Course Listings

War poetry has been called "a language made of blood." It encompasses some of the most intensely-felt human experiences and emotions: grief, terror, boredom, love, guilt, loss. In this class, we will consider poetry written by soldiers, professional writers, civilians, and protesters. While our focus will be on WWI, Vietnam, and the ongoing wars in the Middle East, we will also read war poetry from the ancient world and from various other perspectives. We will work to explore the vast range of responses to warfare and to consider how poetry offers a unique space for these responses to unfurl. This one-half credit course meets three times a week for the first half of the semester. Prerequisites: none.

The social movement spawned by Martin Luther's (1483-1546) protests against certain church practices and theologies in the later Middle Ages led to more upheaval and creativity than in any other period in history. This course will examine the causes of the Protestant Reformation, explore key texts of Luther's theological writings, and analyze what the effects have been, for good or ill, of the movement's legacy. Special attention will be given to Luther's writings on freedom and the relationship of the church to the temporal authority (what we would call the "state".) We also will compare those views with the views of other reformers, such as Calvin, Zwingli and Muntzer. Prerequisites: REL 171 or 172 recommended, but not required.

Topics in Comparative Religion: Ritual. 1st Half-Semester. This course takes on several questions. What are rituals? Are they routine acts, which people do simply because they've always done them? Or are they meaningful acts, which people do because they signify something? Are all rituals religious? If so, why? If not, why not? In this half-course, we'll read selections from various writers on ritual. Using film and other media, we'll also look at a variety of ritual activities from different cultures, including fraternity and College rituals, religious ceremonies (e.g. the Mass, Hindu temple rituals, Confucian rites), holidays like Halloween, and the "little rituals" of everyday life, such as those associated with meals and sports. .5 course credit. 1st half-semester. Prerequisites: None. Course limited to 20.