RELIGION AND NATIONALISM

FALL 2001

EXAMS

FIRST BRIEF ESSAY (about 4 pages, double-spaced):

Choose any two (2) of the biblical traditions we study about nationalism and the land. Show how they relate to each other and interact with each other, both on a theoretical level and in the real history of biblical cultures and societies.

This essay is due in class on Sept. 25.

Essay # 2

Choose any two (2) of the biblical traditions / ideologies that we studied, and show how they interacted in the discourse in the discourse of U.S. nationalism, from colonial times through the rise to global power (up to and including presidency of Theodore Roosevelt). What happened when the two traditions / ideologies were brought together in the same body of U.S. nationalist discourse? In what ways did they fit together and reinforce each other? In what ways did they introduce contradictions or tensions in the discourse? What was the overall long-term impact upon the nation?

Essays should be 5-6 pages, double-spaced. The assignment covers material studied through Nov. 1. It is due in class on Nov. 8.