RS234-001 (22585) / ILS 234-001 (25791)
Spring, 2014
Tuesday and Thursday 1:00-2:15 PM, Engr. Hall 3345
Class email:
Instructor: Dr. Ulrich Rosenhagen
Office: 5223 Mosse Humanities
Office hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 3:00-4:00 PM
Tel: 890-1665
Mailbox: 5045 Mosse Humanities
Email:
Teaching Assistant: Megan Falater
Email:
Genres of Western Religious Writing
A recent query of the headlines of Religion News, the central religious news service on the web, included dispatches about the shortage of imams in the US, humanist’s efforts to promote a Bible cleansed of miracles, commentaries on Martin Luther King’s legacy, kosher food pantries, gay marriage, and inter-religious co-operations. Though this snapshot of headlines might look-like a big religious smorgasbord, it is also indicative of the situation of religion in today’s America and “the West.” Religion in “the West” resembles more and more a confusing patchwork of ideas, cultures, and identities. “The West” is no longer dominated by one distinct tradition (i.e., mainline Protestantism, or Roman Catholicism), nor by one exclusive organizational form (i.e., the Church). Instead, in and outside the academy, a comparative approach to religious ideas and their social manifestations has taken hold. The class Genres of Western Religious Writing has been developed with this comparative approach as its methodological guide. It offers an introduction to some of the main genres of Western religious writing as well as their histories, legacies, and challenges. It is based on the premise that closer study of certain genres across culture and tradition can offer a fresh look onto “the West’s” religious economy and imagination.
As a Communication B course the class is designed as a writing intensive course, which follows the standard UW rules and requirements for such classes. The class also allows for more frequent oral participation and presentation.
In the first half of the semester, the course focuses on a variety of genres common in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (i.e., God, prayer, priests and prophets, monastic life, and secularization). In the second half of it, the history of religion in the US will serve as our template, and we will explore a number of genres that have been reshaped by the particular American experience (i.e. myth, ritual, religious liberty, ethics, and religious pluralism).
Grading will be determined as follows:
Discussion/participation/attendance = 25%
Two short (about five minutes) oral presentations = 10%
Three short papers (1-2 pages; about 360-720 words) each = 15%
Two medium papers (4-5 pages; about 1500-1800 words) each = 20%
Two larger papers (7-8 pages; about 2500-2900 words) each = 30%
Total = 100%
The grade scale is: A=100-93%; AB=92-88%; B=87-83%; BC=82-78%; C=77-70%; D=69-60%.
The following books can be purchased at the University Bookstore (they are also put on reserve in the College Library).
The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (1989).
Edwin Gaustad & Leigh Schmidt, The Religious History of America: The Heart of the American Story from Colonial Times to Today (HarperCollins, revised ed. 2004)
Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning For Modern Man (org. 1951, new ed. with an introduction by Susannah Heschel, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux 2005)
Eboo Patel, Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation (Beacon Press, 2nd ed. 2010)
Stephen Prothero, God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run The World (HarperOne, 2010)
Students also need to purchase a Course Reader, which consists of the following texts:
Reza Aslan, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam (2005), 249-266
Michael Barnes, “Religious Pluralism,” in John Hinnells (ed.), The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion (2nd ed. 2010), 426-441
Swasti Bhattacharyya, “Social Activism and Engagement,” in Paul O. Myhre (ed.), Introduction to Religious Studies (2009), 115-134
Robert N. Bellah, “Civil Religion in America” (1967), 1-18
Marcus J. Borg and N. T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions (2000), 31-76 and 111-142
Herbert Bronstein et al., “Prayer in the Abrahamic Faiths,” in New Theology Review 16,3 (2003), 22-30
Peter Brown, “The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity,” in The Journal of Roman Studies vol. 61 (1971), 80-101
Simon Coleman, “Pilgrimage,” in Robert A. Segal (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion (2009), 385-396
Lawrence S. Cunningham, “Holy Men/Holy Women,” in Robert A. Segal (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion (2009), 285-293
Diana Eck, A New Religious America: How a “Christian Country” Has Become the World’s Most Religiously Diverse Nation (2001), 26-79
Judith Fox, “Secularization,” in John Hinnells (ed.), The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion (2nd ed. 2010), 306-322
Paul Gifford, “Religious Authority: Scripture, Tradition, Charisma,” in John Hinnells (ed.), The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion (2nd ed. 2010), 397-410
W. A. Graham, “Scripture,” in Mircea Eliade (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Religion, vol. 13 (1987), 133-145
Abraham Joschua Heschel, “No Religion is an Island,” in Union Seminary Quarterly Review vol. 21,2 (1966), 117-134
Jack A. Hill, “Religious Ethics, Moral Values, and Standards for Human Conduct,” in Paul O. Myhre (ed.), Introduction to Religious Studies (2009), 79-96
James C. Livingston,“Society and the Sacred: Social Manifestations of Religion,” in Anatomy of the Sacred. An Introduction to Religion (2nd ed. 1993), 136-166
Diarmaid MacCulloch, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years (2009), 604-637
Ian Markham, “Theology,” in Robert A. Segal (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion (2009), 193-210
Paul O. Myhre, “What Is Religion?,” in Paul O. Myhre (ed.), Introduction to Religious Studies (2009), 3-14
Malory Nye, “Religion: Some Basics,” in Malory Nye, Religion: The Basics (2nd ed. 2004), 1-22
Malory Nye, “Ritual,” in Malory Nye, Religion: The Basics (2nd ed. 2004), 129-151.
David C. Ratke, “Origin Stories and Religion: How Are Religions Formed?,” in Paul O. Myhre (ed.), Introduction to Religious Studies (2009), 27-40
Roger (Frere) Schutz, “The Little Source of Taize” (2000), in Mary Gerhart and Fabian E. Udoh (eds.), The Christianity Reader (2007), 486-487
Robert A. Segal, “Myth,” in Robert A. Segal (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion (2009), 337-355
Ninian Smart, “The Mythic or Narrative Dimension,” in Dimension of the Sacred (1996), 130-165
Victor W. Turner, “Religious Specialists: I. Anthropological Study,” in David L. Sills (ed.), International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 13 (1968), 437-444
Robert E. Van Voorst (ed.), Anthology of World Scriptures: Western Religions (2007), 1-20; 37-45; 74-81; 83-90; 129-134
Haddon Willmer, “Costly Discipleship,” in John W. de Gruchy, The Cambridge Companion to Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1999), 173-189
The following texts will be uploaded on Learn@UW, or made available otherwise:
Selections from Friedrich Heiler, Prayer: A Study in the History and Psychology of Religion (1932)
Three Book Reviews on T. M. Luhrmann, When God Talks Back (2012)
Three Selected Short Articles on “Taize”
John Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity (1630)
Roger Williams, Letter to the Town of Providence (1655)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Selections from Letters and Papers from Prison (1949)
Two Speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr.
One Text on “Secularization”
Two Texts on “Islam in America”
Class Schedule and Readings
January 21Introduction to Class
January 23No Class
January 28Why Study Religion?
(Stephen Prothero: The Perils of Religious Ignorance)
January 30What isReligion?
Read: Nye, Religion, 1-22; Myhre, 3-14
February 4Library Resources: Meet at Memorial Library
February 6God as Center of the Western Religions
Read: Markham, Theology, 193-210; Prothero, 1-24
February 11Sacred Scriptures of the Western Religious Traditions
Read: Graham, Scripture, 133-145; Van Voorst, 1-20
February 13Prayer
Read: Selections from Heiler, Prayer; Three Book Reviews on Luhrmann, When God Talks Back, Bronstein, Prayer in the Abrahamic Faiths, 22-30
First paper (1-2 pages): Summarize the book reviews on Luhrmann, When God Talks Back. Due at beginning of lecture.
February 18Religious Pluralism
(Diana Eck: The Turbulent Waters of Religious Pluralism)
Read: Barnes, Religious Pluralism, 426-441; Heschel: No Religion is an Island
February 20Moses and the Torah I
Read: Exodus, chapter 1-15; Prothero, 243-278. 365-368; Van Voorst, 37-45
February 25Moses and the Torah II
Read: Exodus, chapter 16-34; Numbers, chapter 11-12, 14, and 20-21; Leviticus 11 and 16, Deuteronomy, chapter 5-6, and 34; Van Voorst, 74-81
February 27Prophets, Priests, and other Holy Men and Women
Read: Cunningham, Holy Men/Holy Women, 285-293; Turner, Religious Specialists, 437-445; Brown, The Rise and Function of the Holy Man in Late Antiquity
First draft of second paper (4-5 pages): How do Peter Brown’s “Holy Men” fit into the terminology suggested by Victor Turner? Due at beginning of lecture.
March 4Jesus and the Infant Church I
Read: The Gospel According to Matthew; Borg/Wright, What Did Jesus Do and Teach, 31-76; Prothero, 65-99
March 6Jesus and the Infant Church II
Read: Borg/Wright, God Raised Jesus From The Dead, 111-142
Comments on second paper due at beginning of lecture.
March 11Monastic and Other Religious Communities
Read: Livingston, 136-165; Schutz, The Little Source of Taize; Three selected articles on Taize
March 13Islam
Read: Van Voorst, 129-134; Prothero, 25-63
Revised paper due at beginning of lecture.
SPRING BREAK
March 25Pilgrimage
Read: Coleman, Pilgrimage, 385-396
March 27The Protestant Reformation and the Problem of Authority
Read: MacCulloch, 604-637; Gifford, Religious Authority, 397-409
Third paper (1-2 pages): How would you explain the attraction of the concept of pilgrimage in the 21st century? Due at beginning of lecture.
April 1Secularization
Read: Fox, Secularization, 306-322; One Short Additional Text to Upload
April 3From the Puritans to the Eve of the American Revolution
Read: Gaustad/Schmidt, 49-73 and 121-138; Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity; Williams, Letter to the Town of Providence
Fourth paper (1-2 pages): How has secularization changed the religious environment you grew up in? Due at beginning of lecture.
April 8Myth and Ritual
Read: Nye, Ritual, 129-151; Ratke, Origin Stories, 27-40; Smart, Mythic Dimension, 130-165
April 10From the First Amendment to Revivalism
Read: Gaustad/Schmidt, 121-161; Bellah, Civil Religion, 1-18
April 15Lincoln and the Civil War
Gaustad/Schmidt, 184-202; Hill, Religious Ethics, Moral Values, and Standards for Human Conduct, 79-96
Fifth paper (4-5 pages): Discuss strengths and weaknesses as well as scope and limits of the idea of religious liberty as original American myth. Due at beginning of lecture.
April 17The Forces of Modernity: Reform Judaism
Read: Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath
April 22Martyrdom: The Story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer I
Read: Selections from Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
First draft of sixths paper (7-8 pages): Interpret Heschel’s book on the Sabbath before the background of the theories of myth and ritual. Due at beginning of lecture.
April 24Martyrdom: The Story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer II
Read: Willmer, Costly Discipleship, 173-189
April 29From Billy Graham to the Civil Rights Movement
Read: Gaustad/Schmidt, 349-397; Two selected speeches by Martin Luther King; Bhattacharyya, Social Activism and Engagement, 115-134
Comments on sixths paper due at beginning of lecture.
May 1 From the Culture Wars to 21st-Century Pluralism
Read: Gaustad/Schmidt, 398-427; Eck, A New Religious America, 26-79
May 6Pluralism Paired With Social Activism
(Eboo Patel: Interfaith Leadership in a Time of Global Religious Crisis)
Read: Eboo Patel, Acts of Faith; Aslan, No god but God, 249-266; Two Texts on “Islam and Pluralism”
Revised paper due at beginning of lecture.
May 8Conclusion
Final paper (7-8 pages): How does Eboo Patel’s story and the idea of an American Islam fit into the story of religion in America? Due by Tuesday, May 13, 12:00 PM in my mailbox - # 5045 in the Mosse Humanities building.
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