The Global Christian Tradition
The Global Christian Tradition In this course we will study the historical development and current presence of Christianity in various regions of the world. Beginning with its origins in the Middle East, we will trace the growth and evolution of this complex tradition in the Mediterranean, Africa, western Europe, the Americas, and East Asia. Along the way, we will encounter important Christian thinkers, discover different schools of belief and practice, and focus on foundational theological themes, like the divinity of Christ, the function and authority of the church, Christian-Jewish relations, and religious perspectives on gender, race, politics, and modernity.
The Global Christian Tradition In this course we will study the historical development and current presence of Christianity in various regions of the world. Beginning with its origins in the Middle East, we will trace the growth and evolution of this complex tradition in the Mediterranean, Africa, western Europe, the Americas, and East Asia. Along the way, we will encounter important Christian thinkers, discover different schools of belief and practice, and focus on foundational theological themes, like the divinity of Christ, the function and authority of the church, Christian-Jewish relation …Read more
James Calvin Davis is the best. He is an amazing professor who makes an effort to connect with each of his students and is always kind and understanding. He is a very engaging lecturer and sometimes mixes in games and informal presentations. The readings are very manageable, and it is important to do them for the exams. The lectures can be a bit fast-paced but are fascinating. The exams can be difficult given the time limit, but they are take home and you will do fine if well-prepared. Overall, an amazing class and I highly recommend.
James Calvin Davis is the best. He is an amazing professor who makes an effort to connect with each of his students and is always kind and understanding. He is a very engaging lecturer and sometimes mixes in games and informal presentations. The readings are very manageable, and it is important to do them for the exams. The lectures …Read more
James Calvin Dean is one of the most enthusiastic professors I've ever had. He loves the subject, gives great and clear lectures accompanied with slides. He is one of the nicest and most interesting professors you could have at Middlebury. The history of Christianity can be a little dense at times, but he tries his best to brings it to life. He does not cold call although participating is pretty easy. We had two exams all year that are multiple choice, but are a little harder than one might expect. You should definitely take the class if you have any interest in Christianity or just want a chill class.
James Calvin Dean is one of the most enthusiastic professors I've ever had. He loves the subject, gives great and clear lectures accompanied with slides. He is one of the nicest and most interesting professors you could have at Middlebury. The history of Christianity can be a little dense at times, but he tries his best to brings it …Read more
Class material is not bad, every class is a discussion, and professor James Calvin Davis places a huge emphasis on participation. Midterm was fairly hard, but it was take home which helps. Other than that, no papers or assignments.
Loved this course with Davis! He is very approachable and does a great job engaging students in discussions. I had very little previous knowledge of Christianity but this class was definitely a good introduction. It covers a large time span of history, but Davis really focuses on making sure students grasp broad concepts. I think there were 3 papers total and all of them were super chill. Davis cares about student's mental health.
Loved this course with Davis! He is very approachable and does a great job engaging students in discussions. I had very little previous knowledge of Christianity but this class was definitely a good introduction. It covers a large time span of history, but Davis really focuses on making sure students grasp broad concepts. I think the …Read more
Professor James Davis is extremely enthusiastic about what he is teaching. He is fun-loving, passionate, and really conscientious of his students. The class mostly involves readings for each class (average length of reading), occasional papers, super intriguing discussions, and a lot of cool applications of the material. I felt so chill in every one of his lectures and discussions. He is very inclusive of everyone's ideas in discussion. The conversations we shared throughout the term we super fun and thought-provoking. I would definitely take a course with Davis again. Super chill but super interesting.
Professor James Davis is extremely enthusiastic about what he is teaching. He is fun-loving, passionate, and really conscientious of his students. The class mostly involves readings for each class (average length of reading), occasional papers, super intriguing discussions, and a lot of cool applications of the material. I felt so ch …Read more
Amazing course. I could not recommend JCD more. He is very fair, engaging, funny, and understands students well. His approach to teaching Christianity is very unbiased and historically based. The papers require careful reading of the required readings and taking some notes during lectures.
James Davis is the best professor at Middlebury by far. There are not enough good things I could say about him. His classes are not hard at all but he makes the material so much more enjoyable. I looked forward to his class every week. Any class you can take with him you should
Prof Davis is amazing and really cares about what he is teaching. He wants you to learn and enjoy class times, always bringing in outside perspectives in order to engage the entire class. The workload is very reasonable, with only 3 papers and readings for class and discussion.
Professor Davis is my favorite professor at Midd, I wish I could take every class he offered. This class gives you a foundation for understanding Christianity and convinced me to major in religion, so do with that what you will. It was very easy and not that much reading.
Great professor very helpful to students. Even took assignments off because he felt stress level was high for students. He was a great lecturer and clearly knew what he was talking about. Class was mostly about discussions- do well in those and you will do well in class
Professor Davis is probably the best guy around. Super cool guy and great teacher. Learned a lot about the history of Christianity and he covered both the goods and the bads. We had a couple papers and readings for class. Very good class overall