Haverford Moodle

The Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament, is fundamental to both Judaism and Christianity. But as a literary, historical and theological text, the Hebrew Bible poses a challenge to modern readers. What is this book? Who wrote it? When? And why? What makes it sacred to some? What was its significance then? And now? How does one study the Bible from an academic point of view, when it is so laden with religious symbolism and meaning for so many people? Using the literary, historical, theological, interpretative and archaeological tools available we will attempt to answer these questions and more. This course will introduce the student to the fundamentals of academic bible studies. All students, of any background, are encouraged to participate. Sometimes, the less we know, the better we learn.

This course offers an introduction to the academic study of the New Testament and early Christian literature. Topics include: the Jewish contexts of Jesus, the "Jesus movement," and the early “church” (ekklēsia or community); and the varieties of early Christian literature, theology, and ethics.

This course examines the representation of Women, Gender, and Sexuality in early Christian literature. In this course we'll employ a variety of methods (feminist, literary, historical, socio-cultural, theological) to explore the variety of early Christian views on women, gender, and sexuality. Our examination will include the representations of named and unnamed women who appear in early Christian literature. Readings will include a broad range of early Christian literature from the first through the fourth centuries CE, as well as recent scholarship.

This course analyzes the dynamic relationship between queer theories and religious discourse. With an emphasis on LGBTQIA+ experiences, perspectives, and practices, we will use a theological and ethical lens across (a few) religions to explore concepts, sacred texts, and relational possibilities that constitute contemporary ideas about religion and queerness. To be sure, this is not a survey course, and we will not cover every tradition, or even attempt to do so. Instead, we will ask a small number of hard questions and pursue each one far enough to see where the real disagreements, points of connection, and spaces of nuance exist. Our main resource, Melissa Wilcox’s Queer Religiosities, will accompany us on the journey and provide a bit of breadth across traditions and regions while our discussions will aim for depth with what we encounter.

Course Description

A critical study of prominent ethical and political themes in Augustine’s religious thought, e.g., the character of the good life; the meaning of and relations between love of God and love of neighbor; Christ and the moral life; the nature of freedom; the moral significance of the emotions; evil and sinfulness; idolatry’s reach; sexuality and its discontents; the purposes and limits of political society; the very idea of “religion/church and politics;” war and peace. Our seminar will emphasize close readings of On Christian Teaching, Confessions, and The City of God.

Course Objectives

1. To understand and critically analyze a variety of moral and political stances in Augustine’s Christian thought, and just so in their close connection with central theological themes such as Scriptural authority, creation, incarnation, Trinity, sin, redemption, “the last things,” and the “theological anthropology” (i.e., account of humanity as it is and ought to be) that the preceding themes configure.

2. To read texts carefully and critically, and write and speak clearly and thoughtfully about the issues we consider.


Texts for Purchase

Augustine, Confessions, trans. Henry Chadwick (Oxford, 2009)
Paperback (ISBN 978-0199537822)

Augustine, The City of God against the Pagans, ed. R.W. Dyson (Cambridge, 1998)
Paperback (ISBN 978-0521468435)

The goal of this course is to provide you with a foundation in classical social theory. (Next semester’s course, 155B, covers more contemporary theory.) We focus on theorists who were largely writing in the period between the revolts of 1848 and the beginning of the Cold War. This is a period that corresponds with the birth of sociology as a discipline, and so we will encounter writers who are attempting to formulate some of the key concepts that subsequent sociologists would take for granted. For example, before Marx, no one had used the words “capitalism” or “alienation” before, at least not in their modern sense. Likewise, before Weber, few had tried to conceptualize the nature of bureaucracies, and before Du Bois, few had attempted to reconcile race with capitalism. Thus, this course will focus on four classical theorists whose ideas have greatly influenced how we study and understand society: Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and W.E.B. Du Bois. The course is devoted to understanding how each theorist understood the origin, structure and historical dynamics of modern societies. In addition to comparing their theories, we will apply them to current social issues.

General Description and Goals
This course is for students who have achieved a basic knowledge of Spanish but need to gain experience and confidence communicating in the language. Students will learn the basic intermediate level of the language that will permit them to communicate (with some difficulty) about topics related to their personal sphere and beyond. They will gain an insight into Hispanic cultures and come closer to a more critical and informed view of issues related to the Spanish-speaking countries. Ultimately, the course is an extended learning opportunity that seeks to enable cross-cultural understanding starting, but not stopping, beyond the classroom. Pre-requisites: Placement test, professor’s recommendation.