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What is the relationship between religion, democracy, and human rights? What is the status of religion within modern human rights regimes? Do religions have "special" rights in democracies? Why did the French outlaw the hijab (Islamic headscarf) and the Swiss the building of mosques and is that good for human and democratic rights? What is (and what should be) the relationship between religious human rights and democratic self-determination? How do we balance between concerns over blasphemy and free speech, in the case of the Danish cartoon depiction of Mohammad, for example? Is the idea of "religion" even useful in human rights or democratic language anymore, as some now claim? These are just some of the questions students will take up as they are introduced to several important areas within the larger field of religion and international relations.nnReadings are interdisciplinary in nature, and include case studies. No prerequisite. Open to all majors/minors, and will be particularly beneficial to students in International Relations, International Policy Studies, Political Science, and Religious Studies, as well as students with specific regional political interests where the themes of the course are especially relevant (e.g., Middle East, Latin America, Russia and Eastern Europe, Africa, and so on) and Pre-Law students.

This course engages the question of the self through the exploration of art, literature, religion, philosophy, and pop culture. Through close, guided readings and analysis of classic, contemporary, as well as popular materials, we will attempt to both understand and complicate the notion of the self and inquire into the personal, social, and political relationships that define its contours and boundaries. Course content will be drawn from a diverse but complementary range of thinkers including: Plato, Plotinus, Ibn al-Arabi, Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, William Blake, Guy Debord, Cormac McCarthy, and Friedrich Nietzsche. We will also interrogate what films such as Christopher Noland¿s Memento, images such as Manet¿s `Bar at the Folies Bergère, and countercultural musical movements such as punk rock and black metal have to add to our inquiry. Short lectures will contextualize the topics treated, but the main focus will be on fostering robust and substantive discussion and developing the philosophical skills needed to think through and debate the notion of the self and its attendant issues in a reflective and nuanced manner. By drawing from different eras and cultural contexts, we will gain a new appreciation for the historical background of the existential questions that concern us today, while confronting the radical diversity of possible responses. The seminar¿s ultimate aim is to engage with multimedia materials that help you develop, articulate, and ultimately, live out your own personal response to a very pressing question: ¿Who am I?¿

Prerequisite: consent of instructor and department. May be repeated for credit.