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Division of Religion Main PageContent: The course will examine the notion of origin and genealogy in three contexts. Attention will be given first to the discourse on the origin of religion in the West from the early eighteenth century through the Victorian period, paying particular attention to Hume, Tylor, Frazer, and F. Max Mueller. These figures will be read in the context of discourses of theology and emerging colonial ideologies. The course will then turn to notions of origin and genealogy as modes of cosmological discourse in Hindu sources. Selected texts from the Vedic, Brahmanic, Samkhya, Purana, and dharmashastra traditions will be read in the context of their interpretations in early colonial India. Finally, the course will examine Islamic notions of cosmology and genealogy (particularly issues of descent from the Prophet and authority to speak for the tradition) in the context of colonial regimes in the Middle East and India in the nineteenth century. The course is part of the required sequence of core seminars for the West and South Asian Religions Program. Students from other programs in the GDR, History Department, or ILA may find the seminar useful and would be welcome, subject to the approval of the instructor.
Texts:
Primary Sources: David Hume, The Natural History of Religion ; F. Max Mueller, The Origin and
Growth of Religion; James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough; E. B. Tyler, Primitive Culture; James Mill, The
History of India; Selections from the Rg Veda, Samkhyakarika, Manavadharmashastra, Bhagavatapurana,
Brhadaranyakaupanishad, and Kathopanishad. (Texts read in translation. Students studying Sanskrit will
have special opportunity to read portions of these texts in the original.) Selections from the Qur'an,
Hadith, A'in-i-Akbari. (Texts read in translation. Students studying Arabic will have special opportunity
to read portions of these texts in the original.)
Secondary sources: Frank Manuel, The Eighteenth Century Confronts the Gods; Edward Said, Orientalism; David Kopf, British Orientalism and the Bengal Renaissance; Peter Van der Veer, Religious Nationalism: Hindus and Muslims in India; Barnard Cohn, Colonial Knowledge
Particulars: Students in the seminar will present summaries of readings and identify questions and issues they want the seminar to discuss. An article-length research paper will be required by the end of the course. Students will have the opportunity to integrate this paper into their larger research objectives within their program.
Content: Islamic theology form the beginning has been dialogical among different schools of Islamic thought as well as across confessional boundaries with Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, and atheists. Working with texts in translation, the seminar will analyze the early sectarian theological formations, the contribution of the rationalist Mu'tazila, the response of Hanbali traditionalism, the culmination of Ash'arite orthodoxy in the writings of al-Ghazali, and the restatement of these positions in modern times under such rubrics as modernism and fundamentalism. A significant aspect of the seminar will be to compare Islamic with Christian and other theological systems on particular issues, such as the conflict between divine/human modes in revelation. One hour of credit (Reading and Conference,
RLBL 706A) is available for students who wish to read some of the texts in Arabic.
Texts: Students will glean an overview of Islamic thought from a work such as Majid Fakhry, A History of Islamic Philosophy. Other texts may include al-Ghazali, Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali, "Abd al-Jabbar, Book on the Five Fundamentals of Religion; Muhammad 'Abduh, Theology of Unity; Sayyid Qutb, Milestones Along the Way.
Content: Basic study of the language and grammar of Akkadian.
Content: Few concepts are more central to ethics than love and justice, but none is more subject to varying interpretation than these two. The course seeks to clarify several philosophical and theological accounts of love and justice, with particular emphasis on how they interrelate. Is love ideally indiscriminate and/or sacrificial and therefore antithetical to justice? Is justice a single virtue equally binding on all human beings? Does God possess either virtue? How are we to conceive (and act on) such related values as rationality, creativity, human rights, and civil liberties? These will be some of the central concerns of our common reflection. Readings are selected from a broad range of perspectives, spanning historical, racial, and gender diversity. Readings include works by Plato, Augustine, Aquinas, Niebhur, Rawls, West, Shklar, and Nussbaum. This course is designed for graduate students and presupposes some knowledge of ethical theory; it is, however, open to advanced undergraduates and Candler students.
Particulars: Substantial readings per week, class participation, and two 12-15 page papers.
Content: This is one of two basic courses offered in alternate years in the Hebrew Bible Department. The other is History of Hebrew Bible Interpretation. The goal of this course is to come to an understanding of the present situation in Hebrew Bible Studies, and to read and evaluate a wide range of the more important and/or influential works in the current discussion of methodology in particular. Attention will be given to recent developments in historical studies (including 'ideological' criticism and the history of religion), structural and post-structural criticism (including redactional and canonical analysis), and vistas concerning human existence, with feminist and other liberation hermeneutics and post-colonial views. Special attention will be given to narrative, law and prophecy.
Particulars: Students will select three major works as the basis for seminar presentations and papers. They will be asked to read widely in the current literature.
Content:This course focuses on Bonaventure, O.F.M. (c. 1217-74): on his devotion to Francis; on this theology, on his historical role for the Franciscan movement as a scholar and as Minister General of the Order. We use selections from what he wrote as a master of theology in the University of Paris to explicate his most famous treatise, the Itinerarium Mentis in Deum.
Texts: Bonaventure, The Journey of the Mind to God; The Breviloquim; Disputed Questions on the Mystery of the Trinity; The Life of Saint Francis; selections from Bonaventure's commentary on Peter Lombard's Sentences.
Particulars: Two short expositions, a research paper, and a seminar presentation based on the research paper. We shall study Bonaventure in English translation, but students with Latin are welcome to use and apply it in the course.
Content:The seminar will examine historiographical issues relating to "radical," "magisterial," and Catholic reform movements of the 16th century in primarily German speaking lands. Attention will be given to given to theological as well as social, political, and cultural historical methodologies as well as the significance of the Reformation era for modernity.
Texts: Readings will be composed of monographs and articles by Moeller, Oberman, Ozment, Hsia, Delumeau, O'Malley, Davis, and others.
Particulars:Full seminar participation; one class presentation and paper on a monograph; a critical review of a textbook; and a term project (20-25) pages. Open to advanced master's students by instructor's permission. German reading skills encouraged but not required.
Content: The seminar will examine the questions and problems inherent in developing a New Testament christology. The course will review salient points in the history of interpretation as they impact on christological constructions, discuss the relationship of theological concerns to exegetical efforts, and define the issues involved with producing a New Testament christology.
Texts: In addition to articles, the reading may include these volumes, some of which will be read and discussed by all participants and some of which may be read by individuals and summarized for the seminar: Bousett, Kyrios Christos; Schlatter, The History of the Christ; Moule, The Origin of Christology; Cullmann, The Christology of the New Testament; Hengel, Studies in Early Christology; Pokorný, The Genesis of Christology; Dunn, Christology in the Making; de Jonge, Christology in Context; Schnackenburg, Jesus in the Gospels; and Casey, From Jewish Prophet to Gentile God.
Particulars: The seminar will be divided into two portions: In the first section students will read and discuss significant modern attempts to define and produce New Testament christologies. Here students will be asked to make one or two short presentations to the seminar and submit those papers. In the second portion, we will read and interpret selected New Testament passages for their christological teachings. In this case, each participant will be responsible for an exegetical paper on a selected passage which will conclude with a construction of the christological meaning of the passage. Participation in discussion will be expected.
Content: Beginning with the ways in which the New Testament itself interprets Torah and with Torah becomes the canon of the Christian religion, this seminar surveys the premises and processes of interpretation between the first and sixteenth centuries, with specific attention to patristic, medieval, and reformation interpreters.
Texts: James Kugel and Rowan Greer, Early Biblical Interpretation; Robert M. Grant and David Tracy, A Short History of the Interpretation of the Bible; The Cambridge History of the Bible, vols 1-2.
Particulars:In addition to regular reports on reading, seminar participants will write a major paper tracing the use of a specific New Testament passage through the history of interpretation.
Content: Content: The course begins with a historical and contemporary review of interfaith reconciliation in the Americas, from conquest and colonization to the current emphasis on cultural and religious diversity as exemplified by the 1993 Parliament of World Religions (Chicago), and by numerous interfaith conferences convened since the first Parliament met in the U.S. a century ago. Distinctively American resources for interfaith engagement will be examined, specifically Hispanic, European American and African American thinkers, communities and traditions. Methods of study will span religious studies, humanities, and theological disciplines, and incorporate as well a theory/practice approach. Course practicums will include diversity workshops as well as field research in local religious communities and/or media projects (video, film, etc).
Particulars: The course is designed as a cooperative seminar that depends on student participation and initiative in reviewing the assigned readings, as well as in designing practicums, media and midterm/endterm presentations. Course requirements include (1) at least 2 class presentations on readings; (2) a midterm practicum or media presentation; (3) a final term paper incorporating elements of the above.
Texts: Steven Barboza, ed., American Jihad: Islam After Malcolm X John Cobb and Christopher Ives, The Emptying God: A Buddhist-Jewish-Christian Conversation Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz and Fernando Segovia, eds., Hispanic/Latino Theology: Challenge and Promise Sudarshan Kapur, Raising Up a Prophet: The African-American Encounter with Gandhi Paul Knitter, One Earth, Many Religions: Multifaith Dialogue and Global Responsibility N. Ross Reat and Edmund Perry, A World Theology: The Central Spiritual Reality of Humankind David Traboulay, Columbus and Las Casas: The Conquest and Christianization of America, 1492-1566
Practicum/Media materials: Cherie Brown & George Mazza, Healing into Action: A Leadership Guide for Creating Diverse Communities Lewis Hanke, All Mankind is One: The Disputation between Bartolome de las Casas and Juan Gines de Sepulveda in 1550 on the Intellectual and Religious Capacity of the American Indians Gary Laderman, Religions of Atlanta: Religious Diversity in the Centennial Olympic City Wayne Teasdale and George Cairns, Parliament of the World's Religions Howard Thurman, Footprints of a Dream: The Story of the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples The Pluralism Project (Harvard) Image Base (slides, CD-ROM), websites, and audio/video resources
Content: A new interdisciplinary seminar in practical theology exploring questions of meaning, value, and psychosocial process involved in the forming, sustaining, and dissolving of significant or "deep" personal loyalties and commitments. The seminar aims to develop practical theological strategies for defining and facilitating ethically appropriate forms of "deep" or personal commitment in these areas in relation to problematic features of contemporary social and cultural contexts. Primary focus will be on commitment in religious faith and moral life; collateral attention will be given to cognate problems of commitment, depth involvement and fidelity in marital, psychotherapeutic, and other personal relationships. Reading and independent projects will draw from theology, ethics, and the social sciences (principally depth psychologies and social psychology). Interested students may contact Professor Hunter at 727-6342.
Content: This seminar is designed to engage participants in a constructive conversation among theologians, religious and educational theorists on contemporary issues in the dynamics of knowing. Attention will be given to the contribution of Paulo Freire in setting the framework for contemporary explorations into the politics of knowing, to the discussions among liberative and critical educational theorists regarding the political dynamics at work in the processes of knowing (e.g. Michael Apple, Henry Giroux, bell hooks, Maxine Greene, C.A. Bowers), of researchers into the variety of ways people learn to know (e.g. Mary Field Belenky, et.al., Howard Gardner), and among religious and theological thinkers probing issues of knowing in the contemporary dynamics of pluralism (to be chosen by seminar participants).
Particulars: Members of the seminar will prepare brief response papers to selected readings through the semester and a brief (5-10 page) problem posing paper.
(2 credits, S/U)
Content: RLR 705 meets the TATTO course requirement for students in the Division of Religion and normally is taken in the first semester of the second year of class work. During the semester students will reflect on their teaching assistantships and explore a range of theoretical and praxis issues in the relationship of teaching context, theory, practice, and identity in the religion or theology classroom.
Texts: Everyone will read three or four designated articles on teaching. All other reading will be drawn from the seminar bibliography and will be related to individual student questions.
Particulars: Students will each write 1) a brief paper articulating a philosophy/theology of teaching; 2) four reports from their teaching assistantship for peer reflection; and 3) develop a syllabus for a course they would like to teach.
(Open only to first-year students in the GDR)
Content: In the nineteenth century, theologians and philosophers had to confront the sense that humans were no longer securely anchored in the ruling activity of God. Out of this highly critical period of self-examination emerged a new way of thinking about God and the religious life. Our task in this seminar is to map this intellectual landscape by tracing the emerging disciplines of theology and religious studies: How were they shaped by questions of the radical autonomy and freedom of human beings? How were they affected by issues of origin and evolution? How they were affected by the influx of data about other religious traditions from colonized peoples around the world? In tracing these emerging areas of inquiry in theology and religious studies, we will also consider the deep historical relationship between these two fields, which have often been represented as disparate. In this light, we will also explore the intellectual and ethical implications of relating the two fields in our contemporary context. This course includes collaboration with faculty members in the Graduate Division of Religion, who will discuss aspects of their own work as it locates itself in the broader landscape of the study of religion.
Texts: Texts will include formative works in the history of nineteenth and twentieth century theology and the religious studies, including Biblical and historical studies. They will also include relevant critical works from the late twentieth century on the relationship between theology and religious studies.
Particulars: Students will: 1) make regular presentations in class 2) write a short piece locating their own discipline in the larger field of the study of religion 3) write an article-length essay on a topic of their choice in consultation with the instructors.
(Same as Soc 725)
Content: This graduate seminar introduces students to current quantitative and qualitative research on the demographics, organizational forms, and diversity of religion in the United States. The course will use three contemporary theoretical axes in the sociology of religion, i.e., debates surrounding secularization theories, social movement theories, and organizational theories, for developing frameworks for interpreting data on religion.
Texts: Robert Wuthnow, The Restructuring of American Religion; Jay Demerath, Peter Dobkin Hall, Terry Schmitt, and Rhys Williams, eds. Sacred Companies; R. Stephen Warner and Judith Wittner, Gatherings in Diaspora; Phillip Hammond, Religion and Personal Autonomy; extensive reading packet.
Particulars: Full seminar preparation and participation. Students will present seminar discussion papers at least once during the course. Students will make a second presentation either on 1) original research in contemporary American religion, e.g., ethnographic field study, or 2) an overview and evaluation of current research in an area of interest in contemporary American religion, e.g., new age religiosity, Messianic Jews, African-American Islam. Students will be expected to develop the second presentation into a major term paper (20-25 pages).
Content: This class explores the influence of platonic and neoplatonic ideas and texts on the development of Christian theology. We will pay particular attention to a distinctively pre-modern understanding of reason and reality as well as the way in which this understanding shapes Christian interpretations of ultimate reality and human relationship to that reality. We will spend several weeks each on Plato and on Nicholas of Cusa as well as briefer sections on Plotinus, Origen, and Pseudo-Dionysius.
Texts: Phaedrus, Timaeus, Republic (selections) Plato; Enneads, Plotinus (selections); On First Principles, Origen; Divine Names and Mystical Theology, Pseudo-Dionysius; Selected Spiritual Writings, Nicholas of Cusa
Particulars: This will be conducted as a seminar, two shorter papers (5 pages) will be due over the course of the semester as well as one 15-20 page term paper. INCOMPLETES DISCOURAGED!!
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