Reading List: M.A. Comprehensive Examinations Religion and Culture Academic Area revised: April, 2006 From the website: The purpose of the M.A. comprehensive examination is to enable the student to develop a synthesized understanding of issues and problems in the area of religion and culture. The examination consists of two parts administered on separate days, the first dealing with foundational questions in the study of religion and the Catholic tradition, and the second addressing more specialized topics in the field of religion and culture. [ ] The M.A. comprehensive examination is normally taken in the final semester of coursework, on dates designated in that semester's academic calendar. Students are responsible for all of the items listed under Day One. For Day Two, the student will consult with the academic area director in selecting three areas for which to prepare. I. DAY ONE: I.A. The Catholic Theological Tradition Achtemeier, Paul J., et al. Introducing the New Testament: Its Literature and Theology. Boadt, Lawrence. Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction. Chauvet, Louis-Marie. The Sacraments: The Word of God at the Mercy of the Body. Dulles, Avery. Models of Revelation. Fiorenza, Francis Schüssler, and John P. Galvin, ed. Systematic Theology: Roman Catholic Perspectives. 2 vols. Flannery, Austin., ed. The Documents of Vatican II. Lonergan, Bernard. Method in Theology. Phan, Peter, ed. Gift of the Church: A Textbook on Ecclesiology. Pinckaers, Servais. Sources of Christian Ethics. Rahner, Karl. Foundations of Christian Faith. I.B. Religion and Culture Foundational Issues Berger, Peter. The Sacred Canopy. Durkheim, Emile. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane. Freud, Sigmund. The Future of an Illusion. Geertz, Clifford. Religion as a Cultural System, in The Interpretation of Cultures. Hume, David. The Natural History of Religion. Lawrence, Bruce B. Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt Against the Modern Age. (1995 ed.) Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy. Pals, Daniel L. Eight Theories of Religion, 2nd. ed. Preus, J. Samuel. Explaining Religion: Critical Theory from Bodin to Freud. Stark, Rodney, and Roger Finke. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. 1
II. DAY TWO: Instructions: Pick three areas for examination. Let the director of the Religion and Culture area know which areas you wish to be examined in well ahead of your examination date. II.A.: Sociology and Religion Berger, Peter. The Sacred Canopy. Casanova, Jose, Public Religion in the Modern World. Durkheim, Emile. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Iannaccone, Laurence R., Why Strict Churches Are Strong. American Journal of Sociology 99 (1994): 1180-1211. Lawrence, Bruce B. Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt Against the Modern Age. (1995 ed.) Preus, J. Samuel. Explaining Religion: Critical Theory from Bodin to Freud. (chapters on Comte and Durkheim) Stark, Rodney, and Roger Finke. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. Stark, Rodney and W.S. Bainbridge. The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival and Cult Formation. Warner, R. Stephen. Work in Progress Toward a New Paradigm for the Sociology Study of Religion in the United States. American Journal of Sociology 98 (1993): 1044-93. Weber, Max. The Sociology of Religion. II.B. Anthropology and Religion Asad, Talal. Genealogies of Religion : Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam. Clifford, James, Power and Dialogue in Ethnography: Marcel Griaule s Initiation, in The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art (Harvard, 1988), p. 55-91. Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger. Lambek, Michael, ed. A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion. (chapters 1-8, 10, 24, 25, 34) Nelson, Richard K. Make Prayers to the Raven : A Koyukon View of the Northern Forest. O Keefe, Daniel. Stolen Lightning: The Social Theory of Magic. Preus, J. Samuel. Explaining Religion: Critical Theory from Bodin to Freud. (chapter on Tylor) Rappaport, Roy A. Pigs for the Ancestors : Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People. 2
II.C. Psychology and Religion Browning, Don S. Religious Thought and the Modern Psychologies: A Critical Conversation in the Theology of Culture. Elder, Charles R. The Freudian Critique of Religion: Remarks on its Meaning and Conditions Journal of Religion 75/3 (July 1995), p. 347-370. Fowler, James. Stages of Faith. Freud, Sigmund. The Future of an Illusion. Jung, Carl G. Psychology and Religion. James, William. Varieties of Religious Experience. Moore, Robert L., ed. Carl Jung and Christian Spirituality. (selections: Eugene Bianchi, Jungian Psychology and Religious Experience, Robert M. Doran, Jungian Psychology and Christian Spirituality: I, II, III, John A. Sanford, The Problem of Evil in Christianity and Analytical Psychology Taylor, Charles. Varieties of Religion Today: William James Revisited. II.D. Phenomenology of Religion Alles, Gregory D. Toward a Genealogy of the Holy: Rudolf Otto and the Apologetics of Religion, in Journal of the American Academy of Religion 69/2 (June 2001), 323-341. Eliade, Mircea. The Myth of the Eternal Return. Eliade, Mircea. Patterns in Comparative Religion. Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane. Orsi, Robert. Between Heaven and Earth. Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy. Smith, Jonathan Z. Religion, Religions, Religious, in Critical Terms for Religious Studies, ed. Mark C. Taylor (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998), 269-284. Twiss, Sumner B., and Walter H., Jr. Conser, ed. Experience of the Sacred: Readings in the Phenomenology of Religion. II.E. Ritual Studies Bell, Catherine. Ritual Perspectives and Dimensions. (Chapter 4, p. 93-137).. The Ritual Body and the Dynamics of Ritual Power, in Journal of Ritual Studies 4:2 (1990) 299-313. Grimes, Ronald L. Beginnings in Ritual Studies. (rev. ed., 1994). (chap. 1, p. 5-23; chap. 2, p. 24-39; chap. 3, p. 40-57).. Ritual Criticism: Case Studies in its Practice, Essays on its Theory. (chap. 1, p. 7-27). Smith, Jonathan Z. To Take Place : Toward Theory in Ritual. Turner, Victor and E. Turner. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture (appendix A, p. 243-255). 3
Turner, Victor. Symbols in Ndembu Ritual, in Readings in Ritual Studies, ed. Ronald L. Grimes. p. 520-529. Van Gennep, Arnold. The Rites of Passage. II.F. Hermeneutics Gadamer, Hans-Georg. Truth and Method. 2nd rev. ed. trans. Joel Weinsheimer and Donald G. Marshall. Guarino, Thomas. Postmodernity and Five Fundamental Theological Issues, in Theological Studies 57 (December 1996): 654-89. Jasper, David. A Short Introduction to Hermeneutics. Lindbeck, George A. The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age. Lonergan, Bernard. Method in Theology. Mueller-Vollmer, Kurt, ed. The Hermeneutics Reader. (readings from Bultmann and Habermas). Pontifical Biblical Commission. The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church. Ricoeur, Paul. Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning. Schüssler Fiorenza, Elizabeth. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. Tracy, David. Plurality and Ambiguity: Hermeneutics, Religion, Hope. World Council of Churches. A Treasure in Earthen Vessels: An Instrument for an Ecumenical Reflection on Hermeneutics. Faith and Order Paper # 182, Nov., 1998. II.G. Women s Studies and Religion Clifford, Anne M. Introducing Feminist Theology. Christ, Carol. Womanspirit Rising: A Feminist Reader in Religion. Gross, Rita, ed. Beyond Androcentrism: New Essays on Women and Religion. Ruether, Rosemary, ed. Religion and Sexism: Images of Woman in the Jewish and Christian Tradtions Ruether, Rosemary. Gaia and God: An EcofeministTtheology of Earth Healing Saiving, Valerie. Androcentrism in Religious Studies, in Journal of Religion 56 (1976), p. 177-197. Schüssler Fiorenza, Elizabeth. In Memory of Her: A Feminist Theological Reconstruction of Christian Origins. Schussler Fiorenza, Elizabeth, ed., The Power of Naming. (selections: Maria Jose F. Rosado Nunes, Women s Voices in Latin American Theology, Elaine Wainwright, Weaving a Strong Web: Feminist Theo/alogizing in an Australian Context, Teresia M. Hinga, Between Colonialism and Inculturation: Feminist Theologies in Africa, Gabriele Dietrich, South Asian Feminist Theory and Its Significance for Feminist Theology ) 4
II.H. Latino/Hispanic Religion Audinet, Jacques. The Human Face of Globalization: From Multicultural to Mestizaje. De La Torre, Miguel A. and Edwin David Aponte. Introducing Latino/Latina Theologies. Díaz, Miguel H. On Being Human: U.S. Hispanic and Rahnerian Perspectives. Elizondo, Vergilio. Galilean Journey: The Mexican-American Promise. Espín, Orlando. The Faith of the People: Theological Reflections on Popular. Goizueta, Roberto. Caminemos con Jesús: Toward a Hispanic/Latino Theology of Accompaniment. Gutierrez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation. Isasi-Díaz, Ada María. La Lucha Continues: Mujerista Theology. II.I. Religious Diversity and Interreligious Dialogue Dupuis, Jacques. Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism. Herberg, Will. Protestant Catholic Jew: an Essay in American Religious Sociology. Hick, John. An Interpretation of Religion : Human Responses to the Transcendent. 2nd. ed. Jones, Charles B. The View From Mars Hill: Christianity in the Landscape of World Religions. Panikkar, Raimon. The Intrarreligious Dialogue. Race, Alan. Christians and Religious Pluralism. Smith, Wilfred Cantwell. The Meaning and End of Religion. Wuthnow, Robert. America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity. ******************************** Note: If a student s plan of study for the Master s degree incorporates areas not listed above, that student may, with the advice and permission of the Religion and Culture area director, compile a list of readings for one of the days of examination. 5