Graduate Division of Religion - Spring 2004 Course Atlas

GRADUATE DIVISION OF RELIGION SPRING 2004 COURSE ATLAS

RLAR 731: Religious Transformations in Colonial India

Courtright - Monday, 9:30-12:30

(Same as RLHT 736T)

Content: This seminar will provide a context for historically-oriented research on the contacts, representations, discourses, persons, institutions, theologies, and ideologies that shaped and defined "Hinduism" and "Christianity" in India and England during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (1756-1857). Current historiography on this period has been profoundly shaped by critiques of "Orientalism", nationalist ideologies, gender studies, and post-colonial theories. As important as these contemporary interpretive frameworks are, this seminar will attempt to focus as much as possible on documents produced by those who lived during the period under study - the primary sources. The central question that will shape our work is: how did the initial encounter between Hindu and Christian happen? Who were the 'players'? What were their interests, goals, and anxieties? How did each group represent the other? What were the institutions and media through which the Encounter took place? What were its consequences and legacies?

Texts:

· C. A. Bayly, Indian Society and the Making of the British Empire

· P. Kopf, British Orientalism and the Bengal Renaissance

· S. Banerjea, The Parlour and the Streets

· J. P. Losty, Calcutta: City of Palaces

· B. Cohn, Colonial Knowledge

· P. Courtright, Sati: The Goddess and the Dreadful Practice

· Other readings on reserve

Particulars: The course will be in seminar format. Students will be expected to participate in seminar discussions, be co-presenters of the weekly topics, and write a research paper at the end on some aspect of the material covered by the course. Students will be evaluated on seminar attendance and participation and on the quality of the co-presentation and the final paper.

Prerequisites: Standing in the Graduate Division of Religion, or permission from the instructor.

RLAR 737J: Buddhism in China

Reinders - Wednesday, 9:30-12:30

(Same as RLHT 738J and ILA 790)

Content: In this seminar, we will examine Mahayana Buddhism, in central Asia and as it was transmitted to China. We will outline Chinese adaptations of Indian Buddhism, nativizing schools such as Tiantai and Chan (and hence Zen), and Pure Land Buddhism. We will focus on themes in Mahayana scriptures; on Buddhist relations to native Chinese religions and especially the mutual influences of Buddhism and Taoism; on the bodhisattva Guanyin (Avalokitesvara) who began in India as a male but who came to be represented in East Asia as female; on monasticism; and on early Chan. The seminar assumes no prior background in Chinese studies, and the content of the course can be adjusted according to students' needs.

Texts may include: John P. Keenan, How Master Mou Removes Our Doubts; The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch; Selections from Buddhist scriptures (such as the Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma, The Shorter Sukhavativyuha Sutra, & the Scripture of the Ten Kings) and commentaries, Chinese Buddhist poetry, other primary sources, and scholarly articles.

Particulars: Students will be expected to participate in seminar discussions, lead the opening discussion of the weekly topics, and write a research paper on some aspect of the material covered by the course. You will also write a number of short responses to the primary texts.

RLAR 738G: Globalization and Islam

Martin - Tuesday, 2:30-5:30

(Same as REL 370, MES 370, ILA 790)

Content: Globalization has emerged since 1990 as both a descriptive and normative concept of world history, and it provides a productive framework for studying the problem of religion and modernity. The universal missionary religions which are global by self-definition are Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. How do they relate to economic, political and cultural trends in globalization, which compete with the traditional claims of religion to be paths for all of humankind to the good life and world peace? The seminar will consider the case of Islam in particular, by first looking at pre-modern Islam as a highly networked religious civilization, and how Muslim networks have evolved and changed in the modern world. The seminar will also investigate the problem is globalization theory among both proponents and opponents of globalization. The writings of Muslim intellectuals on globalization will be analyzed against this background. Is Islam an "imagined world community"? Is al-Qa'ida an example of globalization? What role does the internet play in challenging or privileging traditional and modern forms of authority? These and other questions that may develop in the seminar will guide weekly discussions.

Texts:

· Ali Mohammadi, ed, Islam Encountering Globalization

· Dale F. Eickelman and Jon W. Anderson, eds., New Media in the Muslim World: The Emerging Public Sphere

· Other readings on reserve and shorter articles handed out in class, including:

- Dale F. Eickelman and James Piscatori, eds., Muslim Travellers: Pilgrimmage, Migration and the Religious Imagination

- Marshall G. S. Hodgson, "The Great Western Transmutation," The Venture of Islam, vol. 3.

- The works of advocates of globalization, such as John Micklewait et al, The Future Perfect: The Challenge and Promise of Globalization

- Essays by critics of globalization, such as Pierre Bourdieu

Particulars: The course will be in seminar format. All students will prepare a brief position paper on the readings each week, and one or two students will be selected to lead the discussion on most weeks. Students will prepare a term project (individual or cooperative among two or more participants) on some aspect of the issues covered in seminar. Students will be evaluated on seminar attendance and participation and on the quality of the final project. The instructor will provide an evaluation of student work at midterm and at the end of the semester.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing at Emory University or permission of the instructor.

RLAR 797R: Mahamudra: A Tibetan Buddhist Contemplative Science of Mind (2 credits)

Kaybje Lochoe Rinpoche / Negi

Thursday, 4:00-6:00 (Mar 18, Mar 25, Apr 1, Apr 8, April 15, Apr 22)

(Same as REL 472R) (Permission of Instructor Required)

Content: In this six-week seminar, Kyabje Lochoe Rinpoche (translated and assisted by Geshe Lobsang Negi) will present one of the most sophisticated meditative technologies, known in Sanskrit as Mahamudra, or The Great Seal. Based on the First Panchen Lama's classic text The Gelug Tradition of Mahamudra, this seminar will present a comprehensive understanding of mind and its fundamental nature. Through the contemplative methodology, Rinpoche will introduce the students to the ancient meditations for accessing one's natural awareness that is the union of bliss, radiance and emptiness. The indivisible presence of these features of the mind is what is referred to as the Great Seal that permeates throughout all spheres of experience and existence. Following the Tibetan pedagological approach, each seminar will consist of a presentation, meditation, and discussion.

Texts:

· The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

· Mind in Buddhist Psychology, Herbert V. Guenther, translator

Particulars: Requirements include regular attendance and active participation in discussions. The main method of evaluation will be an oral final exam conducted in the traditional Tibetan style of debate. Students will be expected to prepare for this exam as rigorously as they would for a written exam.

RLE 734: Knowledge, Skepticism and Morality

Jackson - Wednesday, 6:30-9:30

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, both philosophical and theological. They represent four evolving but distinctive views of moral truth and justification: foundationalism, pragmatism, skepticism (including critical/faithful realism), and feminism.

Briefly summarized, foundationalism is the view that some moral apprehensions are indubitable and/or incorrigible bases on which to affirm universal principles and objective values; pragmatism is the denial of any such absolute starting points in favor of historically constructed conventions that do not claim permanent truth; skeptical and faithful realism reject foundationalist certitude but retain a place for truth as correspondence to extra-linguistic reality; and feminism represents a range of perspectives, many of which identify all moral understanding as gendered and emphasize giving voice to ways of knowing traditionally disvalued by Western culture. Our task is to clarify and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these four alternatives. How do they interrelate, and do they exhaust the field?

Texts may include:

Required:

· Treatise on Happiness, by Thomas Aquinas (Notre Dame).

· Gender/Body/Knowledge: Feminist Reconstructions of Being and Knowing, ed. by Alison Jaggar and Susan Bordo (Rutgers).

· The Will to Believe/Human Immortality, by William James (Dover).

· Critique of Practical Reason, by Immanuel Kant (Prentice Hall).

· After Virtue, by Alasdair MacIntyre (Notre Dame).

· Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education, by Nel Noddings (California).

· Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity, by Richard Rorty (Cambridge).

· Outlines of Pyrrhonism, by Sextus Empiricus (Harvard).

Recommended:

· Rationality, Religious Belief, and Moral Commitment, ed. by Robert Audi and William J. Wainwright (Cornell).

· The Sovereignty of Good, by Iris Murdoch (Ark).

Particulars: At least one course in ethics is a prerequisite for taking RLE 734, "Knowledge, Skepticism, and Morality." Requirements within the course itself include weekly readings, class participation, a class presentation, and two 12-15-page papers. Papers my be synthetic, critical, or constructive, but they are to be the student's own work and neither collaborations nor mere research projects. The first paper is to be on some aspect of Part I, II, or III of the course, while the second is to be addressed to an issue from Part IV or V. There is no mid-term or final examination.

RLHB 720P: Daniel

Newsom - Thursday, 2:30-5:30

Content: This seminar has two aims: learning biblical Aramaic and investigating issues in the Aramaic portions of the book of Daniel. The course will begin with an intense introduction to the grammar and vocabulary of biblical Aramaic (3-4 weeks). In subsequent weeks the class will read closely chaps. 2-7 of Daniel and examine a series of issues in the interpretation of the book. In large part these issues will concern the various refashionings of Danielic traditions in different context (e.g., the appropriation of Nabonidus traditions, the Danielic pseudepigraphical texts from Qumran, the divergent version of chaps. 4-6 in the Old Greek and MT, and the transformation of the court tales through the introduction of an apocalypse). Also of concern is the broader context of Persian period court tales and the socio-rhetorical functions this literature may have served. Written requirements include an examination in Aramaic and a research paper of approximately 20 pages.

RLHB 720V: The Song of Songs in the Jewish Hermeneutic Tradition

Blumenthal - Wednesday, 7:30-10:30

(same as JS 730R-000)

Content: This course will consist of a close reading of selected passages from the Song of Songs, followed by a close reading from the midrash and the Zohar of those same passages. This will allow students to examine a good slice of the Jewish hermeneutical tradition and its various interpretive stances.

Texts:

· A. and H. Bloch, The Song of Songs

· D. Blumenthal, Understanding Jewish Mysticism, vol. 1

· M. Fishbane, The Exegetical Imagination

Particulars: Competence in Hebrew Bible required. Students will be expected to prepare and participate. Grading will be based upon class participation and one final paper, written in conversation with the instructor.

RLHB 780: Hebrew Bible Theology

Buss - Monday, 2:00-5:00

Content: There are two rather different kinds of "biblical theology." One kind is a description of ideas that appear in the Bible. This is, properly, part of the history of biblical religion. Another kind is a reflection on the ("theological") meaning of the Bible. In the seminar, we will pursue both types, especially since in practice it is somewhat difficult to separate them.

The seminar will pay some attention to the variety of perspectives within the Hebrew Bible itself. It will, even more, pay attention to the place of biblical emphases within the larger human picture. To give just one example: there is a certain development of aniconism within the Bible; aniconism, however, is also a world-wide (although not quite universal) phenomenon, especially with regard to a chief deity. This fact then raises reflective issues. Biblical ethics, too, has parallels.

The seminar will, furthermore, deal with varieties of interpretation in biblical theology, both in the past and in the present. They include Jewish views (little known in Christian biblical scholarship), views by members of both sexes and of different cultural groups (especially African Americans and Asians).

Text: I will ask the bookstore to have available copies of Old Testament Theology: Its History and Development, by John Hayes and Fred Prussner, but we will not study this volume in detail. For most of the semester, we will rely on reports on various figures, as well as on constructive efforts by members of the seminar, including the teacher.

RLHT 710G: Theology and Spirituality of the Desert Tradition

Bondi - Wednesday, 2:00-5:00

Content: The Desert Fathers and Mothers from the fourth century through the sixth century, their predecessors and their followers, present us with a world that is replete with creative Christian practices, prayer, theological reflection, the use of stories, characters, and ways of reading scripture. In this course we will explore together this rich world of earliest monasticism. To do this, we will study both the early material in its ancient context and its modern usefulness of Christian reflection and practice.

Texts:

· Life of St. Anthony, Athanasius

· Evagrius Ponticus, Centuries on Prayer

· Sayings of the Desert Fathers

· Sections from John Cassian

· Selections from Gregory of Nyssa

· Selections from Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite

· Dorotheos of Gaza, Discourses and Sayings

Particulars: Each student will prepare a three page paper on the text for the week for use in class discussion. In addition that will be a final research paper. Class participation is part of the requirements of the course.

RLHT 712R: Theology of Augustine

Lewis Ayres - Thursday, 9:00-12:00

Content: This course will look at the basic dyanmics of Augustine's theology with particular reference to his methods (intertextuality in reading the scriptural text, what does he mean by "author," "literaly sense," "allegory" etc), his account of the distinction between God and world (and hence his account of the creation's participation in the Word and his trinitarian theology), his Christology and theology of grace (including his account of the will) and predestiantion. Quite a bit of time will be spent thinking about his philosophical sources and his methods of using those sources. We will also consider the place of asceticism in Augustine's thought and how this shapes his picture of Christian existence.

RLHT 721R: Seminar in Aquinas

Philip Reynolds - Wednesday, 9:00-12:00

Content: The Seminar in Aquinas this year will focus on the theories about cognition, epistemology, and science on which Thomas tried to ground his account of what revealed theology is and how it works.

Primary texts:

· Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Boethius's De Trinitate. (ETs by Armand Maurer: Faith, Reason, and Theology (1987); The Division and Methods of the Sciences (1953/86).

· Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae. (ET available on-line.)

Particulars: There are no special prerequisites. The seminar emphasizes the close reading and analysis of primary texts, which students may read either in the original Latin or in modern translations. Students take it in turns to lead the discussion. Students also share summaries of secondary literature (distributed for division of labor). Assessment is based on a variety of short papers (summaries, expositions) as well as a final research paper with bibliography.

RLHT 736T: Religious Transformations in Colonial India

Courtright - Monday, 9:30-12:30

(Same as RLAR 731)

(See description under RLAR 731.)

RLHT 736W: Weber's Protestant Ethic: A Critical Appraisal After 100 Years

Hartmut Lehmann - Monday, 1:00-4:00

(Same as HIST 585)

Content: Max Weber published the first part of his famous essay "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism" in the summer issue 1904 of the "Archive for Social Science and Social Policy" and the second part one year later. A revised and enlarged version of this essay was produced by Weber in the last year of his life and appeared in the first volume of Weber's "Collected Essays on the Sociology of Religion" (Tübingen 1920). In the past 100 years, literally hundreds of scholars have attempted to interpret Weber's text. We will take another look at both versions of the text as well as at the most important critics of Weber's thesis.

Texts:

There are three translations into English and four English editions of Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism:

1. Translated by Talcott Parsons [1930]. With introduction by Randall Collins. Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing Company 1996;

2. Translated by Talcott Parsons [1930]. With introduction by Anthony Giddens. London: Routledge 2001;

3. Translation and introduction by Stephen Kalberg. Third Roxbury Edition, Los Angeles: Roxbury Publishing Company 2002;

4. Translated by Peter Baehr & Gordon C. Wells (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics), New York: Penguin Book 2002.

See also:

5. The Protestant Ethic Debate. Max Weber's Replies to his Critics, 1907-1910. Edited by David J. Chalcraft & Austin Harrington. Translated by Austin Harrington & Mary Shields. Liverpool: Liverpool Univ. Press 2001;

6. Hartmut Lehmann & Guenther Roth (Eds.), Weber's Protestant Ethic. Origins, Evidence, Contexts. New York: Cambridge University Press 1995.

Particulars: A reading knowledge of German is not a precondition for participation. One research paper and several short papers.

RLHT 738J: Buddhism in China

Reinders - Wednesday, 9:30-12:30

(Same as RLAR 737J)

(See description under RLAR 737J.)

RLL 701: Akkadian

Strawn - Wednesday, 2:00-3:30

Content: This is a continuation of a year-long introduction to the language and grammar of Akkadian. By way of background, especially to the orthography (i.e., the cuneiform writing system), there will be a brief introduction to Sumerian; by way of the afterlives of the language, some brief attention will be paid to (western) peripheral dialects. Additionally, there will be monthly proseminars devoted to selected topics in the history, literature, and religion of the ancient Near East - more specifically, ancient Mesopotamia (including both Assyria and Babylonia).

RLNT 711J: Matthew

Brown - Wednesday, 2:30-5:30

Content: A close examination of the Greek text of the Gospel according to Matthew, including an analysis of relevant secondary scholarly literature.

Texts:

· Latest edition of the Nestle-Alan Greek New Testament

· Betz, The Sermon on the Mount

· Luz, Matthew 1-7: A Continental Commentary

· Luz, Matthew 8-20

· Senior, What Are They Saying about Matthew?

· possibly other assigned readings

Prerequisites: Graduate standing in the Graduate Division of Religion, or permission from the instructor.

RLNT 760: New Testament Theology

Luke Johnson - Tuesday, 2:00-5:00

Content: We will examine the relationship between the New Testament and theology in three distinct ways. First, we will ask what it means to speak of the "theological voice" of a New Testament composition. Does the expression, "the theology of John," make sense, and if so, how? Second, we will consider several classic examples of the intellectual experiment called "New Testament Theology," and by analysis of the several outstanding examples of the genre, discover the possibilities and limits of the exercise. Third, we will give some attention to the "use of the New Testament in theology," by interacting with some examples of contemporary theological discourse.

Texts: A bibliography of secondary readings will be made available. Four books will be purchased:

· H. Boers, What Is New Testament Theology (xerox)

· Schlatter, New Testament Theology (2 Vols)

· G. Caird, New Testament Theology

· R. Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament

Particulars: Weekly reading and periodic seminar reports; final paper.

RLPC 779: Religious Imagination and Religious Knowing

Brelsford - Thursday, 9:00-12:00

Content: This course takes an interdisciplinary approach (philosophy, psychology, anthropology, comparative religion, theology) in examining classic problems of epistemology - what is knowledge, how do we come by it, what is truth? - in relation to modern and emerging postmodern understandings of patterns and practices of religious knowing with special attention to religious imagination. Orienting questions include: how do experience, practice, belief and knowledge inter-relate? What are meanings and functions of myth, ritual and doctrine in religious knowing? What are the roles of community/society, human biology, and the world of experience in the construction of religious knowledge? What are meanings and functions of religious knowing (as embodied in belief, ritual and myth) in relation to experiences from which they may arise and truths they may purport?

Texts may include:

· Boyer, P. 2001. Religion Explained: the evolutionary origins of religious thought.

· Doniger, W. 1998. The Implied Spider: politics and theology in myth.

· Douglas, M. 1970. Natural Symbols: explorations in cosmology.

· Kaufman G. D. 1981. The Theological Imagination: constructing the concept of God.

· Kearney, R. 1998. Poetics of Imagining: modern and postmodern.

· Kristeva, J. 1984. Revolution in Poetic Language.

· Peterson, G. R. 2003. Minding God: theology and the cognitive sciences.

· Ricoeur, P. 1995. Figuring the Sacred: religion, narrative, and imagination.

· James, W. 1912. Essays in Radical Empiricism.

Particulars: Weekly participation in seminar discussions is expected. Each student will write and present a short seminar paper twice during the semester to raise questions and orient discussion around one of the readings. Students will be encouraged to use the seminar to address and develop their own research agenda in relation to broad questions of theories and practices of religious imagination and knowing. A research paper that pursues these interests will be due at the end of the semester.

RLPC 790R: Person, Community and Trinity: Formation of Self and Community in Trinitarian Perspective

Scheib - Friday, 9:00-12:00

Content: This seminar will explore the interactive formation of personal and communal identity from the perspectives of Trinitarian theology and narrative theory. Recent work in Trinitarian anthropology and ecclesiology, and narrative therapy theory are the primary resources for this exploration.

Texts may include:

· Fiddes, P., (2000) Participating in God: A Pastoral Doctrine of the Trinity.

· Freedman and Combs, (1996) Narrative Therapy the Social Construction of Preferred Realities.

· Grenz, (2001) The Social God and The Relational Self: A Trinitarian Theology of the Imago Dei.

· Johnson, E., (1998) Friends of God and Prophets: A Feminist Theological Reading of the Communion of Saints.

· Lacugna, C., (1991) God For Us: The Trinity and Christian Life.

· McFayden, A., (1990) The Call to Personhood: A Christian Theory of the Individual in Social Relations.

· Monk, et al, (1997) Narrative Therapy in Practice: The Archaeology of Hope.

· Moltman, J., (1993) Trinity and the Kingdom.

· Peters, T., (1993) God as Trinity: Relationality and Temporality in Divine Life.

· Vol, M, (1998) After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity.

· White and Epstein, (1990) Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing in the Graduate Division of Religion, or permission from the instructor.

RLR 700H: Introduction to the Interdisciplinary Study of Religious Practices

Bounds / Long - Wednesday, 2:30-5:30

Content: This course serves as an introduction to the study of religion as practices. We will begin with a selection of foundational philosophical, religious, and theological texts mapping competing definitions of the term "practice." Then we will look, with careful attention to methodology, at examples in both religious studies and practical theology that focus on communal religious practices. As their major project, students will study one religious practice, drawing upon one or more of the theoretical and methodological frameworks presented.

Texts may include:

· Aristotle

· K. Marx

· MacIntyre, After Virtue

· Geertz