An applied practicum where students work with culturally-different people to apply ethnodramatology approaches based on their track emphasis. It builds on all the learning throughout the program, developing an ethnodramalogy project and critiquing the results.
Students are able to put theory into practice and learn practically how to do ethnodramatology, through research, analysis and application. It is an excellent time to synthesize their learning throughout the program and develop dramas that are in the language and style of the people to whom they are ministering.
It is not enough to learn the theory of ethnodramatology. It is important to put it into practice in order to solidify the concepts and experience first-hand drama of another culture along with all the accompanying cultural values and assumptions that emerge. The resulting discoveries give a solid foundation for discipleship and sharing the message of Christ.
God is a God of creativity as seen throughout the Bible. Scripture uses story and other creative means to reveal God’s truth. Against this backdrop, this course examines how drama is a full-body expression of spiritual and biblical truth.
While biblical Christianity is rooted in eternally universal truths, the ways in which people understand and appropriate those truths in their daily lives are conditioned by their sociocultural context expressed in a specific time, place, and people. Missional leaders understand that authentic Christian living grows out of the soil of indigenous forms - expressions that come from within that culture.
It is necessary to understand the culture and its artistic forms and languages in order to effectively contextualize the message of Christ when using drama as the tool of communication.
Students gain a culturally-based perspective where indigenous forms of drama are understood and practiced. Working in a culture and art form other than their own allows intercultural communication to develop.
This course gives a practical framework for how to discover and create dramas in indigenous forms, or forms that are appropriate to the culture of service and equips students for intercultural missional work, development and communication.
Theatre is inherently experiential. Researching and developing drama in a different culture, and creating scenes in different styles help students appreciate a worldview other than their own.
