RELS 369: Religion and Sexuality
Spring 2008
MW 4:00-5:15 Butte 113
Instructor: Patricia (Micki) Lennon
Office hours: T 10-12, WF 12-1 and by appointment
Office: Trinity 234 Phone: 898-5263
Mailbox: Trinity 239 Email: plennon@csuchico.edu
Course Objectives:
This course will look at case studies from a number of different religious traditions—Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Native American traditions, and Neopaganism—to examine how these different religious traditions understand and construct sexual practices and identities. We will seek to understand the role religion plays in the construction of sexual norms and modes of expression, exploring questions such as:
•What rules have different religions used to regulate sexuality? What is the purpose of these rules? Why do certain issues (e.g. birth control, divorce, celibacy, homosexuality) become symbolically important in some religious communities but not others? How do religious regulations concerning sex relate to other cultural issues such as gender norms and sexual identities?
•Is religion sexually “repressive”? What is repression? Why have modern people tended to think of sexuality in terms of repression or liberation? What other models of sexuality have existed, historically and cross-culturally?
• How have different religions understood the connection between sexuality and holiness? Does giving up sex bring you closer to spiritual perfection? Is sex an avenue for becoming a more spiritual person?
The course will also explore some of the major theories of sexuality, examining how Freudian, Foucauldian, feminist and sociobiological theorists have attempted to understand sexuality and sexual identity in history, and examining the extent to which these theories are adequate for understanding the role religion plays in constructing, shaping, and regulating sexuality.
Course Texts:
Christel Manning and Phil Zuckerman, Sex and Religion
John Stevens, Lust for Enlightenment
Guy Comstock and Susan Henking, Que(e)rying Religion
Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, volume I
Course Reader, Available at Mr. Kopy
Course Requirements:
Attendance and Participation: 10% (100 points)
Weekly response papers 65% (650 points)
Research project 25% (250 points)
•Grading
Grading will be on a 1000 point scale. 935 or more points, A; 895-934 points, A-; 875-894 points, B+; 835-874 points, B; 795-834 points, B-; 775-794 points, C+; 735-774 points, C; 695-734 points, C-; 675-694 points, D+; 595-674 points, D; below 595, F.
Attendance and participation: 10% (100 points)
This will be a discussion-oriented course, so your attendance and participation is vital to its success. Your participation grade will be based on attendance, level of preparation for class, contributions to class discussion, and your listening skills. Depending on how class discussion goes in the first few weeks of class, you may also be asked to facilitate class discussion on certain dates during the semester; if so, your facilitation grade will be part of your attendance and participation grade.
Missing more than two class periods will negatively affect your grade. If you have a severe health crisis or some other emergency, please let me know as soon as possible.
Weekly papers: 65% (650 points)
At least once a week there will be a response paper (2-3 pages) due on the assigned readings for that day. Response papers should (a) briefly summarize, in 1-2 paragraphs, what you see as the main points of the readings; (b) raise some questions you would like to discuss further to in class; and (c) reflect on the points raised by the various authors.
Unless otherwise specified, each paper will be worth a maximum of 50 points. These papers may be turned in late, but late papers will automatically be penalized 25%.
Please be sure to staple your papers and to include your name, the class and the original due date of the paper in the top right-hand corner of the paper. If you are submitting a late paper, write “LATE” across the top and include the original due date. If I gave you an extension due to illness or some other serious reason, write “LATE, excused (brief explanation)” at the top. Please submit late work on the same day another assignment is due, so it doesn’t accidentally get misfiled. The last day I will accept late work for the class is May 14.
Research project: 25% (250 points)
Every student will be required to do a research project for the class. This may take the form of an 7-10 page research paper or a 25 minute group presentation. Group presentation dates are limited, however, and topics for those who want to present will have to relate in some way to the class topic for the day. Those writing research papers will have more flexibility in their research topics.
Possible topics for papers (this list is by no means exhaustive):
• Specific religious groups’ attitudes about different sexual issues, e.g. homosexuality and the new schism in the American Episcopal Church; Orthodox Jewish attitudes about birth control; third genders in Shia Islam; abstinence education in the American evangelical community; celibacy in the Buddhist tradition; Shinto attitudes about abortion, etc.
• The politics of representation: religious sexual scandals in the media, e.g. issues relating to the pedophilia scandal in American Catholicism; Victoria Woodhull’s exposure of the Beecher affair; representation of Mormon polygamy in the 19th century press; Orientalism and the depiction of Muslim sexuality in 19th century pornography (or in 21st century Christian weblogs); debates over the “berdache” as exotic sexual other
• Religious groups and legislating sexual morality, e.g. 19th century sexual purity campaigns; debates over censorship and the Hollywood movie code; debates over abortion legislation; the Comstock act and the regulation of birth control
• Sexual identity and religious communities, e.g. the “ex-gay” movement; Gay/Lesbian religious communities such as the Metropolitan Community Church; “Radical Faeries;” homosexuality in Christian, Buddhist, or Hindu monastic communities; debates over ordaining lesbian or gay rabbis, etc.
• Applying a specific theory of sexuality to a specific group, e.g. Freudian theory and Buddhist monastic life; can Foucault explain the anti-masturbation activists of the mid-19th century?; does sociobiology account for Tibetan Buddhist polyandry; etc.
• Looking at how a specific religious community in a specific historical period constructed sexuality, e.g. women in Greek mystery religions; beguines in medieval France; ecstatic sexuality in medieval Hindu bhakti; Algonquin Indian sexual practices prior to European contact; etc.
Research paper requirements:
•By March 5, you need to turn in a proposal for your paper. This proposal should be 1-2 paragraphs on your topic, and a preliminary bibliography of at least 5 scholarly sources.
•By April 7, you need to turn in an annotated bibliography of at least 4 sources. An “annotated bibliography” means that after the standard bibliographic entry, you write a 1-2 paragraph summary of each source, explaining its perspective and summarizing what it contributes to your project. This should be typed and double-spaced. (25 points)
•By May 7 you need to turn in a 1-2 page outline of your paper. The outline should contain your thesis followed by a detailed outline of the arguments you will be making in the paper. (If you prefer, you can substitute a rough draft of your paper for the outline). (25 points)
•Research papers are due on May 19 at 6 p.m. (200 points)
Group Presentation requirements
•Groups should be 2-5 members. Groups are expected to make time to meet with other members outside of class. Members who miss more than one group meeting can be expelled from the group. We will have sign-ups for group presentations sometime during the first month of class.
•By March 5, you need to turn in a proposal for your project. (One proposal per group). This proposal should be 2-3 paragraphs on your topic, and a preliminary bibliography of at least 5 scholarly sources. (25 points)
•One week before your presentation, every group member must turn in an annotated bibliography of 4 sources. (Four sources per group member, not per group; also, this part of the grade is graded individually). An “annotated bibliography” means that after the standard bibliographic entry, you write a 1-2 paragraph summary of each source, explaining its perspective and summarizing what it contributes to your project. This should be typed and double-spaced.
•One week before your presentation you need to meet with your instructor and go over the plan for your presentation with her.
Grading of group projects will be based on the following:
Proposal and meeting: 50 points
Group research: 50 points
Group organization/clarity: 50 points
Group originality/creativity/interactive component: 50 points
Annotated bibliography: 50 points [this part of the grade is individual]
Group presentation research must in some way relate to the topic we’re discussing in class on the date the group presents. Available dates (only one presentation possible per date):
March 24: Buddhism and/or sexual asceticism in any religious tradition
April 2: Gender roles and/or evolutionary biology as they connect to religion; Jewish or Christian views on sex
April 9: Gender roles or Islamic views on sex
April 28: Homosexuality and religion
April 30: Native American sexuality or homosexuality and religion or Transgender issues and religion
May 5: Hindu or Buddhist sexuality or Transgender issues and religion
May 14: Positive views of sexuality in any religious tradition; Neopagan or New Age sexuality
Other important issues:
·Plagiarism policy
Any instance of plagiarism or other academic dishonesty will result in an “F” for the course and a report of academic misconduct submitted to Student Judicial Affairs. If you borrow the ideas of others in composing your written work, they must be cited; if you borrow the words of others, they must be enclosed in quotation marks and cited. If you have any doubts as to whether or not something needs to be cited, play it safe and cite it—or ask me about it. Any standard citation format (MLA, APA, etc.) is fine.
Please note that material from the internet is still someone else’s work, and must be cited appropriately! If you are unsure of how to do this properly, consult the following website:
http://www.csuchico.edu/engl/Links/style_guide.html
· Students are required to keep a copy of all written assignments submitted to me, and to resubmit written work if required.
● Due to computer viruses I have received from students in the past, I can no longer accept work via email, and I will delete without opening it any email with an attachment—so if you’re writing to ask me a question, be sure not to attach anything! In some exceptional situations, I might allow you to submit something via email so that it is not marked as late, but if I do this, you must (a) submit the assignment in the body of the email, not as an attachment and (b) turn in a hard copy the next class period. I will not grade any assignment until I have received a hard copy of it.
· All written assignments should be typed, double-spaced, on standard 8 1/2 by 11 paper. Margins should be one inch on all sides. Please use a 12 point font. All assignments should include your name, class and section number, the day the assignment is due, and (for exams) the number of the question you are responding to or (for papers) the title of your paper. A title page is not necessary. All assignments must be stapled! If you turn in an assignment in which the pages are not stapled together, I accept no responsibility for lost pages. Please do NOT turn in assignments in binders or plastic covers.
· All assignments should be accompanied by a bibliography or works cited page, in addition to citations you use in the text.
•Students with certified disabilities
Please notify me of any special need relating to your disability within the first two weeks of the semester. I will make every reasonable effort to facilitate your success in this course. Please note that you may be required to show documentation of your disability.
If you have a documented disability that may require reasonable accommodations, please contact Disability Support Services (DSS) for coordination of your academic accommodations. The DSS phone number is 898-5959 V/TTY or FAX 898-4411. Visit the DSS website at <http://www.csuchico.edu/dss/>.”
Course Calendar
Please note that this calendar is subject to change if necessary. Also, all readings and assignments are DUE on the date they are listed. For example, by 1/30 you should have read chapter one of Manning and Zuckerman.
Manning and Zuckerman refers to Christel Manning and Phil Zuckerman, Sex and Religion. Stevens refers to John Stevens, Lust for Enlightenment. Que(e)rying Religion refers to Gary Comstock and Susan Henking, Que(e)rying Religion: A Critical Anthology. Foucault refers to Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality. Reader refers to the course packet (course reader) available at Mr. Kopy.
1/28: Introduction to the Course
1/30: Defining our terms: Religion, sex, sexuality, gender
Reading: Manning and Zuckerman, chapter 1
Unit One: Models of Sexuality in History: Jewish, Greco-Roman, 19th century American
2/4: Models of sexuality in the ancient world: Jewish, Greco-Roman, Christian
Reading: Christie Davies, “Religious Boundaries and Sexual Morality” (from Que(e)rying Religion); Manning and Zuckerman chapter 5.
2/6: Sexuality in the Jewish tradition. Response paper due
Reading: “Judaism” (including the selection from Jewish primary texts), Reader—also on e-reserve. In your response paper, be sure to respond to the texts from the Hebrew Bible and at least one of the other selections as well.
2/11: Sexuality in the ancient Greco-Roman tradition. Response paper due
Reading: John J. Winkler, “Unnatural Acts: Erotic Protocols in Artemidoros’ Dream Analysis” and Peter Brown, “Body and City,” both in Course Reader. Optional: K.J Dover, “Greek Homosexuality and Initiation” (in Que(e)rying Religion).
2/13: Victorian models of sexuality
Readings: Steven Marcus, “Acton on Sexuality;” Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, “The Masturbation Scare and the Rise of Reform Physiology.” (Reader)
2/18: The Sexualized “Other” in the 19th century
Readings: Selections from The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk (London: Canova Press, 1969); Peter Gardella, “Protestant Reactions: Anti-Catholic Pornography;” Jenny Franchot, “Two ‘Escaped Nuns’: Rebecca Reed and Maria Monk;” William Kephart and William Zellner, “The Oneida Community.”(All in Course reader)
2/20: The Oneida Community Response paper due
Readings: Selections from Spencer Klaw, Without Sin: The Life and Death of the Oneida Community (Course Reader)
Your response paper should talk about the Oneida community and also at least one of the readers from 2/13 or 2/18.
Unit Two: Theories of Sexuality: Freud, Evolutionary Biology, Feminist, Foucauldian, and Queer Theory
2/25: Freudian theory of sexuality
Reading: William Graham Cole. “Sigmund Freud” (Reader)
2/27: Freud’s theory of sexuality: Victorian or modern? Response paper due
Reading: Sigmund Freud, “Infantile Sexuality;” Sigmund Freud. “Female Sexuality.” (Reader)
3/3: Shifting models of sexuality: The Road to Wellville
Film
3/5: Is sexual asceticism really sexual repression? RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSAL DUE
Readings: Manning and Zuckerman, chapter 6
3/10: Christian asceticism: the monastic tradition Response paper due
Readings: Peter Brown, “Make to Yourself Separate Booths” (Reader)
3/12: Buddhism and the desire to end desire
Readings: Stevens chapter 1 (The sex life of the Buddha); Manning and Zuckerman ch. 3.
3/24: Asceticism v. family life in the Buddhist tradition. Response paper due. Possible group presentation.
Readings, Stevens chapter 2 and chapter 5 (“Extinguish the Flames” and “Love, Marriage and Sexual Morality;” Kim Gutschow, “Why Nuns Cannot Be monks.” (Reader)
3/26: Gender, sexuality, and biology: theories from evolutionary psychology
Readings: Sarah Hrdy, “The Primate Origins of Human Sexuality” and “A Disputed Legacy.”(Reader)
4/2: Evolutionary psychology, gender, and religion Response paper due. Possible group presentation.
Michael S. Kimmel, “Ordained by Nature: Biology Constructs the Sexes;” Catherine Salmon, “The Pornography Debate: What Sex Differences in Erotica Can Tell About Human Sexuality;” Janet Smith, “Pope John Paul II and Humanae Vitae;” Mary Rousseau, “Pope John Paul II’s Teaching on Women”. (Reader)
4/7: Religion, gender, and the regulation of female sexuality. Annotated bibliographies due for those writing papers.
Readings: Manning and Zuckerman, chapter 9; Carolyn Moxley Rouse, “Gender Negotiations and Quranic Exegesis.”(Reader)
4/9: Sexuality in Islam Response paper due. Possible group presentation.
Readings: Fatima Mernissi, “The Muslim Concept of Active Female Sexuality” and “Regulation of Female Sexuality,” (Reader).
4/14: Regulating homosexuality in the monotheistic traditions. Response paper due
Readings: Robert Kirschner, “Halakhah and Homosexuality: A Reappraisal;” Gwen B. Sayler, “Beyond the Biblical Impasse: Homosexuality through the Lens of Theological Anthropology,” both in Reader. Also, two of the following essays from Que(e)rying Religion (we will have sign-ups in class): Saul Olyan, “And With a Male You Shall Not Lie the Lying Down of a Woman;” Michael Warner, “Tongues Untied: Memoirs of a Pentecostal Boyhood,” Shahid Dossani, “Being Muslim and Gay;” Everett Rowson, “The Effeminates of Early Medina; Ellen Umansky, “Jewish Attitudes towards Homosexuality;” Mary Rose D’Angelo, “Women Partners in the New Testament;” Andrew Sullivan, “Alone Again, Naturally;” Margarita Suarez, “Reflections on Being Latina and Lesbian;” Renita Weems, “Just Friends.” (All from Que(e)rying Religion).
4/16: Challenging the repressive hypothesis: Foucault
Readings: Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality.pp. 1-74 (parts 1,2, and 3 of the book, if you have a different edition).
4/21: Foucault and sexual identity Response paper due
Readings: Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, pp. 75-159 (part 4, if you have a different edition)
4/23: Foucault and Queer Theory
Readings: Mary McClintock Fulkerson, “Gender: Being it or doing it? The Church, Homosexuality, and the Politics of Identity” from Que(e)rying Religion; Eve Kosofsky Sedgewick, “Axiomatic” (Reader)
4/28: Religion and sexual identity: the legacy of Foucault Response paper due. Possible group presentation.
Readings: These essays from Que(e)rying Religion: Pierre J. Payer, “Foucault on Penance and the Shaping of Sexuality;” John Boswell, “Concepts, Experience, and Sexuality;” E. Ann Matter, “Discourses of Desire: Sexuality and Christian Women’s Visionary Narratives.”
4/30: Complicating issues of gender and sexual identity: Transgender issues. Possible group presentation.
Readings: Will Roscoe, “We’wha and Klah: The American Indian Berdache as Artist and Priest” (in Que(e)rying Religion; Sabine Lang, “Various Kinds of Two-Spirited People,” (Reader); Judith Plaskow, “Dismantling the Gender Binary Within Judaism: The Challenge of Transgender to Compulsory Heterosexuality.” (Reader)
5/5: “Third genders” in South Asia Response paper due. Possible group presentation.
Readings: These chapters from Que(e)rying Religion: Eli Coleman, Philip Colgan and Louis Gooren, “Male Cross-Gender Behavior in Myanmar: A Description of the Acualt;” Nicholas Bradford, “Transgenderism and the Cult of Yellamma: Heat, Sex and Sickness in South Indian Ritual.” Also Manning and Zuckerman, chapter 2.
5/7: Sacred sex in South Asia: Tantra. Outlines due for those writing papers.
Readings: Stevens, chapter 3 “The Jewel in the Lotus: Buddhist Tantra;” David Gordon White, “The blood of the Yogini: Vital and Sexual Fluids in South Asian Thought and Practice.” (Reader) Also, this essay from Que(e)rying Religion: Jeffrey Hopkins, “The Compatibility of Reason and Orgasm in Tibetan Buddhism: Reflections on Sexual Violence and Homophobia.”
5/12: Sacred Sex in New Age and Neopagan religions. Response paper due
Readings: Sarah Pike, “All Acts of Love and Pleasure are my Rituals,” (Reader) Catherine Yronwode, Various Essays from http://www.luckymojo.com/sacredsex.html Oberon Zell, “Free Love: On Neopagan Sexual Ethics” http://www.waningmoon.com/darkpagan/lib/lib0042.shtml
(Note that the latter two readings are websites and are NOT in the course reader).
5/14: Sacred Sex in the Monotheistic traditions. Possible group presentation.
Readings: Melissa Raphael, “Refresh Me With Apples, for I am Faith With Love”; Selections from Ed and Gaye Wheat, Intended for Pleasure; Abdelwahab Bouhdiba, “The infinite orgasm.” (Reader)
5/19: Research papers due at 6 p.m. in the regular classroom.
This syllabus is subject to change if necessary.