide a framework within which to make sense of these disciplines, how they overlap and intersect, and what specific angles of vision they offer the church in its engagement, theologically and practically, with the world. Special attention is given to the relationship between theology and its cultural contexts, particularly within a South African context.
Psychology: An Introduction
This module aims to provide the student with an understanding of persons, ideas, and principles in the sphere of human behaviour, which we understand as the social sciences. The historical development and current status of psychology, investigative activities, and significant findings are reviewed. Psychology: An Introduction will also engage with psychological thought in relation to the South African context.
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Counselling: Family and Development
This module surveys the themes of marriage development and family issues. The student will be introduced to the dynamics of change within marriage and the family as part of a developmental psychology framework.
Study Year 2 of 3 (NQF 6) (Intermediate level) 120 Credits
Sociology of Development aims to introduce the debate on the development question in Africa. It lays the conceptual foundation for further in-depth discussions on two fields of development research and practice: industrial development, and community development in Africa. The module will, therefore, introduce both macro theories pertaining to development, and the basics of what we understand by industrial development, and community development. The underlying meaning of popular development concepts and strategies will be critically revisited and debated to set the scene for further modules in development. The module explores poverty and exclusion as a developmental concern for Africa, and South Africa in particular.
This module reviews several perspectives on community development and social transformation processes. The overall objective is to acquire an understanding of social transformation as it relates to community development and the ability to apply this understanding in working with diverse communities.
This module comprises two parts.
Part 1: Applied Hermeneutics: Reading from the Margins. Here students are introduced to the importance and value of reading the Bible with others (i.e., the marginalised, whether women, children, the poor, the illiterate). The module enables the student both to recognise the value of being a trained reader and the responsibility to use such training in transformative, public, connected, dialogic and integrated ways. The module combines both theoretical and practical outcomes. The theoretical outcome of the module is achieved by defining who the others are and by laying the conceptual framework for what it means to read with others and how practically to do so. The practical outcome is achieved by assigning students to an actual reading site in which they will participate by applying the theoretical framework.
Part 2: Theoretical Hermeneutics. In this part, the branch of knowledge known as hermeneutics is explored in greater detail. Concerned with the art and science of establishing meaning through interpretation, this part provides the necessary orientation for making sense of Scripture. This includes cultivating, in the student, an awareness of the otherness of Scripture, both in its form and in its content; surveying the richness of the many ways in which one might approach the Scriptures and thereby appropriate its meaning; and, offering some guidelines for sensitive engagement with the Scriptures towards establishing meaning. A significant amount of time is dedicated to examining biblical texts within their socio-rhetorical setting.
This module introduces Christian Spirituality as it has unfolded over time and explores different facets of contemporary spiritual life and practice. It surveys various forms of worship as expressions of the range of biblical and traditional understandings and examines the theory and practice of worship in contemporary communities of faith and life. This module also includes a compulsory tutorial for spiritual formation.
The module introduces students to resources and community mobilisation, which are key elements within most development projects and programmes. Students will explore real cases of community and resource mobilisation, highlighting the value of community participation as key components of the development process.
Sociological theory is applied to important institutions in society such as the family, media institutions, religion, education and political institutions
Building on our understanding of God’s story and its trajectory in human history, this module looks at the question of human identity. It works from the premise that the meaning of life, of what it means to be human, to be created, comes into sharper focus when viewed biblically and theologically. Moving from the various biblical, theological, and historical responses to the question of human identity, the module looks to the doctrine of Christ for its ultimate answer, unpacking the story of God’s restoration in and through Jesus Christ. The implications of this doctrine are considered in the light of South African contextual realities.
In this module students engage in the application of leadership theory as it relates to the three majors, namely Theology, Psychology and Community Development. Here students explore the practice of leadership in the context of the church, faith-based organisations and the public sector. Attention is given to issues such as the process of effectively utilising and developing human resources, sharing control and responsibility, teamwork, conflict management, strategic planning, and managing diverse communication styles in the three areas of Theology, Psychology and Community Development.
Study Year 3 of 3 (NQF 7) (Advanced level) 120 Credits
This module is designed to equip students with skills in community-based research (i.e., tools, techniques and methodologies). The module aims to assist students in helping a community identify an issue or problem, collect and analyse information, act upon the problem to find solutions that promote economic, social and political development or transformation. A key focus of the module will be to train students on how to write a research proposal while being exposed to qualitative and quantitative techniques for data collection and analysis for social research. The module will review methodologies and approaches appropriate to community based participatory research and will provide students with opportunities for practical application of acquired knowledge and skills.
This module looks at community development from a sociological point of view with an emphasis on both the theoretical and practical facets of the developmental process. These themes will be related to current development challenges in South Africa and will be studied against the background of global trends as well as specific community issues. Whilst strong emphasis will be placed on a holistic and people-centred orientation to development theory and praxis, the economic prerequisites and requirements for development will also be stressed. Theoretical insights will be translated into skills required for hands-on community development.
Johannine
Designed to provide students with orientation points for understanding Paul and the letters attributed to him. The module enables students to navigate the Pauline Writings by setting both Paul (as author, pastor, and missionary) and his letters within their historical, sociocultural, theological, exegetical, and ecclesiological settings. Within this matrix, students read and engage texts within the body of the Pauline Writings.
Pauline Writing
Studies the writings attributed to John—the Gospel of John, the Letters of John, and the Apocalypse of John. Students will examine these writings by attending to their testimony concerning the crucified and resurrected Christ. Attention is given to the issues of authorship, literary and rhetorical structure, and theological motifs to understand their vision and purpose within their ancient and contemporary church settings
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Old Testament Prophets
This module comprises two parts. Part 1: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings provide the basis for a survey of Israel's history from conquest to exile. Particular emphasis is given to investigating the relationship between Israel's historical traditions and its theological appropriation of these traditions around themes such as election, law, land, and leadership. Part 2: The latter prophets' literary structure and theological significance are examined, with attention given to seeing the prophets within their own historical context and in light of the New Testament. Exegesis of representative passages is included.
Old Testament Writings
The study and meaning of wisdom in the literature of the Old Testament are explored. Special attention is given to the nature of Hebrew poetry, literary structure, and the importance of developing a biblical theology of the wisdom writings. The module includes exegesis of representative passages.
This module is designed to explore how people make meaning out of life's experiences. Consideration is also given to the application of this theory to the general areas of developmental psychology, the theology of Christian formation, and maturity. Additionally, students explore meaningful ways in which to bring together the theory and practice of Christian spiritual formation. This module also includes a compulsory tutorial for spiritual formation.
Building on the corresponding research methodology module(s), this module equips students with the fundamental skills and knowledge to conduct independent research in their field of study. Students will identify a research problem, review relevant literature, and apply basic research methodologies. The module culminates in a written research document, enhancing critical thinking, problem-solving, and academic writing skills. This module prepares students for advanced research and to contribute to their discipline’s body of knowledge.
While post-colonial African is increasingly integrated into the global capitalist economy the challenges of poverty, inequality and environmental degradation continue unabated. The module discusses Africa’s position in the global matrix of economic and political power, which is dominated by the neoliberal and modernist development ideology and practice. The neoliberal/modernist development discourse and practice adopted by (and which characterise) many post-independent African countries’ development trajectories are critiqued. The impact of and capitalist globalisation (global economic factors) on Africa’s development and/or underdevelopment. The module will also explore alternative pathways to development in Africa, and the possibility of micro, people-centred and sustainable development. Development theory from an African perspective will be explored, including but not limited to the African renaissance theory, as alternative development discourse and practice. A comparative approach will be embraced by looking at country-specific case studies, including South Africa. The focus on Africa as a continent will help students to appreciate that South Africa is unique in some ways, but its development challenges are shared by other Africa countries.
This module is a practical and generally community-based extension of the academic programme in Christian Ministry. Fieldwork is designed to be a multi-disciplinary application of what has been learnt theoretically during the programme. As such, it measures both the practical capabilities of the student within a field or sphere of learning and the ability to integrate theory and praxis.
This module looks at the necessity and importance of an integrative approach to responding to a range of critical issues of relevance for both the church and public space. Within a worldview framework, students wrestle with contemporary issues – including personhood, community belonging, power, economics and education and the intersection of these issues – from a biblical and theological perspective.