RELIGIOUS STUDIES
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Schedule of Courses
– Fall 2008–
108. Hebrew Bible. Azzoni (TR 4:00-5:15) Introduction to the literature and thought of a Hebrew Bible (O.T.). Several themes will be explored: 1). The emergence and preservation of the people of Israel as a distinct social and religious group; 2). Power, politics, and the kingship; 3). The prophetic critique of the status quo; 4). Religious faith and practices; 5). The law; and 6). The wisdom tradition. At each point there will be discussion of ancient Israelâ?™s social, political, religious, and moral contexts. Skills for reading and interpreting the biblical literature in light of modern approaches will be developed. Lectures will provide background info, & class discussions will focus on understanding key texts assigned from the H.B.
112. Introduction to Judaism. Urban (MWF 10:10-11:00) Interdisciplinary introduction to Jewish beliefs, ceremonies, festivals and historical experience from ancient Judaism to the present. Particular emphasis is placed on the diversity of Jewish culture and the construction of Jewish identity in interaction with its host culture. We shall study a variety of primary sources, ranging from the classical sources of Judaism (Torah, Talmud, and Midrash) to liturgy and modern literature.
115F.01. God , Sex, and Earth. Welch (TR 11:00-12:15) This course examines the relations among ideas of the sacred, gendered humans, and the Earth. Religions have foundational myths or cosmologies that help make sense of who we are, our place in the world, our selves (as bodies, minds & spirits) and how we ought to behave. Ideas and images of Creation, Heaven & Earth, and right or wrong actions among beings dictate our thinking and our doing. Our image of the Divine, ("Super Nature"?) our assumptions about the proper relations between gendered/sexual bodies, and the proper relations of humans to "Nature" are all connected. Students will examine their own beliefs about these issues, and will begin creating an ecological picture or map that depicts our place in the universe. Each student will work on mapping his or her own landscape or moral worldview, and in addition to two reflection papers, the class will read and review a novel that brings together the themes of the course.
115F.03. Gandhi, Luthuli, and King. (MWF 2:10-3:00) An examination of the lives, philosophies, and methods of three great practitioners of creative nonviolent dissent. Special attention is given to the experiential and intellectual sources that shaped and informed the ideas, visions, and activities of Mohandas K. Gandhi, Albert J. Luthuli, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and also to the range of issues and problems they confronted in relating nonviolent methods to their particular social, cultural and historical contexts.
JS 115F.08. Berlin: Cabaret, Communism, Creativity. Urban (MWF 1:10-2:00) This course will explore the experience of modernity by the Berlin Jew at the turn of the twentieth century. How did the experience of the metropolis impact Jewish identity, attitudes to religion and modernity? What is Jewish modernism? We will be looking at Jewish creativity and perceptions of the city through avant-garde films, letters, memoirs, visual art and other forms of creative expression.
130. Introduction to Asian Traditions. King (MWF 11:10-12:00; W Sections) An introduction to the religious and philosophical traditions of South and East Asia, with specific reference to the teachings of the Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, Daoist and Jain traditions.
204W. Evangelical Protestantism. Baldwin (MWF 9:10-10:00) An examination of evangelical traditions from the colonial period to their present manifestations in 20th century America, with some attention to the European background. Special attention is devoted to debates concerning the authority and inerrancy of scripture, theology, church-state relations, the role of the Christian in society, education, the relationship between science and religion, the church and racism, the moral character of America, and other areas of cultural cleavage. Cultural conflict or “wars of faith” between conservative black and white Christians will be studied in terms of their historical significance and political implications. Students will complete 4 take-home exams and a 10-page paper on a contemporary issue that reflects the cultural conflicts of “wars of faith” within various conservative Christian communities.
212. Pauline Christianity: Romans. Patte (M 3:10-5:00) An exploration of the central themes of Paul's teaching as expressed in the letter to the Romans: universal sinfulness and guilt and justification through faith; Paul's Gospel to the Gentiles and the relation between Jews and Gentile Christians; the power of sin and of evil, its many forms, and the "gospel as power of God for salvation." We will consider these three themes by asking: How is Paul's teaching about them to the church of Rome related to his teaching to the other churches (in 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, and 1 & 2 Corinthians, in particular)? How was this teaching received by the churches of his time? In the following generations? By the Gnostics? By the church through the centuries? By believers today in different religious, political, socio-economic and cultural contexts? Requirements: Brief reading reports, & a research paper prepared throughout the second part of the semester that will be devoted to the topics chosen by the students for their papers. Active participation in discussion expected.
229. Holocaust: Meanings and Implications. Geller (TR 11:00-12:15) This course examines the systematic destruction of Euro-
pean Jewry and other groups during World War II. Attention is directed at the social, economic, and cultural factors that contributed to its occurrence as well as at the aftermath of response, recollection, and revision.We will address attempts to create meaningful narratives about events which appear to lack discernable meaning. To that end we will analyze historical accounts, theology, memoirs, memorials, fiction, film, etc., and the issues of history, memory, witness, language, ethical responsibility, theodicy, and otherness that they raise. No prior study is presupposed of these events that have come to be known as the Holocaust. There will be brief (1-2 page) thought/response papers each week, a mid-term, and a final. Weekly film screening on Tuesdays (6-8:30PM; video will also be available W&T in Heard Library).
234. Post-Freudian Theories and Religion. Gay (TR 1:10-2:25) We focus upon psychoanalytic theories that have developed since Freud’s death in 1939. In Britain, the U.S. and South America, a large body of clinical insights has emerged from schools of psychoanalysis called “Object Relations Theory” (ORT). In this course, we use two kinds of texts. The first are theory texts written by psychoanalysts about Object Relations Theory. The second are context texts. These are case histories, novels, movies and other narratives about persons’ internal experiences. Students will use the first kind of texts to explore the second.
254. Qur’an & Its Interpreters. McGregor (TR 2:35-3:50) This course will survey the Qur'an and the Islamic tradition of interpretation. We will encounter figures such as the Biblical prophets, Jesus and Satan. Interpretations will be drawn from the earliest period, up to the modern. Rationalist, dogmatic, Shi'i and mystical schools of interpretation will be discussed. (Prerequisite: one course in RLST or permission of instructor)
280W. Senior Seminar. McGregor (TR 9:35-10:50) Critical survey of some key modern thinkers on Religion from various disciplines. We will read Otto, Eliade, Smith, Turner, Geertz, Freud, James, Foucault, Derrida and others. Our central question will be, how is religion to be understood?
299A. Honors Thesis-Research. (TBA) Reading of primary research sources in preparation of writing honors thesis under supervision of the thesis advisor. Open only to senior honors students.
299B. Honors Thesis-Writing. (TBA) Writing honors thesis under the supervision of the thesis advisor. Open only to senior honors students.
Language Courses
ARA 210A. Elementary Arabic I. Staff/Staff (Section 01: MTWRF 10:10-11:00 / Section 02: MTWRF 12:10-1:00) Arabic is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and one of the official languages of the United Nations. It's the vehicle of a great civilization that embodies thousands of years of heritage and has contributed significantly to the Renaissance.
This course aims at providing you with a solid background in all four skills, i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Arabic. It seeks to establish a useful vocabulary base that you can use to converse at the elementary level, and familiarize you with the basic structure of the Arabic sentence. It also introduces you to the fundamentals of Arabic grammar to produce simple Arabic sentences and sustain conversation orally, and to produce sentences and paragraphs in writing within the range of vocabulary and grammar taught. The course will emphasize the comprehension of simple sentences both spoken and written within the attained range of Arabic grammar and vocabulary. Understanding some cultural facets of the Arab world is an important component of the course. Five contact hour per week and individual work in the language laboratory. Students with prior Arabic experience will have to take a placement test. No exceptions.
ARA 220A. Intermediate Arabic. Hamad (TR 9:35-10:50) In this course, you will continue to practice and develop all of the four language skills that are appropriate to this level, through an extensive use of the target language itself. Intensive work on vocabulary acquisition to facilitate speaking, reading comprehension, and writing skills, by learning it in the contexts of more complex structures of the Arabic sentence, will be a t th core of the course. Greater emphasis will also be placed on understanding various aspects of Arabic culture that will prepare students wishing to visit or re-visit the Arab world and survive its culture-shock.
ARA 230A. Advance Arabic. Hamad (TR 11:00-12:15) Course offers an overview of the target language in its Modern Standard and Classical Arabic manifestations. Of all four skills that you have developed thus far, speaking and reading are emphasized. The spoken form of the language used to develop your speaking ability and bring it to an advanced-superior level is that used by highly-educated speakers of Arabic. Grammar is learned through the reading of authentic texts and in its proper context, while literary techniques and observations are highlighted to aid you in understanding and analyzing similar materials. Prerequisite: 2 years of Arabic at Vanderbilt (or its equivalent elsewhere) or approval by instructor.
RLST 295.01. Arabic Reading Seminar. Hamad (W, 9:10-11:30) This course focuses almot exclusively on reading, understanding, analyzing or interpreting authentic texts, ranging from literary texts (short stories and novels), religious, philosophical, to biographical and historical. Texts by Neguib Mahfouz, Tayyib Salih, Jurgi Zaydan, the Mahdi, Al-Shafi’, Al-Kindi, Ibn Battuta and Ibn Kathir, will be at the center of the reading. Prerequisite: 3 years of Arabic at Vanderbilt or its equivalent elsewhere) or approval by instructor.
HEBR 111A. Elementary Hebrew I. Halachmi (MWF 3:10-4:00) Elementary conversational Hebrew emphasizing the spoken colloquial usage of Israel today. Course prepares students for further study in modern Hebrew, while also providing a foundation for understanding Biblical Hebrew. No prior knowledge of Hebrew pre supposed. Fulfills language requirement.
HEBR 113A. Intermediate Modern Hebrew. Halachmi (2:10-3:00 MWF) Reinforcement of advanced grammar, reading, and conversation in modern Hebrew. Some knowledge of elementary Hebrew is required. Fulfills language requirement.