RELIGIOUS STUDIES 103: FIRST YEAR SEMINAR
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION: WOMEN AND RELIGION
SPRING, 2001

Office Hours and Consultation

For brief consultations, please see me just before or right after class. I am also available for longer meetings during my office hours. E-mail is the least preferred form of communication and should be used judiciously.

If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may affect your ability to carry out assigned course work, I urge you to contact the Office of Disability Services at 5453. The Coordinator of Disability Services, Erin Salva (salvae@kenyon.edu) will review your concerns and determine, with you, what accommodations are appropriate. After your meeting with Erin Salva, please see me to discuss accommodations and learning needs.

I. Course Description

This seminar will serve as an introduction to the study of religion with a particular focus on women. Three major traditions will be studied (Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity) in the first two thirds of the course. Various aspects of religion will be addressed: myth and ritual, doctrine, ethics and the experiential and social dimensions. Assuming that you have interests of your own in taking this course, I have made suggestions for the last four weeks of the course, but have left it open so that particular interests can be accommodated. You should take time to peruse the sources you have purchased as well as the suggested readings in order to be prepared to help shape the last third of the course around topics of interest to you. (See below, April 3rd) This course satisfies a requirement in the Women's and Gender Studies Concentration.

II. Course Requirements and Grading

A. Regular attendance (only one unexcused absence will be accepted; otherwise, you must either be on the excused absences list or have a written excuse from a dean); timely completion of reading assignments and active participation in seminar discussions. (20%)

B. Writing
Strunk and White's The Elements of Style is recommended reading for all interested in polishing their writing. All writing is due in class on the date announced, or, in the case of response essays, on the day the reading you have addressed is discussed. Late response essays will not be accepted. Missed due dates will result in grade penalties unless properly excused. Please plan accordingly. Please keep copies of all your writing until it is graded and returned to you.

1. Response Essays Ten 1 page (typed, single-spaced) essays due at your discretion. These essays should be brief and immediate responses to any of the assigned reading (with the exception of the background reading in Sharma, Women in World Religions and Smart, The Religious Experience). You must turn these in at an even pace throughout the semester so that you have an opportunity to reflect in writing on the varieties of literature we will be studying. Five essays must be turned in before spring break. Do not turn one in on days in which you lead discussion. (30%)
2. Research Paper A 10-12 (typed, double-spaced) page paper, with annotation and bibliography, on a topic of your choice. Research interests may overlap with material we use in the course. That is acceptable as long as you draw on material we have not discussed in class and expand your research beyond class discussion. Follow the deadlines set in the syllabus for submission of topic, bibliography, consultation and due date. Follow the Guidelines handed out early in the semester and make sure you are familiar with College policies on academic honesty. DUE: Monday April 23rd at 4:00, in my office (25%)

C. Discussion Leadership On two occasions you and another student will be responsible for leading discussion. Each time you should prepare some kind of handout outlining themes you plan to address and questions you will have the class discuss. The first occasion will take place in either Feb.or Mar. The second occasion will be in April. (First time, 10%; second time 15%)

III. Books
A. Available at the Bookstore
Serinity Young, An Anthology of Sacred Texts By and About Women
Falk and Gross, Unspoken Worlds, Women's Religious Lives
Arvind Sharma, Women in World Religions (recommended)

B. On Course Reserve (CR)
Ninian Smart, The Religious Experience
Arvind Sharma, Women in World Religions
David Kinsley, The Goddesses' Mirror: Visions of the Divine From East and West
Ross Kraemer, Her Share of the Blessings: Women's Religions Among Pagans, Jews and Christians in the Greco-Roman World
Barbara Stoller Miller, trans., Love Song of the Dark Lord
Barbara Myerhoff, Number Our Days
Carol Christ and Judith Plaskow, eds., Womanspirit Rising:A Feminist Reader in Religion
Arthur Green, ed., Jewish Spirituality, II
Carl Olson, The Book of the Goddess
John Hawley and Donna Wulff, eds., Devi: Goddesses of India
Ellen Umansky and Dianne Ashton, Four Centuries of Jewish Women's Spirituality
Elizabeth Koltun, The Jewish Woman
Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels
All required books are also on Course Reserve.

IV. Course Outline

WEEKS 1-2 What is Religion?

1/18
Defining Religion:
Ninian Smart, The Religious Experience, Ch. I "Religion and Human Experience" (CR)
Applying Smart's categories [all bracketed readings are in Serinity Young, Anthology]:
Myth: Biblical creation story [Judaism; 2-7] and
Christ and Plaskow, eds., Womanspirit Rising, "Eve and Adam: Genesis 2-3 Reread," by Phyllis Trible, 74-84 (CR)
Doctrine: Luther on Genesis [Christianity; 85-86]

1/23
Ethics: The Laws of Manu [Hinduism, 277-279]
Society: A Shi`ite Women's Ritual [Islam, 120-122]
Experience: Hildegaard of Bingen [Christianity; 64-67]

1/25
Defining the Sacred:
excerpt from Rudolph Otto's Idea of the Holy (handout)
Lakota myth: Young, Anthology, 228-229
excerpt from Oglala Women (handout)

1/30
Studying religion through women's experience
Young, Anthology, Introduction
Young, Sioux Ritual for Preparing a Girl for Womanhood, 229-231

Nota Bene: Serinity Young's Anthology: always read the brief introductions prefacing each primary source; reading on assigned pages begins and ends at natural breaks.

2/1 SIGN UP FOR DISCUSSION LEADERSHIP

WEEKS 3-5: Classical and Medieval Hinduism

Smart, "The Indian Experience," pp. 75-88, 104-108

2/1
Ancient Hindu Texts
Young, 266-68, 270-273, 274-77
recommended: Sharma, 59-72

2/6
Hindu Goddesses: Durga and Kali
Young, 298-300
handout, Kali hymns
C. Mackenzie Brown, "Kali, The Mad Mother" in The Book of the Goddess ed. by Carl Olson, pp. 110-123 (CR)
D. Kinsley, "Kali: Blood and Death Out of Place" in Devi: Goddesses of Heaven, pp. 77- 84 (CR)

2/8
Radha and Krishna in bhakti literature and art
Young, 293-298
Recommended: Sharma, 72-92 and sections of Love Song of the Dark Lord (CR)

DISCUSSION LEADERSHIP BEGINS

2/13
Modern Hindu Women's bhakti rituals
"The Ladies of Lord Krishna: Rituals of Middle-Aged Women in Eastern India," by James Freeman in Unspoken Worlds, pp. 114-124

2/15
Durga Puja in Contemporary Bengal: Women's Rituals
reading TBA

WEEKS 6-7 Ancient, Medieval and Modern Judaism

Smart, The Religious Experience, "The Jewish Experience," pp. 284-292, 305-308, 314-16
video: "Half the Kingdom" time and location TBA

2/20
Rabbinic Judaism
Young, 22-26, 35-37; other texts (handout)
Recommended: Sharma, 192-200

2/22
Medieval Judaism: What Men Wrote about Women
Young, 26-32

2/27
Medieval Jewish Women's Prayers and Rituals
Green, ed., Jewish Spirituality, Volume II, "The Traditional Piety of Ashkenazic Women," by Chava Weissler, pp. 245-268 (CR)
Umansky and Ashton, Four Centuries of Jewish Women's Spirituality, pp. 36-37, 51-55, 282-285 (CR)

3/1
Ordination for Women?
Readings TBA

SUBMIT RESEARCH TOPIC in class on THURS. MARCH 1st

<<SPRING BREAK>>

Note: You will need to use a Bible that includes the New Testament in this section.

Smart, "The Early Christian Experience," pp. 333-346

3/20
The Early Church
Young, 41-43
Recommended: Sharma, 207-215
Matthew 1:18-2:23, Luke 1-2
The Goddesses' Mirror: Visions of the Divine from East and West by David Kinsley, ch. 10, "Mary: Virgin, Mother and Queen" (CR)

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO CONSULT ABOUT YOUR TOPIC

3/22
Images of God in Early Christianity
Womanspirit Rising, "What Became of God the Mother? Conflicting Images of God in Early Christianity," by Elaine Pagels, 107-119 (CR)
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels, ch. 3: "God the Father/God the Mother" (CR)

3/27-3/29
Medieval Christian women: Virgins, Visionaries, Saints and Witches
Young, 64-76, 79-83
Recommended: Sharma, 216-220

SUNDAY APRIL 1st : TURN IN RESEARCH PAPER BIBLIOGRAPHY NO LATER THAN 4:00 in my office

4/3
Class meeting devoted to organizing the last four weeks of reading. The following are suggested topics and possible secondary readings, but this is by no means a complete list. You should also look carefully through Young to see if there are other materials that you would like to study. Once we have settled on a course of study, primary sources in Young and background reading in Sharma will be assigned, in accordance with chosen topics.

ISLAM
"The Controversial Vows of Urban Muslim Women in Iran," by Anne Bettridge, Unspoken Worlds

"The status of women in the Qur'an" by Fazlur Rahman, in Women and Revolution in Iran pp. 37-54

"Variation in Religious Observance Among Islamic Women," by Robert and Elizabeth Fernea, Scholars, Saints, and Sufis, ed., Nikki R. Keddie, pp. 384-401

AFRICAN TRADITIONS and NEW WORLD AFRICAN TRADITIONS
"Alinesitoue: a Diola Woman Prophet in West Africa" by Robert Baum, Unspoken Worlds

"Mama Lola and the Ezilis: Themes of Mothering and Loving in Haitian Vodou" by Karen McCarthy Brown, Unspoken Worlds

CONTEMPORARY WOMEN'S SPIRITUALITY
See Young for several choices

CHILDBIRTH RITUALS
"Golden Handprints and Red-Painted Feet: Hindu Childbirth Rituals in Central India," by Doranne Jacobson, Unspoken Worlds

Rituals from other traditions

BUDDHISM
"The Case of Vanishing Nuns: The Fruits of Ambivalence in Ancient Indian Buddhism," by Nancy Falk, Unspoken Worlds

CELIBACY
"Unmarried Women of the Dhaula Dhar: celibacy and social control in northwest India" by Peter Phllimore, Journal of Anthropological Research 47 (Fall 91) pp. 331-50

"The need to give: Suffering and Female Sanctity in the Middle Ages" by Jo Ann McNamara in Images of Sainthood in Medieval Europe, ed., Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Timea Szell, pp. 199-221

Sisters in Arms, Catholic Nuns Through Two Millennia by Jo Ann McNamara, selection

CHRISTIAN MOVEMENTS HIGHLIGHTING WOMEN:
e.g., THE SHAKER TRADITION
"When Christ is a Woman: Theology and Practice in the Shaker Tradition," by Susan Setta, Unspoken Worlds

RESEARCH PAPER DUE: Monday, April 23rd at 4:00