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For more than a century, the scholarly study of religion has laid
the foundation for a view of the world's faiths which need no longer
be based on prejudice or ethnocentrism. Itself a product of the
western humanist spirit of research and investigation, this scholarship,
while it may not have entirely transcended its western origins,
has nevertheless awakened many to the richness and diversity of
the world's spiritual traditions. The next step forward must be
to establish that the seemingly independent religious systems are
in reality interconnected, forming a whole which provides the undeniable
and essential context of any study of religious and moral life.
“The Spiritual Heritage of the Human Race” goes beyond
the method adopted by the field of comparative religion in two important
senses. First, it is a presentation of the cumulative experience
and wisdom of the religions; rather than regarding each religion
as a separate phenomenon, it treats spiritual traditions of the
past and the present from a holistic perspective, recognizing them
as part of an indivisible whole. Second the religions are presented
in such a way that they speak for themselves, rather than through
obscuring interpretations and theories. Each religious tradition
is treated with the same reverence and respect, insofar as each
has made a significant contribution to the spiritual evolution of
humanity.
The course includes lectures, assignments, class discussion, and
a research project. An outstanding six-part film series entitled
“Legacy” (1991) is also presented in class, covering
the religions and civilizations of Iraq, India, China, Egypt, Central
America and the West. Students are expected to take an active and
knowledgeable role in seminar-style discussion based on the readings.
The class is divided into teams of two or three students, and each
week a team makes a presentation of independent research on the
subject of the week. Grades are assigned on written work, completion
of the readings and research assignments, and class participation.
The course offers students the opportunity to study religious experience
from a multi-cultural and global perspective. It deals with attempts
on the part of human beings throughout the centuries to know “the
unknowable.” The progressive development of humankind's spiritual
awareness and understanding is studied by:
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tracing
the history of world religions chronologically through related
cultural/geographical regions; |
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explaining
the cultural influences that shaped and articulated those
traditions; |
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identifying
common themes and expressions in religious development; |
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relating
historical data to the contemporary Western situation; and |
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engaging
students in both field research and seminar preparation, utilizing
the scriptures which are at the root of each faith. |
Transition to a Global Society:
The Ethical Dimensions of Science, Art, Religion, and Politics
Today, the transition to a global society is well begun. As it advances,
it has the potential to transform every aspect of human existence.
At the same time it pulls humanity in two directions. The forces
of integration tend toward greater interdependence and harmony,
while the forces of disintegration create divisions along political,
ethnic, racial, and religious lines. Caught between these opposites,
humanity often erupts into violence as the global transition proceeds.
Science, art, religion, and politics have critical roles to play
in resolving such conflicts, and in managing the process of transition
from a state of chaos to international order.
In the seminar students explore through readings, discussion, and
papers how science, art, religion, and politics embody peace-inducing
aspects that may facilitate the transition to a global society,
assist in the establishment of a global ethics, and foster humanity's
potential for peace and harmony.
The purpose of this course is to illustrate and define the distinctive
characteristics of Arab-American literature during the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries, and to focus on the English-language
works of Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931). The assigned texts are studied
both as works in their own right, and also as documents reflecting
the author's responses to the immediate artistic and cultural
problems he faced as an immigrant to America from the Arab world.
Particularly relevant to the course, therefore, is the nature
and value of the contact between writing and social, political,
and intellectual movements in the Arab world and in America and
Europe.
The course also emphasizes Gibran's Lebanese heritage and the
extent to which it contributed to his artistic make-up. It considers
the contribution he made to American cultural life and examines
his position in modern Arabic and English literature as well as
his influence on other writers in Lebanon, the United States,
and elsewhere. It also demonstrates how he assimilated his experiences
in Lebanon and America into his understanding of himself as a
human being and how he used this to enrich his writings. Recent
writings on Gibran and immigration are also covered. One goal
of the course is to place the experiences of immigrants such as
Gibran within the wider context of America's diverse immigrant
heritage.
The course is conducted as a mixture of lectures and class discussions.
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Currently,
there are no graduate-level courses offered by the Bahá'í
Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland.
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