To view an archive of past courses, click here. The Following "Special Courses" are for M. Div. students only:

Transcription

1 Academics - Spring 2005 Course Descriptions PLEASE NOTE: This document is subject to amendment. It is intended for descriptive and informational use only. DO NOT USE IT TO REGISTER FOR CLASSES. To register, please consult the University University Time Schedules. To view an archive of past courses, click here. The Following "Special Courses" are for M. Div. students only: Special Course-Chgo Theol Sem Special Course-Meadville Theol School Special Course-Catholic Theol Union Special Course-Lutheran Sch Theol Special Course McCormick Theol Sem DVSC Introduction to Historical Studies in ReligionKlauck/Robinson3:00-4:20S106This course is the third in a three-course sequence introducing M.A. students to the three academic committees of the Divinity School. The course will use an extended case study the figure of Abraham in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to explore issues and methods in the historical study of religion. The three main concerns of the course are the following: (1) an examination of the biblical text itself in light of modern critical scholarship; (2) a history of the text s reception by the Abrahamic religions; and (3) reflection upon the historical and exegetical approaches to both text and tradition. PQ: Open only to first-year A.M.R.S. and M.A. students. Discussion groups Fridays, 3:00-4:50, in S106 DVSC Reading Course: Special Topics in Divinity Staff Petition with bibliography signed by instructor; enter section from faculty list. DVSC Exam Preparation: Divinity Staff Open only to Ph.D. students in quarter of qualifying exams; enter section from faculty list. DVSC Research: DivinityStaffPetition signed by instructor; enter section from faculty list.dvsc Thesis Work: DivinityStaffPetition signed by instructor; enter section from faculty list.bibl Introduction to the Hebrew BibleMenn10:00-11:20S106BIBL Advanced Biblical Exegesis: Genesis 12 38Frymer- KenskyT3:00-5:50S200This is an exegesis class that concentrates on the

2 Abraham Cycle (Genesis and 23 24) and selections from the Jacob Cycle. PQ: 1 year Biblical Hebrew. Ident. JWSG 38700, HIJD BIBL Introduction to Papyrology Martinez T/Th 10:30-11:50 Ident. GREK 21600/36100/NTEC BIBL ECL Seminar: Apollonius of Tyana and Early Christian Literature Klauck/Mitchell F 2:00-4:50 S403 Apollonius of Tyana, a neo-pythagorean teacher and miracle worker executed in the reign of Domitian, was invoked as a parallel to Jesus already in antiquity by critics of Christianity, such as Celsus (second century) and Hierocles (third to fourth centuries). Modern scholars continue to ask about the possible relationships between the man and the literary figure of Apollonius and Jesus of Nazareth and early Christian authors. This seminar will involve a close reading of portions of the letters attributed to Apollonius, and the famous Vita Apollonii by Philostratus, alongside some provocative parallels in Gospel texts, as well as an investigation of Eusebius of Caesarea s reading of the Vita Apollonii in his apologetic reply to Hierocles claim that Jesus was no different from Apollonius a miracle-worker beloved of the gods, but surely not more. PQ: Good knowledge of Greek. Ident. NTEC 53301, HCHR BIBL Essentials of Biblical Religion Frymer-Kensky Th 3:00-5:50 S200 This is an advanced seminar about important topics in Biblical Religion. Each week a different topic will be explored in depth. The passages on the topic will be collected and read in relation to each other and to their individual contexts, and the state of scholarship will be analyzed. PQ: At least one Bible course. Knowledge of Hebrew is not required. Ident. JWSG

3 THEO History of Christian Thought V Tanner 1:30-2:50 S208 An intellectual history of modern Christian thought from the beginning of the nineteenth to the early twentieth century: from Schleiermacher to Troeltsch. Ident. HCHR THEO Modernity/Theology/Philosophy Lacoste T/Th 10:00-11:20 S200 We shall argue (a) that modernity is a vague object; (b) that there is no modernity, but a plurality of modernities; (c) that neither modernity nor modernities have reached their end; (d) that there may be nonetheless non-chronological ways out of modernity. The dialogue, cross-fertiziation and mutual critique of theology and philosophy will be studied as a key revelator of modern, or "modern", thought. This will help us to clarify the issue of a continuity of theology in the discontinuity of periods. Authors that will be studied include Jacques Maritain, Fergus Kerr and Etienne Gilson. THEO Salvation Tanner T 1:00-3:50 S400 A study of the various ways Christian theologians have understood salvation, from the early church to the present. THEO Early Modern Colloquium Schreiner 1:30-2:50 IDENT. HCHR THEO Catholic Reformation Schreiner 10:00-11:20 Ident. HCHR 43101

4 THEO From Existence to Spiritual Life Lacoste F 1:00-3:50 S208 This course will take as its starting point the description(s) of existence found in Heidegger's Being and Time and later texts. It will then describe experiences, or modes of being, which may be viewed as subversions of existence, or as "non-existing" experiences. It will propose an interpretation of the way existence is kput into question by "non-standard experiences." Finally it will find in "spiritual life", especially in liturgical experiences, a mode of being inclusive of all experiences. Authors that will be studied include Martin Heidegger, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Andrew Louth, and jean-yves Lacoste. DVPR Indian Philosophy II Kapstein T/Th 10:30-11:50 Ident. HREL DVPR Theory of Reference SternT/Th10:30-11:50TBAA survey of recent theories of names, descriptions, and truth. We will discuss the relation of reference to meaning as well as the epistemological and metaphysical consequences drawn from theses about reference. After briefly reviewing classical sources (e.g. Frege, Russell, and Tarski), we will concentrate on current work by Searle, Kripke, Donnellan, Kaplan, Putnam, Evans, Davidson, and Burge. PQ: Prior exposure to analytic philosophy recommended Ident. PHIL 23801/33801 DVPR Descartes, My Body and Other Bodies Marion Th 2:00-4:50 S106 Two among the most widely admitted difficulties in Descartes' philosophy -- the mind-body problem and the (non)existence of the external world may be overcome by connecting both of them as the two sides of the same question.

5 Ident. PHIL 34512, FNDL DVPR Intentionality and Personal Identity in Philosophy of Religion Arnold Th 1:00-3:50 MEMLibrary This course will explore the hypothesis that a great many seemingly disparate issues in philosophy of religion can be understood to relate to (or indeed, to be expressions of) views of the person. The course will focus on a particular category that has figured prominently in modern attempts to characterize or individuate "persons": that of intentionality. Most closely associated with the rather different disciplines of phenomenology and philosophy of mind, this concept turns out to comprise many of the features that may be thought to be most distinctively human--and particularly features that may be said to figure in characteristically religious assessments of the human situation. Thus, the concept of intentionality, proposed by some as the defining feature of subjectivity or "the mental" (as contra insentient objects), involves a whole range of phenomena (belief, knowledge, desire) that relate, most basically, to the very idea of meaning--given which, it is not surprising that many seemingly disparate discussions in philosophy of religion can be seen to involve this. DVPR Issues in Buddhist Philosophy of LanguageArnoldF9:00-11:50S403This course is most basically concerned to develop and understanding of the perennially vexed Buddhist doctrine of apoha (exclusion) or anyopoha (exclusion of what is other)--the complex and sophisticated doctrine that is widely considered to be the signal Buddhist contribution to the philosophy of language. In attempting, however, to situate this doctrine within the larger conceptual context of the Buddhist project, we will try to appreciate that the significance of this topic is much broader than that. Thus, the doctrine of apoha can be understood not only as concerning the referents of words, but as a more general epistemological account of "mental content"--that is, of what is present to our minds when we are thinking about something, and of how these objects of thought relate to a larger world. Seen this way, the doctrine of apoha can be understood as a logical and elegant expression of central Buddhist commitments. PQ: This course may involve the opportunity to read some Sanskrit primary sources. Ident. SALC DVPR The Gift, the Given, and PhenomenalityMarionT2:00-4:50S106Starting with the empirical question of the gift (M. Mauss), we shall discuss the aporias of this extraordinary phenomenon (Derrida) and try to discover its phenomenological legitimacy. Then the question of the givenness of the phenomena as such would be asked on a new basis. Ident. PHIL 33902

6 DVPR Buddhist Esoteric VerseKapsteinTu3:00-5:50The esoteric songs attributed to Indian Buddhist tantric adepts of the late first and early milleniums represent the beginnings of the modern North Indian literatures and enjoyed as well a considerable legacy in Tibet. Often difficult and obscure both linguistically and symbolically, on occasion they demonstrate remarkable abstraction, employing a technical vocabulary drawn from Buddhist philosophical and contemplative works. In the present seminar we will survey in depth the history of the study and translation of this remarkable literature, referring particularly to the contributions of Kvaerne, Guenther and Jackson. For students working in the original languages, supplementary meetings will be arranged. Permission of the instructor required to register. Audits will not be permitted except in the case of Advanced graduate students conducting dissertation research in this or a related area. Ident. HREL 50602, SALC CHRM Introduction to the Study of Ministry Boden W 3:00-4:20 S400 DO NOT REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE. CHRM Arts of Ministry: Pastoral Care Lindner F 9:00-11:50 S400 This course will introduce students to the foundation stones of a practical theology of care, including the history and traditions of pastoral care, resources in theology and the religious traditions, knowledge and critical attention to historical, moral, and cultural contexts, self-reflection, and practice. PQ: For second-year M.Div. students.chrm Advanced Preaching Seminar: The Word Before the PowersLindnerTh12:00-2:50S400This course will offer experienced preachers additional theological resources and practical skills for the development of the prophetic voice in preaching. Students will read and analyze classic works in the prophetic tradition, and compose and write sermons addressing critical issues of public life.

7 PQ: Arts of Ministry: Preaching, or permission of the instructor. CHRM The Practice of Ministry IIIPiñónF1:00-3:50S400HIJD The Mystical Theology of the Maggid Dov Ber of MezhirechFishbaneTh1:00-3:50S208The course will focus on the teachings of the great eighteenth-century Hasidic master, R. Dov Ber Friedman, a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov. Emphasis will be on his teaching of nothingness, humility, and self-annihilation. Some of his spiritual exercises will also be studied particularly dealing with prayer meditation, the treatment of strange thoughts, and the practice of piety in the everyday. PQ: Knowledge of Hebrew required. Course available for students in Jewish Studies. Ident. JWSG HIJD Advanced Biblical Exegesis: Genesis 12 38Frymer- KenskyT3:00-5:50S200This is an exegesis class that concentrates on the Abraham Cycle (Genesis and 23 24) and selections from the Jacob Cycle. PQ: One year of Biblical Hebrew. Ident. JWSG 38700, BIBL HIJD Interactions Between Jewish Philosophy and Literature in the Middle AgesRobinsonTh2:00-5:00S403Any study of Jewish philosophy that focuses on a small collection of systematic summas tells only half the story. In this course, the emphasis will be shifted from canonical theologies to lesser-known works of literature. Each class will examine the way a different genre (poetry, epistle, dialogue, ethical testament, allegorical tale, maqama, sermon, commentary and supercommentary, preface) was used to defend philosophy and teach it to the community at large. Emphasis will be on literary form and style, rhetoric, methods of teaching and argumentation, all in relation to questions about reception and dissemination, progress and creativity, science and religion. There is no language requirement, but there will be an extra session for students who possess reading knowledge of Hebrew. Ident. JWSG 42700, SCTH HIJD Poetic TheologyFishbaneT1:00-3:50S406A study of the theme and theology of light in Jewish theology, as reflected in Hebrew poetry ancient, medieval and modern. Students with Hebrew will have separtate sections. Ident. JWSG HCHR History of Christian Thought VTanner1:30-2:50S208An intellectual history of modern Christian thought from the beginning of the nineteenth to the early twentieth century: from Schleiermacher to Troeltsch. Ident. THEO 30700

8 HCHR American Sermons Gilpin T/Th 9:00-11:20 S208 A cultural history of preaching in America, from the colonial period to the present, relating it to other forms of public rhetoric and performance. HCHR The Enlightenment in America Brekus W 1:30-4:20 S403 Ident. HIST HCHR Revising the American Religious Historical Canon Brekus M 9:00-11:50 S400 Ident. HIST HCHR Early Modern Colloquium Schreiner 1:30-2:50 Ident. THEO THEO Catholic Reformation Schreiner 10:00-11:20 Ident. THEO HCHR Religion in the English RenaissanceStrierTh3:00-5:50This course will study the interaction between the Renaissance and the Reformation in various works written in English in the 16th and 17th centuries. Authors to be studied will probably include: Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne (poetry and prose) Herbert and Milton. Ident. RLIT 46400/ENGL

9 HCHR Medieval Christianity II Hollywood 3:00-4:20 HCHR ECL Seminar: Apollonius of Tyana and Early Christian Literature Klauck/Mitchell F 2:00-4:50 S403 Apollonius of Tyana, a neo-pythagorean teacher and miracle worker executed in the reign of Domitian, was invoked as a parallel to Jesus already in antiquity by critics of Christianity such as Celsus (second century) and Hierocles (third to fourth centuries). Modern scholars continue to ask about the possible relationships between the man and the literary figure of Apollonius and Jesus of Nazareth and early Christian authors. This seminar will involve a close reading of portions of the letters attributed to Apollonius, and the famous Vita Apollonii by Philostratus, alongside some provocative parallels in Gospel texts, as well as an investigation of Eusebius of Caesarea s reading of the Vita Apollonii in his apologetic reply to Hierocles claim that Jesus was no different from Apollonius a miracle-worker beloved of the gods, but surely not more. PQ: Good knowledge of Greek. Ident. NTEC 53301, BIBL HREL Indian Philosophy II Kapstein T/Th 10:30-11:50 Ident. DVPR HREL Witch Trials and Witch Hunts Lincoln 9:00-10:20 S208 HREL Ritual in South Asian Buddhism Wedemeyer F 2:00-4:50

10 MMC Library Though many claim (based on a selective reading of canonical Buddhist literature) that the Buddha s original teaching involved a rejection of ritual activity, actual Buddhists seem to have been engaged in a wide variety of ritual activities in every historical period of which we have surviving evidence. In this course, we will explore some questions surrounding ritual practice in Buddhism, and analyze a range of ritual activities attested in Buddhist communities of South Asia. An attempt will be made to link the results of this work with current developments in ritual studies more generally. HREL Studies in Buddhism: The ModernsWedemeyerM2:00-4:50S403The second of a two-quarter survey of the major landmarks in the study of Buddhism in the modern academy. Beginning with Second Imperialist War (a.k.a. WWII), we will examine the progress of Buddhist Studies in the twentieth century: institutionally, intellectually, and ideologically. Attention will be given to tracing the outlines of the historical contexts, strategies of legitimation, sources of funding and institutional foundations, and directions of research which have characterized the study of Buddhism in more recent memory. PQ: Reading knowledge in French; HREL Studies in Buddhism: The Classics HREL Divination and Prophecy in the Ancient Mediterranean World Lincoln/Faraone M 1:30-4:20 CL26 Ident. ANCM HREL Buddhist Esoteric Verse Kapstein Tu 3:00-5:50 The esoteric songs attributed to Indian Buddhist tantric adepts of the late first and early milleniums represent the beginnings of the modern North Indian literatures and enjoyed as well a considerable legacy in Tibet. Often difficult and obscure both linguistically and symbolically, on occasion they demonstrate remarkable abstraction, employing a technical vocabulary drawn from Buddhist philosophical and contemplative works. In the present seminar we will survey in depth the history of the study and translation of this remarkable literature, referring particularly to the contributions of Kvaerne, Guenther and Jackson. For students working in the original languages, supplementary meetings will be arranged. Permission of the instructor required to register. Audits will not be permitted except in the case of Advanced graduate students conducting dissertation research in this or a related area.

11 Ident. DVPR 50602, SALC RLIT Victor HugoMeltzerM1:30-4:20In English, texts read in the original. Reading knowledge of French required. Ident. CMLT RLIT Theory of Literature: The Twentieth CenturyRosengartenT1:30-4:20S403This course offers a survey of major movements in twentieth-century theorizing about meaning in literature and art. A major theme of the course will be theories that focus on language as the locus of meaning (the trajectory of Wittgenstein, Austin, Derrida, etc.), but we will also consider hermeneutics, aesthetics, and major schools, e.g. the New Criticism, the New Literary History, Marxism, Psychoanalysis, and Gender and Feminist approaches. PQ: Intro to Religion and Literature or consent of the instructor. RLIT Religion in the English RenaissanceStrierTh3:00-5:50This course will study the interaction between the Renaissance and the Reformation in various works written in English in the 16th and 17th centuries. Authors to be studied will probably include: Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne (poetry and prose) Herbert and Milton. Ident. HCHR 46400/ENGL RETH Religion and the First AmendmentNussbaumThis course will cover the major legal issues in this area, focusing on the relationship between the Establishment clause and the Free Exercise clause. Some background reading in philosophy (e.g. Hobbes, Locke) will begin the class, and some comparative reading about other countries (especially India) will end it. Ident. PHIL 21416/31416, LAW. RETH Law-Philosophy SeminarNussbaum/SunsteinThis is a seminar/workshop most of whose participants are faculty from seven area institutions. It admits approximately ten students by permission of the instructors. Its aim is to study, each year, a topic that arises in both philosophy and law and to ask how bringing the two fields together may yield mutual illumination. There are twelve meetings throughout the year, always on Mondays from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Half of the sessions are led by local faculty, half by visiting speakers. The leader assigns readings for the session (which may be by that person, by other contemporaries, or by major historical figures), and the sessions consists of a brief introduction by the leader, followed by structured questioning by the two faculty coordinators, followed by general discussion. Student write either two 4- to 6-page papers per quarter, or a 20- to 25-page seminar paper at the end of the year. The course satisfies the Law School Writing Requirement. The schedule of meetings will be announced by mid-september,

12 and prospective students should submit their credentials to both instructors by September 20. Past themes have included: practical reason; equality; privacy; autonomy; global justice; pluralism and toleration; war; sexuality and family. The theme for will be race. Likely speakers include: Kwane Anthony Appiah, Lawrence Blum, Lani Guinier, Sally Haslanger, Randy Kennedy, Michelle Moody-Adams, Patricia Williams (outside visitors); Danielle Allen, Cathy Cohen, Bob Gooding-Williams, Bernard Harcourt, Tracey Meares, David Strauss, Ken Warren (locals). Ident. LAW 61502, PHIL 51200, GNDR 50103, HMRT 51303, PLSC AASR Modern Islam and Politics Zeghal 10:00-11:20 MMC Library The course is designed to explore the relationship between Islam and politics in post second-world-war Middle East societies. Are Islam and politics intrinsically inseparable? Why did political Islam emerge in the seventies as a tremendously powerful ideological tool for protest? How has it evolved today? To answer these questions, we will shed light on the way nationalism dealt with Islam, especially in the case of North Africa and Egypt. We will also focus on the history of political Islam, its intellectual roots, on its relationship to state sponsored religious institutions and on the way political Islam shaped politics and protest in the second half of the 20th century. But political Islam is not the only way to approach the issue of religion and politics in the Middle East. We will bring to the fore other political traditions, and we will particularly look into the role of the state in regulating and deregulating the religious sphere, showing the diversity of of relationships between state and religion. AASR Pentecostalism in Global PerspectiveRiesebrodtM3:00-5:50S200PQ: Open to advanced undergraduates. Ident. SOCI AASR Religion and Law in Contemporary Europe Sullivan W/F 9:00-10:20 S200 This course will introduce themes in the contemporary intersection of religion and law in Europe. These themes will include the legal regulation of religious practices and institutions, conflicts between

13 religious individuals and groups and the State, and the religious cosmologies and anthropologies infusing European law. Together we will explore the complex and layered legal and religious pluralism of Europe. Lectures, readings for class, and discussions in class will focus on establishing some broad contours while students, through individual research projects will investigate case studies that provide a counterpoint to our common work. AASR Reform and Revival in Islam (18th-20th Century) Zeghal T/Th 1:30-2:50 S200 This course will shed light on the complex historical transformation of the original internal religious reforms of Islam in the 18th and 19th century into politicized and/or fundamentalist versions of Islam in the 20th century. We will look at some of the reformers' textual productions and at their interpretations by the historians of Islam: from the Indian Muslim reformist movement to Wahhabism and Middle Eastern Salafiyya. The last part of the course will tackle more recent and globalized reform movements, which define a more liberal apprehension and practice of Islam. AASR Seminar: Mannheim / Sociology of KnowledgeRiesebrodt/GlaeserW9:00-11:50S403Ident. SOCI 50400Related Links * The University of Chicago * Divinity School The University of Chicago * 1025 E. 58th St. Chicago, IL * tel: fax: * Home * Search * A-Z Index * Contact Us * UChicago All pages on this site 2013, The University of Chicago.