Department of Religion | Spring 2007 Course Atlas

Content: This course is an introduction to the religious traditions of Hinduism and Islam. Hinduism and Islam are not only two of the largest world religions, but also the fastest growing religious traditions in the United States today. These religious traditions offer various ways of knowing, experience, and identity for its myriad religious adherents. In this course, we will explore Hinduism and Islam through six interpretive categories, or “lenses.” These are: text, pilgrimage, ritual, gender, image, and community/identity. We will consider the ways in which scholarly categories, or the “outsider’s” view, illuminate (or not) how practitioners of Hinduism and Islam understand themselves and the world around them from “inside” their own religious tradition(s). The course will begin by introducing students to various methodological approaches to the scholarly study of religion and how scholarly categories affect the ways in which we perceive and understand the significance of religion in human societies and cultures.

Throughout the course, particularly after students have become familiarized with the foundational tenets, beliefs, and practices of Hinduism and Islam, we will do comparative work between these two traditions to discover where and how they are either similar or different, and what this might indicate for both traditions in general. The overall goal of the course is to provide students with an intellectual canopy within which they can not only contextualize representations of Hinduism and Islam in academic (and non-academic) discourse, but also critically consider both “what” and “how” these two traditions create for its religious practitioners.

Particulars: The course fulfills General Education Requirement V.C. (Nonwestern Cultures or Comparative and International Studies).

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

Content: This course will provide an introduction to the Christian and Buddhist traditions with the intent of fostering ethical dialogue in a comparative context. The class will be broken into thirds. During the first 1/3 of the class, we will discuss the historical grand narratives of these respective traditions. The purpose of this survey will be to provide a basis for a more critical analysis of the traditions and the possibilities of comparison. In the second 1/3 of the course we will delve into manifestations of Buddhism and Christianity vis-à-vis spiritual practices. For the final 1/3 of the class, we will read several literary works offering further insight into religious themes that we will have been discussing throughout the course. We will concentrate on key terms (such as suffering and death) within the history of Christian and Buddhist discourse and consider the ways in which spiritual practices and non-canonical texts confront the meanings of these terms.

Particulars: This course will require engaged participation in class discussions in an effort to promote ethical dialogue. In addition, we will write a series of reflection papers and one final paper in which students will select a key term and provide a comparison of that term across the traditions utilizing the analytical tools, concepts and practices developed during the course. This course will also include trips to religious sites around Atlanta.

The course fulfills General Education Requirement V.C. (Nonwestern Cultures or Comparative and International Studies).

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

REL 100: Introduction to Religions: Sacred Destinations: Pilgrimage in Christian and Hindu Traditions

Content: The course will inquire into the enduring process of pilgrimage in two major religious traditions. As sacred destinations, shrines locate aspects of religious meaning and draw devotees often across harsh and demanding landscapes. Along the way pilgrims intensify their religious sentiments, relax their social structures, and carry back home material objects and memories which they distribute through gifts and stories. In addition to being centers of religious meaning, shrines are also locations of commerce and politics. The course will look at individual shrines, including Canterbury, Jerusalem, Banaras, Hardwar, Gangotri. Along the way various theoretical models for interpreting pilgrimage will be considered. The course will conclude with several 'secular' pilgrimage centers such as Graceland, the Grand Canyon, and the Internet.

Texts:

Particulars: Meets 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.****

Content: This course is an introduction to the study of religions, to the comparison of religions, and to the relations between religions. In this case, we focus on Buddhism and Christianity. We will begin with short introductions to "Buddhism" and "Christianity." This will obviously supply only a bare minimum of information and vocabulary, but during the rest of the course we will learn more about each religion by considering them in relation.

“Comparison” is not a simple matter. We discuss the etiquette of dialogue with other peoples’ religions; "hermeneutic good will" and “epoche”; attention to the voices we listen to and the voices we speak with; and the possible goals and desires of such encounters.

We will analyze some examples of Christians talking about Buddhism, Buddhists talking about Christianity, and inter-religious dialogue. Still, for every case of dialogue, there are many more that are simply polemical—intended to show that one is right and one is wrong. The last part of the course concerns polemics. Rather than simply viewing polemics as a failure of dialogue, might there be some ways to “salvage” polemics, to learn something true from a biased representation?

Texts:

REL 190: Freshman Seminar: What is Mind?: Buddhism and Christianity in Theory and Practice

Content: Shantideva makes the point that human beings all want to be happy but act as if they are running away from happiness as fast as they can. Both Christianity and Buddhism have reflected for thousands of years about the nature of the human mind: capable of the deepest transformations toward bliss and love but constrained by actions that are destructive and self-destructive. This class will study texts from these traditions as well as the role of practices, especially contemplation, in understanding and transforming mind. Students will also engage a practice of their choice (meditation, a sport, a musical instrument, etc) which they will present to the class and which they will integrate into a final paper. The class will also employ film and field trips to extend our understanding of these traditions and the nature of mind.

Particulars: This course meets General Education Requirement I.C. (first-year seminar).

REL 190: Freshman Seminar: Using Stamps to Explore Religion and Culture

Blumenthal, TTh 2:30-3:45, (same as JS 190), MAX: 18 (13/5)

Course description: Issuing a stamp is a political and cultural statement, not just a utilitarian matter. A state’s attitudes toward religion, women, political justice, non-citizens, etc. are all expressed in the choice of the stamps it issues. Scholarship based on the study of stamps can reveal all these attitudes. This class will study the Sol Singer Collection of Philatelic Judaica, a stunning collection recently acquired by the University (http://marbl.library.emory.edu/DigitalExhibits/stamps/013.html).

The collection has three parts:(1) a complete collection of Israeli stamps with CD-rom catalogue; (2) a very fine collection of stamps on Jewish topics from all over the world (no catalogue); and (3) a collection of stamps that are not for mailing but were awards for fundraising for the new Jewish state. The class will have three goals: (1) to find or to develop a cataloguing system for the topical part of the Collection, (2) to write scholarly papers using the Collection, and (3) to make recommendations for the development of the Collection.

REL 190: Freshman Seminar: Saints and Mystics of the Middle East

V. Cornell, TTh 11:30-12:45, MAX 18 (same as MESAS 190), MAX: 18 (5/13)

Content: A comparative study of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic mysticism and sainthood in the Middle East and North Africa. Traditions studied will include Merkavah, Heikhalot, and Kabbalah mysticism in Judaism, Eastern Christian mysticism and hagiography, and the Sufi tradition in Islam. Special attention will be given to the comparative study of mystical concepts and language. Topics to be studied will include mysticism and sainthood as analytical concepts, conceptualizations of the divine, angelic hierarchies, the righteous sage, disciplines and the virtues, wisdom traditions, women’s spirituality, sainthood and power, and notions of the feminine in mystical writings

Texts:

Ruzbihan Baqli (Carl Ernst trans.), The Unveiling of Secrets: Diary of a Sufi Master
John Chryssavgis, In the Heart of the Desert: the Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
Vincent J. Cornell, The Way of Abu Madyan
Joseph Dan, The Early Kabbalah
John Anthony McGuckin, The Book of Mystical Chapters: Meditations on the Soul’s Ascent from the Desert Fathers and Other Early Christian Contemplatives
Gershom Scholem, On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead: Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah
Benedicta Ward, Harlots of the Desert: A Study of Repentance in Early Monastic Sources

REL 205: Biblical Literature

Content: This course will introduce the student to the study of the Hebrew Bible, also called the Old Testament by Christians. We will study the historical background and social context of these writings as well as their literary forms, structures and themes. Theological questions emerging from the biblical text will also be addressed and discussed. Prior study of the Bible is not required for taking this course, and no particular religious commitments or beliefs about the Bible are assumed or required. What is required is openness to exploring new and different ideas, and a willingness to engage in disciplined reading of the biblical texts.

Particulars: There will be three short (five pages) papers, one midterm and a final examination. This course fulfills General Education Requirement IV.A (Humanities).

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

Content: An overview of American religious history from roughly 1600 to the present. In addition to surveying the history of particular religious traditions in the United States, the course will explore forms of American religious expression tied to sexuality, sports, shopping, film, television, weddings and music. Along the way, we will address questions like: is the United States a Christian nation? What counts as religion, or as religious practice? What sources should we examine when we try to learn about religion in the past? Students will be expected to complete all reading, participate in class discussion and write one critical review, with other requirements to be determined.

Texts may include:

Particulars: This course meets General Education Requirement V.A. (United States history).

Content: Attempts to tell the story of Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection in the language of film are as old as the art form itself. Like Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, one of the most recent offerings in the “Jesus film” genre, almost every film taking Jesus as its subject has tended both to offend some viewers deeply and to move others profoundly. Given the intense personal devotion many people have to the figure of Jesus, the cultural significance of the Christian narrative and the checkered historical legacy of Christianity, both the mixture and the extremity of reaction is to be expected.

In this course, we will examine several well-known cinematic depictions of Jesus. We will examine each film in relation to the authoritative gospel texts from the Christian New Testament, in light of the historical context in which it was produced and on its own merits as an aesthetic object. We will not be examining these films to determine which representation of Jesus is most historically accurate, most biblically faithful or most theologically orthodox. Instead, we will examine both the biblical and cinematic narratives with an eye toward the specific choices they make in telling the story of Jesus of Nazareth. The guiding assumption of the course is that every story about Jesus is an argument for a particular understanding of the true character of Jesus, the appropriate response of the believer and the legitimate form of the Christian community. By examining a wide range of attempts to tell the story of Jesus, we will hopefully gain a better understanding of the contemporary cultural meanings of the Christian tradition.

Texts: Texts will include primary biblical texts and academic commentary as well as numerous articles and essays on the films of the course. Films will include The King of Kings (1927), The Gospel according to Saint Matthew (1964), Godspell (1973), Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Jesus of Montreal (1989), and The Passion of the Christ (2004).

Particulars: Students will be expected to read the assigned texts and watch the assigned films attentively and carefully. Students will also be expected to participate actively and productively in discussion. In addition to class sessions, students will be expected to attend weekly film screenings. Students will be required to write a short paper (5-7 pages) on the biblical materials, to write a short paper (5-7 pages) and make an in-class presentation on one of the films and to write a final research paper (10-12 pages). There will be no exams.

This course fulfills General Education requirement IV.A. No prerequisites in religion, biblical studies or film studies are expected.

REL 210RS: Classic Religious Texts: Talmud
Berger, TTh 8:30-9:45, (same as JS 210RS), MAX: 18 (13/5)

Course description: After the Bible, there is likely no text which has exerted as much influence on Jewish religion and culture as the Babylonian Talmud. Edited roughly 1500 years ago, it comprises the views and thoughts of almost five centuries of rabbinic scholars, who analyzed or commented on virtually every aspect of Jewish law and human existence. In this seminar-type course, we will take one chapter of the Babylonian Talmud and read it very closely in an English translation, trying first to understand the argument being made, and then to examine the nature and mindset of the authors and editors. The discussions we will read will also serve as a springboard for a general examination of the life and thought of Rabbinic Judaism. Depending on student interest, an optional additional hour (for credit) will be arranged during which the material will be studied in the original language.

Texts:

Course packet of talmudic material
Adin Steinsaltz, The Essential Talmud
Occasional articles, on reserve

Particulars: The class will be conducted in the style of the oral academies in which the Talmud evolved. Thus, students must be prepared to read and discuss the assignment for each class. Class participation is essential. The final exam will include both written and oral components. In addition to this class, students interested in studying the Talmud in the original may sign up for REL 497R WITH THE INSTRUCTOR'S PERMISSION and take a directed reading with the professor for one credit. Tentatively, we plan to meet for the hour after the Monday class session. This course fulfills General Education Requirement IV.A. (Humanities).

REL 210RWR: Classic Religious Texts: The Lives of the Ramayana, An Indian Classic

Content: The course will focus on the great Indian epic, the Ramayana, through its various versions from Valmiki, Kamban, Tulsidas, oral recitations, to contemporary television and comic book renditions, and its Thai version, the Ramakien. Issues of narrative, characterization, theology, and themes such as moral order (dharma), marriage, devotion, heroism, and sacrifice will be explored. Exploration will also be made of how the visual and performative arts depict key episodes of the story. The course will conclude with modern uses of the Ramayana story and the figure of Rama in contemporary Indian politics and national identities.

Particulars: In-class writing, short assignments, and a term paper (submitted in first-draft and final draft stages). This course fulfills General Education Requirement IV.A (Humanities) and the Writing Requirement.

Content: This course will explore classic texts in African American biblical interpretation. It will trace the development of this enterprise as a response to the call of black theologians for more liberating and liberated readings of the Bible, and chart the various trajectories this form of interpretation has taken.

REL 211: Western Religions: Judaism and Christianity

Gilders, TTh 10:00-11:15, Max: 20

Content: This course is an introduction to the historical and comparative study of Judaism and Christianity, closely related religious traditions with a long and complex history of interaction. Investigation of the two traditions will focus on the study of foundational stories in sacred texts of the two traditions (Exodus and the Gospel of Matthew), and of festivals (Passover and Easter) and rituals (Seder and Eucharist) through which the foundational stories are commemorated, relived and experienced. Thus, the study of religious ideas and beliefs will be closely integrated with the study of religious practices, with special attention to the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of religious life in Judaism and Christianity. The course is intended to provide both breadth of knowledge and some depth of understanding of key elements of the two traditions, and to serve as a basis for work in more focused and specialized courses. The course also functions, more generally, as an introduction to the academic historical and comparative study of religion. No prior study of either tradition is assumed or required.

Texts:

Particulars: This course meets General Education Requirement V.B (Historical Perspectives on Western Culture). Graded course work will consist of a midterm test, a final examination, several small quizzes, and two short papers (5-pgs. each). Students will be expected to come to class prepared to participate in discussion, and will also participate in an on-line discussion conference. Two films (“Prince of Egypt” and “The Passion of the Christ”) will be viewed outside of regular class time, and there will be two “field trip” site visits (to a church and a synagogue).

Borowski, TTh 10:00-11:15, (same as MESAS 251WR and JS 251WR), MAX: 15 (5 REL, 5 MESAS, 5 JS)

Course description: This course deals with everyday life in ancient Israel in the period between the settlement in the land (1200 BCE) and the destruction of the First Temple (586 BCE), covering the time of the Judges and the time of the Israelite monarchy under the kings of Judah and Israel. Topics will include religion of Israel and its neighbors, customs, city planning, the Israelite kitchen, agriculture, herding and the use of other animals, burials and cemeteries, warfare, status of women, music, the rich and powerful, and more.

Particulars: Examination: midterm (30%), paper (30%), and final (40%). No prerequisites. Open to all students.

McClintock, NOTE: new time: MWF 2:00-2:50, (same as ASIA 301), MAX: 20 (15/5)

Content: The purpose of this course is to provide an historical overview of the origins of the religious movements in India we now call "Hinduism." Through the reading of mythological, philosophical and poetic primary texts, as well as historical and anthropological studies, we will show how such a tradition was constructed through a set of ongoing tensions: between ascetic and sacrificer, between villager and city-dweller, between outcaste and brahmin, between poet and philosopher. In tracing these tensions throughout Indian history, we will: 1) examine the roots of Indian tradition; 2) master the basic terminology of Indian thought; 3) use that terminology to study the development of Indian philosophy and popular religious movements. We will focus in particular on the mediation of religious conflict, and how Hindus have served as intriguing figures in this regard.

Reinders, TTh 1:00-2:15, (same as ASIA 307), MAX: 20 (15/5)

Content: Chinese Buddhism is not just “Indian Buddhism, in China”; neither are Chinese and Japanese Buddhism the same thing. As Buddhism came to terms with Chinese culture, Buddhism transformed and was transformed by Chinese culture. As Buddhism went into Japan from China and/or via Korea, it was again transformed into something uniquely Japanese.

This course surveys the history and wide variety of different forms of Buddhism in China and Japan, with particular focus on the interactions of Buddhism with Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto; on monasticism; on the structure and iconography of Buddhist temples; on sacred mountains; on Buddhist poetry; on Chan and Zen Buddhism, and on Pure Land Buddhism.

Texts may include:

Content: How did have Jewish communities faced the challenges posed by modernity? This class uses literary, historical, philosophical and sociological material to explore this question. How did the various Jewish denominations emerge, first in Europe and then in

America

? What is the relationship between Zionism, good citizenship in

America

or in Europe and traditional Jewish religion? What are the special challenges facing contemporary Jewry in

Israel

and the

United States

? How has Jewish thought been influenced by the Holocaust? By feminism? This class focuses on Jewish religious and intellectual life, as well as how various Jewish communities have evolved in the modern period.

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 (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 likely be a mandatory film and discussion night several times during the semester.

Content: This seminar investigates the complex historical and sociological processes by which Buddhism has been transplanted in American soil during the last two centuries, focusing particularly on Buddhist groups and institutions within easy reach of Emory. Discussions, films, and fieldtrips to temples are integral to this course. Throughout, we will also investigate such issues as Orientalism, cultural accommodation, identity formation, immigration, conversion, and religious pluralism in our attempts to understand the various Buddhisms that exist today in the U.S.A.

Particulars: requirements include 1) a short presentation on a late 19 th-century person involved in the transplanting of Buddhism in American soil, 2) a short paper on some aspect of the early history of Asian Buddhism in North America, 3) a group presentation on a local Buddhist temple or center, and 4) a research paper on some aspect of Socially Engaged Buddhism.

REL 313: Modern Catholicism

Jordan and Zupko, TTh 11:30-12:45, MAX: 30

Content: "Modern Catholicism" is a question—and some would say a contradiction. Can the Roman Catholic church be or become modern while remaining itself? Using a wide variety of sources and approaches, we will pursue this question through both enduring Catholic practices and current disputes about church authority, the role of women, and sexual ethics.

Texts: The readings will be taken wherever possible from primary texts. Beyond official documents from popes and councils (including the new Cathechism), or selections from theologians and philosophers, we will include Dorothy Day's Long Loneliness, Thomas Merton's Seven Storey Mountain, stories by Flannery O’Connor, and Ron Hansen’s Mariette in Ecstasy.

Particulars: You will be expected to read the assigned texts carefully and to discuss them constructively. You will also be asked to write three short interpretive exercises (of about five pages each) and a final paper (of about fifteen pages) in several steps. There will be no examinations.

Martin, TTh 8:30-9:45, (same as MESAS 317S), MAX: 18 (13/5)

Content: This seminar analyzes the problem of Islam in modern history and focuses on religious responses to major events. Issues may include secularism and Post-Enlightenment modernism, reform movements, and Islamic liberalism.

REL 320: African-American Religion: Theoretical Issues in the Study of Black Religion: Race and Gender

Clark, MWF 10:40-11:30, (same as AAS 320), MAX: 20 (15/5)

Content: This course will explore the possibility and the reality of religion as a medium of, and impetus for, social protest against oppressive forces seeking to marginalize aspects of the black community both from without and within. How have race and gender oppression shaped the nature of black religion, and what are some theological and ethical reactions to these very different forms of oppression and exploitation? The course will be divided into two parts: the first will explore the problem of race in black religion and the second will interrogate the question of gender.

Texts:

Particulars:
3 papers: one 5 pg paper, one midterm paper (8-10 pgs), and a final paper (10-15 pgs). Periodic discussion group presentations.

Lipstadt, TTh 11:30-12:45, (same as JS 324 and HIST 385), MAX: 90 (40/40/10)

Course description: 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:

Particulars: There will be two in-class exams and a final. Students will write three short reaction papers. 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.

This course will explore the historical, cultural, political, and psychological realities which have shaped expressions of African American spirituality. As such, this course will examine the theoretical and practical aspects of African American religion and spirituality with a view to issues of African American personhood. Special attention will be given to the affects of race, class, gender and sexuality on African American persons against the backdrop of sociopolitical contexts. The course consists of careful reading and discussion of a variety of texts drawn from a variety of sources (literature, essays, popular culture such as music, television, film, art, etc.) to engage in a process of apprehending spiritual dynamics in accounts of everyday African American experiences. To this end, the course attempts to provide a framework for discerning and interpreting the spiritual dynamic across various media. For example, how does one recognize spirituality in healing rituals, in African American film, or in African American popular music? Students will join in the scholarly conversation about African American spirituality by asking and answering the question, “What is African American spirituality?” This course will also be concerned with culturally mediated expressions of spirituality that spark the tension between religiosity and spirituality. Students can expect to have a broadened knowledge of the intersections between spiritual/religious experiences of African American peoples and various social, political, economic, cultural and ethical issues.

Content: Hannah Arendt argues that the “total moral collapse of respectable society during the Hitler regime” was in part due to the unwillingness of the population to engage in critical thinking concerning what was happening. This class will engage in a close reading of works by Gabriel Marcel, Hannah Arendt, Simone Weil and others who provided philosophical analyses of some of the social and spiritual dynamics that produced the massive destruction of WWII. We will also read some fiction and watch a few films. The class will be conducted as a seminar and will encourage full participation from each student as we discuss the reading. In addition, students will undertake a research project on some aspect of war that they will present to the class and write up as a term paper. In the past, these presentations have included music from the death camps, the role of the media, human rights, and many other perspectives on historical and contemporary issues.

Content: This course, conducted as a seminar, explores the specialized combinations of words, sounds, actions, and objects that scholars of religion refer to as “ritual.” We will investigate ways of understanding, interpreting, and making sense of ritual. Our study of ritual will focus on sacrifice, a form of ritual practice in which various types of offerings (especially slaughtered animals) are given over for sacred purposes. The course will look at both historical and contemporary data on sacrifice with a concentration on the Bible and the Jewish and Christian traditions. We will, for example, look at the Jewish Passover and at the sacrificial language of the Christian Eucharist (also known as the Lord’s Supper or Mass). However, some attention will also be given to evidence and examples from other cultures and traditions, especially those in which sacrifice is still a living practice.

Particulars: Active and constructive participation in class discussion is a key component of this seminar course (which fulfills the advanced seminar requirement of the GERs). Students will also make in-class presentations on readings. Graded written work will consist of weekly submissions to an on-line “Learning Journal” (on Learnlink), a short (5-pgs.) paper, and a longer (10-pgs.) paper. Both papers will focus on the description and interpretation of ritual practice. There will also be a few small quizzes to check student mastery of basic course content, but no tests or examinations.

Content: Religion wields extraordinary influence in public and private life. Although a rich reservoir of values, principles, and ideals, it is also a powerful source of conflict and violence as diverse traditions hold views that often collide within religious traditions, between religions, and between religious and secular modes of being. Therefore, to explain conflict and violence in these various domains simply in terms of religion alone is limiting and inadequate. Further, to view all conflict in negative or destructive terms is to limit its transforming potential for individuals and societies. In this sense, students will be encouraged to recognize this transforming potential in their own conflict situations.

Given these considerations, this course explores some of the interdisciplinary work on religion, violence, and peace, and aims to give students a firm grasp of the major dynamics of conflict and violence, as well as a working understanding to the question, “why is there is so much violence in the name of religion?” We will continually apply our explored principles to current events and case studies such as the Middle East, Sudan, or reconciliation challenges of South Africa and Rwanda.

Content: Religion, therapy, healing, and spirituality are important concepts being studied across a wide range of disciplines. The view that therapy is scientific and rational, whereas religion is unscientific, irrational, and therefore primitive, has increasingly come under question. Far from dying out, the number and memberships of religions have been increasing, and attempts have been made to bridge the gap between religion and therapy. Hospitals, scientists and psychologists have increasingly been paying attention to religion, religious rituals, and religious personnel as an important part of healing and therapy, while increasing deaths due to chronic illnesses have revealed the limits of biomedicine, with the result that more and more people are considering the importance of spirituality, healing, and alternative medicine.

This class explores issues such as how to understand health, 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 using different frameworks such as anthropology, sociology, biomedicine, western psychology, and Buddhism.

Particulars: Class discussion and presentation are important aspects of this class and students are expected to actively participate in discussion and lead discussion based on assigned readings. There will be several papers, a mid-term exam, and a final project.

This course serves both as introduction to Buddhist thought and also an exploration of a particular theme. This year, the course focuses on the relationship between interdependence and emptiness, and this theme will form the focus of lectures to be presented during part of the semester by a visiting Tibetan philosopher, Sharpa Cho-Je Losang Tenzin.

Flueckiger and Penumarthi, MWF 11:45-12:35, (Same as ASIA 370; Dance 385), MAX: 18 (6/6/6)

Content: This is an interdisciplinary course in religion, dance, and South Asian studies. The course will provide a context in which to experience and analyze the nature of embodied knowledge and the creative power of performance, particularly in the Indian context. The focus of this class is to explore ways in which the body knows and participates in ritual and religious knowledge. We will pay particular attention to differences in the ways in which the body and dance are perceived in myth, sculpture/image, aesthetic theories, and dance itself. One class period (Fridays) will be spent learning basic movements of Kuchipudi classical dance under the instruction of master dancer, choreographer, and teacher Sasikala Penumarthi. The other two class periods will frame dance movement with discussions of Indian aesthetic theories, Hindu mythology (Kuchipudi dance choreography draws from Hindu mythological tradition), and western performance theories. We will consider "how and what performance creates" in practice, rather than just theory. No dance experience is necessary, but full participation is required.

Texts may include:

Particulars: Four short response papers, mid-term and final exams, attendance at two out-of-class performances of Indian dance, and class participation (including dance classes). Prerequisites: None.

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

Queen, NOTE **TIME CHANGE**: TTh 4:00-5:15, MAX: 18

Content: This course will analyze the relationship between religions, human rights, and the construction of civil society throughout the world. It begins with an extended analysis of how human rights are grounded and the role of religious traditions in the development of a human rights culture. It also will examine the extent to which religious traditions are helpful or detrimental to recognizing human rights and developing a viable civil society. Under what conditions? Additionally, it will analyze religion itself as a human right and how different legal regimes deal with individuals’ struggles to practice and teach religion.

Requirements: Given the small size of this class and the opportunities for discussion it provides, attendance is required. Regular attendance and active and
appropriate class participation count for 20% of the grade. The remaining
80% is distributed as follows two short reflection papers 25%, mid-term
examination 30%, final examination or research paper 35%.

Feige, TTh 2:30-3:45, (Same as SOC 389/JS 370), MAX: REL 10; SOC 20; JS 10; TOTAL=40

Content: Some consider Israel as “the Jewish state,” demanding that the state be constructed along the lines of the halacha; most Israeli Jews are content to see “the State of the Jews,” a place where Jews can hold their identity and strive without fear of persecution. This course will explore the meaning and various manifestations of the intersection between Jewish religion and the State of Israel. Its focus would be on the main Jewish religious communities: the Haredim (Ultra-orthodox), the National Religious and Shas (the Mizrahi Haredim), and the new versions of modern Judaism that are currently developing and expanding. The Israeli case can exemplify how religions encounter the challenges of modernity and nationalism through processes of transformation and accommodation.

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
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.

Content: This course is a survey of Shiite Islam with emphasis on the Twelver or Imami tradition, examining how Shiism has shaped Islamic history in general. Topics covered will include historical conflicts over leadership of the community; the lives of the Imams; Islamic conceptions of religious authority, heresy, and orthodoxy; Shiite dynasties; Shiite scholarly traditions; and relations between Islamic minority groups and the majority. Prior knowledge of Islamic history is helpful but not required.

REL 470S: Joint Seminar in Philosophy and Religion: Post-Holocaust Jewish Theology

Content: The classic religious question of theodicy -- reconciling God and the existence of evil -- received renewed interest after the Holocaust. This course will closely examine the radical as well as traditional arguments and approaches taken by Jewish theologians in the half century since the destruction of European Jewry.

Particulars: Permission of instructor required. Weekly reading, in-class presentations by students, final paper.

Permission of Instructor is Required

NOTE: The booklist and initial class assignments will be posted at www.law.emory.edu/registrar in December. Law classes start the week of January 8.

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.

Particulars: No prerequisites. Grading criteria: paper or take-home exam. Law school classes begin the week of January 8th.

Permission of Instructor is Required

NOTE: The booklist and initial class assignments will be posted at www.law.emory.edu/registrar in December. Law classes start the week of January 8.

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; the freedom of religious exemptions and their limits; exercise of and limitations on religious law and discipline, control and disposition of religious property; and other issues.

Particulars: Classes will consist of lecture and discussion. Students will be given a take-home examination to be distributed to the last day of class and to be returned the last day of the examination period. Enrollment in History of Church-State Relations in the West or American Constitutional Law is NOT a prerequisite to enrollment in this course.

An-Na`im, TuTh 2:00-3:30, (same as LAW 627, 02A), 3 hrs, MAX: 10

Permission of Instructor is Required

NOTE: The booklist and initial class assignments will be posted at www.law.emory.edu/registrar in December. Law classes start the week of January 8.

Content: The objective of this course is to introduce students to the nature, sources and techniques of Islamic Law ( Shari`a), and its main concepts, principles and rules. However, class discussions will focus on the relationship between Shari`a and modern legal systems, as well as its social and cultural impact on present Islamic societies.

Following a discussion of the nature, sources and early development of Shari`a, we will review the main substantive aspects of this legal tradition, namely, property and transactions, family law, criminal law, and constitutional law and inter-communal, international law. The last section of the course will examine the relationship between Shari`a and the legal systems of modern states, especially in relation to international terrorism and international and humanitarian law in the aftermath of September 11,2001.

• 25% for a 3000 to 4000 words paper on the nature and development of Shari`a in relation to issues of its modern application.

• 75% for a 7000-8000 words paper on a topic agreed with the instructor. This final paper is due by first day of Law School examination period.

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

Berman, TuTh 12:00-1:30, (same as LAW 768, 12A), 3 hrs, MAX: 10

Permission of Instructor is Required

NOTE: The booklist and initial class assignments will be posted at www.law.emory.edu/registrar in December. Law classes start the week of January 8.

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 18 th 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.

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.

Harris, MW 6:00-8:00 PM, (same as LAW 648, 06A), 2 hrs, MAX: 3

Permission of Instructor is Required

NOTE: The booklist and initial class assignments will be posted at www.law.emory.edu/registrar in December. Law classes start the week of January 8.

Content: Canon law, the law of the Christian Church, has both influenced and been influenced by the societies in which it has operated. History of Canon Law will explore the history of this legal system from both perspectives. First, it will consider the canon law’s influence on the development of temporal legal systems, including the English common law. Second, it will consider ways in which historical movements such as the Reformation and Enlightenment have shaped attitudes about the role of the canon law in both the Church and society.

REL 472R: Topics in Religion: Seminar: International Women's Human Rights

NOTE: The booklist and initial class assignments will be posted at www.law.emory.edu/registrar in December. Law classes start the week of January 8. Selection: Permission of Instructor

Content: In many parts of the world, women are discriminated against, abused, treated as property, and even murdered simply because of their ‘status’as women. This seminar will explore the rights and remedies afforded women under international human rights law and regional human rights mechanisms. Major human rights instruments, including the U.N. Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, The European and American Conventions on Human Rights, The African Charter on Human and People's Rights, and the EEC's Equal Treatment Directive will be examined.

Particulars: A substantial research paper on a women's human rights issue is required.

REL 472R: Topics in Religion: Literature, Negation, Existence

J Robbins, TTh 11:30-12:45, (same as CPLT 490), MAX: 16 (8/8)

Content: In this course we will read closely major works by Fyodor Dostoevsky in the context of philosophical and critical writings by Alexander Kojève, Albert Camus, Maurice Blanchot and Mikhail Bakhtin. We will investigate the way in which crime in Dostoevsky, as the dramatization of the metaphysics of freedom, ultimately poses religious and ethical questions. We will also follow out the themes of alienation, nihilism, the problem of the other and the double.

V Robbins, (Permission of Instructor Required), Thurs 2:30-5:30, MAX: 30

Content: Religious literature persuades both by evoking pictures in the mind and by advancing reasoning supported by common experiences. Recent studies of human thinking, based on language usage, brain function, body gesture, social location, and personal networking, provide new resources for understanding the rhetorical nature of speech and writing. Using these resources, rhetorical analysts and interpreters have gained new status and importance across all disciplines of study in the sciences, literature, history, philosophy, and the arts. Religion, religious speech, and religious writings are central players in this resurgence of interest in rhetoric as a discipline of study and a guide for analysis, interpretation, and constructive thinking, writing, and action.

This seminar will focus on the dynamic relation of rhetography (communication that evokes pictures in the mind) and rhetology (communication that is explicitly argumentative) in religious speech, writing, ritual, and community. Participants will be encouraged to study multiple religious traditions as a way of gaining new insights on religious traditions they know well.

Participants in the seminar will read both ancient and modern primary and secondary sources as guides to rhetorical theory, analysis, interpretation, and construction. Individual participants may choose between rhetography and rhetology as a major focus, but all will be asked to interrelate ways in which religious speech, writing, and/or modern technology both evoke pictures in the mind and use argumentation for purposes of persuading audiences.

Particulars: In addition to regular reports on the readings, participants will write short papers as a means to progress toward the successful writing of a major research paper. Multiple powerpoints and pod casts will be available on Blackboard to assist the process of teaching and learning. Satisfies post-freshman writing requirement.

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.

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.