Syllabus
Women in the Biblical World
Fall 1998: Albright College
Required Textbooks:
Carol Christ & Judith Plaskow, Womanspirit rising
Tikva Frymer-Kensky, In the wake of the goddesses
Deborah Sawyer, Women and religion in the first Christian centuries
A modern translation of the Bible
Class Home Page:
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Courses/WiBW
Exams and Requirements:
Your primary responsibility in this class is to show up prepared to
discuss. You should read the assigned materials, but most importantly,
you should be thinking critically about them. Active participation in
class will be rewarded at grade time, however I will not penalize for
shyness. Twice during the semester, you will be resident expert on some
topic. This will involve your giving an oral presentation and being
prepared to field discussion from the class. Your topic will be assigned
early as well as a general idea of target date (the specific dates will
firm up soon). There will be a small mid-term quiz and a final "learning
experience." For the latter you will have the major discussion question
in advance. You will also be preparing a research paper, and toward the
end of the semester you will be asked to briefly share the direction of
your research with the class. The grading breakdown will be 30/30/40
with the weight on the research paper.
This class will have a computer component. There will be
materials 'on line' that I want you to use, and we will spend
some time early in the semester learning to use them. You will
each need an e-mail account. I prefer to receive your papers
on disk as well as paper. This way I can include the 'best of'
collection as a permanent part of the class page (with your
permission, of course).
The specific topic of the research paper will be of you own
choosing, but should be related to the course. I will be asking
for paper proposals by mid semester, but you are encouraged to
talk to me earlier if you have something in mind, or if you need
some suggestions on topics or how to proceed.
Office Policy:
Office hours are 'drop in' format - you do not need an appointment.
If you need to contact me other than during my office hours,
please feel free to call me at home, or at my office at the
University of Pennsylvania. (Do not call after 10:00 p.m.). I can
also arrange to be in my Albright office at a time convenient for
both of us -- do not hesitate to make an appointment with me if
you feel that you need to see me.
