Course Syllabus

This seminar is an interdisciplinary study of the concepts of heaven and hell, and angels and devils in the history of ideas. We will look at a wide variety of religious and philosophical traditions including Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist. Our focus throughout will be one ongoing question: how did the contemporary concepts of heaven and hell develop over time?

As an interdisciplinary study, the seminar will cover literature, history, philosophy, religion, art, music, even some science–in general, "ideas." Class discussion will be challenging, and all members of the seminar are expected to contribute. We will do close readings of a wide variety of texts, look at art, talk philosophy, and even dabble in science. But, obviously, our focal points will be theology and religious studies.

A word of caution: if you are here to proselytize, convert either seminar members or the instructor, please leave now. We are conducting an academic study of heaven and hell as opposed to a devotional one. This will also be an important concern in your research and use of sources.

Course Requirements:

Class Participation
Two 7-9 page papers; topics to be discussed
One longer (12-15 page) paper using at least three secondary sources; topic to be discussed
Final Examination

Attendance: Students are expected to attend class regularly. It is your presence that makes this course a seminar; without you the course will suffer. If you miss more than three class meetings, you will fail the course. Lateness will have a similar effect. If you are sick or have an emergency which forces you to miss more than two consecutive classes, call the Office of Student Affairs and let them know. This way, they will contact all of your instructors, and you might not be held accountable for those absences. Don't disappear for two weeks and then reappear, expecting everything to be all right.

N.B. Papers must be handed in on time. Papers handed in late will receive a one grade deduction for each class/meeting it is late.

Academic Honesty:
Plagiarism is the theft of someone else's ideas and work. Plagiarism is the most serious crime in academia and will not be tolerated. The word "plagiarism" is derived from the Latin plagarius, which means, literally, "to kidnap"; when you plagiarize you are kidnaping someone else's baby, stealing their offspring, i.e., their ideas. Whether a student copies verbatim or simply rephrases the ideas of another without properly acknowledging the source, the theft is the same. In the preparation of work submitted to meet course requirements, whether a draft or a final version of a paper, project, or computer program, students must take great care to distinguish their own ideas and language from information derived from sources. Sources include published primary and secondary materials, the Internet, and information and opinions gained directly from other people. Whenever ideas or facts are derived from a student's reading and research, the sources must be properly cited.

It is the student's responsibility to learn the proper forms of citation according to standards delineated by Black Hills State University. Students who have questions about the standards of scholarly writing should speak with their instructors before beginning research on assigned papers and projects. Violations include, at the discretion of the instructor, failure for the individual paper to failure for the course; such violations may be entered in the student's permanent academic record, and upon multiple offenses the Dean may recommend expulsion from the University.

You must, in every instance, give credit for ideas that are not your own. If you are unclear about the meaning of plagiarism, see the instructor. Technical matters (of documentation and format) can be resolved by consultation of The MLA Handbook for Writers (5th edition) available both in the BHSU bookstore and in the library.

A Note About Research and Sources:
Secondary sources are not necessary for the two shorter papers; however, they are not only required but necessary for the longer paper. However, because of the nature of Internet materials, no Internet sources are permitted for use in this course. This does not include use of online journal databases (such as ProQuest, SearchBank, or JSTOR), nor does it include the use of primary sources one may find on the Internet (such as full-text sites of Dante or Milton). This will require seminar members to make rigorous use of interlibrary loan. A copy of the interlibrary loan request form is attached to this syllabus; however, you can easily request materials on interlibrary loan from the SDLIN catalogue page by clicking the "Submit ILL Request" blue button on the catalogue entry page.

Texts (all are available at the BHSU bookstore as well as amazon.com):

Required:

• Colleen McDannell and Bernhard Lang, Heaven: A History (Yale UP 0300048580)
• Jeffrey Burton Russell, The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History (Cornell UP 0801480566)
• Dante Alighieri, The Inferno, trans. Robert M. Durling (Oxford UP 0195087445)
• John Milton, Paradise Lost, ed. Scott Elledge (Norton 0393962938)
• Goethe, Goethe's Faust, trans. Walter Kaufmann (Anchor; ISBN: 0385031149)
• George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London (Harcourt Brace 015626224X)
• James Morrow, Only Begotten Daughter (Harcourt Brace 0156002434)
• You'll also need to have a Bible. I've ordered one as optional below. Yours needs to be either King James, Revised Standard, or New Revised Standard. If you already own or will own the New Jerusalem Bible for Dr. Wallerstein's Biblical Literature course, that will be fine.

Optional:

• The Cambridge Companion to Dante, ed. Rachel Jacoff (Cambridge UP 0521427428)
• The Cambridge Companion to Milton, ed. Dennis Danielson (Cambridge UP 0521655439)
• The Oxford Study Bible: Revised English Bible With the Apocrypha, ed. M. Jack Suggs (Oxford UP 0195290003)

Special Accommodation: Reasonable accommodations, as arranged with the disabilities coordinator, will be provided for students with documented disabilities. Please contact the BHSU Disabilities Services Coordinator at 642-6099.

Getting in touch: You can always reach me by e-mail. I check it several times a day. My e-mail address is davidsalomon@bhsu.edu. Please do not abuse e-mail with excuses ("I won't be in class today") but do use e-mail for questions and advice.

The World Wide Web (WWW) address for this class is http://www.bhsu.edu/dsalomon/hum494/spring2001/. At this site you will find links to primary sources, this syllabus, a seminar e-mail directory, and other important information. It will be updated occasionally.

Grading Guidelines: If you are enrolled in this seminar to get a grade, drop now. Education is about more than grades. Unfortunately, grades are a necessary evil. Your work will be graded on a scale from A to F with pluses and minuses. Although BHSU does not use pluses and minuses in semester grades, I believe they are helpful in evaluation throughout the semester. If, at the end of the semester, your grade is teetering between two grades, attendance and class participation become important factors.

A range: The work is extraordinary. It has said something different or is conceived in an interesting and unusual way. Written work is virtually free of errors in writing or fact. Conventionally, an "A" means the work is perfect.

B range: The work is above average. It presents the material more than competently and is well-written and well-organized.

C range: The work is average. Written work might have some problems in construction, grammar, or conception. Organizational problems may also be present as may some misunderstandings of the texts or topics.

D range: The work is below average. Written work probably has serious problems in grammar and organization. It might show severe misunderstandings of the texts or topics.

F: The work is failing. Written work probably has severe problems in basic grammar and shows little or no understanding of the texts or topics. Note: a grade of F is an earned grade and will not be awarded if work is not submitted or completed (that type of performance "earns" a 0).