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Audio walk-through of syllabus:
This course will focus on queer interpretations of the Bible: those that support queer communities (including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and asexual) or that help readers think differently about gender and sexuality. Students will be encouraged to produce their own queer interpretations and to imagine how existing queer interpretations might be useful in their own contexts.
By the end of the course, students will
appreciate the scope and diversity of queer biblical interpretation
be familiar with many examples of queer biblical interpretation
practice interpreting a biblical passage queerly
practice applying biblical interpretation to their own contexts
have in depth knowledge of at least one queer biblical interpretation monograph
recognize the diverse methods used by queer biblical interpreters
have resources for interpreting the often-cited “clobber passages”
engage their classmates with respect, collegiality, civility, creativity, and, is so desired, queerness
understand the basic queer theories that are most often cited in queer biblical interpretation
One of the following:
40 % Discussions:
20% Book Report and Reflection (Due October 6 at 11:59 pm MST)
20% Queer Application (Due October 27 at 11:59 pm MST)
20% Scripture Experiment and Interpretation (Due November 9 at 11:59 pm MST)
Late Policy: I aim to have a reasonable and clear late policy. This means different things for different assignments.
(1) Discussions. Because late discussion posts make it difficult or impossible for others to red and respond, late discussion posts will get a grade of 0. NO EXCEPTIONS. In cases of serious illness, death in the family, etc., please contact me and we can make appropriate arrangements. Otherwise, please don’t even ask for me to forgive a late discussion post.
(2) Papers. If your lateness does not hurt me others, I will forgive it. What this generally means in practice is that, as long as your paper is in by the time I want to grade it, or by November 9 (whichever comes first), I won’t worry about it being late. However, if I want to grade it but it’s not there, your grade will get a 0. If it’s not there by Nov. 9, your grade will be a 0. A real 0, not an F or a 60. Note that with a 0 for a paper it will be difficult for your grade to recover. Also note that one of your papers is due Nov. 9. This is a strict deadline. No late work accepted!!! I strongly suggest you don’t take your chances, and you get your papers in on time.
Reading: I expect you to do most of the reading. I give you permission to do less than 100% of the reading—I’ve actually assigned a bit more than a 2 credit course should require. However, I expect you to read at least three articles/chapters each week, and more whenever possible. If you are short on time, I wold prefer that you skim an article or two rather than skip them altogether. Try your best to get a sense of the main idea, style, and methods of each article. And be sure to read at least two articles carefully and deeply.
Lectures:
Logistics: In order to satisfy the minimum requirements of the course, you only need to enter the course website twice each week. However, you are strongly encouraged to enter the site and check the conversation at least three or four times each week. Ideally, you would make at least a minimal contribution on each of those check-ins.
Incompletes: Incompletes are not allowed in this course.
Pass/Fail: Students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor by the second class session.
Academic Integrity and Community Covenant: All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate. All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.
This course content includes several sensitive issues, including gender, sexuality, and identity. Iliff students come to these issues with a wide diversity of backgrounds, attitudes, opinions, and knowledge. Students should be respectful of these differences. While the course deals with queer perspectives, it should not be assumed that all students in the course share these perspectives. Students should be careful to avoid over-generalizations, to speak for themselves, and not to assume that all students in the course share their point of view.
Accommodations: Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs. Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations. The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146.
Writing Lab: Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments. Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft.
Inclusive Language: It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community.
Assignment Descriptions:The goal of the discussions is to engage with one another and with course materials, exchange ideas, educate one another, get our creative juices moving, and inspire one another to see things differently. The discussions will be dynamic, flexible, and driven by students’ observations, questions, and interests.
In general, you are expected to contribute to the discussion at least twice each week: once between Monday and Wednesday and once between Thursday and Sunday. In these posts, you are expected to demonstrate the following: critical engagement with the course materials, critical engagement with your classmates, and a significant contribution to the conversation.
What does "critical engagement with the course materials" mean? It means that a post shows knowledge of or wrestling with the content of the reading. It suggests that you have read the piece in question and have a working understanding of what the piece is about. A question can count as critical engagement, as long as the question is accompanied by your best efforts to put your question in context or to explain those aspects of the piece that you think you understand, even as you ask about or wrestle with another aspect. In general, I will be looking for engagement with at least two readings. However, sometimes a contribution which shows really in-depth engagement with a single reading can satisfy this requirement.
"Demonstrating critical engagement with your classmates" is accomplished by making it clear that you have read their posts and have made a substantial effort to understand their perspective. A student who posts one stellar post early in the discussion, and then never checks in again does not satisfy this requirement.
How does one "make a contribution to the conversation"? Introduce a new idea (while acknowledging the ideas of others). Responding to a question asked by a classmate or the instructor. Ask an open-ended question (ideally a provocative or interesting question). Ask for help with a specific misunderstanding (e.g. “I don’t understand what X is saying on p. 21 when she says “Y.” Just before this she is talking about Z. I think she might mean W, but on p. 43 she says Q, which seems to be a contradiction. Can someone help me figure out what’s going on?”). Similarly, taking another post as the launching post and taking in a slightly different direction is also a contribution (“When A said B, it made me think of C. Let me talk about C and how it’s related to the course materials and to what A said.”).
For specifics on grading, see the grading rubrics.
Step 1. Choose a book. Choose one of the books in the list below, or propose an alternative choice of book by Week 2. The book must be written by a single author, it must not be a collection of essays, and it must be on queer readings of the Bible (I suspect you’ll find that there aren’t many out there).
Step 2. Read the book.
Step 3. Write about the Book. Write a short paper about the book. The paper should be approximately four pages long (absolute minimum: 3 full pages, absolute maximum: 5 full pages). The audience for the paper is the rest of the class, including the instructor (and this is a real audience: you will share your work with one another). The paper should be divided roughly in half. The first half should be a description and summary of the book. This paper should give your classmates who haven’t read the book a clear idea of what the book is about, the author’s main ideas, etc. It should include the biblical passages that the book treats (this may be biblical passages or simply biblical books), and an explanation of how the author “queers” the passages or books. The second half should be your reflections on the book. It can include evaluation (whether you agree with the author or not—this must include an explanation of why you think what you do), an extension of the author’s argument, or an application of the author’s argument to preaching or other contexts. Reflections can take more creative forms, as well, but if you intend to do something other than what I have listed here you are required to get special permission at least two weeks before the due date.
List of Possible Books:
Jennings, Theodore W. The Man Jesus Loved: Homoerotic Narratives from the New Testament. Cleveland, Ohio: Pilgrim Press, 2003.
Jennings, Theodore W. Jacob’s Wound: Homoerotic Narrative in the Literature of Ancient Israel. New York: Continuum, 2005.
Moore, Stephen D. God’s Beauty Parlor: And Other Queer Spaces in and Around the Bible. Contraversions. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2001.
Stone, Ken. Practicing Safer Texts: Food, Sex and Bible in Queer Perspective. Queering Theology Series. London; New York: T & T Clark International, 2005.
Stuart Macwilliam. Queer Theory and the Prophetic Marriage Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible. Bibleworld. Sheffield, England: Equinox Press, 2011.
Brief explanations of the books:
Step 4. Publish your Work. Post your Report and Reflection in the “Book Report and Reflection” discussion on Canvas. There will be one thread for each of the books; please pot your report in the appropriate thread. Also submit your paper here. You must submit your work in both places!
This is your opportunity to think about how you would apply queer readings in a “real life” context. One example of this would be a short sermon or homily. Another example might be testimony to legislators who are debating a bill. Another example might be an audio or video clip, either for entertainment or in documentary style. Another example might be a blog post, or a series of blog posts (since blog posts are often shorter than the three page requirement). In contrast to the scripture experiment assignment, this assignment can stray further from the text. It must be based upon or use material from the class in an important way, but its primary focus need not be the text. It must be at least three pages long. Talk to me by week 6 if you intend to do a non-text-based project. Publish your paper in the “Queer Application” Discussion. Also submit your paper here. You must submit your work in both places!
Queer interpretations do not necessarily begin with a “queer” passage; one can bring a queer perspective to any passage in scripture. We will test this claim in this assignment. You will each begin with a scripture passage of your choice, and throughout the quarter you will bring a queer perspective to this passage. The assignment will culminate with a three-page queer interpretation of your passage.
Step 1. Choose a Passage
Choose a passage of scripture that calls to you, you like a lot, or you want to learn more about. It should be a clearly defined unit of text, and will usually be less than a chapter (you may pick a longer section if you have a good reason; for example, a story from Judges may take up several chapters, as might a unit of Paul’s argumentation). You must choose your passage by the end of the first day of class: September 9, 11:59 pm MST. Do this by posting in the “Choose Your Scripture Passage” discussion. Posting this on time is worth 5% of your grade for this assignment.
Step 2. Learn the Basics
Read about your unit in at least two standard commentaries. The following series are examples of “standard commentaries” (I’ve ranked them in order of my personal preference, at least for the purposes of this assignment)
Interpretation Series
New Interpreter’s Bible
Anchor Bible
Word Biblical Commentaries
International Critical Commentaries
I also am a fan of some of the new commentary series, like the Blackwell Bible Commentaries, which focus on reception history (the history of interpretation) or Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible, which is written by people who are not biblical scholars. If you use one of these, I encourage you to consult a more traditional commentary, too. If you are unsure if your commentary is acceptable, please ask!
Step 3. Read a Queer Interpretation in Week 7
In Week 7, your reading assignment for the week will be based on what scripture you choose. You will be assigned the relevant selection from The Queer Bible Commentary,along with other queer readings I know of, if appropriate.
Step 4. Write a Three Page Queer Interpretation
Write a queer reading of your chosen scripture, due November 9 at 11:59 pm MST. It must be at least three pages, it must demonstrate substantial engagement with the chosen text, and it must be queer. It must reference the two commentaries you consulted in a substantive way (i.e. the reference should be relevant to your discussion and should reflect understanding of the commentary). Other than those requirements, you may feel free to use your creativity.
As you will learn, queer interpretations come in many forms, including queer ones. So feel free to queer the genre of interpretation even as you write queer content. You may write an exegesis or commentary modeled after the readings on the course, you may write fiction or poetry, you may develop a liturgy, etc.
There is possible overlap between this assignment and the “Queer Application” assignment. The primary difference in my mind is that this queer interpretation must focus on interpreting the text. That is, the paper must be directed toward the text and must be firmly focused on the text. The “Queer Application” does not have this requirement. On the other hand, this paper need not be applied to a real-world context; it can be more “academic” or abstract. Of course, it can also be applied, given that queer readings can usually be applied to the concerns of the queer community.
If you would like to be even more creative (or more queer) and produce something that is not text-based, you may propose an alternative before Week 6. If it may not be obvious how or why the reading is queer, you should append an explanation of why you think the reading is queer, citing course materials or other resources as appropriate.
Step 5. Publish Your Interpretation. Post your interpretation in the “Queer Interpretation” Discussion. Also submit your paper here. You must submit your work in both places!
Because this is an experiment, and because I want to allow for a diversity of political and ethical perspectives in my classroom, I offer two alternative assignments.
Alternate Assignment #1: One of the challenges of this assignment is that you are required to choose a scripture passage before you know how you will queer it. This is what makes this an experiment. The question underlying the experiment is this: Is it possible to queer any passage?
It may turn out that the answer, at least for you, is no. In this case, you have two options. Option 1 is to write a paper of at least three pages in which you explain how you struggled with the text and why you think this particular text was resistant to a queer reading. Option 2 is to write a short statement explaining why you don’t want to queer that text, and to do Step 4 of the assignment on another passage of your choice. In either case, you must still do Steps 1-3.
Alternate assignment #2: It is possible that some people in the class will be resistant to performing a queer reading of any sort. In that case, you are invited to write a critique of a queer reading. If you can find a queer reading of your selected passage (from course materials or otherwise), critique that reading. Otherwise, critique a queer reading of your choice. It must be at least three pages. You must still do Steps 1-3.
(Gil's video introduction moved to Post Your Introduction )
| Date | Day | Details | |
| Sep 10, 2013 | Tue | Post Your Scripture Passage | due by 05:59AM |
| Sep 10, 2013 | Tue | Post Your Introduction | due by 05:59AM |
| Sep 13, 2013 | Fri | Week 1 Discussion | due by 05:59AM |
| Sep 16, 2013 | Mon | Second Discussion Post Due | due by 03:59AM |
| Sep 19, 2013 | Thu | Week 2 Discussion | due by 05:59AM |
| Sep 23, 2013 | Mon | Second Discussion Post Due | due by 05:59AM |
| Sep 26, 2013 | Thu | Week 3 Discussion | due by 05:59AM |
| Oct 07, 2013 | Mon | Book Report and Reflection | due by 03:59AM |
| Oct 28, 2013 | Mon | Queer Application | due by 03:59AM |
| Nov 10, 2013 | Sun | Scripture Experiment and Queer Interpretation | due by 06:59AM |