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Spring 2005 Course Atlas

REL 100: Introduction to Religions: Hinduism and Christianity: The Body and Religious Experience

M Roberts/L Stewart , TTh 1:00-2:15, MAX: 30, TPL

Content: This course is an introduction to the study and comparison of religions, focusing on Hinduism and Christianity. We will spend the first portion of the semester on Hinduism and then on Christianity in order to gain basic information and orientation. In the second portion of the semester we will treat various issues of embodiment from a comparative perspective. Comparative topics will include: religious practices, avatar/incarnation, and birth and death.

Particulars: The work for the course will include two brief exams at the end of each introductory section and a final paper in addition to class participation, site visits, and regular responses to assigned readings via our Blackboard site. This course is a Theory Practice Learning course. As such, either additional site visits and reports or participation in the “Monastic Project” will be required. The Monastic Project is a four-week experience that immerses students in a ‘monastic’ lifestyle that includes dietary, meditative, interactive and reflective components. The course fulfills General Education Requirement V.C. (Nonwestern Cultures or Comparative and International Studies).

(2/3 reserved for freshmen)

****Although content is different in REL 100 courses, you may not repeat for credit.****

REL 100: Introduction to Religions: Christianity and Islam

Weaver, TTh 4:00-5:15, MAX: 30

Content: This course introduces issues of concern within the study of religion through examination of Christian and Islamic traditions. Analysis of these religions' beliefs and practices will exemplify certain concepts, categories, and problems in the study of religion. Of special concern will be: 1) the symbols and patterns most central to these religious traditions (e.g., prophet, canon, and ritual), 2) the interpretation of these traditions by Christian and Islamic communities of faith, and 3) the potential of these interpretations for both conflict and conciliation among Christians and Muslims.

Texts: TBA

Particulars: In addition to readings, discussions, and class presentations, the course will incorporate site-visits to both Christian and Muslim places of worship. The course fulfills General Education Requirement V.C. (Nonwestern Cultures or Comparative and International Studies).

(2/3 reserved for freshmen)

****Although content is different in REL 100 courses, you may not repeat for credit.****

REL 150: Introduction to Sacred Texts

V. Robbins/Newby, MWF 9:35-10:25, (same as MES 160), MAX: 38

Content: An introduction to the life of oral and written sacred traditions in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities in various periods. We will explore sacred texts in translation and investigate their origins, their transmission, and the processes by which they became authoritative for their communities. We will study ways the texts were interpreted in the past, how they are used and understood today, and we will visit local worship communities to observe contemporary uses of sacred texts. In addition to the written texts we will delve into the sights, sounds, feel, and in some cases, the taste of some of the world's most sacred texts.

Texts:

  • Richard C. Bush et al, The Religious World: Communities of Faith
  • Muhammed Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran
  • New Oxford Annotated Bible

Particulars: There will be short written assignments on LearnLink, some short site visit reports, three short examinations during the semester, and a comprehensive final examination. The course fulfills General Education Requirements IV.A. (Humanities) and V.C. (Historical, Cultural, and International Perspectives).

REL 190: Freshman Seminar: Religious Pluralism in Atlanta

Smith, TTh 2:30-3:45, MAX: 18

Content: A seminar for first-year students who are interested in learning about local religious communities in Atlanta. The course will focus on religions in America, the religious culture of the South, and, most specifically, religious diversity in the local metropolitan area including site visits and ethnographic reports.

Texts:

  • Catherine L. Albanese, America: Religions and Religion
  • Gary Laderman, Religions of Atlanta: Religious Diversity in the Centennial Olympic City
  • O. Kendall White, Jr. and Daryl White, eds., Religion in the Contemporary South

Selections from:

  • Melissa Fay Greene, The Temple Bombing
  • Gary M. Pomerantz, Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn: A Saga of Race and Family
  • Charles Rutheiser, Imagineering Atlanta: The Politics of Place in the City of Dreams

Particulars: The course will be run as a seminar, so student participation will be weighed heavily; students will engage in field research in the Atlanta area, present their findings orally, and produce a solid research paper by the end of the semester.

REL 190: Freshman Seminar: Modern Islam

Martin, TTh 10:00-11:15, (same as MES 190), MAX: 13

Content: This freshman seminar will take students behind the public representations of Islam in the media in order to understand in greater depth the social and intellectual history of Muslims. The first phase of the course is the history of Islamic civilization from the Fall of the Abbasid Empire in 1258 to the modern period. Next the course takes up the problem of modernity and the West, and Islamic responses, such as Fundamentalism, Modernism, Secularism, and Islamic Feminism. The final phase will focus on postmodern developments in Islam, including modern Islamic theology, law and ethics, the Internet, globalization, the impact of the Gulf War and 9/11, and growth of social movements, such as Salafi/Wahhabi, and Progressive Muslim identities.

Texts: will include

  • John Voll, Modern Islam: Continuity and Change in the Modern World
  • Sayyid Qutb, Milestones
  • Muhammad Abduh, Theology of Unity
  • Tayeb Saleh, Wedding of Zein (modern short story)
  • Quintan Wiktorowicz, Global Jihad
  • Sohail Hashmi, Islamic Political Ethics: Civil Society, Pluralism, and Conflict
  • Course Packet

Particulars: Each week will be divided roughly between lectures with discussion (usually Tuesdays) and student presentations and discussions of readings (usually Thursdays). Students will be asked to write brief responses to the readings once a week before class as a basis for Thursday discussions. Planned are three written exams during the semester, including a book review essay. A written evaluation of student work will be provided at mid term and at the end of the course.

REL 205: Biblical Literature

Buss, TTh 10:00-11:15, (same as JS 205), MAX: 15

Content: In this course, we will seek to understand the dynamics of various parts of the Jewish Bible, called "Old Testament" by Christians. This will involve questions such as the following: What is said? How is it said? What appears to be the aim? Insofar as there can be disagreement in regard to these questions, we will look at different answers, both as they have been given by others and as they are presented by members of the class.

Texts:

  • JPS, Tanakh
  • S. Sandmel, The Enjoyment of Scripture
  • T. Frymer-Kensky, Reading the Women of the Bible
  • M. Buss, Manuscript

Particulars: Students will bring to each class an analysis of the text studied and will be ready to discuss their analyses orally in class. Students who have to miss class more than occasionally can turn their analyses into short papers and discuss them in an individual conference (which will normally cover two or three such papers covering the topics of two or three missed classes). There will be a midterm and a final. The course fulfills General Education Requirement IV.A (Humanities).

REL 210: Classic Religious Texts: Readings in Buddhism and Christianity

Farley, MWF 2:00-2:50, MAX: 20

Content: Shantideva was a Buddhist monk from India during the 8th century. Dorotheus of Gaza was a Christian monk from the 6th century who lived in Palestine. Separated by time, geography, and religious tradition they remain very similar in their understanding of human psychology and the way certain religious practices transform the mind.  This class will occupy itself with a close reading of these two texts.  We will interpret them as examples of the distinctive wisdom of Buddhism and Christianity and we will also interpret them in conversation with one another.  We will also watch films, read some shorter works, and study meditation to augment our intepretations of the two primary texts.

Texts:

  • Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva
  • Dorotheus of Gaza, Discourses and Sayings: Desert Humor and Humility

Particulars: The course fulfills General Education Requirement IV.A (Humanities).

REL 210S: Classic Religious Texts: The Works of Maimonides

Chervin, MW 2:30-3:45, (same as JS 370), MAX: 13

Content: Theologian, philosopher, and legal codifier Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), asked the question: Is traditional Judaism consistent with the dictates of reason and philosophy? His answer: Yes, and I can prove it! In this course, we will explore how Maimonides (also known as the Rambam) sought to answer this question, by examining excerpts from the vast corpus of his work, particularly his philosophical masterpiece The Guide of the Perplexed. We will also look at some of the influences that affected Maimonides' thinking - i.e. rabbinic Judaism, Greek philosophy, medieval Islamic philosophy - as well as the historical context, in order to better understand his work. Students will be expected to critically analyze Maimonides' thought, and evaluate its relevance to contemporary dilemmas of religious belief and faith.

Texts: may include selections from:

  • Mishneh Torah
  • The Guide of the Perplexed (trans. Shlomo Pines, Univ of Chicago Press)
  • A Maimonides Reader (Isadore Twersky)
  • The Teachings of Maimonides (Jacob Minkin)
  • A History of Medieval Jewish Philosophy (Isaac Husik)
  • Maimonides: A Guide for Today's Perplexed (Kenneth Seeskin)
  • Jewish People, Jewish Thought (Robert Seltzer)
  • Maimonides: Torah and Philosophical Quest (David Hartman)
  • Introduction to the Code of Maimonides (Isadore Twersky)

Particulars: In addition to regular attendance, class participation, and regular reading assignments, this course requires short analytic essays and critical reflection papers, as well as a mid-term exam and a final exam.

REL 211: Western Religions

Lawrence/Sherman, MWF 3:00-3:50, MAX: 30

Content: This course provides an introduction to the three ‘Abrahamic’ religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each tradition will be explored by examining foundational texts, classical articulations of belief and practice and the impact of the modern world. Students will also be exposed to key elements in the academic study of religion. The format of the course will be divided between lectures and bi-weekly discussion of primary texts from the three traditions. Guest speakers will also present their experience of their respective tradition and be available for student questions.

Texts: Introductory textbooks on each tradition; additional reading will be provided.

Particulars: This course meets General Education Requirement V.B (Historical Perspectives on Western Culture). There will be three 50 minute tests. In addition, students will write three short papers (4-6 pages) on a primary text from each tradition.

REL 212:  Asian Religious Traditions: Buddhism and Hinduism in South Asia

Crothers, MWF 11:45-12:35,  (same as ASIA 212), MAX: 20

Content: This course is an introduction to the sights and sounds of some Hindu and Buddhist traditions of South Asia, as well as some materials and methods in the study of religions. In this course we will examine what people do as much as what they believe in order to gain a firm foundation in some Buddhist and Hindu practices, ideas, texts, ideal persons, and Gods and Goddesses. In this course we will pay particular attention to dimensions of sight and sound (music and visual culture) in addition to the religious teachings and ethics of these traditions. We will move between considering Practice and Imagination (that is, what people do and what they think). In “Practice” for instance, we will study the role of text and song, image and body in religious life. Our consideration of “Imagination” will include how Buddhists and Hindus envision persons, the ultimate, the cosmos and society, morality and ethics, and the ‘fruits’ of their traditions. We will employ historical and anthropological methods of studying religions, which will require site visits to the Hindu Temple of Atlanta and Wat Buddha Bucha, close reading of religious texts, image study (involving Website and art museum assignments), understanding of historical and cultural context, and film and music study.

Course materials may include:

  • Eck, Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India
  • Schwartz, Rasa: Performing the Divine in India
  • Doniger, Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism
  • Strong, The Experience of Buddhism: Sources and Interpretations
  • Pals, Seven Theories of Religion
  • Keown, Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction
  • Knott, Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction
  • Klostermeier, A Survey of Hinduism (LibNet Electronic Book)
  • Photocopied course packet of selected articles and readings
  • CD/DVD of recitations and devotional music

Particulars: Class participation (includes short formal presentations), short site reports, audio and visual reports, and three examinations. Meets General Education Requirement V.C.

REL 306:  Tibetan Buddhism: Psychology of Enlightenment

Negi, TTh 11:30- 12:45, (same as ASIA 306), MAX: 20

Content: This course will present a portrait of Tibetan Buddhism as a living tradition. The spiritual techniques used by Tibetan Buddhist practitioners, as well as the philosophical and psychological perspectives of these methods, will be the focus of the classwork. The course will concentrate on the tradition known in Tibetan as Lam Rim or "Stages of the Path." Lam Rim is a living tradition for systematically transforming ordinary distorted states of consciousness into the enlightened experience. For purposes of contextualization, the course will begin with a brief survey of the basic terms and concepts that form the Buddhist worldview.

Particulars: All students are expected to attend all classes, read the assigned materials, make class presentations, and participate actively in class discussions. In-class quizzes, mid-term and final paper.

REL 309: Modernization of the Jews and Judaism

Seeman, TTh 1:00-2:15, (same as JS 309), MAX: 15

Content: How have Jewish communities faced the challenges posed by modernity? This class uses literary, historical, philosophical and anthropological material to explore this question. What is the origin of the split between different Jewish religious movements (i.e. Orthodoxy and Reform)? What is the relationship between Zionism, good citizenship in America or in Europe and traditional Jewish religion? What are the special challenges facing Israeli Jewry? How has Jewish thought been influenced by the Holocaust? By feminism? This class focuses on Jewish religious and intellectual life, but always tries to relate those to the larger existential dilemmas that Jewish people have faced in modern times.

Texts: TBA

Particulars: Students are expected to attend class each week prepared to discuss that week's readings, and will be evaluated on the basis of attendance and participation (20%). There will be an in class mid-term exam (30%) and a final essay (50%) in which students write a critical essay analyzing one topic on the basis of class readings and discussions plus related newspaper articles. There will be a mandatory film and discussion night, approximately four times during the semester.

REL 324:  The History of the Holocaust 

Lipstadt, TTh 11:30-12:45, (same as JS 324; HIST 385), MAX: 40

Content: This course will examine the history of the annihilation of European Jewry by the Nazis. We will trace the roots of European antisemitism; the rise of Nazism and Hitler’s seizure of power; the evolution of Nazi policy toward the Jews; the Nazi policy towards the disabled, mentally handicapped, and carriers of genetic diseases; Germany policy towards the Roma and Sinti; the response of the German Jewish community to the policy of persecution; the reaction of the nations of the world to Nazi antisemitism; resistance by Jews to persecution; the experience of those in the concentration and death camps; and the attempts – however feeble – to rescue Jews.

Texts:

  • Deborah Dwork and Robert Jan van Pelt, Holocaust: A History
  • Hilberg, Raul The Destruction of the European Jews
  • Wiesel, Elie Night
  • Spiegelman, Art Maus: A Survivor’s Tale
  • Levi, Primo Survival in Auschwitz
  • Mahoney, Kevin In Pursuit of Justice
  • Donald Niewyk, The Holocaust

Films: 

  • Triumph of the Will
  • Healing by Killing
  • Designers of Death
  • America and the Holocaust
  • Partisans of Vilna
  • Weapons of the Spirit

Particulars:  1. Exams: There will be two in-class exams (40% total) and a final which will be divided into a written take-home portion (25%) and an in-class portion (20%).

2. Papers: Students will write three reaction papers (15%, 2-3 pages).

3. Class Participation: Class participation will be taken into account in determining the final grade. You are expected to come to class fully prepared to participate in class discussion which will be based on the assigned readings.

REL 328SWR: Women, Religion and Ethnography

Flueckiger, TTh 11:30-12:45, (same as ANT 328SWR and WS 328SWR), MAX: 6

Content: Primary sources in this course will be ethnographic studies that have paid particular attention to women's lives and voices. These women's traditions and expressions often expand the boundaries of what has traditionally "counted" in the study of religion. An underlying question of the course will be: how does the study of women and religion from the perspectives of ethnography and women's studies contribute to methodologies for the broader study of religion, particularly the religious experience of other subaltern groups? We will look not only at the content of the ethnographies we read, but we will also examine the ethnographic research and writing processes represented in each ethnography.

Texts: Texts May Include:

  • Lila Abu-Lughod, Writing Women's Lives: Bedouin Stories, 1993.
  • Laurel Kendall, The Life and Hard Times of a Korean Shaman: Of Tales and the Telling of Tales, 1988.
  • Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, 1976.
  • Elaine Lawless, Handmaidens of the Lord: Pentecostal Women Preachers and Traditional Religion, 1988.
  • Kirin Narayan, Mondays on the Dark Night of the Moon: Himalayan Foothill Folktales, 1997.
  • Wynne Maggi, Our Women are Free: Gender and Ethnicity in the Hindukush, 2001.
  • Frederick, Marla Frederick, Between Sundays: Black Women and Everyday Struggles of Faith, 2003.
  • Reading packet of articles.

Particulars: Four 3-4 page, informal response papers; final research paper (12-15 pages) and oral presentation. The course fulfills the post-freshman writing requirement.

REL 329: Religion and Ecology: Wilderness, Spirituality & Philosophy

Patterson, TTh 10:00-11:15, (same as ENVS 329), MAX: 12, TPL

Content: This class explores the relationship between nature and religion including theological, spiritual, and philosophical considerations. It also emphasizes how the teachings and philosophies of various Christian, Buddhist, and to some extent Yogic religious traditions shape spiritual and ethical practices in wilderness or natural settings. We will examine paradigms of nature as sacred from these points of view and look for points of connection and/or disconnection through our own practices. Perspectives from Feminism, Deep Ecology, Global Ethics, and poetic discourse also will be used for further analysis. This class is a Theory Practice Learning class. Students will learn the theories and methods of the TPL approach to learning. The course is designed to develop competence not only in theoretical and epistemological understandings of presented materials but also relevant attitudes and behaviors. Students will have opportunities to develop consciousness of "place" and consider how "place" relates to eco-justice. Fieldwork sites include the Emory campus, urban Atlanta, North Georgia, and North Carolina. SEVERAL WEEKEND CAMPING TRIPS ARE REQUIRED (Leaving Friday after noon and returning Saturday evening or Sunday by 2 p.m.)

Texts:

  • Rosemary Radford Reuther: Gaia and God
  • Forest Meditations
  • Texts from the Patristics
  • Sally McFague: The Body of God
  • Selections from: Dharma Gaia
  • Selections from Joanna Macy: Coming Back to Life
  • Gary Snyder: Practice of the Wild
  • Other articles

Particulars: Class participation is crucial. Assignments will include an 8-page topic paper (with references and footnotes), creation of a portfolio of learning and experience, and development of an "active learning activity" to be presented to the class relevant to our topics. You must be available for several field trips including a few weekend camping trips (leaving Friday afternoon and returning Saturday evening or Sunday by 2 p.m.)

REL 332: South African History and Issues

McCall, TTh 4:00-5:15, (same as JRNL 330, AAS 330, AFS 332, WS 330), MAX: 6, (Permission of Instructor Required)

Content: This interdisciplinary course introduces students to the history
and contemporary issues of South Africa. It explores topics in modern South African history and issues facing a society undergoing enormous social change. The course encourages students to learn about themselves by challenging them to contrast and compare the racial dynamics in America with those in South Africa. Finally, this course helps prepare students for May/June summer internships in Cape Town.

Texts:

  • Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
  • Nigel Worden, The Making of Modern South Africa

Particulars: Enrollment in this course requires permission of the department under which the student will be completing the summer internship as well as the Journalism Program. Students must attend the orientation (date to be announced) to discuss the requirements of the Interdisciplinary Internship in South Africa Summer Study Abroad Program.

REL 351S: Paul and His Letters

V. Robbins, M 2-3:15 & W 2-2:50, MAX: 18

Content: This course examines the writings and traditions associated with one of the most influential and controversial figures in Christian history, the apostle Paul. Addressed to newly formed Christian communities, Paul's letters respond to a wide range of issues and questions about how to live true to one's religious faith in a diverse society. In exploring his letters, we will situate Paul within his first century context, paying special attention to his connections with Judaism and his posture toward the Greco-Roman social world. In addition, we will explore how this first-century letter writer continues to shape important cultural debates, especially those surrounding gender, sexuality and social class.

Texts:

  • New Oxford Annotated Bible
  • The Letters of Paul, Calvin J. Roetzel
  • Exploring the Texture of Texts, Vernon Robbins

Particulars: Grades will be based upon active class participation, class presentations, and three short papers. Students will use both LearnLink and Blackboard throughout the semester.

REL 352SR: Gender and Religion: Black Feminism and Black Religion in America

Stewart, M 2:30-5:30, (same as AAS 270S, WS 352S), MAX: 10, (Permission of Instructor Required)

Content: This course explores the relationship between Black feminism and Black religion in the United States from the 18th century to the present. We will proceed with this task in three major units. In the first unit, we will begin with an examination of seminal 18th and 19th century Black feminist thinkers and activists from Maria Stewart and Anna Julia Cooper to Sojourner Truth, Mary Church Terrell, and Ida Wells Barnett.  Through a rigorous engagement with Black feminist thought during this period we will analyze the significance of religion, religious ideologies, and religious cultures to this critical discourse and tradition. It is perhaps impossible to separate Black feminism from Black religion (Christianity) during this foundational period. However, during the 20th century, Black feminism becomes increasingly secular in its philosophical and ethical claims. In the second unit, we will turn our attention to the works of Black feminist scholars such as Angela Davis, Alice Walker, bell hooks, Barbara Smith, Audre Lorde and Patricia Hill Collins. As Black feminists of this period and persuasion demonstrate a unique theoretical sophistication through their social and cultural criticism, we will examine their deep suspicion of institutional religion and deconstructions of patriarchal religious cultures in African American religious history, comparing their project to that of Black feminists during the 18th and 19th centuries. Finally, by situating Alice Walker as a bridge between this collection of Black feminist thought and womanist theology, the third unit will cover the womanist theological school of thought which often harmonizes the Christian-based Black feminist discourses of the 18th and 19th centuries with the secular theoretical insights of 20th-century Black feminists. Throughout the course, our aim is to trace the motif of religion in the history of Black feminist thought and social praxis and to interrogate its meaning as a complicated and contested site of resistance, authority, liberation and oppression in the lives and thoughts of Black women.

Texts: Major texts include:

  • Words of Fire (Beverly Guy-Sheftall)
  • Black Feminist Thought (Patricia Hill Collins)
  • In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens (Alice Walker)
  • Theorizing Black Feminisms (Stanlie James and Abena Busia)

Particulars: This course is a 3-hour seminar that meets once per week.  Permission from the instructor is required and prior coursework in Women’s Studies, African American Studies and/or Religion are strongly recommended. Assignments: mid-term paper (8 pages); final paper (15 pages, with option to build upon mid-term paper); smaller presentations or reflections; NO EXAMS

REL 354SR: Ethics of Food: Christian History and Contemporary American Debates

Meadows, MWF 3:00-3:50, MAX: 18

Content: Food serves not only to nourish bodies but to link people to one another and to God in a number of different ways. Practices of eating are layered with social and symbolic meaning. The course consists of two major parts: in Part One, we explore food’s importance in Christian belief and practice, and its links to sin and salvation, community, sexuality, and mystical experience. In Part Two, we turn to contemporary arguments about food, attentive to their religious and social dimensions. We will explore practices of, and arguments about, eating as a way of addressing a key question in Ethics: what are the implications of religious faith for human individual and social behavior? What relationships does food involve us in, and what is our responsibility within those relationships?

Texts:

  • Donna Jo Napoli, Beast
  • Caroline Walker Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast
  • Daniel Sack, Whitebread Protestants: Food and Religion in American Culture
  • Adams, The Sexual Politics of Meat
  • Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation
  • course packet

Particulars: Requirements include active class participation and attendance, group presentations, a journal, weekly LearnLink postings, and a mid-term and final exam.

REL 356R: Christianity Meets Buddhism

Bianchi, W 2:30-5:30, (same as Candler's WR 698), Max: 15

Content: This course focuses on writings by modern exponents of Christian and Buddhist spirituality who reach over into other traditions for dialogue, insight and practice. It is, therefore, a course in transtraditional spirituality, a process of enriching a particular heritage by encounters with another tradition.

Texts:

  • J. Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are
  • Marcus J. Borg, Jesus: A New Vision
  • Thich Nhat Hanh, Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers
  • Kim Boykin, Zen for Christians
  • Wayne Teasdale, the Mystic Heart
  • Stephen Michell, ed., Tao Te Ching
  • Diarmid O'Murchu, Quantum Physics

Particulars: Students will write short weekly papers as well as two longer papers.

REL 369: Religion & Film: Negotiating the Feminine

Brintnall, Class: MWF 12:50-1:40; Screenings: Mon 8-10 pm, (same as FILM 373/WS 385), Max: 10

Content: None of the major Western monotheistic religious traditions have a stellar reputation when it comes to their representations of women. The same could be said about mainstream Hollywood cinema. In American cultural history, however, both religion and popular culture have often been understood as “feminine” spheres. This course will place film texts, biblical narratives, and theoretical readings alongside each other to ask questions about how women – and others culturally marked as feminine – can negotiate and appropriate texts that, on the surface, demean and degrade them. In addition, the course will explore how religious studies and film studies discourses can be brought into productive conversation.

Texts: Readings will include works by Judith Butler, Carol Clover, Barbara Creed, Mary Ann Doane, Richard Dyer, E. Ann Kaplan, Julia Kristeva, Laura Mulvey, Susan Nidditch, Tina Pippin, and Linda Williams. Films will include Double Indemnity, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Last Seduction, Scream, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Particulars: Students will be required to write short (2-3 page) reflection papers, make at least one in-class presentation and produce a longer (15-20 pages) research paper. There will be weekly, mandatory film screenings in addition to class meetings. Active discussion based on careful reading of dense theoretical texts will be expected of all students. There will be no exams.

No prior experience in film or religious studies is required. Students should be willing to watch films that contain graphic violence and explicit sexual content.

REL 370R: Special Topics: Religion, Human Rights and Civil Society

Queen, TTh 1:00-2:15, Max: 20

Content: This course will analyze the relationship between religions, human rights and the construction of civil society throughout the world. In doing so it examines whether religious traditions are helpful or detrimental to recognizing human rights and to the development of a viable civil society? And under what conditions? Additionally it will look at the practice of religion itself as a human right and how different legal regimes deal with individuals’ ability to practice and pursue their religious lives.

REL 370RS: Special Topics: Introduction to Freud: The Invention of Psychoanalysis

Felman, W 3:00-6:00, (same as CPLT 301S, IDS 350S, JS 375S, ENG 389S), MAX: 2

Content: "It was Freud's fate, as he observed not without pride, to 'agitate the sleep of mankind,'" writes Freud's biographer Peter Gay: "Half a century after his death, it seems true that he succeeded far better than he expected. . . It is commonplace but true that we all speak Freud now, correctly or not. We casually refer to Oedipal conflicts and sibling rivalry, narcissism and Freudian slips. But before we can speak that way with authority, we must read his writings attentively. They repay reading, with dividends." This course will introduce Freud through close readings of some basic texts, looking together at why Freud made such an enormous impact on our times, and how his insights reinvent the practice of interpretation, and provide new tools for thought and new enabling inspirations for the humanities at large. Topics explored include: the meaning of desire, subjectivity, humanity, unconscious thinking; the relation between sleep and wakefulness, life and death, reality and dreams, religion and disillusion, sexuality and repression, narcissism and ethics.

Texts: Selection from Freud's writings, including:

  • Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis
  • The Interpretation of Dreams
  • Civilization and its Discontents

Particulars: Two short papers in the course of the semester; active participation.

REL 370WR: Special Topics: Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient Mediterranean World

Collins, TT 11:30-12:45, (same as MES 351WR), MAX 5

Content: This course examines the role and practice of magic in the ancient Mediterranean world from the earliest civilizations through the Roman period. Topics include practitioners, magical techniques, possession, necromancy, human sacrifice, spells, rituals, curses and miracles. At completion of the course, the student should have an understanding of the place of magic in shaping the development of civilization, its relationship to religion and to science, and its continuing role in today's world. The format includes lecture, discussion, and student presentations.

Texts:

  • Daniel Ogden, Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds
  • Geraldine Pinch, Magic in Ancient Egypt
  • Scott Noegel et al., eds., Prayer, Magic and the Stars in the Ancient and Late Antique World
  • Marvin Meyer, Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power (Princeton, 1999)
  • Reading packet

Particulars: Regular attendance and active class participation is required. Students will write weekly response papers on the readings; work individually or in groups on one or more class presentations; and write a research paper on a topic to be determined in conjunction with the instructor. Grading will be formulated as follows: weekly writing (40%), research paper (40%), class presentation (10%) and participation (10%). This course atisfies G.E.R. post-freshman writing requirement.

REL 370: Islam and Modernity
 de Francisco, MWF 12:50-1:40, (same as Anthropology 385-001 and MES 370), Max: 5

Content: This course offers a brief orientation to general principles and history of Islam before examining how that religion has interacted with the trope of modernity in various regional and cultural settings. In addition to personal discussion of my own work in Zanzibar and that of colleagues in Pakistan and Niger, the course will tackle several larger topics through ethnographic readings, films, and discussions. Thematic material includes the status of women in Islamic societies, political, legal, technological, and economic changes in Islamic societies, and adaptations by Islamic immigrants in Europe and America. Students will come away from the class with a strong understanding of the varieties of ways that Islam compliments and competes with cultural forms of 'modernity' in different parts of the world.

Texts:

  • MacLeod, Accommodating Protest: Working Women, the New Veiling, and Change in Cairo.
  • Blank, Mullahs on the Mainframe: Islam and Modernity among the Daudi Bohras.
  • Metcalf, Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe.
  • Various readings to be determined.

Particulars: Grading will be based on a number of short take home assignments including opinion papers, film reviews, and media analysis. There will be an in class midterm examination and a take home essay examination for the final. Class participation and a final presentation will also factor in to the student evaluation.

REL 372R: Classical Texts and Religious Thought: Rabbinic Judaism: Prayer and Liturgy

Blumenthal, Tues 7:30-10 pm, (same as JS 540G), MAX: 3

NOTE: Requires ability to read and understand Hebrew and permission of instructor.

Content: Prayer is one of the main forms of Jewish spiritual and religious identity. Liturgy is the textual form that prayer takes. This course will begin by studying prayer and liturgy in the Bible. Then, substantial time will be devoted to the traditional prayerbook. This will be followed by some time in medieval Hebrew religious liturgical poetry. Finally, we will look closely at modern forms of Jewish prayer and liturgy.

Texts:

  • Bible
  • Siddur
  • Mahzor
  • David R. Blumenthal, God at the Center

Prerequisites: Ability to read and understand Hebrew. This is a course for graduate students and qualified undergraduates.

Requirements: Active class participation. Quizzes and final exam. Possible paper.

REL 374SWR: Confucian Classics

Kurtz, TT 2:30 - 3:45, (same as CHN 373SWR and ASIA 374SWR), MAX: 6

Content: For more than two thousand years, a small set of texts associated with Confucius (551-479 BC) and his disciples formed the core of the Chinese educational curriculum. As a store of knowledge shared by all educated men and women, the Confucian Classics shaped Chinese literati culture from late antiquity to the early 20th century. The goal of this survey course is to illustrate the diversity of the literary and cultural practices that evolved around this unique body of writings. The course is roughly divided into two parts. First, we will attempt to establish a framework for understanding the textual history and changing significance of the Classics throughout Chinese history. Drawing on a broad selection of primary sources (to be read in English translation), we will then examine how the canonized ideas were refracted in literary, philosophical, religious and political discourse.

Texts: Required Texts:

  • Nylan, Michael. The Five Confucian Classics. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.
  • Gardner, Daniel K. Chu Hsi. Learning to Be a Sage. Selections from the Conversations of Master Chu, Arranged Topically. Berkeley et al.: University of California Press 1990.

Particulars: Knowledge of Chinese is NOT required. Grading: class participation, written assignments, exams, paper. Satisfies G.E.R. post-freshman writing requirement and G.E.R. area IV.A (Humanities - Textual).

REL 387RWR: Literature and Religion: African American Women Writers and the Bible

Ivey, TT 2:30-3:45, (same as ENG 387RWR and AAS 270WR), Max: 5

Content: The course will focus on 20 th-century African American Women novelists who rewrite the biblical text in their novels. We will read Zora Neal Hurston’s Moses, Man of the Mountain, Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day and Bailey’s Café, Toni Morrison’s Paradise, and Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, along with biblical text, critical articles, and short stories. These writers challenge traditional interpretations of the bible in intriguing ways. Our discussions and course assignments will center on the transformative power of reinterpreting the biblical text to explode the myths and symbols that support oppressive ideology.

Particulars: Course assignments include three short papers (2-3 pp); two longer papers (5-6pp); and a final essay exam. Students will also be responsible for leading two course discussions each.

REL 472R: The Buddhist Psychology of Tolerance and Forgiveness (2 credits)

H.E. Rizong Rinpoche, translated and assisted by Geshe Lobsang Negi, 6 weeks, Tues, (March 22, March 29, April 5, April 12, April 19, April 26), 4:00-6:00, (same as RLAR 797R), MAX: 20

Content: This course will look into the nature of anger, hatred and violence from the Buddhist perspective and offer time-tested meditative techniques for transforming these destructive emotions into patience, tolerance and love. The course will draw from the sixth chapter, on Patience, of the Bodhicharyavatara, or Guide to the Ways of the Universal Hero, a masterpiece composed in the 8 th century by Acharya Shantideva. Shantideva offers profound meditative techniques that are as relevant today as they were when he composed the text. Throughout the centuries, both in India and in Tibet, Buddhist contemplatives and scholars have relied on this timeless classic as a personal guide for dealing with emotions and transforming personal and social lives.

Texts:

  • Required text: Healing Anger: The Power of Patience from a Buddhist Perspective by the Dalai Lama.
  • Recommended text: Working with Anger by Thubten Chodron.

REL 472R: Topics in Religion: Constitutional Rights: Selected Topics

Michael Perry, TT 8:45 - 10 a.m., (same as LAW 698, 08A), NOTE: Class begins Jan. 11, (Permission of Religion Dept. required), Credit: 3 Hours, Max: 5

Content: In the past half century, the U.S. Supreme Court has resolved, on the basis of the U.S. Constitution, many greatly controversial "rights" issues--issues involving, e.g., speech, religion, capital punishment, racism, sexism, affirmative action, homosexuality, and abortion. In this course, we will study and evaluate several such decisions.

 Texts: For Classroom Assignment and Textbook Information see www.law.emory.edu

Particulars: Final Exam  9 a.m. 5/3

REL 472R: Topics in Religion: Constitutional Law: Religion & State

 Witte, TT 10:15 - 11:45 a.m., (same as LAW 646, 10A), NOTE: Class begins Jan. 11, (Permission of Religion Dept. required), Credit: 3 Hours, Max: 10

Content: This course will explore questions arising under the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment as well as religion clauses in representative state constitutions and their colonial antecedents. Consideration will be given to cases concerning religious speech, worship and symbolism in the public square, the public school, and the workplace; government support for, and protection of religious education in public and private schools; tax exemption of religious institutions and properties; treatment of religious claims of Native Americans and various religious minorities; exercise of and limitations on religious law and discipline, control and disposition of religious property; and other issues.

Texts: For Classroom Assignment and Textbook Information see www.law.emory.edu

Particulars: No prerequisites. Classes will consist of lecture and discussion. Students will be given a take-home examination to be distributed the last day of class and to be returned the last day of the examination period.


REL 472R: Topics in Religion: Comparative Legal History: The Western Legal Tradition

Berman, MW 1:30 - 3, (same as LAW 768, 01A), NOTE: Class begins Jan. 10, (Permission of Religion Dept. required), Credit: 3 Hours, Max: 10

Content: This is a course for students who want to "think big" about the law. It combines the traditional disciplines of comparative law, legal history, and legal philosophy. The underlying purpose is to provide perspective for understanding what our law is by studying what it has been and what it is tending to become.

A major theme is the intimate connection between a legal system and the foundational belief-system that underlies it. A second related theme is the interaction of evolution and revolution in the Western legal tradition - (a) its origin in the Papal Revolution of the late 11th and 12th centuries which freed the ecclesiastical hierarchy from secular royal, feudal and tribal control and created the first modern legal system, the canon law, and (b) its survival through subsequent periodic transformations under the impact of great political and religious ("ideological") revolutions: the German Lutheran monarchical revolution of the 16th century, the English Calvinist aristocratic revolution of the 17th century, the French and American Deist democratic revolutions of the 18th century, and the Russian atheist socialist revolution of the 20th century. A third major theme is the crisis of the Western legal tradition in the 20th and 21st centuries, due partly to tendencies toward total statism in Western nations and partly to the challenges of non-Western cultures and relativist ideologies in an emerging world society.

Among particular topics to be examined are the role of the legal profession and legal education in shaping legal institutions, techniques of legal development through case law and codification, and other matters relevant to the structure and development of legal institutions.

Texts: For Classroom Assignment and Textbook Information see www.law.emory.edu

Particulars: A 24-hour take-home final examination will be given. With the permission of the instructor, a paper may be submitted in lieu of the final or in addition to the final.  

REL 472R: Topics in Religion: Jewish Law

Broyde, TT 1:30 - 3, (same as LAW 664, 01A), NOTE: Class begins Jan. 11, (Permission of Religion Dept. required), Credit: 3 Hours, Max: 5

Content: This course will survey the principles Jewish (or Talmudic) law uses to address difficult legal issues and will compare these principles to those that guide legal discussion in America. In particular, this course will focus on issues raised by advances in medical technology such as surrogate motherhood, artificial insemination, and organ transplant. Through discussion of these difficult topics many areas of Jewish law will be surveyed.

Texts: For Classroom Assignment and Textbook Information see www.law.emory.edu

Particulars: Prerequisite(s): None; Grading Criteria: Paper or Take-Home Exam

REL 490WR: Senior Symposium: Religious Studies in the Shadow of 9/11

Martin, Tues 2:30-5, for Religion Majors only (contact Religion Dept for permission number: 404-727-7596 or email Anny Varghese)

Content: The tragic events of September 11, 2001 and their aftermath frame surely the most profoundly significant problem and challenge to the academic study of religion for the Class of 2004. The culture of “9/11” that has grown up around those events has included wars to bring democracy and human rights to Muslim states, a dominant discourse of terrorism, martyrdom/suicide, attack journalism, international criticism, the symbolism of the missing WTC towers and the ways they have been memorialized and commercialized, a growth industry of expertise on Islam on the Net and in the Media, and much more. On the other side, scholars in comparative religious studies and history of religions have written surprisingly little to explain and interpret “9/11.” Explaining and redressing this curious lacuna in our discipline will be the task of the Senior Seminar for Religion majors, spring semester 2005. Each meeting of the seminar during the first part of the semester will be devoted to readings, response essays and class discussions on focused problems and topics. Students will also develop written research projects throughout the semester, which they will present and defend during the latter part of the term. Two graduate associates will work with students in the development of their research and writing projects

Texts: Course materials will include:

  • Bruce Lincoln, Holy Terrors: Thinking About Religion After September 11 (2004)
  • The 9/11 Commission Report (2004)
  • Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism (film, 2004)
  • Art Spiegelman, In the Shadow of No Towers (2004)
  • Video interviews with those electing martyrdom/suicide
  • Theoretical literature from the humanities and social sciences
Particulars: REL 490 is a required seminar for Religion majors. Graduating seniors will be given preference in enrollment. It is not open to nonmajors. REL 490 is a writing intensive (WR) seminar.

REL 495R: Directed Reading (honors) 

Faculty, (Permission of Instructor Required)

Content:  Independent research for senior major and joint major students selected to participate in the department's Honors program.  Readings on special topics in Religion as arranged between individual students and a specific member of the Department who consents to guide the student in her/his study, arrange requirements and appointments. 

REL 497R: Directed Reading 

Faculty, (Permission of Instructor Required)

Content: Readings on special topics in Religion as arranged between individual students and a specific member of the Department who consents to guide the student in her/his study, arrange requirements and appointments.

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