128 – Reading Sacred Texts

Ken Koltun-Fromm
Gest 201
kkoltunf@haverford.edu
610-896-1026 (office)
Student hours: by appointment

Spring, 2021
Tuesday/Friday 1:10-2:30

Summary

This class will focus on reading sacred texts in a number of religious traditions, and reading sources that read those sacred texts. We want to become fluent in close readings of texts that consider how sacred texts become sacred for their followers, and how they present their religious heroes. We also want to look at how gender and race work within religious traditions, and rethink those sacred texts in light of gender and race analysis.

Class Preparation and Assignments

Preparing for Class:

As an intensive writing seminar, we will continually read when we write, and write when we read; the two activities are intimately related and mutually reinforcing. We will not sometimes read texts, and at other times write about them. So always think about writing when you read, and consider what it means to read your work when you write: what do your words and sentences sound like, or who is the ideal reader of your essay? You should therefore come to class prepared to critically engage the readings for that day and to discuss as well as write about style, grammar, structure, argument, turns of phrases, voice, and the writing process itself.

Structure of Class:

This is an online class, although we may be able to meet together outside, for those on campus, in the spring as the weather improves. Still, we will maintain a basic structure to our Tuesday and Friday meetings, as follows:

  • Tuesday classes will focus on reading assignments for that week. We will do in-class writing and small breakout groups for discussion.
  • Friday classes will be split between discussion on readings (first 45 minutes) and small student tutorial groups to discuss paper drafts, and during weeks without paper assignments we will discuss the process of writing (second 45 minutes)
  • Writing Assignments:
    • You will have three writing assignments for this course, and each assignment will include a draft and final paper.
    • Drafts will be due on Wednesday evenings at midnight and shared with your tutorial group of three. Everyone will use Google documents for this writing so you can easily share your drafts with your peers and with me.
    • You will read and comment on the Google document drafts for your Friday tutorial sessions. Since each tutorial session includes three students, you will read two papers.
    • Your three final revision papers will be a substantial revised version of your drafts, and these papers will be due a week later on the following Wednesday . Between the Friday tutorial session and the Wednesday due date you will sign up for a 15 minute individual session with me to discuss the revision of your paper.

Student Tutorial Groups (Fridays):

Group 1: Emily, Henry, Tom

Group 2: Lydia, Yang, Oleh

Group 3: Maggie, Ben, Theo

Group 4: Cameron, Hassaan, Sam

Writing Assignments:

You will write three draft papers and three revisions of those drafts (only the final revision paper is graded). A good source for how to use citations can be found here. The three paper topics are, in order assigned:

(1) Textual analysis paper (2-3 pages)

For your first paper you want to focus on a particular problem in a sacred text on Abraham from one religious tradition, analyze it, offer an account of why it is a problem, and perhaps suggest ways to understand the text. All this means you need to do a close reading of that text: you want to uncover the nuances of a word, sentence, or phrase without assuming its meaning, but instead deriving its meaning (or various meanings) by analyzing it. A nuanced reading is one that does not treat a text as a proof-text but as a source or resource for critical analysis. You don’t want me to write on the margins: how do you know this? If I write that, it means you have made an unjustified assertion, one that is not supported by your analysis of the text. Some things to consider as you draft this paper (but many of these points relate to all your papers for this course):

    • Your paper should be 2-3 double-spaced pages.
    • Your introduction should be short, to the point, and I should be able to read it and know what your paper is about.
    • Although you want to focus on a problem, you must translate that problem into an issue and a thesis.  Here are some examples:
      • Problem: how old is Isaac? Opening sentence: Genesis 22 does not acknowledge Isaac’s age, but whatever age readers imagine him to be significantly affects how they understand his role in the story.
      • Problem: does Abraham lie to his servants in Genesis 22? Opening sentence: Abraham’s obscure claim that both he and Isaac will return from worshiping God on the mountain suggests a number of possible meanings: this could be a lie, a prophesy that he, indeed, will receive Isaac back after the slaughter, or a wish.
  • Remember, this is a draft, so be bold and creative!
  • You are writing this paper, as in all subsequent papers, to me. I am your audience. You can assume I have read the texts in question and understand the basic argumentative structure (so you need not summarize nor introduce a text).

(2) Textual analysis with secondary source paper (4 pages)

For your second paper I would like you to engage a close reading of texts with a broader audience of readers and interpreters. You may NOT use the close reading from your first paper; you must choose another text for this paper. For this assignment you want to engage secondary sources in creating a more robust account of your textual reading. So this paper builds upon the first assignment and asks you to now offer a close reading of texts in the context of other readers of that text. Here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Your paper should be roughly four double-spaced pages.
  • You do not want to simply offer a close reading and then add secondary sources. Instead, you want to weave those sources into your reading such that you can engage those sources, and in so doing strengthen your own voice in relation to those other voices.
  • You should limit those secondary works to no more than three sources, but they may include works read in class or found in the library, and images.
  • You want to consider how to integrate these secondary sources and how to position your own voice alongside them. Do these sources inform your own reading? Do they offer additional support for your textual interpretation, or do they suggest poorer readings? Why take these sources into account? What do these sources help you accomplish?
  • You do not want to set up these secondary sources as “straw arguments” that you then tear down. It is important to offer charitable readings of these sources, and then suggest how they miss or confirm something, or raise important issues that you want to address.

(3) Museum Project Paper (4 pages)

Thematic paper that brings together at least three texts presented in your exhibition on March 26th with a sustained thesis. Your exhibition will be designed to enact a discussion but not to present an argument. In this paper you are to present an argument about how to best read these texts together as a “canon.”

Final Presentations:

You will present to the class an analysis of sacred texts now in the light of gender and race analysis. We will discuss the nature of these presentations as we head toward the final weeks of the semester, but you should consider using visual material, as though you were presenting a public talk, to offer a compelling argument for how to understand sacred texts through the lens of race and gender.

Accommodations:

I recognize that your ability to thrive academically can be impacted by your personal well-being and that stressors may impact you over the course of the semester.  I welcome the opportunity to discuss and address those stressors with you in order to find solutions together, and to partner with you in your academic journey. If you are experiencing challenges or questions related to emotional health, finances, physical health, relationships, learning strategies or differences, or other potential stressors, please reach out to the many resources available on campus. These resources include CAPS (free and unlimited counseling is available), the Office of Academic Resources, Health Services, Professional Health Advocate, Religious and Spiritual Life, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the GRASE Center, and the Dean’s Office.  Additional information can be found at https://www.haverford.edu/deans-office-student-life/offices-resources.

Haverford College is committed to providing equal access to students with a disability. If you have (or think you have) a learning difference or disability – including mental health, medical, or physical impairment – please contact the Office of Access and Disability Services (ADS) at hc-ads@haverford.edu. The Director will confidentially discuss the process to establish reasonable accommodations.

Students who have already been approved to receive academic accommodations and want to use their accommodations in this course should share their verification letter with me and also make arrangements to meet with me as soon as possible to discuss their specific accommodations. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive and require advance notice to implement.

It is a state law in Pennsylvania that individuals must be given advance notice if they are to be recorded. Therefore, any student who has a disability-related need to audio record this class must first be approved for this accommodation from the Director of Access and Disability Services and then must speak with me. Other class members will need to be aware that this class may be recorded.

If, at any point in the semester, a disability or personal circumstances affect your learning in this course or if there are ways in which the overall structure of the course and general classroom interactions could be adapted to facilitate full participation, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Grading

I hope that your work improves as the semester progresses, and so your final grade for the course will reflect that trajectory. I do not evaluate each task with percentage accuracy (your final work is not worth, say, 30% of your grade, for example). Instead I examine all your work as a piece, and together we will provide a grade that I hope fairly expresses your work in class assignments, your commitment to your peers in class, and your class participation. This process, in which we will meet at the end of the semester to discuss your grade, allows us to take into account improvement during the course of the semester. I have posted a Grading Rubric for Papers as a reference guide as you write your own papers. All requests for extensions should be first vetted by your academic dean. If your academic dean believes your request is reasonable, they will then pass that request onto me for my consideration.

I understand that our various learning contexts this semester require flexibility, and I am committed to working with you to ensure you can fully participate and flourish in this course. If you are having trouble keeping up with assignments or find yourself unable to meet a deadline, please let me know as soon as possible so that we can come up with a plan for you to engage and succeed in the course.

Your graded assignments include:

  • Three revised papers (the drafts are not graded)
  • Clear indications that you have read and reflected upon class assignments
  • Involvement and commitment to tutorials and the process of revision
  • Presentation on race and gender in sacred texts

Texts for Purchase (also available online)

Material on Moodle

  • Soren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, 8-20
  • Midrash Rabbah (482-503)
  • Reuven Firestone, Journeys in Holy Lands, 105-128
  • Bhagavata Purana: 10.33.11-16
  • Mark Ross, Marked
  • A. David Lewis, The Lone and Level Sands
  • Ali and Arif Mohammed, 40 Sufi Comics
  • Amar Chitra Katha, Durga
  • Assaf Gamzou and Ken Koltun-Fromm, “Comics and Sacred Texts”
  • Shiamin Kwa, “The Common Place: The Poetics of the Pedestrian in Kevin Huizinga’s Walkin’“
  • Duncan Cameron, “The Museum, a Temple or the Forum”
  • Stephen Geller, “The Religion of the Bible,” 1996-97
  • Amina Wadud, Qur’an and Women, 1-28
  • Phyllis Trible, “Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation,” 30-48
  • Al Raboteau, “African American, Exodus, and the American Israel”
  • Esau McCaulley, “Reading While Black: The Bible and the Pursuit of Justice,” 71-95

Syllabus

  • Week 1 (Introduction) (Friday, February 12)
  • Week 2 (Abraham in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Sacred Texts)
    • Tuesday (Feb. 16)
      • Genesis 11:27-25:11
        • Warning: there are two scenes about Lot and his daughters that some might find disturbing, as they involve sexual abuse. They occur in Genesis 19:6-9 and Genesis 19:30-38. You may certainly skip these sections if you choose, and we will not discuss them in class. There are also sections about Hagar, Sarah, and Abraham that involve sexual abuse (16:1-6), but these sections are important for understanding Abraham and, later in the semester, Dolores Williams’ work Sisters in the Wilderness. You may skip these sections but we may very well refer to them here and in Williams’ text.
      • Qur’an: Sura 11:69-83 and 37:99-113
    • Friday (Feb. 19)
  • Week 3 (Abraham in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions)
    • Tuesday (Feb 23)
      • Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, 8-20
      • Midrash Rabbah (482-503)
    • Wednesday: Draft of textual analysis paper due
    • Friday (Feb 26)
  • Week 4 (Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Krishna)
    • Tuesday (March 2)
    • Wednesday: Textual analysis paper due
    • Friday (March 5)
      • Qur’an: Suras 7 and 28
      • Bhagavata Purana: 10.33.1-39
  • Week 5 (Sacred Texts as Comics)
    • Tuesday (March 9)
      • Ross, Marked
      • Lewis, The Lone and Level Sands
    • Wednesday: Draft of textual analysis with secondary source paper due
    • Friday (March 12)
      • Mohammed, 40 Sufi Comics
      • Amar Chitra Katha, Tales of Durga
      • Student Tutorials
  • Week 6 (The Everyday Sacred) (with Assaf Gamzou)
    • Tuesday (March 16)
      • Assaf Gamzou and Ken Koltun-Fromm, “Comics and Sacred Texts”
      • Shiamin Kwa, “The Common Place: The Poetics of the Pedestrian in Kevin Huizinga’s Walkin’“
    • Wednesday: Textual analysis with secondary source paper due
    • Friday (March 19)
      • Comics and Curation
  • Week 7 (Canon and Museums) (with Assaf Gamzou)
  • Tuesday (March 23)
    • Cameron, “The Museum, a Temple or the Forum”
    • Geller, “The Religion of the Bible”
  • Friday (March 26)
    • Student Exhibitions: Curate an exhibition about one thematic thread in sacred texts we have read in this course
  • Week 8 (Break) (March 28 to April 3)
  • Week 9 (Gender and Religion)
    • Tuesday (April 6)
      • Amina Wadud, Qur’an and Women, 1-28
      • Phyllis Trible, “Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation,” 30-48
    • Wednesday: Draft of Museum Project paper (4 pages)
    • Friday (April 9)
      • Continued discussion on Wadud and Trible
      • Student Tutorials
  • Week 10 (Race and Religion)
    • Tuesday (April 13)
      • Al Raboteau, “African American, Exodus, and the American Israel”
      • Esau McCaulley, “Reading While Black: The Bible and the Pursuit of Justice,” 71-95
    • Wednesday: Museum Project paper due (4 pages)
    • Friday (April 16)
      • Continued discussion of Raboteau and McCaulley
  • Week 11 (Gender, Race, and Religion)
    • Tuesday and Friday (April 20 and 23)
      • Delores Williams, Sisters in the Wilderness, 15-74 (chapters 1, 2, and 3)
  • Week 12 (Presentations)
    • Tuesday (April 27)
      • Delores Williams, Sisters in the Wilderness, 75-123 (chapters 4 and 5)
      • Rethinking Sacred Texts through gender and race (1-2 minute student discussions about presentations)
    • Friday (April 30)
      • Nimisha Ladva workshop on public speaking
  • Week 13 (Presentations)
    • Tuesday (May 4)
      • Presentations
    • Friday (May 7)
      • Presentations
  • Week 14 (Presentations)
    • Tuesday (May 11)
      • Presentations
css.php