Course syllabus

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SEMESTER 2, 2019

15 points

Teachers: Caroline Blyth (c.blyth@auckland.ac.nz) and Nick Thompson (nj.thompson@auckland.ac.nz) 

 

Course delivery format: two hours of lectures and one hour tutorial

(Timetable and room details can be viewed on Student Services Online)

Summary of Course Description:        

The contentious relationship between violence and religious texts has long been a topic of debate within religious studies. Sacred texts, including the Christian Bible, the Jewish Tanakh, and the Qur’an contain traditions that appear to condone multiple forms of objective and systemic violence, including murder, war, genocide, rape, incest, domestic violence, human sacrifice, ethnic cleansing, slavery and sex slavery. Other texts (written, oral, and digital) that emerge from religious traditions throughout history and up to the present day may draw on religious doctrine to defend or even encourage various acts of violence towards particular groups and individuals, based on their race, religious beliefs, gender, or sexuality.

In this course, students will trace the historical, cultural and religious roots of some of these ‘texts of terror’, analyzing the particular historical and cultural locations from which they emerged. They will also consider their ongoing significance and influence within contemporary cultures at global and local levels. Do these texts continue to have political and cultural authority, even within secular contexts? What impact do they still have in contemporary political and societal debates, around issues relating to war, religious intolerance, and even acts of terrorism? And how do we engage critically and ethically with these texts within our own multicultural and multi-faith contexts?

Course content

Week 1: Introduction to the course; religious texts as 'texts of terror'

Week 2: Religious intolerance - creating the 'Other'

Week 3: Hell

Week 4: Heresy

Week 5: Witchcraft

Week 6: Anti-semitism and the Holocaust

Week 7: Homophobia

Week 8: The 'transgender debate'

Week 9: Whitewashing the Bible - racism and critical whiteness studies

Week 10: Patriarchy and gender-based violence

Week 11: TBD

Week 12: Course review

 Course outcomes:

By the end of this course, students will:

• Have developed an understanding of the complex ways that multiple forms of violence are articulated and understood within a number of religious texts, traditions, and communities throughout history.
• Be able to have an informed discussion about contemporary issues surrounding the significance of violence within religious texts, and how these are addressed by contemporary religious and secular communities.
• Learn to analyse texts using a number of different methodological and theoretical approaches.
• Have become familiar with some significant scholarly literature around this topic and be able to engage with it in an informed and critical way.
• Have learned some of the skills required in academic writing and the process of composing a well-argued, well-written and engaging essay.

Assessment Summary:

20% reflective diary

30% short essay

50% research essay

Late policy

Course work submitted late will be penalized as follows: 5% for the first day late, then 1% for each day late thereafter. Course work submitted three weeks or more late will receive a 0% grade. Requests for short extensions should be made to Caroline (c.blyth@auckland.ac.nz) prior to the due date.

Course readings:

There is no text book for this course - all required readings can be found in the reading list (and each week's readings are linked to in the weekly module).

The course allows students the opportunity to develop the following capabilities of the BA graduate profile:

Disciplinary knowledge and practice

• An ability to display knowledge and understanding about the significance of their chosen field of study (religion and violence), and to apply this knowledge through their analysis of selected religious texts.
• An ability to define, contextualize and address questions within this field of study through interdisciplinary enquiry.

Critical thinking

• An ability to identify and evaluate premises and contexts of knowledge claims within the religious texts being studied.
• An ability to formulate questions based on gathering and evaluating information from multiple primary and secondary sources and diverse perspectives.
• An ability to construct reasoned, reflexive arguments and interpretations using valid evidence to justify claims and conclusions.

Solution seeking

• An ability to define the central issues raised by ‘texts of terror’, with regard to their significance, ethical implications, and real-world impact, using skills in textual and cultural analysis.

Communication and Engagement

• An ability to communicate clearly, engagingly, and persuasively in both written and oral form to audiences comprised of both academics and their peers.

Independence and integrity, social responsibility

• An ability to analyse religious texts of terror with integrity and an understanding of the ethical responsibility connected to their analysis.
• An awareness of the rights and responsibilities of the religious studies scholar, as they work towards the role of critic and conscience beyond the classroom and into wider society.