Quarter Two
Great Classical Traditions
Winter 2009
Winter 2009
| M W F 2:00 -2:50 | RBC Auditorium |
| Professor
Richard S Cohen office hours: |
home
page: http://profcohen.net email: prof.richard.cohen@gmail.com (the best way to reach me) office telephone: (858) 534-8691 |
Traditions & Encounters• All books are available at the University Bookstore in the Price Center
Antigone
The Bacchae
Trial and Death of Socrates
The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version
The Bhagavad Gita
Class Reader
The class will meet for lecture three times each week, and for section twice weekly. Students are expected to come to class with the assigned reading completed, and to come to section prepared to discuss texts and issues. Writing assignments will be given out in section; your papers must relate to the civilizations and cultures presented in lecture. To pass the course, you must complete all assigned work in a timely fashion.
Synopsis of Required Work and Grading
| Midterm Exam | 20% | Friday, February 6, in class |
| Final Exam | 35% | Friday, March 16, 3:00 - 6:00 pm |
| Writing assignments | 35% | |
| Section attendance and participation |
10% |
To pass the course, you must complete all assigned work in a timely fashion.
| Monday, January 5 |
Introduction to the Course | 
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Background reading: Traditions & Encounters, pp. 230-257
| Wednesday, January 7 |
What is Myth?
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| Friday, January 9 |
Death and its Discontents
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| Monday, January 12 |
Athens and Sparta
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| Wednesday, January 14 |
Reason in the Public Sphere
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| Friday, January 16 |
Sex and its Discontents
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| Wednesday, January 21 |
Divinity and its Discontents
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Background reading: Traditions & Encounters, pp. 30-57
| Friday, January 23 |
Myth Revisited: The Babylonian “Enuma Elish” and the
Biblical “Creation”
Bible Genesis 1-9 |
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| Monday, January 26 |
King Josiah’s God & the Ideology of Covenant in the
Formation of Biblical History
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| Wednesday, January 28 |
Human Partnership with God and the Idea of a Holy People
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| Friday, January 30 |
Who Were the Israelites? Archaeological Hypotheses and
Biblical Myths
Bible Joshua 1-7; Judges 2, 6-8, Genesis 12:7-8, Exodus 24, Deuteronomy 9 |
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| Monday, February 2 |
The Monarchy: Prophets and Kings
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| Wednesday, February 4 |
Exile and Return: The Formation of Judaism
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| Friday, February 6 |
MIDTERM: You can find a description of that test
here:  |
Background reading: Traditions & Encounters, pp. 108-131, 180-204
| Monday, February 9 |
The Earliest Traditions: Shang Settlements, Zhou
States, and the
Search for Order
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| Wednesday, February 11 |
Morality, Hierarchy, and Social Order
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| Friday, February 13 |
Order is Disorder, Except for When Disorder is Order,
Or Maybe Not: The Taoists
Class Reader pp. 70-86 |
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| Wednesday, February 28 |
Authority as Order in the Qin
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Background Reading: Traditions & Encounters, pp. 86-106, 206-229
| Friday, February 20 |
Nature and Civilization at the Beginning of Indian
History
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| Monday, February 23 |
Playing with Agni’s Fire: The Brahmins’ Ritual Cosmogony
Class Reader pp. 106-128 |
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| Wednesday, February 25 |
Playing with Inner Fire: The Sages’ Inner Reality
Class Reader pp. 129-149 |
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| Friday, February 27 |
Dharma and Its Discontents
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| Monday, March 2 |
You Better Watch Out, You Better Not Cry, You Better
Not Shout, I’m Telling You Why: Krisha Loves You
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| Wednesday, March 4 |
Life of the Buddha
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| Friday, March 6 |
Early Wisdom: Desire and its Discontents
Class Reader pp. 172-180 |
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| Monday, March 9 |
Giving Fruit, Fruitful Giving
Class Reader pp. 182-205 |
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| Wednesday, March 11 |
Mahayana Wisdom: Reality and its Discontents
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| Friday, March 13 |
Law, Order, Community, Freedom, Power: The Myth of “Great Classical Traditions” |
| Friday, March 23 |
FINAL EXAM: Monday, March 23, 3:00 - 6:00 pm |
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