2010 Courses

Courses for January Term 2010

RELB 1559: Buddhism in Fiction and Film [3]

Kurtis R. Schaeffer, Associate Professor

This course is an introduction to Buddhism and an exploration of the place of Buddhism within contemporary Asian, European, and North American cultures through fiction and film. By focusing upon the presence of Buddhist themes within contemporary novels and films produced throughout the world, the course encourages us to consider Buddhism (and religion in general) not as an ancient, monolithic, and isolated tradition but as a vibrant, adaptable, and contested aspect of modern global culture. The interpretive goals in each case are to identify possible Buddhist sources for narrative themes and, more importantly, to consider how, why, and by whom Buddhism is employed in recent film and fiction to address contemporary issues. A more general goal of the course is to illustrate that Buddhism is a complex social and cultural phenomenon that cannot be reduced to any simple doctrine.

 

RELJ 3559/RELG 3559: The Banality of Evil and Hannah Arendt [3]

Jennifer Geddes, Research Associate Professor

Hannah Arendt’s book Eichmann in Jerusalem: The Banality of Evil has shaped public conversations about evil ever since it was published over forty years ago. The course will question what Arendt really meant by the phrase. In the course, students will read into a range of Arendt’s writings, including the book itself in question. Students will also read some of the more important responses to it, including some of her later work on the activities of thinking, willing, and judging. Students will consider both the particularities of modernity that make “banal evil” possible and the implications for everyday life if thinking itself is construed as ethical action.