David Vishanoff
Emory College
REL 100
This course is designed to help students internalize basic historical and conceptual maps of Christianity and Islam, and then apply and deconstruct this knowledge through engagement with a variety of approaches to studying religions. In the first segment of the course, students will memorize a one-page historical diagram of each tradition, which will be fleshed out through lectures and secondary texts. In the second segment we will use primary texts to study one central topic of Christian theology (Christology), with comparisons to Islamic thought, and one central topic of Islamic law (prayer), with comparisons to Christian ritual. In the third segment, groups of students will research different instances of Christian-Muslim interaction, from medieval debates to modern conflicts, and then engage in formal discussions of the issues at stake in those interactions. In the fourth segment, differences between subgroups within each tradition will be explored through student presentations on their field observations at different types of churches and mosques.
The course is divided into four segments: The first consists of lectures designed to flesh out a schematized historical chart (which students will be asked to reproduce several times during the term.) In the second segment, a selection of concepts will be examined through short primary texts written by figures emphasized in the historical section. We will start with Christian theology, with an emphasis on the person and work of Christ, while comparing aspects of Islamic theology. We will then turn to Islamic law, with a focus on ritual prayer (salah), which we will compare with the Christian eucharist. We will also discuss the nature and role of revelation in each tradition. In the third section groups of students will select instances of Christian-Muslim interaction to research, and then take sides in a formal debate around the issues at stake in that interaction. Both the historical conflicts and the students' interaction in the debates will be analyzed with the twin goals of exploring the dynamics of religious interaction and of better understanding each tradition in its own right. This part of the course will be integrated with the University's seminar on "Religion and Conflict" with David Little that is scheduled for March 26-28. Options for research include the conflicts in Bosnia and the Sudan as well as more distant historical encounters such as medieval theological debates or the Crusades. In the fourth section of the course the differences between groups within each tradition will be explored in class through student presentations on field observations at churches and mosques selected to represent a wide range of practices and settings. Student presentations will be supplemented as needed by mini-lectures presenting aspects of ritual, institutional structure, and other factors that divide traditions internally. The third and fourth sections are intended to serve as an application and critique of the history and concepts studied during the first two sections. The content of the historical and conceptual presentations has therefore been selected for its relevance to the later parts of the course. The web-based presentation of course materials links later parts of the course with historical and conceptual elements studied during the first two sections. The instructor's and students' preparations for class, the class sessions themselves, and students' preparation for presentations and tests, will all center around the Blackboard course site, which will thus integrate all aspects of the learning process into a thoroughly cross-referenced environment. Getting to know this environent well will be the primary key to benefiting from this course.
Class preparation: Before each class, go to the Blackboard page for that class, and follow the guidelines there. Generally you will be directed to briefly review the outline from the previous class, and then to more carefully work through the outline for the coming class, performing any readings that are listed, and reflecting or writing on any questions posed. I will call on specific individuals in class to respond to questions posed in the outline. Your preparation for class, as reflected in your fulfillment of any short written assignments (if submitted on time) and your preparedness to address questions orally in class, will receive a letter grade (10%).
Please note that I will be constructing the outlines and questions for each class as the term progresses. Therefore, if you need to "read ahead," please check with me first to be sure that the preparation materials are complete.
Attendance is required, not because you could not learn this material without attending, but because learning it well requires being exposed to it multiple times in different ways. Class sessions are one of these ways. Your total grade for tests, etc., will be multiplied by the number of classes you attended, divided by the number of classes in the term minus five (actually, six, to make up for the extra Little/Chidester lecture.) Note that this allows for 5 unpenalized absences for any reason, which should be sufficient to cover most eventualities. If the dean's office notifies me that a special situation warrants more than five allowed absences, the total allowed will be increased to no more than the number warranted by the situation. Having fewer than five absences will raise your total grade. Attendance will be counted starting 1/26, which is after the schedule change period ends.
Tests: One Quiz, which will consist in reproducing the historical outlines (10%). Midterm and Final Exams (25% each) in which you will again reproduce the historical outlines, define terms, apply your knowledge, and evaluate the class and your own progress. The class and self-evaluation portions of the exams will receive full credit regardless of the nature of your comments, as long as they have at least the appearance of thoughtfulness.
Class presentations: You will have two opportunities to take a major role in a class session. During the third section of the course, you will research, plan, and engage in a debate with several other students over one of six historical instances of Christian-Muslim interaction. In the fourth section of the course, you will visit one church and one mosque, and then describe and analyze your observations for the class. You will be graded for your preparation, analysis, and presentation (15% for each presentation).
Grade computation will use the scale used by the college to compute grade point averages: A=4.0, B=3.0, C= 2.0, D=1.0, F=0. Your final grade will be computed using the following formula:
Final grade = [ Attendances / (no. of classes - 6) ] x [ (preparation x 0.10) + (quiz x 0.10) + (midterm x 0.25) + (final x 0.25) + (debate x 0.15) + (field report x 0.15) ]
Academic honesty: Any form of deceit, however "mild," will result in a final grade of F (zero). This includes cheating on tests, turning in writing not created by yourself expressly for this class, plagiarism, signing in other students on attendance sheets, and even false excuses for absences or late or missed assignments. You have no need to invent excuses, because unmet requirements will affect only my evaluation of your work; they will not affect my respect for you as a person. False excuses can therefore only mean that you are attempting to falsify your grade, and this warrants a final grade of F. Additionally, academic dishonesty may be referred to the appropriate College authorities.
1/17 Introduction
1/19 Common background: Patriarchs and ProphetsChristianity1/22 Jesus and his early followers
1/24 The formation of orthodoxy
1/26 The Medieval Church
1/29 The Reformation
1/31 The Enlightenment and its consequences
Islam2/2 Muhammad and the Rightly Guided Caliphs
2/5 The struggle to define Islam
2/7 The systematization of orthodoxy
2/9 Modernity and its consequences
2/12 QUIZ: Reproduce historical outline
READING THEOLOGY AND LAW
Christian Theology: The Person and Work of Christ
2/14 The NT and early Christological controversies
2/16 Understandings of Christ's atonement for sin
2/19 Later developments in Christology
2/21 Biblical interpretation
Islamic Law: The Salâh
2/23 Revelation as source of law: usul al-fiqh
2/26 Overview of fiqh
2/28 Salah
3/2 Interpretations of Salah
3/5 Optional review session.
DEBATING INTERACTIONS
3/7 Discussion of Dr. Saaedin's talk; introduction to debates; preparation for exam.
3/9 MIDTERM EXAMSPRING BREAK
3/19 Lecture: History of Christian - Muslim interaction
3/21 Classical theological debate
3/23 Modern debate
3/26 Debate on violence: The Islamic conquests and the Crusades
4:00 Attend talk by David Little, "Rethinking Religious Tolerance." Woodruff Library, Jones Room (3rd floor between circulation and stacks.)3/28 No class because of special lectures.
3/29 at 4:00 Attend talk by David Chidester, "Monuments and Fragments: Religion, Identity, and Spaces of Reconciliation." Living Room, D. Abbot Turner Center, Turner Village.
3/30 Discussion of talks by Little and Chidester
4/2 Debate on Bosnia
4/4 Debate on the Sudan
OBSERVING GROUPS AT WORSHIP
4/6 Reflection on Debates and Guidelines for Field Observations
(4/8 Palm Sunday - a good time to do church field observation.)
4/9 Christian Churches and Denominations
4/11 Christian Worship
4/13 Christian worship continued
(4/15 Easter: a good time to do church field observation)
4/16 Reports on high church visits (Catholic or Orthodox)
4/18 Reports on middle church visits (Protestant)
4/20 Reports on low church visits (Quaker or Pentecostal)
4/23 Muslim groups
4/25 Reports on visits to immigrant Sunni mosque
4/27 Reports on visits to American Muslim Mission mosque
4/30 Analysis of approaches; class evaluations
5/4 (8:30-11:00) FINAL EXAM in White Hall 103.