Political Theology Revisited

Catalog description

"Political theology" is the name that academics give to a tradition of inquiry in which the distinction between these two terms is continuously troubled. In other words, like modern language and modern thought more generally, it is "woven into the very fabric it is unrolling" (to borrow a line from Foucault). In this class, however, we will attempt to weave them together, which will in turn allow us to recall what is always potentially good and beautiful in the encounter between politics and theology and not only what is evil and ugly (though this recognition will be of equal importance to our endeavor). Our collective pursuit will be facilitated through the slow, meticulous reading of texts along with the discussions that emerge from the threads which we unravel. The readings will consist of a range of dense philosophical treatises (Benjamin, Arendt, Derrida, Foucault, Kojeve, Agamben), literary creations (Shakespeare, Kafka, Baldwin), and films (Kurosawa, Gigineishvili, Malick). All students who are interested are welcome. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 unit.