What
is Religion?
In spite of
repeated announcements of its demise, religion remains a vibrant and powerful
force in the modern world. Whether one
considers oneself religious or not, religious literacy is a basic requirement
for citizens of a modern society. This
is all the more true in a global context where religion often stands in as a
marker for significant cultural differences.
In these workshops, which will be offered throughout the academic year,
students will encounter various living religious traditions. While each workshop will be devoted to a
different religious tradition and will be taught by its own instructor, they
will all follow a parallel structure, with attention given to both the theory
and the practice of the tradition and with an examination at the end of the
session. Each one-credit module will meet for eight sessions. Students may
choose to enroll in just one module, or they may take several modules. A student who successfully completes four
modules will satisfy the Rethinking Difference requirement.
12046 |
HUM 135 DN What is
Judaism? |
David Nelson |
. . W Th . |
5:00 – 6:20 pm |
ASP 302 |
N/A |
1
credit This
short course will examine the fundamentals of Jewish history, belief, thought,
and life. Our readings will be from primary sources spanning 2500 years of
Jewish literature. Students with or without prior knowledge will gain a
historically contextualized understanding of Torah, the cycle of the year, the
development and functioning of the synagogue, the purposes of daily Jewish
religious practice, the importance of story-telling and argument, and the beliefs that unite – and divide – the
Jewish people. This class will meet April 2, 3, 9, 10, 23, 24, 30 and May 1.
12047 |
HUM 135 |
Usman Khan |
M . . . . |
6:30 – 7:50 pm |
OLIN 201 |
N/A |
1
credit This
course will offer a comprehensive overview of the main texts, practices, and
articles of belief in Islam as they developed in history. Students will be able to sketch an outline of
Islamic history from Muhammad to the present day. However, particular focus
will be placed upon the development of Islamic beliefs and practices in both
Sunni and Shiite traditions. Students will be able to articulate the basic
tenets of Islamic thought and its development over time. Students must be able
to describe the various elements of Islamic practice, and demonstrate an
awareness of the great variety in Islamic expression, belief/theology,
practice, and culture. Further, students will be exposed to some of the
contemporary issues regarding Islam, such as, terrorism, Jihad, and women’s
rights. This class will meet January 27 – March 17th.
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12177 |
HUM
236 On the Road: Anti-Social Images, Sounds,
Writing |
Francesca
Slovin / Geoff
Waite |
. . . . F |
1:00 – 4:00 pm |
OLIN 301 |
N/A |
1
credit
From antiquity to the present, traveling remains a privileged “metaphor” (‘to
travel across,’ ‘to transfer,’ ‘to translate’) in virtually all social and
cultural activities: spatial and temporal, psychological and physical, physical
and metaphysical. Against this vast
historical backdrop, our course focuses on that moment in the 1950s and ‘60s
and thereafter (in America and Europe) when people (male and female, couples
and loners) either chose or are forced to be “on the road,” and there to commit
various anti-social acts, including robbery and murder. Also important is what
happens when the written word is transferred or translated into audio-visual
media and vice versa. What is lost in translation? As science fiction has told what is always
already known: this road is through space but also as “time travel.” We begin
this course with the traffic jam (l’ingorgo) and then experience where
tourists and travelers are headed. This course will meet for 5 weeks, February
7th – March 7th.
12038 |
HUM 325 How to Form
an Opinion |
Seth Lipsky |
. . . Th . |
4:40 – 7:00 pm |
OLIN 101 |
N/A |
4
credits The art of writing editorials, columns and
blog posts – and getting them published. This course focuses not on what to
think but on how to form an opinion and write an essay, column or blog posting
that will get past an editor and into print. Emphasis is laid on the role of
reporting and on the competitive nature of journalism. Each class is broken
into two parts. The first half is a discussion of famous examples of opinion
writing. These include “Is There a Santa Claus?”, which was issued in the
September 21, 1897, edition of the New York Sun and is the most widely
reprinted piece in all of journalism; “A Job for the Summit,” the Wall Street
Journal editorial that in June 1979 moved the seven leaders of the industrial
world to scrap their agenda for the Tokyo Summit and focus on the plight of the
Indochina refugees; “Twilight of the Kings,” the Chicago Tribune’s editorial on
the outbreak of World War I; and Jimmy Breslin’s famous column on the assassination of
President Kennedy. The second half is conducted as an editorial board meeting
in which students pitch essays and an editor reasons them out. This is the time
in which students are taught the craft of pre-meditating a strategy for getting
a piece past an editor and into print – the role of original reporting, the
tactic of writing about an event before it happens, and the value of rhetoric
and style. Assignments are made. Finished pieces are shared and discussed with
the class. Class size: 15