Summer 2010

Professor:  Tracy Pintchman

Email:  tpintch@luc.edu

Office Hours:   M/W 8:00-9:00 AM or by appointment

In this course we explore Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam, looking in particular on these religions in practice in the modern Mediterranean world. We will explore popular Catholicism in Italy, including the worship of saints and Madonnas, healing practices, and local festivals.  We will also examine the religious lives of Kurdish and Yeminite elderly women living in Jerusalem, Israel and the ways their concerns and practices relate to those of “official” Judaism.  Finally, we will explore recent religious violence in Bosnia and the way the popular religious constructions of hatred continue to feed religious violence in the modern world.  At the end of the course, we will reexamine what it is one learns through an approach to the study of religion that emphasize practice “on the ground” that cannot be learned through textual, historical, theological, or philosophical approaches. 

The course will include field trips during class hours to (1) the Vatican, (2) the oldest synagogue in Rome and the surrounding Jewish neighborhood, and (3) the Mosque/Islamic Center of Rome.  THERE WILL BE A FIELD TRIP FEE of about $75 for admission/guided tour charges related to the required field trips (the exact amount will be determined in April).  

Required Texts

Michael P. Carroll, Madonnas that Maim: Popular Catholicism in Italy since the 15th Century

Susan Starr Sered, Women as Ritual Experts:  The Religious Lives of Elderly Jewish Women in Jerusalem

Michael Sells, The Bridge Betrayed:  Religion and Genocide in Bosnia

Learning Objectives

Knowledge Area:  Theological and Religious Studies Knowledge

Skill:  Critical Thinking

Value:  Diversity in the World

Requirements

1.       Participation/preparedness (15%). You are expected to be present for every class, including the field trips. You are expected to be prepared.  On days that we are discussing reading, you should have finished all the reading before coming to class.   For every unexcused absence or lack of preparedness, I will deduct one point from the participation grade

2.      Three field trip papers (4 pages each), due the class after the field trip (10% each = 30%).  The papers should follow the following format.  You might need to do a bit of research on your own and listen carefully to the guides on our tours. And be sure to included references to sources, including internet sources, pamphlets, the guides, and so forth.  (1)  What is this site?  Who built it?  Why/when was it built, and for what reasons?  (about 1 page).  (2)  Describe the site.  What are the most significant factors in the physical setting/layout, and why are they significant?  What is the meaning of this site to worshippers? (about 2 pages).  (3) What drew your attention in particular?  Why?  What is significant about this factor? (about 1/2 page).  (4) What is most striking to you about your own experience of this site?  Explain.  (about ½ page).   NOTE: If you do not go on the field trip, you cannot turn in a field trip paper and hence will receive a zero.  I will not accept papers based on trips you do on your own, since you will not have the benefit of the guide we have chosen to lead us.  The only exceptions made will be for excused absences (please see below).  If you have to miss a field trip because of illness or another legitimate reason, you will then in fact have to do the trip on your own. However, I cannot refund field trip fees, as they are based on group rates.

3.      Three quizzes, one on each book the day it is scheduled to be discussed in class (10% each=30%): I will give these quizzes at the beginning of class (see the schedule below), and they cannot be made up.  They will be based on class lecture and readings due the day of the quiz.  

4.      Final exam (25%):  These will consist of essay questions and perhaps some objective questions on materials covered in the course, especially the three books we have read.

Attendance policy in this class follows the official Rome Center rules: “In order for a student to be excused from class, he/she must present to the professor of each of his/her classes a written note of excuse…. The only authorized notes are those from a Doctor, the Director, the vice director, the assistant Director, or the Associate Dean of Students.”  A doctor’s or nurse’s note is necessary for excused absences due to illness.  Travel is NOTconsidered a valid excuse for missing classes or turning in late assignments.

Schedule of Classes

May 24    Introduction to class:  Introduction to Catholicism;  FILM, “Rome, Leeds, and the Desert” (50 minutes)

May 26:  field trip to Vatican:  Meet at the Vatican at 9 AM

Reading:  Browse Vatican website

             Start Reading Madonnas that Maim

May 31:  FIELD TRIP PAPER DUE

       QUIZ and discussion of Madonnas that Maim   

Reading:  Madonnas that Maim (ALL)

June 2:   Introduction to Judaism; Film on Judaism, “The Chosen People”

Reading:  Start Reading Women as Ritual Expert

June 7:  Field trip to the synagogue of Rome, synagogue museum, and walking tour of the Jewish Ghetto

Reading:  continue reading Women as Ritual Experts 

June 9:  FIELD TRIP PAPER DUE

QUIZ and discussion of Women as Ritual Experts

Reading:  Women as Ritual Experts (ALL)

June 14:  Intro to Islam lecture/ Bosnian War/ Film on Islam, “There is No God but God”

Reading:  Start reading The Bridge Betrayed

June 16: Field trip to the Mosque:  meet there at 9:30 AM

Reading:  continue reading The Bridge Betrayed

June 21:  FIELD TRIP PAPER DUE

 QUIZ and discussion of The Bridge Betrayed /Film, “Yugoslavia:  Death of a Nation”

Reading:  The Bridge Betrayed (ALL)

June 23:   FINAL EXAM