printer friendly pageRELIGST 41: Just Religion: Spirituality, Social Action, and the Climate Crisis
This course explores how certain religions--Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism--have addressed the ecological crisis, and how they might be drawn upon to address climate change in the future. Preserving the distinctiveness of each religious tradition, this seminar examines: the issue of religion as the cause of the environmental crisis; the resources for ecological responses within each tradition; the emergence of new religious ecologies and ecological theologies; the contribution of world religions to environmental ethics; and the degree to which the environmental crisis has functioned--and will function--as the basis of inter-faith collaboration. We will work to develop a shared vocabulary in environmental humanities, and special attention will be given to the contribution of religion to animal studies, ecofeminism, religion and the science of ecology, and the interplay between faith, scholarship and activism. But this class will be more: students will learn by engag
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This course explores how certain religions--Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism--have addressed the ecological crisis, and how they might be drawn upon to address climate change in the future. Preserving the distinctiveness of each religious tradition, this seminar examines: the issue of religion as the cause of the environmental crisis; the resources for ecological responses within each tradition; the emergence of new religious ecologies and ecological theologies; the contribution of world religions to environmental ethics; and the degree to which the environmental crisis has functioned--and will function--as the basis of inter-faith collaboration. We will work to develop a shared vocabulary in environmental humanities, and special attention will be given to the contribution of religion to animal studies, ecofeminism, religion and the science of ecology, and the interplay between faith, scholarship and activism. But this class will be more: students will learn by engaging in social action. As our readings are put into practice through community campaigns that address real-world problems, my hope is that your knowledge of these sources will be deepened -- and challenged -- by what you learn in your social action campaigns, and that you will develop a more critical and thoughtful understanding of public issues and community change through action and reflection. Thus, this course is an action-oriented, solutions-based, course on community activism and an exercise in civic democracy. Cardinal Course certified by the Haas Center.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
Instructors:
Mayse, E. (PI)
RELIGST 141: Between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, JR.: Race, Religion, and the Politics of Freedom (AFRICAAM 221, AMSTUD 141X, CSRE 141R, HISTORY 151M, POLISCI 126)
Malcolm X (El Hajj Malik El Shabazz) and Martin Luther King, Jr. are both icons of the twentieth-century civil rights and black freedom movements. Often characterized as polar opposites - one advocating armed self-defense and the other non-violence against all provocation - they continue to be important religious, political, and intellectual models for how we imagine the past as well as for current issues concerning religion, race, politics and freedom struggles in the United States and globally. This course focuses on the political and spiritual lives of Martin and Malcolm. We will examine their personal biographies, speeches, writings, representations, FBI Files, and legacies as a way to better understand how the intersections of religion, race, and politics came to bare upon the freedom struggles of people of color in the US and abroad. The course also takes seriously the evolutions in both Martin and Malcolm's political approaches and intellectual development, focusing especially o
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Malcolm X (El Hajj Malik El Shabazz) and Martin Luther King, Jr. are both icons of the twentieth-century civil rights and black freedom movements. Often characterized as polar opposites - one advocating armed self-defense and the other non-violence against all provocation - they continue to be important religious, political, and intellectual models for how we imagine the past as well as for current issues concerning religion, race, politics and freedom struggles in the United States and globally. This course focuses on the political and spiritual lives of Martin and Malcolm. We will examine their personal biographies, speeches, writings, representations, FBI Files, and legacies as a way to better understand how the intersections of religion, race, and politics came to bare upon the freedom struggles of people of color in the US and abroad. The course also takes seriously the evolutions in both Martin and Malcolm's political approaches and intellectual development, focusing especially on the last years of their respective lives. We will also examine the critical literature that takes on the leadership styles and political philosophies of these communal leaders, as well as the very real opposition and surveillance they faced from state forces like the police and FBI. Students will gain an understanding of what social conditions, religious structures and institutions, and personal experiences led to first the emergence and then the assassinations of these two figures. We will discuss the subtleties of their political analyses, pinpointing the key differences and similarities of their philosophies, approaches, and legacies, and we will apply these debates of the mid- twentieth century to contemporary events and social movements in terms of how their legacies are articulated and what we can learn from them in struggles for justice and recognition in twenty-first century America and beyond.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, WAY-EDP
Instructors:
Martin, L. (PI)
RELIGST 150: Texts that Changed the World from the Ancient Middle East (COMPLIT 31, HUMCORE 111, JEWISHST 150)
This course traces the story of the cradle of human civilization. We will begin with the earliest human stories, the Gilgamesh Epic and biblical literature, and follow the path of the development of law, religion, philosophy and literature in the ancient Mediterranean or Middle Eastern world, to the emergence of Jewish and Christian thinking. We will pose questions about how this past continues to inform our present: What stories, myths, and ideas remain foundational to us? How did the stories and myths shape civilizations and form larger communities? How did the earliest stories conceive of human life and the divine? What are the ideas about the order of nature, and the place of human life within that order? How is the relationship between the individual and society constituted? This course is part of the Humanities Core:
https://humanitiescore.stanford.edu/
Last offered: Autumn 2022
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
SLE 92: Structured Liberal Education
Focusing on great works of philosophy, religion, literature, painting, and film drawn largely from the Western tradition, the SLE curriculum places particular emphasis on artists and intellectuals who brought new ways of thinking and new ways of creating into the world, often overthrowing prior traditions in the process. These are the works that redefined beauty, challenged the authority of conventional wisdom, raised questions of continuing importance to us today, and - for good or ill - created the world we still live in. Texts may include: Augustine, the Qur'an, Dante, Rumi, Machiavelli, Montaigne, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Las Casas, Descartes, Locke, Mill, Schleiermacher, and Flaubert.
Terms: Win
| Units: 8
| UG Reqs: College, GER:DB-Hum, GER:IHUM-2, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing SLE
Instructors:
Galvez, M. (PI)
;
Hulstyn, M. (PI)
;
Kleinbock, E. (PI)
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Instructors:
Galvez, M. (PI)
;
Hulstyn, M. (PI)
;
Kleinbock, E. (PI)
;
Morstein, T. (PI)
;
Osgood, M. (PI)
;
Sabol, J. (PI)
;
Salvidea, G. (PI)
SOC 8: Sport, Competition, and Society
This course uses the tools of social science to help understand debates and puzzles from contemporary sports, and in doing so shows how sports and other contests provide many telling examples of enduring social dynamics and larger social trends. We also consider how sport serves as the entry point for many larger debates about the morality and ethics raised by ongoing social change. There is a one hour discussion section required for this course.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Freese, J. (PI)
;
Htut, S. (PI)
;
Casey, E. (TA)
;
Chan, A. (TA)
;
Htut, S. (TA)
;
Jin, O. (TA)
;
Mernyk, J. (TA)
;
Ren, T. (TA)
SOC 18N: Ethics, Morality, and Markets
Markets are inescapably entangled with questions of right and wrong. What counts as a fair price or a fair wage? Should people be able to sell their organs? Do companies have a responsibility to make sure algorithmic decisions don't perpetuate racism and misogyny? Even when market exchange seems coldly rational, it still embodies normative ideas about the right ways to value objects and people and to determine who gets what. In this seminar, we will study markets as social institutions permeated with moral meaning. We will explore how powerful actors work to institutionalize certain understandings of good and bad; unpack how particular moral visions materially benefit some groups of people more so than others; examine the ways people draw on notions of fairness to justify and contest the market's distribution of resources and opportunities; and consider who has agency to build markets according to different normative ideals. Most course readings are empirical research, so we will also critically discuss how social scientists use data and methods to build evidence about the way the world works.
Last offered: Winter 2020
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, WAY-SI
SOC 187: Ethics, Morality, and Markets (SOC 287)
Markets are inescapably entangled with questions of right and wrong. What counts as a fair price or a fair wage? Should people be able to sell their organs? Do companies have a responsibility to make sure algorithmic decisions don't perpetuate racism and misogyny? Even when market exchange seems coldly rational, it still embodies normative ideas about the right ways to value objects and people and to determine who gets what. In this course, we will study markets as social institutions permeated with moral meaning. We will explore how powerful actors work to institutionalize certain understandings of good and bad; unpack how particular moral visions materially benefit some groups of people more so than others; examine the ways people draw on notions of fairness to justify and contest the market's distribution of resources and opportunities; and consider who has agency to build markets according to different normative ideals. Most course readings are empirical research, so we will also critically discuss how social scientists use data and methods to build evidence about the way the world works.
Last offered: Autumn 2021
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, WAY-SI
SOMGEN 140Q: The Beginning: the Brain, the Womb, and the Elusive Definition of Life
Can we pinpoint the precise moment that a human life begins? If so, what do we do with that information? Together we will chart the path between conception and birth with particular focus on the fetal brain and the placental interface. What can biology tell us and where are the gaps? In the absence of a definitive answer, what spiritual traditions, ethical frameworks, and reasoning might we rely on to orient us? Grounded in biology, we will survey a diverse spectrum of attitudes about personhood, fate, and personal responsibility that can be applied to urgent issues in reproductive rights.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Braun, A. (PI)
SPANLANG 108SL: Advanced Spanish Service-Learning: Migration, Asylum & Human Rights at the Border
Students develop advanced Spanish language proficiency through examination of issues surrounding current immigration and refugee crises. There will be class discussions of Central American contexts, international treaties, human rights, and U.S. immigration law. Class will include expert commentary from legal and mental health professionals, human rights specialists, migrants, and refugees. Legal, medical, and psychological implications of migration will be examined. Students should enroll in the companion course
HUMRTS 108 to receive units for volunteer hours performed throughout the quarter, concurrent with class meetings and assignments. Service-learning opportunities will entail working directly with Spanish-speaking immigrant and asylum seekers in detention in the U.S. Due to COVID-19, all service-learning hours will be performed remotely. Taught entirely in Spanish. Cardinal Course (certified by Haas Center). Prerequisite: Prerequisite: completion of SPANLANG 13, 23B, or placement test equivalent to
SPANLANG 100 or higher.
SPANLANG 108SL is a requirement for
HUMRTS 108.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Brates, V. (PI)
SUSTAIN 140: Environmental Humanities: Finding Our Place on a Changing Planet (BIO 184, ENGLISH 140D)
The rapid degradation of our planet threatens the health and survival of communities and ecosystems around the world. How did we get here? What cultural, philosophical, and ethical challenges underlie the separation of humanity from nature and precipitate unprecedented ecological destruction? How can we make sense of this, and how can we reimagine a more connected future? Through engaging the work of environmental philosophers, cultural ecologists, artists, humanities scholars, Indigenous leaders, and others with land-based knowledge, this course will prompt you to think deeply about humanity's place in the world and explore strategies to change our course. Together, we will explore contrasting cultural paradigms around human-nature relationships and apply learnings to action - including through final projects that involve external audiences in meaningful environmental contemplation or impact.
Last offered: Autumn 2022
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
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