Course Description

Throughout the Core Curriculum, focusing on "Histories of the Present," students have explored the limits of human knowledge and personhood: how do we know what we are, and what we are not? How has that knowledge changed over time? This section of Core III continues this exploration asking: How have religious traditions supported and subverted the limits of human being? Particularly the major western traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) paradoxically frame the multiple diverse possibilities of human identity and experience through a static, unchanging (and unchangeable) canon of texts (TANAK, Bible, Qur'an). How does "a Christian" come into being with respect to the canonical texts of the Old and New Testaments? Is that process of becoming the same for a Christian in fourth-century Italy and twenty-first century Africa? These questions are not only about reading and interpretation, but also about how believers come to interact with textual authorities.  We will approach these questions through "biblical fictions": expanded narratives that draw on the charactesr, stories, gaps, and contradictions founds in the biblical texts.

We begin with the history of the biblical texts themselves, and ask how a closed canon of sacred texts creates the opportunity (or even necessity) for ever more creative forms of interpretive "rewriting." We then examine several different genres of biblical fiction from antiquity to the present: theatrical drama (plays and musical theater), prose (novels, satires, and graphic fiction), and cinematic production (movies and television) in order to explore the conceptual and technical concerns that emerge from the expansion of biblical texts. We will compare these biblical fictions with their "source texts" from the Bible, but also consider them as artistic productions located in particular cultural settings.

No prior knowledge of the Bible or media criticism is required for this class.

Course Goals

The goals of the third semester of the Core Curriculum are:

1. Students independently and creatively develop their understanding of different disciplines and interdisciplinary inquiry acquired in Core I and II.
2. Students explore and interrogate the historical construction of a particular field of inquiry.
3. Students formulate, research, and execute a substantial project of their own design. 

The goals of this section of Core III are:

1. To explore the cultural, political, and religious diversity of biblical interpretations evidence in creative re-productions of biblical narratives;

2. To compare diverse creative forms of narrative (drama, fiction, and film), from the perspective of producers (artists) and consumers (audiences);

3. To engage in multiple complementary modes of narrative analysis, including: textual, visual (image), and filmic;

4. To develop research skills that lead to the production of an independently conceived and executed research or creative project based on an original analysis of the Bible

Course Materials

The following books have been ordered for this class, and are available from the Huntley Bookstore (brick-and-mortar, and through online ordering). Many of these titles are available used, and for "rental." You do not have to acquire them through Huntley, but you should have ready access to them before and during the class periods in which they are being discussed.

Jonathan Riches, The Bible: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2000)

Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley, Salome (Dover, 1967)

R. Crumb, Book of Genesis Illustrated (Norton, 2009)

Anita Diamant, The Red Tent (St. Martin's, 2007)

Mark Twain, Diaries of Adam and Eve (Fair Oaks, 2002)

A reliable Bible (HarperCollins Study Bible) has also been ordered for the class, and is available from Huntley; you may use whatever Bible translation you have available to you, including on-line Bibles (which are linked from the course website). You must read all assigned biblical passages before class and be ready to discuss them (including asking any questions about the selections).

Additional printed materials (chapters, essays, articles, and some publicly available texts) are available online through the course website.

Several classes also require viewing of selections of audio-visual materials, which are available on Sakai. (Note: these clips are Flash videos, which may not be viewable from some portable computing devices).

Course Requirements

1. Participation (15%). Attendance and participation are mandatory; more than four classes missed may result in a lowering of your participation grade. In addition, you must come to class having gone over the day's reading and viewing assignments and contribute vigorously to class discussion. (Students who feel they may not have a chance to speak in class, or want to make sure their points are heard, may post their thoughts to that day's Sakai forum before class.)

2. Leading class (15%). Each student will choose at least one day on which to lead class discussion. Students may choose any day on which to lead discussion, beginning on September 13. Leading discussion entails the following:

a. Posting discussion points and questions on that day's Sakai forum: postings must be available for perusal by 9am on the day of class.

b. Guiding discussion in class: guidance may take any form (and students are encouraged to meet with the professor beforehand to discuss classroom strategies).

c. Finding any useful background material on the day's subject that may facilitate discussion

3. Analysis assignments (4 X 10% = 40%). Students must complete four analyses of biblical fictions of their choice throughout the semester, in which they compare the fiction to its biblical source text and explore the changes the biblical fiction has made. Specific parameters are found on the course website. All analyses are due by the last day of class; papers turned in and graded during the course of the semester may be revised and regraded.

4. Final project (30%). Students may choose one of two options for a final project:

a) Research project. An extended analysis of a biblical fiction not otherwise studies in class, including: comparison with its biblical source texts; engagement with its particular cultural contexts; consideration of the particular medium into which it has been adapted.

b) Creative project. Production of an original "biblical fiction" in any medium, with an accompanying brief analysis of the methods, ideas, and contexts engaged with in the work.

All students should meet with the professor before fall break to finalize a final project. The project grade will be based on the class presentation (conducted in the final weeks of the semester) and the final project itself. Guidelines for projects and presentations can be found on the course website.

Scripps College's policy on academic honesty: "Cheating and/or plagiarism seriously violate the principles of academic integrity that Scripps College expects its students to uphold. Academic dishonesty is not tolerated at Scripps and may result in suspension or expulsion from the College. (See the current Guide to Student Life, pp. 90-93.)"