Religion in the Present

Sample Syllabus
Mark Elmore
elmorem@hotmail.com

Course Logic

From Islamic fundamentalist groups to meditation retreats, the past decade has seen a massive ‘resurgence of religion.’  While the modern discourse on secularism has relegated religion to the confines of private life, it refuses to remain confined to the home or the imagination.   This course is designed to introduce students to religion by evaluating some of the most important problems facing modern global societies.  Through a multidisciplinary approach, we will cultivate ways of thinking about and critically assessing the machinations of religion in the present.

Through a series of in-depth meditations, this course will develop the idea that religion continues to be one of the most important elements in the shaping of modern life.  The class will examine problems surrounding secularism, terror, globalization, ethics and enchantment.  Weekly readings are designed to offer paths for thinking about issues of immediate concern.  To this end the readings for each week will be paired. There will be a theoretical reading in conjunction with either discussion of a issue of concern or a primary text that establishes a position in a contemporary debate.  The goal of this approach is to give students the critical tools necessary to understand and analyze religion in all of its different guises. 

Responsibilities 

This course is designed for upper-division undergraduates or advanced lower-division students.  It will be run as a seminar emphasizing cooperation and critical engagement.  Full participation is demanded of all students.  I expect you to read ALL the assigned readings before class.  In order to facilitate class participation, students are required to turn in weekly critical questions on the readings.  Critical questions are not questions about the details of an essay such as: Where is Islamabad?  Or is Krishna a god or man?  By critical question, I mean a question that seriously engages the material under discussion.  It looks for internal contradictions, logical associations with the general themes of the class or other questions of this intensity.  A good example of such a question would outline the general argument of the reading and then offer a criticism, question, or connection with that thesis.  These will be collected at the beginning of the week and may be used to facilitate discussion throughout the week. 

Additionally, you will be expected to write three short (3-5 pages) essays throughout the quarter.  Each of these papers will examine a specific issue or problem in some depth and use one or several of the readings to examine that issue.  Examples include: an analysis of the BJP election statement using the theory of secularism developed by Talal Asad or an analysis of Osama bin Laden’s use of video.

Readings

All readings, including readings listed under the “resources” section for each week will be available in a single course reader.  If you wish to purchase books that will be important for the course, I suggest:

Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003.
Vries, Hent de, and Samuel M. Weber. Religion and Media, Cultural Memory in the Present. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001.
Jonathan Z. Smith. Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982.
Taylor, Mark C. Critical Terms for Religious Studies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

Approaching Religion

Week 1: What is we talk about when we talk about religion

  1. Jonathan Z. Smith. Imagining Religion: From Babylon to Jonestown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982. Selections
  1. Taylor, Mark C. “Introduction” Critical Terms for Religious Studies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. 1-21.
  1. Certeau, Michel de. “Ways of Believing"  The Practice of Everyday Life. New rev. and augm. ed. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998. 177-199.
  1. Geertz, Clifford. “Religion as a Cultural System.” The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York: Basic Books, 2000. 87-126.

ISSUE:    None. Lecture introduction to each of the upcoming issues.

Week 2: Foundational Thoughts

  1. Derrida, Jacques. "Faith and Knowledge: The Two Sources of 'Religion' at the Limits of Reason Alone." In Religion, edited by Gianni Vattimo and Jacques Derrida. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996.  1-78

ISSUE:    Religion and the Schools: Elk Grove Unified School District v. Michael A. Newdow, et al.

RESOURCES:

  1. Opinions gathered at: http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com

Secularism: 

Week 3: Approaching Secularism

  1.   Asad, Talal. Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003. 1-61, 181-205.

ISSUE: French Secularism

RESOURCES:

  1. BBC News: Assorted articles.
  2. Guardian Unlimited: Assorted articles.
  3. The Economist: Assorted articles.

PAPER ONE DUE

Week 4: Secularism and Public Religion

  1. Connolly, William E. Why I Am Not a Secularist. Minneapolis: Universityof Minnesota Press, 1999.  1-47, 73-97, 137-189.
  2. José Cassanova.  “Secularization, Enlightenment, and Modern Religion,” in Public Religions in the Modern World. Chicago University of ChicagoPress, 1994. 11-39.

ISSUE:  Turkish Secularism and the EU

RESOURCES:

  1. Navaro-Yashin, Yael. Faces of the State: Secularism and Public Life in Turkey. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002. 1-16, 115-154.
  2. The Economist: Assorted articles.

Religion and Media:

Week 5:  Mediations

  1. Vries, Hent de, and Samuel M. Weber. “In Media Res: Global Religion, Public Spheres, and the task of Contemporary Religious Studies.” Religion and Media, Cultural Memory in the Present. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2001. 3-42
  2. Weber, Samuel, and Alan Cholodenko. “Deus ex Media” Mass Mediauras : Form, Technics, Media. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1996.  152-168

ISSUE:  Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and the 700 Club

RESOURCES:

  1. Transcript of Pat Robertson’s interview with Jerry Falwell Broadcast on the 700 club, September 13, 2001 in Lincoln, Bruce. Holy Terror : Thinking About Religion after September 11. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
  2. Capps, Walter H. The New Religious Right : Piety, Patriotism, and Politics. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1990.

Week 6:  The Ghost in the Machine

  1. Benjamin, Walter, and Hannah Arendt. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” Illuminations. New York: Schocken Books, 1986. 217-252.
  2. Taussig, Michael. Mimesis and Alterity: A Particular History of the Senses. New York: Routledge, 1993. 1-44, 250-259.
  3. Davis, Erik. Techgnosis : Myth, Magic & Mysticism in the Age of Information. London: Serpent's Tail, 1999.

ISSUE: The Matrix series

RESOURCES:  Film Screenings

Religion and Globalization

Week 7:  Religion Gone Global

  1. Juergensmeyer, Mark. Global Religions : An Introduction. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. 3-17, 95-132.
  2. Clifford, James. Routes : Travel and Translation in the Late Twentieth Century. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, 1997. 17-47, 244-279.

ISSUE:  Diasporic Funding of Hate:

RESOURCES:

  1. http://stopfundinghate.org/
  2. http://indiarightsonline.com
  3. http://www.mpac.org

PAPER TWO DUE

Terror

Week 8:  Terror Abroad

  1. Lincoln, Bruce. Holy Terrors: Thinking About Religion after September 11. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. 1-92.

ISSUE:  Empire.  The United State is the eyes of others

RESOURCES:            

  1. George W. Bush “Address to the Nation, October 7, 2001”
  2. Osama bin Laden “Videotaped Address October 7, 2001”

Week 9: Terror at Home

  1. Juergensmeyer, Mark. Terror in the Mind of God : The Global Rise of Religious Violence. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. 3-18, 119-164, 216-245

ISSUE:  Killing in the name of life:  Abortion and the politics of murder

RESOURCES: 

  1. Blanchard, Dallas A., and Terry J. Prewitt. Religious Violence and Abortion : The Gideon Project. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1993. Selections
  2. Macdonald, Andrew. The Turner Diaries : A Novel. 2nd ed. New York: Barricade Books Inc., 1996. Selections

Week 10:  Religious Worlds

  1. Eliade, Mircea the Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion Trans. Willard Trask (New York: HBJ, 1983). P. 20-68
  2. Gill, Sam "Territory" in Taylor, Mark Critical Terms for the Study of Religio.n Chicago: UCP 1998.  298- 314.
  3. Smith, Jonathan Z. “Map is not Territory" In Map is not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions. Leiden: Brill, 1978.
  4. Smith, Jonathan Z.“In Search of Place” In To Take Place Toward Theory in Ritual . Chicago: UCP, 1987.

ISSUE:  Preserving sacred lands

RESOURCES: 

  1. http://www.sacredland.org
  2. In the light of Reverence, A film.
  3. Vine Deloria, Jr., “Sacred Lands and Religious Freedom”
  4. Little, Charles E., Jake Page, Ruth Rudner, and David Muench. Sacred Lands of Indian America
  5. New York: H.N. Abrams, 2001. Selections

PAPER THREE DUE
 

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last updated: october 8, 2006
mark elmore
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