Courtright/Brustad
Tu 2:30-5:30 MAX 12
Content: The seminar will focus on ways in which
Islamic, Hindu, and Jain traditions have represented gender in texts,
practices, and attitudes. Readings and discussions will focus on
traditionally authoritative ('canonical') texts, epics, poetry,
folklore, fiction, and contemporary critiques on gender issues and
roles in West and South Asia. Attention will be paid especially to
how religious and cultural constructions of 'female' and 'male' have
been articulated normatively, and how they have been tacitly or
explicitly resisted, critiqued, and satirized.
Texts: Readings in relevant parts of classical texts such as Quran, Hadith, One Thousand and One Nights, Manavadharmahastra, Ramayana, and Cilapaddikaram.
Contemporary critiques on gender issues may include:
Particulars: Reading knowledge of Arabic or
Sanskrit not required.
Patton
M 2:30-5:30 MAX: 12
Content: This course will provide in-depth study of
the religions of early India, from the perspective of the
relationship between religion and literary form. We will begin by
examining the poetry of Vedic India, with a particular view toward
the use of the poetic image in ritual, and the link between poetic
structure and claims to religious experience. We will then turn to
early Buddhist poetic and narrative literature. Through the Gathas,
or songs, we will examine the continuity between Vedic and Buddhistic
poetic structure; through Jatakas, or "birth stories" we will discuss
the relationship between the structure of Buddhist narrative and the
emergence of Buddhism as a new ascetic order. Finally, we will
examine the emergence of the epic form in Jainism, Buddhism, and
Hinduism, and the ways in which this epic form "works" for each
religion. We will also examine the relationship between the epic and
the development of Indian poetics, particularly the kavya genre of
classical Sanskrit. Throughout the course, we will be paying close
attention to current issues in the study of religion and literature,
including the use of metaphor, the relationship between time and
narrative, and the intertextual use of religious imagery.
Texts:
Vedic India: Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty, The Rig Veda; Laurie L. Patton, Myth as Argument; Jan Gonda, Brahman.
Buddhist India: Andrew Shelling, Tipitaka Suttapitaka Khuddakanikaya Theragatha; Peter Koroche, trans., Once the Buddha Was a Monkey: Arya Sura's Jatakamala; Larry Gene McClung, The Vessantara Jataka. Paradigm for a Buddhist Utopian Ideal; Bollee, Willem, trans., Tipitike, Suttapitaka Khuddakanikaya Jataka; Emmerick, R.E. trans., Tripitaka Suvarnaprabhasasutra.
Emergence of Epic and Kavya: E.H. Johnston, The Buddhacarita; W. Norman Brown, The Story of Kalaka of the Svetambara Jain Hagiographical Work; Swami Venkatesananda, The Ramayana, D. I. Ingalls, The Loom of Time: Sanskrit Kavya Poetry; Gupta, Pushpa, Rasa in the Jaina Sanskrit Mahakavyas.
Particulars: Some introduction to Indian
religions is a prerequisite.
Gunnemann
TU 2:30-5:30 MAX: 12
Content: The seminar will read social philosophy
from Machiavelli to the nineteenth century, including Hobbes, Locke,
Rousseau, Smith, Kant, Hegel, and Marx. The seminar will engage these
works theologically by using (critically) John Milbank's Theology
and Social Theory, plus other shorter writings on the use of
social theory in theological and social ethics.
Particulars: Each student will be expected to lead
discussion of 1-2 seminar sessions during the semester, engage in
critical discussion of the reading, and write a critical research
paper of about 5000 words.
Jackson
TH 2:30-5:30 Max: 15
Content: This is a course in meta-ethics, a general
inquiry into the nature and justification of moral claims. We will be
concerned with such broad questions as : What, if anything, makes a
person virtuous and an action valuable?; Do moral claims have truth
value, and if so how do we test them for accuracy?; How are we to
understand ethical ambiguity and conflict?; Is God and/or religious
faith essential for right living? Readings are both classical and
contemporary, representing four evolving but distinct views of moral
truth and justification: foundationalism, pragmatism,
scepticism (including critical realism), and feminism. Our
task is to clarify and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these
four alternatives. Do they exhaust the field, moreover?
Texts: Required Books: Treatise on Happiness, by Thomas Aquinas (Notre Dame, 1983); Reason and Morality, by Alan Gerwith (Chicago, 1977); The Will to Believe/Human Immortality, by William James (Dover, 1956); The View from Nowhere, by Thomas Nagel (Oxford, 1986); Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education, by Nell Noddings (California, 1984); Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity, by Richard Rorty (Cambridge, 1989); Outlines of Pyrrhonism, by Sextus Empiricus (Harvard, 1933). Recommended Books: Rationality, Religious Belief, and Moral Commitment, ed. by Robert Audi and William J. Wainwright (Cornell, 1986). Gender/Body/Knowledge, ed. by Alison Jagger and Susan Bordo (Rutgers, 1990).
Bounds
TBA Max: 15
Content: This course provides an advanced introduction to contemporary feminist religious and philosophical ethics. There will be 4 problem areas shaping the course: 1)what have been the key questions motivating feminist ethicists (a geneology of feminist ethics)?; 2)how has feminist ethics engaged the intersecting forces of class, race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality?; 3)what is the significance of the current debates within feminist theory over the relative merits of postmodernism and critical theory?; 4)what is the relationship of feminist religious and philosophical ethics?
Texts: Readings will include works by Benhabib, Butler, Fraser, Haraway, Harrison, Levitt, Townes, Young.
Particulars: Each student will participate once
as 1)discussion leader (with preparation of a short 3-page position
paper to be distributed the week before); 2)respondent (with
preparation of a 1-page position paper to be distributed before
class; and 3)class recorder. A proposal, outline, and final research
paper is also required.
An-Na'im
M 2:30-5:30 Max:10
Content: This seminar will examine the relationship
between Islam and politics in theological, ideological, political and
legal terms, with particular focus on issues of constitutionalism and
human rights. The seminar will discuss these issues from historical
as well as contemporary "modern" points of view. Themes to be covered
include: classical models of an Islamic state and their
implementation/roles in Islamic history, modern conceptions of
constitutionalism and human rights in universalist/relativist and
comparative perspectives, recent and current Muslim responses to the
issues in the present national and international contexts of Muslim
societies, and secularism versus unity of state and religion in
Islamic and comparative perspective.
Texts: Photocopied course materials.
Buss
M 1:30-4:30 Max: 10
Content: This seminar will deal with principles of
exegesis, with special attention to language (including semantics)
and, above all, to the "human" dimension of texts (anthropology,
psychology, sociology, the study of religion).
Particulars: About half the time will be devoted by
participants to a major project (or, if one prefers, to two smaller
ones). For those who need to write an "annual paper," the project may
be identical to that paper; or it may be in addition, if one
desires.
(Note: If Monday afternoon is a problem time,
please contact the instructor at 727-7543. It may be possible to
change the time.)
Miller
TH 3:30-6:30 Max: 12
Content: This seminar will explore the implications
of Middle Eastern Archeology for Hebrew Bible studies. The focus will
be on Palestinian archeology and the history of Hebrew Bible
times.
Texts: There will be no specific text book for the
seminar. The following three books, however, will be especially
useful: W. von Soden, The Ancient Orient; A. Mazar,
Archeology of the Land of the Bible, and A. Hoerth, G.
Mattingly and Y. Yamauchi (eds.), Peoples of the Old Testament
Worlds.
Particulars: There will be weekly
assignments--specific topics to be researched for the next seminar
session.
Bondi
W 2:30-5:30 Max: 15
Content: This course provides an examination of
classical patristic Christology from the Arian controversy of the
fourth century through the monophysite reaction to the council of
Chalcedon of 451.
Particulars: Two class presentations on primary
authors and a final research paper.
Mallard
TH 2:30-5:30 Max: 12
Content: The role of Christ in Augustine's
theological outlook, with particular reference to the Incarnation. In
this connection, some consideration of his view of language.
Texts: Soliloquies, The Teacher, Of True
Religion, On Christian Doctrine, Letter 187. Selections from
Confessions, On Dialectic, Expositions on Psalms, On the Trinity,
The Spirit and the Letter, Nature and Grace, The Grace of Christ and
Original Sin, The City of God.
Particulars: 1 or 2 written discussion starters
for the day's reading, term paper, presence and participation.
Laderman
TU 2:30-5:30 Max: 15
Content: The social responsibility to transfer the
remains of the dead from the land of the living is one of the most
common features of social existence. The series of actions and
gestures enacted in the face of death acquire meaning because this
rite of passage is a significant, indeed, sacred moment in the life
of the community. In addition to the highly symbolic power of the
body itself, the rituals used to dispose of it are embedded in a
religiously informed vision of the cosmos, the human community, and
the future destiny of the dead individual. This seminar will work
with anthropological, historical, sociological, and history of
religions investigations to explore how communities makes sense of
death, and the conflicts that can arise when the links between death,
ritual, and power are challenged.
Texts: Maurice Bloch and Jonathan Party, Death and the Regeneration of life; Michel Foucault, The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception; Richard Huntington and Peter Metcalf, Celebrations of Death: The Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual, Christopher Justice, Dying the Good Death: The Pilgrimage to Die in India's Holy City; Gary Laderman, The Sacred Remains: American Attitudes Toward Death, 1799-1883; Jacques Le Goff, The Birth of Purgatory, Jonathan P. Parry, Death in Banaras; Lindsay Prior, The Social Organization ofDeath: Medical Discourse and Social Practices in Belfast, A. J. Spencer, Death in Ancient Egypt; James L. Watson and Evelyn S. Rawski, Death Ritual in Late Imperial and Modern China
Particulars: Class attendance and participation;
class presentations; research paper
Reynolds
W 2:30-5:30 Max: 10
Content: The workshop presupposes a working
knowledge of Latin grammar and syntax and focuses on the special
problems one encounters in construing medieval Latin texts and
translating them into acceptable English. The selected texts pertain
to the schools as well as the church, and they cover a broad range
that includes theology, philosophy, medicine, canon law, civil law
(including Germanic law), councils and liturgy. Some are translations
from Greek and Arabic; a few are from MSS and early printed
books.
Texts: In addition to the numerous (short)
primary texts, we use J.F. Collins, A Primer of Ecclesiastical
Latin (1985) for revision, and we study and discuss portions of
Mantello and Rigg (eds.), Medieval Latin (1996).
Particulars: Assessment is based on three written
translations. A knowledge of Latin adequate at least for reading the
Vulgate Bible is prerequisite.
Flynn
M 2:30-5:30 Max: 15
Content: The course revolves around several kinds of
readings: 1)historical ecclesiologies; 2)historical and contemporary
writings about and by practicing musicians; 3)books and articles by
historians and theologians interpreting musical practice
theologically. The course will begin by reading secondary texts and
analyzing approaches to this type of historical material, and then
become focused on primary sources and students' own research
projects. Although the focus is on music, the type of problems that
will be examined are inherent in offering historically compelling
theological interpretations of any works of art. The course should be
of use both to historians who are interested in analyzing the data
given by works of art, and to students interested in liturgical
theology and ecclesiology. Some reading knowledge of music is
desirable, but not absolutely essential.
Texts: Primary sources range from Ambrose through
Bach and Gelineau. Secondary sources focus on specific
musical/theological controversies, including musical roles of
congregation ministers and choir, use of instruments, etc.
Particulars: Each student will present a summary
and critique of one of the initial readings, and a set of primary
resources to the seminar. In addition, each student will undertake a
research/writing project, and present the results orally in class
toward the end of the semester and in the written form of a research
paper. Students will be encouraged to present primary source material
that is related to their final paper/research project.
Robbins
M 1:30-4:30 Max: 12
Content: Close reading and exegesis of the Greek text of the Gospel of Luke. The overall approach will be guided by socio-rhetorical criticism, which integrates analysis and interpretation of inner texture, intertexture, social and cultural texture, ideological texture, and sacred texture. Our exegesis will focus especially on the argumentative texture of this narrative and the implication of its reasoning for theology.
The secondary readings in the class will be designed to prepare
Ph.D. students for examination both in the history of interpretation
and in the theology of Luke and Acts.
Particulars: Students will prepare two chapters
of Luke in Greek per week for translation and observation of grammar,
syntax, etc. during the first hour of each class session. In
addition, each student will prepare a short (one-page) exegesis of a
pericope in Luke during weeks when there are not other short
presentations. At the end of the semester, each student will expand
one of their short exegesis papers into a longer (15-20 page)
interpretation of the passage and present the results of this work in
class.
Johnson
TH 2:30-5:30 Max: 12
Content: This seminar seeks to place the letter of
James within the wisdom traditions of the mediterranean world and by
means of comparison locate its precise voice. The close reading of
the Greek text of James and the literary analysis of Jewish
Greco-Roman literature--from Proverbs to Plutarch--will occupy the
semester
Particulars: Seminar sessions will combine teacher
presentations, student reports, and group analysis of texts. Students
will develop a research project leading to a final paper.
Holladay
TU 2:30-5:30 Max: 12
Content: The seminar is intended to introduce NT
graduate students to aspects of Judaism in the Graeco-Roman world
that are relevant to understanding the New Testament and Christian
Origins. Besides providing a broad historical framework for
understanding Judaism from the time of Alexander the Great to
Hadrian, it examines a broad range of topics, e.g., Jewish
apocalyptic, Qumran, Septuagint, Hellenization of Judaism, Rabbinic
traditions, Jewish sects and parties. The aim is to read
representative texts or literature relating to each topic with a view
to identifying current issues of scholarly debate, especially as they
relate to the New Testament.
Texts: Extensive reading in a variety of Jewish sources, including Jewish apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, Qumran writings, Josephus, Philo, Mishnah, and relevant secondary literature.
Particulars: Extensive reading in preparation for
each weekly seminar, with responsibility for conducting the
discussion of one of the topics. A final paper or take-home exam.
Hunter
F 9:00-12:00 Max:
Content:. This seminar provides an introduction to
the comparison of Christian theological understandings of human
beings to a selection of important twentieth century theories of
personality, drawing continuously on a particular theological
anthropology of the individual student's choosing. Students will also
concentrate on two psychological theorists of their choice and will
read shorter selections from or overviews of the others. Each
personality theory will be read critically and dialogically in
relation to theological (and other) criteria, with efforts made to
locate points of convergence and divergence, and possible
incompatibility or mutual critique and construction, between the
psychological and theological perspectives.
Texts: Selections from L.S. Hearnshaw's The
Shaping of Modern Psychology, and Ian Burkitt's Social
Selves: Theories of the Social Formation of Personality will be
required of all students. Readings in personality theories will vary
with student interest, but will include choices from among such
theorists as Freud, Jung, Hartmann, Erikson, Fairbairn, Winnicott,
Kohut, Maslow, Rogers, Kelly, Festinger, G.H. Mead, Lacan, Foucault,
and Vygotsky. Salvatore Maddi's Personality Theories: A
Comparative Analysis (5th ed.) or similar works are suggested as
general secondary references. Theological choices may be drawn from
such theologians as Pannenberg, Tillich, Barth, Cobb, Reinhold
Niebuhr, Rahner, Macquarrie and others. Niebuhr's Nature and
Destiny of Man, read in dialogue with feminist critiques (e.g.
Suchocki, Plaskow), is recommended but not required, and will be the
"default" choice. Students may choose to work in small groups on
common theorists and theologians.
Particulars: An initial paper of 4-5 pages
programmatically focusing key aspects of one's chosen theology
relevant to personality theory, plus two papers of 12-17 pages each,
presented to the class in draft form, focusing (respectively) on
aspects of each of the two personality theories chosen for
concentration and their relation to the student's theologian. Some
flexibility in the structuring of writing assignments is possible in
relation to particular student needs and interests, but writing, like
class discussions, will include mutual engagement between the
psychological and theological perspectives. There will be no
examinations. There are no formal prerequisites, though previous work
in theology or religious studies is assumed; students without this
background will need to do supplementary reading. Grading will be
based on seminar contribution as well as written work.
Foster
W 7:00-10:00 pm Max:12
Content: This seminar engages students in a
constructive conversation with North American theologians concerned
with issues of ecclesiology and community, John Dewey, and
interpreters of Dewey's views on education. Attention will be given
to the function of memory, meaning, vision, justice and freedom in
the education of communities.
Texts: Readings will include the works of
theologians or religious theorists central to student projects: John
Dewey, Maxine Greene, C.A. Bowers, Jim Garrison, George Albert Coe,
Tom Groome.
Eiesland
F 1:00-4:00 Max: 10
Content: This seminar is designed to explore the
major qualitative research traditions, particularly as they are
represented in research in religion and morality. Recent published
qualitative research in religion will be analyzed as to design, data
collection and analysis, and narrative presentation. During the
semester attention will be given to both contemporary debates and
issues related to qualitative methods, such as reflexivity, ethics,
research-involvement, and to careful examination of particular
methods, such as interviewing, focus groups, content analysis, and
participant observation.
Texts: Including Becker and Eiesland,
Contemporary American Religion; Bell, Childerly: Nature
and Morality in a Country Village; Burawoy et al,
Ethnography Unbound; Davidman, Tradition in a Rootless
World; Denzin and Lincoln, ed. Handbook of Qualitative
Research; Lofland and Lofland, Analyzing Social
Settings; Orsi, Thank You, St. Jude; Warner, New
Wine in Old Wineskins; Witten, All Is Forgiven
Particulars: Semester-length research project,
including design, field journal, reports on three methods, and
narrative account.
Lowe
TU 7:00 - 10:00 pm Max: 15
Content: This seminar serves to introduce the
student to a number of the most significant theological movements of
the twentieth century. It also offers a framework within which to
organize one's own constructive thought regarding christology and
theology. The framework parallels Dietrich Bonhoeffer's categories of
"act" and "being." Particular attention is given to the theological
actualism of Karl Barth and the extraordinary twentieth-century
rethinking of God and Being in Aquinas (three weeks each). Other
figures considered are Bultmann, Buber, Heidegger, Rahner, Tracy,
Moltmann and recent trinitarian proposals (one week each). Treatment
of any particular figure will necessarily be somewhat introductory.
This limitation is offset by the fact that each will be related to
certain overarching issues--God and Being, the personhood of God, the
question of the divinity of Christ.
Texts: Texts will include Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
Act and Being; Karl Barth, Commentary on Romans and
Church Dogmatics II:1; Thomas Aquinas, De ente et
essentia (in translation); Etienne Gilson, Being and Some
Philosophers; Martin Buber, I and Thou; Jurgen
Moltmann, The Trinity and the Kingdom; plus selected
writings by Karl Rahner and David Tracy.
Particulars: Requirements are active
participation in class discussion, two class presentations and the
choice of a final paper or an oral discussion/exam with the
instructor. Wherever possible, collaboration among students is
encouraged.
Smith
TH 2:30-5:30 Max:15
Content: This graduate seminar introduces
phenomenology of religion as a discipline by way of examining the
distinguishing features of black North American religion(s) and
culture(s), specifically: 1)ritual-transformative dynamics, for
example ecstatic worship and spirit possession, folk magic, healing,
and conjuration; 2)ritual-aesthetic dynamics, for example in music,
literature, visual arts, and performance arts; 3)ritual-political
dynamics, for example the use of scriptural and spiritual figures and
symbols to pattern social change and freedom movements.
Texts: Katie Canon, Katie's Canon: Womanism and
the Soul of the Black Community; James Cone, The Spirituals
and the Blues; Mozella Mitchell, Spiritual Dynamics of
Howard Thurman's Theology; Wilson Jeremiah Moses, Black
Messiahs and Uncle Toms; Albert Raboteau, Slave Religion;
Gayraud Wilmore, Black Religion and Black Radicalism;
Josiah Young, Black and African Theologies.
Particulars: Class members will have the
opportunity to a)provide presentations on course materials, textual
and nontextual; b)develop and present a midterm ethnographic or media
project focused on some aspect of black religion and culture; and
c)research and craft a summary term paper.
Saliers
W 2:30-5:30 Max: 12
Content: An exploration of the aims and methodologies
peculiar to liturgical theology, focusing especially on the
development and usages of the eucharistic prayer as a paradigm of
liturgy as source and norm for theology. Attention will be given to
the modes and interrelations of praying, ritual enactment, and
believing (lex orandi, lex credendi) and to the critical
function of liturgical theology in ecumenical contexts.
Texts: Primary sources from the history of Christian
liturgy (Jewish backgrounds) and contemporary reformed eucharistic
rites; secondary and critical readings from Schmemann, Kavanagh,
Bouyer, Saliers, Wainwright, and Lathrop.
Particulars: Full seminar preparation and discussion; at least one class presentation, and a term project (20-25 pages). Open to D.Min. and advanced master's students by instructor's permission.
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