FALL 2007 HONORS COURSES

HONR 279V Ideas of God in Literature and Scripture
Tuesday/Thursday, 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Dr. Kathleen Staudt, Senior Lecturer in University Honors

HONR 279V Web Page

This course explores a variety of understanding of "God" and the human experience of God by reading sacred texts from Judaism, Christianity and Islam alongside imaginative works by ancient and modern authors. We begin by looking at interpretive traditions for reading the Bible and the Qu'ran, including the Jewish practice of midrash. We then turn to literary texts from a variety of literary and cultural traditions, including works by John Milton, Hafez, Rumi, Elie Wiesel, Lucille Clifton, Alice Walker and Shusaku Endo, as well as several contemporary films that take up theological themes.

Course Objectives:
1. To learn the interpretive traditions that provide a context for understanding various ideas of God in the sacred texts of the major monotheistic traditions.

2. To read literary and scriptural texts critically, comparatively, and imaginatively, and to develop interpretive arguments in lucid prose.

3. To develop insight and sensitivity into a variety of religious ideas, beliefs, and symbolic systems.

Requirements:
1. Class attendance, participation in discussion, and weekly "journals" (1-2 pages of reflective writing) responding to the reading (30%)

2. "Midrash" (creative interpretive writing) on a Biblical text (20%)

3. Short interpretive paper and oral presentation on one of the works we read (25%)

4. Final exam demonstrating critical reading skills and integrating themes of the course (25%)

Course Texts Include:
Sells, Approaching the Qu'ran: The Early Revelations
John Milton, Paradise Lost
James Weldon Johnson, God's Trombones
Eli Wiesel, The Trial of God
Shusaku Endo, Deep River

Recommended Texts (for your first paper and general reference):
Huston Smith, Religions of the World
Karen Armstrong, A History of God
The New Oxford Annotated Bible (or other version of the Bible)

CORE: Humanities (HO)