Instructor:

Dr. Kevin L. Hughes

Assistant Professor, Department of Theology and Religious Studies

 

Office: SAC, Room 128

Office Phn: (610) 519-4728

Voicemail: 9-4728.

Homepage:

http://www.homepage.villanova.edu/kevin.hughes

 

Office Hrs: TU 10:00 AM-2:00PM

WED 3:30 -4:30PM and by appointment

Email: Kevin.Hughes@villanova.edu

Learning Community Advisor:

Elizabeth Goslin

Elizabeth.Goslin@villanova.edu

Bgos01@yahoo.com

 

Course Description: Christianity: Mystical or Political?

The temptation to reduce religious commitment is abundant. On the one hand, one is tempted to reduce it into morals: What someone has called the ‘Jesus is nice so it’s nice to be nice,’ school of thought. Any talk of prayer, the experience of God, redemption from sin, etc., seems on this account to be a sort of symbolic superstructure built over the Golden Rule, and the Golden Rule is the supposed purpose and end of religion. This is the temptation that ‘cradle Catholics’ or ‘cradle Baptists’ or whatever are prone to succumb to.

On the other hand, what I might call the ‘me & Jesus’ temptation is more likely to face those who have the experience of being ‘born again,’ whose existential awareness of redemption, of ‘being saved,’ is so strong that it seems to overcome all other concerns. On this side, one is prone to equate the "Kingdom of God" with a ‘personal relationship’ with Jesus, without any explicit concern for justice or peace.

Christianity is neither of these, because it has elements of both. But the question we’ll circle around for the semester is which of these is closer to the mark? Is Christianity more mystical (more concerned about the experience of an encounter with the living God)? Or is it more political (more concerned with justice and peace and responsible action.

In the context of this learning community, where we will be actively engaged in service, this question takes on a deeper dimension. It could be said like this: On the one hand, what’s the point of all this doctrine stuff? What we learn in the classroom might have nothing to do with the real work, which is what we’re doing at Cooke. On the other hand, what we’re doing at Cooke seems to be simply the requirement of any decent human being. What’s specifically ‘Christian’ about helping people?

 

Caveat: This course is a required course, and many will probably feel like they’ve had enough Catholic education to choke them, so this is something to be swallowed like a bitter pill. Others, on the other hand, will have had little or no exposure to the claims that Christian faith and they may feel that they’ve been thrust into an alien world that they’re not sure they want to be a part of. Many will fall somewhere in the middle. But let’s be sure that we’re clear on what the course is and is not.

 

Policies and Procedures I: Course Structure

Introductory courses such as this one are often lecture-based, of necessity. However, since this is an Honors course, with a limited number of students, we will conduct the course in seminar format most of the time. There may be particular points or sessions in which a lecture is appropriate. If at any time you feel the need for a more detailed and systematic presentation of any material from me, then feel free to ask for a lecture.

But, as a seminar, this course is utterly dependent upon you for its success. Seminars can either be fun, engaging, stimulating, and even exciting, or they can be the worst, most boring, dry, and tedious experience in academic life as we know it. The difference lies in your taking mature responsibility for the reading and writing in the course.

Also, as an Honors course, this is writing-enriched. This means that you should expect to write up to twenty pages for the course. Much of this will come in the form of short analytical papers of 2-4 pages. You will also be required to keep a journal, due every other week, in which you explore possible points of connection between your service and your academic work.

Nuts and Bolts

The course will meet 3 times a week, MWF at 12:30pm. Students are expected to attend all sessions. In the event of an absence, the student is responsible for any information or material missed. I will give you sufficient notice about the final examination; do not make reservations to go home until your examination time is confirmed with me.

I encourage you to stop by with questions or just to chat during my office hours or any time I=m around. Also, email is a great way to communicate. During the week, I check my email several times a day, and hopefully by mid-semester I=ll be checking on the weekends as well.

Finally, I’m available for lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays if anyone would care to sit in Connelly Center and chat more informally. Let me know if you’re interested, and we’ll set a day.

Learning Community Advisor

Beth Goslin, a senior Honors student at Villanova, has been hired to play several roles in this learning community project. Her main concerns will be with the learning community, particularly in regard to the service aspect of our learning community. She will participate in the Cooke project. She will also attend our classes, at least once a week. She will coordinate the details of the Colloquia series. She will be available to you in the residence hall in a variety of capacities. She will meet with you informally for ongoing reflection on this entire service-learning project. She will coordinate with the Residence Life staff in the residence hall so that the lines of communication are open and that Residence Life activities and our activities are not dueling with each other for your time and energy. As the year goes on, other service possibilities might reveal themselves. Beth is there to help you pursue those other possibilities. She is not the Residence Advisor; and I want you to help to keep her role distinct from the RA’s role. She will refer you to the RA, if the issue you bring to her will be more adequately addressed by that person. Please respect the limits of her role. She is an asset for you; I encourage you to make use of that asset as the year unfolds.

 

Reflection Sessions

An integral component of a service-learning experience is reflection on the service experience. To that end, Beth will set up seven reflection sessions over the course of the semester. Each student is required to participate in at least two sessions during the semester, at least once before break. Beth will handle all the details of these reflection sessions. More details will be forthcoming.

 

Communications

I will set up an email distribution list that I will use regularly. I will also set up a telephone distribution list that I will use to make quick announcements, etc. This is an important part of this whole project. There are lots of details and we need to make our best effort to stay on the same page. Please pay attention to any emails or phone messages relating to our community.

 

Service Project

We will continue our commitment to the children of Cooke Middle School in Philadelphia. You all have chosen a day on which you will travel to Cooke. There will be some extracurricular events taking place during the course of the semester, beginning with a Get Reacquainted Day on Saturday, January 20, 2001. You were informed of this at the end of last semester. I expect that everyone will participate in this event. We will also be hosting the children again here on campus. The date is to be determined, but I expect all of you to also participate in this event, planning it and being part of the day. Service trips begin on Monday, January 22. The last trip takes place on April 26. All trips leave Villanova at 2:30PM. The only days we will not go due to Villanova’s schedule are Wednesday and Thursday, April 11 & 12.

 

 

Attendance

Students are expected to attend all class meetings. Whether the absence is excused or not, you are responsible for making up any work missed and for getting handouts that you miss. If you must miss a class, please talk to me ahead of time. If you miss a class inadvertently, please contact me as soon as possible after the class meeting. You can contact me at my office, at home, or via email. More than six (6) unexcused absences in HON 1825 will lower your final grade by a step. Any unexcused absences from the colloquia series will lower your final practicum grade two steps. Any unexcused absences from the service project will also lower your final practicum grade two steps.

 

Policies and Procedures II: Grades and Assignments

Students are registered in two courses: HON 1825 which is a three credit course and HON 1826 which is a one credit course. The grading will be as follows:

HON 1825 HON 1826

Analytical papers 50% Bulletin Board participation 50%

Final exam 25% Participation at colloquia & events 50%

Class Participation 25%

 

 

Analytical Papers: You will be assigned several short analytical papers in the course of the semester. These will ask you to analyze and interpret some of the texts we will read in the course of the semester. The assignments will be distributed at least one week in advance.

 

Bulletin Board: When you log on to the Villanova homepage, You receive a listing of all your current classes listed under ‘My classrooms.’ Part of the work that they do for us at UNIT is in setting up a classroom bulletin board. All students are expected to post throughout the semester to discuss the colloquia and other community-related events.

 

Final: The final exam will be oral and team-based.

In order to ensure the flexibility of the seminar, reading and writing assignments will be subject to revision as the course progresses. All written work turned in to me should be word-processed. Always keep a disk-copy AND a hard copy of all written work. If any assignment should get lost or misplaced in the flurry of paperwork this semester, it is your responsibility to supply another copy immediately.

Policies and Procedures III: Academic Integrity

 

All students are expected to adhere to the most rigorous standards of academic integrity. Everyone will have the opportunity to read and discuss the university's policy on academic integrity, and there will be sufficient time to clarify any ambiguities with me. Do not assume that you know what is and is not plagiarism. Check the policy, and ask me if you have any questions. For the first offense, students who plagiarize or cheat on any assignment will receive an F either on the assignment or for the whole course, depending upon the gravity of the offense. At that time, a letter will be filed with the student's dean. Second offenses may result in dismissal from the university

Required Texts:

The Grand Inquisitor, Dostoevsky

 

The Roots of Christian Mysticism, Olivier Clément

 

The Meaning of Jesus, Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright

 

Why are We Here? Ed. Thiemann & Placher

 

City of God, St. Augustine

Bible, preferably Catholic Study Bible

Exclusion and Embrace, Miroslav Volf

Supplemental readings

 

General Course Outline (subject to revision)

I. Christ, Christianity, and Culture: The Problem

Week 1—January 15

M Introduction and Syllabus

W Dostoevsky, The Grand Inquisitor

 

F. Camus, Fragments of a Statement to the Dominicans….

 

Week 2- January 22

M Dawson, "Why are we so indifferent…" in Why are We Here?

W Niebuhr, Intro. to Christ and Culture

F Niebuhr

 

II. Christ: Mystical or Political?

Week 3- January 29

M Gospel of Luke (and Borg and Wright, tba)

W Gospel of Luke ( The Meaning of Jesus, tba)

F Gospel of Luke (ditto)

Week 4-February 5

M Gospel of John

W Gospel of John

F Contemporary Excursus: J.A. DiNoia, "Is Jesus Christ the Unique Mediator of Salvation?" in Why are We Here? And "Dominus Iesus" from the Vatican Congregation on the Doctrine of the Faith.

III. Christian Theological Traditions I: Mystical Perspectives on the Political?

Week 5- February 12

M Tanner, "Why are We here?" and Clément, Pt. I, Ch.1

W Clément, Pt. I, Chs. 2-3

F Clément, Pt. 1, Ch. 4 and Richard of St. Victor, Book III of the Trinity.

Week 6- February 19

M Clément, Pt. I, Ch. 5

W Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians,

Nicholas Lash, "Performing the Scriptures"

F Contemporary Excursus: Hunsinger, "Must Christians Believe in Hell?"

Week 7- February 26

M Clément, Pt II, Chs. 1-2

W Clément, Pt II, Chs. 3-4

F Excursus: Werpehowski, "What shall parents teach their children?"

 

SPRING BREAK

  1. Christian Theological Traditions II: Engaging the Political

Week 8- March 12

M Hebrew Bible: Amos

W Hebrew Bible: Isaiah

F Hebrew Bible: Isaiah

Week 9- March 19

M Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicity

W Perpetua, cont’d

F Epistle to Diognetus

Week 10- March 26

M Augustine, City of God

W City of God

F City of God

Week 11- April 2

M City of God

W Gutierrez, Introduction to Theology of Liberation

F Gutierrez

Week 12- April 9

M Volf, Exclusion and Embrace, Introduction & Ch. 1

W Volf, Ch. 2

Easter

Week 13- April 18

W Volf, Ch. 3

F Volf, Ch. 3

Week 14- April 23

M Clément, Pt. 3, Ch.4

W JPII, Gospel of Life

F JPII, Gospel of Life

Week 15- April 30

M Gospel of Life

W Last Class.