Autumn 2005 Course Descriptions
DVSC 622 30100
Introduction to Religion and the Human Sciences
Riesebrodt/Zhegal
PQ: Open only to 1st year AMRS and MA students.
Judaic Civilization I
Staff
Ident. JWSC 2000/HUMA 2000/JWSG 31000
BIBL 603 34000
Introduction to Biblical Hebrew II
Knafl
PQ: BIBL 33900 or consent of instructor
BIBL 603 35300
Introductory Koine Greek II
Spittler
PQ: BIBL 35100 or consent of instructor
Ident. NTEC 35300
BIBL 603 39900
Song of Songs I
Fishbane
A close textual analysis of the Song of Songs, emphasizing style and imagery. Use will be made of modern commentaries and medieval Jewish exegesis on the “plain sense.”
PQ: Hebrew
Ident. HIJD 40100/JWSC 28600/JWSG 33000
BIBL 603 40000
Song of Songs II
Fishbane
A close analysis of Midrash Rabba to the Song of Songs, along with other minor midrashim. Focus on forms of discourse, exegesis and theology.
PQ: Hebrew
Ident. HIJD 40200/JWSG 33100
BIBL 603 40300
Lecture: The Gospel of Luke
Klauck
“…inter omnes evangelistas graeci semonis eruditissimus” (“… among all the evangelists the one best versed in the Greek language”). This is the impression Jerome had of Luke’s writings (Gospel and Acts). And indeed, Luke certainly is the best storyteller and the most literate writer of the four evangelists. This is evident even in the prologue of Lk 1:1-4, and we will begin our class with this text; other important chapters of Luke’s Gospel will also be discussed and explained. Special emphasis will be placed on narrative form and social background.
PQ: No Greek necessary, but a Greek reading class will be offered.
Ident. NTEC 40300
BIBL 603 43200
Colloquium: Ancient Christianity
Mitchell
A critical reading of influential narratives —both ancient and modern — of the “rise of Christianity” in the first centuries, in interaction with selected primary sources from antiquity illuminating crucial issues (e.g. demographics, conversion, persecution, martyrdom, asceticism, women’s participation, ecclesiological and ritual structures, intellectual lineages), personalities (e.g. Ignatius, Perpetua and Felicitas, Irenaeus, Antony, Eusebius, Constantine, Augustine) and events. On-going reflection on the nature of historiography itself.
Ident. HCHR 43200 / NTEC 43200
BIBL 603 53800
Seminar: Letter Writing in Antiquity
Klauck
Statistically speaking, most of the New Testament writings belong to the epistolary genre. It is therefore important to know more about letter writing in Antiquity, in practice and theory. We will study private letters on papyri, official correspondence of rulers and kings preserved on inscriptions, pseudoepigraphic compilations (e.g. the Cynic epistles), some examples of Cicero’s vast correspondence, and Jewish letters. An additional focus will be theoretical writings such as the section on letters in Demetrius’ On Style and Pseudo-Demetrius’ Epistolary Types.
PQ: Greek (and some Latin, if possible)
Ident. NTEC 53800
THEO 604 47601
Individual and Community in American Theology: 18th Century
Gilpin
A seminar that places the Christian theological doctrines of the church and the holy spirit in the historical context of philosophical, political, and economic theories about the relation of the individual to the community. Texts and contexts will be drawn from America during the eighteenth century, and the course requirement will be a twenty-page research paper.
Ident. HCHR 47600
DVPR 605 35200
Modern Philosophy of Religion: The Enlightenment
Arnold
DVPR 605 46200
Alfred North Whitehead: Metaphysics and Ethics
Gamwell
An introduction to Whitehead’s metaphysical system, with special attention to its implications for philosophy of religion and philosophical ethics.
Ident. RETH 46200
DVPR 605 52000
Foucault: Technologies of Power
Davidson
A study of Foucault’s 1977-78 course Sécurité, Territoire, Population and the opening lecture of his 1978-79 course Naissance de la biopolitique. Sécurité, Territoire, Population is an analysis of the history of technologies of power from Christian pastoral power to reason of State. A crucial aspect of these courses is the development of the notion of “governmentability.” Reading knowledge of French required.
Ident. PHIL 52000
CHRM 606 30200
Public Church
Brekus
This course is an historical overview of the “public church” in America. In order to gain a greater understanding of how churches have influenced public life, we will focus on a small group of religious leaders — from John Winthrop to Martin Luther King, Jr. — who have left an enduring mark on American history. Our discussions will focus on several related questions. How have religious leaders throughout American history imagined the role of the church? How have they tried to shape civic culture? And how have they tried to communicate their vision to people outside of their own tradition?
PQ: Restricted to entering M.Div. students.
CHRM 606 30500
Introduction to Ministry Studies: Colloquium
Lindner
First year M. Divs. only. DO NOT REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE.
CHRM 606 35600
Arts of Ministry: Preaching
Lindner
CHRM 606 40600
The Practice of Ministry I
Piñon
Second year M. Divs. only.
CHRM 606 42500
Senior Ministry Project
Gilpin
HIJD 625 36800
Modern Jewish Religious Thought: An Introductory Survey
Mendes-Flohr
Ident. JWSG 37800
HIJD 625 40100
Song of Songs I
Fishbane
A close textual analysis of the Song of Songs, emphasizing style and imagery. Use will be made of modern commentaries and medieval Jewish exegesis on the “plain sense.”
PQ: Hebrew
Ident. BIBL 39900/JWSC 28600/JWSG 33000
HIJD 625 40200
Song of Songs II
Fishbane
A close analysis of Midrash Rabba to the Song of Songs, along with other minor midrashim. Focus on forms of discourse, exegesis and theology.
PQ: Hebrew
Ident. BIBL 40000/JWSG 33100
HIJD 625 45101
History and Memory in Jewish Thought
Mendes-Flohr
Ident. JWSG 46100
HCHR 626 40500
Religion in Colonial America
Brekus
This course is a survey of American religious history from the founding of the colonies to the American Revolution. Topics include Puritanism, witchcraft, revivalism, slavery, gender, Native American religion, the American Revolution, and the separation of church and state. We will read a wide variety of primary texts — including witchcraft accounts, Anne Hutchinson’s heresy trial, and a proslavery sermon — as well as major interpretive works such as Harry S. Stout’s The New England Soul: Preaching and Religious Culture in Colonial New England and Rhys Isaac’s The Transformation of Virginia, 1740-1790. Requirements: two short papers (2-3 pages each) on the weekly readings, and a final paper. All students are also required to lead class discussion once during the quarter.
Ident. HIST 64100
HCHR 626 43200
Colloquium: Ancient Christianity
Mitchell
A critical reading of influential narratives —both ancient and modern — of the “rise of Christianity” in the first centuries, in interaction with selected primary sources from antiquity illuminating crucial issues (e.g. demographics, conversion, persecution, martyrdom, asceticism, women’s participation, ecclesiological and ritual structures, intellectual lineages), personalities (e.g. Ignatius, Perpetua and Felicitas, Irenaeus, Antony, Eusebius, Constantine, Augustine) and events. On-going reflection on the nature of historiography itself.
Ident. BIBL 43200/NTEC 43200
HCHR 626 47600
Ind. and Comm. in American Theology: the 18th Century
Gilpin
A seminar that places the Christian theological doctrines of the church and the holy spirit in the historical context of philosophical, political, and economic theories about the relation of the individual to the community. Texts and contexts will be drawn from America during the eighteenth century, and the course requirement will be a twenty-page research paper.
Ident THEO 47601
HISL 627 40100
Islamic Love Poetry
Sells
Ident. NEHC 40600
HREL 628 34800
Machiavelli and the Arthashastra
Doniger/Tarkov
A comparative study of Machiavelli (The Discourses and The Prince) and Kautilya (the Arthashastra, the ancient Indian book of political science), all in English translation.
PQ: Class limit 15, with permission from the instructor.
Ident. SCTH 31740/PLSC 32115/RLST 27301
HREL 628 35400
Hinduism: A Chronicle
Doniger
A survey of the history of Hinduism, setting texts in historical contexts.
Ident. SALC 38302/RLST 27401
RLIT 635 42700
The Novel: Theory and Texts II
Rosengarten
This seminar will engage in intensive reading and discussion in modern novels and their theorization. We will focus especially on the ways in which both the recourse to the making of fictions, and the turn to their theorization, engage and even valorize religion constructively and critically (usually simultaneously). We will read selectively in national traditions, and then in the contemporary Anglophone supranational novel. This course will build upon and extend the work of its predecessor from Autumn 2004, but completion of that course is not a prerequisite.
RETH 638 33500
Introduction to Ethical Theories
Gamwell
An introduction to major alternatives in Western philosophical ethics and especially to the ethical theories of Aristotle, Aquinas, and Kant.
RETH 638 46200
Alfred North Whitehead: Metaphysics and Ethics
Gamwell
An introduction to Whitehead’s metaphysical system, with special attention to its implications for philosophy of religion and philosophical ethics.
Ident. DVPR 46200
RETH 638 48001
Gandhi and the Challenge of Peace in Our Time
Prabhu
AASR 607 36000
Fieldwork Methodology in the Social Sciences
Zeghal
