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Course
Description
A study of the way 19th and 20th century philosophers and theologians
have criticized and reconceptualized religion in light of the intellectual
currents, social changes, and historical events that shaped, and continue
to shape, western culture. Among other authors, we will be reading Kierkegaard,
Nietzsche, Freud, Elie Wiesel and Oscar Romero.
Office
Hours
Mondays and Wednesdays 1-3 (or by appointment at x-4472;)
I encourage you to come speak to me in my office to discuss our work in
the course or other matters. If you can't make office hours, I will be
happy to speak with you about setting up an appointment.
Course
Requirements and Grading
1) Class Participation (30% of final grade):
i) Class attendance. More than two unexcused absences during the course
of the semester will have a significant adverse effect on your final grade.
ii) Regular participation in class discussions. You are expected to have
done all the assigned reading for each class session and to come to class
(with the readings in hand) having formulated specific questions
and/or observations about the reading that you are ready to discuss in
class.
iii) We will make regular use of small group discussions during the course
of the semester and some component of peer evaluation of your work in
these small groups will be included in your participation grade.
iv) Blackboard Assignments: On the Friday preceding each week's readings
(beginning Sept. 6), I will post reading-guide questions on the class's
Blackboard site. By 10:00 p.m. on either Sunday or Tuesday night, each
member of the class should post a response to one of the reading guide
questions. Each member will be responsible for having read all the responses
posted for any given class. Responses should be relatively brief, about
a paragraph. Generally, they should respond directly to one of the questions
posed; in some cases, though, you may want to pose one of your own questions
(in doing so, you should explain why your question is important for reflecting
on the text) or you may want to respond to part of a question. At any
rate, your responses should show that you have considered a particular
question and have engaged the reading.
2) Papers (40%). Three papers will be due during the course of the
semester. During the first half of the semester, you will be required to
write two papers, the first on Schleiermacher or Kierkegaard (not
to exceed 3 pages) and the second on Nietzsche or Freud (not to exceed
4 pages). Paper assignments will be handed out on the Friday before the
week in which the thinker is treated and papers will be due on the following
dates: Schleiermacher: Sept. 20; Kierkegaard: Sept. 27; Nietzsche: Oct.
11; Freud: Oct. 16. During the second half of the semester, you will be
required to write one paper, no more than seven pages, on one of the following
topics: post-holocaust Jewish thought, liberation theology, religion and
postmodernism, religious feminism. These papers will be due on Dec. 13.
3) Exams (30% of final grade). There will be a midterm (10%) and
a final (20%).
Reading and Assignment Schedule
Week 1
Aug: 30: Intro
Week 2:
Modernity and Enlightenment
Sept. 2: Caputo, On Religion, pp. 38-66 and Nietzsche, from The
Gay Science (hand out)
Sept. 4: Welch, "Eighteenth Century Background," pp. 22-48
Sept. 6: Kant, "What is Orientation in Thinking?" and "Preface"
from Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone (course packet)
Week 3: Dawn of Modern Theology I: Schleiermacher
Sept. 9: Welch, pp. 48-55 and Schleiermacher, Speeches, First Speech.
Sept. 11: Speeches, pp. 96-111
Sept. 13: Speeches, pp. 112-131
Week 4:
Dawn of Modern Theology II: Kierkegaard
Sept. 16: Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, pp. 5-53
Sept. 18: Fear and Trembling, pp. 54-81
Sept. 20: Fear and Trembling, pp. 82-123
Week 5: Suspicion I: Feuerbach and Marx
Sept. 23: Barth on Feuerbach
Sept. 25: Marx, "On the Jewish Question" (course packet)
Sept. 27: Marx, "Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy
of Right: Introduction (course packet)
Week 6: Suspicion II: Nietzsche
Sept. 30: Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals, preface and First
Essay
Oct. 2: On the Genealogy of Morals, Second Essay
Oct. 4: On the Genealogy of Morals, Third Essay
Week 7: Suspicion III: Freud
Oct. 7: Freud, Moses and Monotheism, pp. 3-65
Oct. 9: Moses and Monotheism, pp. 66-131
Oct. 11: Moses and Monotheism, finish
Week 8:
Review
Oct. 14: Paul Ricoeur, "The Critique of Religion"
Oct. 16: Review
Oct. 18: Midterm Exam
Week 9:
Suspicion and Faith
Oct: 28: Ricoeur, "The Language of Faith"
Oct. 30: Rowan Williams, "The Suspicion of Suspicion"
Nov. 1: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, 324-48
(on reserve)
Week 10:
Post-Holocaust Jewish Thought
Nov. 4: Elie Wiesel, Night
Nov. 6: Wyschogrod, "Hasidism, Hellenism and Holocaust" (Course
Packet)
Nov. 8: Fackenheim, "Jewish Faith and the Holocaust" and "Holocaust"
Greenberg, "Cloud of Smoke, Pillar of Fire"
Week 11: Liberation
Nov. 11: Romero, The Violence of Love, Forward, Preface, Chaps.
1 and 2
Romero Film (date and time TBA)
Nov. 13: The Violence of Love, Chaps. 6 and 7
Nov. 15: The Violence of Love, Chap. 8
Week 12: Postmodernism
Nov. 18: Caputo, On Religion, Chaps. 1 and 2
Nov. 20: On Religion, Chaps. 3 and 4
Nov. 22: On Religion, Chap. 5
Week 13:
No Class
Week 13:
Postmodernism and Feminism
Dec. 2: Luce Irigaray, "Belief Itself"
Dec. 4: Grace Jantzen, "Barely a Breath"
Dec. 6: Ellen Armour, "Beyond Belief?"
Week 14:
Review
Texts
John Caputo, On Religion
Sigmund Freud, Moses and Monotheism
Soren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling
Freidrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals
Oscar Romero, The Violence of Love
Elie Wiesel, Night
Course Packet
Required
Reserve Readings
E-reserve
Ellen Armour, "Beyond Belief? Sexual Difference and Religion After
Ontotheology,"
Karl Barth, "Introductory Essay" to Feuerbach's The Essence
of Christianity
Emile Fackenheim, "Jewish Faith and the Holocaust" and "Holocaust"
Irving Greenberg, "Cloud of Smoke, Pillar of Fire"
Luce Irigaray, "Belief Itself"
Grace Jantzen, "'Barely by a Breath. . .': Irgaray on Rethinking
Religion"
Immanuel Kant, "What is Orientation in Thinking?"
Paul Ricoeur, "The Critique of Religion" and "The Language
of Faith"
Friedrich Schleiermacher, selections from On Religion: Speeches to
its Cultured Despisers
Claude Welch, "The Eighteenth Century Background"
Rowan Williams, "The Suspicion of Suspicion: Wittgenstein and Bonhoeffer"
Regular
Library Reserve
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, selections from Letters from Prison
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