Winter 2007 Course Descriptions
DVSC 622 30200
Introduction to Historical Studies
Mendes-Flohr
PQ: Open only to M.A./AMRS students.
DVSC 622 42000
Divinity School: German Reading Exam
Staff
PQ: Open only to Divinity School students
BIBL 603 32500
Introduction to the New Testament
Mitchell
An immersion in the texts of the New Testament with the following goals: 1. through careful reading to come to know well some representative pieces of this literature; 2. to gain useful knowledge of the historical, geographical, social, religious, cultural, and political contexts of these texts and the events they relate; 3. to learn the major literary genres represented in the canon (“gospels,” “acts,” “letters,” and “apocalypses”) and strategies for reading them; 4. to comprehend the various theological visions to which these texts give expression; 5. to situate oneself and one’s prevailing questions about this material in the history of interpretation; 6. to raise questions for further study.
Discussion groups will meet on Fridays from 12:00-1:00 in S200, S201, S208, S403.
Ident. NTEC 32500, RLST 12000, FNDL 28202
BIBL 603 34100
Intermediate Biblical Hebrew
Knafl
BIBL 603 35400
Intermediate Koine Greek 3
Spittler
Ident. NTEC 35400
BIBL 603 39800
German Reading Class
Klauck
In this course, German exegetical and theological literature will be read and discussed along with some select pieces of poetry. Ideally, only German should be used in this class. We will, however, try to accommodate people at different levels of knowledge and give translations and explanations in English too. The class is intended to help students to gain greater fluency in German and better knowledge of research done in German speaking countries.
PQ: Some basic knowledge of German
Ident. NTEC 39800
BIBL 603 41800
Lecture: The Use of the Old Testament in the Gospel of John
Klauck
Our main subject in this course will be the Gospel of John. We will try to discover better understanding of this sometimes enigmatic text. Our approach will be concentrated: we will look for passages from the Old Testament and from Jewish traditions upon which the author of the gospel of John has drawn to construct his own narrative and to develop his theology. That is, broadly speaking, a matter of intertextuality, but, as we will see, this phenomenon itself has to be described and defined carefully in and of itself.
PQ: no Greek necessary, but a Greek reading class will be offered.
Ident. NTEC 41800
BIBL 603 43400
Science and Scripture: Jewish Phil. Exegesis in Middle Ages
Robinson
Idents. HIJD 43401, JWSG 43401, HCHR 43401, RLIT 43400
THEO 604 40800
Third World Theologies
Hopkins
A critical investigation of the intellectual claims of male and female theologians in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. What are their thematic threads? We will examine their origins, commonalities and differences, methods, sources, and points of tension. We will also pursue what they have to offer a larger conversation in theology and the study of religions.
Ident. CRPC 40800
THEO 604 43400
Theological Anthropology
Hopkins
What does it mean to be human? This course looks at social psychological, historical, and philosophical notions of “the human” and then moves to a theological interpretation of the anthropological.
THEO 604 44101
Crusade and Holy War in the Medieval World
Pick
This course will focus on the origins and development of the idea of holy war and crusade in the Middle Ages. We will consider the evolution of notions of just war and holy war in the first few class periods and then will move on to consider recruitment techniques, the goals, ideals and ambitions of individual crusaders, as well as the medieval and modern historiography of the crusades. Attention will be given to Muslim, Jewish, Byzantine, as well as Latin perspectives.
Ident. HIST 63102, ISLM 44000, HCHR 44101
THEO 604 46501
Hartshorne and Ogden: Philosophical Theology
Gamwell
A critical examination and comparison of Charles Hartshorne and Schubert M. Ogden, especially with respect to their conceptions of faith, religion, and God.
Ident. DVPR 46500
THEO 604 48900
Seminar: Theological Ethics II
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 representation and understanding of meanings as well as recognition of the other, 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. This seminar is the second in the sequence and explores basic texts in contemporary philosophy and theology on the theme of the recognition of the other and the understanding of texts. Thinkers to be read include, among others, H.-G. Gadamer, P. Ricoeur, J. Derrida, C. Taylor, D. Tracy, and S. Hauerwas. Attention will be paid to new hermeneutical possibilities found in feminists and theorists of globalization.
PQ: Previous work in theology or ethics required
Ident. RETH 48900
DVPR 605 30201
Indian Philosophy I
Kapstein
Ident. SALC 20901/30901, HREL 30200
DVPR 605 46500
Hartshorne and Ogden: Philosophical Theology
Gamwell
A critical examination and comparison of Charles Hartshorne and Schubert M. Ogden, especially with respect to their conceptions of faith, religion, and God.
Ident. THEO 46501
DVPR 605 48500
Evil
Kapstein
The problem of evil is, in one form or another, a near-universal foundation of religious thought and life. While calling into question one’s notions of the good, the presence of evil is often also a necessary condition for the clear formation of the concept of goodness. In the present course we will consider aspects of the problem of evil in depth, taking account of evil as a cultural phenomenon as document in recent anthropological literature and as an issue in metaphysics and axiology, as examined by a selection of philosophers from Augustine to Ricoeur. Recent work on evil in Asian philosophies will be introduced as well.
Ident. HREL 48501
DVPR 605 48900
Readings in Buddhist Philosophical Texts
Kapstein
DVPR 605 49200
Saint Augustine and Philosophy
Marion
PQ: Some knowledge of Augustine and some reading knowledge of Latin.
Ident. SCTH 49740, THEO 49903
DVPR 605 49300
Love as a Philosophic Question
Marion
Ident. SCTH 49730, THEO 49902
DVPR 605 51400
Consciousness in Indian Buddhist Philosophy
Arnold
This seminar will consider the development, among Buddhist epistemologists, of the doctrine of svasamvitti (“apperception” or “self-reflexive cognition”). Some attention will be given to comparative questions concerning Western philosophical ideas that might usefully be invoked in understanding the Buddhist doctrine, but the course will chiefly consist in the close reading of seminal Indian texts on the subject (beginning with the Pramanasamuccaya of Dignaga).
PQ: Reading knowledge of Sanskrit and/or Tibetan.
Ident. SALC 48312
CHRM 606 30300
The Public Church and Its Ministry
Culp
CHRM 606 30600
Colloquium: Introduction to the Study of Ministry
Musselman
PQ: First year M. Divs only — DO NOT REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE
CHRM 606 35500
Arts of Ministry: Worship
Boden/Tanner
CHRM 606 40700
The Practice of Ministry II
Pinon
DO NOT REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE
CHRM 606 42500
Senior Ministry Project Seminar
Gamwell
Open only to third year ministry students.
HIJD 625 43401
Science and Scripture: Jewish Phil. Exegesis in Middle Ages
Robinson
Ident. HCHR 43401, JWSG 43401, BIBL 43400, RLIT 43400
HIJD 625 50601
Simmel and Weber on Modernity and Religion
Mendes-Flohr/Riesebrodt
Ident. AASR 50600/SOCI 50053
HIJD 625 50700
Medieval Hebrew Texts
Robinson
PQ: Good reading knowledge of Hebrew
Ident. JWSG 50700, NEHC___
HCHR 626 41200
Religion in Modern America, 1865-1935
Gilpin
This course is the third in a series that examines American religious history from the colonial period to the twentieth century. For the period 1865 to 1935, the emphasis will fall on the nature of modernity and the roles of religious faith and practice within modern American society.
Ident. HIST 63700
HCHR 626 42101
Evangelicanism in America
Brekus
This course examines the history of American evangelicanism from its rise in the eighteenth century to the present. Besides discussing evangelical leaders such as Jonathan Edwards, Phoebe Palmer, Dwight Moody, and Billy Graham, we will explore popular evangelical beliefs and practices. Topics include conversion, prayer, revivalism, apocalypticism, controversies over science, gender, the rise of Fundamentalism, and the emergence of the Religious Right.
Ident. HIST 62202
HCHR 626 42102
Children in American Religious History
Brekus
This course explores the history of children and childhood in America through a religious lens. We will read major books about the history of American childhood as well as catechisms, sermons for children, children’s books, and childrearing literature. Requirements include a class presentation and a major research paper.
Ident. HIST 62804
HCHR 626 43401
Science and Scripture: Jewish Phil. Exegesis in Middle Ages
Robinson
Idents. BIBL 43400, HIJD 43401, JWSG 43401, RLIT 43400
HCHR 626 44101
Crusade and Holy War in the Medieval World
Pick
This course will focus on the origins and development of the idea of holy war and crusade in the Middle Ages. We will consider the evolution of notions of just war and holy war in the first few class periods and then will move on to consider recruitment techniques, the goals, ideals and ambitions of individual crusaders, as well as the medieval and modern historiography of the crusades. Attention will be given to Muslim, Jewish, Byzantine, as well as Latin perspectives.
Ident. HIST 63102, ISLM 44000, THEO 44101
ISLM 620 40100
Islamic Love Poetry
Sells
PQ: Arabic, Persian or Farsi, Turkish or Urdu, or consent of the instructor
Ident. NEHC 40600
ISLM 626 44000
Crusade and Holy War in the Medieval World
Pick
This course will focus on the origins and development of the idea of holy war and crusade in the Middle Ages. We will consider the evolution of notions of just war and holy war in the first few class periods and then will move on to consider recruitment techniques, the goals, ideals and ambitions of individual crusaders, as well as the medieval and modern historiography of the crusades. Attention will be given to Muslim, Jewish, Byzantine, as well as Latin perspectives.
Ident. HIST 63102, HCHR 44101, THEO 44101
HREL 628 35400
Hinduism: A Chronicle
Doniger
A survey of the history of Hinduism, setting texts in historical contexts. Hinduism is usually taught as a cluster of timeless concepts: karma, dharma, reincarnation, renunciation, and so forth, contained within Sanskrit texts produced by dead Brahmin males. But like all religions, Hinduism is grounded in history, and in a broader social imagination. This course will take the relatively novel approach of situating each major idea in the context of the historical events to which it responded: the Rig Veda in the Indo-European migrations, the Upanishads in the social crisis of the first great cities on the Ganges, and so forth, up to the present day BJP revisionist tactics. The reading will begin with two good survey texts and then focus closely on a few texts, some Sanskrit and some from vernacular literatures, from several different historical periods.
Ident. SALC 38302, RLST 27401
HREL 628 30200
Indian Philosophy I
Kapstein
Ident. SALC 20901/30901, DVPR 30201
HREL 628 36000
2nd Year Sanskrit
Doniger
PQ: One year of Sanskrit
Ident. SANS 20200, SALC 40400
HREL 628 42301
On Religious and Civil Wars
Lincoln
Ident. ANTH 42405, NEHC___
HREL 628 48501
Evil
Kapstein
The problem of evil is, in one form or another, a near-universal foundation of religious thought and life. While calling into question one’s notions of the good, the presence of evil is often also a necessary condition for the clear formation of the concept of goodness. In the present course we will consider aspects of the problem of evil in depth, taking account of evil as a cultural phenomenon as document in recent anthropological literature and as an issue in metaphysics and axiology, as examined by a selection of philosophers from Augustine to Ricoeur. Recent work on evil in Asian philosophies will be introduced as well.
Ident. DVPR 48500
RLIT 635 39000
Poetic Cinema
Bird
Films are frequently denoted as "poetic” or “lyrical” in a vague sort of way. It has been applied equally to religious cinema and to the experimental avant-garde. Our task will be to interrogate this concept and try to define what it actually is denoting. Films and critical texts will mainly be drawn from Soviet and French cinema of the 1920s-1930s and 1960s-1990s. Directors include Dovzhenko, Renoir, Cocteau, Resnais, Maya Deren, Tarkovsky, Pasolini, Jarman, and Sokurov. In addition to sampling these directors’ own writings, we shall examine theories of poetic cinema by major critics from the Russian formalists to Andre Bazin and beyond.
Ident. RUSS 29001/39001
RLIT 635 43400
Science and Scripture: Jewish Phil. Exegesis in Middle Ages
Robinson
Ident. BIBL 43400, HIJD 43401, JWSG 43401, HCHR 43401
RLIT 635 51800
Seminar: Topics in Religion and Literature
Rosengarten
A proseminar for Ph.D. students in the field of religion and literature, to assist in formulating and refining research interests for the dissertation.
RLIT 635 59700
Renaissance Intellectual Texts, Petrarch to Descartes
Strier
This course will read and discuss some of the non-literary texts that were fundamental to Renaissance, Reformation and immediately post-Reformation Europe. It will study works by Petrarch, Bruni, Machiavelli, Castiglione, Erasmus, More, Luther, Swingli, Loyola, Calvin, St. Teresa, Montaigne, Galileo and Descartes. Since none of these works were written in English, all will be read in translation, but students will be encouraged to read any works they can in the original. Each student will be expected to make a at least one class presentation, to keep a reading diary, and to do an analytical or historical paper.
PQ: Ph.D.-level seminar.
IDENT. ENGL 62200
RETH 638 48900
Seminar: Theological Ethics II
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 representation and understanding of meanings as well as recognition of the other, 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. This seminar is the second in the sequence and explores basic texts in contemporary philosophy and theology on the theme of the recognition of the other and the understanding of texts. Thinkers to be read include, among others, H.-G. Gadamer, P. Ricoeur, J. Derrida, C. Taylor, D. Tracy, and S. Hauerwas. Attention will be paid to new hermeneutical possibilities found in feminists and theorists of globalization.
PQ: Previous work in theology or ethics required
Ident. THEO 48900
RETH 638 50201
Religion and the Political Order I: Augustine to Calvin
Elshtain
Ident. PLSC 50201
RETH 638 52000
Augustine’s City of God
Elshtain
RETH 638 51302
Law-Philosophy Seminar
Nussbaum
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__, GNDR__, HMRT__, PLSC__, PHIL__
AASR 607 36000
Fieldwork Methodology in the Social Sciences
Zeghal
AASR 607 40900
Islam and Democracy I
Zeghal
This course will focus on the representations of the Islamic polity and the cultural, historical and sociological explanations for the so-called “democratic deficit” in the Muslim world. We will examine and evaluate the anthropological, sociological, and political science literature that develops this “deficit” paradigm by looking at precise cases from Arab and non-Arab Muslim societies. We will confront this literature with the paradigms developed for Western democracies in order to understand the basic assumptions used in some of the works dealing with Islam and politics. More particularly, we will deal with theories of kinship, state, and state-society relations that have often been at the foundations of the explanation for the absence of democracy. Parts I and II can be taken separately.
AASR 607 42600
Conversion and Commitment
Riesebrodt
Ident. SOCI 50010
AASR 607 50600
Simmel and Weber on Modernity and Religion
Mendes-Flohr/Riesebrodt
Ident. HIJD 50601/SOCI 50053
