Courses in Religion taught by Marcus Bruce
100. The Study of Religion.
An introduction to the study of religion in its many dimensions, focusing on certain fundamental human concerns that have been addressed in different ways in different religious traditions. What is the nature of human beings? How do they understand their relationship to other human beings, to the world, to whatever they consider sacred? The course examines examples from different Western and Eastern religions (e.g., Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam) as well as various methodologies (e.g., philosophical, psychological, anthropological) for exploring these questions.
Enrollment is limited to 45 per section.
216. American Religious History, 1550-1840.
This course introduces students to the major themes and movements in American religious history from the Colonial period to the end of Jacksonian reform. Among the topics discussed are Reformation "churches" and "sects," Puritanism and secularism in seventeenth-century America, ethnic diversity and religious pluralism in the Middle Colonies, slavery and slave religion, revivalism, religion and the American Revolution, and social reform. Open to first-year students.
Enrollment is limited to 40.
247. City Upon the Hill.
From John Winthrop to Pat Robertson, Americans have tended to view themselves as a chosen people, a righteous empire, and a city upon a hill. The course examines this religious view of America and its role in shaping American ideas regarding politics, education, work, women, ethnic groups, and other countries. Assigned readings include works by Edmund Morgan, Sacvan Bercovitch, R.W.B. Lewis, and William Clebsch.
Prerequisite: Religion 100. Open to first-year students. Enrollment is limited to 40.
306. Seminar on American Religious Thought and History.
Each year the seminar focuses on a different figure, movement, or issue of significance for the development of American religious thought and history. Topic for fall semester 1994: The Unfinished Universe: William James, Pragmatism, and America .
Prerequisite: Religion 100. Recommended background: a course in American cultural studies or philosophy. May be taken for credit more than once. Enrollment is limited to 15.
365A. Special Topics: The Sublime
What is the sublime? Is it a feeling, an idea, an
object, a historical reality, a "wholly other," or a
reality that lends itself to rational explanation?
Can it be described, labeled, categorized, analyzed,
and/or presented? Or is it, as the French philosopher
Jean-Francios Lyotard suggests, the Unpresentable,
that which we can conceive and allude to
but never present? Can both the desire and attempt to
present the sublime in some enduring form become the
occasion for terror? This seminar examines the
writings of four contemporary authors who have become
witnesses of the unpresentable: Toni Morrison, Primo
Levi, Edward Said, and Paul Monette. Each views
narration as both a responsible act and a way of
mediating the terror of such moments as slavery,
genocide, exile, and disease. Students will review
the history of the concept of the sublime, discuss one
work by each author, and examine the critical
reception of their writings.
Enrollment is limited to 15.
s24. Religion and the City.
This unit examines the specific challenges faced by religious communities and organizations working to meet the needs of inner city residents in Washington, D.C. It analyzes (1) the manner in which religious leaders, within a particular community, articulate and set about realizing the social, political, and economic agendas of their communities and (2) how religious communities and organizations often become the site of the very conflicts that characterize their interactions with other groups on their boundaries. The program involves study of selected texts dealing with innerfaith/interfaith conflicts and the problems of the city, discussions led by those working in the inner city, field trips to various institutions of the city, and field work in agencies and religious communities in Washington, D.C.
Enrollment is limited to 15. Recommended background: a course in religion. co-taught with Mr. Avram .
s28. Fundamentalism.
The unit explores the role of Christian fundamentalism in American culture from historical, psychological, theological, sociological, and national perspectives. The relationship between fundamentalism and the evangelical movement, the charismatic movement, and the proliferation of cults is explored. In addition to reading and lectures, students do research and fieldwork which they present to the class.
Recommended background: course in religion, introductory or advanced. Enrollment is limited to 20.