Macalester Moodle

Description
This course has been an ongoing experiment. Students have often asked why our department does not offer a basic course on the religions of the world. They have sought a kind of classic survey, to give them a certain cultural literacy in the world’s major religions (on “literacy,” cf. S. Prothero, Religious Literacy. Also look at https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/what-we-do/our-approach/what-religious-literacy and https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/what-we-do/our-approach/core-principles as well as the Pew survey http://www.pewforum.org/2010/09/28/u-s-religious-knowledge-survey/). At the same time, several critics have raised questions about the whole project of defining, locating, and comparing the major religious traditions, often accusing the authors of world religions textbooks of western biases and masked theological agendas. Meanwhile, a revised version of Huston Smith’s 1958 book Religions of Man is continually reprinted and continually outsells far more sophisticated textbooks. When reading a world religions textbook, one should ask if the author is trying to make a particular religion look good, or, more likely, trying to make certain versions of all religions look good.
Our goal will be to try to comprehend just what cultural literacy would mean when studying the major religious traditions of the world, while at the same time developing an appreciation for some of the blind spots and problems in this enterprise. To a large extent, we will do some serious construction before we feel ready for de-construction. Most weeks, we will cover one of five major areas (South Asia, East Asia, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and students will read a different authors’ treatment of this material. We will have a general discussion of the material covered in the variety of books we are considering, to get a sense of the different authors’ choices and to shake our confidence in the idea that there are simple facts that any objective observer would record. At the end of each area, we will have a short quiz on some of the agreed upon “facts.”
The final paper will be the student’s critical reading of their chosen textbook, in light of the issues raised throughout the semester and the questions raised by theorists in the study of religion (e.g.,Masuzawa, Nongbri, Laine et al. …and take a look at Religion for Breakfast: https://religionforbreakfast.com/ .

This course is a survey of cultural production of and about Blackness. Not only will students "look" at the work of artists, filmmakers, and theoreticians, we will also analyze and produce images that consider the relationship between the Blackness and racialization. We will read works by Tina Campt, Michael Gillespie, and Teju Cole and think about how the production of images has shifted form the 19th century to now. Also included in this class are canonical films like Marlong Riggs "Ethnic Notions" and D.W. Griffiths "Birth of A Nation," however we will also look at contemporary visual projects like Beyoncé’s "Cowboy Carter," and Garrett Bradley’s "America." While the course is focused primarily on the US, we will also talk about racial formations beyond the US and how cultural workers outside the US have engaged Blackness as a way of seeing, a way of listening, and a process of being.

In this interdisciplinary course, we will explore how cultural producers draw upon knowledge from a range of disciplines to understand, critique, and intervene in power structures. Shifting between cultural *studies* and cultural *work*, this class encourages students to think critically about their role as creators and the impact of their work on society. Focusing on the ways that difference impacts politics and culture, we will examine the theorization of difference and its implications for power relations and meaning-making. Students will engage with foundational and contemporary scholarship in critical race and ethnic studies, technology studies, and social media. By analyzing various forms of media—including print, digital, film, television, and social media—students will learn how these mediums contribute to cultural consumption and the administration of difference.

Through practiced-based and theoretical work, students will develop the skills to create art and media that challenge and transform existing power dynamics. The course aims to foster a deep understanding of the intersection between cultural production and power, preparing students to become thoughtful and impactful cultural producers.

PSYC

MATH

PSYC

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