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 consist of open-book essay questions that require 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 and tutorial meetings.  Preparation for, attendance at, and participation in course and tutorial 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 two writing reference books:
  • Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual, 5th ed. (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008) (required)
  • Gordon Harvey, Writing with Sources. A Student Guide (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1998) (recommended)
• All the readings are also on reserve at Mills Library. Look up the Mills Library reserve lists under "Hollander" in MORRIS.   
• Coursepack 1, containing some of the readings for January 13 - February 10, and Coursepack 2, containing readings for March 3, are available from 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 under $6.00 [@ 5 cents/page] as opposed to the coursepack price of $36.50, which includes a hefty copyright fee that the bookstore is obliged to pay), I encourage you to do the former.  

At times you may be asked to consult or make your own copy from an online resource or from a book/copy on reserve.

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 tutorial, and when you write the exams.

Course Requirements

• One Text Preparation (2-3 pages) on the assigned readings for Feb. 3, Feb. 10, Mar. 3, Mar. 10, Mar. 24, or Mar. 31, to be handed in at the end of the class session on the day we are discussing the selection they are on (specific assignments will be posted).  

The purpose of the Text Summary and the Text Preparation 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.