CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES
COURSE OUTLINE 2003
“As a young boy, too young to know or love Faiz’s work, I loved the man instead: the warmth of his personality, the grave seriousness with which he paid attention to children. . .”
—Salman Rushdie on the Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz
RS 498: Tutorial in Religious Studies: Religion, Description, and Empire
Sierra Hall 314
Wednesdays, 4:20 to 6:50 pm, Ticket No. 74528
Professor:
Amir Hussain
Office: Faculty Office Building, Room 234
Phone: (818) 677-2741 (or Religious Studies Department at 677-3392)
Fax: (818) 677-3985
Email: amir.hussain@csun.edu
Web Page: http://www.csun.edu/~ah34999/
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00 to 1:30 pm and 3:30 to 4:00 pm; Wednesdays 3:00 to 4:00 pm
“. . .I would rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham
I would hold my life in his saving grace
I would walk all the way from Boulder to Birmingham
If I thought I could see, I could see your face”
—Emmylou Harris and Bill Danoff, “From Boulder to Birmingham”, in memory of Gram Parsons
Course Description:
In the Spring 2003 semester, the tutorial will focus on the work of two major scholars, Wilfred Cantwell Smith and Edward Said. We will begin with a study of the life and work of Wilfred Cantwell Smith, one of the architects of the modern academic study of religion. Following this general introduction, we will do a close reading of one of Professor Smith’s most important books, The Meaning and End of Religion. Although it is a text that is over 40 years old, it remains required reading for anyone doing serious work in the study of religion. One of Professor Smith’s most important contributions was that religion should best be understood as the “vital, living faith of persons”. In addition, Professor Smith was deeply concerned with the place that the study of religion occupied within the humanities, and the need for scholars to make a positive contribution to the well-being of the world with their work. These concerns are shared and articulated by Edward Said, one of the key figures in post-colonial theory. We will examine Said’s work on the politics of representation, the struggle against empire, and the role of a scholar of humanities. This course will also involve students creating a portfolio of their learning in the study of religion, and designing a department of religious studies.
“Rather, his example —what he lived, taught, recommended, and inspired— was to stay firmly grounded in one’s own tradition (not dogmatically, but honestly, openly), and, from there, to reach across to those in other traditions —to speak to them, to love them, to celebrate life’s personal plurality. To be bettered, not lessened, by differences”.
—Brian Cantwell Smith on his father, 2000
Required Texts:
Kenneth Cracknell, Editor, Wilfred Cantwell Smith: A Reader. Oxford: Oneword Publications, 2001. ISBN 1-85168-249-X
Wilfred Cantwell Smith, The Meaning and End of Religion. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991[1962]. ISBN 0-8006-2475-0.
Gauri Viswanathan, Editor, Power, Politics, and Culture: Interviews With Edward W. Said. New York: Vintage Books, 2002. ISBN 1-4000-3066-8.
“. . .Everlasting summer filled with ill-content
This government had us walkin’ in chains
This isn’t my turf
This ain’t my season
Can’t think of one good reason to remain. . .”
–The Band, from “Acadian Driftwood”
Evaluation:
It is important for each student to know at the outset that this course requires extensive daily reading, written assignments, and an oral presentation. Moreover, regular class attendance and participation are required. Clear, grammatically correct composition and standard spelling are expected on all written assignments.
Information on the learning portfolio and the departmental design will be provided separately during the course. The oral presentation will be on the student’s design for a religious studies department.
Active class participation is a major component of the student’s final grade. More than two unexcused absences during the semester will negatively affect the student’s grade. The University’s grading policy, including the plus/minus system, will be used. The University’s cheating policy will be followed in this course.
Grades will be determined as follows:
30% Portfolio of learning, due April 30.
30% Design for a religious studies department, due May 7.
10% Oral presentation on departmental design, on either May 7 or 14.
30% Class participation.
“Normally persons talk about other people’s religions as they are, and about their own as it ought to be”.
—Wilfred Cantwell Smith, 1962
Schedule of Classes:
Jan. 29: “Too much heaven on their minds”. What are we doing in this course and why? Methodological issues in this course. READING: Photocopied handouts: “Wilfred Cantwell Smith and the Hermeneutic of Kindness” by Amir Hussain; “Remarks” by Brian Cantwell Smith; preface to Patterns of Faith Around the World.
Feb. 5: Other voices, other rooms. Our voices, our rooms. How do you understand the study of religion? Learning portfolios and critical reflections. Project on designing a department of religious studies. READING: Photocopied handout: “The Comparative Study of Religion” by Wilfred Cantwell Smith.
Feb. 12: Wilfred Cantwell Smith: An introduction. READING: “The Scholar’s Scholar” by William Graham; Wilfred Cantwell Smith: A Reader: pp. i to 26.
Feb. 19: Wilfred Cantwell Smith on history and comparative religion. READING: The Historian and The Comparativist.
Feb. 26: Wilfred Cantwell Smith: Theoretical terms. READING: The Critic and The Theorist.
March 5: The place of theology in the study of religion. READING: The Theologian; The Missiologist; and The Prophet.
March 12: The meaning and end of religion. READING: The Meaning and End of Religion: Chapters One to Three.
March 19: The meaning and end of religion. READING: Chapters Four and Five.
March 26: The meaning and end of religion. READING: Chapters Six to Eight.
April 2: Edward Said: An introduction. Video on Said. Post-colonial theory.
April 9: Orientalism, culture and imperialism. READING: Power, Politics and Culture: Part One: Performance and Criticism.
April 16: Spring recess. No class.
April 23: The role of the scholar in the humanities. The scholar as public intellectual and the scholar as citizen. READING: Power, Politics and Culture: Part Two: Scholarship and Activism.
April 30: Religion, description, and empire. Learning Portfolios Due.
May 7: Final Projects Due, design for a religious studies department. Oral Presentations.
May 14: Oral Presentations. How my mind has changed or stayed the same. Final thoughts.
“Tell them that I have always tried not to have just members of a group —Christians, or Muslims, or Canadians— but the whole world”.
—Wilfred Cantwell Smith to CSUN, 2000