Junior History Tutorial: Religion, Secularism, and Modernity
CSS 340
Spring 2017
| Section:
01
02
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| Certificates: International Relations, Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory |
In recent decades, religion has regained prominence as a force in world politics. It has also become a contested category of analysis in the humanities and social sciences. This return of religion to politics and public life would have profoundly surprised generations of thinkers-from Karl Marx and Max Weber to theorists of secularization-who prophesied that religion would "die out" as a force of public, and perhaps even private, life. Religion's return has brought into question many of the foundational assumptions of modernity-namely, that modernization and secularization are twin processes that rationalize and disenchant the world and create the modern (secular) subject. This junior history tutorial will examine religion, secularism, and the relationship of both to the concept of modernity. We will analyze assumptions that guided the secularization thesis, and investigate recent debates about the desecularization of the world; religion and secularism in public life; and the concept of the post-secular. The tutorial will also address methodology and prepare students to work on sustained research projects by producing a research prospectus. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CSS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 - 3rd Quarter |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
1. John Bowen, WHY THE FRENCH DON'T LIKE HEADSCARVES: ISLAM, THE STATE, AND PUBLIC SPACE (Princeton, 2007).
2. Mayanthi L. Fernando, THE REPUBLIC UNSETTLED: MUSLIM FRENCH AND THE CONTRADICTIONS OF SECULARISM (Duke, 2014).
3. Jonathan P. Herzog, THE SPIRITUAL-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX: AMERICA'S RELIGIOUS BATTLE AGAINST COMMUNISM IN THE EARLY COLD WAR (Oxford, 2011).
4. Mark Lilla, THE STILLBORN GOD: RELIGION, POLITICS, AND THE MODERN WEST (Vintage, 2008).
5. Hugh McLeod, THE RELIGIOUS CRISIS OF THE 1960S (Oxford, 2007, 2010).
6. Samuel Moyn, THE LAST UTOPIA: HUMAN RIGHTS IN HISTORY (Belknap, 2012).
7. Yuri Slezkine, THE JEWISH CENTURY (Princeton University Press, 2012).
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Examinations and Assignments:
PAPERS: During the first six weeks of the tutorial, students will write response/review papers (3-4 pages) to each group of readings. The review must address the author¿s question/s in a broader historical context; the author¿s organization, conceptualization, and sources; and your own analysis of the text. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Open to CSS Juniors Only |
| Instructor(s): Smolkin,Victoria Times: .....F. 02:00PM-04:00PM; Location: PAC422; |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 10 | Permission of instructor approval will be granted by the instructor during pre-registration through the Electronic Portfolio. Click "Add to My Courses" and "To request a POI electronically, click here" to submit your request. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
| SECTION 02 - 4th Quarter |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Same as Section 01 Above |
| Examinations and Assignments: Same as Section 01 Above |
| Additional Requirements and/or Comments: Same as Section 01 Above |
| Instructor(s): Smolkin,Victoria Times: .....F. 02:00PM-04:00PM; Location: PAC422; |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 10 | Permission of instructor approval will be granted by the instructor during pre-registration through the Electronic Portfolio. Click "Add to My Courses" and "To request a POI electronically, click here" to submit your request. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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