Carolyn
Jones Medine
Associate
Professor of Religion and African American Studies
medine@uga.edu
Office: 19 Peabody Hall Telephone: 542-5356 (messages)
Office
Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 11-12 and by
appointment
This
course is part of my work in progress. It looks at some of the new areas of
thinking, foci of theory, that are emerging in theory and literature:
1.
Postcolonial
Melancholy: The notion that there is an unresolved grief in the postcolonial
world that haunts both oppressor and oppressed.
2.
Memory: A continuing theme in postmodern and
postcolonial studies. When one does not have power in political terms, memory
becomes a form of agency , power, and recovery.
3.
Hospitality:
Since 9/11, perhaps the most significant theme emerging. How do we greet the
stranger, the ÒotherÓ in the proper way? A way that is humanizing to guest and
host.
4.
Practice:
This is a word that is being throw n around a lot. Here we want to begin to
interrogate its practicality and meaning.
Jacques
Derrida, Of Hospitality
Jenny
Edkins, Trauma and the Memory of Politics
Foucault,
Michel, History of Sexuality: The Care of the Self, Vol. 3
Paul
Gilroy, Postcolonial Melancholia
Toni
Morrison, Song of Solomon
Arthur
Sutherland, I Was a Stranger:
Christian Theology of Hospitality
Additional
readings: I sent you Pierre Nora. I will send you copies of my work on
hospitality and other things as needed.
Requirements:
1.
Reading Journal and Class Attendance 30%
ThereÕs
a book called Writing Your Dissertation in 15 Minutes a Day. Of course,
the title is a teaser, in a lot of ways, but one thing it recommends is using a
writing journal. The book recommends keeping it by your work—books and
computer—so that when you are stuck, you can free write or make
notes. And, when you are done for
the day, you can plan your next dayÕs work. I didnÕt have this recommendation,
and I wish I had.
I
would recommend buying a bound journal or notebook. What I want you to do is to
make reading notes of the books for the class. Sometimes IÕll ask you to reflect on something. Other times,
you can just write. Form is up to you!
2.
Presentation on a Practice
(15 min) 30%
Apply the
material on practice that we talk about to a personal practice or to a
religious practice in which you are interested. Present that practice to the
group.
3.
A thesis chapter—or at least half of one 40%
Mostly, I want
this course to be a movement towards getting a theoretical framework for your
thesis. So, write!
All
academic work must meet the standards contained in the University of Georgia
student handbook, ÒA Culture of Honesty.Ó Each student is responsible to inform
himself or herself about those standards before performing any academic work.
Brief
Outline of the Course: Details and changes will be announced in class. The course syllabus is a
general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the
instructor may be necessary.
August
16: Introduction
to the Course and Thinking about the
Study of Religion:
Reading as a Professional
August
21: Postmodern
and Postcolonial: How did we get here?
August
23: Continued.
I.
Mourning and Melancholia in the Postmodern World:
August
28: Freud,
ÒMourning and MelancholiaÓ (handout)
September
6: Gilroy, Postcolonial Melancholia (pages to be announced)
September
11: Gilroy
September
13: Gilroy
September
18: Pierre Nora (sent as attachment to listserv)
September
20: Pierre Nora
September
25: Toni Morrison
September
27: Morrison, Song of Solomon
October
2: Song
of Solomon
October
4: NO
CLASS
October
9: Song
of Solomon
October
11: Memory
and Politics: WhatÕs the deal? Edkins, Trauma and the Memory of
Politics
October
16: Politics,
continued/Derrida (Just the Derrida side)
IÕll
send you an attachment of a piece I wrote on hosptiality
October
18: NO
CLASS
October
23: Sutherland
October
25: Fall
Break
October
30: Sutherland
Catch-up:
Where are we now?
November
6: Foucault, The History of Sexuality (pages to be announced) and IÕll tell you
what I know (handouts).
November
8: Foucault, continued.
November 13: Foucault
November
16: Presentations: 15 min. each
November
20-23: No Class: See you at AAR in San Diego
November
27: Presentations on Practice
November
29: Wrap-up: What do we think are the implications for/of all this stuff?
December
6: Final things