Religious Studies 3CC3 / Pol Sci 3LA3: Religion and Politics
SYLLABUS-IN-PROGRESS
Religious
Studies 3CC3 / Political Science
3LA3 (Winter 2014)
Religion and Politics
This syllabus, which links to all
course assignments, is posted at http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/danahol/3cc3
and is also accessible by way of my home page (see below) and the Dept.
of Religious Studies website. It will be updated periodically,
and students in the class are asked to consult it regularly during the
semester.
Class Meetings:
Thursdays, 8-10 p.m., Chester New Hall 102
Tutorials:
Thursdays, 7-8 p.m., Chester New Hall 102
INSTRUCTOR:
Dana
Hollander, Department
of
Religious Studies, University Hall 109.**  (905)
525-9140, ext. 24759*  danahol@mcmaster.ca*  http://univmail.cis.mcmaster.ca/~danahol/
*in
your phone and e-mail messages, please let me know how I can reach you
by phone
**Staff in
the office of the
Department of Religious Studies will not date-stamp or receive written
assignments.
Office Hours: Mondays, 4-5
p.m., or by appointment. |
 updated March 28, 2014
|
TEACHING
ASSISTANTMichael
Worden, Department
of
Religious Studies, University Hall B125. wordenmj@mcmaster.ca
Office
Hours: Thursdays, 6-7 p.m., or by
appointment
Course
Description / Course Readings / Course
Requirements | SCHEDULE: January
/ February
/ March / April
COURSE
DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES
This course is an
introduction to some key approaches to thinking about the relationship
between politics and religion in the West. We will study two
classic works on this topic: John Locke, Letter Concerning Toleration
(1689), the highly influential treatise on why and how religion and
politics should be regarded as separate spheres, and Carl Schmitt, Political Theology
(1922), a relatively recent influential attempt to argue that
political sovereignty has essentially theological roots. We will
also read contemporary discussions of the challenges posed by the role
of religion in public life--including debates about specific
contemporary dilemmas, such as the 2004-5 "sharia debate" in Ontario.
A highlight of the course
will be attendance of this year's Sharjah Chair in Global Islam Lecture
on Wednesday, March 12, to be held by Mohammad Fadel (University of
Toronto Law School) on the topic of sharia law in modern times.
COURSE READINGS
- John
Locke, A Letter Concerning
Toleration, trans. William
Popple
(1689), ed. James H. Tully (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983) [required]
- Carl Schmitt, Political
Theology. Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty (1922),
trans. George Schwab (University
of Chicago Press, 1985) [required]
- Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style
Manual, 6th ed.
(Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012) [strongly recommended]
- Gordon Harvey, Writing with
Sources. A Guide for Students,
2nd ed. (Hackett, 2008) [optional]
- Please either
purchase the Coursepack, or plan to make personal
paper copies
of readings contained in the Coursepack from the books
on
reserve (this
is the less expensive option by far).
You must have your own
paper copy of all the
texts
to be
discussed--in the same edition selected for the class--whether
in book or xeroxed form, so that you can mark them as you read and be
prepared to refer to specific passages in
class and tutorial and when you write the exams.
Course
Requirements
- One Text Summary
(1-1.5 pages) on a selection from the assigned reading for either
January 23 or January 30, to be handed in at the
end of the class session on those days. Detailed assignments to
be posted and distributed in class.
- Either one or two*
Text
Preparations
(2-3 pages) - on the assigned readings for Feb. 13, Feb. 27, March 20,
March 27, or Apr. 3, to be handed in at the end of the class session on
the day
we are
discussing the selection they are on. Specific assignments to be posted
for each week.
Note: Text
Summary/Text
Preparation
assignments
are designed
to
help you prepare the reading assignment for a particular class
meeting, in conjunction with your participation in that class
meeting. For this reason, those assignments may only be
submitted by you at
the class meetings at which they are due.
|
*If you choose to hand in two
Text Preparations, please be sure
to complete Text Preparation 1 or 2 so as to allow time to
receive feedback on the first assignment before preparing the second
one, from among Text Preparation 3, 4, or 5. (Please contact the
instructor if scheduling difficulties arise.)
- Brief Lecture Report due by e-mail on Monday, March 17, on March 12 lecture
by Mohammad Fadel. Detailed assignment to be posted.
- Midterm Exam and Final
Exam will consist of essay
questions involving textual analysis. The essay questions will be
made known in advance and
will be open-book.
Grades will be
based on the following (new grades breakdown as of Mar. 12, due to weather-related cancellation of lecture by Mohammad Fadel):
- for students who complete only one Text Preparation
assignment: Text Summary (10%), Text Preparation (15%), Midterm Exam
(35%), Final Exam (40%).
- for those who complete two
Text Preparation assignments: Text Summary (10%), Text Preparations
(12.5% each), Midterm Exam (30%), Final Exam (35%).
- for students who complete only one Text Preparation
assignment: Text Summary (10%), Text Preparation (10%), Brief Lecture Report (5%), Midterm Exam
(35%), Final Exam (40%).
- for those who complete two
Text Preparation assignments: Text Summary (10%), Text Preparations
(10% each), Brief Lecture Report (5%), Midterm Exam (30%), Final Exam (35%).
|
McMaster University has a
strict policy concerning Academic Integrity: "You are expected to
exhibit honesty and use ethical behaviour in all aspects of the
learning process. Academic credentials you earn are rooted in
principles of honesty and academic integrity. Academic dishonesty is to
knowingly act or fail to act in a way that results or could result in
unearned academic credit or advantage. This behaviour can result in
serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of
credit with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: "Grade of F
assigned for academic dishonesty"), and/or suspension or expulsion from
the university.
It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic
dishonesty. For information on the various types of academic
dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, located at www.mcmaster.ca/academicintegrity.
The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty: 1.
Plagiarism, e.g., the submission of work that is not one's own or for
which other credit has been obtained. 2. Improper collaboration in
group work. 3. Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and
examinations."
Please let me know if you have any questions on how this policy applies
to your work for this course.
Privacy of Information. Some of the communications among
the instructor and the students in this course will be over e-mail.
Students should be aware that, when they access the electronic
components of this course, private information such as first and last
names and e-mail addresses may become apparent to all other students in
the same course. Continuation in this course will be deemed consent to
this disclosure. If you have any questions or concerns about such
disclosure please discuss this with the course instructor.
|
You are advised to retain
copies of any written work you
submit for this class, and all your research notes, until you have
received an
official grade.
SCHEDULE
|
At certain
points in the course it may make good sense to modify the schedule
outlined below. The instructor reserves the right to modify elements of
the course and will notify students accordingly (in class, by e-mail to
participants, and by updating this online syllabus).
|
January 9
INTRODUCTION
No tutorial meeting this week.
January
16
Virginia
Statute
for Religious Freedom (authored by Thomas Jefferson, 1777; adopted
by Virginia House of Delegates, 1786) [handed out in class on
Jan. 9; or print out from the linked file]
Peter Schotten and
Dennis
Stevens,
Religion, Politics, and the Law (1996), chap. 1: “European
Roots,” 3–13; chap. 2: 24-32 [selection in coursepack /
book on
reserve]
Additional
resources:
James
Madison, A
Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments (1785)
United
States Constitution - see especially Amendment I (1791)
January
23
John
Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration, trans. William Popple
(1689), ed. James H. Tully (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1983), 21-38 ("...to
their own Consciences") [purchase book]
Schotten/Stevens,
Religion, Politics, and
the Law, chap. 1: 17-23 ("The Political Aftermath")
Text
Summary 1 due in class from
students with last
names beginning in A-L.
Optional
Background Reading:
William
Uzgalis, "John Locke" (2001/2007), Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy (Fall
2008 Edition) - see especially section 4: "Locke and Religious
Toleration"
January
30
John Locke, A
Letter Concerning
Toleration, 38 ("Having thus at length freed...") -58
Text
Summary 2
due in class from students who did not complete Text Summary 1.
Optional:
Schotten/Stevens,
Religion, Politics, and
the Law, chap. 1: 13-17
February
6
conclude discussion of Locke
Janet R. Jakobsen
and Ann
Pellegrini, Love the Sin. Sexual
Regulations and the
Limits of Religious Tolerance (2004): pp. 45–73 (notes on pp.
157–58) [selection in coursepack / book on reserve]
February
13
Beverley
McLachlin, “Freedom of Religion and
the Rule of Law. A Canadian Perspective,” and Jean Bethke Elshtain,
“Response”, chapter 2 in Douglas Farrow, Recognizing Religion in a Secular
Society: Essays in Pluralism, Religion, and Public Policy (Montreal:
McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004), 14–40.
[print
personal copy from
online edition / book
on
reserve]
Text
Preparation 1 due in class from some students
Additional
resources:
Canadian
Bill of
Rights (1960)
Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982)
M.
H. Ogilvie, Religious
Institutions and the Law in Canada, 2nd ed. (Toronto: Irwin Law,
2003) [book on reserve]
February
27
Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, "On
Civil Religion,"
book IV, chapter VIII of On the Social Contract (1762), trans.
Donald A. Cress, in Basic Political Writings (Indianapolis:
Hackett, 1987) [selection in coursepack / book on reserve]
| French
original
Robert
N. Bellah, "Civil
Religion in America"
(1967), from Beyond Belief [article in coursepack / book on
reserve]
Text
Preparation 2 due in class from some students.
Midterm
Exam Preparation Sheet
distributed in class today.
Monday, March 3, 5:30-7:30 p.m. - Optional Midterm Exam Review, University Hall 122.
March
6
No
tutorial meeting this week.
MIDTERM
EXAM, 7 p.m., at Building T28
Wednesday,
March 12, 7:30 p.m., Health Science Center, Room 1A1Lecture was cancelled due to weather-related university closure.
Sharjah
Chair in Global Islam Annual Lecture:
Mohammad Fadel (University of
Toronto Faculty of Law): "The Sunni Model of the Rule of Law: Modern Implications"
Monday, March 17 - Brief Lecture Report due by e-mail to
Michael Worden, wordenmj@mcmaster.ca
March
13, 7 p.m.
No
tutorial meeting this week.
Carl Schmitt, Political
Theology. Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty (1922),
trans. George Schwab (University of Chicago Press, 1985)
[purchase book]:
chap. 1
Optional
Background Reading:
Lars
Vinx, "Carl
Schmitt" (2010) in Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy [online] - sec. 2 discusses the
book Political
Theology.
March
20
Carl
Schmitt, Political
Theology, chap. 1 (cont'd) and chap. 3.
Text
Preparation 3 due in class from some students.
March
27
Archbishop
of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, "Civil
and Religious
Law in England: A Religious Perspective" (Lecture before the Royal
Courts of Justice, February 7, 2008; Note
that the text of the lecture begins after a lengthy summary
introduction, which you may ignore) [please print out personal copy and
number the paragraphs on your printout for reference in
class and in your writing]
Janice
Gross Stein, "Religion, Culture, and Rights: A Conversation about Women"
(2008) [print out personal copy]
Anver
M. Emon, "Islamic
Law and the Canadian Mosaic: Politics, Jurisprudence, and Multicultural
Accommodation" (2008) (feel free to skim pp. 405-410) [print
out
personal copy]
Anna C.
Korteweg, "The
Sharia
Debate in Ontario" in ISIM Review* 18 (Autumn 2006), pp.
50-51. (*Note: ISIM Review
was a publication of the now-defunct International
Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World) [print out
personal copy]
Text
Preparation 4 due in
class from some students.
Additional Resources on the 2004
Ontario "Sharia Debate":
Marion
Boyd, "Dispute
Resolution in Family Law: Protecting Choice, Promoting Inclusion"
(Report to the Government of Ontario) (2004)
Family
Statute Law Amendment Act (2006) - see esp. 1.(1)(b)
Arbitration
Act, 1991
April
3
CBC
Radio “The
Current,” March 31, 2008 – including documentary by Kathleen Goldhar,
“Faith in the Law” [details on how to listen to be communicated by
e-mail]
Suzanne
Last
Stone, "The
Intervention of American Law in Jewish Divorce" (2000), pp. 174-85 the link to this document appears to be broken; see your e-mail for instructions on how to access this article
[print out personal copy]
Text
Preparation 5 due in class from anyone who has not completed a Text Preparation assignment.
Final
Exam Preparation Sheet to be distributed.
Additional
Resources:
Bruker
v. Marcovitz, 2007 SCC 54
Divorce
Act - see in particular
21.1 (1) "Affidavit re removal of barriers to religious remarriage"
A
short
video interview with Suzanne Last Stone about Jewish law and
secular law.
FINAL
EXAM - date, time, and location TBA
Copyright © 2009-14
Dana Hollander
