The Pluralism Project at Harvard University
World Religions in the Lens of America: The Problematic of Pluralism
Religion 1007 / Divinity 3330Professor Diana L. Eck
Fall Term 1993
Introduction
Sept. 21: Introduction: The Religions of America
Sept. 23: Introduction: The Problematic of Pluralism
Reading: E. Allen Richardson, Strangers in this Land (Pilgrim Press, 1988). Begin reading. You should read through chapter 3.
Chicago: Comparing the Parliaments
Sept. 28: The World's Parliament of Religions: Chicago, 1893
Sept. 29: Film: "Blue Collar and Buddha" About the Laotian Buddhist Community in Rockford, Illinois
Sept. 30: Parliament of the World's Religions: Chicago, 1993
Reading: Richard Hughes Seager, "Pluralism and the American Mainstream: The View from the World's Parliament of Religions." In Harvard Theological Review 82:3 (1989) 301-24. Speeches from the Parliament (Charles Carroll Bonney, John Henry Barrows, Vivekananda, Anagarika Dharmapala). On Reserve: Richard Hughes Seager, ed. The Dawn of Religious Pluralism: Voices from the World's Parliament of Religions, 1893.
Images of America: First Encounters
Oct. 5 : Christian America: The American myth then and now
Oct. 7 : Native America: The land, the "frontier," the encounter
Reading: Robert T. Handy, A Christian America, rev. 1984, Chapters 1-4. Isaac M. Fein, Boston - Where it All Began, An Historical Perspective of the Boston Jewish Community, Chapter 1. Chief Joseph, "An Indian's View of Indian Affairs," North American Review, (April 1, 1879). Christopher Vescey, ed. Handbook of American Indian Religious Freedom, Prologue, Chapters 1, 4, and 5.
Images of America: Models of Diversity
Oct. 12: Immigrant America: The story of the Melting Pot
Oct. 14: Looking East: The story of Asian Exclusion
Reading: Philip Gleason, "The Melting Pot: Symbol of Fusion or Confusion?" American Quarterly (Spring 1964) and E. Allen Richardson, Strangers in this Land, through Chapter 3.
Oct. 19: Protestant, Catholic, Jew [Guest Lecture by Richard H. Seager]
Oct. 21: Beyond the "Triple Melting Pot"
Reading: Will Herberg, Protestant, Catholic, Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology, (1955 reprinted 1983). John Courtney Murray, "The Civilization of the Pluralist Society" in We Hold These Truths, Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition. 1960.
Buddhism in America
Oct. 26: Buddhism in America: From the "Boston Buddhists to "Beat Zen" and Beyond
Oct. 27: Talk by Helen Tworkov, editor of Tricycle, The Buddhist Review. Part of the Buddhist Studies Forum. 4:15 p.m.
Oct. 28: Buddhism in America: The Streams of the "New Buddhists"
Reading: Rick Fields, How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America, rev. 1992.
Pluralism Project Fall Conference
Oct. 29-31: Pluralism Project Fall Conference: Religious America 1993. One Hundred Years After the World's Parliament of Religions. This will begin at 4:00 p.m. Friday, with introductions. The evening session Friday will be Perspectives on the 1993 Parliament of theWorld's Religions. There will be sessions from 9:00 to 5:00 on Saturday and from 9:00 to 12:00 on Sunday.
Buddhist Immigrant Communities
Nov. 2: Buddhism in America: Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian
Nov. 3: "Becoming the Buddha in LA" Film about Buddhism through the lens of the city of Los Angeles and "Rebuilding the Temple" Film about the Cambodian Experience in the U.S.
Nov. 4: Buddhism in America: The Problematic of Pluralism
Nov. 6: Visits to Cambridge Zen Center, Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, Dharmadhatu, and other Buddhist Centers in Boston area.
Hinduism in America
Nov. 9: Hinduism in America: Vivekananda, Yogananda and the Spiritual Mission of Hindus to the West
Nov. 11: Veterans' Day Holiday
Reading: Raymond Brady Williams, Religions of Immigrants from India and Pakistan: New Threads in the American Tapestry, 1988.
Nov. 13: Visit to Sri Lakshmi Temple, Ashland on the occasion of Deepavali, the Festival of Lights
Nov. 16: Hinduism in America: The new immigration and the building of the temples
Nov. 18: Hinduism in America: the mingling of the Ganges and the Misssissippi
Reading: Hinduism Today, Clippings and Pamphlets. Xerox Packet
Nov. 23: Film: "Pilgrimage to Pittsburgh"
Islam in America
Nov. 30: Islam in America: From African America Slave Religion to the Nation of Islam
Dec. 1: Films: "Arabs in America" and "Tale of Two Mosques"
Dec. 2: Sunni Islam and the Nation of Islam
Reading: Yvonne Haddad, ed. The Muslims of America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).
Dec. 7: Islam in America: The Immigrant Communities
Dec. 9: Islam in America: The Problematic of Pluralism
Dec. 10: Visits to Boston area mosques
Reading: Yvonne Haddad, ed. The Muslims of America
Theories and Questions
Dec. 14: Multiculturalism and Pluralism: New Questions
Dec. 16: Mediating Institutions in the Encounter of Religions: the Courts, the Schools, the Interfaith Councils, the Hospitals
Reading: Charles Taylor, Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition (1992) or Michael Walzer, What it Means to be an American (1992).
Requirements:
1. Participation in Discussion
2. Critical reflection paper (4pp.). Due in class on Oct. 21.
3. Critical reflection paper (4pp.) Due in class on Dec. 16.
4. Final Term paper (approximately 25 pages)
Bibliography:
Bellah, Robert. The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in Time of Trial (New York: Seabury Press, 1975).
Fields, Rick. How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America (Boston: Shambala, 1992).
Haddad, Yvonne. The Muslims of America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).
Handy, Robert T. A Christian America: Protestant Hopes and Historical Realities (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971).
Herberg, Will. Protestant, Catholic, Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1955 reprinted 1983.
Hunter, James Davidson. The Culture Wars (New York: Basic Books, 1991).
Richardson, E. Allen. Strangers in this Land: Pluralism and the Response to Diversity in the United States (New York: The Pilgrim Press, 1988).
Seager, Richard. The Dawn of Religious Pluralism: Voices from the World's Parliament of Religions, 1893 (LaSalle, Illinois: Open Court, 1993).
Takaki, Ronald. Strangers from a Different Shore, A History of Asian Americans (New York: Penguin, 1989).
Taylor, Charles. Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).
Vescey, Christopher, ed. Handbook of American Indian Religious Freedom (New York: Crossroad, 1991).
Walzer, Michael. What it Means to be an American (New York: Marsilio, 1992).
Williams, Raymond Brady. Religions of Immigrants from India and Pakistan: New Threads in the American Tapestry (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988).