Sigrid Peterson

For the second and fourth assignments (third and fifth weeks) we will be reading from William James, Varieties of Religious Experience.

The second assignment is to read the Author's Preface and Lectures 1 through 3; that's page17-18 and 21-77. In your response paper, look at the structure that James establishes for his investigation, the questions he tries to answer, and some of the principles he establishes.

These chapters, together with the Introduction by Reinhold Niebuhr, will be available at the Reserve Desk, in the Rosengarten Reserve Library, by Friday September 17^th.

The third assignment will be from Jewish Mystical Testimonies, Louis Jacobs, ed. Please read the introduction by Karen Armstrong, as well as the accounts of religious experience to be found on pages 122-166, 182-191, and 264-291.

It may be helpful to know that these accounts take place in different times, different contexts, and are examples of different genres. If you have trouble understanding the terms used, there are three possible strategies.

(1) Use the glossary at the end

(2) Circle or underline the term, and, preferably, write it down where you can refer to it in class. If you have a question, someone else in the class probably doesn't know the term either.

(3) Only pay attention to matters of expression, genre, and nature of religious experience, and ignore the specifics.

Consider, as you read, whether these descriptions of religious experience belong as part of James's collection in Varieties of Religious Experience (VRE). If they do not belong, what new categories would you think you might need to establish, in order to talk about these as religious experiences?

Write your third response paper.

For the fourth assignment, we return to William James's Varieties of Religious Experience, to read the

following:

The response paper you write can be your choice of three alternatives:

(1) A creative exploration of James's methods or approach to religion

(2) A rewrite of your first paper on James's VRE

(3) A new analysis/assessment of James based on this additional material.