Course Description / Course Readings / Course Requirements   |   SCHEDULE: September / October / November / December

Course Description and Objectives

We will study a number of classic and contemporary considerations of the nature of leadership and authority in Western religious and secular contexts, including the relationship between the "religious" and "secular"/political spheres, and some contemporary dilemmas regarding the place of religion in public life.

A core objective of this class is to develop skills of close reading, textual analysis, and strong writing.  Our in-class work on the texts we are reading and the writing assignments are designed for you to use and improve those skills; the midterm and final exams include open-book essay questions that ask you to apply those skills.  The course is structured in a way that encourages students to approach their education as a process that both requires and rewards active engagement.  Because the course presupposes that successful education requires the active, informed participation of students, the course requires participants to complete assigned readings prior to the course meeting at which they will be discussed, to attend all sessions, and to participate actively in course sessions.  Preparation for, attendance at, and participation in course meetings are required and will count toward the final grade.

Course Readings

You can generally obtain these in a number of ways.  See details for each title on the syllabus.

• Books for this course have been ordered with Titles (visit the "Tank": TSH B203).  In addition to the books that contain course readings I am asking you to purchase a writing reference book: Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual, 5th ed. (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011); and have also ordered Gordon Harvey, Writing with Sources. A Guide for Students, 2nd ed. (Hackett, 2008) as an "optional" title.
• For many readings, you have the option to make your own copy from a book/photocopy on reserve (look up the list of items on reserve for this course at Mills Library) or from an online resource.
• To obtain some readings, you may be asked to print out your own copy from an online resource.
• Some readings will be made available in Coursepack 1 (covering readings up until November 2) and Coursepack 2 (covering some later readings) produced by Custom CourseWare at Titles.  However, since it is much cheaper to make personal copies of readings from the books on reserve than to buy the coursepack (for Coursepack 1, this would cost you approximately $12 [@ 10 cents/page] as opposed to the coursepack price of $47, which includes a hefty copyright fee that the bookstore is obliged to pay), I encourage you to do the former.  
• Some optional, supplementary readings will be available in the Short-Term Loan section of Mills library (loan period is 24 hours).
  

You must have your own copy of all the texts to be discussed--with the same pagination as the edition selected for the class--whether in book or xeroxed form, so that you can mark them as you read and be prepared to refer to specific passages in class and when you write the exams.

Course Requirements

• One Text Summary (2-3 pages) on the assigned readings for September 21, September 28, and October 5, to be handed in at the end of the class session on those days.
  

• One Text Preparation (2-3 pages) - please sign up in class for Text Preparation assignment 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 (specific assignments will be posted a week before the due date) on the assigned readings for Oct. 12, Oct. 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 9, Nov. 16, and Nov. 23, to be handed in at the end of the class session on the day we are discussing the selection they are on.
  

The purpose of the Text Summary and the Text Preparation assignments is (1) to encourage you to read carefully and reflect on issues that come up in the reading, so that you are in a position to participate knowledgeably and actively in class and tutorial; and (2) to give you feedback on your writing and on working with primary texts, in preparation for writing the exam essays for this class.  

• Attendance is mandatory, since participating in in-class work is crucial to successful completion of this course.  If you need to be absent from a class session, please notify me, preferably by e-mail, and be sure to ask a classmate to fill you in on what you missed.

• Participation includes: reading the material carefully ahead of time and raising points and questions about it in class and tutorial, taking part in in-class group assignments, communicating with the instructor outside of class, etc. 

• Midterm Exam and Final Exam will consist of short-answer questions and essay questions involving textual analysis and will be open-book.

Grades will be based on Text Summary (10%), Text Preparation (15%), Attendance/Participation (20%), Midterm Exam (25%), Final Exam (30%).  Failure to write any of the assignments or examinations, or 4 unexcused absences from class, constitute sufficient grounds for earning an "F" in the class.

You are advised to retain copies of any written work you submit for this class, and all your research notes, until you have received an official grade.

SCHEDULE

September 14

INTRODUCTION

September 21

John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration, trans. William Popple (1689), ed. James H. Tully (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983), 21-38 ("...to their own Consciences") [purchase book]

Peter Schotten and Dennis Stevens, Religion, Politics, and the Law (1996), chap. 1: “European Roots,” 3–13 [selection in Coursepack 1 / book on reserve]

Supplementary:

William Uzgalis, "John Locke" (2001/2007), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition) - see especially section 4: "Locke and Religious Toleration"

John Horton, "Toleration," in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy (1998). 

September 28

John Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration, 38 ("Having thus at length freed...") -58

Schotten/Stevens, Religion, Politics, and the Law, chap. 1: 13-23; chap 2: 24-44.

Additional resources:

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (authored by Thomas Jefferson, 1777; adopted by Virginia House of Delegates, 1786)

James Madison, A Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments (1785)

United States Constitution - see especially Amendment I (1791)

Canadian Bill of Rights (1960)

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982)

CanLII – Canadian Legal Information Institute, http://www.canlii.org - provides a free database of Canadian law.

M. H. Ogilvie, Religious Institutions and the Law in Canada, 2nd ed. (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2003) [to be placed on Short-Term Loan]

Text Summary 2 due in class on September 28 from students with last names beginning in J-R

October 5

Beverley McLachlin, “Freedom of Religion and the Rule of Law. A Canadian Perspective,” and Jean Bethke Elshtain, “Response” in Douglas Farrow, Recognizing Religion in a Secular Society: Essays in Pluralism, Religion, and Public Policy (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004), 14–40. [print out personal copy from online edition]

Optional: Janet R. Jakobsen and Ann Pellegrini, Love the Sin. Sexual Regulations and the Limits of Religious Tolerance (2004): pp. 45–73 (notes on pp. 157–58) [selection in Coursepack 1; book on reserve]

Text Summary 3 due in class on October 5 from students who did not prepare Text Summary 1 or 2

October 12

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "On Civil Religion," book IV, chapter VIII of On the Social Contract (1762), trans. Donald A. Cress, in Basic Political Writings (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1987) [selection in Coursepack 1 / book on reserve] | French original

Robert N. Bellah, "Civil Religion in America" (1967), from Beyond Belief [article in Coursepack 1 / book on reserve]

Text Preparation 1 due in class from some students.   NO ASSIGNMENT DUE TODAY.

Midterm Exam Preparation Sheet distributed/posted today.

October 19

MIDTERM EXAM, 7-9 p.m.,  location: Hamilton Hall Room 102

October 26

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835), trans. and ed. Mansfield/Winthrop (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), vol. 1, chap. 2: "Origin of the Anglo-Americans" (pp. 27-45) [chapter in Coursepack 1; book on reserve]:  Skim this chapter, looking more closely at: p. 32 bottom para. ("The emigrants…") – 39; pp. 41–44 top, esp. pp. 43–44 top on "the spirit of religion and the spirit of liberty"

Max Weber, selections from Economy and Society (published posthumously, 1922):

• selection from "The Types of Legitimate Domination," in Economy and Society, ed. Roth/Wittich, vol. 1: 212-16 [selection in Coursepack 1 / book on reserve]
• "Power and Domination: Transitional Forms" (in Max Weber: Readings and Commentary on Modernity, ed. Kalberg: 179-86) [selection in Coursepack 1 / print personal copy from online edition ]
• selection from "Charisma and its Transformation," in Economy and Society, ed. Roth/Wittich, vol. 2: 1111-18, 1121-23, 1133-34; skim 1135-39; read 1139-41, skim 1141-46, read 1146-48 [selection in Coursepack 1 / book on reserve]
  

Supplementary:

Norman Birnbaum, "Weber, Max" (1987) in Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed., ed. Lindsay Jones (2005) [online]

Text Preparation 1 due in class from some students

November 2

Max Weber, "Prophet" from Economy and Society (ed. Roth/Wittich, vol. 1: 439-42 [notes on 450-51])  [selection in Coursepack 1 / book on reserve]

Max Weber, Ancient Judaism (1917-19; published posthumously 1921), chap. 11: "Social Psychology of the Prophets," pp. 271-88 (notes on p. 455) [selection in Coursepack 1 / book on reserve] 

Carl Schmitt, Political Theology. Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty (1922) [purchase book]: chap. 1

Text Preparation 2 due in class from some students.

Supplementary:

Lars Vinx, "Carl Schmitt" (2010) in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [online] - sec. 2 discusses the book Political Theology.

Volker Neumann, "Introduction" to chap. 9: "Carl Schmitt," in Arthur J. Jacobson and Bernhard Schlink (eds.), Weimar. A Jurisprudence of Crisis (2000), 280-90 [book on reserve] 

November 9

Carl Schmitt, Political Theology, chap. 1 (cont'd) and chap. 3

Text Preparation 3 due in class from some students.

November 16

Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, "Civil and Religious Law in England: A Religious Perspective" (Lecture before the Royal Courts of Justice, February 7, 2008; Note that the text of the lecture begins after a lengthy summary introduction, which you may ignore) [print out personal copy and number the paragraphs on your printout for ease of reference in class and in your writing]

Janice Gross Stein, “Religion, Culture, and Rights: A Conversation about Women” (2008) [print out personal copy]

Anver M. Emon, "Islamic Law and the Canadian Mosaic: Politics, Jurisprudence, and Multicultural Accommodation" (2008) (feel free to skim pp. 405-410) [print out personal copy]

Natasha Bakht, "Were Muslim Barbarians Really Knocking On the Gates of Ontario? The Religious Arbitration Controversy - Another Perspective" (2005) [print out personal copy]

Anna C. Korteweg, "The Sharia Debate in Ontario" in ISIM Review* 18 (Autumn 2006), pp. 50-51. (*Note: ISIM Review was a publication of the now-defunct International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World) [print out personal copy]

Text Preparation 4 due in class on Nov. 16 from some students.

Additional Resources on the 2004 Ontario "Sharia Debate":

Marion Boyd, "Dispute Resolution in Family Law: Protecting Choice, Promoting Inclusion" (Report to the Government of Ontario) (2004) 

Family Statute Law Amendment Act (2006) - see esp. 1.(1)(b)

Arbitration Act, 1991

Additional Resource - Shariah and the State:

Noah Feldman, "Why Shariah?"  New York Times (March 16, 2008)

November 23

CBC Radio “The Current,” March 31, 2008 – including documentary by Kathleen Goldhar, “Faith in the Law” - details on how to listen to be communicated by e-mail

Suzanne Last Stone, "The Intervention of American Law in Jewish Divorce" (2000), pp. 174-85 [print out personal copy]

Additional Resources on Jewish Divorce and Civil Law:

“Untying the Bonds: Jewish Divorce" (film, 1997) [in Mills Library: call no. BM 713.5 .U89 1997; request at Mills Circulation desk; to view, book Room L416 at Lyons New Media Centre]

Bruker v. Marcovitz, 2007 SCC 54 

Divorce Act - see in particular 21.1 (1) "Affidavit re removal of barriers to religious remarriage"

Text Preparation 5 due in class on Nov. 23 from anyone who has not submitted a Text Preparation.

November 30

Bryan R. Wilson, "Secularization" (1987) in Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed., ed. Lindsay Jones (2005), esp. pp. 8214-15 [print out personal copy*]

*when printing out an article from the online Encyclopedia of Religion, please choose, from the "Tools" box on the right side of the screen, "View PDF Pages" and then print out the PDF

Selection from: Talal Asad, "Trying to Understand French Secularism," in Hent de Vries/Lawrence E. Sullivan (eds.), Political Theologies in a Post-Secular World (2006), pp. 494-526 (notes on 763-72) [Coursepack 2 / make personal copy from book on reserve]:

• p. 494 - p. 508 (“…'a community of sentiment.’")
• p. 519 bottom (“It is often pointed out…” ) - p. 522
• p. 524 (paragraph beginning: “Secularism is invoked…”) – end
  

I have made available a few pages from the "Stasi Report" that Asad focuses on: excerpt from The Stasi Report: The Report of the Committee of Reflection on the Application of the Principle of Secularity in the Republic (2003), trans. Robert O'Brien [Coursepack 2 / make personal copy from copy on reserve]

Original: Commission de réflexion sur l'application du principe de laïcité dans la République: Rapport au Président de la République (2003) [online]

Supplementary:

Jane Kramer, "Taking the Veil. How France's Public Schools Became the Battleground in a Culture War," The New Yorker (November 22, 2004) [Coursepack 2 / make personal copy from article on reserve]

Optional Background Reading:

José Casanova, Public Religions in the Modern World (1994), chap. 1 [book on reserve]

Further Reading:

"Building the Future: A Time for Reconciliation": Report of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission"  (2008; official name: Consultation Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences, Quebec)

"Freedom of Religion and Religious Symbols in the Public Sphere," Library of Parliament Background Paper (July 25, 2011)

The website  "The Immanent Frame. Secularism, Religion and the Public Sphere"  (a project of the Social Science Research Network begun in 2007) hosts ongoing discussions on the topics of our course, especially in relation to contemporary developments

FINAL EXAM

December 8, 7:30-9:30 p.m., Ivor Wynne Centre 2 (7)  (=gymnasium 2, section 7)

  Copyright © 2009-11 Dana Hollander