Discussions Assignment
Instructions
In this
course, Discussions play an exceptionally important role. The readings
are relatively short to allow for substantial reflection, personal research,
and quality discussion to occur. Consider these threads and replies to be
formal communications on the same level as those you would conduct with
employers, clients, or colleagues in the professional, political, or academic
world. As such, they must be free of grammatical errors, must be properly
formatted in current APA style, and must consist of well-reasoned,
contemplative, and substantive posts and replies, rather than mere ipse
dixit. These threads and replies must provide citations to the sources of
or support for your ideas as well as any quoted materials and/or borrowed
ideas.
Open,
courteous discussion will yield the greatest opportunities for growth in this course.
Both responding to other students and responding to the instructor will
count as 1 reply post. Remember that the art of communication is in many ways
the essence of effective political leadership. Everything you write—every
paper, post, and email—creates or reinforces an impression of you. You are
encouraged to begin to cultivate the communication skills of the statesmen and
stateswomen—the ability to logically and persuasively speak the truth with
compassion and respect.
You
will take part in 5 Discussions in Modules 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7: Weeks 1,
3, 4, 5, and 7. You will compose an original post presenting your own interpretation
of the assigned prompt, writing at least 1,000 words, then, you will
post replies of 300–350 words to at least 2 other students’ original threads.
Each reply must be unique.
Responding to a classmate’s original post
requires both the addition of new ideas and analysis. A particular point made
by the classmate must be addressed and built upon by your analysis in order to move the conversation forward. Thus,
the response post is a rigorous assignment that requires you to build upon
initial posts to develop deeper and more thorough discussion of the ideas
introduced in the initial posts. As such, reply posts that merely affirm,
restate or unprofessionally quarrel with the previous post(s) and fail to make
a valuable, substantive contribution to the discussion will receive appropriate
point deductions. Posting the same reply in two places
is also not sufficient and may be treated as a form of academic misconduct.
Original posts must include at least 10 references to the
course readings and 1 Scripture reference in addition to any other sources you
wish to include. Replies must include at least 3 references to the course
readings and 1 Scripture reference in addition to any other sources you wish to
include. Scriptural excerpts with citations are required in all written
assignments, including all discussion board posts (both the original post and the
replies).
Submit your threads by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Thursday of
the assigned Module: Week. Submit your replies by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of
the assigned Module: Week.
Thread
How do Luther and Hooker’s ideas of Reformed
Christian kingship differ from Aquinas’, and what similarities exist in all
three of their conceptions of Natural Law? Be sure to include a discussion of
justice and covenantal statesmanship, especially as concerns the relationship
between religious and civil offices.
