“. . . mingling with the remnants of the plane, equally fragmented, equally absurd, there floated the debris of the soul, broken memories, sloughed-off selves, severed mother-tongues, violated privacies, untranslatable jokes, extinguished futures, lost loves, the forgotten meaning of hollow, booming words, land, belonging, home.”
—Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses

THST 4998: Religion in the Modern World

Section 01, CRN 78610: Mondays 4:20 to 7:20 pm
Classroom: University Hall 1403

Professor: Amir Hussain, PhD
Office: University Hall, Room 3722
Phone: (310) 338-5987 (or Department of Theological Studies at 338-7670)
Email: amir.hussain@lmu.edu
Web Page: http://faculty.lmu.edu/amirhussain/
Office Hours: Mondays, 2:00 to 4:00 pm, and by appointment

Course Description:

This course will examine issues in contemporary religious traditions. We will focus on Christianity and Islam, the two largest religious traditions in the world. However, examples from other traditions will be discussed, and students can include them in their research projects. We will start with some methodological issues: What is “Religion”? What is “the Modern World”? How can these phenomena be studied? In this section, we will discuss the use of scholarly sources, but also the important roles of essays and other literary genres that will be utilized in the course. The next part of the course will examine the relationships between the past and the present of religious traditions. We will look at a book that examines the historical formation of orthodoxy in Islam. That book will be paired with a recent novel that raises contemporary issues about Muslim belief and practice. The third part of the course will look at issues of race in contemporary Christianity, paired with a classic text about these issues from an African American perspective. The final part of the course will engage the issues that students are researching, which may be on areas such as gender, violence, or sexuality. The last week of the course will be devoted to student seminar presentations about their research.

Student Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this course students will 1) demonstrate that they will think both empathetically and critically about religion in the modern world; 2) demonstrate knowledge of issues in contemporary Christianity and Islam; 3) demonstrate that they have the ability to interpret texts and other cultural phenomena (such as rituals, music, architecture) that have religious presuppositions or implications; 4) demonstrate that they will think both empathetically and critically about conflicting religious claims; and 5) through class participation and written assignments have improved their verbal and written skills.

Statement on the University Mission in Relation to Theological Studies:

Courses in the Department of Theological Studies serve the University Mission to encourage learning, educate the whole person, serve faith and promote justice. Theological Studies courses encourage learning within the intellectual and cultural heritage of the Catholic tradition. They value imagination and intellect, seeking an integration of different kinds of knowledge, and promote ecumenical and interreligious discourse. They seek to educate the whole person and serve faith by an academic exploration of the possibilities, challenges, and ambiguities of faith, in dialogue with the contemporary world. By their structure and content, they strive to promote justice by encouraging students to engage their theological understanding in a broken world.

Theological Studies courses require students to think, speak, write, and reflect critically about the largest questions of human existence. To do this, students are required also to “acquire the arts of precise and elegant expression, a sound and critical grasp of ideas, a familiarity with the modern world’s ways of knowing itself, a personal understanding of this nation’s history and multicultural heritage, and an appreciation of other cultures and societies around the globe.” (University Bulletin)

Theological Studies courses invite students to become more reflective and responsible persons in their own intellectual, ethical, and spiritual development.

You don’t know me from the wind
You never will, you never did
I’m the little Jew
who wrote the Bible
I’ve seen the nations rise and fall
I’ve heard their stories, heard them all
But love’s the only engine of survival
—Leonard Cohen, “The Future”

4-CREDIT HOUR POLICY

At LMU, one credit hour is defined as a minimum of 3 hours of work by an average student per week for a 15-week semester. That means that a 4-unit class must average a minimum of 12 hours of work a week and a minimum total of 180 hours of work for the semester (inclusive of class contact time). Typically this will mean one hour of classroom instruction and two hours of out of class student work each week for each unit of a course. This course meets for three hours per week and expects a minimum of 12 hours per week on class-related assignments.

Required Texts:

Shahab Ahmed, Before Orthodoxy: The Satanic Verses in Early Islam (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 2017).

James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time (New York: Vintage International, 1993).

Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2008).

Jim Wallis, America’s Original Sin (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2016).

Supplementary readings supplied by the professor

Oh I am a lonely painter
I live in a box of paints
I’m frightened by the devil
And I’m drawn to those ones that ain’t afraid
—Joni Mitchell, “A Case of You”

Evaluation:

It is important for each student to know at the outset that this course requires daily reading, two book reviews, a research project and presentations, and participation. Moreover, regular class attendance and participation are required. Clear, grammatically correct composition and standard spelling are expected on all written assignments.

Information on the written assignments and the research paper (which will be on a topic of the student’s choice, in consultation with the professor) will be provided separately during the course. Active class participation will positively affect the student’s final grade. More than one unexcused absence during the semester will negatively affect the student’s grade. The University’s grading policy, including the plus/minus system, will be used. The University’s policy on Academic Honesty (discussed below) will be followed in this course. Grades will be determined as follows:

15% A review of not more than 5 pages on the Ahmed book due on Feb. 19.

15% A review of not more than 5 pages on the Wallis book due on March 26.

40% A research paper of not more than 15 pages.

• 5% Reflection (1 to 2 pages) due on Jan. 22.
• 10% Outline and preliminary bibliography (2 to 3 pages) due on Feb. 26.
• 25% Research paper due on April 16.

15% Two presentations about the research paper, an initial one (about 5 minutes long, worth 5%) on March 19, and the final one (about 15 minutes long, worth 10%) on April 23.

15% Participation.

“Normally persons talk about other people’s religions as they are, and about their own as it ought to be”.
—Wilfred Cantwell Smith, 1962

Statement on Academic Excellence in Theological Studies:

In keeping with the larger context of LMU’s mission, academic excellence is grounded
in critical thinking, moral reflection, and articulate expression (both in written and oral form). Such critical thinking, reflection, and expression are rooted in the discipline of academic work. Critical thought and reflection, as well as the ability to articulate one’s beliefs clearly and thoughtfully, are the result of disciplined work, which constitutes the necessary condition for academic achievement.

The Department of Theological Studies maintains high expectations for academic
excellence. Students in Theological Studies courses are expected to be engaged listeners and careful readers as well as to write and speak cogently about substantive theological matters. They are expected to understand and analyze pertinent primary texts, scholarly literature, and non-textual sources (such as rituals and the arts), and to assimilate lectures on complex topics. Moreover, students are expected to generate their own questions about the material under consideration, questions appropriate to the sub-field that they are studying and which reflect a firm grasp of the basic course content and methodological approach.

Courses in Theological Studies may require approximately 150 pages of reading a week
and 40 pages of writing over the course of the semester. Moreover, class attendance, preparation, and participation are not optional, but essential. Faculty are not required to prepare detailed “study guides” that repeat or summarize class and lecture content, nor are they required to prepare students for quizzes or exams beyond the content of the course lectures. Grading standards are high for all courses in Theological Studies.

“But these men are your brothers –your lost, younger brothers. And if the word integration means anything, this is what it means: that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it. For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great things here, and will again, and we can make America what America must become.”
—James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

Special Accommodations:

Students with special needs who require reasonable modifications, special assistance, or accommodations in this course should promptly direct their request to the Disability Support Services (DSS) Office. Any student who currently has a documented disability (ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Learning, Physical, or Psychiatric) needing academic accommodations should contact the DSS Office (Daum Hall 2nd floor, 310-338-4216) as early in the semester as possible. All discussions will remain confidential. Please visit www.lmu.edu/dss for additional information.

Academic Honesty:

Academic dishonesty will be treated as an extremely serious matter, with serious consequences that can range from receiving no credit for assignments/tests to expulsion. It is never permissible to turn in any work that has been copied from another student or copied from a source (including Internet) without properly acknowledging the source. It is your responsibility to make sure that your work meets the standard of academic honesty set forth in the “LMU Academic Honesty Policy” (see http://bulletin.lmu.edu/).

Tentative Nature of the Syllabus:

If necessary, this syllabus and its contents are subject to revision; students are responsible for any changes or modifications distributed in class or posted on the professor’s web site.

“‘A poet’s work,’ he answers. ‘To name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world and stop it from going to sleep.’”
—Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses

Tentative Schedule of Classes:

Jan. 8: “Too much heaven on their minds”. Introductions. Who are we, what are we
doing in this course and why? Methodological and other issues in this course.
READING: John Berger, “Where Are We?” Guest Lecture by Prof. David N.
Myers. Prof. Myers is President/CEO of the Center for Jewish History in New
York City, as well as the Sady and Ludwig Kahn Professor of Jewish History at
UCLA.

Jan. 15: No Class Due to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.

Jan. 22: Basic terms and concepts about Islam: What you need to know to begin reading
Before Orthodoxy. READING: Noah Feldman on Shahab Ahmed. Before
Orthodoxy: Introduction, Chapter 1. Reflection on an issue of interest to you for
this course due.

Jan. 29: Guest Lecture by the LA Sheriff’s Department on law enforcement and
religious communities: Sgt. Mike Abdeen, Deputy James Nagao, Deputy
Afsoon Nafissi. The making of orthodoxy. READING: Before Orthodoxy:
Chapter 2.

Feb. 5: Orthodoxy: Islamic and otherwise. READING: Before Orthodoxy: Chapter 3.

Feb. 12: Muslims in the modern world. READING: Material on The Satanic Verses. The
Satanic Verses.

Feb. 19: The Satanic Verses continued. Review of Before Orthodoxy due.

Feb. 26: Guest Lecture by Melissa Balaban. Melissa Balaban is Executive Director
and Founding President of IKAR (“essence”). James Baldwin and race in
America. READING: The Fire Next Time. Outline of research paper due.

March 5: No Class Due to Spring Break.

March 12: Race in America continued. READING: America’s Original Sin.

March 16: Last day to withdraw from classes or to apply for credit/no credit grading.

March 19: Guest Lecture by Prof. Stefan Bradley. Prof. Bradley is chair of the African American Studies Department at LMU. Race in America continued. READING: America’s Original Sin. Initial presentations on research paper.

March 26: Guest Lecture by Rabbi Zach Zysman. Rabbi Zysman is campus rabbi and director of the Office of Jewish Life at LMU. Canada’s original sin: The Secret Path, Truth and Reconciliation with First Nations in Canada. Review of America’s Original Sin due.

April 2: Issues arising in the course and student-led discussions.

April 9: Issues arising in the course and student-led discussions.

April 16: The importance of religion in the modern world. READING: Fr. Pat Ryan,
“Perhaps it is True After All”. Research paper due.

April 23: Presentations on research paper.

It’s coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It’s here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it’s here they got the spiritual thirst.
It’s here the family’s broken
and it’s here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

. . . I’m sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can’t stand the scene.
And I’m neither left or right
I’m just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I’m stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I’m junk but I’m still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
—Leonard Cohen, “Democracy”