RELI 1071 Voices of January 2011 Middlebury College

Instructor: Laurel Jordan

Office: Office Hours: MW 3:30–4:30 PM, and by appointment. Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life Office Phone: 443-5757 Home: 388-8360

Course Description In the 20th century, nonviolent movements provoked political revolution around the world with remarkable success. In the 21st century, however, nonviolence has been marginalized, charged as an inappropriate response to September 11th and the Global War on Terror. We will begin with an overview of the teachings of various world religions relating to the theme of non-violence. We will briefly trace some key themes within the Christian tradition over the centuries. From there we will proceed to examine the inspiration, historical context, activism, and writings of Thoreau, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Ghaffar Khan, Martin Luther King, Jr., , , and Thich Nhat Hanh. We will seek to discover the religious communities, texts, and concepts that have shaped these authors and their movements, and also how these authors have influenced one another. We will also examine key nonviolent campaigns from the 20th century. We will test the adequacy of nonviolence as a response to conflict by exploring themes such as the humanity of the opponent, the challenge of despair and cynicism in the face of great obstacles, the place of spiritual practices in individual and community life, and the value (or problem) of redemptive suffering. The class will include a mixture of lecture and discussion on shared readings, along with seminar-style presentations of individual student research.

Class Times Monday through Thursday 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Requirements Overview • Course readings and active participation in class discussion • Five 200-400 word journal entries posted to the class website engaging the next day’s reading, due at 9 PM. These should include questions for discussion, as well as your own comments on the reading. You will be assigned specific dates for three of these. The other two can be posted on an evening of your choice. These entries need to be reasonably clear – but do not need to be perfectly polished. • Two 300-500 word summaries of small group assignment • A research project presented in class (lasting no more than 10 minutes) and • A final, 1000-1500 word, individual paper, developed from the presentation

Grading Classroom Participation 35 % Journal Entries 15 % Small Group Assignment 15 % Final Presentation and paper 35 %

Required Texts available at the College Bookstore Gandhi, Mahatma, and John Dear. Mohandas Gandhi : Essential Writings. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002.

Easwaran, Eknath. Nonviolent Soldier of Islam: Badshah Khan, a Man to Match His Mountains. 2nd ed. Tomales, Calif.: Nilgiri Press, 1999.

Holmes, Robert L. and Gan, Barry L. Nonviolence in Theory and Practice. 2nd ed. Long Grove, Ill.: Waveland Press, 2005.

Wink, Walter. Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2003.

Shorter additional readings will be on reserve, eReserve, or given as hand-outs.

1 http://eres.middlebury.edu/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=1748 password: 3073lj

Class Readings

Date Reference Readings

1/3 Introductions and Overview Monday

Introduction to Topic / Religious and Philosophical Foundations

1/4 Wink, Walter. Jesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way. Chapters 1-6, pp. 1-103 Tuesday Handout ( Isaiah and Matthew)

1/5 Holmes & Gan. Nonviolence in Theory and Practicev Part One, Origins pp.1-40 Wednesday Yoder, John Howard. “Living the Disarmed Life” eRes in Wallis. Waging Peace.

Buddha. "Let a Man Overcome Anger by Love eRes (520 BCE)." In The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace, edited by Howard Zinn. This is really short!

1/6 Holmes & Gan. Nonviolence in Theory and Practice pp. 119-128; pp.41-47 Thursday Swift, Louis. The Early Fathers on War and Military Part I, sections 8 & 9 eRes

Service.

“Jan Hus” in Bradstock and Rowland. Radical pp. 51-55 eRes

Christian Writings.

Durnbaugh, Donald. The Believers’ Church: The Chapter Ten: Church and State, pp. 242- History and Character of Radical Protestantism. 263 eRes

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America through Ballou and Thoreau

1/10 Penn, William. “First Letter to the Delaware eRes

Indians.” Monday Woolman, John. Excerpts from The Journal of John eRes

Woolman. Ballou, Adin. Excerpts from Christian Non-Resistance. eRes Thoreau, Henry David. “Civil Disobedience.” pp. 48-63 Bacon ,Margaret Hope. “Nonviolence and Women,” in Holmes & Gan. pp. 129-135 (19th C. Women)

Russia: Leo Tolstoy (and beginning to look at Gandhi)

1/11 Introduction “Three Modern Philosophers of Nonviolence” & “Letter to Ernest Howard Tuesday pp. 65-76 Crosby” in Holmes & Gan. eRes Tolstoy, Leo. “Letter to a Hindu,” “Letter to a Corporal,” “Letter to a Draftee” Gandhi, Mohandas, Essential Writings, ed. By John pp. 17-68 Dear

Gandhi and Khan / British Colonial Rule, India, and the North West Frontier

1/12 Holmes & Gan. pp. 77-94 Wednesday Gandhi, Essential Writings pp. 17 -68 Easwaran, Eknath. Nonviolent Soldier of Islam: Badshah Chapters 1-5, pp. 6-73 Khan, a Man to Match His Mountains. (lots of photos)

1/13 Easwaran, Eknath. Nonviolent Soldier of Islam: Badshah pp. 77-199. Khan, a Man to Match His Mountains. Thursday

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Mid-20th Century: World War II, Le Chambon, Clarence Jordan, and early Civil Rights Movement

1/17 “Nonviolent Resistance against the Nazis in pp. 332-335 Norway and Holland during World War II” in Monday Holmes & Gan.

“Resisting Terror” in Loeb. The Impossible Will Take pp. 308-310 a Little While.

“Préfet’s Dirty Job” in Wink, ed. Peace is the Way: Writings on Nonviolence from the Fellowship of pp. 262-264. (eReserve) Reconciliation.

“A Life in Scorn of Consequences” in Hollyday, pp. 15-36. (eReserve) Joyce, ed., Clarence Jordan: Essential Writings.

also check out: http://www.koinoniapartners.org/ pp. 37-51. (eReserve) “Gandhi USA” in Cortright. Gandhi and Beyond.

Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King

1/18 “Active Nonviolence” in Holmes & Gan. pp. 95-113 Tuesday “How Nonviolence Works” and “Walk for pp. 54-57; 175-177. (eReserve) Freedom” in Wink, ed. Peace is the Way: Writings

on Nonviolence from the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

“My Pilgrimage to Nonviolence” in Lynd, ed., pp. 209-220. (eReserve) Nonviolence in America.

“The Power of Nonviolence” in Washington, ed. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and pp. 12-15. (eReserve) Speeches of Martin Luther King.

“The Real Rosa Parks” in Loeb. The Impossible Will pp. 288-292. Take a Little While.

“The American South: Campaign for Civil Rights” in Ackerman and Duvall. A Force More Powerful: pp.305-333. A Century of Nonviolent Conflict.

Cold War, Viet Nam, and Catholic Contemplatives and Activists: Dorothy Day / Viet Nam: Daniel and , Thomas Merton,

1/19 A biography of Dorothy Day by Jim http://www.catholicworker.com/ddaybio.htm Forest Wednesday Dorothy Day, “Protesting Civil eReserve from Lynd and Lynd, Nonviolence in America, “A New Defense” Catholicism” Daniel and Philip Berrigan, eReserve from Lynd and Lynd, Nonviolence in America, Document 35 Documents A. and B. “Ultra Resistance”

“Letter to Ernesto Cardenal” eReserve “Thomas Merton’s Peace” http://www.cpfphila.org/NL0812/NL0812%205.html Thomas Merton, “Blessed are the http://www.forusa.org/nonviolence/40merton.html Meek”

Letter from Fr. Merton to James Forest eReserve from Lynd and Lynd, Nonviolence in America

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Recommended, not required, if you are interested in inter-faith dialogue: Merton and Buddhist –Christian dialogue http://www.thomasmertonsociety.org/altany2.htm

Demming, Rush, Ruddick: Women’s Perspectives

1/20 Holmes and Gan pp. 136-172 Thursday Barbara Demming, “On Revolution and Equilibrium” Liane Norman, “Molly Rush and the Plowshares Eight” Sara Ruddick, “Maternal Nonviolence”

Gene Sharp, Roger Fisher, and William Ury

1/24 Gene Sharp, “The Methods of Chapter Four in Waging Nonviolent Struggle, pp.49-65. (not as long Nonviolent Action” as this seems, mainly lists) Monday “Disregarded History” in Wink, Peace is the Way. eRes “Civilian Resistance as a National in David Barash, Approaches to Peace, pp. 191-196 eRes

Defense” “Nonviolence as a Political Tool” both in Holmes and Gan, pp. 247-255 and “The Technique of

Nonviolent Action”

Roger Fisher and William Ury, in David Barash, Approaches to Peace, pp. 70-75. eRes “Getting to Yes”

Recommended, not required:

Jack DuVall, “Liberation Without War: Is There a In Holmes and Gan pp. 256-260. Nonviolent Way to

overthrow Dictators and Achieve Democracy?” Just look at the table of contents, way too long to read: This is a handbook for nonviolent revolution. Originally Gene Sharp, From Dictatorship to published in 1993 in Thailand for distribution among Burmese Democracy dissidents, this book is now in its fourth edition and has been translated into seventeen different languages and spread

worldwide. eRes

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Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Union

1/25 Cesar Chavez and Principled Holmes and Gan, pp. 261-269 Nonviolent Strategy Tuesday Transforming Power in the Holmes and Gan, pp. 340-343 Labor Movement

Nonviolent Trade Unionism, Document 42: A, B, & C eReserve from Lynd and Lynd, Nonviolence in America

Examples of Buddhist and Jewish Thought

1/26 Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace in David Barash, Approaches to Peace, pp. 205-209 Wednesday Martin Buber and Hasidism Maurice Friedman, “Hasidism and Love of Enemies,” in Wink, Peace is the Way, eReserve

Judaism and Animal Rights Holmes and Gan, pp. 291-294.

Revolution in the Philippines and Eastern Europe, Conclusions

1/27 “Eastern Europe: Democracy in Ackerman and Duvall. A Force More Powerful: A Century of Seized” Nonviolent Conflict. pp. 427-439 eRes Thursday

Chris Hedges, “Staring Down the from Bob Abernathy and William Bole, The Life of Meaning: God’s of War” Reflections on Faith, Doubt, and Repairing the World, pp. 17-23.

eRes. Recommended, not required: in Wink, Peace is the Way. eRes Hildegard Goss-Mayr, “When Prayer and Revolution Become People Power”

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Guidelines for the Research Project First, the project is intended to be an exercise in independent research and will allow you to pursue at greater depth a person, tradition, movement, struggle, theory or moral question of particular interest to you. You must use sources beyond those assigned for class reading. Second, the presentation component is intended to be a contribution to the overall learning experience of the rest of the class. Ideally, you will find something that will balance the opportunity to follow your own personal passions with the need to find a subject of interest that will be instructive to all. Third, the paper component is intended to test your ability to organize the factual, analytical, and interpretive material that you discover in your research. Fourth, the paper is an opportunity for you to display your own analytical and communication skills without the added pressures of time, place, and novelty that attend answering never-before-seen essay questions on an in-class exam. Fifth, the paper should in some way – whether implicitly or explicitly – make it clear that you have been engaged with the readings, issues, problems, and questions that we have been dealing with in class. By no means does this imply that I will be looking for every reading to be referenced or summarized - but simply put – a well done research paper cannot become a replacement for failure to keep up with the common readings of the class.

Your presentation should be 8-10 minutes in length. It is not essential that you have everything as polished as you hope it will be in your paper – but it should be informative enough that your classmates are able to gain something from your research and new-found wisdom on your topic. The earlier you are scheduled in the term – obviously the more of a challenge the presentation aspect will be – that will be taken into consideration in terms of grading, so do not fear to be among the first to present.

A final, 1000-1500 word, individual paper, developed from the presentation will be your last course requirement. Your paper will be graded on clarity, organization, use of relevant resources, logical progression of ideas and/or narrative, evidence for your claims, and there is always a bonus for lively prose, thoughtfulness, or original ideas… but I do not expect miracles.

I highly recommend – whether you take a look at it now or use it later in your college career the following two books as guidance for writing academic papers:

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research, Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Williams, Joseph M. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

Both these titles have updated versions that are readily available and have similar titles.

I do expect correct grammar, spelling, and consistent use of one of several authorized methods for creating footnotes and bibliographies. I also expect this to be handed no later than 10 PM on Friday January 28th and a penalty for lateness will be incurred. (10 PM for email, 5 PM at the Scott Center if by hard copy)

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