Fall 2003
Professor: Randal Cummings
Email: rcummings@csun.edu
Homepage: http://www.csun.edu/~rcummings or http://www.vcsun.org/~cummings
Phone: 818/481-5321
Religion and Literature
This course could in all likelihood be the most fun you will ever have in a college course. If you enjoy reading great stories, impressing your friends with new and sexy concepts (whether at cocktail parties or church, synagogue, or ashram), and playing with computers, then this course is for you. We will be looking at a variety of literary genres such as ethnic, mystery, horror, science fiction, and of course, myths, poetry, and fairytales with a view to their religious themes and implications. What is more, since this is a web-course, the class will be conducted online in place of regular class meetings. We will then combine traditional teaching methods such as well-chosen texts with the exciting potentials of cyberspace to literally straddle two worlds.
This course will focus upon literature as evidence of the tenacity of religious paradigms in contemporary culture. The range of our considerations will include everything from primary religious literature as encoded in scripture and in the deep-structure religious paradigms at the core of culture to contemporary fiction and cinema as a way of doing "cultural archeology" to unearth various strata of religious themes, dimensions, insights and/or phenomena embedded there. The argument and exploration of this course will be based on the premise that "in the history of religions there are only documents and interpreters." We will test that premise over a vast span of literary genres and cinematic works in the context of contemporary social and literary multi-culturalism. Such themes as the identity and purpose of humanity, the problems of suffering, ethics, the quests for ultimate meaning, significance, power, and transcendence; the prophetic critiques of religious and social dynamics or aberrations; horror and the holy and the wisdom of the monster tale will be among the topics of focus in this course.
TEXTS: (roughly in the order to be read, though it should be to your relief that we will not be reading all the stories in each collection, just some selections which will be posted on the assignment page )
The Complete Sherlock Holmes : All 4 Novels and 56 Short Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Mass Market Paperback Deluxe edition (October 6, 1998)
Bantam Classic and Loveswept; ISBN: 0553328255;
The Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe , Hardcover - 832 pages Reissue edition (November 18, 1966)
Doubleday; ISBN: 0385074077 (note: there are many complete editions available)
So Far From God, Castillo Paperback Reprint edition (May 1994)
Plume; ISBN: 0452272092;
Mariette in Ecstasy by Hanson ISBN: Paperback - 192 pages (August 1992) Harperperennial Library; ISBN: 0060981180;
VIDEOS (to be rented and watched): The Matrix; Jesus of Montreal; Babette's Feast; Harry Potter; The Lord of the Rings; The Milagro Beanfield War; Being There; (and possibly others)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: reading assignments, HyperNews and other web-based participation (...By participating in this class you become the course), one mid-term examination, one term paper on a relevant topic of your choice, one final-examination, and, of course, good mental hygiene. All reading assignments will be posted in a timely fashion.
THE TERM PAPER: The major topic of your paper will pertain to the main course subject, "Religion and Literature." However, within that large, over-arching umbrella, the particular choice of paper topics has a wide range of flexibility in the hopes that the students will pursue subjects that command their interests and spark their imaginations. You will want to begin exploring possible topics from practically the beginning of the course and should not only feel free but consider it a necessary step in your preparation to consult the instructor concerning your topic. Various strategies for generating a viable topic are discussed on a webpage appropriately titled "The Research Paper" on our course page. As upper division students, you are naturally expected to write a much more expansive research paper than lower division students due to your advanced sophistication and greater academic preparation.
Assignments and grading criteria: Preparation and class participation are factored into the grading. Some class meetings may be scheduled online at various times to accommodate a variety of schedules. Most of the work, however can be posted at your convenience. Thoughtfulness and preparation in your interaction with the thoughts and postings of your fellow classmates will make your sojourn through "Religion and Literature" a much richer experience than you will have had in a traditional course. As a participant in this course, you become part of the course. This cannot be emphasized enough. The mid-term accounts for approximately 20% of your grade, the final about 20%, and the research paper 30% with 30% based on class participation (web assignments).
GRADING: Attendance & Participation 30%,
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Mid-Term |
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20%, |
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Final Exam |
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20% |
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Research Paper |
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30% |
STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Learning Disabilities: See Learning Disability Statement in MSMC Catalog.
Academic Freedom: See Student Handbook, page 104.
Academic Integrity/Plagiarism Statement: See pages 40, 41 of Student Handbook. Any student found guilty of plagiarism will receive a failing grade for the assignment and possibly for the entire course.