SUMMER SCHOOL COURSE OFFERINGS IN

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE

1. GARY GILBERT

RLST 135 – JERUSALEM THE HOLY CITY

3 week – Monday-Friday, 1:00-4:00 PM, May 23 to June 10

Optional Israel Trip Follows

Summer School Course Description: Survey of the religious, political, and cultural history of Jerusalem over three millennia as a symbolic focus of three faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Focus on the transformation of sacred space as reflected by literary and archaeological evidence by examining the testimony of artifacts, architecture, and iconography in relation to the written word. Study of the creation of mythic Jerusalem through event and experience, and discussion of the implications of this history on Jerusalem's current political situation.

Info: /summer/

Israel Trip Description: There will also be a 10-day travel option to Israel, and an option to participate in an archaeological dig in Akko, Israel. In addition to the accelerated study session, students will have the opportunity to visit many sites covered in the course, including the Old City, City of David, several neighborhoods in the western and eastern parts of Jerusalem, and major cultural sites such as the Israel Museum and Yad Vashem. For the Optional Israel Trip read:

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If you are interested in the Israel travel program, please contact Prof. Gilbert(ggilbert@cmc.edu) as soon as possible.

2. GASTÓN ESPINOSA

RLST 138 or HIST 153 – AMERICAN RELIGIOUS HISTORY

3 Weeks – Monday-Friday, 1:00-4:00 PM – June 13-July 1st.

This discussion-based seminar analyzes American religious history from colonialism to present through readings, speakers, films, and field trips. It will trace the distinctive history and beliefs of Native American, Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Occult traditions in the U.S. It will then critically assess how their religious founders, ideas, and movements have brought about social change in religion, politics, gender, and race relations through case studies on topics
like Spanish and English colonization; Founding Fathers, Deism, and Revolution; the Scopes Monkey Trial; the Feminist movement; the Black and Chicano Civil Rights movements; the Religious Right and New Left; and Barack Obama and the 2008 Election.

We will also watch documentary film clips, bring in Catholic, Pentecostal, Hindu, and/or Mormon guest speakers, and offer optional extra credit field trips to museums and/or a Muslim Mosque, an Evangelical Church – Saddleback Community Church, and Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple, the largest Buddhist Temple in the U.S. The goal is to make the class highly engaging, lively, and interactive. We will conclude our class with a final lunch or dinner. For more information see:

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