GRADUATE DIVISION OF RELIGION FALL 2004
COURSE ATLAS
RLAR 701: Performance
and Ethnography in West and South Asia
Flueckiger,
Thursday, 10:00-1:00
Content: This course examines textual and nontextual performative traditions of West and South Asia as they are represented in recent ethnographies. We will examine the ways in which ethnographic and performance studies expand the boundaries of both "who and what counts" in the study of religion. The course will introduce theoretical frameworks and analytic tools from performance studies and ethnography with which to analyze both the traditions under consideration and the ethnographic enterprises of fieldwork and writing. Students will be required to engage in some level of fieldwork (for their major or short paper) focused on performative and/or ritual traditions, depending on their interest. This course is one of the core seminars for students in the West and South Asia program, but is relevant to those interested in ethnographic and performative analyses of ritual, expressive culture, and religious practices.
Texts may include:
· Abu-Lughod, Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories
· Flueckiger, Healing at the Crossroads: Islam, Gender and Religious Identities in South India
· Sax, Dancing the Self: Personhood and Performance in the Pandav Lila of Garhwal
·
Gold, Fruitful
Journeys: The Ways of Rajasthani Pilgrims
·
Gold and Raheja, Listen to the Heron's Words: Reimagining Gender and Kinship in North
India
· Isabelle Nabakov (2000), Religion Against the Self: An Ethnography of Tamil Rituals
· Narayan, Mondays on the Dark Night of the Moon: Himalayan Folktales
· Bowen, Muslims Through Discourse: Religion and Ritual in Gayo Society
·
Ewing, Arguing
Sainthood: Modernity, Psychoanalysis, and Islam
·
Loeffler, Islam
in Practice
Particulars: Required site visits to Hindu temple and a mosque; a short essay (5-7 pages): a performance analysis [i.e., fieldwork-based]; a research paper.
RLAR 710: Islamic
Theology and Ethics
Martin,
Tuesday, 2:30-5:30
(cross-listed with
REL 370R)
Content: What have been and continue to be the major issues debated in Islamic society? The seminar is designed for graduate students with an interest in theology and ethics and a desire to learn more about Islamic thought. Undergraduate students with a background in Islamic studies may be admitted to the seminar with the permission of the instructor. During the first half of the seminar, students will read texts of theological disputes about the Qur'an and the prophethood of Muhammad, the nature of religious authority, the role on theology (kalam) in Islamic society, and the conflict between reason and revelation, rationalism and fideism. With this as background, the seminar will take up the writings of modern Muslim intellectuals about the ethics of giving and taking life, social justice, human rights, modernity and secularism.
Texts will include:
· G. Hourani, Islamic Rationalism: The ethics of `Abd al-Jabbar
· R. Martin, Defenders of Reason in Islam
· A. Reinhart, Before Revelation: The Boundaries of Muslim Moral Thought
· R. McCarthy, The Theology of al-Ash`ari
· M. Abduh, Theology of Unity
· S. Qutb, Milestones
· J. Brockopp, ed., Islamic Ethics of Life
Particulars: Each meeting of the seminar will focus on a text(s) and particular problem, in a general historical progression from medieval to modern thought. Students will submit responses to the readings prior to class time (on Learnlink), and one or more students will lead the discussions each week in seminar. Brief lectures by the instructor may introduce some topics. In addition to the weekly response essays and occasional leading of discussions, students will be asked to design a research project on some aspect of Islamic theology and ethics, to be submitted as a term paper at the end of the semester. Students with a reading knowledge of Arabic may opt to read portions of some of the texts in a special Arabic section (not required).
RLE 700R: Topics in
Ethics: Democratic Practices and
Christian Ethics
Bounds,
Wednesday, 2:30-5:30
(cross-listed with ES
698)
Content: This course considers how and in what ways Christian social ethics has supported or distanced itself from democratic practices. Attention will be first given to the nature of democratic practices, drawing on contemporary discussions in political philosophy. We will then read a variety of texts (mostly contemporary) in Christian ethics, considering how they define the relationship between democracy and Christian ethics, with particular attention to how the method employed shapes the understanding of this relationship. Finally, we will look at some ethnographic studies of congregational activities to see whether the practices of institutions can be related to the textual claims.
Texts may include:
· Iris Marion Young, Democracy and Inclusion
· Jeffrey Stout, Democracy and Tradition
· Reinhold Niebuhr, The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr
· Stanley Hauerwas, Against the Nations
· Oliver O'Donovan, The Desire of the Nations
· John De Gruchy, Christianity and Democracy
· Franklin Gamwell, Politics as a Christian Vocation
· Emilie Townes, In a Blaze of Glory
· Richard L. Wood, Faith in Action
· Mark Warren, Dry Bones Rattling
Particulars: The course will be in seminar form. Students will be expected to participate in seminar discussions, prepare a short presentation paper on one week's readings, write a response paper to a colleague's paper, and prepare one of the following: 1) a research paper; 2) a portfolio of short papers; or 3) a mock preliminary examination.
RLHB 720: Isaiah
Hayes,
Thursday,
Content: An exegetical study of the Hebrew text of Isaiah 1-39.
RLHB 792: Current
Issues in Hebrew Bible
Buss,
Tuesday, 2:30-5:30
Content: Some time will be spent at the beginning of the seminar on developments in the twentieth century, as a bridge between what was covered in "History of Interpretation," fall 2003, and what are disputed issues in the twenty-first century. The majority of the seminar, however, will be devoted to current questions, including the following: different ideas concerning the meaning of the canon, the place of the Bible in the history of humanity (such as in regard to the role of women and postcolonialism) together with continuing questions about more detailed historical developments, psychological interpretations, various kinds of "liberation" themes (including "queer" interpretation), and literature as an embodiment of religion.
Texts: It is unlikely that there will be volumes that everyone will be asked to read. However, I have been asked whether there are suggestions for preparatory reading. If you are not already familiar with the following, it would be useful to read one or more of them during the summer:
· Erhard Gerstenberger, Theologies in the Old Testament, 2002
· Ziony Zevit, The Religions of Ancient Israel, 2001 (or parts of this)
· James Barr, The Concept of Biblical Theology, 1999 (section on natural law)
· Karl van der Toorn, ed., The Image and the Book, 1997
· Jon Levenson, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son, 1993
· Tikva Frymer-Kensky, In the Wake of the Goddesses, 1992
It would be useful to be able to presuppose a pooled knowledge of these, although it is impracticable for everyone to have access to each item.
Particulars: The course will be in seminar format. Participants will present short papers, which will be discussed orally. These papers will be on different topics, so that various issues can be covered in a complementary way.
RLHT 731:
Wittgenstein, Freud and Barth
Pacini,
Friday, 9:00-12:00
Content: This seminar examines, through close readings, the fin de siecle thinking of Wittgenstein (Tractatus), Freud (The Interpretation of Dreams), and Barth (Roemerbrief) as critical, devastating, and epoch-making responses to post-Kantian philosophy and theology.
RLHT 735C: Topics in
American Religious History: American Religious Cultures
Laderman,
Thursday, 9:00-12:00
Content: This seminar explores cultural forms of religious expression and practice in America. Students will be exposed to a variety of methodological approaches in this endeavor, including but not limited to social and cultural history, cultural anthropology, theology, history of religions, and sociology. Additionally, the seminar will have a comparative, multicultural emphasis that will ground our discussions in specific social, political, and regional contexts either in terms of well-defined communities (eg, African Americans, Jews, Native Americans, or recent immigrant groups) or cultural arenas (eg, popular culture, consumer culture, or Southern culture). The seminar takes the integration of culture and religion as its starting point, and examines these intersections in both historical and contemporary settings by focusing on one particularly revealing object rife with religious meanings: the body.
Texts: TBA.
Particulars: Leading discussions; research presentations; research paper.
RLHT 735H: American
Religious History
Holifield,
Tuesday, 2:30-5:30
(cross-listed with
HIST 533)
Content: The course looks at the history of religious movements in America, from the seventeenth century to the present. It will reflect on various ways of telling the larger story, explore two conflicting interpretations that underlie much of the current scholarship, examine articles that exemplify different methods and approaches to topics in each period, and read some brief excerpts from selected primary sources. The excerpts will open up the topic of "the leader and the group" in American religious movements and institutions.
Texts: Each student will read one recent survey text - choosing from among histories written by Sydney Ahlstrom, Catherine Albanese, Edwin Gaustad and Leigh Schmidt, Winthrop Hudson and John Corrigan, George Marsden, Martin Marty, and Peter Williams - and serve as the expert on that text for the seminar. In addition, we will read together the following texts along with a few articles illustrating methods and approaches:
· Peter Burke, History and Social Theory (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1992)
· Nathan O. Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989)
· Jon Butler, Awash in a Sea of Faith (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990)
· Jon Butler and Harry S. Stout, Religion in American History: A Reader (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998)
· Thomas A. Tweed, ed., Retelling U.S. Religious History (Berkeley, CA.: University of California Press, 1997)
Particulars: The course will be in a seminar format, with reading and discussion of texts. The final two or three sessions will allow students to present research papers to the seminar and to discuss the nature of historical argument.
RLHT 736K:
Reformation Theology and Historiography
Strom,
Thursday,
(Cross-listed with
HIST 585)
Content: This course will approach problems in recent Reformation studies through careful reading of primary texts and current historiography on the Reformation. Throughout the course, we will read central theological texts concurrently with interpretations of the Reformation. In particular, we will examine the relationship of theology, religious reform, and popular or "lived" religion. We will explore a number of methodological approaches to the Reformation and religious cultures in the early modern period, including social history, confessionalization theory, and gender studies. Facility with French, German, or Latin would be helpful.
Texts: Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Müntzer, Eck, Canons of Trent, Hsia, Schilling, Wiesner, Ozment, Oberman, Pelikan, Goertz, Scribner.
Particulars: All participants will be expected to engage in critical discussion of the material. Twice during the semester, each participant will also be asked to lead discussions of specific texts. Writing assignments include two review essays and a final term paper.
RLNT 711H: Exegesis:
Acts
Holladay,
Tuesday, 2:30-5:30
Content: This seminar will be devoted to exegetical analysis of the Greek text of the Acts of the Apostles. It will also acquaint students with relevant scholarship on Luke-Acts. A major exegesis paper on a text from Acts will be required at the conclusion of the course. There will be weekly translation, exegetical analysis, and occasional short reports.
RLNT 770: History of
Interpretation I
O'Day/Ayres,
Wednesday, 2:30-5:30
Content: This seminar will provide an overview of the history of NT interpretation from the NT period to the Reformation. We will engage the understanding of the nature of interpretation as articulated by key figures, as well as the concrete practices of the interpretation of NT texts. To that end, the reading for the course will include primary literature and secondary sources. The overall goal of the seminar is increased familiarity with and appreciation of the multiple forms of interpretation of the NT before the sixteenth century.
Particulars: Seminar participants should expect to make some sort of presentation at every session. The form and topics will vary from week to week, and will be announced the week beforehand. Each student will also write a final research paper that traces the use of a specific NT passage through patristic and (when feasible) medieval and Reformation literature.
RLPC 730B: Personal
Commitment
Hunter,
Friday, 9:30-12:30
Content: An 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, vocational, psychotherapeutic, and other personal relationships as well as public and political involvement. Reading and independent projects will draw from theology, ethics, and the social sciences (principally depth psychologies, social psychology, and theology). Some background in religious studies or theology is presupposed. Interested students may contact Professor Hunter at rhunt02@emory.edu or 404-727-6342.
RLPC 730C: Constructive
Practical Theology
Moore,
Tuesday, 2:30-5:30
Content: Explorations in method and substantive development of practical theology, with particular focus on human vocation and the PRAXIS of God. The seminar focuses on reading from contemporary practical theologians and invites constructive work by participants in developing ways to imagine and communicate coherent accounts of God's involvement in creation, governance, liberation and redemption, and to probe the depths of human existence and human vocation in relation to God and creation. The seminar will engage in constructive and systematic theological work, grounded in the study of human experience and envisioning the future of human vocation.
RLPC 770H: Dynamics
of Identity and Faith
Fowler,
Thursday,
Content: A practical theological and developmental study of the awakening, growth and transformation of faith in the lives of persons and communities. Based on psychosocial and structural developmental perspectives on human development, and the professor's research and theory of faith development, the course will involve interview research and learning to discern stages of faith in individuals, family systems and congregations.
RLR 700H: First Year
Colloquy
Laderman,
Tuesday, 11:00-1:00
Content: This colloquy is required for all first-year students in the GDR. We will meet periodically throughout the year to discuss issues in the study of religion.
RLR 705: Teaching
Religion
Patterson,
Tuesday, 11:00-1:00
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/ teaching experiences and explore a range of theoretical and praxis issues including course goals and objectives, student/teacher relations, why a teaching philosophy, evaluation and assessment, restructuring a course midway through, what's religious studies got to do with it, etc.
Texts: We will
read articles on teaching selected by the professor and by members of the
class. Readings will focus on
student-identified needs and concerns.
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.
RLSR 767: Morality
and Society
Tipton,
Thursday, 7:00-10:00
(cross-listed with
SOC 720: Sociology of Morality)
Content: This seminar studies the relationship between
the distinctive moral ideals and experience of social life and its varied
institutional arrangements, including the moral implications of social
modernization for conceiving persons individually and evaluating their globally
structured relations. It maps diverse moral logics and constituencies across
cultural traditions seen as continuities of conflict over socially shared ways
of life. It probes the social processes of producing, distributing, receiving
and contesting moral meaning; and its role in inspiring social action and
judging social institutions to shape social conflict as well as order. The
course charts the sociology of morality as a field by marshaling thematically
related works in sociology and social theory, moral and political philosophy,
comparative religious ethics and anthropology to span classical theories and
recent empirical studies of contemporary American moral life, including racial
and gender inequality, public participation, religious conflict, hard work and
romantic love.
Texts: Readings
include works by Aristotle, Adam Smith, Rousseau; Marx, Weber, Durkheim; John
Meyer, Bourdieu, Habermas, Benhabib, Mary Douglas, Geertz, Bellah; Ann Swidler,
Michele Lamont and William Julius Wilson.
Particulars: Ph.D. seminar; term paper, class presentations.
RLTS 740G:
Schleiermacher
Farley, Thursday,
2:00-5:00
Content: Schleiermacher is often considered the "first modern theologian" because of his descriptions of subjectivity. He might also be considered the last pre-modern theologian because of his metaphysics. This course will read as much of Schleiermacher's corpus as we can during one semester focusing in particular on 1) his interpretation of subjectivity; 2) his account of the nature of religion; and 3) the relationship between his thought and the variety of genres in which he wrote.
Texts: On
Religions: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers, The Christian Faith, Christmas
Eve, sermons.
Particulars: Two main kinds of scholarly writing will be practiced in this course: 1) short, analytical papers addressing some idea or issue in Schleiermacher's work; and 2) a longer term paper used to develop your own thinking on the issues explored in the course.
RLTS 750S: Theological Aesthetics: World as the Arena of Divine Glory
Saliers,
Wednesday, 2:30-5:30
Content: This seminar interrogates the claim: "Discourse about God is inherently metaphoric, parabolic, poetic and analogical." Beginning with a survey of theories of metaphor from Aristotle to Janet Soskice, the course investigates how the study of metaphor and "metaphoric thinking" are ingredient in theological language and experience. Readings of particular texts - poetic, musical, liturgical and doctrinal - will provide case studies. Special attention will be given to the relations between addressing God and being addressed by God, and to questions about meaning and truth in Christian theology, particularly claims about beauty and the divine "glory," and the limits of language.
Texts may include:
· Aristotle: selections from Rhetoric and Poetics
· Paul Riceour: The Rule of Metaphor
· Janet Martin Soskice: Metaphor and Religious Language
· George Steiner: Real Presences and selections from Language and Silence
· The "metaphysical" poets: Trahern, Donne, Herbert (selections)
· Musical settings of the Requiem: Mozart, Brahms, Britten
· Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord
Particulars: Seminar format with "focus paper" for discussion of the readings in each session through the first half of the course. Each participant will choose a particular set of texts - poetic, musical, liturgical and/or doctrinal - for a course project to culminate in a research paper or project in consultation with the instructor. During the later part of the course, each class will feature "readings" and "hearings" of the texts or works, with time for preliminary presentations of work-in-progress.
RLTS 753: Theoretical
Issues in the Study of Black Religion
Pollard/Stewart,
Wednesday, 9:00-12:00
Content: The primary aim of this course is to interrogate the history of ideas comprising the study of Black religion. Beginning with W. E. B. Du Bois at the turn of the twentieth century and ending with Donald Matthews at the turn of the twenty-first century, the class will trace the theoretical motifs, ideological debates and paradigmatic categories that have defined the contours of Black religious studies over the past century, namely its guiding questions and assumptions, and the strengths and limitations of the corpus of scholarship devoted to the study of Black religion in the Americas and the Caribbean across disciplines such as sociology, history, anthropology, linguistics and theology. As we examine the criteria each scholar establishes to determine the nature, content and social significance of black religious traditions, students will be encouraged to develop their own theoretical perspectives or, at the very least, a set of criteria for developing an interpretive theory within Black religious studies. Other major thinkers examined include Carter G. Woodson, Benjamin E. Mays, E. Franklin Frazier, Melville Herskovits, Zora Neale Hurston, Albert Raboteau, Mervyn Alleyene, Joseph Washington, Arthur Fauset Charles Long, James Cone, Gayraud Wilmore, Josiah Young, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Delores Williams, and Theophus Smith.
Other courses of interest:
CPLT 751: The Limit
Experience in Levinas, Blanchot, Bataille
Jill
Robbins, Wednesday,
JS 530: Biblical
Literacy
Gilders,
Wednesday,
Content: The Bible in Hebrew is the foundational Text of Judaism, complexly woven into the fabric of Jewish history and culture. Thus, a good working knowledge of the Bible is of value in every area of Jewish Studies. This course is an intensive survey of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh; "Old Testament") and of modern academic biblical scholarship (focusing on the contributions of Jewish scholars). Some attention will also be given to elements of "classical" Jewish biblical interpretation (midrash and commentaries). The course is intended both for students with primary interests in biblical studies and ancient Judaism and for students whose major interests lie elsewhere. Around a basic core of common topics and readings, each student will construct an individual program of study that meets her or his specialized interests and concerns. Students will read a substantial portion of the Bible in English translation, and also several selections in Hebrew. Building and reinforcing the ability to read biblical Hebrew is a major emphasis of the course, and some prior study of Hebrew (modern or ancient) is, therefore, a prerequisite.
Undergraduate students may enroll with the professor's permission.
Texts:
· The Jewish Study Bible: Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation (Oxford, 2004)
· Robert Alter, The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel
· Israel Knohl, The Divine Symphony: The Bible's Many Voices
· Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Student Edition) [or any other edition of the Hebrew Bible]
· C.L. Seow, A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew (Revised ed.; Abingdon, 1995)
Particulars: Thorough and careful preparation and active, constructive classroom participation are key requirements of this course. Students will compose short (4-5 pages) response papers discussing the reading for each class meeting. They will also prepare biblical passages in Hebrew for reading and translation in class. Other graded work: several Hebrew quizzes; a "mid-term" Hebrew test (conducted as an oral interview with the professor); final examination; paper (a review of two scholarly monographs or a focused exegetical study).
JS 540: Midrash
Blumenthal,
Monday,
Content: Midrash is the key form of biblical interpretation in rabbinic Judaism. It is also one of the main genres of rabbinic literature. This course will study closely one text: Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer. We will first read through the text in English and then concentrate on selections from the Hebrew text.
Texts:
· Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, transl. G. Friedlander
· Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, the Hebrew text
·
Tanakh
· Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash
Particulars: Ability to read and understand Hebrew. You will need to read and translate. You may use the English to prepare but you may NOT bring it to class. This is a course for graduate students and qualified undergraduates.
JS 730: Ethnography
of Jews and Judaism
Seeman,
Monday,
Content: Jewish communities have existed on every continent and in many different cultural environments. Is there a common "Jewish culture" that can be described and studied through ethnography? What does ethnography bring to the table that can enrich other areas of interest in Jewish studies, including historical and textual studies? What are the political and intellectual contexts that make ethnography of Jews a relative rarity in academia today? And finally, how is the ethnography of Jews and Judaism related to broader questions in the study of culture and religion? This seminar will serve as a critical introduction to both theory and research methodology, and will provide a framework for thinking about Jews and Judaism in a new ethnographic and comparative context.
Texts:
· Mark Zborowski and Elizabeth Herzog, Life is With People
· Susan Kahn, Reproducing Jews
· Susan Sered, Women as Ritual Experts
· Kay Shelemay, Let Jasmine Rain Down: Song and Remembrance Among Syrian Jews
· Tamar El-Or, Maybe Next Passover
· Jerome Mintz, Hasidic People
· Yoram Bilu and Eyal Ben-Ari, Grasping Land
· Jonathan Boyarin, Storm from Paradise
·
Don Seeman, Tainted
Hearts: Transformation and Experience Among Ethiopian Jews in
Particulars: Students are expected to attend class each week prepared to discuss that week's readings, and will be evaluated on the basis of: 1. Attendance and participation (30%). Failure to attend regularly and to participate actively will be the basis for a reduced grade. There will be a mandatory film and discussion night approximately four times during the semester. 2. A mid-term mini-ethnographic project (20%). 3. A final paper or exam to be announced (50%).
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