Prof. Ira Chernus

Spring 2003

This course will examine some of the connections between religion and the tradition of principled nonviolence. The curriculum will include four main elements:

1. Detailed study of three major figures in religious nonviolence: Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Thich Nhat Hanh
2. A briefer study of a number of important U.S. Christian nonviolence thinkers and movements
3. Study of a classic critique of nonviolence, offered by Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr
4. Study of secular nonviolence (i.e., nonviolence with no religious basis) as explained by Gene Sharp and Barbara Deming

This course is listed in the core curriculum as a "Critical Thinking" course. Therefore you will be expected to think critically. That does not mean you should spend the term criticizing. Critical thinking means logical thinking. It means constantly asking questions such as: What are our aims, goals, and assumptions in evaluating this author? What are the author's (or speaker's) aims and goals? What are his/her basic assumptions? Which aims and assumptions are explicitly stated and which are left implicit? Should we accept those aims and assumptions as valid? What is the historical context of this argument? How does it relate to earlier writers' ideas? Why was it offered by this writer at this particular time? How does that historical context compare with our own?

Does the author present logical arguments? How does s/he go from assumptions to facts and data to further ideas to conclusions? How does s/he get facts and data? Are they valid? Might the conclusions be valuable even if the assumptions or data are questionable? What is the ultimate importance of the argument? What does it tell us that we wouldn't know otherwise? Why does it, or does it not, matter in our individual lives? Why does it, or does it not, matter in dealing with societal issues? What other ideas can we connect with this author's to develop new ideas of our own? How might we pursue this author's ideas further?

You need not be able to answer all these questions for every author we read. They are just examples of the kinds of issues a "critical thinking" course should address.

Thich Nhat Hanh, Love In Action (THICH NHAT HANH)

James M. Washington, ed., I Have A Dream (KING)

R. Iyer, ed., The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi (GANDHI)

Gene Sharp, Power and Struggle (SHARP)

These readings are available at the Lefthand Bookstore, 1200 Pearl Street; just east of Broadway, south side of mall, lower level. They are usually open noon-9 weekdays; call 443-8252 to check exact hours. They take cash or check; no credit cards.

Ira Chernus, The Idea of Nonviolence in U.S. History (CHERNUS), is on the home page for this course: http://spot.colorado.edu/~chernus/Courses/4800/ This syllabus and other materials for the course are also available on the course home page.

Jan. 15 : CHERNUS: "The Anabaptists"

Jan. 17: CHERNUS: "The Quakers"

Jan. 22: CHERNUS: "William Lloyd Garrison and the Abolitionists"

Jan. 24: CHERNUS: "Thoreau"; Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience": http://eserver.org/thoreau/civil.html

Jan. 27: CHERNUS: "Anarchism"

Jan. 29: CHERNUS: "World War I: The Critical Turning Point"

Jan. 31: CHERNUS: "A. J. Muste"; SHARP, 87 - 90; Kitterman, "Those Who Said No to the Holocaust"

Feb. 3: FIRST EXAM DUE

Mar. 12: SECOND EXAM DUE

Mar. 14: King, xii-xxi, 3 -38

Mar. 17: CHERNUS: "Martin Luther King, Jr.": ‘The Fundamental Ideas,’ ‘Sin And The Beloved Community,’ ‘Nonviolence’

Mar. 19: King, 29 - 62

Mar. 21: King, 63 - 82

Mar. 31: King, 83 – 106; CHERNUS: "Martin Luther King, Jr.": ‘Creating The Beloved Community In The U.S.’

Apr. 2: King, 107 - 134

Apr. 4: King, 135 -165, CHERNUS: "Martin Luther King, Jr.": ‘Beyond Civil Rights’

Apr. 7: King, 169 - 203

Apr. 9: Thich Nhat Hanh, 39 - 64

Apr. 11: Thich Nhat Hanh, 3 - 36

Apr. 14: Thich Nhat Hanh, 65 -85; CHERNUS: "Thich Nhat Hanh": ‘Foundations Of Buddhism’

Apr. 16: Thich Nhat Hanh: 87 - 106; CHERNUS: "Thich Nhat Hanh": ‘Buddhism And Nonviolence’

Apr. 18: Thich Nhat Hanh, 107 - 125

Apr. 21: Thich Nhat Hanh, 127 - 152

Apr. 23: CHERNUS, "Barbara Deming"

Apr. 25: Sharp, 3 - 32

Apr. 28: Sharp, 32 - 48, 63 - 74

Apr. 30: Sharp, 75 - 101

Your grade will be based on your demonstrated ability to apply critical thinking skills to the ideas discussed in the course. You will have three ways to demonstrate your skills:

1. Participation in class discussion.
2. Two brief (1 page) reflection papers, to be presented in class. Each paper will discuss one of the daily reading assignments. You are not to summarize the day's reading. You are to identify one question arising from the reading that you think is interesting for class discussion. State the question clearly, then give your answer and your reasons for your answer in a logical argument.

3. Two take-home essay exams (due Feb. 3 and Mar. 12) and a take-home essay final exam (due May 2). There will be no in-class exams in this course.
4. You can get some extra credit by helping me improve my book, which you will be reading on my website. I will appreciate any suggestions, especially about points that are not explained clearly or where the reading seems especially difficult. I want this book to be relatively easy for all students to understand. You can give me suggestions in writing or by sending emails as you read the text.

I will have office hours on Monday, 12:00 - 1:30, or by appointment, in Humanities 284.

Phone: 492-6169 (office); 449-6191 (home); email: chernus@spot.

If you need any special accommodations to enhance your learning in this course, I would be glad to discuss that with you.