MUSC 291
November 26, 2018
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Royal W.F. Rhodes, who joined the Kenyon faculty in 1979, teaches primarily the history of Christianity. His other interests include liberation theology, third world religious experience, monasticism (East and West), and religion and the arts.
His first book was Faith of Christians (Fortress Press, 1984), co-authored with the late A. Denis Baly. With co-author George McCarthy of the Sociology Department he has published Eclipse of Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Lost Traditions of American Catholicism (Orbis, 1992), and they are completing another book on social justice movements in Ireland, Germany, and the U.S., entitled Justice Beyond Heaven. In 1995 he published The Lion and the Cross: Early Christianity in Victorian Novels (Ohio State University Press).
His current research and writing projects include a book on popular literary and visual images of the papacy (The Ultimate Pope), and a manuscript on the images of monks and nuns in popular fiction in the modern period (Disordering…
Read MoreRoyal W.F. Rhodes, who joined the Kenyon faculty in 1979, teaches primarily the history of Christianity. His other interests include liberation theology, third world religious experience, monasticism (East and West), and religion and the arts.
His first book was Faith of Christians (Fortress Press, 1984), co-authored with the late A. Denis Baly. With co-author George McCarthy of the Sociology Department he has published Eclipse of Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Lost Traditions of American Catholicism (Orbis, 1992), and they are completing another book on social justice movements in Ireland, Germany, and the U.S., entitled Justice Beyond Heaven. In 1995 he published The Lion and the Cross: Early Christianity in Victorian Novels (Ohio State University Press).
His current research and writing projects include a book on popular literary and visual images of the papacy (The Ultimate Pope), and a manuscript on the images of monks and nuns in popular fiction in the modern period (Disordering Love). In 1993 he received the Senior Cup at Kenyon, presented to the person who "had done most for the Senior Class and community," and in 1994 he was presented with the Trustees Award for Distinguished Teaching. He traveled to Ireland and Greece in 1997 for research, and to Jerusalem in 1998 to prepare his course, "Millennial Centers of Christianity: Rome, Athens, and Jerusalem." In 2002 he became the first incumbent of the Donald L. Rogan Professorship in Religious Studies.
1979 — Doctor of Philosophy from Harvard University
1971 — Bachelor of Divinity from Yale Divinity School
1968 — Bachelor of Arts from Fairfield University
The format of this course is lecture and discussion. The usual enrollment in each section is 20 to 25 students. The course includes brief introductions to four or five major religious traditions, while exploring concepts and categories used in the study of religion, such as sacredness, myth, ritual, religious experience and social dimensions of religion. Traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism and Native American traditions are presented through their classic scriptures and traditional practices. Readings vary among sections but typically include important primary sources on Hindu thought and practice (e.g., the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-gita), Buddhist thought and practice ("The Questions of King Milinda," "The Heart Sutra," Jewish life and thought (selections from the Hebrew Bible, "The Sayings of the Fathers," Christian origins (one or more Gospels, selected Pauline letters), Islam (selections from the Qur'an and Sufi mystical poetry), Confucianism (the Analects), Taoism (the Tao Te Ching) and modern expressions of religion (e.g., Martin Buber's "I and Thou"). Many of the primary sources are studied in conjunction with relevant secondary sources (e.g., Rudolf Otto's "The Idea of the Holy," important articles by anthropologists of religion). The department of emphasizes writing, and several essays are assigned in this course. The course is open to all students. This counts toward a major requirement. No prerequisite. Offered fall and spring.
We will examine major works by central figures involved in the development of the medieval world-view: theological disputes, mysticism, interreligious dialogue, new forms of religious community, feminine spirituality and humanism. We will look at key issues — nature, community, salvation, God, knowledge and love — that were of common interest to theologians, philosophers, mystics and popular religion. Authors we will read include Augustine, Benedict, Abelard, Francis of Assisi, Bonaventure, Aquinas, Julian of Norwich and Dante. This counts toward an elective for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every two or three years.
The Reformation deeply influenced the literary development of England and transformed the religious, intellectual and cultural worlds of the 16th and 17th centuries. The long process of Reformation, shaped by late-medieval piety, the Renaissance, Continental activists and popular religion, illustrates both religious continuities and discontinuities in the works of poets and prelates, prayer books and propaganda, sermons and exorcisms, bibles and broadsheets. This interdisciplinary course will focus on a range of English literary texts, from the humanists under early Tudor monarchs to the flowering of Renaissance writers in the Elizabethan and Stuart eras, in the context of religious history, poetry, drama, prose and iconography. Writers and reformers such as More, Erasmus, Cranmer, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Southwell, Herbert and Donne will be examined. This course is the same as ENGL 331.
This mid-level course will examine the development of theories of ethics and social justice from the ancient Hebrew tradition of Torah and the prophets, New Testament writers Luke and Matthew, and medieval natural law, to modern discussions about social, political and economic justice. We will explore how critical social theory has been applied within the political and economic context of modern industrial societies and how biblical and later religious teachings have been used as the basis for social ethics. Questions of justice, freedom, development, individualism and alienation will be major themes in this study of capitalism, Christianity and Marxism. Special emphasis will be on contemporary debates about the ethics of democratic capitalism from within conservative theology and philosophy and radical liberation theology. Readings will be from the Bible, Papal encyclicals, the American Catholic bishops’ letter on economics and social justice, Friedman, Wallis, Farmer, Novak, Baum, Miranda, Fromm, Pirsig, Schumacher and N. Wolf. This course is the same as SOCY 243. Prerequisite: 100-level sociology course or 100-level religious studies course or permission of instructor.
In all cultures, the idea of death and dying has shaped the imagination in myth, image and ritual. This course will explore the symbols, interpretations and practices centering on death in diverse religious traditions, historical periods and cultures. We will use religious texts (the Bible, Buddhist texts and Hindu scriptures), art, literature (Gilgamesh, Plato, Dante), psychological interpretations (Kübler-Ross) and social issues (AIDS, atomic weapons, ecological threats) to examine the questions death poses for the meaning of existence. This counts toward an elective for the major. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Offered every two years.
This course examines the reform and renewal of Catholicism confronting modernity. We will study major trends using documents from official sources and the writings of key figures, from Cardinal Newman to Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. The changing role of the papacy will be discussed in terms of historical statements, recent ecumenical exchanges with other Christians and non-Christian groups, and developing alternate models of the church. Catholic thought on peace and social justice, sexual ethics and trends in spirituality will be traced using theological, artistic and literary sources. This counts toward an elective for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every three years.
This course is designed as a capstone experience in religious studies for majors in the department. The theme of the seminar will vary according to the instructor. Past themes have included religious autobiography, religion and cinema and new religious movements. The course is required for, but not limited to, senior religious studies majors. Religious studies minors are encouraged to enroll, provided there is space. Non-majors should consult the instructor for permission to register. Offered every fall.
The department reserves individual studies to highly motivated students who are judged responsible and capable enough to work independently. Such courses might entail original research, but usually they are reading-oriented, allowing students to explore in depth topics that interest them or that supplement aspects of the major. Students may pursue individual study only if they have taken all the courses offered by the department in that particular area of the curriculum. An individual study course cannot duplicate a course or topic being concurrently offered. Exceptions to this rule are at the discretion of the instructor and department chair. Students must secure the agreement of an instructor to provide guidance and supervision of the course. The instructor and student agree on the nature of the work expected (e.g., several short papers, one long paper, an in-depth project, a public presentation, a lengthy general outline and annotated bibliography). The level should be advanced, with work on a par with a 300- or 400-level course. The student and instructor should meet on a regular basis, with the schedule to be determined by the instructor in consultation with the student. Individual studies may be taken for 0.25 or 0.5 units, at the discretion of the instructor. A maximum of 0.50 unit of IS may count towards major or minor requirements in RLST department. A student is permitted to take only one 0.5 unit of IS in the department (one 0.5 unit course or two 0.25 unit courses). A student must present a petition with compelling reasons in order to obtain special permission to take an additional IS course. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study preferably the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek departmental approval before the registrar's deadline. Prerequisite: GPA of at least 3.0. Exceptions (e.g., languages not taught at Kenyon are granted at the discretion of the instructor, with the approval of the department chair.)\n
Prerequisite: permission of department chair
This mid-level course will examine the various theories of ethics and social justice from the ancient Hebrew tradition of Torah and the prophets, New Testament writers Luke and Matthew, and medieval natural law, to modern discussions about social, political and economic justice. We will explore how critical social theory has been applied within the political and economic context of modern industrial societies and how biblical and later religious teachings have been used as the basis for social ethics. Questions of justice, freedom, development, individualism and alienation will be major themes in this study of capitalism, Christianity and Marxism. Special emphasis will be on contemporary debates about the ethics of democratic capitalism from within both conservative theology and philosophy and radical liberation theology. Readings will be from the Bible, papal encyclicals, the American Catholic bishops’ letter on economics and social justice, Friedman, Wallis, Farmer, Novak, Baum, Miranda, Fromm, Pirsig, Schumacher and N. Wolf. This counts toward the culture and identity or institutions and change requirement for the major and also towards the LGLS concentration. Prerequisite: 100-level sociology course or 100-level religious studies course or permission of instructor.
The Lion and the Cross: Early Christianity in Victorian Novels, Ohio State University Press, 1995.
Eclipse of Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Lost Traditions of American Catholicism, with co-author George McCarthy, Orbis, 1992.
Faith of Christians, Fortress Press, 1984.