Religion and Ways of Knowing

Transcription

1 HCOL 86F Spring 2016 Anne Clark Department of Religion; 481 Main Street, room 201 Phone: Office Hours: Tuesdays 11:40-12:30, Wednesdays 10:50-11:40, and by appointment Library Liaison: Patricia Mardeusz. Religion and Ways of Knowing Religion and Ways of Knowing encompasses two related but distinct questions: How do religious people know? and How do we know religion? And of course the distinction blurs if we or any one of us is religious. Throughout the semester, we examine some of the very different ways in which human beings, in the past and in the present, in our culture and in others, have experienced themselves as knowing something, knowing something that, as religious, usually transcends the boundaries of empirically gained and verifiable knowledge. Although "knowing religion," may seem obvious (don't we know it when we see it?), in fact, the problems of defining religion, distinguishing religious from non-religious behavior, and understanding the complex and very diverse ways that human beings have created and transmitted religious belief and practice, have engaged many of the great thinkers of the modern West, and continue to challenge our everyday life in a very religiously diverse world. Part of this challenge lies in the fact that religious people have practiced very diverse ways of constructing and embodying what they understand to be truth. It is this dual focus how do we know, and how do religious people know that we will explore throughout the semester. In pursuing these questions, we will necessarily be engaging questions about the diversity of human experience. These questions will flow from the fact of religious diversity both in the materials we examine and in the varying positions from which we engage these materials. Although any study of religion at the University of Vermont is necessarily a secular endeavor, religious diversity in the classroom and in the broader culture will shape our questions and ideas. Becoming aware of these perspectives and understanding their impact is part of our work. Secondly, the materials that we will explore will take us into different religious cultures. And because we will study how religion is fundamentally as much about bodily practices as it is about beliefs, all of our studies will illuminate how gender is a part of the construction, embodiment, and transmission of religious knowledge. And because religion is always about identity formation for the individual and boundary formation for the community, all of our studies will illuminate the processes by which difference (ethnic, racial, religious) are constructed. Our case studies will include the religious worlds of free and enslaved Blacks in nineteenth- America, contemporary American evangelical Christians, South Asian and Western Buddhists, and the Black Atlantic diaspora of Nigerian-based religion and modern Western Jews.

2 2 Questions we will address in this course: How have people in different religious communities experienced themselves as knowing religious truth? What processes have they participated in to create that knowledge? How can we understand diversity within a religious community? How does religious engagement construct difference within a community, e.g., gender difference, ethnic difference, racial difference? What are advantages and disadvantages of using general terms (e.g., Christianity) to categorize very different religious communities (e.g., 19 th -century African Americans, contemporary white Americans)? How can we understand the role of historical changes and difference when discussing religion? How have religious communities created boundaries to distinguish themselves from others? How have religious communities reacted to marginalization from religious or secular others? Course objectives: Students will develop critical reading and thinking skills. Students will practice and improve their writing and oral presentation skills. Students will develop skills for constructively working on group projects. Students will develop skills for respectfully discussing religious diversity and for critically understanding how religions participate in broader cultural dynamics that reproduce or contest difference and inequality. Course requirements: This syllabus indicates the readings and basic schedule of assignments. Some reading assignments and dates may be changed as deemed necessary by the instructor. All assignments must be completed; work submitted late is penalized. Thoughtful preparation for class based on careful reading of the materials, and constructive engagement in the class discussions. This presumes regular attendance in class you are expected to attend and participate in all classes unless a documented situation such as serious illness or family emergency arises. Class dates given below list readings that must be prepared before coming to class. Full, constructive participation in the group project is also part of this requirement, as well as regular attendance at plenary sessions. Homework. There will usually be homework for each class meeting. Questions about the assigned readings will be posted, and responses will be entered in the Homework Journal on Blackboard. This homework must be posted by 7:00 am on the day that it is due. NB: compose your response in a Word document, then paste the text into the journal page. Do not compose on the journal page, and do not attach your document as an attachment. Two essays. Each essay will be a 4-5 page, take-home essay developed in response to questions distributed one week before the due dates (February 22 and March 30). These essays will be based on materials assigned in class. Burlington Religious Communities research project. For your final project, you will work in small groups to examine the production, transmission, and experience of religious knowing in a religious community in the Burlington area.

3 3 This project will involve research on the history and sources of authority for the community, observation of rituals, and interviews with community representatives. In addition to shorter, scaffolding assignments, there will be two major products of this research: a group poster and presentations (April 13, 20, and 27), and a final, individually written essay. Detailed directions about the various components of this project will be given throughout the semester. Grading: Participation (in class and group project): 15% Homework/reading journal: 20% Essays: 20% each Research Project: Group grade for poster and presentation: 10% Individual grade for research paper 15% Course Materials: It is the responsibility of all students to ensure that they have acquired the necessary materials in time to read them carefully before class. This includes access to computer, printer, and software to allow you to use the materials on Blackboard (BB) and the Internet. Computers with appropriate software and printers are available in the Bailey/Howe Library. If you choose to use your own equipment, especially from off campus, make sure that you can take the necessary steps to have timely access. The following books have been ordered at the University Book Store: Keown, Damien. Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Luhrmann, T. M. When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God. New York: Vintage, Sullivan, Winnifred Fallers. The Impossibility of Religious Freedom. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Other readings are available on BB or on the Internet. Academic Honesty: As in every class, you are bound to observe the standards of academic honesty that are part of the University policy. You are responsible for knowing what plagiarism is and for knowing the standard techniques for adequate documentation in your writing. You are responsible for submitting only your work as your own. Any suspected case of any type of academic dishonesty will be handled according to the procedures described in the University policy. Religious Holidays: Students have the right to practice the religion of their choice. Each semester students should submit in writing to their instructors by the end of the second full week of classes their documented religious holiday schedule for the semester. Faculty must permit students who miss work for the purpose of religious observance to make up this work.

4 4 Copyright: Some of the material on the Blackboard course Website is subject to copyright restrictions; it is made available exclusively to students enrolled in this class and only for instructional purposes. Fair use allows you to make one copy of the material for personal reading, research, or education. For the details of fair use of copyrighted materials, see: Classroom Culture: Turn off and put away all phones. No screens in class unless you have been asked to bring a computer for a specific day s assignment. Listen respectfully to each other even when you disagree. Respect the group and yourself enough to contribute responsibly to the discussions. Schedule of Assignments: What is religion? Wednesday, January 20. Introduction. Wednesday, January 20, 5:05-6:20. Plenary Session. Doctor James Hudziak, Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics. The Neuroscience of Brain Development During the College Years: How to Build a Healthier Brain. Billings Lecture Hall. Friday, January 22. There are three short readings due: Mark Oppenheimer, When Some Turn to Church, Others Go to Crossfit, New York Times 28 November, 2015, A15. (Available on nytimes.com). Damon Linker, Why Can t The New York Times Religion Columnist Define Religion? The Week 2 December (Available on theweek.com). Ivan Strenski, In Praise of Failure: Is Defining Religion Such a Good Idea? Religion Dispatches 8 December (Available on religiondispatches.org). Monday, January 25. Craig R. Prentiss, Introduction, in Religion and the Creation of Race and Ethnicity, ed. Craig R. Prentiss (New York: New York University Press, 2003), Monday, January 25, 6:30-7:20. Plenary Session. Professor Peter Agre, Johns Hopkins University. Science Diplomacy. Billings Lecture Hall. Tuesday, January 26, 3:30-4:45. Burack Lecture. Professor Peter Agre, Johns Hopkins University. Opening Doors Worldwide Through Medical Science. Davis Center, Livak Ballroom.

5 5 Wednesday, January 27. Robert H. Sharf, Experience, in Critical Terms for Religious Studies, ed. Mark C. Taylor (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1998), Friday, January 29 Friday, February 5. Winnifred Sullivan, The Impossibility of Religious Freedom (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005). Religion Imposed and Improvised Monday, February 8 Wednesday, February 10. Albert J. Raboteau, Slave Religion: The Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978), Friday, February 12. Jarena Lee, The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee, in Sisters of the Spirit: Three Black Women s Autobiographies of the Nineteenth Century, ed. William L. Andrews (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986), Monday, February 15. No class: Presidents Day. Thinking about Ritual Wednesday, February 17. Catherine Bell, Performance, in Critical Terms for Religious Studies, ed. Mark C. Taylor (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1998), Friday, February 19. R. Stephen Warren, "2007 Presidential Address: Singing and Solidarity," Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 47.2 (2008): Monday, February 22. First essay due. Library session: resources for research project. Wednesday, February 24. Group work for research site selection. Wednesday, February 24, 5:05-6:20. Plenary session. Actors from the London Stage do Shakespeare. Place: Recital Hall, Redstone Campus. Thursday, February 25. Site preferences due. Religious Knowing in a Secular World Friday, February 26-Friday, March 4. T. M. Luhrmann, When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God (New York: Vintage, 2012). Monday, March 7-Friday, March 11. No classes: Spring break

6 6 Monday, March 14. Research project workshop. Buddhism, Meditation, and Gender Wednesday, March 16. Damien Keown, Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), pp Wednesday, March 16, 5:05-6:20. Plenary session. How to Create Your HCOL 086 Poster. Billings Lecture Hall. Friday, March 18. Keown, Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction, pp , and Henapola Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2011), pp. 1-10, and Monday, March 21. Therigatha: Poems of the First Buddhist Women, trans. Charles Hallisey (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015). Wednesday, March 23. Keown, Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction, pp , and Karen Derris, Interpreting Buddhist Representations of Motherhood and Mothering, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 30.2 (2014): Friday, March 25. Susanne Mrozik, We Love Our Nuns : Affective Dimensions of the Sri Lankan Bhikkhuni Revival, Journal of Buddhist Ethics 21 (2014): Monday, March 28 Friday, April 8. Research project work. Wednesday, March 30, 5:05-6:20. Plenary session. Eli Clare. Listening to the Freaks. Davis Center, Silver Maple Ballroom. Wednesday, March 30. Second essay due. Monday, April 4-Friday, April 8. Research project work. Monday, April 11. Research presentation rehearsals. When Religious Knowledge Fails Wednesday, April 13-Friday, April 15. Book of Job. The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha, 3 rd ed. Ed. Michael D. Coogan (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007). [The Book of Job is found in any Jewish or Christian Bible. Feel free to use any translation if you already have access to one.]

7 7 Wednesday, April 13, 5:05-6:20. Plenary session: Group Research Presentations. Place tba. Monday, April 18. Emil L. Fackenheim, The Commanding Voice of Auschwitz, and Primo Levi, The Canto of Ulysses, in The Norton Anthology of World Religions, ed. Jack Miles (New York: W. W. Norton, 2014). Wednesday, April 20. Richard Rubenstein, After Auschwitz, Ch. 1: The Dean and the Chosen People, and Elie Wiesel, selection from Night, in The Norton Anthology of World Religions, ed. Jack Miles (New York: W. W. Norton, 2014). Wednesday, April 20, 5:05-6:20. Plenary session: Group Research Presentations. Place tba. Friday, April 22. Melissa Raphael, "When God Beheld God: Notes Towards a Jewish Feminist Theology of the Holocaust," Feminist Theology 7.21 (May 1999): Misunderstanding the Other Monday, April 25. J. Lorand Matory, "Free to Be a Slave: Slavery as Metaphor in the Afro-Atlantic Religions," Journal of Religion in Africa 37 (2007): Wednesday, April 27 and Friday, April 29. READINGS TBA. Wednesday, April 27, 5:05-6:20. First Year Research Symposium: Poster Presentations. Davis Center, Grand Maple Ballroom. Retrospective and Conclusion Monday, May 2-Wednesday, May 4. Readings TBA. Monday, May 9. Research essay due in my mailbox (at 481 Main Street) by noon.