REL 223
Revolt and Revelation in 20th-Century Americas Fall 2015
Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed LATS 328 / AFR 328 / AMST 329
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

Writing in 1971, Dominican priest and Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutierrez asked “Is the Church fulfilling a purely religious role when by its silence or friendly relationships it lends legitimacy to dictatorial and oppressive government?” Such a question encapsulates the sometimes agonistic and other times deeply intertwined relationships between religious institutions, religious thought, and movements for political transformation in the 20th century Americas. This course examines those forms of “God-talk” broadly termed “liberation theologies” that critiqued and challenged social relationships of class, colonization, race, culture, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, and ecology. These theologies were borne out of and in turn deeply shaped struggles against oppressive regimes and structures in the Americas, and as such we will focus on some specific theological writings–such as those of Gutierrez–and their relationship to distinct social movements and struggles over land, economy, and political power, especially in Brazil, El Salvador, México, Perú, and the United States of America between 1960-2000. This EDI course examines issues of social and institutional power relations that influence particular religious formations as well as the way religious formations respond to and structure social and institutional power relations
The Class: Format: lecture/discussion
Limit: none
Expected: 10
Class#: 1716
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: this course will be mostly discussion, with grading based upon participation, short writing exercises, a 5- to 8-page take-home midterm essay, and a 8- to 12-page final essay
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: majors and concentrators
Distributions: Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
LATS 328 Division II AFR 328 Division II REL 223 Division II AMST 329 Division II
Attributes: LATS Core Electives

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