Language and Religion:

Topics Course:  E103 (Section #21961)
  October 24, 2007

Link to Oncourse
Click on `IUB' and enter login and password.

Instructor: Prof. Robert F. Port  Office hours:  TR 11-12.

Assistant Instructor: Chung-lin (`Martin') Yang  cy1@indiana.edu


Course Goals:

1. To examine some of the speech styles (chant, group prayer, song, speaking in tongues, etc) used by many religious traditions.

2. Appreciate the influence of literacy and writing on sacred texts in various traditions.
3.  Understand why translation is a never-ending problem for religious..

4. Learn ways religions use language to implement religious principles.

5. Learn something about unfamiliar religious practices, although critical evaluation of beliefs is not our goal.
6. Gain some perspective on the history of human culture and major population movements.

General Procedures

1.  A midterm exam and a final exam.
2. You are expected to do the week's reading BEFORE Monday lecture.
3.  About 10 brief usually unannounced quizes will be given in lecture. But the first one is this Thursday in lecture on this week's reading.
4. There will be about 8 graded homeworks. 
5.  Students will write 2 fieldtrip reports about a religion they are not familiar with.
6. This syllabus will be updated on the course webpage regularly.  Keep checking it.

Field Trips and Other Basic Information

Syllabus


Week 1. (August 27, 29)   What is a religion? The case of Shinto
Read:  1. Burke, 1-12
            2.  Shinto page  at `ReligiousTolerance.org'. A nice quick summary of many features. (about 5 pages)

          3.  How can we talk about religion in class?
Further recommended reading:  Shinto from Wikipedia.

Port’s lecture notes on Shinto.         
 
Week 2. (September 3, 5) What is a language? How do languages work?

              Read:  1. How does language work? (from Wikibooks.org with some editing)  and
                          2.  Design Features of Language  (by R. Port revised from Charles Hockett)  

                          3.  Listen to: Abbot and Costello's `Who's on First?'.  This famous comedy skit reminds us how ambiguous language is and should make you think about how amazing it is that we can somehow use this system for reliable communication.  The whole skit depends on using some common English words and phrases as personal names, leading to confusion.  The main violation of common sense is that the one who produces the confusing speech refuses to acknowledge that it is confusing.
                Homework 1 due Monday Sept 10.


Week 3.  (Sept 10, 12)  Writing
  1.  Excerpts from Walter Ong’s `Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word’ (1982)
  2.  History of Writing - notes by RP

Homework 2.   A couple problems involving writing.  Due in lecture, Mon, Sept 117.  


Week 4.  (Sept 17, 19)  Hinduism

        Read 

  1. Burke, Chapter 1, Hinduism, pp. 15-38
  2. Bhagavad Gita excerpts, pp. 51-60.      

Recommended additional material.


Week 5. (Sept 24, 26)  Indo-European Language Family and Oral  `literature'

Read:

  1. Why do languages change? Edited
  2.   Reconstructing the Proto-Indoeuropean language (or PIE) Edited

Chart of Indo-European language family: simple,  more detail  Neither chart shows Sanskrit on the Indic branch.



Week 6. (October 1, 3) Buddhism in General and in Tibet.

Read:

Week 7  (Oct 8, 10) Confucianism
        Midterm Exam Wednesday - covers through week 6

Read: 

  1. Burke  Chapter 4, pp. 121-140 (Confucianism)
  2. Confucian texts, pp. 143-154

 

Week 8   (Oct 15, 17)  Taoism, Zen Buddhism and Language

             Read:

  1. Burke, Chapter 5 (156-171) and 6 (Chinese and Zen Buddhism) pp 189-200.
  2. Linguistic distortion of reality: Defending Zen on language (by R. Port)
  3. A page of Koans   (by R. Port)
  4. Zen approach to swordplay   (A couple paragraphs from D. T. Suzuki `Zen and Japanese Culture', 1952

 

Week 9   (Oct 22, 24)   Islam and Arabic Language

Read: 

  1.  Burke chapter 8, pp. 265-285
  2. Introduction to Islam. (a website at ReligiousTolerance.com), Parts 1 and Part 2.
  3. Sufi Poetry
  4. Reading on Arabic language from Wikipedia. Read `Varieties of Arabic'


Homework on Islam

Recommended: For information on the population size and growth of major world religious movements, see:

  http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm

Week 10  (Oct 29, 31)  Judaism

    Read:  Burke  Chapt 7. pp 213-241.  

 

 Week 11  (Nov 5, 7) Christianity Sketch
               Read: Burke: chapter 9,  312-341

  1. Revivalism Notes
  2. Jonathan Edwards ``Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God'' (sermon excerpt)
  3. Jonathan Edwards ``Letter about Revival of Religion in Northampton, 1736-1742'' (excerpt)
Week 12 (Nov 12, 14, 19) Protestantism and the `Great Awakening’ in America
       Read:  1. Article about The Great Awakening   This article is my copy and lacks the illustrations.
      To see the illustrations see this version of the same article.

        2.  A Virginia Baptist Church and Pastor John Sherfey    by Jeff Todd Titon (excerpts)

      3. Port's Notes on Protestant preaching and religious services
Thanksgiving Break (Wed, Nov 21 - Sun, Nov 25)

Week 13   (Nov 26, 28) Translation of Sacred Texts

       Read:   

  1. Revised Standard Version:  Acts 2 and Mark 16 (especially the last few verses, 11-20) 
  2. A Pentacostal Revival  by Jeff Todd Titon  (excerpts)
  3. Comparing Bible translations. 
  4. Port's notes "The Problem of Translation 
  5. Zondervan Bibles, Inc: Scale of Literalness of Translation.


Homework about translation
Final Homework on Instinct.

Recommended: These readings are part of a collection of good essays on Bible translation by Scott Munger.
          http://www.gospelcom.net/ibs/niv/munger/   Read Sections 5.0-5.4 (in 5 successive web pages)
Another good reading is by Herbert Wolf: `When literal is not accurate'.
          http://www.gospelcom.net/ibs/niv/mct/12.php

Week 14   (Dec 3, 5) Minor Religions (Santeria) and Why Religion?
       Read:  Burke


Our final exam is 7:15 pm Friday, Dec 14 in our regular classroom.

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