Contemporary Religious Issues, Fall 2012
This course examines selected
issues, such as church-state relations, fundamentalism, and debates over
abortion, that are central to contemporary religious life. Primary attention is
given to the American scene and some cross-cultural comparisons.
This semester we will be analyzing
contemporary religious issues that relate to the Bible, science, race, gender, gay
rights, and politics as they are understood by modern evangelicals and the
broader American culture.
Required Texts:
- Barry Hankins (ed.). Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism: A Documentary Reader. New York University Press, 2008.
Course
Requirements:
1.
Exams (25%
of grade for each, 500 total points)
Students will take two
examinations—a midterm and a final—that are based on the lectures, required
text readings in Hankins’s Evangelicalism
and Fundamentalism: A Documentary Reader, and class discussions (including
panel discussions and movies). Both exams must be taken—notifying me within 24
hours if you have a legitimate reason why you cannot be present to take the
exam—and no tests will be dropped.
2.
Book Review
(10% or 100 points)
You are required to write one book
review that is between 700 and 1,000 words from the list of topics below. The
paper should be 12 point font, New Times Roman, double-spaced, with 1 inch
margins. In your review, you should briefly articulate the author’s main
positions or themes and then interact with them. That is, choose one or two
points that you agree with and one or two in which you do not agree, supporting
your thoughts with well-reasoned arguments. Book reviews are due on the day
that you participate in the group panel discussion.
Evaluation for book reviews will be based upon the following:
Introduction (15%)
-
Is there a clear thesis statement? What are your intentions in this review?
Structure (15%)
-
Are the transitions between paragraphs and sections
clear?
-
Is the review logically oriented?
Content (30%)
-
Are the issues raised in the review properly treated?
-
Are differing viewpoints considered, analyzed and
treated?
Conclusion (15%)
-
Does the conclusion offer a good summary of issues
treated in the paper? Did you accomplish
what you set out to do?
Style (25%)
-
Is the paper without spelling and grammatical errors?
-
Is the paper without syntax errors?
-
Does the paper reflect a college level of vocabulary?
3.
Critical
Analysis Paper (25% or 250 points)
Students will write a critical
analysis paper on one of the following topics: politics, science, end times, or
gender. Papers should be 2,500-3,000 words in length, New Times Roman,
double-spaced, 12 point font, and use a minimum of 4 books from the list below.
The paper should have a title page with the student’s name, course, and
professor.
In the paper, students will
explain the topic, how and why it is controversial, interact with the various authors’
views (stating what aspects they agree and disagree with each other), and
then offer one’s own interpretive position on the subject (but without using
first-person—I, me, my).
Evaluation for research papers will be based on the following:
Grammar/Syntax (20%)
-
Does the student show a mastery of grammar and syntax?
Introduction of Topic (20%)
-
Does the student thoroughly explain the topic?
Content (30%)
-
Does the student thoroughly explain how and why the topic is controversial
-
Does the student interact with the various authors’
views?
Interpretation (30%)
-
Is the student’s position clearly stated?
-
Does the student provide ample justification for his or
her view on the subject?
-
Is the student’s position convincing?
Topics for Critical Analysis Paper:
Politics
Balmer, Randall. Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right
Distorts the Faith
and Threatens America.
Basic Books, 2006. Pp. 242.
Bruce, Steve, The Rise and Fall of the New Christian Right. Oxford University
Press,
1988. Pp. 210.
Diamond, Sarah. Not by Politics Alone: The Enduring
Influence of the Christian
Right. University
of North Carolina Press, 1993. Pp. 280.
Hart, D.G. From Billy Graham to Sarah Palin: Evangelicals and the Betrayal of
American
Conservativism. Eerdmans, 2011. Pp. 237.
Martin, William. With God on Our Side: The Rise of the
Religious Right in
America. Broadway
Books, 1996, pp. 418.
Watson, Justin. The Christian Coalition: Dreams of
Restoration, Demands for
Recognition. St.
Martin’s Press, 1997. Pp. 304.
Williams, Daniel K. God’s Own Party: The Making of the Christian
Right.
Oxford
University Press, 2010. Pp. 373.
Science
Conklin, Paul K. When All the Gods Trembled: Darwinism,
Scopes, and
American
Intellectuals. Rowman & Littlefield, 1998. Pp. 208.
Israel, Charles A. Before Scopes: Evangelicals, Education, and
Evolution in
Tennessee, 1870-1925.
University of Georgia Press, 2004. Pp. 252.
Larson, Edward. Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and
America’s
Continuing Debate over
Science and Religion. Basic Books, 1997. Pp.
330.
Lindberg, David and Ronald
Numbers, eds. God and Nature: Historical
Essays
on the Encounter
between Christianity and Science. University of
California Press,
1986. Pp. 516.
Livingstone, David N. Darwin’s Forgotten Defenders: The Encounter
between
Evangelical Theology
and Evolutionary Thought. Eerdmans, 1987. Pp.
201.
Livingstone, David N. and Mark A.
Noll, eds. Evangelicals and Science in
Historical Perspective.
Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp. 351.
Numbers, Ronald. The Creationists: The Evolution of
Scientific Creationism.
University
of California Press, 1993. Pp. 458.
End Times
Boyer, Paul. When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American
Culture. Harvard
University Press, 1992. Pp. 468.
Forbes, Bruce David and Jeanne
Halgren Kilde, eds. Rapture, Revelation,
and the
End Times: Exploring
the Left Behind Series. Palgrave,
2004. Pp. 219.
Frykholm, Amy Johnson. Rapture Culture: Left Behind in Evangelical
America.
Oxford
University Press, 2004. Pp. 224.
Morgan, David T. The New Brothers Grimm and Their Left Behind
Fairy Tales.
Mercer
University Press, 2006. Pp. 222.
Shuck, Glenn W. Marks of the Beast: The Left Behind Novels and the Struggle
for Evangelical
Identity. New York University Press, 2005. Pp. 273.
Weber, Timothy P. Living in the Shadow of the Second Coming:
American
Premillennialism,
1875-1982. Oxford University press, 1979. Pp. 232.
Weber, Timothy P. On the Road to Armageddon: How Evangelicals
Became
Israel’s Best Friend.
Baker Academic, 2004. Pp. 336.
Gender
Ault, James, Jr. Spirit and Flesh: Life in a Fundamentalist
Baptist Church.
Vintage
Books, 2004. Pp. 435.
Bendroth, Margaret Lamberts. Fundamentalism and Gender, 1875 to the
Present.
Yale
University Press, 1993. Pp. 192.
Brasher, Brenda. Godly Women: Fundamentalism and Female Power.
Rutgers
University
Press, 1998. Pp. 216.
Chaves, Mark. Ordaining Women: Culture and Conflict in Religious
Organizations.
Harvard University Press, 1997. Pp. 237.
Gallagher, Sally K. Evangelical Identity and Gendered Family
Life. Rutgers
University
Press, 2003. Pp. 244.
Griffith, R. Marie. God’s Daughters: Evangelical Women and the
Power of
Submission.
University of California Press, 1997. Pp. 286.
Griffith, R. Marie. Born Again Bodies: Flesh and Spirit in
American Christianity.
University
of California Press, 2004. Pp. 323.
Hassey, Janette. No Time for Silence: Evangelical Women in
Public Ministry
around the Turn of the
Century. Academie, 1986. Pp. 254.
Pohl, Christine and Nicola Hoggard
Creegan. Living on the Boundaries:
Evangelical Women,
Feminism, and the Theological Academy.
InterVarsity
Press, 2005. Pp. 203.
Panel Discussion (5% or 50 points)
Students will participate in a
group panel discussion on a particular topic (see signup sheet). Students will be
graded individually on their knowledge of the topic and how well they respond
to questions from the professor and class.
4.
Attendance and Participation (10% or 100 points)
It is essential that
you attend classes regularly and come prepared to take notes on the lectures
and participate in class discussion. Since this is a three-hour course, you are
allowed three skips without penalty. I will take attendance until five minutes
after the hour. Students arriving after that time will be counted absent. For
every absence in excess of three, your attendance and participation grade will
be reduced by 20 points.
5. Grading Scale
900-1,000 A
800-899 B
700-799 C
600-699 D
Below 600 F
6.
Course
Assignments and Values
Exams 50%
Book Review 10%
Critical Analysis Paper 25%
Panel Discussion 5%
Attendance and
Participation____________ 10%
100%
Tentative Schedule
8/20 Introduction
8/22 The Beginnings
of Modern American Evangelicalism
8/24 The Beginnings
of Modern American Evangelicalism
8/27 The
Beginnings of Modern American Evangelicalism
8/29 The Beginnings
of Modern American Evangelicalism
8/31 The Beginnings
of Modern American Evangelicalism
9/3 Labor
Day Holiday
9/5 The Struggle
with Modernity
9/7 The Struggle
with Modernity
9/10 The Struggle
with Modernity
9/12 The Struggle
with Modernity
9/14 The Struggle
with Modernity
9/17 Issues:
Science
9/19 Issues:
Science
9/21 Issues:
Science
9/24 Panel Discussion on Science
9/26 Movie Showing:
Inherit the Wind
9/28 Movie Showing:
Inherit the Wind
10/1 Midterm
Exam
10/3 Issues: End
Times
10/5 No Class
10/8 Issues: End
Times
10/10 Issues: End
Times
10/12 Panel Discussion on End Times
10/15 Movie Showing: A Thief in the Night
10/17 Movie Showing: A Thief in the Night
10/19 Issues: Race, Gender, and Gay Rights
10/22 Fall
Break
10/24 Issues: Race,
Gender, and Gay Rights
10/26 Issues: Race,
Gender, and Gay Rights
10/29 Panel Discussion on Gender
10/31 Movie Showing: Frisbee
11/2 Movie Showing:
Frisbee
11/5 Issues:
Politics
11/7 Issues:
Politics
11/9 Issues:
Politics
11/12 Issues:
Politics
11/14 (Note: Possibly No Class)
11/16 (Note: Possibly No Class)
11/16 Panel Discussion on
Politics
11/19 The Scandal of
the Evangelical Mind
11/21 Thanksgiving Break
11/23 Thanksgiving Break
11/26 The Scandal of
the Evangelical Mind
Critical Analysis Paper Due
11/28 The Scandal of
the Evangelical Mind
11/30 Review for Final
Final Exam: Wednesday,
December 3: 11am – 1pm
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