Monday, 1:30-4, Spring 2023
Gest 102
Ken Koltun-Fromm
Haverford College
Gest 201
610-896-1026 (office)
Coffee hours: Wednesday 1-2
kkoltunf@haverford.edu
Summary
This class will explore topics in good and evil and how conceptions of the good, and deformations of evil, intersect with religious thought and practice. The course has three main objectives: 1) to instigate robust discussions about the nature of good and evil; 2) to allow students to present texts of their choosing that engage the topics of this course; and 3) to learn the skill of reading an entire book in three hours!! The first half of the course will include texts that I choose, but the second half will be filled with texts chosen by the students in the course. There is only one criterion for the choice of texts: they must be available online.
One important skill in the study of religion is the ability to read a book in a limited amount of time. For each class period, I am limiting your work to no more than four hours, with no more than three hours for reading the class material. The fourth hour should be used to review and prepare for class.
Requirements
Attendance, Engagement, and Participation (30% of final grade):
The success of this course depends on all of us actively participating in class discussion. You are expected to attend class and to participate in discussions that reflect close readings of assigned material and careful listening and response to others. Other modes of engagement in the course include stopping by my coffee hours after class to talk about the course, or attending lectures or other events in religious studies.
Two Close Textual Analysis Papers (40%):
Each close textual analysis paper (4-5 pages, double spaced, 12-pt font, 1” margins on all sides) will bring two texts together for a productive conversation and argument. You should focus on a particular issue/problem/question and produce a cogent argument about how your two texts engage that concern. The papers are due Friday February 17 and Friday March 31 by midnight that day.
Final Paper (30%):
The final paper (10-12 page, double spaced, 12-pt font, 1″ margins on all sides) will explore one critical theme in our discussions of good and evil by utilizing 3 texts read in class.
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I am committed to working with you on your academic and intellectual journey, and welcome the opportunity to discuss with you any academic stresses or concerns. If you are experiencing challenges or questions related to emotional health, finances, physical health, relationships, learning strategies or differences, or other potential stressors, I hope you will consider reaching 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.
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, and it is never too late to request accommodations.
Students who have already been approved to receive academic accommodations and want to use their accommodations in this course should share their accommodation letter and make arrangements to meet with me as soon as possible to discuss how their accommodations will be implemented in this course. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive and require advance notice in order to successfully implement.
If, at any point in the semester, a disability or personal circumstances affect your learning in this course, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
It is a state law in Pennsylvania that individuals must be given advance notice that they may 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 to me. Other class members need to be aware that this class may be recorded.
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Syllabus
Wednesday, January 18 (7:30-10)
Introduction to Class
Monday, January 23
Plato, The Euthyphro
Sophocles, Antigone (PDF on Moodle)
Monday, January 30
Sigmund Freud, Civilization and its Discontents
Monday, February 6
Molly Farneth, Hegel’s Social Ethics
(Molly visiting class at 1:45)
Monday, February 13
Nikki Young, Black Queer Ethics, Family, and Philosophical Imagination
(Nikki visiting class at 2:30)
Here is a link to a symposium on Nikki’s book with a lot of good conversation and helpful reviews of her book (I suggest reading Kate Ott’s introduction to the symposium, and then other essays that might sound interesting to you).
Friday, February 17
First textual analysis paper due
Monday, February 20
Jonathan Lear, Radical Hope
Link to online review of book
Monday, February 27
Terrence Wiley, Angelic Troublemakers
(Terrence visiting class at 2:30)
Link to review of book
Spring Break
Monday, March 13
Richard Kearney, Strangers, Gods and Monsters
Link to review of book
Monday, March 20 (John)
Nietzsche, Good and Evil (link) (as I mentioned in class, focus on first three chapters)
Monday, March 27 (Trinity)
Haidt, The Righteous Mind (PDF on Moodle)
Friday, March 31
Second textual analysis paper due
Monday, April 3 (Leyla)
Simone de Beauvoir, Ethics of Ambiguity (link here)
Monday, April 10 (Sarah)
Brittain and Maphumulo, “Desmond Tutu”
Shore, “Christianity and Justice”
Kahn, “Westboro Baptist Church”
Monday, April 17 (Zoe)
Eugene Garver, Aristotle’s Politics: Living Well and Living Together (online link)
Monday, April 24 (Aidan)
Paul0 Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
