Category Archives: Courses

Tragedy and Comedy of Shakespeare: Hamlet and The Merchant of Venice

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COURSES > LIFELONG

As perhaps the greatest dramatist in the English language, Shakespeare was noted for both his tragedies (plays with unhappy endings) and his comedies (plays with happy endings. In this course we will carefully read and discuss one of each in an effort to understand each play in its own right as well as what made Shakespeare “Shakespeare” in general. The tragedy selection will be Hamlet (perhaps one of Shakespeare’s best-known plays) and The Merchant of Venice (perhaps one of his most misunderstood ones). No prior experience of any kind is required. Continue reading →

Shakespeare and His Others: Comparisons across Time and Space

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COURSES > LIFELONG [→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

Reading Shakespeare’s plays in the context of similar plays by other great (and not-so-great) playwrights allows one to better appreciate the genius of both Shakespeare and his “others”.  In this course we will look at four pairs of plays in order to examine the similarities and differences in each pairing as we seek to understand the plays themselves in particular and “Shakespeare” in general.  After beginning with The Merchant of Venice and the contemporaneous The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe, we will consider Romeo and Juliet in conjunction with Nizami’s rendering of the medieval Arabian/Persian love story of Layla and Majnun and Antony and Cleopatra in conjunction with Kalidasa’s medieval Indian play The Recognition of Sakuntala.  We will conclude with a close reading of Hamlet alongside Tom Stoppard’s modern Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Continue reading →

Co-Evolution of Christianity and (Rabbinic) Judaism

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COURSES > LIFELONG

Although “Christianity” is often thought of as a younger religion than “Judaism”, Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity actually co-evolved from a common Second Temple starting point and thus stand to one another as “sisters” rather than as “mother-and-daughter”.  This course will trace the parallel development of these two Abrahamic religions through an examination of a selection of primary and secondary texts in order to better understand each in its own right and in relation to the other, as well as their relationship to their common precursor.  No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required. Continue reading →

Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed

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COURSES > LIFELONG

Perhaps the greatest medieval Jewish philosopher, Moses Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed is a scholastic attempt to reconcile the “revelation” of the Torah and the “reason” of Aristotelian philosophy.  This class will be devoted to reading the Guide in an attempt to gain insight in the both Maimonides’ perspective and the general issues he raises. Continue reading →

Taking Judaism to the Gentiles: Josephus, Philo and Paul

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COURSES > LIFELONG

At the end of the Second Temple period, Judaism was well on its way to becoming the dominant religion of the Roman Empire as Jews, “half-Jews”, and “God-fearers” worshipped the God of Israel in various ways and to various degrees.  Thus, like Hellenism before it, Judaism was (mentally) conquering its (political) conquerors.  In this course we will read selections from the works of three Hellenized Jews who lived around the time of Jesus and who were instrumental in “taking Judaism to the Gentiles” — and thus paving the way for the later rise and triumph of Christianity: (1) Josephus, a priest-general turned historian-apologist who participated in the Jewish revolt against Rome; (2) Philo of Alexandria, a leading figure in one of the leading communities of the Jewish Diaspora who attempted to reconcile Jewish religion and Greek philosophy; and (3) Paul (also known as Saul) who — despite often being thought of as a “Christian” — arguably lived and died thinking of himself as a Jew engaged in propagating what he understood to be the full, final flowering of Judaism. Continue reading →

Abraham in Ancient Texts

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COURSES > LIFELONG

Although many people today think of Genesis as our primary (or only) source of “information” about Abraham, this is not the case.  On the contrary, a range of ancient authors wrote about Abraham from a range of perspectives.  Indeed, a few ancient authors even wrote as if they were Abraham.  This course will examine a range of these ancient Abrahams by reading excerpts a number of texts from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions (including: Genesis, The Book of Jubilees, The Testament of Abraham, Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus, essays by Philo of Alexandria, Romans, Galatians, the Koran, and Tales of the Prophets) in order to better appreciate both “the many faces of Abraham” and the various uses to which Abraham has been put.  No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required. Continue reading →

The Other “New Testament”: An Introduction to the Talmud and Rabbinic Judaism

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COURSES > CONGREGATION

Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, two distinct-but-related sister religions developed around two distinct-but-related sister canons: one was Christianity with its New Testament; the other was Rabbinic Judaism with its Talmud(s).  This class will introduce the “Jewish New Testament” by surveying the historical and textual context in which it developed, outlining the structure and contents of the work itself and examining several passages in English translation.  No background knowledge of any kind is required. Continue reading →

Introduction to the Nag Hammadi Library

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COURSES > LIFELONG

Sometimes described as the “Dead Sea Scrolls of Christianity”, the Nag Hammadi Library is a collection of primarily Gnostic Christian texts produced early in the Christian era and re-discovered in 1945 near the town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt. In this course we will read extensive selections of these texts (with the help of secondary sources that put them in context) in an effort to understand and appreciate a puzzling “heretical” form of early Christianity, both in its own right and in relation to orthodox Christianity.  No prior knowledge or experience of any kind is required. Continue reading →

Apologies of Socrates and Gospels of Jesus

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COURSES > LIFELONG | COURSES > CONGREGATION | COURSES > ONLINE
[→ ONLINE ARCHIVE MATERIAL]

The lives and deaths of Socrates and Jesus had some remarkable parallels. Both were charismatic teachers claiming to be on divine missions. Both were executed by the ruling elites they challenged. And both were vindicated in the writings of their disciples. This course will explore these and other parallels by reading and discussing two Apologies (Defenses) of Socrates, one by Xenophon and one by Plato, and a number of gospels, some that made it into the New Testament and some that didn’t. In addition to examining the teachings of each figure, we will consider how each one’s calling and legacy is portrayed in the various accounts. The two Apologies of Socrates will be supplemented by selected other dialogues by Xenophon and Plato related to the death of Socrates. Continue reading →