PSC 217 - Judaism and Political Theology (4 Cr.)

(JS 217)

This class explores the relationship between religion and the political order. Some questions that animate it are: is or must the political order somehow be based on or tied to religion? What does it mean to be secular, especially given secularism’s religious origins (a point we also explore)? These and other broader questions are connected to traditions of thinking about these issues in Judaism, itself a fundamental input into both Christianity and Islam, and thereby a large portion of the world, both ancient and modern. Throughout, the aim is to use Judaism to illuminate and think about broader political theological questions–so we are just as likely to read the Talmud or Moses Maimonides as we are to read Barack Obama or Martin Luther King. Spring. Offered Spring 2018 and every other year. Shuster.