RS 110 Faith and Doubt
Does religious faith remain a valid, well founded, and necessary aspect of human experience? Or have the events of the last century (or the last decade) shattered it beyond repair? This course offers an introduction to normative questions in the study of religion by investigating the experience of faith and doubt during the last century. We will attend closely to the effects of science, war, genocide, discrimination, and terrorism on religious consciousness, through literature, memoir, and film. Readings may be from C.S. Lewis, Freud, Wiesel, Malcolm X, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and the “New Atheism.”