Today I have learned that I will be the reader for Prof. Scott Bartchy’s course, “History of the Early Christians“. The reader at UCLA is basically a grader. I’ll be grading the mid-terms and finals. Actually, I’ll be both enrolled in the course and grading it. Obviously, I won’t be grading my own work!
I graded similar topics for a course called New Testament 2: Acts-Revelation at Fuller, though there were more assignments for that course. I look forward to getting more pedagogical training, even if the grading might not always be fun. Here’s a description of the course:
Christian movement from its origins to circa 160 C.E., stressing its continuity/discontinuity with Judaism, various responses to Jesus of Nazareth, writings produced during this period, movement’s encounters with its religious, social, and political world, and methods of research.
Pardon my puzzlement but how can you grade work in a course you’re enrolled in? I would normally assume that you enrol in a course because you haven’t yet covered/mastered the topic and you’re normally employed to grade because you are considered to have mastered the topic. ??
I was puzzled myself when I first heard about it. I think the question is less how I am qualified to grade for the course and more why I am enrolled in the course. I have graded coursework for a similar course at Fuller and feel comfortable with the material.
I am enrolled in the course basically to get Bartchy’s take on the material. And, of course, I’m never done learning. I’m sure some things will come up that I never read, hadn’t thought of, or just forgot. The program at UCLA is such that we supplement our graduate coursework with just a few upper division undergrad courses. This course is one of those few for me.
Ah. This makes sense.