CULTH200 The Holy Writ
May 21–June 17, 2008

Among the most compelling forces that glue societies together into "cultures" or "civilizations" are "sacred texts" and their wide ranging impact on religion, ideology, everyday social habits, legal and commercial adjudication, and even dietary patterns. This course considers a number of such pivotal texts informing civilizations that have played a paramount role in world cultures. It evaluates their common features as well as differences and also briefly considers the manner in which their message has informed a wide variety of manifestations from art forms to philosophical and theological readings of the meaning of the world and of existence. Texts to be considered are: the Homeric epics and hymns, the Jewish Bible, the Christian New Testament, the Islamic Holy Qur'an, the Hindu Bhagavad Gita, the Chinese I Ching, and the Mayan Popol Vuh.

All students at CCA are required to complete Cultural History as a part of their Humanities & Sciences requirement. A menu of courses will be offered each year and students may choose from these courses to fulfill the Cultural History requirement. The courses offered to complete the requirement will be historical in nature, will have a substantial non-Western component, and will introduce students to an historical awareness of cultural diversity. Objectives include an introduction to historical and critical thinking, to research methods and uses of evidence and primary sources, and to provide historical context for contemporary citizenship.