SYLLABUS

Society, Culture & Religion 3CC3 / Political Science 3LA3 (Spring 2023)

Religion and Politics

This course website and online syllabus is located at https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/danahol/3CC3. It can also be accessed by way of my home page (see below, or google "Dana Hollander" to find it) or by way of the Department of Religious Studies website (https://religiousstudies.mcmaster.ca/). Information about assignments and any scheduling changes will be posted to this online syllabus and emailed to participants. Communication will be over email, so please make sure to keep me up to date on your email addresses.



Lectures will be delivered online (see the Avenue to Learn site for this course)

Zoom Tutorial Sessions: most Tuesdays and Thursdays (see below for the dates) beginning 7 p.m. (1-2 hours).

INSTRUCTOR:  Professor Dana Hollander, Department of Religious Studies,  danahol@mcmaster.ca*,  https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/danahol/

*in your email messages, please let me know how I can reach you by phone.  Tips for good emailing practices
Office Hours: TBA (Zoom/Skype/phone)
Toleration Statue (located in Wissahickon Valley Park, Philadelphia). Photograph by James J. Kelly. Used with permission.

posted April 18, 2023


Course Description / Course Materials / Course Evaluation / Course Policies  |   JUMP TO SCHEDULE


COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

This course is an introduction to some key approaches to thinking about the relationship between politics and religion in the West.  We will study two classic works on this topic:  John Locke, Letter Concerning Toleration (1689), the highly influential treatise on why and how religion and politics should be regarded as separate spheres, and Carl Schmitt, Political Theology (1922), a relatively recent influential attempt to argue that political sovereignty has essentially theological roots.  We will also read contemporary discussions of the challenges posed by the role of religion in public life--including debates about specific contemporary dilemmas.


COURSE MATERIALS

All course materials are available for purchase at the McMaster Campus Store


Further readings mentioned in the schedule below will be available on eReserves (follow link on Avenue course page)

While the Hacker and Harvey writing guides, as well as the background reading by Schotten/Stevens, may be consulted in electronic form, you must use your own paper copy of all the primary works we are studying, in the same edition selected for the class (whether in book form or as a photocopy or printout). This will allow you to mark your text as you read and to be prepared to refer to specific passages during course discussions. The final exam will also require you to consult those personal (marked up by you) printed copies. Primary works, to which this requirement applies, are identified with this icon: 


COURSE EVALUATION − OVERVIEW

Course grades will be based on: Text Summary (15%), Text Preparation (25%), Participation* (25%), Final Exam (35%)



COURSE EVALUATION − DETAILS
  • *Participation: This portion of the grade is based primarily on regular attendance, with cameras on (unless there are mitigating circumstances) of the 1-2-hour Zoom tutorial sessions, and actively participating in the work of those sessions, including contributing to spoken discussion, being ready to refer to text passages during discussion, participating in in-class (individual and/or interactive) exercises, and asking substantive questions. Meeting with the instructor outside of class for substantive discussion of course matters also will contribute to the participation grade.

    Please speak to me at any point if there is something you would like to share about yourself that would be helpful to me in assessing your participation, or if you would like to discuss how you are participating.

  • One Text Summary**: Please complete either Text Summary 1 for May 9 or Text Summary 2 for May 11, which will be on the readings you are preparing for those days. See the detailed assignments posted under those dates in the schedule below.
  • One Text Preparation**: Once the marked Text Summary assignment has been returned to you, please complete either Text Preparation 1 (for May 23), 2 (for May 30), 3 (for June 6), or 4 (for June 8), which will be on the readings you are preparing for those days. A detailed assignment for each week will be posted to this syllabus one week before it is due − see under the due dates below.
    **Please allow ample time to acquaint yourself with the specific instructions for this assignment (and to contact the instructor for clarification as needed) before beginning your work on it!

Note: Text Summary/Text Preparation assignments are designed to help you prepare the reading assignment for a particular week, in advance of hearing the lecture on that material and discussion in that week's tutorial meeting. Therefore, they must be submitted in by 9 a.m. on the specific date they are due, and no late submissions will be accepted. If you run out of time, preparation of an alternate assignment for a future date will always be an option (until the term ends).
  • The Final Exam will consist of an essay question involving textual analysis.  The essay question will be made known in advance, and answering it will involve consulting your personal print copies of the primary readings it is about. Writing Time: 90 minutes.
In your writing for this course, you are encouraged to make use of the resources of the Writing & Academic Skills Services at the Student Success Centre: https://studentsuccess.mcmaster.ca/writing-and-academic-skills/

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.




LEARNING ENVIRONMENT & TECHNOLOGIES

At certain points in the course it may make good sense to modify the schedule outlined below. The instructor reserves the right to modify elements of the course and will notify students accordingly (by email to participants, in Announcements on Avenue, and by updating this online syllabus).


SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS, READINGS & ASSIGNMENTS

Information about reading assignments and written assignments appears below. For posted lectures and other details of what to do each week, please log onto the
Avenue site for this course, and make sure you are receiving course emails.


MAY 1-2

May 1: Please log onto Avenue to find out what to do in advance of our meeting on May 2.

Introductory Tutorial Meeting, May 2, 7 p.m. - Zoom link is posted on the Avenue course page.




MAY 3-4

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (authored by Thomas Jefferson, 1777; adopted by Virginia House of Delegates, 1786)  [coursepack; or print out your personal copy from the linked file]

Peter Schotten and Dennis Stevens, Religion, Politics, and the Law (1996), chap. 1: "European Roots," 3–13; chap. 2: 24-32 [eReserves - follow link on Avenue course page]


Tutorial Meeting, May 4, 7 p.m.


Additional resources:

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

United States Constitution - see especially Amendment I (1791)


MAY 5-9

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]

Schotten/Stevens, Religion, Politics, and the Law, chap. 1: 17-23 ("The Political Aftermath")


Text Summary 1 due by Tuesday, May 9, 9 a.m. (Toronto time) from students with last names beginning in A-L.


Tutorial Meeting, May 9, 7 p.m.


Optional Background Reading:

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



MAY 10-11

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

Text Summary 2 due by Thursday, May 11, 9 a.m. (Toronto time) from students who did not complete Text Summary 1.


Tutorial Meeting, May 11, 7 p.m.


Optional Reading:

Schotten/Stevens, Religion, Politics, and the Law, chap. 1: 13-17


MAY 12-16

Beverley McLachlin, "Freedom of Religion and the Rule of Law. A Canadian Perspective," and Jean Bethke Elshtain, "Response," chapter 2 in Douglas Farrow, Recognizing Religion in a Secular Society: Essays in Pluralism, Religion, and Public Policy (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004), 14-40 [coursepack]

You may also print your personal copy from this online edition: (1) From the Table of Contents, click on chapter 2: "Freedom of Religion and the Rule of Law." (2) Click on "Export to PDF" (at the very bottom of the screen) and fill in page numbers: 33 to 61. (3) Verify that you have downloaded pages 14-40 of the book.


Tutorial Meeting, May 16, 7 p.m.


Additional Resources:

Canadian Bill of Rights (1960)

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) | Further materials related to the Charter on the Department of Justice website

M. H. Ogilvie, Religious Institutions and the Law in Canada, 2nd ed. (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2003)


Optional Supplementary Reading:

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) [eReserves]



MAY 17-23

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) [coursepack]  |  French original

Robert N. Bellah, "Civil Religion in America" (1967), from Beyond Belief [coursepack]

Text Preparation 1 due by May 23, 9 a.m. (Toronto time) from some students.


Tutorial Meeting, May 23, 7 p.m.


May 24-25

Carl Schmitt, Political Theology. Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty (1922), trans. George Schwab (University of Chicago Press, 1985) [purchase book]: chap. 1

Tutorial Meeting, May 25, 7 p.m.


Optional Background Reading:

Lars Vinx, "Carl Schmitt" (2010/2019) in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [online] - sec. 2 discusses the book Political Theology.


MAY 26-30

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

Text Preparation 2 due by May 30, 9 a.m. (Toronto time) from some students.


Tutorial Meeting, May 30, 7 p.m.


MAY 31-JUNE 6

Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, "Civil and Religious Law in England: A Religious Perspective" (Lecture before the Royal Courts of Justice, February 7, 2008) [coursepack]   The discussion on pp. 275-82 is not part of the assigned reading.


Text Preparation 3 due by June 6, 9 a.m. (Toronto time) from some students.


Tutorial Meeting, June 6, 7 p.m.


Additional Resource:

Lena Salaymeh, "Islamic Law," International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd ed. (2015) [eReserves]


JUNE 7-8

Williams, "Civil and Religious Law in England," cont'd

CBC Radio "The Current," March 31, 2008 – including documentary by Kathleen Goldhar, "Faith in the Law" [details on how to listen to be communicated]

Suzanne Last Stone, "The Intervention of American Law in Jewish Divorce: A Pluralist Analysis," Israel Law Review, vol. 34, no. 2 (Summer 2000), pp. 174-85 [please print out a personal copy of those pages]

Text Preparation 4 due by June 8, 9 a.m. (Toronto time) from anyone who has not completed a Text Preparation assignment.


Tutorial Meeting, June 8, 7 p.m.


Additional Resources:

Bruker v. Marcovitz, 2007 SCC 54

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


Final Exam information/instructions to be distributed.


Optional Drop-In Review Session, June 13, 7 p.m.


FINAL EXAM, June 14-15. Length of Exam: 90 minutes


COURSE POLICIES

Submission of Assignments and of the Final Exam will be in PDF format to the designated folder on Avenue to Learn. Please take the same care in producing PDF submissions as you would in producing a paper document for submission. Please follow the specific instructions included on each assignment and exam sheet.

Grading System. This course uses McMaster's 12-point grading system as follows: A+ = 12, A = 11, A−  = 10, B+ = 9, B = 8, B− = 7, C+ = 6, C = 5, C− = 4, D+ = 3, D = 2, D− = 1, F = 0.

Accessibility. The instructor is committed to creating a learning environment that is equitable and as accessible as possible. To arrange an academic accommodation for a disability, please contact Student Accessibility Services (SAS), Tel. 905-525-9140 ext. 28652; sas@mcmaster.ca. While every effort will be made to support students, it is the student's responsibility to arrange these accommodations by (a) contacting SAS at the beginning of each term, and (b) following up with the instructor to discuss how the accommodations will be implemented in this particular course. For further information, consult McMaster's Academic Accommodation of Students with Disabilities policy.

SYLLABUS STATEMENTS REQUIRED BY McMASTER UNIVERSITY

Academic Integrity. You are expected to exhibit honesty and use ethical behaviour in all aspects of the learning process.  Academic credentials you earn are rooted in principles of honesty and academic integrity. It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty.

Academic dishonesty is to knowingly act or fail to act in a way that results or could result in unearned academic credit or advantage. This behaviour can result in serious consequences, e.g., the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: "Grade of F assigned for academic dishonesty"), and/or suspension or expulsion from the university.

The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty: 1. Plagiarism, e.g., the submission of work that is not one's own or for which credit has been obtained. 2. Improper collaboration. 3. Copying or using unauthorized aids in assignments and examinations, including making use of ChatGPT or other AI composition software. For information on academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy.

Please let the course instructor know if you have any questions on how this policy applies to your work for this course.

Authenticity/Plagiarism Detection. All submitted work is subject to normal verification that standards of academic integrity have been upheld (e.g., online search). This course will not be using Turnitin.com or any other plagiarism detection software.

Courses with an Online Element. This course will use online elements, e.g., Avenue to Learn and Zoom; and communications among the instructor and students in this course will be over email. Students should be aware that, when they access the electronic components of this course (depending on which technology is used), private information such as first and last names, program affiliation, user names for McMaster email accounts and/or other email addresses used by course participants may become apparent to other students in the same course. Continuation in this course will be deemed consent to this disclosure. If you have any questions or concerns about such disclosure please discuss this with the course instructor.

Online Proctoring. This course will not use online proctoring for exams.

Conduct Expectations. As a McMaster student, you have the right to experience, and the responsibility to demonstrate, respectful and dignified interactions within all of our living, learning and working communities. These expectations are described in the Code of Student Rights & Responsibilities (the "Code"). All students share the responsibility of maintaining a positive environment for the academic and personal growth of all McMaster community members, whether in person or online.

It is essential that students be mindful of their interactions online, as the Code remains in effect in virtual learning environments. The Code applies to any interactions that adversely affect, disrupt, or interfere with reasonable participation in University activities. Student disruptions or behaviours that interfere with university functions on online platforms (e.g., use of Avenue to Learn, WebEx or Zoom for delivery) will be taken very seriously and will be investigated. Outcomes may include restriction or removal of the involved students' access to these platforms.

Requests for Relief for Missed Academic Term Work (McMaster Student Absence Form [MSAF]). In the event of an absence for medical or other reasons, students should review and follow the Academic Regulation in the Undergraduate Calendar "Requests for Relief for Missed Academic Term Work."

Academic Accommodation for Religious, Indigenous, or Spiritual Observances (RISO). Students requiring academic accommodation based on religious, indigenous, or spiritual observances should follow the procedures set out in the RISO policy. Students requiring a RISO accommodation should submit their request to their Faculty Office normally within 10 working days of the beginning of the term in which they anticipate a need for accommodation or to the Registrar's Office prior to their examinations. Students should also contact their instructors as soon as possible to make alternative arrangements for classes, assignments, and tests.

Copyright and Recording. Students are advised that lectures, demonstrations, performances, and any other course material provided by an instructor include copyright protected works. The Copyright Act and copyright law protect every original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work, including lectures by University instructors.

The recording of lectures, tutorials, or other methods of instruction may occur during a course. Recording may be done by either the instructor for the purpose of authorized distribution, or by a student for the purpose of personal study. Students should be aware that their voice and/or image may be recorded by others during the class. Please speak with the instructor if this is a concern for you.

Extreme Circumstances. The University reserves the right to change the dates and deadlines for any or all courses in extreme circumstances (e.g., severe weather, labour disruptions, etc.). Changes will be communicated through regular McMaster communication channels, such as McMaster Daily News, A2L and/or McMaster email.

Copyright © Dana Hollander