Course Schedule for Summer 2019

Applied Research Methods

Studying and understanding social phenomena requires the ability to understand and conduct rigorous, methodologically sound research as well as proficiency in evaluating the research of others. Learning to think scientifically is a particular skill that will serve students well in thinking critically about the theories they learn throughout their academic careers. How do we know that theories are valid? What evidence can we bring to bear to support or refute them? What are possible alternate explanations for the phenomena we observe? This course will introduce students to an array of quantitative and qualitative methods in an applied, practical manner. Students will learn the basics of data collection and management, survey methodology, how to use and interpret linear and maximum likelihood statistical models (logit/probit), process tracing, content analysis, basic experimental design for social science, social network analysis, interview and focus group techniques as well as practical and logistical issues of field work. The elements of good research design will also be woven throughout the course.

Pilgrimage, Travel, and Tourism

“Only thoughts reached while walking have value,” wrote Nietzsche. Religions seem to have a similar view. Pilgrimage has been a wide-spread aspect of most religions, through most historical periods. This course will examine the relation of travel (in its many guises) to religion from pilgrimage to common tourism. Classic and contemporary theories of pilgrimage will provide the backdrop. The majority of the course, however, will focus on the present day and on contexts that are not explicitly religious by reading travel accounts by Henry Miller, Alphonso Lingis, and Jack Gilbert, as well as five films. The point of the course, then, is to examine why travel is so important religiously and how all travel, even tourism, is religiously significant.

Note: This is a MALS foundational course.

MALS Thesis Prop. Wksp. (HT)

Effective Fall 2013, (a) this course will carry an automatic program fee of $500, (b) may only be taken once after receiving an "Incomplete" in Thesis Writing, and (c) has been re-numbered from 991/992. If students do not complete Thesis Writing, s/he must register in the next semester in "MALS Thesis Continuous Registration I" which carries a $500 fee charge, is 0-credits and is part-time status. Students may take "MALS Thesis Continuous Reg. I" only once. If the student decides to withdraw from Thesis Writing before the deadline, s/he can pursue the 36-cr./Coursework degree plan. No exceptions will be considered.

Note: Must have completed 7 courses (21 crs); must have 3.0 cum GPA. Must have confirmed thesis mentor and topic prior to enrollment and must attend all 4 workshop sessions: 5/20, 6/3, 6/17 and 7/1.

Memory, Culture, Power

Did Disney’s Davy Crockett shape your vision of what happened at the Alamo in 1836? Is Lincoln’s legacy affected by the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall? If the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin was so wildly popular and effective in the cause of abolition, why do few go near the novel now? This course invites students to explore how collective memory of events, people, and ideas is shaped in powerful ways by cultural texts. Cultural texts include art, literature, film, television, monuments, and memes. As interpretations of these cultural texts move and change with each generation, our collective memory of the past moves and changes. While the course texts are largely grounded in nineteenth-century voices and episodes, this is not a course on nineteenth-century history. Rather, the material is designed to allow students to move fluidly backwards and forwards in time to interrogate the nature of memory and the fluidity and durability of cultural formation and consumption.

Social Brain, Moral Mind

This course examines advances from cultural anthropology, social psychology, moral psychology, and neuroethics that are impacting conceptions of human nature, our proclivity to be social, and our capacity to be moral. The implications of these developments on theories of ethics are explored.

Note: This is a hybrid course. Meets every other week online.

The Problem of Evil

If God is all-good and all-powerful, why does evil exist? This question is known as the “problem of evil,” and it poses a substantial challenge to all monotheistic faith traditions, as well as a serious obstacle to the reconciliation of religion and reason. Not surprisingly, therefore, the problem of evil has been fervently studied and debated for millennia, including by many of the greatest theologians and philosophers in human history. The problem will not be resolved any time soon. Even in the absence of an “answer,” however, studying the problem of evil provides an opportunity to examine fundamental questions of how the moral universe is structured and what our role in that universe should be. In other words, because the problem of evil deals with what it means to be a human being who interacts with — and therefore suffers from the actions of — other human beings, the natural world, and possibly a deity, the problem resides at the core of human self-contemplation, inextricably intertwined with the ultimate dilemmas of our creation, existence, and death. This course will examine the problem of evil and some of the most prominent theories that have been advanced in response to it. We will discuss the Old Testament (particularly the books of Genesis and Job), the theology of St. Augustine, and attempts by modern academics and clergy to respond to the problem. We will analyze the extent to which each response is effective, logically sound, and otherwise desirable. We will also take a higher-level view of the question, discussing what the problem of evil means for theologians and philosophers today, and what areas of future inquiry might prove most fruitful.