Religion 335
Gender, Religion and Sexuality
Spring 2012
Room: SOS B41
Class hours: MW 2.00-3.20
Instructor: Professor Sheila Briggs
Office: ACB 232
Tel: 213-740-0267
Office Hours: M 1.00-2.00
or by appointment
e-mail: sbriggs@usc.edu
Course Syllabus
This course traces how religion has shaped Western attitudes to gender and sexuality. Its
focus is on the ancient Mediterranean and the historical origins of Jewish and Christian scriptures
and contemporary uses of these sacred texts in debates on gender and sexuality. We look at the
differences between ancient categories of thought and cultural assumptions and those of the
modern interpreters of biblical texts.
Required Reading
L. William Countryman, Dirt, Greed, and Sex: Sexual Ethics in the New Testament and Their
Implications for Today
Ross Shepard Kraemer and Mary Rose D'Angelo (eds), Women and Christian Origins
Course Reader (available on Blackboard)
Course Outline
January 9: Introduction to course.
January 11: Myth and Reality. Women’s power and the patriarchal imagination. (Course
Reader).
January 16. Martin Luther King holiday--no classes.
January 18: Thinking about sexuality historically. Purity as a framework for sexual practices.
Reading: Countyrman: 1-16.
January 23: Purity in ancient Israel and ancient Judaism. Reading: Countyrman: 17-64.
January 25: Purity in the New Testament Gospels. Reading: Countyrman: 65-91.
January 30: Purity in the letters of the apostle Paul and other New Testament writings. Reading:
Countyrman: 92-142.
February: 1 Women and children as property in the ancient Mediterranean world and the
response in the New Testament gospels. Reading: Countyrman: 144-84.
February 6: Paul and other New Testament writers on sexual property. Reading: Countyrman:
185-228
February 8: Further aspects of New Testament sexual ethics. Reading: Countyrman: 230-252.
Mid-term examination distributed February 8, due February 15
February 13: New Testament sexual ethics and contemporary debates. Reading: Countyrman:
253-83
February 15: Women’s agency in ancient Israel (Course Reader).
February 20. Presidents’ Day holiday--no classes.
February 22. Ancient Jewish novels about women (Course Reader).
February 27-29. Preview and discussion of multimedia projects.
March 5: Creation and Fall in Genesis (Course Reader).
March 7: Women’s lives in the ancient Mediterranean. Reading: Kraemer/ D'Angelo: 3-34.
March 12-14. Spring break.
March 19: Jewish women and early Christianity. Reading: Kraemer/ D'Angelo: 35-79
March 21: Women’s religious lives in the Greco-Roman city. Reading: Kraemer/ D'Angelo: 80102.
March 26: Women in the Jesus movement and gospels (1). Reading: Kraemer/ D'Angelo: 105149; Course Reader.
March 28: Women in the Jesus movement and gospels (2). Reading: Kraemer/ D'Angelo: 150195; Course Reader.
April 2: Women and the Apostle Paul. Reading: Kraemer/ D'Angelo: 199-235; Course Reader.
April 4: Women and Paul’s followers. Reading: Kraemer/ D'Angelo: 236-253; Course Reader.
April 9: Gnosticism and the gender wars of early Christianity. (Reading: Kraemer/ D'Angelo:
257-299; Course Reader.
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April 11: Gender equality or hierarchy in ancient Christianity? Reading: Kraemer/ D'Angelo:
300-329; Course Reader.
April 16: Women’s wisdom in early Christianity. Reading: Kraemer/ D'Angelo: 330-354; Course
Reader.
April 18-23: Final presentation of multimedia projects.
April 25: Conclusion
Research project due Friday, May 4
Final examination due Monday, May 7
Course Requirements
These carry the given percentage of the final course grade.
Course participation (10%). Regular attendance of class and constructive engagement in class
discussions.
One take-home mid-term examination (essay format) due February 15 (20%).
One in-class multimedia presentation (20%).
A research project (30%). It may take one of two forms:
An individual research paper of 12-15 pages. This requires extensive reading beyond the required
course readings.
(With the instructor’s approval) a "technology challenge"project. This involves learning
professional multimedia software through lynda.com. As well as creating a project with this
software, a short paper discussing how the software was used in the project, how it helped to
express the intellectual content of the project and what challenges were encountered in preparing
the project. This semester the technology challenge is to create an interactive PDF using Adobe
InDesign. Students earn 5 extra course points for completing a technology challenge project.
All research projects are due May 4. Papers are to be submitted both in a printed version and in
electronic form through Turnitin on Blackboard.
One take-home final examination (essay format) due Monday, May 7 (30%).
Expectations of and Resources for Students in this Course
Don't cut class. You are expected to attend every session. If you miss class, then you are
left to your own resources to make up the lost work. In such cases, you can try borrowing a
fellow student's notes or doing extra reading on the session's topic, but you will have missed the
class discussion.
Complete assignments punctually. This is especially important for the multimedia
projects when presentations in class must take place at the arranged time.
All requests by students to the instructor must be made in person or by letter, not by
'phone or e-mail. If you have an urgent request, you may 'phone or e-mail my office, but you
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should follow up with either personal contact or a letter.
The Writing Center is there to help you. To use it, all you need to do is make an
appointment by 'phone or in person a few days in advance. You can also try just walking in, but
then you are not guaranteed an appointment, and the center at times will be very busy. Writing
Center consultants can help you develop ideas and arguments and revise rough drafts for the
paper required in the course. The Writing Center is situated on the third floor of Taper Hall (Tel.:
740-3691).
All students are expected to know and follow USC's rules on academic integrity. A copy
of Trojan Integrity is posted on Blackboard. Students must acknowledge all sources (books,
journals, videos, web-based and electronic materials, etc.) used in a paper or multimedia project,
whether these are directly quoted, paraphrased or their main ideas summarized.
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to
register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for
approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to
me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m. - 5:00
p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is (213) 740-0776.
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