Department of Religious Studies
Course Offerings: Fall, 2003
Religious Studies 001
MW 11:00-12:00 plus 1 hour recitation
Instructor: Welbon
gwelbon@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
General Requirement II: History and Tradition
Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto - the essential beliefs, doctrines, institutions, and practices of the major religious traditions in Southern and Eastern Asia. Historical backgrounds and development will be surveyed briefly to provide context for the course's central focus: understanding the distinctive worlds of meaning created and maintained and expressed in these religions. Reading and discussion of representative primary texts in translation will be emphasized in this effort to understand basic attitudes and beliefs. Particular attention will be devoted to answering questions about the persisting influence and vitality of these religious traditions - about the nature and significance of change and about the importance of these great religions in shaping the sense of identity, aspirations, and expectations of their adherents in the face of contemporary technological and ideological challenges.
Requirements: No prerequisites. Moderate reading load. Short papers.
In-class midterm and final examinations.
Religions of the West
Religious Studies 002
(JWST 122)
T 4:30-7:40 (CGS)
Instructor: Treat
jtreat@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Blackboard site
General Requirement II: History and Tradition
What is "religion" in the Western world? Some have argued that organized religion is losing force in the twenty-first century. Yet, the events of the fall of 2001 suggest that religion is still a potent force in politics and national movements. Is this because of something inherent in the monotheistic religions of the West? Or is this because of change rather than continuity? Are we in the midst of a struggle between fundamentalism and tolerance in religious traditions? This course will consider these and similar questions as it introduces students to the academic study of religion. We will look through the lenses provided by the major religious traditions of the West from Asia to the Americas. An overview of the histories of Judaism, Christianity and Islam will set the context of the living and intertwined belief systems of the twenty-first century. The modern representations of these religions will be examined comparatively and with special attention to the roles of religion and politics in modern society. We will also consider the nature of institutional change and syncretism (the melding of religious concepts and practices).
No prerequisites.
Religious Studies 006
MW 1-2 plus 1 hour recitation
Instructor: Dunning
sdunning@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
General Requirement I: Society
Since September 11, 2001, America has become more aware than ever that there is a connection between religion and violence. But what is it? Why do religious people embrace violence? Are all cults prone to violence? And do terrorists tend to belong to cults? This course will introduce students to representative terrorist groups from five different religious traditions and to cults that have taken the path of group suicide. We will also examine a number of ways to understand religious terrorism, religious suicide, and cult affiliation in general.
Note: Since this is a new course that is combining aspects of RESL 006: Understanding the Cult Controversy and RELS 108: Religion and Violence, it is not open to students who have taken either of those courses without special permission from the instructor.
Religious Studies 007
(AFAM 001)
T 1:30- 4:30
Instructor: Dyson
mdyson@sas.upenn.edu
General Requirement I: Society
The aim of this course is to provide an interdisciplinary examination of the complex array of African American and other black Diasporic social, cultural and racial practices and experiences. This class will focus on both classic texts and modern works thatprovide an introduction to the dynamics of African American and black Diasporic thought and practice. Topics include: the religious origins of black American culture; the varied articulations of the black Atlantic; the influence of popular cultures in black societies; the social construction of racial, gender, class and sexual identities in black cultures; the impact of struggles around race, gender, class and sexual orientation in the twentieth century; the role of freedom struggles in black history; and the function of critical discourse in the structuring and expansion of African American and black Diasporic studies.
Religious Studies 009-301
TR 1:30-3
Instructor: Matter
amatter@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Freshman Seminar
General Honors
Fulfills College Writing Requirement
Topic for Fall 2003: Religion and Children's Literature
Is the story of Pinocchio a creation myth? Did Heidi convert the Frankfurters to nature religion? Could the Swiss Family Robinson have survived without their Christian faith? Was Kim's journey really a spiritual pilgrimage? This seminar will consider some beloved children's stories in their historical and literary contexts and with a special interest in the religious ideas they express. Readings will include literary theory and historical, biblical and theological background. Most of the texts will be from Christian culture, but no religious background is assumed.
Writing About Religious Violence in Antiquity
Religious Studies 009-302
TR 9-10:30
Instructor: Gruen
Gruen@sas.upenn.edu
Fulfills the College Writing Requirement
In recent years, our society has become increasingly cognizant of religiously motivated violence. Protestants and Catholics battle in Northern Ireland, Islamic extremists threaten western interests, and Chinese crackdowns on religious movements have all made the headlines. However, this type of violent activity is nothing new. In fact, it stretches back into antiquity. The goal of this course is to examine various episodes of violent activity in antiquity, and justifications given for it by contemporary authors. We will also discuss whether these actions are truly examples of religious violence, or if there are other issues that should also be examined, i.e. political, economic, etc. Course readings will include selections from Athanasius, Shenoute, Homer, Pliny, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. You will be asked to write three brief papers that critically examine the course readings.
Writing About Demons
Religious Studies 009-303
TR 10:30-12
Instructor: Schwarz
sschwarz@sas.upenn.edu
Fulfills the College Writing Requirement
From Battling Buffy the Vampire Slayer to jousting with Jesus in the Gospels, demons are always cropping up in our cultural landscape. So what are demons? Why do they attract so much attention? When do groups invoke ideas about demons and what kinds of tensions do these beliefs express? This course will examine manifestations of the demonic from many different times and places, from ancient Greek exorcism spells to early Jewish and Christian stories about demons to modern examples from popular culture. We will explore primary texts and theoretical accounts to try and understand the role of the demonic in our world. As this is a writing course, we will regularly focus on how to write clearly and effectively. Students will write, discuss and review their work with each other in a workshop and seminar environment, in both small group and larger class settings. There will be several writing assignments but no final exam.
Great Books of Judaism
Religious Studies 027
(AMES 151, JWST 151. COML 027)
TR 10:30-12
Instructor: Stern
dstern@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
General Honors
General Requirement III: Arts and Letters
The study of four paradigmatic and classic Jewish texts so as to introduce students to the literature of classic Judaism. Each text will be studied historically- "excavated" for its sources and roots- and holistically, as a canonical document in Jewish tradition. While each text will inevitably raise its own set of issues, we will deal throughout the semester with two basic questions: What makes a "Jewish" text? And how do these texts represent different aspects of Jewish identity? All readings will be in translation.
Religious Studies 101
TR 4:30-6
Instructor: Asiedu (CGS)
Distribution I: Society
This course is an introduction to psychological interpretations of religious belief, experience, and behavior. There will be emphasis upon such major theorists as James, Freud, Jung and Allport. More recent investigations (e.g. psychohistory, state of religious development, religious roots of psychoanalysis, transpersonal psychologies, and parapsychological research) will occasionally be included. No prerequisites.
Religious Studies 106
M 6:30-9:40
Instructor: Derakhshani (CGS)
derakhsh@sas.upenn.edu
Distribution II: History and Tradition
Close analysis of writings on religion by thinkers who have been influenced by major issues in modern philosophy. This semester’s topic will focus on existentialist views on religion- from the perspective of believers and that of non-believers. Readings will be drawn from fiction (Tolstoy, Dostoevvsky, Kafka), as well as philosophy and theology (Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus, Marcel, Tillich, Buber). Film may also be used to illustrate major themes.
No pre-requisites required, but some background in religious studies or philosophy will be helpful.
Requirements: Active participation in class discussions, short papers.
Religions of Ancient Egypt
Religious Studies 114
(AMES 166, AMES 468)
TR 3-4:30
Instructor: Silverman
dsilverman@sas.upenn.edu
Distribution II: History and Tradition
Weekly lectures (some of which will be illustrated) and a field trip to the University Museum’s Egyptian Section. The multifaceted approach to the subject matter covers such topics as funerary literature and religion, cults, magic religious art and architecture, and the religion of daily life.
Religious Studies 117
(AFAM 117)
MW 1-2, plus 1 hour recitation
Instructor: Callahan
ldcallah@sas.upenn.edu
This course is intended as an introduction to movements and figures of African American religion from slavery to the present. Lectures, readings, and discussions will focus on themes related to content and methodology in the study of African American religious history. Guiding themes include the relationship between race and gender; the tension between piety and activism; the ambivalence between mainstream respectability and racial pride; and the interaction between Christianity, lived religions, and alternative traditions.
Religious Studies 121
(HIST 140, JWST 157)
TR 1:30-3:00
Instructor: Staff
General Requirement II: History and Tradition
Broad introduction to the history of Jewish civilization from the Biblical period through 1492. Focus on the development of rabbinic culture and on Judaism’s cross-cultural interactions with Christianity and Islam.
Introduction to Judaism
Religious Studies 123
(AMES 253, JWST 123)
TR 10:30-12
Instructor: Moreen
Distribution II: History and Tradition
Focusing on the festivals of the Jewish calendar and on Jewish life-cycle events, this course examines primary sources from various periods and places that illuminate changes in Jewish practice, in Jewish understandings of ritual, and in ritual’s place in Jewish life.
Religious Studies 125
AMES 150, JWST 150)
TR 4-5:30
Instructor: Tigay
jtigay@sas.upenn.edu
General Requirement III: Arts and Letters
A survey of the major themes and ideas of the Bible, with special attention paid to the contributions of archaeology and modern Biblical scholarship, including Biblical criticism and the response to it in Judaism and Christianity.
Religious Studies 127
(AMES 152, JWST 152)
TR 9-10:30
Instructor: Eichler
beichler@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Freshman Seminar
Distribution: History and Tradition
An introduction to the literary and legal sources of Jewish law within an historical framework. Emphasis will be placed upon the development and dynamics of Jewish jurisprudence, and the relationship between Jewish law and social ethics.
Religious Studies 135
TR 10:30-12
Instructor: Krulak
tckrulak@hotmail.com
Distribution II: History and Tradition
Christianity did not begin in a vacuum - indeed it emerged from the complex Jewish world of which we catch a glimpse in the "Dead Sea Scrolls" and it blossomed into various forms among the "mystery religions" of the Greco-Roman world around the Mediterranean Sea and farther east. In this course we will explore those developments in the first two centuries of the Common Era, with special focus on the evidence preserved in the earliest surviving Christian writings, including the "New Testament" collection. The goal of the course is neither conversion nor its opposite, but understanding as best we can from this chronological and geographical distance what the participants in the various developments thought was happening, and how they shaped and were shaped by their worlds. We will get very involved in discussing what can be known about the period, and how much we as interpreters contribute to any resulting "historical" picture.
Religious Studies 147
(AMES 137, HIST 147)
TR 3-4:30
Instructor: Von Schlegell
bvon@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
General Requirement II: History and Tradition
The transformation of the Middle East into an Islamic civilization and its historical development from the time of Muhammad to the establishment of Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires in the sixteenth century. Rise of Islam, the early Islamic empire, political fragmentation and cultural continuity in Muslim societies from Spain to North India. Within this chronological and geographical framework we will focus on the role of Islamic thought, institutions, and identities in a limited number of particularly revealing historical contexts. Primary sources in translation complement two course books.
Requirements: Take-home midterm, class presentation, and a final.
Religious Studies 163
(SARS 163)
W 6-9:10
Instructor: Welbon (CGS)
gwelbon@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Distribution II: History and Tradition
This course will explore the rich variety of religious beliefs and practices that we today label as Hinduism. We will focus on how these doctrines and practices have both reflected and informed
cultural life on the Indian subcontinent in their historical developments from the earliest Vedic times down to contemporary revivalist movements. We will treat such basic issues as the nature
of self and the body, divinity and the cosmos, and social norms and values, in all the variety of their religious expression - from ascetic yoga to ritual devotionalism; from high philosophy to spirit possession. Materials will include readings on the original texts in translation, and historical, ethnographic, and film studies.
No pre-requisites.
Religious Studies 203
(SARS 203)
MW 1-2 plus 1 hour recitation
Instructor: Behl
abehl@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
General Requirement III: Arts and Letters
The aim of this course is to explore the complex engagement of Indian literatures with modernity and postmodernity, focusing on the novels, short stories and poems listed below and the critical readings that accompany them. The emphasis will be on linking modes of narrative with issues of history and politics, authorship, gender, and postcolonial theory. We will begin by examining works written within the colonial context, both in English and in Indian languages (in translation). The next segment takes up issues clustering around nationalism, in particular the contrasted trope of modernity vs. tradition. Readings for this segment include works by Ahmed Ali and R. K. Narayan. The next part of the course is on the partition of the Indian subcontinent as represented in contemporary fiction, in particular the novels of Bapsy Sidhwa and Amitav Ghosh. We will then expand our consideration of cultural identity to a discussion of gender and diaspora, focusing on authors who play with postmodern modes of representation in their writing, mixing memory, myth and desire in exciting new ways. Texts for this final section include novels by Salman Rushdie, Shani Mootoo and Jhumpa Lahiri. We will examine issues of migrancy, cultural authenticity and hybridity, as well as the politics of identity- formation in today’s transnational cultures. Students will be expected to participate actively in class discussions and to make a presentation on a particular text in the recitation sections (25%), to write two five-page papers on assigned questions (40%), and a ten-page final paper (35%) on an assigned question.
Philosophy of Religion
Religious Studies 204
(PHIL 234)
MW 3-4:30
Instructor: Gross
gross2@sas.upenn.edu
Distribution: History and Tradition
Systematic examinations of the nature of religious experiences; proofs of the existence of God; the problem of evil; the relationships of faith and reason; and the possibility of religious knowledge.
Religious Studies 226
(AMES 257, JWST 257)
TR 3:00-4:30
Instructor: Stern
dstern@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
General Requirement III: Arts and Letters
Topic for Fall 2003: Introduction to Midrash
This course is intended to introduce students to Midrash, the activity of Biblical interpretation as practiced by the Rabbis in the ancient world; to its literature, its literary forms, and its techniques of interpretation; and to modern scholarship on Midrash. We will study various texts from different periods in the history of Midrashic literature, and attempt to apply different critical and disciplinary methodologies – literary, historical, theological – to the task of analyzing these texts.
We will also seek to situate Midrash within the larger history of Jewish Biblical interpretation and within the context of Jewish literary creativity through the ages, including our own. Class discussion will be held in English, but students must be able to read unpointed Hebrew texts. No other previous background in the literature is necessary. Since the content of this course may change from year to year students may take it for credit more than once (if the course is indeed different).
Requirements: Students must be able to read unpointed Hebrew texts.
Religious Studies 302
(CLST 303, ENGL 205)
TR 3:00-4:30
Instructor: Treat
jtreat@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Computing Certificate- Arts and Sciences
This course is an introduction to the use of computers in the Humanities. The focus will be on issues and techniques involved in developing IT resources for use in the Humanities student’s field of study. Major projects will include the creation of a web site and programming related to the student's major. The class will utilize a combination of lectures, discussion, presentations and practical lab experience. Techniques will include intermediate HTML (forms, presentation with Cascading Style Sheets), graphics, and programming CGI scripts. The course will also consider methodological issues such as accessibility, copyright, and other ethical and legal problems. Enrollment is limited and preference is given to students who have completed COLL 110.
Religious Studies 399
Time and topic arranged
Instructor: Staff
rstudies@sas.upenn.edu
Please obtain section numbers from the department office or from the faculty member with whom you will be working.
Religious Studies 412
T 3:00-6:00
Instructor: Callahan
ldcallah@sas.upenn.edu
This seminar will engage works of autobiography in the African American tradition with particular attention to the spiritual and religious contexts of the authors. We will discuss recurring themes, scriptural motifs, and religious and social tensions expressed in the works. Gender, political ideology, social activism, and religious identification will also be explored.
Religious Studies 438
(HIST 410, ANTH 410)
M 2-5
Instructor: Peters
empeters@sas.upenn.edu
Topic for Fall 2003: Popes, Rome and the World
The history of the popes has many paradoxes, and one of the most important is that of simultaneously ruling locally in the city of Rome and the Papal States, and universally, as head of the Latin Christian Church, and hence possessing claims to a kind of universal authority, not only over all Greek, Latin, and other Christians, but also over Jews, Muslims and pagans in their dealings with Christians. This course will focus on the paradox- it will begin with the emergence of the office of Bishop of Rome and the character of the city and follow the changing fortunes of popes and papacy until the rebuilding of Rome by Sixtus V in the late sixteenth century. The reading will consist of original sources (usually in translation) and the most recent scholarly literature.
Religious Studies 465
(SARS 433)
W 2-5
Instructor: Novetzke
cln@sas.upenn.edu
This seminar explores the relationship between the ideas of history and religion, particularly in the context of the study of South Asia. We will investigate seminal works from the History of Religions, read critiques of modern western historiography, and seek to understand the relationship between orality, writing, historiography, and memory. We will evaluate reasons why some recollections of past events constitute bona fide histories while others receive attention as myths or simply beliefs. In pursuit of answers, we will find ourselves questioning the play of power in the creation of historical authority and religious sentiment.
Religious Studies 489
(AMES 489)
R 2-5
Instructor: Staff
Distribution II: History and Tradition
An introduction to the history and cultural role of Buddhism in Japan. Emphasis is on Buddhism as a component in the religious, intellectual, and cultural life of the Japanese, especially in poetry and the visual arts. Includes a short review of prior Buddhism in India and China.
Science and the Sacred
Religious Studies 502
W 6:30-9:10
Instructor: Grassie
Distribution I: Society
Topic for Fall ’03: Becoming Human: Moral Natures and Spiritual Matters
This course will examine the biological, evolutionary, psychological, cultural, philosophical, and spiritual sources of human moral capacities. The title "Becoming Human" can be taken two ways, as both a descriptive account and a prescriptive challenge of what it means to become human. This course is an exploration of what it means to become human. The course seeks to examine the concept of human nature by creating a sustained dialogue between the descriptive accounts of contemporary science and prescriptive interpretations enmeshed in the question, how does one become human. The focus will be on contemporary debates about anthropoi at the nexus between science, religion, and morality. The classroom will be a dialogical with high expectations set for student preparation and participation. Students will be asked to role-play various positions in vigorous classroom discussions. Students will be evaluated on the basis of their class preparation, participation, take-home exams, and a final paper.
Ethnography of Belief
Religious Studies 507
(FOLK 510)
M 1-3
Instructor: Hufford
dhufford@sas.upenn.edu
This course will examine traditional systems of supernatural belief with an emphasis on the role of personal experience in their development and maintenance. The course will focus on subjects of belief generally conceived as being "folk" in some sense (e.g., beliefs in ghosts), but will not exclude a consideration of popular and academic beliefs where appropriate (e.g., popular beliefs about UFO's and theological doctrines of immortality of the soul). The course will be multidisciplinary in scope.
Religious Studies 521
(AMES 550, JWST 550)
W 2-5:00
Instructor: Tigay
jtigay@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Distribution III: Arts and Letters
Topic for Fall 2003: Exodus
The Hebrew text of the book of Exodus, studied in light of textual, linguistic, literary and archaeological evidence as well as traditional and modern commentaries.
Prerequisites: Thorough command of Biblical Hebrew and prior experience studying the Bible in the original. Qualified undergraduates are welcome, but require permission from the instructor to register. Language of instruction is English.
Religious Studies 525
(COML 580, JWST 525)
T 3-5
kraft@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html
Distribution II: History and Tradition
An examination of the varieties of Jewish thought current from ca. 300 BCE to ca. 200 CE, and of the ways in which early Christians adapted and/or reacted to this Jewish heritage. Primary course materials include Philo and Josephus, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Paul and the Jewish "Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha." Online course materials can be accessed through the instructor’s homepage.
Religious Studies 537
M 11-1
Instructor: Matter
amatter@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Distribution: History and Tradition
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Spain underwent a profound process of renewed Christian self-definition. The "Reconquista" and the enforcement of laws of "limpieza de sangue" went hand-in-hand with a movement of intense Christian spiritual writing. The Christian mystics of the sixteenth century include the famous Jesuit and Carmelite authors Ignatius of Loyola, John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila (this last now known as a doctor of the Church). This seminar will read these authors and lesser-known figures like Luiz de Leon, Francisco de Osuna and Bernardino de Laredo in their broad cultural contexts. Each student will be expected to present at least once in class and write a research paper. Class readings will be in English, but knowledge of Spanish and/or Latin will be helpful.
Religious Studies 539
(COML 509)
R 3-5
Instructor: Dunning
dunning@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
A fascinating aspect of Kierkegaard’s literary production is his creation of a cast of characters to serve as pseudonymous "authors." These pseudonyms debate the meaning of life in a dozen of Kierkegaard’s most influential works, which also represent different perspectives within Kierkegaard’s theory of "stages on life’s way"—aesthetic, ethical and religious. Either/ Or illustrates the aesthetic stage in Part I and an ethical counterpoint in Part II. Repetition is an aesthetic interpretation of a religious person, while Fear and Trembling ponders from an ethical perspective the biblical Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son for God. Finally, Philosophical Fragments is an essay on the difference between Socratic and Christian knowledge of God by a philosopher, whereas The Sickness unto Death is a treatise on despair by a pseudonym described by Kierkegaard as a Christian. These five texts will be the focus of the seminar this term. There will be midterm and final papers. All participants are expected to work with the assigned editions/ translations of each text.
Religious Studies 545
(AMES 534)
W 5-8
Instructor: von Schlegell
brvs@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Distribution II: History and Tradition
Fall ’03 Focus: Writings of ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi (d. 1731)
Readings in Arabic prose and poetry about Sufism in practice (tasawwuf), metaphysics (‘ilm al-haqiqah), and commentary on the Qur’an by Muslim mystics.
Requirements: Students must have completed at least two years of formal literary Arabic in an academic setting to register.
Religious Studies 562
(SARS 563)
M 2-5
Instructor: Welbon
gwelbon@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Topic for Fall ’03: The Hindu Temple
The Hindu Temple construction, consecration, daily and festival rituals according to the Agama. We will examine representative prescriptive texts as well as contemporary practices; and we will also look at the diversity of Hindu devotional performances outside as well as inside the temple.
This is not an introductory course. Basic background knowledge about Hindu religious traditions will be presumed. Reading knowledge of Sanskrit is desirable but not required.
Religious Studies 999
Time and topic arranged.
Instructors: Staff
rstudies@sas.upenn.edu
Please obtain section numbers from the department office or from the faculty member with whom you will be working.