LITERATURE AND THE SACRED: RELIGIOUS AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Religious Studies: 223 / Catholic Studies: 265
Fall 2010
Monday / Wednesday
3:10—4:40 pm
Office: Lewis:16th Floor
Office Hours: By Appointment
Stuart Squires
ssquires@depaul.edu
PURPOSE AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
This class assumes that everyone has a religious identity (even if one is an atheist, this is
still an identity) and that religious identity is not static. Rather, it grows, changes,
expands, shrinks, finds certainty, suffers doubt, rages against injustice, and bows to the
mystery of existence. However, we live in a post-modern culture that offers serious
challenges to religion, which lead to some inevitable questions that are the foundations of
this class: what does it mean to have a religious identity in the 21st century; what does it
mean to change religious identities (conversion); why do people change their religious
identities; what causes a change in religious identity? We will read five books from
authors with diverse backgrounds to see how they answer these, and other, questions.
By the end of the quarter, the student will have developed a variety of skills: the ability to
perform sophisticated textual analysis, critical and analytical thinking, the art of public
speaking, the ability to write cogently and precisely, the craft of persuasively making an
argument, and the skill of extemporaneously speaking in an articulate fashion, to name
only a few.
TEXTS:
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Dubner, Stephen J. Choosing My Religion: A Memoir of a Family Beyond Belief.
New York: Harper Perennial, 2006. (ISBN: 0-06-113299-3).
Lobdell, William. Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on
Religion in America—and Found Unexpected Peace. New York:
HarperCollins, 2009. (ISBN: 978-0-06162681-4).
Miles, Sara. Take This Bread: A Spiritual Memoir of a Twenty-First-Century
Christian. New York: Ballantine Books, 2007. (ISBN:978-0-345-495792).
Mother Teresa. Come Be My Light: The Private Writings of the ‘Saint of
Calcutta.’ New York: Doubleday, 2007. (ISBN: 978-0-385-52037-9).
Winner, Lauren F. Girl Meets God: On the Path to a Spiritual Life. New York:
Waterbrook Press, 2004. (ISBN: 978-0-87788-107-0).
Some other articles throughout the class will be found on Blackboard:
(http://oll.depaul.edu).
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FORMAT OF THE CLASS:
 Classes will begin with a presentation by a student
 The majority of the class will entail discussion of the assigned text.
 There occasionally will be small group work.
 Sometimes, short lectures for context will be given.
REQUIREMENTS:
 Attendance. Students are required to come to class and arrive BEFORE class
begins. Students may have 3 absences for the entire quarter. After the 3rd
absence, 20% of the entire grade will be deducted.
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Preparation and Participation. Students are expected to have all of the readings
done for the class and to actively engage during the class discussions by asking
questions and volunteering insights about the texts.
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Two Short “Reflection” Papers. Students are required to write two 3-4 page
“Reflection” Papers about any of the five texts read in class. These are due five
days after the last day that the text was discussed in class. (30%).
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Writing Center. Students must take advantage of the Writing Center resource
for at least one of the short “Reflection” paper assignments, or the final paper.
Staple a Writing Center ‘receipt’ to the paper. (Note, do not have the Writing
Center Consultant email it to me). http://condor.depaul.edu/~writing/ (10%).
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Class Presentation. Students are required to make a 10-15 minute class
presentation on a particular subject in class relevant to the reading of that day.
For example, when we read the Dubner text, he discusses several Jewish
Holidays. The student could make a presentation on one of those holidays.
Students must submit a bibliography of 4-5 sources. Only one of these sources
may be an encyclopedia; only two of these sources may be websites; Wikipedia is
never a valid source. (20%).
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An Eight-Ten Page Final Paper. (Option 1): Students will write a family
religious history (think Dubner). Interview family members and contact relevant
institutions for documents in order to gain a better insight on the narrative of your
family. (Option 2): Write your own personal religious narrative. How did it
begin, what are the twists and turns it has taken, where do you expect it to go?
(Option 3): If there is a different approach the student would like to take, the
student must discuss this with the teacher no later than Week 7. (30%).
GRADE DISTRIBUTION:
 Attendance: 20%
 2 Short “Reflection” Papers: 20%
 Writing Center receipt: 10%
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Class Presentation: 20%
Final Paper: 30%
GRADING SCALE:
Grade
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD
F
Numerical
Meaning
Excellent
Good
Satisfactory
Lowest Passing
Failing
Equivalent
100-92
91-90
89-87
86-82
81-80
79-77
76-72
71-70
69-60
59-0
POLICIES AND EXPECTATIONS:
 Students may turn in assignments before the deadline. However, if a student turns in work
after the deadline, 20% will be deducted from the grade. The sole exception to this policy is
if the teacher hears from the Dean of Students due to a case of extreme emergency.
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Students must do all of the reading for the week and bring all of the texts that are assigned for
the week to class.
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There is to be no texting, emailing, or instant messaging during class.
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STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES POLICY: Any student who may need special
accommodations needs to speak to me privately at the beginning of the quarter. The student
also needs to have seen the Office with Students with Disabilities and the PLuS Program. I
am happy to work with student and with these offices. Two resources concerning this are:
http://studentaffairs.depaul.edu/plus/ and
http://studentaffairs.depaul.edu/studentswithdisabilities/
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ACADEMIC INTEGRITY STATEMENT POLICY: There is to be absolutely no plagiarism
in this class. If you are unsure about what constitutes plagiarism, there are three things you
should do BEFORE you turn in an assignment: (1) read the plagiarism statement that is
available on the DePaul University website; (2) this would be a great thing to discuss with the
associate in the Writing Center during your appointment; (3) ask the teacher. If a student is
caught he or she will be reported to the University and will receive a D for this class.
Another great resource is: http://academicintegrity.depaul.edu
Paper Return Policy: If students are interested in receiving their final papers with comments,
I will be happy to offer written comments. In order to receive comments, the student will
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contact me no earlier than week 1 of the following quarter and no later than week 3 of the
following quarter to ask for comments.
The Schedule for the Quarter
Take This Bread. By Sara Miles
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Wednesday, Jan. 5. Prologue through Chapter 5
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Monday, Jan. 10. Chapter 6 through Chapter 14
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Wednesday, Jan. 12. Chapters 15 through Chapter 18
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Monday, Jan. 17. Chapters 19 through Chapter 25
Choosing My Religion. By Stephen J. Dubner
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Wednesday, Jan. 19. (Optional paper #1 due). Prelude through Book I, Chapter
8
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Monday, Jan. 24.. Book I, Chapter 9 through Book II, Chapter 6
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Wednesday, Jan. 26. Book II, Chapter 7 through Book III, Chapter 2
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Monday, Jan.31. Book III, Chapter 3 through Postlude
Girl Meets God. By Lauren F. Winner
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Wednesday, Feb.2. (optional paper #2 due). Advent
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Monday, Feb. 7. Christmas through Holy Week
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Wednesday, Feb. 9. Eastertide through Advent
Come Be My Light. By Mother Teresa
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Monday, Feb. 14. (optional paper #3 due). Preface through chapter 6
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Wednesday, Feb. 16. Chapter 7 through Chapter 9
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Monday, Feb. 21. Chapter 10 through Chapter 12
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Wednesday, Feb. 23. Chapter 13 through Conclusion ALSO READ “Teresa,
Bright and Dark.” By Christopher Hitchens. Newsweek. Aug. 29th, 2007. (On
Blackboard)
Losing My Religion. By William Lobdell
 Monday, Feb. 28. (optional paper #4 due). Chapter 1 through 9
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Wednesday, Mar. 2. Chapter 10 through Chapter 14 ALSO READ “Letter To
Cecil Dawkins” by Flannery O’Connor. The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery
O’Connor. 306-308. (On Blackboard)
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Monday, Mar. 7. Chapter 15 through End.
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Wednesday, Mar. 9. (optional paper #5 due). Nothing to read. This class will be
used as an overview of the class.
FINAL PAPER DUE:
 Monday, March. 14. 5:00pm. (In my box).
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