Final
Fall 2007
Tuesdays 2-5
FAC 4
Difficult Dialogues: Religion and Sexuality
E314J 34900/ BDP 319 66725
WGS 301 49755 / RS 316K 45545
Lead Faculty:
Ann Cvetkovich
Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies
cvet@mail.utexas.edu
Office: PAR 323
Phone: 471-8374
Office Hours: W 1-3
Participating faculty:
Prof. Kamran Ali, Anthropology and WGS
Prof. Steve Friesen, Classics and Religious Studies
Prof. Lisa Moore, English and Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS)
Prof. Martha Newman, History and Religious Studies
Prof. Domino Perez, English and Center for Mexican American Studies
Prof. David Rabban, School of Law
Prof. Mark Regnerus, Sociology and Religious Studies
Prof. Gretchen Ritter, Government and WGS
Prof. Denise Spellberg, History and Middle Eastern Studies
TA: Peggy Whilde
Email: whilde@gmail.com
Office: Sanchez 262A
Office Hours: T-Th 11-12
TA: Maria Baker
Email: mariakbaker@gmail.com
Office: Sanchez 262A
Office Hours: M 12-1; T 12:30-1:30 and by
appt
Difficult Dialogues: A Ford Foundation Program (www.difficultdialogues.org)
This course is one of four new “Difficult Dialogues” courses that have been created to
help promote open scholarly inquiry, academic freedom, and respect for different cultures
and beliefs on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. The development of this
course has been partially funded through a grant from the Ford Foundation to the
University of Texas at Austin. The grant was initated by Prof. Lucia Gilbert, while she
was Vice-Provost and director of the Connexus/ Bridging Disciplines program.
The Difficult Dialogues initiative of the Ford Foundation was created in the spring of
2005 “in response to reports of growing intolerance and efforts to curb academic freedom
on U.S. campuses” (O’Neil, Robert M., 2006, “The Difficult Dialogues Initiative.”
Academe [July-August], pages 29-30). Upon issuing a call for proposals, the Ford
Foundation received nearly 700 pre-proposals from institutions of higher education. Our
team at the University of Texas wrote one such pre-proposal, after which time we were
invited – along with 135 other institutions – to compete in the final round. In the end,
just 27 institutions received full funding, of which we were one, and we set out to create
four new courses in this important initiative, The courses were offered for the first time
last year and are being repeated again this year. Thus, this course is an effort that, while
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new, has benefited from excellent UT-based resources, great discussion among the
faculty and staff involved in the overall project, and financial support from the Ford
Foundation.
The other courses and lead faculty are:
Race and Policy (Fall 2007) Robert Hummer, Sociology
Islam in America (Spring 2008): Denise Spellberg, History
Church and State (Spring 2008): H.W. Perry, Government
Difficult Dialogues: Religion and Sexuality
This Difficult Dialogues course seeks to explore the tensions and conflicts between
sexuality and religion in contemporary public life. How do these two dimensions of
experience and identity, often cast as deeply personal matters of choice and/or belief,
play themselves out in public? One goal of the course is for students to learn to discuss
these issues with respect for differences in religious beliefs and sexual identities.
We will explore these general issues through attention to particular controversies and
case studies. The course draws significantly from the input of a group of ten participating
faculty from across the campus, who have developed topics and readings based on their
areas of expertise. These include a range of religious and secular views about sexuality
and sexual education, women, gender, and sexuality within different religious cultures
and traditions, abortion and reproductive rights, and homosexuality and gay marriage
within the Christian church, especially in the U.S.
The course will open with a focus on the meanings of dialogue and academic freedom.
Through a variety of small-group exercises that focus on students’ identities and beliefs,
we will focus on dialogue as a collective form of learning that connects our personal
issues to the larger community in which we take part. The goal of dialogue (as opposed
to debate) is to create understanding (rather than right or wrong sides) and new ways of
negotiating conflict. Our discussions of academic freedom will explore the rights and
responsibilities of both professors and students and why the values of academic freedom
have recently been under pressure in university classrooms and campuses. Subsequent
sections of the course will focus on religious cultures and their different constructions of
gender and sexuality and on contemporary cultural controversies produced at the
intersections of sexuality and religion.
The course is cross-listed in English, Bridging Disciplines, Religious Studies, and
Women’s and Gender Studies and will be interdisciplinary in scope. Drawing on Prof
Cvetkovich’s expertise in literary and cultural studies, we will pay particular attention to
how various cultural forms, such as film, performance, literature, personal testimonies,
and legal cases, can create forums for dialogue. We will aim to become better readers of
texts (and of other people) through both the readings and the writing assignments.
Readings and Films:
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Electronic copies of the readings will be available to download from our Blackboard site.
See the syllabus below for a list of readings each week. Readings may change slightly as
guest faculty add additional materials. Be sure to check the Blackboard site for updates.
Films: The syllabus includes some films, which will be available on reserve in the
Audio-Visual Center in FAC. There will be one organized screening of each film, but
you can also check it out and watch it on your own. Some of the films are also available
to rent from local video stores. If you are not going to attend the organized screening,
please try to coordinate with one another to watch the films in small groups either in one
of the library’s viewing rooms or at someone’s house.
The Education of Shelby Knox (76 min.) Screening on Monday, September 17, 7 pm
After Stonewall (approx length: 90 min) Screening on Monday, September 24, 7 pm
Screenings will be held in Parlin 303.
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Syllabus
Part One: Academic Freedom and The Practice of Dialogue
Week One Sept 4 Introduction
Overview of course
Introductions from students
Active Listening/ Dyads/ Check-Ins
Week Two Sept 11 Religion in the Classroom/ Academic Freedom I
Background on religious studies
Introduction to academic freedom
Further exploration of student identities and histories
Group dialogue skills
Reading: John R. Hinnells, “Why Study Religions?” Ch. 1 from The Routledge
Companion to the Study of Religion (2005).
Abington v. Schempp: background on 1963 Supreme Court Case about prayer in
schools.
Preview: American Association of University Professors. 1915. “Declaration of
Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure.” AAUP Bulletin,
Volume I, Part 1 (December): 17–39. (To be covered in more detail on October
2)
Browse: Blackboard material related to academic freedom, including 1940
AAUP guidelines; interview with Joan Scott on threats to academic freedom;
coverage of DePaul university academic freedom/tenure case; Report of UT’s
Task Force on Racial Respect and Fairness
Guest Faculty: Steve Friesen, Martha Newman
Everyone: Post an introduction on Blackboard (due Monday by 9 pm)
Write a statement of goals for the course (1-page) for writing portfolio (hand in a
copy to my office, Parlin 323, by Friday Sept 14 at noon; keep a copy for your
portfolio).
Week Three Sept 18 Sex Education
Film: The Education of Shelby Knox
(screening Monday Sept 17, 7 pm, location TBA)
Reading: Kristin Luker, from When Sex Goes to School: Warring Views on Sex
– and Sex Education—Since the Sixties. (2006)
Mark Regnerus, from Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of
American Teenagers. (2007)
Guest Faculty: Gretchen Ritter, Mark Regnerus
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A Groups: Discussion Question
B Groups: Blackboard 1 (Personal Narrative)
Week Four Sept 25 Sexuality and Sexual Identity
Film: After Stonewall
(Screening Monday Sept 24, 7 pm, location TBA)
Recommended Readings: John D’Emilio, “Capitalism and Gay Identity”; David
Halperin, “Does Sexuality Have A History?”
Guest Faculty: Lisa Moore
A Groups: Blackboard 1 (Personal Narrative)
B Groups: Discussion Question
Week Five Oct 2 Academic Freedom II
Reading: American Association of University Professors. 1915. “Declaration of
Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure.” AAUP Bulletin,
Volume I, Part 1 (December): 17–39.
United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division. 2006. John
DOE, Plaintiff, v. UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Defendant. Civ. No. 8971683. Sept. 22, 1989; Addendum Sept. 25, 1989. Thomson/West.
2007 AAUP Report on Freedom in the Classroom
Guest Faculty: David Rabban
All Groups: Discussion Question 2 (Mon); short (2-page) paper on Academic Freedom due by
noon Friday, October 5 in my office (Parlin 323)
Part Two: Religious Cultures/ Sexual Cultures
Week Six Oct 9 Catholic Cultures of Greater Mexico: The Virgin of Guadalupe in
the Americas
Readings: From ed. Ana Castillo, Goddess of the Americas: Writings on The
Virgin of Guadalupe (1996):
F. Gonzalez-Crussi, “The Anatomy of a Virgin”;
Jeanette Rodriguez, “Guadalupe: The Feminine Face of God”;
Margaret Randall, “Guadalupe, Subversive Virgin”
Pat Mora, “Consejos de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe: Counsel from the Brown
Virgin,” poem from Agua Santa/ Holy Water
Gloria Anzaldua, from Borderlands/ La Frontera
Visual images of the Virgin by Yolanda Lopez, Esther Hernandez, Alma Lopez,
and others
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Guest faculty: Domino Perez
A Groups: Discussion Question 3
B Groups: Blackboard 2 (Interview)
Week Seven Oct 16 Religions and Nationalisms
Readings: Lila Abu-Lughod "Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?
Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and its Others" American
Anthropologist (104/3, 2002)
Guest Faculty: Kamran Ali, Denise Spellberg
A Groups: Blackboard 2 (Interview)
B Groups: Discussion Question 3
All Groups: Writing Portfolio (with mid-term self assessment) due in class October 16
Part Three: Cultural Conflicts
Week Eight Oct 23
New Testament Family Values
Readings: From New Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Mark, Ch 10;
1 Corinthians Ch 7;
1 Peter Chs. 2-3
Guest Faculty: Steve Friesen
A Groups: Discussion Question 4
B Groups: Blackboard 3 (Research Assignment)
Week Nine Oct 30 Homosexuality, Gay Rights, and Christian Cultures
Readings: From special issue on Sex and the Church, Reflections: Yale Divinity
School journal:
Daniel Helminiak, “Sex as a Spiritual Exercise”;
Dale B. Martin, “It’s About Sex . . . Not Homosexuality”;
Kelly Brown Douglas, “Black Church Homophobia: What to Do About
It?”
“Queer Spirituality” from MCC website
Recommended: “Why Religion? Why Sex?” introduction to Janet R. Jakobsen
and Ann Pellegrini, Love the Sin: Sexual Regulation and the Limits of Religious
Tolerance.
Guest Faculty: Lisa Moore
A Groups: Blackboard 3 (Research Assignment)
B Groups: Discussion Question 4
Week Ten Nov 6 Islam, Muslim Cultures, and Female Sexuality
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Readings: Saba Mahmood, “Feminist Theory, Embodiment, and the Docile
Agent: Some Reflections on the Egyptian Islamic Revival”
Guest Faculty: Denise Spellberg and/or Kamran Ali
A Groups: Discussion Question 5
Week Eleven Nov 13 Abortion and Reproductive Rights
Readings: Faye Ginsberg, oral history material from Contested Lives: The
Abortion Debate in an American Community
“Chronology of Abortion Politics” in Abortion Wars: A Half Century of
Struggle, 1950-2000, ed. Rickie Solinger. Berkeley: U of California Press, 1998.
Guest Faculty: Gretchen Ritter
B Groups: Discussion Question 5
All Groups: Short Paper due Friday, November 16 by noon in my office (Parlin 323)
Week Twelve Nov 20 Open Topic
Reflections on preceding weeks; group work on final projects
All Groups: Writing Portfolio due Tuesday Nov 20 in class
Post final self-assessment (from portfolio) to Blackboard
Week Thirteen Nov 27 Group presentations from students
Week Fourteen Dec 4 Group presentations from students
All Groups: Final Paper (related to group presentation) due Friday, December 7 by noon (hard
copy to my office, Parlin 323)
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Assignments and Policies
Summary of Assignments and Grading
Writing portfolio with Discussion Questions, Blackboard Assignments, and Short
Papers 35%
Final project: group presentation and short paper 35%
Attendance and class participation, including on-time Blackboard posts 30%
See check list of assignments for overview of assignments and due dates.
Attendance and Participation
As the title, “Difficult Dialogues,” suggests, discussion is central to this class and will be
a significant part of your grade. You will have a chance to develop many different oral
skills in the class – listening carefully and actively to others; articulating your own
thoughts and feelings; summarizing your writing or your small group discussions for the
larger group; formulating questions for the visiting speakers; responding to what others
have said; finding respectful ways to offer feedback or negotiate disagreements.
Discussion groups: You will be assigned to a small discussion group after the beginning
of the semester and will often work with this group both in class and on Blackboard. You
should make an effort to get to know the members of your group and use them as a
smaller support group within the larger class.
Attendance and class participation will be worth 30% of your total grade. 15% of that
total will be for attendance calculated as follows: 0 absences = A; 1 absence = B; 2
absences = C, 3 absences = D. 2 latenesses = 1 absence. Leaving class early also counts
as an absence. Please note that since the class meets only once a week, each absence is
very significant. Note any reasons for excused absences in writing on the attendance
sheet. If you feel that additional absences should be excused, please talk to me or one of
the TAs.
The other 15% of your grade will be based on your participation in class, which includes
your timeliness with Blackboard posts, which are a significant form of participation, and
your contributions to discussion both in small groups and large. The class is small
enough that the TAs and I will be able to get a sense of your personality as a speaker and
can evaluate your class participation in a way that is individual to you. As long as you
are present and committed, you will likely receive at least a B for your participation. The
class participation grade will also be used to determine your final grade if it is on a
borderline – if your participation is good you are more likely to receive the higher of the
two grades.
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Writing Portfolio:
All the writing that you do for the course will become part of a portfolio. Your portfolio
will be evaluated not only for the quality of the individual assignments but for your
cumulative efforts over the course of the semester. Your portfolio should include hard
copies of all of your Blackboard assignments, discussion questions, and short papers.
You will hand it in at the midterm (Tuesday October 16) and at the end of the semester
(Tuesday November 20), and the TAs and I will also have individual conferences with
you at the mid-term in order to discuss your progress.
The portfolio will also include an initial statement of your goals for the semester (due
Friday September 14), your own mid-term progress report (to be handed in with the
portfolio), and your final self-assessment (posted to Blackboard and handed in with the
portfolio).
The goal of the writing portfolio and grading is for you to think about your work as an
ongoing learning process rather than a set of products. Your progress in the class will be
significantly defined by your own goals and thinking. Grading your work as a
cumulative portfolio complements the course’s focus on collaboration and community in
the classroom.
The portfolio will be worth 35% of your grade.
Discussion Questions:
Every other week, you will post to Blackboard by Monday at 9 pm a question about the
readings and materials for that week. These can be brief (1-3 sentences) but the more
focused (including specific references to the reading) the better. The deadline is
important since it will allow us (me, the TAs, and your fellow group members) to read
your questions in advance of the class. You should be prepared to summarize your post
briefly in class.
The goal of the posts is for you to do some thinking about the readings on your own; thus
I will not be assigning topics. You should think of the discussion questions as both an
individual and collective responsibility. Writing them will help you prepare for class
discussion and for longer papers and develop your skills as a writer. They also provide
an opportunity for you to communicate your thinking to me and to the rest of the class
and to take the initiative in generating class discussion.
Each person will post 5 discussion questions. Your specific deadlines for the
assignments will depend on what group you’re in; you will be assigned to an A or B
group by the second class. The posts will be evaluated as part of your portfolio grade and
their timeliness will be part of your participation grade. If you absolutely cannot post the
discussion question on time due to unusual circumstances, please talk to me or the TAs to
arrange an alternative assignment.
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Blackboard Assignments:
During the weeks when you do not have a discussion question or short paper due, you
will be required to complete brief (300-500 word) assignments for the class Blackboard
site. These will include: 1) a personal narrative; 2) a report on an interview with
someone whose background is different from yours; 3) a report on outside research
related to the course; 4) a final self-assessment of your work in the course. You will
receive more detailed instructions as the semester proceeds. Generally, Blackboard posts
will be due Fridays at noon. (You do not need to turn in a hard copy of your posts but
you should make a copy for your portfolio.)
Your contributions to the Blackboard site will be evaluated as part of your portfolio
grade. If you do not complete the assignments on time, your grade will be affected.
Short Papers:
There will be two short papers: a two-page (500 words) paper on academic freedom (due
to my office by Friday October 5 at noon): and a 3-4 page (1000 words) paper on an
open topic related to the readings and discussion or your outside research (due to my
office by Friday November 16 at noon).
Group Presentation and Final Paper:
Towards the end the semester, you will begin work on a group presentation. The goal
will be to work as group on a topic (to be developed by the group) and to lead a
discussion that uses the dialogue skills you have developed over the semester. Although
you will probably want to present some material on your topic, the format should be
discussion-based and involve the interaction of the audience. You are welcome to use
Powerpoint, film, performance, web-based materials etc. to facilitate the discussion.
Each member of the group will also turn in a brief paper (2-3 pages) reporting on the
work that you did in the group and your experience of the presentation. Class
presentations will take place in the last two weeks of the semester, and the final paper
will be due on Friday December 7 by noon. The final project will be worth 35% of
your grade.
The final project gives you an opportunity to develop skills for working on a sustained
and collaborative project. It requires that you work with others and that you organize
your work in a series of stages. Please give some thought to your own goals for this
project and how it can best benefit you.
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Additional Notes:
Blackboard
We will use the class Blackboard site extensively. The readings will also be available for
downloading from Blackboard. Please get into the habit of checking the site frequently
in order to read announcements and your classmates’ contributions and to check out web
sites related to the course materials.
Paper Delivery and Format
Unless the circumstances are exceptional and you have consulted with me in advance,
please do not hand in your short papers as email attachments. It is too difficult and timeconsuming for me to download and keep track of assignments submitted by email.
Please, therefore, hand in hard copies of your short papers. You do not need to hand in
hard copies of the Blackboard assignments until the writing portfolios are due but you
should make hard copies for inclusion in the your portfolio.
Please type all of your papers. Use double spacing and leave wide margins so that we
have room for comments. Include page numbers. Give your paper a title.
Accommodations for Students with Special Needs
I will provide any and all accommodations and support services for students who have
special needs identified by the Services for Students with Disabilities. Please see me as
soon as possible so that the appropriate arrangements can be made.
TAs
The TAs will be helping me with grading and discussion. You should consider them
another important resource and be sure to take advantage of their office hours to discuss
the course and any concerns you might have. Both Peggy Whilde and Maria Baker have
extensive experience with the Connexus and Bridging Disciplines programs and bring
many kinds of training to the classroom.
The TAs will help me with grading, portfolio assessment, and student conferences. If
you have questions about a grade, please consult first with the person who graded your
work before coming to me.
Office Hours
Please feel free to visit me during my office hours (Wednesdays 1-3) in order to discuss
anything related to the class and in order to allow me to get to know you better. You’re
welcome to drop by without an appointment, although I also suggest that you email me in
advance to let me know you’re coming so that I can plan for your visit. I sometimes have
to adjust my office hours in order to attend meetings, but you are always welcome, and
the class will go much better if I have a sense of who you are as a student and a person.