SYLLABUS

 

RLST 4050, sec. 002                                                                    SPRING 2009

RELIGION AND NONVIOLENCE                                                   Prof. Ira Chernus

TR 12:30 - 145; HUMN 335

 

            This course will examine some of the connections between religion and the tradition of principled nonviolence.  We will trace the history of nonviolence movements in the U.S. from colonial times to the present, with special attention to the influence of Christian theology and the teachings of Gandhi.  We will also study a classic critique of nonviolence offered by the Christian theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.  Although we will give some attention to practices and tactics of nonviolence, the emphasis will be on the intellectual traditions, the logical arguments for nonviolence, and the historical contexts in which those ideas arose.

 

REQUIRED READINGS:

Staughton & Alice Lynd, eds.,  Nonviolence in America

Ira Chernus, American Nonviolence:  The History of an Idea

Mahatma Gandhi, The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, ed. Raghavan Iyer

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 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM Monday through Saturday and noon - 6:00 PM Sunday. Call 443-8252 to make sure they are open.  

The books were not ordered through the CU Bookstore.

The Lynd and Gandhi books are also on reserve in Norlin Library.

 

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

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

You will also find a link there to the text of Chernus, American Nonviolence

 

SCHEDULE OF READING ASSIGNMENTS:

 

Jan. 15: CHERNUS: Introduction and Chapter 1, “The Anabaptists”

 

Jan. 20: CHERNUS: Chapter 2, “The Quakers”; LYND: xi-xvii, 1, 2  (Assignments in LYND are by Document number; roman numerals refer to the Introduction)

 

Jan. 22:  CHERNUS: Chapter 3, “The Abolitionists”; LYND: xvii-xxi, 3, 4; readings:  Whipple, “Evils of the Revolutionary War”

 

Jan. 27: CHERNUS: Chapter 4, “Henry David Thoreau”; LYND: 5

 

Jan. 29: CHERNUS: Chapter 5, “Anarchists”; LYND: xxi-xxiii, 7 - 9

 

Feb. 3:  CHERNUS: pp. 75 - 82; LYND: xxiv-xxv, 12 - 15

 

Feb. 5: NO CLASS

 

Feb. 10: CHERNUS: pp. 83 - 90; LYND: xv-xxviii, 16 - 18

 

Feb. 12: CHERNUS: Chapter10, “Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement”;  LYND: 37A&B

 

Feb. 17: FIRST EXAM DUE IN CLASS

Please make time to watch the film Gandhi.  It is nearly 3 hours long, but you won’t be bored.

 

Feb. 19: CHERNUS: pp. 91 – 99; GANDHI: 136, 137, 140-147, 61, 65, 70, 75-83, 104, 123, 125, 126  (Assignments in Gandhi are by Selection number.  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)

 

Feb. 24:  CHERNUS: pp. 99 – 103; GANDHI: 148-155, 157, 161-176

 

Feb. 26:  CHERNUS: pp. 103 – 110; GANDHI: 186-194

 

Mar. 3:  GANDHI: 195-210, 213, 219

 

Mar. 5:  GANDHI: 35, 37, 40, 48, 223-264

 

Mar. 10:  CHERNUS: pp. 111 – 116; readings:  Selections from Niebuhr, Moral Man and Immoral Society, Section 1

 

Mar. 12: CHERNUS:  pp. 116 - 119; readings:  Summary Of Moral Man And Immoral Society Chapter 3; Selections from Niebuhr, Moral Man and Immoral Society, Sections 2 and 3

 

Mar. 17:  readings:  Selections from Niebuhr, Moral Man and Immoral Society, Section 4

 

Mar. 19: CHERNUS:  pp. 119 - 122; readings:  Selections from Niebuhr, Moral Man and Immoral Society, Sections 5 and 6

 

Mar. 31: readings:  Selections from Niebuhr, Moral Man and Immoral Society, Section 7; CHERNUS: pp. 122 - 126

 

Apr. 2:  SECOND EXAM DUE IN CLASS

Apr. 7: CHERNUS: Chapter 9,  “A. J. Muste”; LYND: 19-21; readings: Kitterman, “Those Who Said No to the Holocaust”; Sharp, “Norway and Berlin”

 

Apr. 9: LYND: xxviii-xxxv, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31

 

Apr. 14: CHERNUS: Chapter  11, “Martin Luther King, Jr.”; LYND: 27, 32

 

Apr. 16:  LYND:  xxxv-xl, 33, 35, 38-41

 

Apr. 21:  NO CLASS

 

Apr. 23:  CHERNUS: Chapter 12, “Barbara Deming”; LYND: 44, 45

 

Apr. 28: CHERNUS: Chapter  13, “Thich Nhat Hanh”

 

Apr. 30: CHERNUS: “Conclusion”; LYND, xli-xlvi, 50-56

 

 

EVALUATION:

Your grade will be based on:

1.  Participation in class discussion. 

2.   Three take-home essay exams. The first two exams are due in class on Feb. 17 and Apr. 2, The third exam is a take-home final exam, due Tuesday, May 5.  The questions will be distributed well in advance. There will be no in-class exams in this course. 

 

Each students is also expected to present two brief (1 page) reflection papers, to be presented in class.  These will not be graded. 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.)

OFFICE HOURS: 

I will have office hours Tuesday 11:00 - 12:00 and Wednesday, 1:00 - 2:00, or by appointment

            office: 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.