Interdisciplinary Literature and Theology: Empathy, Ethics, Liberation

SALC31131 Interdisciplinary Literature and Theology: Empathy, Ethics, Liberation 20 Semester 1 Undergraduate Level 3 Wren Radford Unit coordinator Religions & Theology 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Last part of a Bachelors ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 10.0 This course examines the interdisciplinary conversation between theology and literature by reading and discussing theoretical perspectives from theologians, ethicists, and literary scholars, alongside novels short stories, and poems. We will consider different interdisciplinary approaches to the relationship between theology and literature; and examine how these different disciplines contribute to contemporary debates over empathy, ethical action, and liberative theologies. Central to the course is understanding how liberative perspectives in feminist, womanist, postcolonial, disability, and queer studies engage with literature to raise questions of how to represent specific lived experiences in literary and theological texts.The class enables students to develop the critical skills to identify theological and ethical questions emerging from different literary modes, as well as perspectives on reading and interpreting literature as a community. Students will be encouraged reflect on how specific texts have shaped their own worldviews and to develop their own theological and ethical readings of literary texts. Students do not need to have studied theology or literature before, as they will be familiarised with relevant secondary material on literary texts and on the interdisciplinary study of literature and theology.  This course examines the interdisciplinary conversation between theology and literature by reading and discussing theoretical perspectives from theologians, ethicists, and literary scholars, alongside novels short stories, and poems. We will consider different interdisciplinary approaches to the relationship between theology and literature; and examine how these different disciplines contribute to contemporary debates over empathy, ethical action, and liberative theologies. Central to the course is understanding how liberative perspectives in feminist, womanist, postcolonial, disability, and queer studies engage with literature to raise questions of how to represent specific lived experiences in literary and theological texts.The class enables students to develop the critical skills to identify theological and ethical questions emerging from different literary modes, as well as perspectives on reading and interpreting literature as a community. Students will be encouraged reflect on how specific texts have shaped their own worldviews and to develop their own theological and ethical readings of literary texts. Students do not need to have studied theology or literature before, as they will be familiarised with relevant secondary material on literary texts and on the interdisciplinary study of literature and theology.  <ul><li>To introduce students to the use of literature as a key theological source. </li><li>To equip students with the tools to examine the interdisciplinary debates surrounding empathy, ethics, and liberation theologies in relation to theological and literary texts. </li></ul> <ul><li>Outline how feminist, womanist, postcolonial, queer, and trauma theologies have engaged with literature and specific literary texts. </li><li>Discuss literary and theological representations of particular social issues and human experiences </li><li>Reflect on reading the theological and ethical dimensions of contemporary literary texts. </li></ul> <ul> <li>Demonstrate knowledge of different theological approaches for working with literary texts </li> <li>Analyse both primary and secondary sources in forming their own reading of a literary text. </li> <li>Provide a nuanced assessment on literary and theological representations of particular embodied experiences and historical events  </li> <li>Develop a reflective critical position on theological and literary texts </li></ul> <ul><li>Effective written communication </li><li>Taking effective notes during lectures </li><li>Presenting the results of their work in a scholarly manner with appropriate referencing </li><li>Participating in discussion </li><li>Research and essay planning </li><li>Peer feedback  </li></ul> On successful completion of this course, students will have developed their skills in: <ul> <li>Conducting independent research </li> <li>Reflecting critically on how interaction with literary and cultural sources shapes worldviews  </li> <li>Using reflexivity to undertake self-evaluation  </li></ul> Analytical skills Enhance your ability to recognise different perspectives while assessing critically the evidence for positions and arguments Project management Managing deadlines Responding to a brief. This is an indicative syllabus outline, not all topics will be covered each year but are included to show the kinds of literature the students will encounter on the course Week 1: Interdisciplinary approaches to literature and theology   Weeks 2-5: Approaching the relationship between literature and theologyWeek 2: Feminist Theology and LiteratureWeek 3: Womanist and Asian Feminist Theology and LiteraturesWeek 4: Trauma Theology and LiteraturesWeek 5: Postcolonial Theology and LiteraturesWeeks 6-7: Reconsidering the pastWeeks 8-9: Re-presenting the SelfWeek 10: Constructing Possible FuturesWeek 11: Reflection and Review   1 x 2 hour lecture + 1 x 1 hour seminar each week  0 Other 100% <figure class="table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Assessment task</td><td>Formative or Summative</td><td>Weighting within unit (if relevant)</td></tr><tr><td>1 Reflective Learning Log</td><td>Formative</td><td>0%</td></tr><tr><td>Essay</td><td>Summative</td><td>70%</td></tr><tr><td>Reflective Portfolio</td><td>Summative</td><td>30%</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> <figure class="table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Feedback method</td><td>Formative or Summative</td></tr><tr><td>Written feedback on Reflective Learning Logs</td><td>Formative</td></tr><tr><td>Written feedback on Essay 1</td><td>Summative</td></tr><tr><td>Peer feedback on Essay plans in seminar 11</td><td>Formative</td></tr><tr><td>Written Feedback on Essay 2</td><td>Summative</td></tr><tr><td>Oral feedback on class discussion</td><td>Formative</td></tr><tr><td>Additional one-to-one feedback during office hours or by appointment</td><td>Formative</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>   Y <ul> <li>Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands: la frontera. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, 1987. </li> <li>Eric Boynton and Peter Capretto (ed), Trauma and Transcendence: Suffering and the Limits of Theory. New York: Fordham University Press, 2018. (Library has online version). </li> <li>Katie G. Canon, Katie’s Canon. New York, Continuum, 1995.  </li> <li>Anna Fisk, Sex, sin, and our selves: encounters in feminist theology and contemporary women’s literature. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2014. </li> <li>Stephen D. Moore and Mayra Rivera (ed), Planetary Loves: Spivak, Postcoloniality, and Theology. New York: Fordham University Press, 2011.  </li> <li>Shelly Rambo, Spirit and Trauma: A Theology of Remaining. Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 2010.  </li> <li>Gayatri Spivak, In other worlds: Essay in cultural politics. New York, London: Routledge, 1988.  </li> <li>Emilie M. Townes, Womanist ethics and the cultural production of evil. New York: Palgrave, 2006.  (Library has online version)  </li> <li>Heather Walton, Literature, Theology, and Feminism. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2019. (Library has online version) </li> <li>Heather Walton, Imagining Theology: women, writing and God. London, T&T Clark, 2007. </li></ul> Lectures 22 Seminars 11 0 167