Daniel Im

Pastor + Author

Daniel Im

A Method of Teaching for the Online-Degree Generation

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I recently saw a fascinating proposal by the Dean at Southern Methodist University, Jose A. Bowen. He proposes a different way of teaching that is radically different from the traditional way of: 1) Come to class; 2) Listen to the Lecture; 3) Discussion.

He proposes that you:

1) Podcast your lecture.
2) Have your students listen to the lecture before coming to class.
3) Have a quiz at the beginning of the class to ensure that they listened to the lecture
4) Have Discussion and important points, etc. for the majority of the class

This methodology, he believes, will promote on-site degrees, rather than online degrees because of the clear benefits of live participation.

 

The Architecture of Asian Christianity

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Two weeks ago, when my wife and I travelled down to my mom’s home town (Seosan, Choongchun-Namdo, South Korea) for my uncle’s funeral, we came across this interesting building. Upon closer examiniation, we discovered that it is a Catholic church, but I was just in awe of the Asian flavor that the cathedral had.

Living in Montreal, Quebec for a couple years, I definitely saw my fair shair of cathedrals. Montreal even boasts of the St. Joseph Oratory, which has the third largest dome in the world, and the Notre-Dame Basillica, which has an amazingly dramatic Gothic  Revival architectural style.

However, never did I once see a cathedral that was so architecturally Asian!

Now that is a prime example of architectural contextualization!!

A Korean Funeral

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This past week, my uncle passed away from cancer so I had the opportunity to experience a full-fledged Buddhist Korean funeral. When I got to the hospital, I had to pay my respects to his son and his mother and then we were ushered into this room where the dead body was (it was covered with a sheet).  When the whole family was in that room, they began to clean the body and wrap it in this traditional Korean funeral garment. It was very ritualistic and probably took more than an hour. For example, they cut off some of his toe nails and finger nails, and while they were doing that, they said some ritualistic saying. Afterwards, they put those things in a small bag and put it on his body. They did the same thing for some of his hair too. [Read more…] about A Korean Funeral

The Power of Shame in Asian Cultures

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I have never heard so much about suicide until moving to Korea. Sure, there were the occasional suicide stories in the news back in Canada and in Hollywood, but to so frequently read the names of celebrities, political leaders, and high-profile individuals in the headlines in apposition with the deadly words, “suicide,” was unfathomable.

“South Korean Ex-President Kills Himself” is one of the major headlines in the news today. Even if one were to survey this past year’s news, one would frequently come across stories of celebrities committing suicide in Korea.  Committing suicide in Korea is really not an occasional occurrence.

But why? Is it that the preciousness of life isn’t valued any more? Is it a decision of the whim? Why am I coming across so many stories of suicide in this shame-based-Confucianistic culture of Korea? [Read more…] about The Power of Shame in Asian Cultures