Vernon Schubel

First Year Seminar: Introduction to Asian and Middle East Studies

AMES 101

This course is designed to introduce students to the study of Asia and the Middle East within the context of the global humanities. It serves as a sampler, which will expose students to the rich diversity of Asian and Islamicate humanities. The seminar will explore a wide range of primary sources from different places and historical periods. These may include such diverse materials as the memoirs of the medieval Mulim traveler Ibn Battuta, "The Analects of Confucius," readings from the "Vedas" and "Upanishads," Farid ud din Attar's "The Conference of the Birds," Kurosawa's "Rashomon," Rabindranath Tagore's "The Home and The World," short fiction from the modern Palestinian author Ghassan Kanafani and examples of contemporary Chinese science fiction.This interdisciplinary course does not count toward the completion of any diversification requirement. Only open to first-year students.

Senior Seminar: Asia in Comparative Perspective

AMES 490

This capstone seminar is taught by Asian Studies Program faculty in rotation and is organized around a common theme that integrates the various disciplines and regions of Asia. Through readings, films, guest lectures and other activities, the course will lead students to synthesize their academic and personal (e.g., off-campus) experiences in a broader comparative perspective. Students will produce work that examines one or more topics of their own interest within the comparative Asian framework. Required for Asian studies concentrators and joint majors. Permission of instructor required. This interdisciplinary course does not count toward the completion of any diversification requirement. No prerequisite. Offered every spring.

Senior Seminar: Asia in Comparative Perspective

ASIA 490

This capstone seminar is taught by Asian Studies Program faculty in rotation and is organized around a common theme that integrates the various disciplines and regions of Asia. Through readings, films, guest lectures and other activities, the course will lead students to synthesize their academic and personal (e.g., off-campus) experiences in a broader comparative perspective. Students will produce work that examines one or more topics of their own interest within the comparative Asian framework. Required for Asian studies concentrators and joint majors. Permission of instructor required. No prerequisite. Offered every spring.

Encountering Religion in Its Global Context: An Introduction

RLST 101

This course includes brief introductions to four or five major religious traditions, while exploring concepts and categories used in the study of religion, such as sacredness, myth, ritual, religious experience and social dimensions of religion. Traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism and Native American traditions are presented through their classic scriptures and traditional practices. Readings vary among sections but typically include important primary sources on Hindu thought and practice (e.g., the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-gita), Buddhist thought and practice ("The Questions of King Milinda," "The Heart Sutra"), Jewish life and thought (selections from the Hebrew Bible, "The Sayings of the Fathers"), Christian origins (one or more Gospels, selected Pauline letters), Islam (selections from the Qur'an and Sufi mystical poetry), Confucianism (the Analects), Taoism (the Tao Te Ching) and modern expressions of religion (e.g., Martin Buber's "I and Thou"). Many of the primary sources are studied in conjunction with relevant secondary sources (e.g., Rudolf Otto's "The Idea of the Holy," important articles by anthropologists of religion). This counts toward the core course requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every semester.

Islam's Diverse Paths: An Introduction to the Islamic Tradition

RLST 240

This course serves as an introduction to the religion of Islam, a diverse tradition that includes more than a billion adherents and is a dominant cultural element in a geographical region that stretches from Morocco to Indonesia. This course focuses primarily on the development of Islam and Islamic institutions from the time the Prophet Muhammad through the emergence of the Sufi tradition as a primary expression of Muslim piety in the late medieval period. Special attention will be given to the rise and development of Sunni, Shi'i and Sufi pieties as distinctive responses to the event of the Qur'anic revelation throughout the history of Islam. This counts toward the Islam and South Asian religions requirement course for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every fall.

Hinduism in its Religious Context: An Introduction to South Asian Religions

RLST 250

The South Asian subcontinent has been the home of a fascinating array of religions and religious movements. Focusing on Hinduism, this course will examine the development of religious practice in South Asia and the interaction of competing religious ideas over time. The course will include discussions of Indus Valley religion, Vedic Brahmanism, Jainism and Buddhism, the Upanishads, classical Hinduism, Bhakti, Islam and modern Hinduism. This counts toward the Islam and South Asian religions requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every other year.

Seminar on Sufism

RLST 340

This course will examine some of the important ideas, personalities and institutions associated with Islamic mysticism. Students will read and discuss important primary and secondary sources on such topics as the development and organizations of Sufi tariqahs, Sufi mystical poetry, the nature of the Sufi path and Sufi psychology. A crucial aspect of the course will be an examination of the role of the veneration of "holy persons" in Islamic piety. This counts toward an elective for the major. Prerequisite: RLST 240 or HIST 166 or permission of instructor. Offered every two years.

Islam in North America

RLST 347

This course will examine Islam in contemporary North America and Canada. It will explore such topics as the diversity of the Muslim community, the relevance and practice of Islamic law in a secular society, the problem of Islamophobia, and issues of race, ethnicity and gender among North American Muslims. This counts as an elective for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every two years.

Approaches to the Study of Religion

RLST 390

This course acquaints students with major theoretical approaches to the academic study of religion. The course will cover phenomenological, psychoanalytical, sociological and anthropological approaches to religion. Authors to be discussed will include Frazer, Marx, Freud, Weber, Durkheim, Eliade, Lévi-Strauss, Douglas, Geertz and Turner. This counts toward the core course requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every fall.

ST: What is Islam?

RLST 391

Seminar on Sufism

RLST 440

This seminar will examine some of the important ideas, personalities and institutions associated with Islamic mysticism. Students will read and discuss important primary and secondary sources on such topics as the development and organizations of Sufi tariqahs, Sufi mystical poetry, the nature of the Sufi path and Sufi psychology. A crucial aspect of the course will be an examination of the role of the veneration of "holy persons" in Islamic piety. This counts as an elective for the major. Prerequisite: RLST 240 or HIST 166 or permission of instructor. Offered every two years.

Voices of Contemporary Islam

RLST 443

This course will explore some of the crucial issues and debates in the contemporary Muslim world. Issues to be examined will include the compatibility of Islam with democracy, the connections between Islam and terrorism, the role of Wahhabism in the construction of contemporary Islamic movements, feminist movements within Islam, Islam and pluralism and Sufism in the contemporary context. The course will focus on primary sources, including writing by Khaled Abou el Fadl, Amina Wadud and Osama bin Laden. This counts as an elective for the major. Prerequisite: RLST 240 or HIST 166 or 264 or permission of instructor. Offered every two years.

Individual Study

RLST 493

The department reserves individual studies to highly motivated students who are judged responsible and capable enough to work independently. Such courses might entail original research, but usually they are reading-oriented, allowing students to explore in depth topics that interest them or that supplement aspects of the major. Students may pursue individual study only if they have taken all the courses offered by the department in that particular area of the curriculum. An individual study course cannot duplicate a course or topic being concurrently offered. Exceptions to this rule are at the discretion of the instructor and department chair. Students must secure the agreement of an instructor to provide guidance and supervision of the course. The instructor and student agree on the nature of the work expected (e.g., several short papers, one long paper, an in-depth project, a public presentation, a lengthy general outline and annotated bibliography). The level should be advanced, with work on a par with a 300- or 400-level course. The student and instructor should meet on a regular basis, with the schedule to be determined by the instructor in consultation with the student. Individual studies may be taken for 0.25 or 0.5 units, at the discretion of the instructor. A maximum of 0.50 units of IS may count towards major or minor requirements in RLST department. A student is permitted to take only one 0.5-unit class of IS in the department (one 0.5-unit course or two 0.25-unit courses). A student must present a petition with compelling reasons in order to obtain special permission to take an additional IS course. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study preferably the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek departmental approval before the established deadline. Prerequisite: GPA of at least 3.0. Exceptions (e.g., languages not taught at Kenyon are granted at the discretion of the instructor, with the approval of the department chair.)\n