Ira Chernus  
PROFESSOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER

 

SYLLABUS

 

RLST 4800                                                                                   SPRING 2007

RELIGION AND NONVIOLENCE                                                   Prof. Ira Chernus

 

            This course will examine some of the connections between religion and the tradition of principled nonviolence.  The course will focus on the two main sources of the nonviolence tradition as it is practiced in the U.S. today:  Christian nonviolence in U.S. history and Gandhi’s teaching of nonviolence in India.  We will also study a classic critique of nonviolence offered by the Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.

 

REQUIRED READINGS:

Staughton & Alice Lynd, eds.,  Nonviolence in America

Ira Chernus, American Nonviolence:  The History of an Idea

Mahatma Gandhi: Selected Political Writings, ed. Dennis Dalton

These readings are available at the Lefthand Bookstore, 1825 Pearl  Street, 2nd floor.  They are usually open noon-9 weekdays; call 443-8252 to check exact hours.  They take cash or check; no credit cards.

Other readings will be available online, linked from the online version of this syllabus at:

http://spot.colorado.edu/~chernus/Courses/4800/index.html  

 

OFFICE HOURS: 

Monday 1:30 - 2:30 and Wednesday 1:00 - 2:00 or by appointment, in HUMN 284

phone: 492-6169; email: chernus@colorado.edu       

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

 

SCHEDULE OF READING ASSIGNMENTS:

 

Jan. 29:  CHRISTIAN ROOTS:  16TH - 18TH CENTURIES

CHERNUS:  Introduction, Chapter 1, “The Anabaptists,” Chapter 2, “The Quakers”; LYND: xi-xvii, 1, 2  (Assignments in LYND are by Document number; roman numerals refer to the Introduction)

 

Feb. 5:  THE 19TH CENTURY

CHERNUS:  Chapter 3, “The Abolitionists,” Chapter 4, “Henry David Thoreau,” Chapter 5, “Anarchists”;  LYND: xvii- xxiii, 3 - 8

 

 

Feb. 12:  GANDHI

CHERNUS: Chapter 4, “Mahatma Gandhi”; GANDHI: 3 - 22 (There is a glossary in the GANDHI book to help you with terms.  There is a more detailed glossary at http://www.mkgandhi-sarvodaya.org/glossary.htm)

You will see the film Gandhi in today’s class. Please plan to stay until 6:00 PM if you can, to see the whole film. 

 

Feb. 19:  GANDHI: 29 - 91

 

Feb. 26:  GANDHI: 97 - 151

 

Mar. 5:  THE 20TH CENTURY REVIVAL OF NONVIOLENCE

CHERNUS: Chapter 6, “World War I”; LYND: xxiv- xxviii, 13 - 18;     EXAM # 1 DUE

 

Mar. 12:  NIEBUHR: THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS

CHERNUS: pp. 111 - 119; Web Readings:  Selections from Niebuhr, Moral Man and Immoral Society, Section 1, 2, 3

 

Mar. 19: NIEBUHR: CRITIQUE OF NONVIOLENCE

CHERNUS:  pp. 119 - 126; WEB readings:  Summary Of Chapter 3; Selections from Moral Man and Immoral Society, Sections 4, 5, 6, 7

 

April 2: PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS IN MID-CENTURY

CHERNUS: Chapter 9,  “A. J. Muste,” Chapter 10, “Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement”; LYND: 19 - 21, 37A&B;

WEB readings: Kitterman, “Those Who Said No to the Holocaust,” Sharp, “Norway and Berlin”

 

April 9: THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

CHERNUS: Chapter  11, “Martin Luther King, Jr.”; LYND: xxviii-xxxv, 23, 25, 26, 27,  28, 29, 31, 32;        

April 11: EXAM # 2 DUE 

April 16:  THE VIETNAM WAR ERA

CHERNUS: Chapter 12, “Barbara Deming”; LYND:  xxxv-xl, 33, 35, 38 - 41, 44, 45

 

April 23:  BUDDHIST NONVIOLENCE

CHERNUS: Chapter  13, “Thich Nhat Hanh”

 

April 30: NONVIOLENCE TODAY

LYND, xli-xlvi, 50 - 56; CHERNUS: “Conclusion”

 

May 3:  EXAM # 3 DUE

 

 

EVALUATION:

            Your grade will be based on your demonstrated ability to understand the ideas discussed in the course.  You will have three ways to demonstrate your understanding:

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.  (A sign-up sheet will be circulated in class for presentations.)

3.   Three take-home essay exams, due March 5, April 9, and May 3.  The questions will be distributed well in advance. There will be no in-class exams in this course.