What is it like to be a believer? What sort of evidence is needed for religious belief to be justified? Can doubt coexist with faith? This course investigates connections between religious belief and acts of knowing, trusting, searching and doubting. The class examines personal testimonies along with philosophical and literary reflections on belief and doubt.

The Inklings were a group of Oxford intellectuals who met in the Magdalen College rooms of the literary historian, apologist and fantasist C.S. Lewis to read aloud and discuss their works in progress. This course examines the Inklings’ shared concerns, among them mythology, philology, recovery of the Christian intellectual tradition and resistance to "the machine." Readings include essays and letters by Tolkien, Lewis, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield and quasi-Inkling Dorothy Sayers, as well as selections from their major works of fiction, theology and criticism. Enrollment limited to 35.

Commonly associated with pre-modern societies, the term "blasphemy" has taken on new life in today’s technologically-connected world. This course examines the notion of blasphemy--its meanings, the invisible boundaries it presupposes both in some of the world’s major religious traditions and in secular contexts, and the different ways of seeing it often signifies. Based on case studies, it explores contemporary public uses of the term, the competing understandings of the "sacred" it often assumes, and the cultural and political challenges the term presents in a globalized society.

The Hebrew scriptures (Tanakh/Old Testament). A survey of the Hebrew Bible and its historical and cultural context. Critical reading and discussion of its narrative and legal components as well as an introduction to the prophetic corpus and selections from the wisdom literature.

The ubiquitous message is to work harder and be more productive. In doing so, the promise is stability, good lives and good jobs. What if this is all wrong? What if “rest” is what humans are really missing? This course explores this question by reading sociologists, historians, psychologists, public health scholars, critical disability scholars, Jewish philosophers, Black Christian activists and Zen masters. This course considers how “rest,” as conceived by these diverse people, encompasses visions for just economic systems and antiracist praxis, as well as the flourishing of ecosystems.

Offered as PYX 301 and ENG 301. Conceived as the culmination of an undergraduate poet’s work, this course features a rigorous immersion in creative generation and revision. Student poets write a chapbook manuscript with thematic or stylistic cohesion (rather than disparate poems, as in prior workshop settings). For Poetry Concentrators, this course counts as the required Capstone; for English majors in the Creative Writing track, the course counts as an advanced workshop and may count toward the fulfillment of the "capstone experience" requirement.

Offered as BKX 203 and PYX 203. This course focuses on various professional practice aspects of publishing, including manuscript selection, book design and production, and product marketing and distribution, through Nine Syllables Press, in partnership with the Boutelle-Day Poetry Center. Students learn about the publishing industry and contemporary US poetry landscape. Students have the opportunity to learn about and practice designing professional chapbook interiors and covers, producing and marketing chapbooks for a selected manuscript from Nine Syllables Press. Cannot be taken S/U.

Offered as BKX 202 and PYX 202. This course focuses on various professional practice aspects of publishing, including manuscript submissions, selection, poetry craft and literary citizenship, through Nine Syllables Press, in partnership with the Boutelle-Day Poetry Center. Students learn about the publishing industry and contemporary US poetry landscape. Students have the opportunity to directly participate in reading and selecting manuscripts for a chapbook to be published by Nine Syllables Press. Preference given to Poetry and Book Studies concentrators.

Why would a person confess to a crime they didn’t commit? What makes eyewitnesses identify the wrong suspect? How does police body camera footage shape jurors’ decisions? And how does one design research to answer these questions and inform policy interventions? This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary study of psychology and the law, focusing on how psychological science impacts and can be used to explain events in the courtroom and other legal settings.

This seminar focuses on people’s motivations to participate in political activism, especially activism around social issues. Readings include theoretical and empirical work from political psychology paired with personal accounts of activists. Students consider accounts of some large-scale liberal and conservative social movements in the United States, and conduct an in-depth analysis of an activists oral history obtained from the Voices of Feminism archive of the Sophia Smith collection. Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required.