Autumn 2006 Course Descriptions
DVSC 622 30300
Introduction to Constructive Studies: Philosophy of Religion in the Twentieth Century
Arnold
By way of exemplifying work that goes on among faculty in the Constructive Studies Committee of the Divinity School, this course will survey influential thinkers from the broadly Anglo-American tradition of philosophy, including William James, Charles Hartshorne, Antony Flew, William Alston and Alvin Plantinga. Most of the selections will be drawn from the area doctoral qualifying exam bibliography on ‘Anglo-American Philosophy of Religion in the Twentieth Century’. While chiefly intended to serve as an introduction for entering M.A./AMRS students to work on Constructive Studies, the course may be taken by other students with permission of the Instructor.
Discussion groups will be arranged at the beginning of class.
DVSC 622 42000
Divinity School: German Reading Exam
Staff
PQ: Open only to Divinity School students
DVSC 622 45100
Reading Course: Special Topic
Staff
Petition with bibliography signed by instructor; enter section from faculty list.
DVSC 622 49900
Exam Prep.
Staff
Open only to Ph.D. students in quarter of qualifying exams; enter section from faculty list.
DVSC 622 50100
Research: Divinity
Staff
Petition signed by instructor; enter section from faculty list.
DVSC 622 59900
Thesis Work: Divinity
Staff
Petition signed by instructor; enter section from faculty list.
BIBL 622 30800
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible
Fishbane
BIBL 603 34000
Introduction to Biblical Hebrew 2
Knafl
BIBL 603 35300
Intermediate Koine Greek 2
Spittler
Ident. NTEC 35300
BIBL 603 42301
When History Meets Ideology: The Historiography of the Book of Kings
Rom-Shiloni
This course is an introduction to biblical historiography. Studying carefully selected episodes from the Book of Kings, we will consider some basic questions: How was history written in Ancient Israel? Who may have been the historiographers? and, What goals may this writing have served? The course gives an overview of the history of Israel and Judah in the context of the Ancient Near East of the first half of the first millennium BCE. It includes observation of biblical passages in comparison to contemporaneous extra-biblical sources of Canaanite and mainly Mesopotamian origin.
Note from instructor: The course on Historiography is for elementary/beginners of the Graduate program; and no Hebrew reading abilities will be required, though warmly encouraged. The JPS Tanakh (Hebrew-English) will be used in each class.
Ident. HIJD 42301
BIBL 603 43500
Facing Destruction: Theological and Ideological Conflicts in Early Sixth Century BCE Judaean Thought
Rom-Shiloni
National crisis challenges basic religious conceptions. Literary sources within the Bible illuminate theological discussions which took place on the early sixth century BCE, during Jerusalem's and Judah's destruction and in its aftermath. This course introduces the diverse and conflicting proclamations presented by different voices within Jerusalem and in Exile. We will study the ways traditional concepts were re-evaluated and modified to suit new disastrous realities on the following topics: The role of God in the destruction, divine justice, and concepts of the God-people relationship during the crisis and thereafter. Texts will be selected from biblical historiography (the Book of Kings and Chronicles), prophecy (Jeremiah and Ezekiel), and poetry (selected Psalms and Lamentations). Prerequisite: A good reading knowledge of Biblical Hebrew, or consent of instructor.
Ident. HIJD 43500
BIBL 603 43700
Revelation and the Elizabeth Day McCormick Apocalypse
Klauck
For many Christian readers, Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, remains “a book with seven seals” (cf. Rev 5:1). Others are inclined to take it in a most literal way and use it to unlock the secrets of history and the end times. A more sober perspective is established if we firmly place it within its generic (i.e. prophetic, apocalyptic and epistolary) tradition and take a closer look at the author and his addressees. The letters to the seven churches in Rev 2-3 are of central importance for this project. We will at the same time take a closer look at the Elizabeth Day McCormick Apocalypse, an illuminated Greek manuscript of Revelation and one of the show pieces of the Goodspeed Collection held in the Regenstein Library. In this respect our class will be part of the digitization process of this manuscript that is going on in the library.
PQ: No Greek necessary.
Ident. NTEC 43700
BIBL 603 44300
The Book of Judges: The Text and the Message
Amit
In this course we shall read some paragraphs of the Hebrew text of the book of Judges. The chosen paragraphs will lead to discussions about a variety of subjects, such as (the order is not final and may be changed): Who were the Judges a social institution or a general term? Who were the remaining nations, and who was responsible for their existence? What is the place of Kingship in the book of Judges? What are the form and content in the book of Judges? We shall also address questions about the genre of the short story as a representative of the poetics of biblical narrative, the use of genres in the book of Judges, and the place and time of the book of Judges in relation to the Deuteronomistic history.
BIBL 603 44400
Lucian of Samosata
Martinez
Lucian of Samosata (b. approx. AD 120), like many authors of the New Testament, wrote in Greek but was born and grew up in an Aramaic speaking community. His idiosyncratic literary output comprises around 80 prose pieces which reflect an engaging synthesis of comedy, satire, popular philosophy, and theological musing. Many of his works present a savvy commentary on his cultural and religious environment, and especially enjoyable is his mirthful abandon in idetifying religious quackery and the victims of it. As one of the mostimportant and prolific pagan authors of the early centuries AD, Lucian's works form an important background to the early Christian movement, both in his direct references to Christians (in the Peregrinus and Alexander) and in his sensitive description of the vast religious melange in which early Christianity grew.
The class will focus on daily close reading and analysis of Lucian's Greek and discussion of his ideas. Our reading will include the treatises Lover of Lies, Alexander the False Prophet, and the Death of Perigrinus. As time permits we will also read around in other works such as the Dialogues.
BIBL 603 51800
2 Corinthians
Mitchell
An exegesis course on what may be Paul’s most enigmatic missive. We shall critically test the theory that this text is made up of 5 letter fragments, which, when read in order, both supply clues as to Paul’s relationship with this important church, and, amazingly, allow us to see the apostle interpreting his own letters. Focal themes: methodological reflections on the interdependence of literary and historical reconstruction; analysis of Pauline rhetoric as vehement apology for his ministry; examination of the cultural and religious repertoire upon which Paul draws in this letter (e.g., on boasting, reconciliation, military, imagery, anthropology, consolation, heavenly journeys); the nature of meaning as debated and negotiated between Paul and his readers. PQ: Greek, but others may be able to join the class. Contact the instructor.
Ident. NETC 51800
BIBL 603 51901
Sem.: Greco-Roman Ruler-Cult and the New Testament
Klauck
The fastest growing religious movement in early Imperial times was not Christianity, but, ironically, the Roman emperor cult. This emperor cult had its roots in the earlier Hellenistic ruler cult that developed in the wake of Alexander the Great and his successors. The ruler cult is reflected for example in the book of Daniel and the Wisdom of Salomon, the emperor cult in Luke-Acts and Revelation. A serious knowledge of these phenomena is therefore and indispensable tool for contextualizing New Testament writings.
PQ: Good reading knowledge of Greek
Ident. NTEC 51901
THEO 604 44500
Black Theology and Womanist Theology
Hopkins
The purpose of this course is to develop a critical understanding and interpretation of black theology and womanist theology texts, to become familiar with their intellectual traditions, to put both disciplines in dialogue, to examine their commonalities and differences, to see how they challenge our own perspectives.
THEO 604 44701
Herman Melville: Theology and Tragic Vision
Gilpin/Tracy
The seminar will discuss selected writings of Herman Melville in their relation to classic themes of religious thought in the United States.
PQ: Seminar members should read Moby Dick prior to the beginning of the quarter.
THEO 604 46700
Race: The Idea
Hopkins
An examination of the concept of “race.” What are its origins, history, and the contemporary debates around its definition, and how does race figure in current thought? In addition, we will examine race beyond the black-white paradigm. Finally, we attend to theological interpretations of race.
THEO 604 46900
Reinhold Niebuhr: Theology and Ethics
Gamwell
This course examines Reinhold Niebuhr’s systematical theology, especially his arguments for the Christian understanding of human existence and for the relation of the moral enterprise to the reality of God.
Ident. RETH 46100
THEO 604 48800
Seminar: Theological Ethics I
Schweiker
This year-long seminar is a sequence of interlocking inquiries on current debates surrounding human dignity and capabilities. The series begins with the question of humanism itself, then turns to the problem of the recognition of the other and the understanding of meanings, and concludes with an inquiry into human fault and evil. While there is internal coherence to the series of seminars, students are not required to take the entire sequence.
In this first seminar we will explore the current debate about “humanism” among cultural critics, theologians, and philosophers. We will begin with some classic statements of humanism and turn to the current discussion, exploring various humanistic and anti-humanistic thinkers, ranging from T. Todorov and E. Levinas to theologians like K. Barth’s claims about the humanity of God, John Paul II writings on human dignity, and J. Gustafson’s criticism of “anthropocentrism,” to, finally, post-Nietzschean anti-humanists like Foucault, and also Peter Singer. The course will end with the question of human rights when the very status of the human remains in dispute.
PQ: Previous work in theology or ethics required.
Ident. RETH 48800
THEO 604 53500
Levinas and Rosenzweig
Mendes-Flohr/Tracy
Ident. DVPR 53500, HIJD 53500
DVPR 605 31202
Spiritual Exercises and Moral Perfectionism
Davidson
A number of philosophers have recently proposed a new way of approaching ethics (and of reconceiving the task of philosophy) that focuses on exercises of self-transformation and ideals of moral perfection (sometimes conceived as forms of wisdom). A distinctive set of notions, such as spiritual exercises, practices of the self, ways of life, the aesthetics of existence, the care of the self, conversion, and moral exemplarity, is meant to displace the picture of morality as primarily a code of good conduct. We shall study three contemporary authors who are central to reviving this way of thinking about ethical practice — Pierre Hadot, Michel Foucault, and Stanley Cavell. Their work will be read against the background of some classic texts in the history of philosophy in an attempt to uncover the historical tradition and the contemporary significance of this conception of the moral life.
Ident. PHIL 21202/31202
DVPR 605 34801
18th and 19th Century Philosophy of Religion
Brudney
This course focuses on the 18th century philosophical challenge to rational religion, and on the most important 18th and 19th century responses to that challenge. Writers to be examined include Hume, Kant, Schleiermacher and Kierkegaard.
Ident. PHIL 24801/34801
DVPR 605 53500
Levinas and Rosenzweig
Mendes-Flohr/Tracy
Ident. THEO 53500, HIJD 53500
CHRM 606 30200
The Public Church in America
Gilpin
This course examines the issue of the purpose of the church and its ministry, in the context of the United States during the twentieth century.
PQ: Entering students in the M.Div. program
CHRM 606 30500
Introduction to the Study of Ministry
Lindner, Musselman
PQ: First-year MDiv students only.
CHRM 606 35600
Arts of Ministry: Preaching
Lindner
PQ: Open to second-year MDiv students only or by permission of instructor.
CHRM 606 40600
Practice of Ministry I
Pinon
PQ: Second year M.DIV. students only.
ISLM 620 50100
Seminar in the Writing of Ibn al-‘Arabi
Sells
Ident. NEHC 40602
HIJD 603 42301
When History Meets Ideology: The Historiography of the Book of Kings
Rom-Shiloni
This course is an introduction to biblical historiography. Studying carefully selected episodes from the Book of Kings, we will consider some basic questions: How was history written in Ancient Israel? Who may have been the historiographers? and, What goals may this writing have served? The course gives an overview of the history of Israel and Judah in the context of the Ancient Near East of the first half of the first millennium BCE. It includes observation of biblical passages in comparison to contemporaneous extra-biblical sources of Canaanite and mainly Mesopotamian origin.
Note from instructor: The course on Historiography is for elementary/beginners of the Graduate program; and no Hebrew reading abilities will be required, though warmly encouraged. The JPS Tanakh (Hebrew-English) will be used in each class.
Ident. BIBL 603 42301
HIJD 603 43500
Facing Destruction: Theological and Ideological Conflicts in Early Sixth Century BCE Judaean Thought
Rom-Shiloni
National crisis challenges basic religious conceptions. Literary sources within the Bible illuminate theological discussions which took place on the early sixth century BCE, during Jerusalem's and Judah's destruction and in its aftermath. This course introduces the diverse and conflicting proclamations presented by different voices within Jerusalem and in Exile. We will study the ways traditional concepts were re-evaluated and modified to suit new disastrous realities on the following topics: The role of God in the destruction, divine justice, and concepts of the God-people relationship during the crisis and thereafter. Texts will be selected from biblical historiography (the Book of Kings and Chronicles), prophecy (Jeremiah and Ezekiel), and poetry (selected Psalms and Lamentations). Prerequisite: A good reading knowledge of Biblical Hebrew, or consent of instructor.
Ident. BIBL 603 43500
HIJD 625 46500
Studies in Midrash: Genesis Rabba
Fishbane
This course will study the rabbinic midrash to the Book of Genesis, focusing on its various exegetical forms and methods, literary structures and theology, and the modes of transmission and tradition exemplified in the text. Comparision will be made to earlier and related rabbinic sources.
Ident. JWSG 46500
HIJD 625 53500
Levinas and Rosenzweig
Mendes-Flohr/Tracy
Ident. THEO 53500, DVPR 53500
HCHR 626 30200
History of Christian Thought II
McGinn
Ident. THEO 30200.
HCHR 626 41601
Religious Thought in the High Middle Ages
Fulton
What does theology have to do with devotion? What is the practical (liturgical, spiritual) purpose of thinking about God? These were questions taken up with particular urgency in the monasteries and schools of the high Middle ages as European Christians struggled to reconcile the application of intellectual structure to the experiences and practices of worship and faith. Using Peter Lombard’s “Sentences” as a guide, this course seeks to situate the 12th and early 13th century theological discussions about God, creation, incarnation, the sacraments, and last things within the devotional and liturgical developments of their day, including the devotion to the humanity of Christ and the Crusades.
Ident. HIST 42601
HCHR 626 45100
Puritanism and the American Religious Imagination
Brekus
Puritanism has been one of the most researched topics in American religious history. Scholars have been fascinated by Puritanism because of their conviction that it left a deep imprint on the American religious imagination. In this course, we will read major studies of Puritanism — including books about popular religious belief, witchcraft, violence, slavery, and gender — as well as seventeenth- and eighteenth-century sermons, catechisms, conversion narratives, diaries, and trial transcripts. We will also examine Puritan art and material culture. Requirements include a class presentation, a short paper and a research paper.
Ident. HIST 63703
HREL 628 31900
Introduction to Chinese Religions
Yu
Ident. RLST 13000
HREL 628 32900
Classical Theories of Religion
Lincoln
Ident. AASR 32900
HREL 628 39700
Introduction to Buddhism
Collins
Ident. SALC 39700
HREL 628 44402
Mahayana Sutra Literature
Wedemeyer
In the early centuries of the Common Era (ca. 100BCE-700 BCE), the Buddhist traditions saw a tremendous surge in scriptural production and a new focus on textuality. Much of this new literature centered around the notion that one might aspire to the position of a cosmic world-teacher (buddha), rather than “merely” an enlightened saint. Gradually, as this new orientation spawned novel forms of religious thought and praxis, a self-conscious movement began to take shape, which eventually came to be known as the Mahayana or “Universal Vehicle.” In this course, we will explore the development of these traditions through close reading of several of its major scriptures (sutra-s).
PQ: HREL 35100/SALC 48306 or other background in Indian Buddhism preferred.
HREL 628 53400
Contemporary Perspectives on the History of Religions
Wedemeyer
Is the History of Religions still a viable discipline? Was it ever? How has it been conditioned by the historical circumstances out of which it emerged? Is it possible or worthwhile to refashion it in new context(s)? What is its object of study? How is this object constituted? What challenges does the field face in the contemporary moment and how can reflection on its history inform its response to those challenges? These and other fundamental questions of theory in the History of Religions will be explored through close reading and discussion of a number of recent contributions. Authors to be considered include: Dubuisson, Preuss, McCutcheon, Smith, Balagangadhara, Masuzawa, Fitzgerald, Kippenberg.
PQ: Preferably either HREL 41500 or HREL 50700
RLIT 635 30000
Introduction to Religion and Literature
Rosengarten
An introduction to the possibilities of work in religion and literature, the course has three sections: the explicit example of religion and literature as a self-defined field in twentieth century America (Wilder, Scott, Yu et. al.); the implicit, regulative conjunction of religion and literature in the earliest Greek and Christian traditions (Sophocles, Aristotle, Augustine); and the prospects for future work in the field, incorporating work from the first two sections of the course but emphasizing their possible extensions and revisionist prospects into aesthetics and comparative work, utilizing examples from film and the graphic novel. No prerequisites.
Ident. ENGL 30100
RLIT 635 50400
Seminar: Milton’s Epics
Murrin
The focus of the seminar will be close readings of Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained in light of major topics in Milton criticism in the last century. Examples might include issues like style, which came under attack by T.S. Eliot and the academic group which was then called the New Criticism; theology and/or philosophy, a lively topic in the days of Patrides and the recently revived; the debate among feminists over Paradise Lost; politics, the current academic concern; and finally the interventions of creative writers like Ronald Johnson and Philip Pullman. There will be student presentations, and a seminar paper will be required at the end of the course.
Ident. ENGL 67501
RETH 638 32600
Texts of Indian Modernity: Rabindranath Tagore's Writings about Nationalism, Universalism, Gender and Faith
Nussbaum/Sarkar
The course will look at a selection of Tagore's writings in English translation, focusing on those themes which have gained a new relevance in the light of post-colonial debates on universalism and cultural particualarism, the politics of nationalism and gender in modern times. It will offer a mix of philosophical writings ("Religion of Man"), novels ("Ghare baire" or "Home and the World" and "Jogajog" or "Relationships"), short stories ("The Wife's Letter" and "The Exercise Book") and political essays (Nationalism). It will also offer a few poems from "The Crescent Moon" and a play, "The Post Office." The readings would be framed within four or five critical writings on Tagore and his historical-political context.
IDENTS. SALC 32603/ENGL 32602/LAWS 53202/PHIL 31250/PLSC 32602
RETH 638 43900
Religion and Democracy
Gamwell
An examination of the legal, philosophical and theological views on the proper role of religious beliefs and religious communities within a democratic political process, with focus on contemporary United States politics.
RETH 638 46100
Reinhold Niebuhr: Theology and Ethics
Gamwell
This course examines Reinhold Niebuhr’s systematical theology, especially his arguments for the Christian understanding of human existence and for the relation of the moral enterprise to the reality of God.
Ident. THEO 46900
RETH 638 48800
Seminar: Theological Ethics I
Schweiker
This year-long seminar is a sequence of interlocking inquiries on current debates surrounding human dignity and capabilities. The series begins with the question of humanism itself, then turns to the problem of the recognition of the other and the understanding of meanings, and concludes with an inquiry into human fault and evil. While there is internal coherence to the series of seminars, students are not required to take the entire sequence.
In this first seminar we will explore the current debate about “humanism” among cultural critics, theologians, and philosophers. We will begin with some classic statements of humanism and turn to the current discussion, exploring various humanistic and anti-humanistic thinkers, ranging from T. Todorov and E. Levinas to theologians like K. Barth’s claims about the humanity of God, John Paul II writings on human dignity, and J. Gustafson’s criticism of “anthropocentrism,” to, finally, post-Nietzschean anti-humanists like Foucault, and also Peter Singer. The course will end with the question of human rights when the very status of the human remains in dispute.
PQ: Previous work in theology or ethics required.
Ident. THEO 48800
RETH 638 51301
Law-Philosophy Seminar
Nussbaum/Koppelman
This is a seminar/workshop most of whose participants are faculty from various area institutions. It admits approximately ten students by permission of the instructors. Its aim is to study, each year, a topic that arises in both philosophy and the law and to ask how bringing the two fields together may yield mutual illumination. There are twelve meetings throughout the year, always on Mondays from 4 to 6 PM. Half of the sessions are led by local faculty, half by visiting speakers. The leader assigns readings for the session (which may be by that person, by other contemporaries, or by major historical figures), and the session consists of a brief introduction by the leader, followed by structured questioning by the two faculty coordinators, followed by general discussion. Students write either two 4-6 page papers per quarter, or a 20-25 seminar paper at the end of the year. The course satisfies the Law School Writing Requirement. The schedule of meetings will be announced in mid-September, and prospective students should submit their credentials to both instructors by September 20. Past themes have included: practical reason; equality; privacy; autonomy; global justice; pluralism and toleration; war; sexuality and family. The theme for 2006-7 will be Disability. Speakers to be invited include: Eva Kittay, Anita Silvers, Jeff McMahan, Ann Davis, Sam Bagenstos, Ruth Colker, Michael Stein, Elizabeth Emens (outside visitors); Adam Samaha, Richard Posner, Daniel Brudney, Martha Nussbaum, Iris Young (locals).
PQ: Students are admitted by permission of the instructors. They should submit a C.V. and a statement (reasons for interest in the course, relevant background in law and/or philosophy) by September 20 to Nussbaum by e-mail. Usual participants include graduate students in philosophy, political science, and divinity, and law students.
Ident. LAW__
RETH 638 52400
Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism
Nussbaum
What is a nation, and why might it be appropriate to be attached to one’s own nation in a special way? Are there any good reasons why we should not always have equal concern for all human beings and seek to promote their good equally? (And who has the burden of proof here, the cosmopolitan or the defender of local loyalties?) If there are such reasons, do they give us reason to make the nation special, rather than to focus on other, frequently narrower, loyalties, such as those to one’s family, ethnic or religious group, sports team? Why did Marcus Aurelius say that his first lesson in being a good person was “not to be a fan of the Greens or Blues at the races, or the light-armed or heavy-armed gladiators at the circus”? Why did Sir Walter Scott say that a person who lacks patriotic emotion for his own native land “living shall forfeit fair renown/And, doubly dying, shall go down/To that foul hell from whence he sprung,/Unwept, unhonored, and unsung”? Why did Wilfred Owen say, of the better man of the future, “He wars on Death — for Life/Not men — for flags”? How is each philosophical position linked to a distinctive understanding of the good man and of manly virtue? What is patriotic emotion, and how is the apparently benign emotion of love of country linked to other more problematic emotions, such as anger, fear, the sense of humiliated masculinity, etc.?
We will pursue these questions by reading a wide range of philosophical authors who have addressed the topic, including, Cicero, Marcus Aurelius, Adam Smith, J.G. von Herder, Ernst Renan, V. D. Savarkar, M. S. Golwalkar, J.S. Mill, Rabindranath Tagore, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Amartya Sen, Jürgen Habermas, Samuel Scheffer, Richard Rorty, and Alasdair MacIntyre. We will also focus throughout on treatments of (a) patriotism, (b) anti-patriotism, and (c) cosmopolitanism in the arts, including literary works by Rabindranath Tagore, Wilfred Owen, and Walt Whitman, and also including selected films dealing with nationalism in the context of war.
PQ: Enrollment limited to 25. Permission of instructor required, and this should be sought in writing (e-mail) by September 20. A minimum prerequisite is an undergraduate major in philosophy or the equivalent course work in philosophy.
Ident. LAW 52402, GNDR 52400, HMRT 52400, PHIL 51001, PLSC 52401
AASR 607 32900
Classical Theories of Religion
Lincoln
Ident. HREL 32900
AASR 607 50048
Seminar: Secularization: Sociological Perspectives
Joas
Since the time of the sociological classics, the prevailing view in the social sciences has been that secularization is a necessary corollary of modernization. After a brief retrospect on what the different views of the classics on this matter were and which implicit or explicit understanding of religious faith led them to these views, we will mainly deal with contemporary attempts to develop a more appropriate view of the role of religions in modernization processes. We will try to study a wide range of contributions from rational choice critics of the secularization paradigm to its contemporary defenders and historico-comparative attempts at an alternative understanding of secularization and modernization.
Ident. SOCI 50048
