Kenyon College homepage Department of Religious Studies
Joseph Adler 
Religious Studies 481
RELIGION AND NATURE

Prof. Joseph Adler Fall 2002
Ascension 310 T-Th 2:40-4:00 (Per. D)
E-mail: adlerj@kenyon.edu Ascension 120
PBX 5290 Office hours: MW 3:15-4:30, TTh 1-2:15
This seminar examines various religious perspectives on the meaning and value of the natural world and the relationship of human beings to nature. The focus will be on environmental ethics in comparative perspective. We will look at Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Native American religions to see what conceptual resources they can offer to a contemporary understanding of a healthy relationship with the natural world. No prerequisites.


READING

Available in Bookstore:

  • Richard C. Foltz, ed., Worldviews, Religion, and the Environment: A Global Anthology
  • Thomas Berry, The Great Work: Our Way into the Future

On Course Reserve:

  • The HarperCollins Study Bible
  • Mary Evelyn Tucker and John H. Grim, eds., Worldviews and Ecology: Religion, Philosophy, and the Environment
  • David Landis Barnhill and Roger S. Gottlieb, Deep Ecology and World Religions
  • J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames, eds., Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought
  • The Pacific World, no. 6 (1990)
  • Kazuaki Tanahashi, ed., Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen
  • Religion and Ecology book series:
    • Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Berthrong, eds., Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans
    • Mary Evelyn Tucker and Duncan Ry ken Williams, eds., Buddhism and Ecology : The Interconnection of Dharma and Deeds
    • Christopher Key Chapple and Mary Evelyn Tucker, eds., Hinduism and Ecology: The Intersection of Earth, Sky, and Water
    • Dieter T. Hessel and Rosemary Radford Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology: Seeking the Well-being of Earth and Humans
    • N. J. Girardot, James Miller, and Liu Xiaogan, eds., Daoism and Ecology: Ways Within a Cosmic Landscape
    • John A. Grim, ed., Indigenous Traditions and Ecology: The Interbeing of Cosmology and Community

In Library Reference section:

  • The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion
  • The Encyclopedia of Religion

COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

  1. Participation (1/3 of grade). The seminar format requires regular attendance, completion of reading assignments, and active participation in discussion by all members. Necessary absences must be cleared in advance with the instructor; unexcused absences will result in a grade penalty.

  2. Written / oral reports (1/3): Two 3-5 page critical responses to specific readings, with short oral presentations in seminar.

  3. Research paper (1/3): A 12-15 page paper (plus bibliography) on one of the three traditions or topics you presented in seminar, using at least two additional books or articles (not counting web sources). The topic and preliminary bibliography must be discussed with me by Thursday, November 14. The paper will be due Friday, December 13, by noon.


    "Solitary Temple Amid Clearing Peaks" (detail),
    by Li Cheng (China, 10th century)
    Click here for whole painting

SEMINAR SCHEDULE

  Date Topic        Reading
1
Aug 27-29
Introduction
  • Foltz: Introduction, ch. 1, pp. 431-433
 
2
Sep 3
Modernity
  • Foltz: ch. 2
  • Tu Wei-ming, "Beyond the Enlightenment Mentality," in Tucker and Grim, Worldviews and Ecology [CR], pp. 19-29
Sep 5
Tribal cultures
  • Foltz: ch.3
 
3
Sep 10-12
Judaism
  • Foltz: ch. 8
  • Eric Katz, "Faith, God, and Nature: Judaism and Deep Ecology," in Barnhill and Gottlieb, Deep Ecology and World Religions [CR], pp. 153-168
  • Bible passages [CR]:
    Genesis 1:1-4:16; 6:1-9:17
    Leviticus 19:23-25, 22:28, 25:1-17
    Deuteronomy 20:19-20, 22:6-7, 25:4
    Psalms 8, 65, 89:6-13, 93, 104, 145:9-16, 147:7-9
    Proverbs 12:10
    Job 38-41
       
4
Sep 17-19
Christianity
5
Sep 24-26
Christianity
  • Hessel and Ruether, Christianity and Ecology [CR], Introduction and pp. 97-112, 497-514
       
6
Oct 1
Oct 3
Islam
South Asia
  • Foltz: ch. 10
  • Foltz: ch. 4
<< October Break >>
  
7
Oct 10
Emerging Religions
  • Foltz: ch. 11
       
8
Oct 15-17
Buddhism
  • Foltz: ch. 5
  • Brian Edward Brown, "Buddhism in Ecological Perspective," in The Pacific World, no. 6 (1990) [CR], pp. 65-73
9
Oct 22-24
Buddhism
  • Francis Cook, "The Jewel Net of Indra," in Callicott and Ames, Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought [CR], pp. 213-229
  • Graham Parkes, "Voices of Mountains, Trees, and Rivers: Kukai, Dogen, and a Deeper Ecology," in Tucker and Williams, Buddhism and Ecology [CR], pp. 111-125
  • Dogen, "Mountains and Waters Sutra," in Tanahashi, Moon in a Dewdrop [CR], pp. 97-107
       
10
Oct 29-31
China
  • Foltz: ch. 6
  • Joseph Adler, "Response and Responsibility: Chou Tun-i and Neo-Confucian Resources for Environmental Ethics," in Tucker and Berthrong, Confucianism and Ecology [CR], pp. 123-149
       
11
Nov 5-7
Japan
  • Foltz: ch. 7
  • William R. LaFleur, "Saigyo and the Buddhist Value of Nature," in Callicott and Ames, Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought [CR], pp. 183-208
       
12
Nov 12
Nov 14
Ecocentrism
Ecofeminism
  • Foltz: ch. 12
  • Foltz: ch. 13
       
13
Nov 19
Nov 21
New Cosmologies
Globalization
  • Foltz: ch. 15
  • Foltz: ch. 16, Appendix
<< Thanksgiving Vacation >>
  
14-
14 1/2
Dec 3-10
A Vision
  • Berry, The Great Work
 
Term papers due Friday, Dec. 13, at noon.

 

Summer Mountains
Summer Mountains After Rain,
by Kao K'o-kung (13th century)

Edit date: 9/18/02
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