Spring 2006 Course Atlas

 

RLAR 737: Religion and the Body
Reinders Tuesday 2-4, plus one additional hour for lecture, time & day TBA
MAX: 12

Content: What difference does it make to think with "the body"? How do we speak of non- or pre-discursive realities which structure our lives but are not spoken? Is it possible to arrive at some kind of (relatively) universal theory of human experience by focusing on the body? But then, how can we actually go about speaking of the body? How are written rules of behavior related to actual behavior? How are bodily experiences of difference related to judgments of social or moral difference? What does it mean to say the body as a "culturally created object"? Under what conditions does this or that aspect of the body become the object or target of moral judgment? What is there about our "disinterested" positions as scholars and observers that prevents our comprehension of real practices?

Over the last few years, a whole area of scholarship has opened up: the body. Using "the body" as an analytical tool gives a great deal of flexibility-and can include discussion of monastic discipline, yoga, meditation, prison life, gender, foot-binding, medicine, "sexology," celibacy, childbirth, food, excrement, ritual and anti-ritualism, relics, martial arts, the idea of "Buddhahood in this very body," images of the afterlife, Colonialism, and the politics of gesture. In the current state of affairs, there is no canon for "body theory." In this class we will work through the "body theory" aspects of Foucault, Bourdieu, Merleau-Ponty, as well as Bell's influential synthesis on ritual practice. Any reading list should be geared to the interests of the researcher, whether focusing on body and sexuality, body and pollution, cosmic bodies, body and power, social histories of particular body practices (diet, dress, rituals), history of medicine, or other themes.

Though this is not primarily a course on East Asia, we examples from China: the destruction and re-creation of ritual in Temple of Memories, Sharf's radical challenge to our concept of meditation, and my essay on obeisance in Buddhist monastic practice. Each participant will be asked to bring a project of their own for collaborative critique and brain-storming. The reading list may be tailored to individual student interests.

 Texts:

• Pierre Bourdieu, The Logic of Practice. & selections of other works.
• Michel Foucault: Discipline and Punish; History of Sexuality, vol. 2: The Use of Pleasure, & selections of other works.
• Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception. selections.
• Jun Jing, The Temple of Memories: History, Power, and Morality in a Chinese Village.
• Sarah Coakley, ed., Religion and the Body.Catherine Bell, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice.
• Robert Sharf, "The Idolization of Enlightenment: On the Mummification of Ch'an Masters in Medieval China," History of Religions 32 (1992).
• Eric Reinders, "Ritual Topography: Embodiment and Vertical Space in Buddhist Monastic Practice," History of Religions, vol. 36, no. 3 (February 97).
• Robert Sharf, "Experience," in Mark C. Taylor, ed., Critical Terms for Religious Studies (Chicago, 1998), 94-116.

RLAR 737: Topics in Asian Religions: Buddhist Theory of Knowledge (Same as PHIL 789)
Dunne Thurs. 1:00-4:00
MAX: 9

Content: The Buddhist philosopher Dharmak īrti (fl. 7 th century C.E.) is best known for his influential contribution to a style of philosophical discourse known as the “study of the means of knowing” (Skt., pram āṇ a). His works, along with those of his many interpreters, offer a detailed account of perception, inference, and justification, along with a number of related issues in the philosophy of language. This course addresses these central themes of Dharmak īrti’s thought in a manner that brings them into dialog with recent problems in philosophy and the academic study of religion, including the problem of foundationalism and the constructivist/essentialist debate concerning knowledge allegedly gained through mystical experience.

Texts: Note: Only Dunne (2004) will be read in its entirety; the remaining works on this list contain articles or chapter that will appear in the course syllabus.

• Adam, Martin T. (2002) “Post-Kantian Perspective on Recent Debates about Mystical Experience.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 70/4: 801-817.
• Dancy, Jonathan. (1997) An Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers.
• Dreyfus, Georges. (1997) Recognizing Reality: Dharmakīrti’s Philosophy and Its Tibetan Interpretations. Albany: SUNY Press.
• Dunne, John D. (2004) Foundations of Dharmakīrti’s Philosophy. Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
• Fumerton, Richard A. (1995) Metaepistemology and Skepticism. Studies in epistemology and cognitive theory. Lanham, Marylandd.: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Ganeri, Jonardon. (2001) Philosophy in Classical India: the Proper Work of Reason. London: Routledge.
• Kapstein, Matthew. (2001) Reason's Traces: Identity and Interpretation in Indian & Tibetan Buddhist Thought. Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Wisdom Publications. B162 K37 2001
• Katz, Steven T., editor. (1978) Mysticism and Philosophical Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Noë, Alva and Evan Thompson, editors. (2002) Vision and Mind: Selected Readings in the Philosophy of Perception. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
• Rorty, Richard , J.B. Schneewind, and Quentin Skinner, editors. (1984) Philosophy in History: Essays On the Historiography of Philosophy. Ideas in context. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. B73 P48 1984
• Tillemans, Tom J.F. (1999) Scripture, Logic, Language: Essays on Dharmakãrti and His Tibetan Successors. Boston: Wisdom Publications.
• Williams, Michael. (1999) Groundless Belief: An Essay on the Possibility of Epistemology. 2nd edition. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
• Williams, Paul and Anthony Tribe. (2000) Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition. London: Routledge.

RLAR 797R 03P: Relativity and Emptiness: The Buddhist View of Reality
A Six-Week Seminar offered by the Tibetan Lama Geshe Palden Drakpa
translated and assisted by Geshe Lobsang Negi, (2 credits or more)
Geshe Palden Drakpa, Thursdays 4 pm to 6 pm, March 23 and 30 and April 6, 13, 20 and 27
Max: 6

Content : In this seminar, Geshe Palden Drakpa will present one of the most important concepts in Buddhism, known as the Two Truths (relative truth and ultimate truth). An understanding the Two Truths is essential to comprehend the Buddhist view of reality, known as the view of the Middle Way, free of the extremes of nihilism and eternalism. However, the Two Truths are understood differently by each of the four Buddhist philosophical schools of thought. Geshe Palden Drakpa will present the Middle Way from the Prasangika-Madhyamika viewpoint, based on the unique presentation by Je Tsongkhapa, a 14 th century master who is perhaps the greatest philosophical scholar produced by Tibet.

Text :

• The Buddhism of Tibet, by Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His Holiness draws on many classics of Buddhist literature to elucidate Tsongkhapa’s position, which is that the Two Truths are complementary and not contradictory. The first section of this book is recommended as background reading on Buddhism; the second section is required reading for the course.

Instructor Bio : Geshe Palden Drakpa is one of the greatest living Tibetan scholars of Madhyamaka Philosophy. He was born in the Tehor region of Kham, Eastern Tibet, and became a monk of Drepung Loseling while in his early teens. He excelled in his studies, and eventually was awarded the Geshe Lharam, the highest academic degree offered in the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism. He served as scholar in residence at Tibet House in New Delhi for many years, and has represented Tibet in the bi-annual Mind and Life Conferences held at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala as an interface of western contemporary sciences with the Tibetan wisdom tradition. He has also served as Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. He currently lives and teaches at Drepung Loseling Monastery in India. This is Geshe-la’s second visit to Emory.

Particulars : Requirements include regular attendance, active participation (50% of grade), and a final oral exam. Students will be expected to prepare for this exam as rigorously as they would for a written exam.

RLAR 797R Phenomenology and Treatment of Depression, Body, Mind and Culture. (Same as ANT 585)
Chikako Ozawa-deSilva, Charles Raison, Lobsang Tensin Negi, Tuesday 4:00 - 6:00 6 week course beg. 1/24/06
MAX: 6

Content: Cross- listed with ANT 585 This half-semester seminar explores the phenomenology of emotional disorders with a focus on depression from the interdisciplinary approaches of medical anthropology, psychiatry, and the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Among various mood disorders, depression is commonly understood as a universal disease in western medicine. This seminar will challenge this premise by examining the ways cultural factors and mind-body interaction are involved in the way depression is caused, manifested, represented, and treated. Current medical research conducted at Emory University, the ancient tradition of Tibetan medicine, which is based on Tibetan Buddhism and its understanding of body and mind, and critical medical anthropology all challenge the way we understand depression. This seminar will explore new possibilities for deepening our understanding about, and treatment of, depression based on an integrated mind/body model.

Texts:

• Arthur Kleinman and Byron Good, eds. Culture and Depression
• Randolph M. Nesse and George C. Williams. Why We Get Sick
• Terry Clifford. Tibetan Buddhist Meditation and Psychiatry
• Daniel Goleman, ed. Destructive Emotions
• Several review articles

Particulars: Requirements include class presentations, and a final project.

RLE 701G Contemporary Virtue Ethics (cross-listed with PHIL 789)
Hall Tuesdays, 1-4
Max 6

Content: The last 30 years have seen a strong revival of interest in an ethics of the virtues. Many philosophers and theologians have pursued questions such as: What are the virtues? How are they connected to human flourishing? Do they require formation within specific social and political conditions? How are the virtues vulnerable to luck or violence? In this seminar, we will read and discuss together a range of work from recent and contemporary reflection on the virtues. The seminar will address the formation of character, the role of the emotions in the ethical life, “moral luck” and tragedy, saints and moral exemplars, and moral pedagogy.

Texts:
• Essays by G.E.M Anscombe, Simone Weil
• Iris Murdoch , The Sovereignty of Good and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals
• Alasdair MacIntyre’s, After Virtue and Dependent Rational Animals
• Essays by Martha C. Nussbaum, Rosalind Hursthouse, Bernard Williams, Thomas Nagel, Susan Wolf.

Particulars: Several short reflection papers, one 12 page paper, and one oral presentation is required of each student.
Please, no audits.

RLE 736: US 20th. Century Social Ethics
Bounds Wednesday 12:00 - 3:00
MAX: 12

Content: This seminar will explore some intersecting conversations in U.S. 20 th Century liberal social ethics, beginning with the Social Gospel and ending with the emergence of feminist and black social ethics. While the majority of the authors covered will be liberal Protestants, some attention will be paid to parallel Catholic conversations. Moving chronologically, this seminar will engage key conversations in 20th Century Christian social ethics through the study of representative authors. The approach will be contextual. Questions will include: how does the author understand the urgent social issues of the day? What does s/he see as the role of Christian social ethics in addressing these problems? What is the method in the doing of Christian ethics, in particular, what kind of use of social science is made? Who are the major dialogue partners from both the present and the past?

 Texts:

• Rauschenbusch,Ryan, Reinhold Niebuhur
• Ward, H. Richard Niebuhr, Ramsey
• Murray, Adams, Bennett
• Gustafson, Yoder
• King, Jones
• Hauerwas, Harrison

Particulars: Leadership paper, response paper, choice of reseach paper or other final project.

RLHB 792: Issues in Hebrew Bible Studies: Early Jewish Apocalyptic
Newsom Wednesday 1:00 - 4:00
MAX: 12

Content: The emergence of apocalyptic literature in Judaism remains a puzzle. Its origins are variously sought in prophetic literature, wisdom literature, the influence of Persian Zoroastrian religion, and/or the mixed cultural matrix of scribal culture in the Achaemenid and Hellenistic empires. Whatever its origins, apocalyptic appears to be the literature of a learned culture and one in which claims to knowledge figure prominently. This seminar will examine the role of knowledge in the formation and representation of early Jewish apocalyptic literature. The role of scribes, books, writing, categories and (re)production of knowledge will be considered, as will be the social dynamics of discursive conflicts over knowledge in Second Temple Judaism. Although most of the primary sources will be read in translation, knowledge of at least one of the primary languages in which apocalypses were written/preserved (Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Ethiopic) is assumed.

Texts:

• Primary texts will include: 1 Enoch, Daniel, Jubilees, 4QInstruction, 4QMysteries, the Qumran Serek ha-Yahad,
  and other selected texts.
• Secondary texts will include: David Carr, Writing on the Tablets of the Heart
• John Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination
• Carol Newsom, The Self as Symbolic Space
• Anders Runneson, The Origin of the Synagogue
• plus a variety of articles/essays

Particulars: seminar presentations and a 20 page research paper on a topic to be negotiated.

RLHT 736: From Constantine to Napoleon: Teaching the East Mediterranean
Same as MES 570R, HIST 585
Newby and Robbins Tuesday 1:00 -4:00
MAX: 12

This course is intended for graduate students who wish to learn about the East Mediterranean area from the end of the ancient world to pre-modern times. The focus of the course will be to prepare students to teach undergraduate courses in this area and time-period. Students will read primary historical, religious, and cultural texts in translation, secondary texts, and texts relating to the theories and practices of civilizational studies. Religion as a force for social transformation will be a major area of examination, and the interactive roles of varieties of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the formation of “Western” culture will be explored.

Learner Outcomes: Students who successfully complete this course will be conversant with several theories of cultural, historical, and literary analysis, including socio-rhetorical analysis; be familiar with the major events and actors of this historical period; be conversant with the development of the major sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; and have prepared a detailed syllabus and several lecture-outlines for an undergraduate college-level course on some aspect of this area and period.

Texts:

Willard G. Oxtoby (ed.), World Religions: Western Traditions, Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam (3 volumes)
John Meyendorff, Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions, Vernon K. Robbins, Exploring the Texture of Texts,Gordon D. Newby, A History of the Jews of Arabia
Selected texts on Blackboard and on reserve

Particulars:Weekly written assignments: 30% Class participation: 20% Syllabus preparation and presentation: 50%

RLHT 736K: Reformation Theology and Historiography (same as HIST 585)
Strom Tuesday, 2:30-5:30
MAX: 12

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
• Mntzer, 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.

 

RLL 702: Ugaritic and Selected Topics in "Canaanite" Religion
Strawn Thursday 9:00 - 12:00
MAX: 12

Content: The course comprises an introduction to: (1) the language and literature of ancient Ugarit; and (2) selected topics in Ugaritology and their bearing on the reconstruction of "Canaanite" Religion - particularly with reference to how the latter is recounted in, and pertinent to, the study of the Hebrew Bible.

 Texts:

• Language works to be utilized include S. Segert, A Basic Grammar of the Ugaritic Language
• D. Sivan, A Grammar of the Ugaritic Language; C. Gordon
• Ugaritic Textbook; J. Huehnergard, Ugaritic Vocabulary in Syllabic Transcription; J. Tropper, Ugaritische Grammatik; G. del Olmo
• Lete and J. Sanmartin, Diccionario de la lengua Ugaritica I-II; and others
• Texts on Ugaritology and Canaanite Religion will include: G. del Olmo Lete, Canaanite Religion According to the Liturgical Texts of
• Ugarit; idem, Mitos y leyendas de Canaan; S. Parker, ed., Ugaritic Narrative Poetry; D. Pardee, Ritual and Cult at Ugarit; W. Watson and N. Wyatt
• Handbook of Ugaritic Studies; A. Caquot et al., Textes ougaritiques; J. Gray, The Legacy of Canaan; F. Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic; and others.

Particulars:Prior knowledge of another (Northwest) Semitic language is not required but is strongly recommended (especially Hebrew). Knowledge of German, French, and Spanish is useful, but a student need not have all three. Approximately half of the course will be devoted to Ugaritic
grammar and reading selected texts in the original cuneiform with transcription and normalization via comparative Semitic evidence. The goal
of the first half of the course is to achieve basic competency in reading Ugaritic texts as well as gaining insight into the historical Hebrew
grammar via the development of other Northwest Semitic languages. The second half of the course will take the form of a readings seminar where
students will be divided up and assigned reports each week on a selected topic (e.g., the archaeology of Ras Shamra and Ras Ibn Hani) or issue/text
(ritual texts, the goddess Anat). These reports will be distributed to all members of the class and discussed. The goal of this part of the course is
to gain an overview of the field of Ugaritic studies, to reflect on the pertinence of this data to the field of Hebrew Bible (esp. Israelite
religion), and to inquire after the methodological accuracy of applying Ugaritic data to "Canaanite" (i.e., southern Levantine) regions. Each half
of the course will have a final project (e.g., a language/reading exam for the first half; a paper for the second).  Work with the language, however,
will continue throughout the entirety of the semester.

 RLNT 711J: Matthew: Sermon on the Mount
Wilson Tuesday 2:30 - 5:30
MAX: 12

Content: An exegetical investigation of Matthew 5-7, taking into account relevant issues of text, form, source, and redaction criticisms. Other major topics will include the narrative and theological function of the sermon within the gospel as a whole, the genre of the sermon within various contexts of ancient exhortatory discourse, and the sermon’s history of interpretation. Knowledge of Greek required.

Text:

• H.D. Betz, The Sermon on the Mount (1995); W.D. davies & D.C. Allison, Matthew 1-7 (1988); U. Luz, Matthew 1-7 (1989)

 RLNT 760: New Testament Theology
Johnson Wednesday 9:00 - 12:00
MAX: 12

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 710G: After Violence:'Futuring' the End of Victimization (Cross Listed with ILA 790)
Smith Thursday 10:00 -1:00
MAX: 12

Content: “Willing the well-being of victim and violator in the context of the fullest possible knowledge of the nature of the violation . . . holds the possibility of breaking the chain of violence.” In such terms Marjorie Suchocki formulates her prescription for ‘curing violence’ in her book on “relational” theology, The Fall to Violence. Other course texts emphasize the causes of violence instead of (or alongside of) its cures. Focal for the course are systemic, structural, and institutional forms of victimization and violence that persist in human affairs from the mundane to the cataclysmic. A central consideration will be the theory of chronic scapegoating, mimetic desire, and sacred violence developed by Rene Girard (Stanford emeritus).

A key framework for the course is the idea of “futuring”: assume that a visionary goal--here, for example, managing systemic violence--has been achieved at some point in the future however hopeless its actual achievement may seem under current conditions. Then speculate: How was that achievement possible? From the vantage point of projected future achievements, hypothesize: What theories and practices await development from within the current state of affairs to enable a shift toward that goal? Summary considerations in the course will include: What are next steps along a trajectory toward that ventured future, “after violence”?

Texts:

• Gil Bailie, Violence Unveiled: Humanity at the Crossroads
• Christine Gudorf, Victimization: Examining Christian Complicity
• Gopin, Marc, Between Eden and Armageddon: The Future of World Religions, Violence, and Peacemaking
• Alice Miller, For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing/the Roots of Violence
• James Williams, ed. The Girard Reader
• Walter Wink, Engaging the Powers: Discernment & Resistance in a World of Domination

Particulars: (1) 2 class presentations on required readings (above); (2) a midterm practicum or media presentation (sample practicums available in course; multimedia resources available on campus; see course syllabus); (3) a final term paper incorporating elements of the above or major themes of the course.

 

RLPC 740G: Theology of Christian Spirituality (Thomas Merton)
Mahan Wednesday 6:30 - 9:30
MAX: 12

Content: This course employs a multidisciplinary approach to address the life and work of contemplative, activist, and poet Thomas Merton. Special attention will be given to several topics that preoccupied Merton over three decades as a Trappist monk: interreligious dialogue (especially with Buddhism), peace and social justice, the nature of self, ecumenism and the Second Vatican Council, and the role of monastic disciplines in the contemporary world.

Texts:

Primary:

• The Seven Storey Mountain
• Thoughts in Solitude
• New Seeds of Contemplation
• Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander
• Contemplation in a World of Action
• Zen and the Birds of Appetite
• The courage for Truth: The Letters of Thomas Merton Writers

Secondary:

• Anne E. Carr, A Search fro Wisdom and Spirit: Thomas Merton's Theology of Self
• Monica Furlong, Thomas Merton: A Biography
• Shannon, Bochen, and O'Connell, The Thomas Merton Encyclopedia

Particulars: The first several meetings of the seminar will focus on biographical and autobiographical writings (including journals and notebooks* as well as Merton's classic The Seven Storey Mountain), which serve both to introduce Merton's life and work and to suggest research topics. Later meetings will be structured around the topics themselves. Each student will be expected to write a one-page single-spaced reflection paper each week, make a brief presentation outlining their chosen research project, and submit a research project at the conclusion of the course.

*Pitts Library's Merton collection is exceptional resource. Included among its holdings are hundreds of pages of as yet untranscribed pages from Merton's notebooks.

 

RLPC 760: Theology and Personality
Hunter Friday 9:30 - 12:30
MAX: 12

Content: The purpose of this seminar is to introduce several important contemporary theories of personality and selfhood in dialog with selected contemporary Christian theological anthropologies. Attention will be given to methodological issues in relating these psychological theories and theologies to each other and to their social and cultural contexts, especially to questions of gender and “postmodern” questions of selfhood. Psychological readings will include selections from such classic figures as Freud, Jung, Kohut, Kegan, as well as selected feminist psychologists, and the range of social theorists of selfhood from Mead to the Neo-Marxists discussed in Ian Burkitt’s Social Selves. We may also be also to give brief introductory attention to biological dimensions of personality. This course will be simultaneously offered to ThD students in pastoral counseling as the core seminar ATA-471, “The Person in Context,” with mostly identical requirements.

Texts:

• Psychological readings will include selections from such classic figures as Freud, Jung, Kohut, Kegan, as well as selected feminist psychologists, and the range of social theorists of selfhood from Mead to the Neo-Marxists discussed in Ian Burkitt’s Social Selves. We may also be able to give brief introductory attention to biological dimensions of personality.
  Theological readings will be selected from a range of theologians including Reinhold Niebuhr, Catherine Keller, Stanley Grenz, Walter Wink, Alistair McFadyen, and philosopher Calvin Schrag (The Self After Postmodernity).

• Particulars:Writing will include a critical exposition of one psychologist and one theologian plus an integrative paper. This course will be simultaneously offered to ThD students in pastoral counseling as the core seminar ATA-471, “The Person in Context,” with mostly identical requirements.

RLPC 7902R: The Constructed Self: Implications for Practice
Scheib Thursday 1:00 - 4:00
MAX: 12

Content: How is “identity” formed? Is it socially constructed? If so, what are the consequences of such a claim for religious practices such as care, education and formation, and ritual? We will explore these questions through reading several social and cognitive psychological theories and two theological anthropologies that propose a constructivist view of the self. We will then examine how these theories might impact specific religious practices.
Texts: may include:

• Brunner, Jerome (1990) Acts of Meaning
• Burkitt, Ian (1991) Social Selves: Theories of the Social Formation of Personality
• Dauite, Colette, Lightfoot, Cynthia (2004) Narrative Analysis: Studying the Development of Individuals In Society (selected chapters)
• Gergen, Kenneth (2003) Social Construction: A Reader (selected chapters)
• Gergen, Kenneth (1991) The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life
• Gergen, Mary (2001) Feminist Reconstructions in Psychology: Narrative, Gender, and Performance (selected chapters)
• Hopkins Dwight (2005) Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion
• Harre, Rom, (1998) The Singular Self
• McAdams, Dan P. (1993) The Stories We Live By: Personal Myth and The Making of the Self
• McFayden, Alistair, (1990) The Call to Personhood: A Christian Theory of the Individual in Social Relationship
  
• Particulars: This course will be in seminar format. Students will be expected to participate in seminar discussions and be co-presenters for the discussion of two texts. A final research paper will explore the consequences of constructivist concepts of the self for a particular religious practice of the student’s choosing

 RLPC 790R 01P: Religion and Therapy (cross-listed with ANT 585-01P)
Ozawa-deSilva, C./Ozawa-deSilva, B. Thursday, 9:00-12:00
MAX: 7

Content: Each religion, therapy, and even biomedicine, has its own way of understanding the human condition and its own mode of dealing with suffering and healing. For a long time, religion has been associated with the non-scientific, and secular therapies have been seen as having nothing to do with religion. However, partially due to increasing interest in spirituality, religious practices, and the power of the mind in the medical field, religion and therapy have been coming together more closely, as shown in the increasing level of dialogue between psychoanalysis and Buddhism. Recent studies claiming that the efficacy of psychotherapies and even medical treatment depend significantly on the level of conviction or "faith" on the part of the therapist/doctor and client/patient raise further questions concerning the boundaries between religion and therapy. While biomedical views find it difficult to find a place for the mind in healing, this trend is interesting when viewed in conjunction with Buddhist thought, which has long held that the mind can play a powerful role in bolstering physical and psychological well-being.

Along such lines, this class will explore issues such as what makes for a healthy "self" or person, the role of religious practice and belief in healing, and the relationship of body and mind, by bringing together approaches from contemporary anthropology, neuroscience, biomedicine, psychology, and Buddhist thought.

Texts:

• Jeremy Safran, ed., Psychoanalysis and Buddhism. An unfolding dialogue.
• Barry Magid, Ordinary Mind. Exploring the Common Ground of Zen and Psychotherapy.
• Daniel Goleman, ed., Destructive Emotions. A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
• Jean-Francois Revel and Matthieu Ricard, The Monk and the Philosopher.

Particulars: Requirements include class presentations, three written assignments, and a final paper.

RLR 700H: Introduction to the Interdisciplinary Study of Religious Practices
Bounds and Patterson Monday 12:00 - 3:00
MAX: 12

Content: This course serves as an introduction to the study of religion through an examination of religious practices. We will look comparatively at a variety of approaches and lenses, within religious and theological studies, reading both work describing theory and method and works studying religious practices. Throughout we will keep trying to be attentive to how religions are lived and practiced and how best we can understand these practices. As their major project, students will study one religious practice, drawing upon one or more of the theoretical and methodological frameworks presented

Texts:

• C. Bell, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice
• P. Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice or The Logic of Practice
• Courtney Bender, Heaven's Kitchen: Living Religion at God's Love, We Deliver
• Thomas Csordas, Language, Charisma and Creativity: Ritual Life in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal
• Laurel Kendall, The Life and Hard Times of a Korean Shaman
• Marie Griffith, God's Daughters: Evangelical Women and the Power of Submission
• D. Bass and M. Volf, Practicing Theology
• B. Miller-McLemore, Let the Children Come

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 prepare a research project.

 

RLSR 700: Qualitative Research in Religion
Eiesland Tuesday 8:30 - 11:30
MAX: 12

Content: This course will introduce you to the styles of research, analysis, and epistemology associated with qualitative research in the social scientific study of religion and morality. Qualitative research is a multi-method approach to the study of social interactions in various settings. The use of qualitative methods is indicated when an imaginative construction of theory or an elaboration of extant theory seeks to engage contextual social reality. Qualitative research involves the collection and analysis of empirical information from multiple sources such as first-person accounts, life histories, visual records, semi-structured and open-ended interviews, informal and formal observations, biographical and autobiographical materials, among others. Through triangulation of methods, the researcher attempts to interpret phenomena in terms of the theoretical questions that prompt the study as well as the meanings people bring to them. Qualitative research involves the collection and analysis of empirical information from multiple sources such as first-person accounts, life histories, visual records, semi-structured and open-ended interviews, informal and formal observations, biographical and autobiographical materials, among others. Through triangulation of methods, the researcher attempts to interpret phenomena in terms of the theoretical questions that prompt the study as well as the meanings people bring to them.

RLSR 700J: On the Very Idea of Comparing Religion: "Theoretical" Approaches
Patton Wednesday 6:00 - 9:00
MAX: 12

Content: What does it mean--intellectually, socially, morally, to compare religions? Recent theoretical critiques of comparison have argued that it emerges from an exclusive Christian basis, and that its history is grounded in both colonialism and missionizing.  This course will engage that critique, and begin to explore theories that offer constructive alternatives to the earlier forms of comparison.  We will begin with basic reading in the philosophy of comparative thought. We will then read the earlier comparative theorists of religion and consider the epistemological bases upon which they compare. In addition, we will be engaging the critiques of comparative work, particularly those who work with historical, ethnographic, postcolonial approaches to religious phenomena.  Finally, we will read those who wish to defend comparison upon new and entirely different political and epistemological grounds--ranging from cognitive, textual, ethnographic, aesthetic, and philosophical defenses of the comparative enterprise. We will also focus on particular case studies of the comparative method .

Texts (along with several relevant essays):

• Wendy Doniger, The Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth
• Jonathan Z Smith, Imagining Religion, Charles Taylor, Mulitculturalism and the Politics of Recognition
• Van Der Leeuw, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, Barbara Holdrege, Between Jeruslaem and Banaras
• Benson Saler, Conceptualizing Religion, Pascal Boyer, Religion Explained
• Patton and Ray, Eds. A Magic Still Dwells: Comparative Religion in the Postmodern Age
• Francis Clooney, Theology After Vedanta, An Experiment in Comparative Theology
• Jose Cabezon, Scholasticism: Cross Cultural and Comparative Perspectives

 

RLTS 710: The Use of Bible in Theology
McFarland Thurs. 2:00-5:00
MAX: 12

Content: This course is designed to provide an introduction to the various ways in which Christian writers have deployed the Bible in order to sustain particular theological positions. It covers a range of writers from the patristic age to the present, and the focus will be on an appreciation of the range of classical and contemporary approaches to the use of Scripture in supporting and critiquing doctrine, with attention to the cultural, ecclesial, and political contexts shaping theological argument.

 Texts:

• Frei, The Eclipse of Biblical Narrative: A Study in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Hermeneutics.
• Froehlich, ed. Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church
• Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses
• Julian of Norwich, Showings
• Keller, Face of the Deep
• Kelsey, Proving Doctrine: The Uses of Scripture in Modern Theology
• Rupp, ed. Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation
• Schussler Fiorenza, Jesus: Miriam's Child, Sophia' Prophet
• Smalley, The Use of the Bible in the Middle Ages

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 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: Graduate standing in the Graduate Division of Religion, the Department of Comparative Literature, or permission from the instructor.

 

RLTS 740M: King and Bonhoeffer
Erskine Tuesday 6:00 - 9:00
MAX: 12

Content: This course seeks to identify and analyze the christologies of
King and Bonhoeffer. We will probe the emergence of their christologies in
the context of their life history narratives and in the larger framework
of the times that shaped these theologians both in the United States of
America and Germany. There are two issues which will be central to our
investigation: (a) what are the sources that shaped their christologies
and (b)  in what ways did christology shape their ethics

Texts:

• D. Bonhoeffer, Ethics, Christ the Center, Life Together, Cost of Discipleship, Communion of Saints
• Ernst Feil, The Theology of Deitrich Bonhoeffer
• Charles Marsh, Reclaiming Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here ?, Stride Toward Freedom, Why we Can't Wait?
• David J Garrow, Bearing the Cross
• James Washington ed., A Testament of Hope
• Noel Leo Erskine, King Among the Theologians
  
  Particulars: Each student is required to make a presentation in class on
  an aspect of King's or Bonhoeffer's Christology illustrating the sources
  that shaped their Christology or the implications of Christology for
  ethics. With the benefit of class discussion this paper should be revised
  and submitted at the end of the semester (20 pages).
  

RLTS 756: Post Modern Sacramental Theology
Hackett Thursday 9:00 - 12:00
MAX: 12

Content: This seminar seeks to examine the problems of doing Sacramental Theology in a "Post-Modern" era where the philosophical presuppositions of
traditional  Sacramentologies" are in  question.  For instance, how can one speak of "Divine Presence" or of "Transcendence" in our era?  How can
a theologian be faithful to the tradition of "Lex Orandi Lex Credendi" when the prayers of our liturgies seem either "modern" or "pre-modern" in
their assumptions.

We will begin with selected essays in Sacramental Theology in a Post Modern Era (Peeters Pub., Lieven Boeve edit.)
and then do remaining essays or papers chosen by seminar participants.

The Seminar will meet for three hours weekly.  Students will take turns
presenting.  We will discuss the helpfulness of a final summary paper.

 

RLTS 753G: THEORETICAL ISSUES IN THE STUDY OF BLACK RELIGION
Franklin, Tuesday, 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
MAX: 12

Content: As a phenomenon, “black religion” is a diverse and complicated subject. This seminar is designed for students who wish to develop an acquaintance with the major issues and theories in the study of religions in the African diaspora. Careful attention will be given to the history of academic engagements with African, African American, Afro-Caribbean, and Afro-Brazilian religious expressions. The seminar will systematically assess the strengths and limitations of methods employed in historical, sociological, anthropological, philosophical, and theological interpretations of black religion. The course will employ an inclusive understanding of black religion that goes beyond the usual focus upon appropriations of Christianity in the West.

Note: Although designed for GDR students, in a few instances, university and Candler students in the final year of Masters degree programs will be permitted to register with the permission of the instructor.

Texts may include the following:

• C. Eric Lincoln and Lawrence H. Mamiya, The Black Church in the African American Experience
• Milton C. Sernett, Afro-American Religious History: A Documentary Witness
• Eric Lincoln, The Black Experience in Religion: A Book of Readings, ed. C.
• George Eaton Simpson, Black Religions in the New World
• Gayraud S. Wilmore, African American Religious Studies: An Interdisciplinary Anthology, ed.
• Noel Leo Erskine, Decolonizing Theology: A Caribbean Perspective
• Charles Long, Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpretation of Religions
• O Wendy Doniger, Other People’s Myths
• The Gwinyai H. Muzorewa, Origins and Development of African Theology
• Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and Profane: The Nature of Religion, Mircea Eliade
• Daniel Pals, The Symbolism of Evil, Paul Riceour Seven Theories of Religion