ARTH 4342 3.0 VISUAL SPECTACLE IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
Prerequisite: 4th year standing. Open to non-majors
GEOG 4250 3.0M IMAGINED LANDSCAPES
FACULTY: AP
This course examines the representation of landscapes in fictional literature, film, visual arts and music. Emphasis is placed on the power, purpose and problems of metaphor, symbolism and representation.
COURSE CREDIT EXCLUSION: Prior to Fall 2009: AS/GEOG 4250 3.0.
PREREQUISITE: 72 credits successfully completed.
TIME: Wednesday 11:30-14:30
COURSE DIRECTOR: TBA
HEB 4000 6.0A ADVANCED MODERN HEBREW
FACULTY: AP
An intensive course designed to acquaint students with advanced aspects of Hebrew grammar, to improve their reading skills and their ability to express themselves fluently in conversation and in written form. Not open to native speakers who have completed Grade 9 in Israel.
COURSE CREDIT EXCLUSION: None. Prior to Fall 2009: AS/HEB 4000 6.0.
PREREQUISITE: AP/HEB 3000 6.0 or equivalent. Prior to Fall 2009: AS/HEB
TIME: Tuesday and Thursday 13:00-14:30
COURSE DIRECTOR: TBA
HIST 4100 6.0 MODERN HISTORY OF THE JEWS
Problems in the determination of the international relations of the Israelite states in the Iron Age. Sources, written and unwritten, from Israel, Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt and Israel's smaller neighbours will be examined in the course of these investigations.
This course is restricted to History, Classical Studies, Jewish Studies or Religious Studies Honours majors and minors who have successfully completed at least 84 credits.
Prerequisites: AP/HIST 2110 6.00 or AP/HIST 3100 6.00 or AP/HIST 3110 6.00 or by departmental permission.
Course credit exclusions: None.
PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit exclusion: AS/HIST 4100 6.00.
HIST 4225 6.0 CHURCH, MOSQUE AND SYNAGOGUE: CHRISTIANS, MUSLIMS, AND JEWS IN MEDIEVAL SPAIN
FACULTY: AP
The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 inaugurated a complex trireligious society that was to endure nearly eight hundred years (and more than eight centuries on the Muslim lunar calendar). This development has given rise to Spain's designation as a "land of three religions" and Spain's reputation as premodern Western Europe's foremost "pluralist" society. It has also made Spain, as compared with other European lands, a hard country for non-Spaniards to understand. This course seeks to explore diverse facets of Jewish-Muslim-Christian convivencia ("dwelling together"; coexistence), a topic that continues to be the object of attention for a range of scholars -- and many beyond the academy who have found it pertinent to an understanding of our own age. The course focuses on religious, intellectual, and cultural contacts and their socio-psychological dynamics, placing these in various historical and at times (very partial) geographic, linguistic, political, economic, and technological contexts. The course centers on written sources but does not wholly neglect iconography, music, and architecture. It stresses diverse perspectives within and across religious boundaries and at times forces us to ponder difficulties faced by scholars seeking to explain religious or religiously-linked phenomena (e.g., what actual human experience lies behind the metaphor of "religious conversion"?). Methodologically, our enterprise emphasizes study of primary sources as the only way to arrive at a trustworthy model of convivencia. In the course of such study, attention is paid to peculiarities of genre, the frequent indeterminacy of evidence, and difficulties involved in formulating historical assessments.
COURSE CREDIT EXCLUSION: PRIOR TO FALL 2009 : AS/HUMA 4000V 6.00; Prior to Fall/Winter 2003-2004 : AS/HUMA 4803 6.00.
EVALUATION: 1) Preparation of reading assignments on schedule; 2) Contribution to class (15%); 3) Tests (25%); 4) Secondary literature exercise (15%); 5) Major Paper (45%). TEXT: 1) Olivia Remie Constable, ed., Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997).
TIME: Monday 11 :30 – 14 :30
COURSE DIRECTOR: Eric Lawee
HIST 4753 6.0 CHRISTIANITIES AND INDIGENOUS CIVILIZATIONS IN COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA
Prerequisites: AP/HIST 2720 6.00 or AP/HIST 2730 6.00 or AP/HIST 3710 6.00 or AP/HIST 3730 6.00 or AP/HIST 3731 6.00 or AP/HIST 3732 3.00 or AP/HIST 3733 3.00 or AP/HIST 3734 3.00/6.00 or AP/HIST 3735 3.00 or AP/HIST 3736 6.00 or AP/HUMA 2310 9.00 or AP/SOSC 2460 9.00 or departmental permission.
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4178 6.0 THE DEATH OF GOD: ATHEISM AND MODERNITY IN THE WEST
The course shall take both a historical and a theoretical approach in its investigation. We will aim to understand when, how and why atheism emerges and develops in the way that it does, and the influence it has across culture, while also undertaking to grasp theoretically what it is, as well as the presuppositions and implications of its position. To achieve these aims, we will investigate the ideas of God and faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Greek and Roman philosophy; the relationship of science and religion in the West; the meanings of secularism, secularization, and secularity; philosophical and theological arguments for and against faith in God; the relationships between theism, atheism, nihilism, and meaning; representations of faith and its loss in literature, art, and film; and the possibilities of thought and practice offered by so-called "post-religious," "post-secular," and "post-atheistic" orientations.
Prerequisites: None. Co-requisites: None.
Course credit exclusions: None.
Open to: Most spaces for 3rd and 4th year Humanities majors. Not open to: 1st and 2nd year students.
HUMA 4430 6.0 LIVING CONFUCIANISM: CONFUCIAN PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE IN TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY EAST ASIA
HUMA 4535 6.0 RELIGIOUS REFORMATION AND ITS CULTURAL EXPRESSION
Cross-listed to AP/CLTR 4535 3.00
Prerequisites: 78 credits and permission of the course director.
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4630 6.0A TEXT & INTERPRETATION
Examines selected areas of the Western religious heritage from an historical perspective. Depending on the instructor, the course examines either (a) the interaction between religion and culture, literature or philosophy or (b) the interaction between various religious traditions.
Prerequisites: 78 credits and permission of the coordinator of Humanities.
Course credit exclusion: AP/HUMA 4630 3.00.
HUMA 4652 3.0 THE WESTERN RELIGIOUS HERITAGE
Prerequisites: 78 credits and permission of the coordinator of Humanities.
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4653 6.0 SPECIALIZED STUDIES IN RELIGION
Prerequisites: 78 credits and permission of the course director.
HUMA 4655 6.0 THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS
Prerequisites: 78 credits and permission of the coordinator of Humanities.
HUMA 4656 6.0 WOMEN IN ISLAM: STATUS IN THE QURAN, THE PROPHETIC TRADITIONS AND THE ISLAMIC LAW
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4730 6.0 ARTS & IDEAS: THE ISLAMIC WORLD
FACULTY: AP
A study of the sources, contexts, expressions, and inter-relationships of the ideas and the non-literary arts of a place or period. Social, literary, philosophical and religious works and their interactions with the arts (painting, sculpture, music, and architecture) are examined in a specific context.
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor. Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4750 3.0 GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN JEWISH LIFE
Our analysis is situated within wider theoretical frameworks which include discussions of feminism, queer theory and social constructionism. The objective of the course is to use the theoretical categories of gender and sexuality as analytical tools to help us enrich our understanding of Judaism and Jewish life.
Particular topics include:
-explorations around the inclusion/exclusion of women in Jewish religious life, both historically and in the contemporary period.
-Social and religious constructions of masculinity and femininity in a Jewish context
-the relationship of gay/lesbian identities to Judaism and Jewish life; we document the variety of Jewish approaches to gay and lesbian realities and the changing nature of these encounters (this includes LGBT participation in synagogue ritual, Jewish marriage and Jewish communal life)
-exploring the understudied area of transgender identities in Jewish life; we examine traditional Jewish sources which address this phenomenon and examine how transgender issues are playing out in contemporary Jewish life.
Prerequisites: None
Course credit exclusions: None
HUMA 4755 3.0 GENDER & CONTEMPORARY RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4770 3.0A BUDDHISM IN MODERN SOUTHEAST ASIA
FACULTY: AP
This course explores Buddhist responses to the changing conditions of modernity in Southeast Asia. Seeking to understand Buddhism as a living religion, it investigates how Buddhists have drawn on religious narratives, symbols and rituals to respond to social and political challenges from the nineteenth century to the present, including issues of religious reform, colonialism, nationalism and ethnicity.
EVALUATION: (subject to change) Weekly Response Writing Assignments 30%; Creation of two interactive "wiki" webpages 20%; Research Paper broken down into: Research Topic 5% Bibliography annotated with reading notes 10%; Final Paper 20%; Participation 15%
TEXTS: Selections from: Thomas Borchert, "Worry for the Dai Nation: Sipsongpanna, Chinese Modernity, and the Problems of Buddhist Modernism," 2008; Penny Edwards, Cambodge: The Cultivation of a Nation, 1860-1945, 2007; Anne Hansen, How to Behave: Buddhism and Modernity in Colonial Cambodia, 1860-1930, 2007; Ian Harris, Buddhism, Power and Political Order,2007; Damien Keown, Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction, 1996; Monique Skidmore, ed., Burma at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century, 2005;Nicola Beth Tannenbaum. Who Can Compete against the World? Power-Protection and Buddhism in Shan Worldview, 1995. Selections from primary texts in translation: The Perfect Generosity of Prince Vessantara: A Buddhist Epic, 1977; The History of Buddha's Religion: Sasanavamsa. 1986; The Mahavamsa; or, the Great Chronicle of Ceylon. 1912.
TIME: Wednesday 11:30-14:30
COURSE DIRECTOR: Alicia Turner
HUMA 4771 3.0M BUDDHISM AS SEEN FROM THE WEST
FACULTY: AP
This course explores how the colonial encounter shaped the academic study of Buddhism and the image of Buddhism in the West. Reading popular and scholarly accounts of Buddhism written from the early nineteenth century to the present day, the course analyses how the legacy of and response to colonialism have coloured our understanding of Buddhism as a lived religion.
EVALUATION: Weekly Response Writing Assignments 30%; Annotated Bibliography 15%; Critical Analytical Paper broken down into: Choice of Texts: 5% Outline of Argument with reading notes 15%; Final Paper 15%; Participation 15% (subject to change)
TEXTS: Ananda Abeyesekere, The Colors of the Robe: Religion, Identity and Difference, 2002; Bernard Faure, Unmasking Buddhism, 2009; Donald S. Lopez, Curators of the Buddha: The Study of Buddhism under Colonialism, 1995; David L. McMahan, The Making of Buddhist Modernism, 2008; Walpola Rahula. What the Buddha Taught, 1974; Gregory Schopen. Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks, 1997. Supplemented with articles.
TIME: Wednesday 11:30-14:30
COURSE DIRECTOR: Alicia Turner
HUMA 4775 3.0 SOUTH ASIAN RELIGIONS AND POPULAR CULTURE
HUMA 4803 6.0A/AP/HIST 4225 6.0A CHURCH, MOSQUE AND SYNAGOGUE
FACULTY: AP
The Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 inaugurated a complex trireligious society that was to endure nearly eight hundred years (and more than eight centuries on the Muslim lunar calendar). This development has given rise to Spain's designation as a "land of three religions" and Spain's reputation as premodern Western Europe's foremost "pluralist" society. It has also made Spain, as compared with other European lands, a hard country for non-Spaniards to understand. This course seeks to explore diverse facets of Jewish-Muslim-Christian convivencia ("dwelling together"; coexistence), a topic that continues to be the object of attention for a range of scholars -- and many beyond the academy who have found it pertinent to an understanding of our own age. The course focuses on religious, intellectual, and cultural contacts and their socio-psychological dynamics, placing these in various historical and at times (very partial) geographic, linguistic, political, economic, and technological contexts. The course centers on written sources but does not wholly neglect iconography, music, and architecture. It stresses diverse perspectives within and across religious boundaries and at times forces us to ponder difficulties faced by scholars seeking to explain religious or religiously-linked phenomena (e.g., what actual human experience lies behind the metaphor of "religious conversion"?). Methodologically, our enterprise emphasizes study of primary sources as the only way to arrive at a trustworthy model of convivencia. In the course of such study, attention is paid to peculiarities of genre, the frequent indeterminacy of evidence, and difficulties involved in formulating historical assessments.
COURSE CREDIT EXCLUSION: PRIOR TO FALL 2009 : AS/HUMA 4000V 6.00; Prior to Fall/Winter 2003-2004 : AS/HUMA 4803 6.00.
EVALUATION: 1) Preparation of reading assignments on schedule; 2) Contribution to class (15%); 3) Tests (25%); 4) Secondary literature exercise (15%); 5) Major Paper (45%). TEXT: 1) Olivia Remie Constable, ed., Medieval Iberia: Readings from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997).
TIME: Monday 11 :30 – 14 :30
COURSE DIRECTOR: Eric Lawee
HUMA 4804 6.0 HISTORICAL AND MYTHOLOGICAL VIEWS OF JEWISH HISTORY
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4807 6.0 MAIMONIDES
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4808 6.0 SEX AND VIOLENCE IN THE HEBREW BIBLE
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4809 6.0 THE HEBREW BIBLE AND THE LITERATURE OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4811 3.0 GOLDEN AGE? THE JEWS IN MUSLIM AND CHRISTIAN SPAIN
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4812 3.0 CHRISTIANITY AND FILM
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4813 3.0 THE ARABIAN NIGHTS: MORALITY, SEXUALITY AND STRATEGIES OF INTERPRETATION
Course credit exclusion: AP/HUMA 4813 6.00.
HUMA 4813 6.0 THE ARABIAN NIGHTS: MORALITY, SEXUALITY AND STRATEGIES OF INTERPRETATION
Course credit exclusion: AP/HUMA 4813 3.00.
HUMA 4814 6.0 THE QUR'AN AND ITS INTERPRETERS
Course credit exclusion: AP/HUMA 4814 3.00.
HUMA 4815 6.0A STUDIES IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM
FACULTY: AP
The course examines the development of Islamic mystical tradition (Sufism) in reference to two issues: one, the development of Sufism as a form of social organization institutionalized in the tarîqa orders, and two, the employment of different themes and symbols in Sufi thought that seek to personalize religious experience through esoteric interpretations of the sacred texts.
COURSE CREDIT EXCLUSION: Prior to Fall 2009: AS/HUMA 4000A 6.0 (prior to Fall/Winter 2003-2004), AS/HUMA 4815 6.0.
TIME: Wednesday 14:30-17:30
COURSE DIRECTOR: Amila Buturovic
HUMA 4816 6.0 WOMEN IN ISLAMIC LITERATURES
The course focuses on the representation of Muslim women in modern Islamic literatures (novel and short stories) and other forms of Islamic cultural production, such as photography and film.
Course credit exclusion: AP/HUMA 4816 3.00.
HUMA 4819 3.0 VISIONS OF THE END: EARLY JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN APOCALYPTICISM
Course credit exclusion: AP/HUMA 4819 6.00.
HUMA 4819 6.0 VISIONS OF THE END: EARLY JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN APOCALYPTICISM
Course credit exclusion: AP/HUMA 4819 3.00.
HUMA 4820 3.0M JEWISH THOUGHT & CULTURE
FACULTY: AP
Jewish thought and culture are explored over a millennium (800-1800), focusing on transformations of the classical (biblical-rabbinic) legacy and interplay with the Islamic and Christian religio-cultural spheres in which they developed.
Course credit exclusions: None.
Course credit exclusion: AS/HUMA 4820 3.00.
HUMA 4821 3.0A CULTURE, SOCIETY & VALUES IN ISRAEL
FACULTY: AP
NEED DESCRIPTION
HUMA 4822 3.0 GENDER AND WOMANHOOD IN ISRAEL
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4825 6.0 DIVERSITY IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY
Course credit exclusions: None.
HUMA 4826 3.0A URBAN LIFE & THE ISLAMIC CITY
FACULTY: AP
This course addresses city formation, urban space, and the socio-religious structure in Islamic cities from early Islam to the pre-modern period. The course approaches the Islamic city both as an urban phenomenon and as a modern analytical concept. Its content include some central themes in Islamic studies such as the place of religion in the social life of Muslims; the royal/princely domain; the markets or bazaars; institutions of education and public welfare; and the domestic space. The course is based on weekly readings and discussions that will be part of the general assessment. The relevant articles will be posted on the moodle site. The course assignments include an exam, an essay, and a presentation.
TIME: Wednesday 11:30-14:30
COURSE DIRECTOR: Ruba Kan'aan
HUMA 4827 3.0 GRAECO-ROMAN, BIBLICAL, AND EARLY CHRISTIAN CONCEPTS OF THE SOUL
The notion of the survival of the self in some form preceded any attempt to define the soul and its functions. The idea of self derives from the fact of sensation and consciousness in all human beings. The term psyche, "soul", appears in Greek thought to express the inner person, the principle of life and movement, as well as the mind and its functions. Many early thinkers believed the soul to be a separate thing from the body and even capable of pre-existing the body and surviving its death. The notion of "innate ideas" was invoked to demonstrate that memory pre-existed an individual's present life. Conflicting theories of the after-life of the soul spanned a number of possibilities: total annihilation along with the body, transmigration of the soul to other bodies, or assignment to a place of eternal punishment or reward. Much speculation was devoted to how the soul was connected to the body, and opinions were divided as to whether the soul was corporeal or a kind of spiritual substance, i.e. without body. Western Christian thinkers challenged a number of early theories regarding the soul, substituting the notion of learning through recollection with divine illumination, and insisting on the goodness of the unity of body and soul - as opposed to the common notion that the body is the prison house of the soul, from which the good soul should desire to escape. Christians envisioned a body united (or reunited) with the soul in the afterlife. While some thinkers believed that the soul survived as only a part of cosmic consciousness, the vast majority affirmed the survival of an individual conscious self, whether as detached soul or as integrated body and soul.
Prerequisites: At least one Humanities or Philosophy course at 3000 or 4000 level
Course credit exclusions: None.
IT 4330 3.0A THE DIVINA COMMEDIA OF DANTE ALIGHIERI
FACULTY: AP
Selected cantos from Dante's Divine Comedy, the supreme poetic expression of the Middle Ages and of Italian literature; its ethical and political vision, and its meaning in the context of the medieval and classical theological/ philosophical traditions.
COURSE CREDIT EXCLUSION: AP/IT 4330 6.0.
PREREQUISITE: AP/IT2200 6.0 or permission of the Department.
EVALUATION: One essay - 30%; one oral report - 10%; class participation - 15%; mid-term test -15%; final examination - 30%.
TEXTS: Dante Alighieri. Divina Commedia. Ed. Tommaso Di Salvo. Bologna: Zanichelli (3 vol.). (Although only a limited number of cantos will be examined, references will be made throughout the course to other cantos, and to the extensive introductory and explanatory notes contained in this edition of the poem). A brief selection from Dante's minor works (Xeroxed).
TIME: Tuesday 12:30-14:30 and Thursday 12:30-13:30
COURSE DIRECTOR: TBA
JP 4000 6.0 ADVANCED READING IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE
Prerequisite: AP/JP 3000 6.00 or equivalent. Course credit exclusions: None.
PHIL 4030 3.0M ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
FACULTY: AP
PHIL 4030 3.0 SEMINAR IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY This seminar course closely examines an important work of one of the great ancient philosophers. Alternatively, it may also focus on an important area or theme of ancient philosophy including, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and political theory. This year, the course will focus on the notion of poetic inspiration from Homer to Plato.
PREREQUISITE: At least 9 credits in Philosophy.
TIME: Wednesday 11:30-14:30
COURSE DIRECTOR: TBA
PHIL 4040 3.0A TOPICS IN CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY
FACULTY: AP
An intensive examination of problems and contemporary issues in philosophy. Topics vary from year to year.
COURSE CREDIT EXCLUSION: None. Prior to Fall 2009: AS/PHIL 4040 3.0.
PREREQUISITE: At least nine credits in philosophy. Prior to Fall 2009: At least nine credits in philosophy.
TIME: Monday 14:30-17:30
COURSE DIRECTOR: TBA
GL/SOCI 4275 6.0 RELIGION, MEDIA, CULTURE
Prerequisite: GL/SOCI 2672 3.00 or permission of the department.
GL/SOCI 4615 6.0 RELIGION IN THE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
Prerequisite: Open to third- and fourth-year students.
Course credit exclusion: GL/SOCI/ILST 4010 6.00(EN).
THEA 4334 3.0/6.0 THEATRE OF THE HOLOCAUST
FACULTY: FA
Studying a range of Holocaust scripts, from adult to theatre for young audiences, we will examine contemporary issues of representation in the Fine Arts. There will be a strong educational perspective to this course, as it considers how to engage the Fine Arts in the teaching of the Holocaust, as a form for shaping memory and memorial. Course credit exclusion: FA/THEA 4150B 3.00/FA/THEA 4150B 6.00, FA/THEA 4334 3.00. Open to non-majors.
Renowned scholar Robert Skloot suggests that Theatre of the Holocaust scripts can express their understanding of historical facts, and although the plays are not history, they would not stand apart from history. Holocaust plays and drama work can raise crucial historical and moral questions and make them more immediate. Traces of lives, real or imagined, help us become intimately involved in characters' actions, choices, bravery and suffering. In so doing, drama links us to our own histories and provides a means for understanding ourselves. Further, beyond historical knowing, the significance of these scripts lies in their search for meaning --or at least intelligibility "in an event which shelters some kind of profound truth about us all" (1982).
The arts offer a form for shaping memory and memorial: through drama we invite the students' participation in remembering as an active and collective force. Theatre, above all other forms of artistic practice, insists on the life of the community; it cannot be made without it. "Theatre of the Holocaust cannot take place without the participation of the community of spectators as living witness" (Fuchs, 1987). This class will study of a range of Holocaust scripts, from adult to theatre for young audiences and will examine contemporary issues of representation in the Fine Arts. The class will also explore how to create narrative relationships between diverse Holocaust texts: legal, documentary, plays, visual or improvisational forms; diary, autobiography, memoir, survivor testimony. We will examine the relationship between source materials and the
students' artistic reflections about them through writing, tableaux, movement or visual art. Finally, there will be a strong educational perspective to this course, as it considers how to engage the Fine Arts in the teaching of the Holocaust.
Course credit exclusion: FA/THEA 4150B 3.0, 6.0 and AK/THEA 4150 3.0, 6.0.
Open to non-majors.