Wednesday, June 11, 2014

GCAS Online Course: Theory After the Death of God (July 7-11, 2014)




CTPE 860-714:
THEORY AFTER THE DEATH OF GOD

                                                    [[[REGISTER]]]

INSTRUCTORS: John D. Caputo and Peter Rollins

COST: $149 premium/$99 audit (to sign up/pay for online courses, click “Register")

DATES: July 7th (Monday) to 11th (Friday)  10-12:30 EST

MEDIUM: Online Interactive Video + Facebook Groups: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theoryafterdeath/

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course will pose the question “What is Radical Theology?” and set about answering it by exploring four alternative (and partially overlapping) answers. All four views have in common (1) that they jettison the classical notion of the transcendence God, and expose God to contingency - and even death, and (2) all four descend from Hegel, not from Kant. The course would thus explore radical theology as variously heterodox Hegelianisms, each of which takes up the death of God in one way or another.

READINGS: Caputo, Insistence of God; Derrida, Acts of Religion; Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion: The Lectures of 1827 Ed.Peter Hodgson (U Cal paperback); Lacan, Seminar VII; Tillich, Systematic Theology; Žižek, Monstrosity of Christ.

PLEASE NOTE: This mini-course is a non-required elective course which counts towards elective credits needed for all diploma-seeking GCAS students. It is also available as a standalone course for faculty members seeking professional development opportunities, as well as the general public or non-credit seeking students, without any additional requirements.

REQUIREMENTS: Students seeking credit must attend all events, lectures, and small-group discussions.  A student is required to write a 5-7 page research paper on the course material and approved by a professor. The student has until August 30th, 2014 to turn in their research papers via email at <creston@globaladvancedstudies.org>.  After the seminar, students are required to participate in a Post-Seminar discussion (details to follow). Students must remain in contact with Professor Davis as they develop, research and write their final papers.



[[[REGISTER]]]


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Peter Rollins Teaches Summer Course
at The Seattle School
http://theseattleschool.edu/peter-rollins-teaches-summer-course-seattle-school/ 

June 3, 2014

Peter Rollins, a popular scholar who bridges the disciplines of philosophy and theology, joined us on campus last week to teach a course and speak at The Forum’s most recent town hall event. Both events were open to the public.

Rollins is no stranger to The Seattle School community, and each visit offers provocative ideas and reflections that inspire continued conversation at the intersection of text, soul, and culture.

Nearly 100 people attended last Wednesday’s town hall event, where Rollins spoke on “Figures of Transgression: The Trickster, the Cynic, and the Fool,” cautioning listeners against both ideology and apathy. He instead invited them to wrestle with ideas and assumptions through practices of de-centering and continuous conversations with those whom they consider “other.”

Rollins’ three-day summer course at The Seattle School followed last Wednesday’s town hall event with 25 students and 11 members of the community in attendance. During the course, “Unconscious Gods: Radical Theology, Psychoanalysis, and the Critique of Religion,” participants engaged developments in contemporary critical theory that have shaped Radical Theology’s conceptions of theology and church practice.

“Unconscious Gods” specifically focused on the theories that inform, influence, and shape Rollins’ developing theological project pyrotheology, where he draws from post-Hegelian theory, Radical Theology, and Lacanian psychoanalysis to further develop what Bonhoeffer called a “religionless Christianity.” Students also received a sneak peek into the material for his next book.

Rollins’ hope in both the town hall event and the class was to challenge Christianity to move toward acknowledging and mourning the loss of God as a deus ex machina—a device that inexplicity solves complex dilemmas and overcomes the gaps in our understanding. Rollins believes this concept of God is an idol that Western religion has embraced in order to avoid a more humble, unfamiliar, and undefined faith that engages the unknown mystery of an imminent God.

Before leaving Seattle, Rollins was able to sit down with Dr. Dwight J. Friesen, Associate Professor of Practical Theology, to discuss The Seattle School and the future of theological education. Find out why Rollins chose to teach at The Seattle School in the video below.



Book titles by Peter Rollins - click here




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