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Spring 2008 Course Atlas

REL 100: Introduction to Religions: Christianity & Buddhism: A Case Study in Interreligious Dialogue and Comparison

Edward Falls, MWF 11:45-12:35, MAX: 30

Content: This course has three main goals: (1) to provide students with a grounding in the basic vocabularies and historical circumstances of two major world religions, Buddhism and Christianity; (2) to introduce students to the practice of comparative studies by means of a case study in comparison between these two religions; and (3) to introduce students to developments in interreligious dialogue between representatives of the two religions. Methodological and hermeneutical issues will arise in connection with each of these goals, and, of course, the philosophical or practical question, "Why study interreligious comparison and dialogue?" shall not be ignored. For the purposes of the comparative section of the course, the analytical focus will be on the categories of "philosophy" and "mysticism."

For a sample of the kind of questions to be taken up: To what extent are Buddhist philosophers' conclusions compatible with Christian philosophers' conclusions (and what are Buddhist and Christian philosophers, anyway—are there any)? Is there a common mystical core, or a common reality, about which Buddhist and Christian mystical texts communicate to adherents of these religions (or to us?), or are such texts only comparable from the perspectives of literary, historical, or sociological analyses? Questions and conclusions from this part of the course will carry over to the part concerned with dialogue between Buddhists and Christians. A historical narrative will be proposed in which to frame recent developments in the continuing dialogue between Christians and Buddhists, and particular instances of such dialogue will be examined in the light of the comparative investigation described above.

Tentative Texts:

• The Foundations of Buddhism by Rupert Gethin
• Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations by Paul Williams
• An Introduction to Christianity by Linda Woodhead
• Mūlamadhyamakakārikā by Nāgārjuna
• selections from the Summa Theologiae by St. Thomas Aquinas
• selections from the sermons, commentaries, and treatises of Meister Eckhart
• selections from the Grub 'mtha mdzod of Klong chen rab 'byams pa
• Zen and the Birds of Appetite by Thomas Merton
• The Good Heart: A Buddhist Perspective on the Teachings of Jesus by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, edited by Robert Kiely
• other photocopied articles to be announced.

Particulars:

(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

John Weaver, TuTh 8:30-9:45, Max: 30

Content: This course introduces issues and methodologies within the academic study of religion through critical analysis of Christianity and Islam. We will focus on past and present experiences of religious texts, traditions, and rationalities. 

Particulars: In addition to readings, discussions, and class presentations, the course will incorporate site-visits to both Christian and Muslim places of worship.

(2/3 reserved for freshmen)

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

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

Paul Courtright, MWF 9:35-10:25, Max: 60

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 that 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 several individual shrines, including Compostela, Lourdes, Banaras, Kedarnath. Various theoretical models for interpreting pilgrimage will be considered. An important part of the course will be a pilgrimage from the Emory campus to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site (4.2 miles). The course will conclude with several 'secular' American pilgrimage centers such as Niagara Falls, the Vietnam Memorial, and the Internet.

Texts:

• Pramila Jaypal, Pilgrimage to India
• William Sax, Mountain Goddess
• Craig Bartholomew and Fred Hughes, ed.  Explorations in a Theology of Christian Pilgrimage
• Raymond Micalowski and Jill Dubisch, Run for the Wall
• Simon Coleman and John Elsner, Pilgrimage
• James Washington, Ed.  A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr.  
• Victor Turner, Process, Performance, and Pilgrimage: A Study in Comparative Symbology

(2/3 reserved for freshmen)

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

REL 190: Freshman Seminar: Chinese Buddhism

Eric Reinders, MWF 12:50-1:40, (same as CHN 190), Max: 10 REL/8 CHN

Content: This course introduces the long history, varied culture, and spiritual richness of Buddhism in China. Starting with a brief historical overview from the first century CE to the present, we will outline Chinese adaptations of Indian Buddhism, noting nativizing schools such as Tiantai, the relations of Buddhism and the Chinese political order, the relations of Buddhism with Confucianism and Taoism, and the lives of monks and nuns. We will examine Mahayana Buddhism in general, especially Pure Land Buddhism and Chan (better known in its Japanese pronunciation, Zen). As part of a study of monasteries, sacred space, and sacred mountains, we will also examine the iconography and popular lore of the pantheon of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and deities represented in Chinese temples.

Texts: Readings may include:

• Xu Yun, Empty Cloud: The Autobiography of the Chinese Zen Master
• Beata Grant, Daughters of Emptiness: Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns
• John Kieschnick, The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Medieval Chinese Hagiography
• A selection of articles and excerpts

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

Blumenthal, Tu Th 1:00-2:15, (same as JS 190), Max: 5 REL/ 5 JS

Content: 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/default.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.

Particulars: The students, together with the instructor, will have to design the research plan, identify the methods to be used, and do the work. Graduate students, outside consultants, and research funding will be available but a high standard of performance is expected.

REL 190S: Archaeology and the Bible

Borowski, Tu Th 10:00-11:15, (same as MESAS 190S/JS 190S) Max: 4 REL/10 MESAS/ 4 JS)

Content: An introduction to the field of Biblical Archaeology with careful examination of theory and methodology. The famous discoveries (inscriptions, architecture) and important sites (Megiddo, Hazor, Gezer, Dan) which form the historical background to some of the biblical stories will be examined as well as issues and topics such as the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac,Jacob), Exodus (Moses,) and settlement of Canaan (Joshua), the kings of Israel and Judah, and more. Other topics that will be studied include daily life, religion and ancient art. There will be a few early evening video screenings on related topics.

Texts:

• Walter E. Rast, Through the Ages in Palestinian Archaeology, (Philadelphia: Trinity Press International, 1992)
• H.G. May, Oxford Bible Atlas, (New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press), 3rd edition
• The Bible (recommended Oxford Study Bible)
• Course Packet

Particulars: Weekly reports (35%), 2 papers (25%+15%); oral reports (25%). This course fulfills the methodology requirements fora Minor in Mediterranean Archaeology.

REL 210R: Classic Religious Texts: The Dead Sea Scrolls

David Lambert, Tu Th 1:00-2:15, (same as JS 210R), Max: 20 REL/10 JS

Content: This course aims to introduce students to the Dead Sea Scrolls, their contents and the significance of their discovery. We will examine the various kinds of literature found at Qumran and related works from around the turn of the Common Era. We will also consider the history, practices, and organizational structure of the sect that preserved and produced these documents. Our focus will be on assessing how the discovery of this ancient library has impacted our understanding of early Christianity and ancient Judaism. What light do the beliefs of the sectarians shed on the worldview of other ancient Jews, e.g. Jesus, Paul, and the Rabbis? Emphasis will also be placed on understanding the role of Scripture at the time.

Texts:

• The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (trans. Geza Vermes) (Penguin Classics, 2004).
• The New Oxford Annotated Bible (ed. Michael D. Coogan) (Oxford University Press, 2007).
• Cohen, Shaye J.D. From the Maccabees to the Mishnah (Westminster John Knox Press, 2006).
• Schiffman, Lawrence. Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls: The History of Judaism, the Background of Christianity, and the Lost Library of Qumran (Doubleday, 1995).

Particulars: There will be one paper (5-7 pages), a few short writing assignments (1-2 pages), and a final exam. Attendance, careful preparation, and active participation in class discussions will constitute a significant portion of the course grade.

REL 210R: Classic Religious Texts: Mahayana Buddhist Sutras

Eric Reinders, MWF 10:40-11:30, (same as ASIA 210R), Max: 25 REL/ 10 ASIA

Content: This is a general survey of the scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism, which began in India and Central Asia and became the main form of Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, and Mongolia. After a general introduction to early Buddhism, we will read the highly influential Lotus Sutra and a commentary on it by the monk Daosheng, the Vimalakirti Sutra, the key Pure Land scriptures, and portions of the Huayan Sutra, Perfection of Wisdom literature, and a selection of shorter sutras and other texts. We will discuss the nature of the doctrinal development of the Mahayana and the problematic category “Hinayana,” the expanded (and eventually “cosmic”) redefinition of the Buddha, Buddhist saviors and devotion, and ideas such as awakening, Buddha-nature, emptiness, and the inter-relatedness of all things.

Texts: Readings may include:

• Scripture of the Lotus Blossom of the Fine Dharma
• The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti Sutra
• The Land of Bliss: The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light
• A selection of photocopied readings.

REL 210: Classic Religious Texts: Ecclesiastes

David Blumenthal, Tu Th 2:30-3:45, (same as JS 210), Max: 5 REL/5 JS

Content: One of the most perplexing books of the Bible is Ecclesiastes because of its rigorous critique of all human effort. This course will attempt to read the whole book closely and to determine: its main arguments, its main structure, and why it was included in the Bible since it seems almost cynical.

Texts: The only required text is a Bible. I will ask students to take out of the library (or put on reserve) various commentaries to Ecclesiastes.

REL 211S: Western Religions: Transformations

Thee Smith, Tu Th 11:30-12:45, Max: 18

Content: What is “religion” and what makes a religion “Western”? How did Christianity emerge from ancient Judaism in the Middle East to become predominantly Western (and what does that mean)? How has Judaism itself been transformed in its European context to become a Western tradition at large? And what makes Islam a Western tradition among others? When we turn to Native American religions North and South, African heritage religions (e.g., African American churches), and new communities like the Bahai’ or ‘New Age,’ what makes them partly Western and partly not? Even among traditional forms of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, what remains non-Western?

Beginning with classical Greek and Roman traditions this course will address such questions first historically and sociologically but primarily in terms of the religious commitments of the traditions involved. We will explore for example the shared background of our rival traditions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Abrahamic & Hellenistic cousins) and how their specifically religious commonalities bind them together (as Western) on the one hand, and create conflicts on the other. Most exciting is the opportunity to explore this course hypothesis: that religion is central to the cultural transformations that are challenging and recreating Western culture before our eyes.

Texts:

• Eugene B. Borowitz, Choices in Modern Jewish Thought (Behrman, 1995)
• John B. Cobb, Transforming Christianity and the World (Orbis,1999)
• Paula M. Cooey, et al., eds. After Patriarchy: Feminist Transformations of the World Religions (Orbis, 1991)
• Willard G. Oxtoby, ed., World Religions: Western Traditions (Oxford, 2002)
• Tariq Ramadan, Western Muslims and the Future of Islam (Oxford, 2004)
• Richard Rubenstein, Aristotle’s Children: How Christians, Muslims & Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom & Illuminated the Dark Ages (Harcourt, 2003)

Particulars:

Course evaluations will be based on four research questions, with the last three questions including feminist transformations of religion and culture:

1) What is “religion” and what makes it “Western”? (Oxtoby throughout & Rubenstein)

2) How is Judaism transforming Western civilization and culture? (Borowitz & Cooey)

3) How is Islam transforming Western civilization and culture? (Ramadan & Cooey)

4) How is Christianity transforming Western civilization and culture? (Cobb & Cooey)

REL 215: Greek and Roman Religion

Sandra Blakely, Tu Th 4:00 - 5:15, (same as CL 215), Max: 15 REL/15 CL

This course explores the ritual realities of the ancient Greek and Roman world through a combination of archaeological evidence and ancient texts.

We will begin with Bronze Age Crete and end with the onset of Christianity in Rome; along the way we will encounter burials, civic festivals, hero cults, magic, and mystery initiations, and explore the relationship between political and religious power, the introduction of new gods, and the economics of cult activity.

REL 305: Early & Medieval Buddhism

John Dunne, Tu Th 10-11:15, (same as ASIA 305), Max: 25 REL/10 ASIA

Content: What is happiness, and how does one obtain it? Why do humans suffer, and how can we stop our suffering? These are the fundamental questions that animate the teachings of the Buddha, the “Awakened One,” who left his life of privilege some 2,500 years ago set out to seek the answers. Despite the great diversity of Buddhist practices and beliefs, these questions and their various answers still remain at the core of the Buddhist traditions that survive to this day. Focusing on the first 1,500 years of Buddhism’s development, we will examine how the predecessors of contemporary traditions, despite their disagreements and divergences, consistently place the twin methods of philosophical analysis and contemplative practice at the heart of the Buddhist path. With this in mind, we will attempt to see how these twin methods might reveal some continuity within the wide variety of Buddhist philosophies and practices in South Asia up until the end of the first millennium (C.E.). At the same, we will also be mindful of the unique development of Buddhist institutions and their relation to the wider culture in which they are embedded.

Texts: Our texts will include: Rupert Gethin, The Foundations of Buddhism; Paul Williams, Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Philosophical Foundations;Selections from Buddhist sūtras and systematic philosophical works; A variety of secondary works on specific aspects of Buddhist thought and practice, including works by G. Dreyfus, J. Garfield, Lama, and several others. C. Hallisey, M Kapstein, D. Lopez, T. Tillemans, H.H. the Dalai Lama.

REL 306S: Tibetan Buddhism

Satya Negi, Tu Th 11:30- 12:45, (same as ASIA 306S), Max: 13 REL/5 ASIA

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 308: Judaism

Michael Berger, M 2:00-3:45 and W 2:00-2:50, (same as JS 308), MAX: 20 (15 REL/5 JS)

Content: In this course, Judaism—the religion of the Jews—will be studied from an historical perspective that emphasizes the growth and evolution of Judaism through time in various social, cultural, and political settings. The longer Monday session will be dedicated to understanding the context of a particular period or subject, and the Wednesday class will focus on a particular text to be analyzed in seminar fashion.  We will explore the history and development of the life and year cycles, ritual practice and liturgy, and major beliefs and theological concepts, including Rabbinic authority, mysticism, pietism, and messianism. The course will cover the development of ‘classical’ pre-Modern Judaism from its roots in ancient Israel to the late Middle Ages in the Christian and Islamic worlds. Students with a special interest in modern Judaism should take JS/REL309 (Modernization of Judaism) instead of or in addition to this course.

Texts:

• Jewish Publication Society Tanakh (1985)
• The Complete ArtScroll Siddur (Weekday/Sabbath/Festival)
• Martin Jaffee, Early Judaism, 2 nd ed.
• Jacob Marcus, The Jew in the Medieval World

Particulars: Regular attendance, careful preparation, and active participation in class discussion are expected. Graded work will consist of a mid-term and final exam, with regular assignments each week.

REL 313WR: Modern Catholicism

Mark Jordan /Cayenne Claassen-Luttner, Tu Th 8:30-9:45, 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 Catechism), or selections from theologians and philosophers, we will read memoirs or novels and study selected images or films.

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.

REL 317: Modern Islam

Abbas Barzegar, Tu Th 10:00-11:15, (same as MES 317), Max: 15 REL/5 MES

Content: The purpose of the course is to understand Islam in the contemporary world through a study of its history, society, institutions, as well as its various relationships to the non-Muslim world.  The task is to try to understand the many manifestations and transformations of Islam from the pre-modern to the modern periods, with an emphasis on Islam during the Colonial period, the trauma of Post-colonialism, and the rise of nationalism.  A significant portion of the course will be spent discussing Muslims and Islamic discourses in Europe and North America and their relationships to the broader Muslim world.  Also and inevitably, the variegated subject of political Islam will be treated in its historical and religious contexts. 
 
Texts:

• Sayyid Qutb, Milestones
• Omid Safi, Progressive Muslims
• John Voll, Modern Islam: Continuity and Change in the Modern World
• TBA
   

Particulars: Class discussion and active student participation will be the pedagogical center-pieces of this course.  As such, journal postings and class presentations are a regular feature of the course.  Readings will be supplemented with, not summarized by, lectures.  Students will engage in possible site-visits and regularly deal with primary source and multi-media materials in order to acquire an ability to critically examine the role of Islam in the current political moment.   

REL 320SWR: African American Religion: Encounters, Translations, and Meanings in Black Religious Thought and Expression

Dianne Stewart, Tu Th 1:00-2:15, (same as AAS 320SWR), Max: 13 REL/5 AAS

Content: This course invites students to participate in the ongoing scholarly exercise of mapping the definitive events, traditions and experiences in African American religious formation in the context of the United States. Our engagement with this rich and instructive legacy will be twofold bridging conversations in historical and theological approaches to African American religious studies.  In accenting the ambiguous and multi-layered terrain of religious encounters, translations, and meanings characteristic of African American experiences during the slave period, in the first half of the course, we will access this moment through a disciplined engagement with the tools and methods of historical inquiry. Subsequently, during the second half of the course, we will examine the specific uses of primary and secondary historical sources in African American religious thought with emphasis on Black/womanist liberation theology.

The rationale for such an inter-disciplinary study is to generate a more rigorous interrogation of the claims and methods guiding the research on African American religion. As such, students will be encouraged to engage both primary source material and secondary scholarship with original and imaginative insight as we raise questions about what constitutes credible sources for our study of African American religious expression during the slave period and which criteria justify the selective use of historical material in the constructive theological projects of Black religious thinkers.  Thus our investigation is aimed at: (1) discovering new ways to identify and theorize about the nuances typifying Black religious experience in such a way that what appears transparent in this experience does not obscure its more vague and intangible features; and (2) subjecting the scholarly retrieval of this religious legacy to critical scrutiny gleaned from a careful inspection of source material and contextualized interpretations of a people’s religious history.

Texts: Course readings will be selected from the following texts:

• Albert Raboteau, Slave Religion: The “Invisible Institution” in the Antebellum South
• Albert Raboteau, A Fire in the Bones: Reflections on African American Religious History
• Yvonne Chireau, Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition
• Sharla Fett, Working Cures: Healing, Health and Power on Southern Slave Plantations
• Janet Cornelius, Slave Missions and the Black Churches in the Antebellum South
• James Cone, God of the Oppressed
• Dwight Hopkins and George Cummings, Cut Loose Your Stammering Tongue: Black Theology in the Slave Narratives
• Dwight Hopkins, Down Up and Over: Slave Religion and Black Theology
• Wil Coleman, Tribal Talk: Black Theology, Hermeneutics, and African/American Ways of ‘ Telling the Story ’
• Josiah Young, A Pan African Theology: Providence and the Legacies of the Ancestors
• Delores Williams, Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk
• JoAnne Terrell, Power in the Blood: The Cross in the African American Experience
• Kelly Brown Douglas, What’s Faith Got to Do with It: Black Bodies, Christian Souls
• Sylvester Johnson, The Myth of Ham in Nineteenth-Century American Christianity: Race, Heathens and the People of God

Particulars: Assignments: 2 Short papers, Final seminar paper. Given the writing intensive nature of the course, students will have the option of building upon previous work for their final seminar papers. There are no prerequisites for this course.

REL 322: Religion & Sexuality

Brintnall, MWF 10:40-11:30, Max: 25

Content: It is part of the common wisdom that religion is anti-sex and anti-body. More nuanced expressions note this opposition infects only traditions arising in the West. Others place blame solely at the feet of Christianity and its traditions. While all of these generalizations can point to examples that bolster their claims, none of them can withstand much serious scrutiny. As much as religious practices have sought to overcome the body, religious images have also celebrated bodily desires as metaphors of yearning for the sacred. As much as traditions in “the East” have relied on sexual practice to access the sacred, traditions in “the West” have a rich history of erotic metaphors for the Divine, and sexual asceticism has a powerful hold across this arbitrary geographical divide. While the history of Christianity overflows with instances of sexual and gender oppression, its central proclamation is that God has been revealed in human flesh, born from the body of a woman. If any generalization about religion and sexuality is true, it is that the relation between religious and sexual experiences is fraught with tension, complexity, contradiction and possibility.

Although a single, semester-long course cannot possibly do justice to the depth and breadth of even one religious tradition’s understanding of sexuality, this course will trace some of the central themes and pose some of the relevant questions. It will consist of three units. The first will briefly examine the major religious traditions – Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism – to determine what resources each offers for thinking about sexuality. The second will focus on particular sexual issues and identities – for example, marriage, birth control, abortion, homosexuality, ex-gay movements, celibacy, transgenderism – to see what various traditions have said about them. Finally, we will explore how a single religious tradition, Christianity, might be reframed and reimagined if erotic desire were the primary frame of reference for interpreting its texts, narratives and rituals.

Texts: Readings will be drawn from David Marchacek, Melissa Wilcox and Frank Korom’s Sexuality and the World’s Religions, Virginia Burrus and Catherine Keller’s Toward a Theology of Eros, Mark Jordan’s The Ethics of Sex and Georges Bataille’s Erotism, among other sources.

Particulars: Students will write a short (5-7 page) essay at the conclusion of each unit as well as a final research paper. The course will be reading intensive and students will be expected to participate actively and constructively in discussion. There will be no exams.

REL 326S: Spiritual Dynamics of Afro-America: Black Theology Since the New Millennium

Dianne Stewart, Tu Th 10:00-11:15, (same as AAS 326S), Max: 13 REL/8 AAS

NOTE: THIS CLASS IS GOING TO BE CHANGED TO AN ADVANCED SEMINAR. (There will be a delay in this showing up on OPUS. After Freshman bidding, it will appear with the "S" designation.)

Content: Erupting from the political and spiritual ferment of the civil rights and Black power movements, a novel school of thought was inaugurated with the launching of Black theology in the latter twentieth century. Disciplined by the two chief branches of Black radicalism, the architects of this theological movement claimed inspiration from the legacies of the two personalities who came to embody the spiritual and political strivings guiding the African American quest for freedom during this era: Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Almost forty years have passed since the first expressions of academic Black theology emerged with an agenda for liberating African Americans and other marginalized groups from oppressive and unjust structures in the church and society. Yet, after three generations of prolific intellectual production, there is much concern that this corpus of scholarship remains on the periphery of American public discourse and in academic isolation from many traditional Black ecclesial institutions. This under-tapped reservoir of prophetic theological and ethical reflection continues to be anonymous to so many in the American public and can hardly compete for the attention of the Black masses in the face of more popular theologies espoused by the multitude of charismatic non-denominational churches now littering the American landscape.

As Black theology has expanded over the years to address an increasingly complex range of intersecting social issues, including racism, sexism, homophobia, religious conflict, and economic and environmental injustice, this course seeks to explore the most recent works in the field with the aim of discerning the particular foci of its liberation project today. Through rigorous encounters with select texts and contexts narrating an African American tradition of Christian thought and praxis, students will be invited to: (1) wrestle with the plethora of issues posed by and to academic Black theology in our current milieu; (2) enter a critical conversation about the constructive nature and task of Christian theological reflection; (3) become conversant with particular methods and conceptual categories in the discipline of Christian theology; and (4) discover their own theological or ethical perspectives in dialogue with those interrogated in class.

Texts:

Students will read selections from the following texts:

• James Cone, Risks of Faith: The Emergence of a Black Theology of Liberation: 1968-1998
• Dwight Hopkins, Being Human: Race, Culture, and Religion
• Kelly Brown Douglas, What’s Faith Got to Do with It: Black Bodies, Christian Souls
• Clarence Hardy, Baldwin’s God: Sex, Hope and the Crisis in Black Holiness
• Josiah Young, Dogged Strength within the Veil: Africana Spirituality and the Mysterious Love of God
• Karen Baker Fletcher, Dancing with God: The Trinity from a Womanist Perspective
• Elaine Crawford Brown, Hope in the Holler: A Womanist Theology
• Marcia Riggs, Plenty Good Room: Women Versus Male Power in the Black Church
• Dale Andrews, Practical Theology for Black Churches: Bridging Black Theology and African American Folk Religion
• Emilie Townes, Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil
• Traci West, Disruptive Christian Ethics: When Racism and Women’s Lives Matter
• Dwight Hopkins, Heart and Head: Black Theology Past, Present, and Future

Particulars: There are no prerequisites for this course.

Assignments:

• Take home exam
• Class Presentation
• Final paper

REL 329: Religion and Ecology: Emory as Place - Sustainability and Spiritual Practices

Patterson/Wegner, Mon 2:00-4:45, (same as ENVS 329), Max: 10 REL/10 ENVS, TPL

Content:  This class explores the relationship between nature, religion and culture. Examining Christian and Buddhist conceptions of nature, ecosystem's natural histories and ecologies, and meanings of 'place,' the course explores how ecological and religious conceptions and practices frame relationships and responsibilities among the living earth, plants, animals, and humans. It also examines contemporary issues including climate change, urbanization, and globalization in relation to humans' understandings and interactions (perceptions and practices) with nature to promote sustainability and belonging to place. Using Emory as our major field site, the course will involve regular outdoor exercises and some field trips beyond campus.

This class is a Theory Practice Learning class, meaning that participants should expect to engage in learning activities outside. Some of these activities will reflect religious ideas and practices while others will reflect ecosystem principles and fieldwork techniques from environmental studies. Opportunities for students to develop their own practices place, sustainability, and spirituality will be included.

Texts:

• Forest Meditations
• Selected Texts from the Early Christian Monastic Writings
• 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 selected articles

REL 350: Jesus and the Gospels

Vernon Robbins, Tu Th 11:30-12:45

Content: Differing views of Jesus existed during the first two centuries as well as today. Discoveries of lost ancient writings and excavations of forgotten archeological sites during the last fifty years have brought these differing views to light for scholar and general reader alike. This course will begin with the New Testament gospels and work progressively through ten or twelve Christian gospels and fragments of gospels written during the first two or three centuries. While studying these gospels, students also will read modern studies and debates about the historical Jesus and the different faces of Jesus in early Christianity and in the present.

Texts:

• Robert Miller (ed.), The Complete Gospels 
• The New Oxford Annotated Bible
• Gerd Theissen & Annette Merz, The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide
• Vernon K. Robbins, Exploring the Texture of Texts

REL 353RS: Mystical Thought and Practice: Women Contemplatives

Wendy Farley, Tu Th 2:30-3:45, (same as WS 385S), Max: 10 REL/8 WS

Content: Mysticism has been a primary way women’s religious and theological writings have entered the Christian tradition, though this literature is often disparaged as merely subjective or private. In fact, the writings of contemplative women represent a particularly rich reworking of central themes within Christianity and also creative ways to live within confining church structures. This class will focus particular attention on the writings of women from the middle ages, attempting to draw out the distinctive understanding of Christianity that emerges from this literature. We will also read some contemporary historians who have provided crucial context for understanding these figures. Because practice is intimately connected to the writings, we will explore the role of practice in the development of theological and spiritual writings. We will investigate some of the practices the writers engaged and practice meditation in class ourselves. We will conclude the class by reading the contemporary novel, The Last Report on the Miracles of Little No Horse as a way of reflecting on the various meanings of “mystical” in our own period.

Tentative list of texts:

• Julian of Norwich, Showings
• Mechthild of Magdeburg, The Divine Flow of the Godhead
• Marguerite Poiret, The Mirror of Simple Souls
• Hadewijch, The Complete Works
• The Life of St. Brigit
• Carolyn Walker Bynam, Holy Feast, Holy Fast
• Louise Erdrich, The Last Report on the Miracles of Little No Horse

Particulars: Students will write short papers in response to the writings and prepare a final presentation and paper representing their own research into an aspect of the themes that are developed in the class. The class will be conducted as a seminar discussion of the texts we read and the significance of this literature for the understanding of ourselves and broader themes in the study of religion.

REL 354S: Ethics: Religion and Public Policy

Edward Queen, Tu Th 4:00-5:15, Max: 18

Content: This course focuses on the question of how can citizens, in a pluralistic society, argue about the common good out of their own particularity? The course begins by examining ways of thinking about public policy, the common good, and social choices. It then turns to how leading thinkers have conceptualized “the good society.” In the course students will begin to think about how societies always are faced with balancing competing goods and demands and to try to determine how those conflicts can be addressed. Students also will struggle with the question of whether a social good, truly to be good, depends upon it being achieved in an ethically appropriate way. Students will then use these conceptual frameworks to analyze pressing societal challenges.

Texts:

• Steven Lukes, The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat
• Kwame Anthony Appiah, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers
• Other readings to be determined

Particulars: Since a major part of this class is to engage students as thoughtful and reflective citizens, active class participation is required. Students will write three 3-4 page reflection papers and take a mid-term and final examination.

REL 370R: Special Topics: Religion and Consumer Culture in the United States

Katy Shrout,  MW 2:00-3:15, Max: 20

Content: Has Christmas become too commercial? Can Hollywood movies really have religious significance, or are they all about ticket sales? Is there anything sacred about shopping, sports or attending amusement parks? Is it appropriate for religious groups to run businesses? Does it matter if marketers use religious symbols to sell products? Is it offensive when celebrities study Kabbalah – and if so, why?  Has American religion been overrun by the marketplace? Or is the marketplace just another kind of American religion?

This course will consider these questions and others like them, asking students to critically examine the messy, intertwined, love-hate relationship between two beloved American institutions: religion and the marketplace. Our exploration of the collisions, collaborations, and blurred boundaries between consumer culture and religion will center in the United States, past and present, although we will occasionally ask how American patterns have been transmitted and adapted in the process of globalization.

We will consider the subject matter from four vantage points: religion versus consumer culture, consumer culture in religion, religion in consumer culture, and consumer culture as religion. Class will be primarily structured around discussion, although there will also be short introductory lectures to each class and occasional films.

Tentative Texts:

• Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
• Bruce David Forbes and Jeffery H. Mahan, eds. Religion and Popular Culture in America
• Colleen McDannell, Material Christianity
• R. Laurence Moore, Selling God: American Religion in the Marketplace of Culture
• Leigh Schmidt, Consumer Rites: The Buying and Selling of American Holidays

Particulars: two papers, one presentation, attendance and participation, final exam, lots of reading.

REL 370R: Special Topics: War in the Bible

Jacob Wright, Tu Th 11:30-12:45, (same as JS 370R), Max: 20 REL / 10 JS

Content: In what specific ways does war impact society? We will treat this question by looking at the case of ancient Israel. Our point of departure will be the Hebrew Bible and the wide variety of war stories it contains. A major theme of the course will be the relationship between war, memory and identity. But our attention will not be confined to the Hebrew Bible. We also examine a selection of non-biblical texts, archaeological findings, and material evidence relating to the role war played in the societies of ancient Western Asia, Egypt and the Mediterranean. Our approach will be literary, anthropological and sociological. Our primary aim is to examine 1) how war served as a catalyst for social change in Israelite society and 2) how biblical authors created competing memories of war. This course draws on the research from my present book project, War and the Formation of Society in Ancient Israel (forthcoming Oxford Univ. Press).

Texts:

• Jewish Publication Society Tanakh (1985)
• J. B. Prichard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament ( Princeton 3 rd ed. 1969)
• Susan Niditch, War in the Hebrew Bible (Oxford Univ Press, 1993).
• Selected articles from scholarly journals

Particulars: Students are expected be thoroughly prepared, to actively participate in class discussion and take individual initiative to research. There will be no exams. Instead, students will focus on writing two research papers. I also require students to participate in a “cyber dialogue” that continues class discussions and to hand in “entry tickets” (questions related to the reading) before class.

REL 374SWR: Confucian Classics

Rui Magone, Tu Th 1:00-2:15, (same as CHN 373SWR, ASIA 375SWR), Max: 3 REL/ 7 CHN/ 5 ASIA

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.

Particulars: Knowledge of Chinese is NOT required. Grading: class participation, written assignments, exams, paper.

REL 387WR: Literature and Religion: Religious Traditions in the Literature of Late-Medieval England

Mary Dzon, Tu Th 2:30 - 3:45, (same as IDS 385WR)

Content: A large quantity of religious literature was produced in late-medieval England, some of it by the best poets of the age. Great diversity exists among the texts that can be placed in this category, with respect to their genre and the particular religious viewpoints and practices they advocate. In this course, we will read saints’ lives, biblical plays, religious satire, devotional and didactic texts. We will attend to orthodox clerical voices as well as those of Christians not officially authorized to speak on religious matters or who represent a marginalized sector of society. Readings and discussions will expose students to a variety of religious discourses from the period and will give them the opportunity to consider the extent to which they opposed or reinforced one another. Students will also become familiarized with some of the major criticism in the field. While participants are encouraged to read the texts in the original Middle English, modern translations are available for almost all of them.

Texts/authors: Chaucer, select Canterbury Tales; Langland, Piers Plowman; saints' lives; Pearl-poet; biblical plays from the York Cycle; Margery Kempe; Julian of Norwich; Nicholas Love, Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ; Wycliffite texts

Particulars: Prerequisites: one Religion and one literature course or permission of instructor.

REL 472RS: Philosophy and Religion in Russia

Mikhail Epstein, Tu Th 5:30-7:00, (same as RUSS 420S), Max: 5 REL/ 10 RUSS

Content: Russian philosophical and religious thought is deeply rooted in the meditative practice of Eastern Christianity and at the same time is strongly influenced by the systems of Western rationalism. The typically Russian combination of philosophy and religion (or atheism) has produced social movements that crucially changed the history of the world, but their intellectual sources and potentials are insufficiently known to the West. This course explores the development of Russian religious and atheistic philosophy from 19th century debate between Slavophiles and Westernizers, idealists and nihilists through comprehensive philosophical systems of Solovyov and Berdyaev and Soviet "dialectical materialism" to Bakhtin's theory of dialogue. The latest trends of 1980s-2000s such as Cosmism, Culturology and postmodern Conceptualism are examined in the aspects of their Russian specificity and affinities with Western philosophy.

Particulars: No knowledge of Russian is required.

REL 490WR: Senior Symposium: Religious Studies in the 21st Century

Richard Martin, Wed 2:00-4:45 , MAX: 30

***FOR SENIOR RELIGION MAJORS ONLY***

Content: Have the ways of studying religion changed while I was a student at Emory?

Most members of the symposium were sophomores in high school at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and subsequent US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, have dominated the media and political environment in which you have been educated. Some seniors graduating in 2008 may know of violence against themselves, friends and family related to 9/11 and its aftermath, or because of the wars in the Middle East. Religion has been a central focus of media representations of the social, cultural and political turmoil of the twentieth-first century. What are we to make of all of this?

The Senior Symposium will ask: Has the academic study of religion changed as a result of events involving religions in the past eight years? Are the curriculum, methods, and theories of religion of the latter part of the twentieth century adequate tools for understanding religion today? Do other fields and disciplines offer useful models and ideas for understanding religion today? Several constituent themes will be explored and discussed, including religion, secularization and secularism; religion in the university a secular age; Religious identity and belief; the relationship of social conflict, violence, and religion; postmodern relationship of Islam and Christianity.

Texts:

• Khaled Abou El Fadl, The Place of Tolerance in Islam (2002)
• Anthony Appiah, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (2006)
• Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity (2003)
• Richard W. Bulliet, The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization (2004)
• Linell Cady and Delwin Brown, eds., Religious Studies, Theology and the University: Conflicting Maps, Changing Terrain (2002)
• Daedalus, Summer 2003 issue, on “Secularism and Religion”
• Bruce Lincoln, Holy Terrors: Thinking About Religion After September 11 (2003)
• Charles Taylor et al, Multiculturalism: Examining the Politics of Recognition (1994)

Particulars: Students will read and write weekly journal essays on the topics in “Texts” above, during the first 8 weeks. Concomitantly, they will meet with the instructor every other week to discuss the stages of development of their research projects. After spring recess, class will not meet, but students will meet individually with instructor with the goal of producing a penultimate draft of their research paper by April 8. The symposium will meet again April 15 to hear and discuss select papers. Final papers due April 22.

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.