Winter 2011 Course Descriptions
PLEASE NOTE: This document is subject to amendment. It is intended for descriptive and informational use only. DO NOT USE IT TO REGISTER FOR CLASSES. To register, please consult the University Time Schedules.
The Following "Special Courses" are for M. Div. students only:
629-60000-01/02 Special Course — Chicago Theological Seminary
629-63000-01/02 Special Course — Meadville Lombard Theol School
629-65000-01/02 Special Course — Catholic Theological Union
629-66000-01/02 Special Course — Lutheran Theological School
629-68000-01/02 Special Course — McCormick Theol. Seminary* An asterisk indicates that the course so designated may count toward the required “designated introductory courses” for M.A. students.
DVSC 42000 Divinity School: German Reading Exam
Monday, January 24 at 6:00 p.m.
PQ: Open only to Divinity School students.
DVSC 45100 Reading Course: Special Topic
Staff: ARR
PQ: Petition with bibliography signed by instructor; enter section from faculty list.
DVSC 49900 Exam Preparation
Staff: ARR
PQ: Open only to Ph.D. students in quarter of qualifying exams. Department consent. Petition signed by Advisor.
DVSC 50100 Research: Divinity
Staff: ARR
PQ: Petition signed by instructor; enter section from faculty list.
DVSC 59900 Thesis Work: Divinity
Staff: ARR
PQ: Petition signed by instructor; enter section from faculty list.
BIBL 32500 Introduction to the New Testament: Texts and Contexts *
Mitchell, Margaret
T/TH 10:30-11:50 S106
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, geographic, social, religious, cultural and political contexts of these texts and the events they relate to; 2. 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 research, and to reflect on the goals and methods of interpretation; 6. To raise questions for further study.
Discussion groups will meet Tuesdays, 12:00-1:00 in S208; Thursdays, 12:00-1:00 in S208 and S403; Fridays, 12:00-1:00 in S201 and S208.
Ident. RLST 12000/FNDL 28202/NTEC 32500
BIBL 34100 Intermediate Biblical Hebrew
Thomas, Ben
M/W/F 8:00-8:50 S208
PQ: BIBL 34000
BIBL 35400 Intermediate Koine Greek III
Howell, Justin
M/W/F 8:00-8:50 S201
PQ: BIBL 35300
BIBL 42400 Isaiah 40-66: Babylon and Yehud
Chavel, Simeon
T/TH 12:00-1:20 S400
A reading course. Select chapters. Students will: prepare about 20 verses ahead of every class, using standard critical tools; read aloud in class, translate, and lead analysis; write three short exploratory papers (3-5 pp) and one research paper (15-20 pp); and do some additional general reading.
PQ: 1 year of Biblical Hebrew
BIBL 44500 Philo of Alexandria
Martinez, David
M/W 9:00-10:20 S200
In this course we will read the Greek text of Philo’s de opificio mundi with other brief excerpts here and there in the Philonic corpus. Our aim will be to use this treatise to elucidate the character of one of the most prolific theological writers of the first century. We will seek to understand Philo as a Greek author and the nature and origins of his style, Philo as a proponent of middle Platonism, and Philo as a Jew in the context of Alexandrian Judaism. We will also examine his use of the allegorical method as an exegetical tool, and its implications for early Christian approaches to the biblical text.
Ident. GREK 24600/34600
BIBL 51401 Documentary Hypothesis
Stackert, Jeffrey
Th 2:00-4:50 S200
This course will be an in-depth study of the Documentary Hypothesis for the composition of the Torah. It will consider the origins of this approach, its development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and its current revision and reinvigoration among the so-called ‘Neodocumentarians’. All biblical texts will be read in Hebrew.
PQ: BIBL 30800; 2 years of biblical Hebrew or equivalent.
BIBL 54001 Seminar: Gospels from Nag Hammadi
Klauck, Hans-Josef
M 1:00-3:50 S403
PQ: Greek welcome, but not needed; Coptic welcome, but not needed.
THEO 30300 History of Christian Thought III *
Schreiner, Susan
M/W 10:00-11:20 S201
Ident. HCHR 30300
THEO 31100 History of Theological Ethics I *
Schweiker, William
M.W 10:00-11:20 S106
This is the first part of a two-part history. It is conducted through the study of basic, classical texts. The course moves from the philosophical ethics of the Greek and Roman worlds through strands of Hebrew scripture, the origins of the Christian movement, the end of the Roman age to the emergence of Islam, and finally, Christian and Jewish scholastic and mystical thought in the Western middle ages. While the golden thread of the history is the origin and differentiation of Christian moral thinking, this is set within and compared with the complexity of traditions (Hellenistic philosophical, Jewish, Islamic) that intersect and often collide throughout these formative centuries in Western thought. In this way, the exploration of one tradition open onto rich comparative thinking. The course proceeds by lectures and discussion. Most readings are in translation. There will be a final examination. This is a basic course and thus no previous work in theology, philosophy or ethics is required.
Ident. RETH 31100
THEO 40500 Black Theology: 1st Generation
Hopkins, Dwight
M 1:00-4:20 S106
A critical examination of the origins, figures, theories, and theological thoughts of the founders of USA, black theology of liberation. We examine how they brought to bear an interdisciplinary approach to the study of theology; that is, culture, politics, and economics. The first generation of USA black theologians begins July 31, 1966. What does this theological approach have to say about the larger discipline of theology?
THEO 41101 Being Human
Hopkins, Dwight
Tue 9:00-11:50 S208
What does it mean to be a human being—a person who fulfills individual capabilities and contributes to a community’s well being? Furthermore, what connects the individual and community to an ultimate vision, spirituality, or God? These questions and investigations can be described as an examination of and argument for constructing a theological anthropology. When one thinks intentionally about the being of a human and his or her ties to some concern or force greater than the limited self, then transcendence and materiality involve themselves in a complex dynamic. How does one construct an individual and a community of individuals? We investigate different models of being human and bring in other disciplines to help unpack this notion.
THEO 41300 Calvin’s Institutes
Schreiner, Susan
M/W 1:30-2:50 S201
Ident. HCHR 41700/RLST 20702/FDNL 24501
THEO 48202 The Brauer Seminar: The Case for Humanism
Otten, Willemien/Schweiker, William
M 1:00-3:50 S200
Historically humanism is associated with the renaissance movement that advocated a return to the sources (ad fontes). It espoused ideals of philological purity and classical norms of civilization, which made it suitable for pursuing an agenda of reform, as witnessed by its impact on the Reformation. In post-war scholarship and society the term has gained a much wider meaning and applicability, however, ranging from medieval humanism to postmodern forms of it including digital and global humanism, and taking on normative in addition to descriptive value. While its meaning has thus been broadened considerably, a special theme centering the many divergent contemporary discussions of the term is that of exclusive humanism: to what extent is humanism reconcilable with religious ideals, especially with the ideals of heteronomy implied by Christian notions of the transcendent?
Ident. HCHR 48202/RETH 48202
PQ: By Application Only.
DVPR 30302 Indian Philosophy II *
Kapstein, Matthew
T/TH 10:30-11:50 S201
PQ: Indian Philosophy I or consent of instructor
Ident. HREL 30300/RLST 24202/SALC 30902
DVPR 35100 Problems Around Foucault
Davidson, Arnold T/TH 10:30-11:50 TBA
We will read some of Foucault’s most important essays and lectures, from all periods of his work, in an attempt to assess the originality and continued significance of his thought in the context of 20th century European philosophy. We will also look at the work of other philosophers who influenced or were influenced by Foucault, for example: Georges Canguilhem, Gilles Deleuze, Paul Veyne, Pierre Hadot, Ian Hacking, etc. A final section of the course will consider how we can make use of Foucault today, with respect to questions of epistemology, politics, and ethics.
Ident. PHIL 21910/31910/CMLT 25102/35102
DVPR 40300 Augustine on Grace and Free Will
Coyne, Ryan TH 9:00-11:50 S208
In this course we will consider Augustine’s writings on grace and free will. Our main focus will be the polemic against Pelagius and its significance for the subsequent trajectory of Augustine’s theological anthropology. Our reading of Augustine will also be informed by contemporary retrievals of his theology, particularly as they pertain to the question of human freedom. Supplemental readings may be drawn from: Tertullian, John Cassia, Cyprian, Gregory of Nyssa, and Ambrose among others.
DVPR 48900 Readings in Buddhist Philosophical Texts
Kapstein, Matthew
M 5:00-7:00 S400
PQ: Advanced classical Tibetan
Ident. SALC 48500/HREL 488901
DVPR 50002 Seminar: Stcherbatsky’s “Buddhist Logic”
Kapstein, Matthew
M 3:00-5:00 S400
A careful reading of the pioneering early 20th century text that established the Buddhist logical and epistemological tradition as a field of academic research.
PQ: Consent of instructor
DVPR 50201 Seminar: Contemporary Critical Theory
Meltzer, Francoise
W 1:30-4:29 Cl 113
This course will examine some of the salient texts of postmodernism. Part of the question of the course will be the status and meaning of “post”-modern, post-structuralist. The course requires active and informed participation.
DVPR 52100 Seminar: Derida: Deconstruction and Religion
Coyne, Ryan F 1:00-3:50 S200
In this course we will carefully consider selected works by philosopher Jacques Derrida. Specifically we will study the emergence of religious themes in his early work, and on this basis we will examine the roles of messianism, belief, and confession in his later work.
PQ: Permission of Instructor.
CHRM 30200 The Public Church in America
Gilpin, Clark
M/W 1:30-2:50 S400
In order to explore the cultural context for ministry, this course will be organized as a workshop that analyzes a single question: “What is public theology?”
PQ: First year M.DIV. students only.
CHRM 30600 Colloquium: Introduction to the Study of Ministry
Lindner, Cynthia/Boyd, Kevin
W 1:30-2:50 S400
PQ: First year M.DIV. Students only
DO NOT REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE
CHRM 35500 Arts of Ministry: Worship
Lindner, Cynthia
F 9:00-11:50 S400
CHRM 40700 Practice of Ministry II
Boyd, Kevin
F 1:30-4:20 S400
DO NOT REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE
CHRM 42500 Senior Ministry Project
Culp, Kristine
W 3:00-5:50 S400
PQ: 3rd year M.DIV. students only.
CHRM 43000 Dying in the Modern World
Boyd, Kevin/Koogler, Tracy
TH 1:00-3:50 S208
How do we define death? How do we as persons and professionals respond to the dying? What are our obligations as professionals to the dying and to the grieving loved ones they leave behind? This will be an interdisciplinary class team taught by faculty from the Divinity School and the medical School that will draw students from both schools. Our central focus will be the experience of death and dying in the modern world from philosophical, clinical, sociological, and religious perspectives. We will explore the ways these different understandings complement one another, as well as the points where they come into potential conflict, all in the attempt to foster a richer dialogue around death and dying between various professional caregivers.
Ident. PEDS 43000
ISLM 30321 “Persian Poetry: Shanameh 2
Lewis, Frank
M 3:00-5:50 Pick ?
Abu al-Qâsem Ferdowsi of Tus (940-1019?) completed his verse rendition of the tragic history of the Iranian nation exactly one millennium ago, in early March of 1010. A foundational text that preserved, or created, paradigmatic assumptions about the nature of monarchy and the Iranian nation, the Shahnameh influenced neighboring lands and empires—Central Asian, Anatolian and South Asian, both in itself, and as an inspiration for other epic-texts. While conventionally classed as an “epic,” the Shahnameh’s various episodes include a variety of disparate genres and themes: creation narrative, mythology, heroic saga, folk tale, romance, philosophy, political theory, royal chronicle, panegyric, and an implicit critique of kings. Thus, through a close reading in English, a slow reading in Persian of select passages, and discussion, this course aims to create a deep understanding of the language, the characters and the themes of the Shahnameh, analyzing the poem as an example of both national epic and world literature. Alongside the selected episodes in Persian, we will read the entire Shahnameh in English translation and discuss some of the wider scholarly issues surrounding Ferdowsi’s texts and the Shahnameh sources, transmission, illustration, and popular and scholarly reception. Class discussions will be in English.
PQ: PERS 20103 or the equivalent IDENT. PERS 20321/30321
ISLM 41100 Animal Spirituality in the Middle Ages: A Medieval Menagerie
Robinson, James
F 12:00-2:50 S403
In contemporary philosophy, ethics, and literature, a subject attracting more and more attention is animals—human animals, non-human animals, and the complex relation between these paradigmatic others. The aim of this course is to consider many of the same problems and questions raised in modern discourse from the perspective of ancient and medieval sources. Drawing from a diverse corpus of texts—Aristotelian and Neoplatonic, Hindu, Jewish, Christian and Islamic—the course will explore the richness of the medieval traditions of animal symbolism, and the complexity of medieval human beings’ understanding of themselves in relationship to their-- far more familiar and immanently present-- confreres in the world of nature.
Ident. HIJD 41100/HCHR 41101/RLIT 41101/HREL 41101
HIJD 35200 Maimonides and Hume on Religion
Stern, Josef
ARR ARR ARR
This course will study in alternation chapters from Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed and David Hume’s Dialogues concerning Natural Religion, two major philosophical works whose literary forms are at least as important as their contents. Topics will include human knowledge of the existence and nature of God, anthropomorphism an idolatry, religious language, and the problem of evil. Time permitting, we shall also read othr short works by these two authors on related themes.
Ident. PHIL 25110/35110
HIJD 41100 Animal Spirituality in the Middle Ages: A Medieval Menagerie
Robinson, James
F 12:00-2:50 S403
See description above ISLM 41100
Ident. ISLM 41100/HCHR 41101/RLIT 41101/HREL 41101
HIJD 47705 Jewish Political Theology
Mendes-Flohr, Paul
W 1:30-4:20 S403
HIJD 48400 Moses, Paul and Modernity
Mendes-Flohr/Santner, Eric
Tu 1:30-4:20 Wb 206
Ident. GRMN 37311
HCHR 30300 History of Christian Thought III *
Schreiner, Susan
M/W 10:00-11:20 S201
Ident. THEO 30300
HCHR 41101 Animal Spirituality in the Middle Ages: A Medieval Menagerie
Robinson, James
F 12:00-2:50 S403
See description for ISLM 41100
Ident. HIJD 41100/ISLM 41100/HREL 41101/RLIT 41101
HCHR 41300 Christians, Muslims, and Jews in Medieval Spain
Pick, Lucy
Tu 9:00-11:50 S400
This course will investigate the fact of religious pluralism in medieval Iberia and will examine how (and when) religious differences mediated contact in economic, social, cultural, legal, and scientific spheres, as well as in overtly religious encounters.
Ident. HIST 44100
HCHR 41700 Calvin’s Institutes
Schreiner, Susan
M/W 1:30-2:50 S201
Ident. THEO 41300
HCHR 42100 The Enlightenment in America
Brekus, Catherine
TH 1:30-4:20 S201
This course explores the impact of the broad intellectual movement known as the “Enlightenment” on 18th and early 19th-century American religion. After reading two contrasting assessments of the Enlightenment, we will discuss the emergence of evangelicalism, the controversies over original sin, the development of Deism, the humanitarian challenge to slavery, the debates over female equality, and finally, the transformation of Protestantism in the early 19th century. We will also discuss the continuing controversies over the legacy of the Enlightenment in our own time.
Ident. HIST 63000.
HCHR 42101 Evangelicalism in America
Brekus, Catherine
Tu 1:30-4:20 S201
This course examines the history of American evangelicalism from its rise in the 18th 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 44300 Religion and Emotion in American Culture
Gilpin, Clark
F 9:00-11:50 S200
In the modern West, religion and emotion have frequently been mutually defining categories. Together, these categories have gone far toward establishing broad cultural assumptions about the boundaries between the public and the private or the rational and the emotional. They have shaped the behavioral norms of gender, class, and social affiliation. This seminar will explore the connections between religion and emotion, using case studies drawn from American history.
HCHR 44901 Race and Religion in the U.S. in the 20th Century
Evans, Curtis
T/Th 9:00-10:20 S201
We explore through various sources of social science, literature, and memoirs the existential and lived experience of race in America in the 20th century. Particular attention is placed on how churches and religious communities have shaped and constructed religion and racial identities. The focus is primarily on Christian communities and their struggles with the problem of race in the U.S.
HCHR 48202 The Brauer Seminar: The Case for Humanism
Otten, Willemien/ Schweiker, William
M 1:00-3:50 S200
Historically humanism is associated with the renaissance movement that advocated a return to the sources (ad fontes) . It espoused ideals of philological purity and classical norms of civilization, which made it suitable for pursuing an agenda of reform, as witnessed by its impact on the Reformation. In post-war scholarship and society the term has gained a much wider meaning and applicability, however, ranging from medieval humanism to postmodern forms of it including digital and global humanism, and taking on normative in addition to descriptive value. While its meaning has thus been broadened considerably, a special theme centering the many divergent contemporary discussions of the term is that of exclusive humanism: to what extent is humanism reconcilable with religious ideals, especially with the ideals of heteronomy implied by Christian notions of the transcendent?
Ident. THEO 48202/RETH 48202
PQ: By Application Only.
RLIT 36300 Renaissance Epic
Murrin, Michael
T/TH 12:00-1:20 ARR
A study of classical epic in the Renaissance or Early Modern period. Emphasis will be both on texts and on classical epic theory. We will read Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered, Camoes’ Lusiads, and Milton’s Paradise Lost. A paper will be required and perhaps an examination.
Ident. ENGL 36300/CMLT 39100
RLIT 41101 Animal Spirituality in the Middle Ages: A Medieval Menagerie
Robinson, James
F 12:00-2:50 S403
In contemporary philosophy ethics, and literature, a subject attracting more and more attention is animals—human animals, non-human animals, and the complex relation between these paradigmatic others. The aim of this course is to consider many of the same problems and questions raised in modern discourse from the perspective of ancient and medieval sources. Drawing from a diverse corpus of texts—Aristotelian and neoplatonic, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic—the course will explore the richness of the medieval traditions of animal symbolism, and the complexity of medieval human beings’ understanding of themselves in relationship to their—far more familiar and immanently present—confreres in the world of nature.
Ident. HIJD 41100/ISLM 41100/HCHR 41101/HREL 41101
HREL 30300 Indian Philosophy II *
Kapstein, Matthew
T/TH 10:30-11:50 S201
PQ: Indian Philosophy I or consent of instructor
Ident. DVPR 30302/RLST 24202/SALC 30902
HREL 31600 Zoroastrianism
Lincoln, Bruce
T/TH 9:00-10:20 S200
HREL 36000 Second Year Sanskrit: Readings in the Mahabharata
Doniger, Wendy
W/F 1:30-2:50 Swift 207
Readings in Book 10 of the Mahabharata
PQ: One year of Sanskrit. Exam at end of quarter.
Ident. SALC 20200/48400
HREL 41101 Animal Spirituality in the Middle Ages: A Medieval Menagerie
Robinson, James
F 12:00-2:50 S403
See description for HCHR 41101
Ident. HIJD 41100/ISLM 41100/HCHR 41101/RLIT 41100
HREL 42501 Many Ramayanas
Doniger, Wendy
W/F 10:00-11:20 S208
A close reading of the great Hindu Epic, the story of Rama’s recovery of his wife, Sita, from the demon Ravana on the island of Lanka, with special attention to changes in the telling of the story throughout Indian history, up to its present use as a political weapon against Muslims and a rallying point for Hindu fundamentalists. Readings in Paula Richman, Many Ramayanas and Questioning Ramayanas; in translations of the Ramayanas of Valmiki, Kampan, Tulsi, and Michael Dutta, as well as the Ramajataka; Rama the Steadfast, trans. Brockington; the Yogavasistha-Maharamayana; and contemporary comic books and films.
Ident. SALC 42501/SCTH 40701/FNDL 22911/RLST 26801
RETH 31100 History of Theological Ethics I *
Schweiker, William
M/W 10:00-11:20 S106
This is the first part of a two-part history. It is conducted through the study of basic, classical texts. The course moves form the philosophical ethics of the Greek and Roman worlds through strands of Hebrew scripture, the origins of the Christian movement, the end of the Roman age to the emergence of Islam, and, finally, Christian and Jewish scholastic and mystical thought in the Western middle ages. While the golden thread of the history is the origin and differentiation of Christian moral thinking, this is set within and compared with the complexity of traditions (Hellenistic philosophical, Jewish, Islamic) that intersect and often collide throughout these formative centuries in Western thought. In this way, the exploration of one tradition opens onto rich comparative thinking. The course proceeds by lectures and discussion. Most readings are in translation. There will be a final examination. This is a basic course and thus no previous work in theology, philosophy or ethics is required.
Ident. THEO 31100.
RETH 48202 The Brauer Seminar: The Case for Humanism
Schweiker, William/Otten, Willemien
M 1:00-3:50 S200
Historically humanism is associated with the renaissance movement that advocated a return to the sources (ad fontes) . It espoused ideals of philological purity and classical norms of civilization, which made it suitable for pursuing an agenda of reform, as witnessed by its impact on the Reformation. In post-war scholarship and society the term has gained a much wider meaning and applicability, however, ranging from medieval humanism to postmodern forms of it including digital and global humanism, and taking on normative in addition to descriptive value. While its meaning has thus been broadened considerably, a special theme centering the many divergent contemporary discussions of the term is that of exclusive humanism: to what extent is humanism reconcilable with religious ideals, especially with the ideal of heteronomy implied by Christian notions of the transcendent?
Ident. THEO 48202/HCHR 48202
PQ: By Application only.
RETH 50201 Religion and the Political Order I
Elshtain, Jean
M 1:00-3:50 S208
Ident. PLSC 50201
RETH 52900 Advanced Seminar in Ethics: The Ethics of Albert Camus
Elshtain, Jean
Tu 1:00-3:50 S208
PQ: Must have completed 2 courses with Professor Elshtain or permission of the instructor.
