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Courses in Literary Arts The following courses, taught by Dr. Kathleen Henderson Staudt, fulfill the requirement in Religion and the Arts: RA 142: The Language of Grace: Theology in Modern Literature The readings in this course offer a "window" through which we can look out from the theological academy onto the secular world and find language for what we understand as the workings of grace. A guiding assumption of our work together will be that the process of learning to read and understand fictional worlds helps train us to read, understand and perhaps re-envision our lived experience in new and creative ways. In various ways, the readings encourage us to examine critically and imaginatively the theological and philosophical assumptions that shape a fictional world, and to consider how these assumptions affect the characters who move through that world. The process of reading literature together also challenges us to test our own theological assumptions and to consider critically how these affect our interpretations of experience and of scriptural story. Literary works read in this context offer fresh images and invite new dialogue, even across apparent barriers of theology, culture, and ethnicity. They thus serve our common need, as pastors, ministers and others involved in ministries of proclamation, to find and create fresh images and languages that will interpret issues of faith for a modern and increasingly secularized audience. Authors read include Willa Cather, Flannery O'Connor, Shusaku Endo, Alan Paton, Clyde Edgerton, Anne Tyler and others. RA144: Scripture in Literature The Bible has been a source of inspiration, meditation and prophetic witness throughout the centuries. In this course, we will explore how a number of writers from a variety of cultural perspectives have retold and reinterpreted stories from Scripture . Writers to be studied will include John Milton, Renita Weems, Frederick Buechner, Lucille Clifton, Denise Levertov, James Weldon Johnson and others. This course will invite students to explore how imaginative approaches to Scripture can open and deepen their understanding of the Biblical story and enliven their ability to interpret and reflect on Scripture in their ministries. The following course, team-taught by Dr. Staudt and Dr. Douglas Strong, Professor of Church History, does not fulfill the requirement in Religion and the Arts: CH 372: Literary Contexts for American Religious History In this course we explore American religious experience through the lens of various works of 19th and 20th century American fiction. Readings include works by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Wilson, Rebecca Harding Davis, and Flannery O'Connor. We will practice reading and interpreting these works in light of their theological content and historical context. |
