Teaching Documents by Timothy Lubin
Syllabus for fall 2022 (law and undergraduate), Washington and Lee University (last version)
W... more Syllabus for fall 2022 (law and undergraduate), Washington and Lee University (last version)
We are used to thinking of the law only as something laid down by the state, but that is only one sort of law. Society is made up of multiple groupings — schools, corporations, religions, guilds, associations, tribes, international alliances, etc. — each defined by a set of customary norms and more or less formal rules, which apply in various ways depending on the individual status of each member. Individuals (and groups) are thus subject to overlapping obligations and claims, and authorities often come into conflict. This is legal pluralism. Even through the law of the state usually claims supremacy within it bounds, it must still deal with, and often recognize, accommodate, or even enforce aspects of other legal orders.
This seminar explores the various ways in which such interactions can play out in a range of social, religious, and political environments, and the ways in which they can affect individuals of different statuses differently. Examples are drawn from a range of periods and places: the Roman empire, the Middle East and South Asia past and present, the United States, and modern Europe. In each context, we examine the ways in which the legal status of individuals is defined in relation to the state, religious community, ethnicity or race, and social class. At each step, we ask: Given a complex environment with different, overlapping, often conflicting claims to authority (secular as well as sacred), rights, and obligations, how is justice to be defined, and how can it be served?
Ślokāntara (transcription of the Old Javanese and Sanskrit Text from the Rani Edition)
e-text of the Ślokāntara, input by Timothy Lubin and Arlo Griffiths:
http://gretil.sub.uni-goet... more e-text of the Ślokāntara, input by Timothy Lubin and Arlo Griffiths:
http://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/5_var/oldjav/slokant_u.htm
Text as in: Ślokāntara, an Old Javanese Didactic Text, critically edited and annotated by Sharada Rani, New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1957.
Employing Acri and Griffiths’ modification of the transliteration system used in Zoetmulder’s OJED (with ə = ĕ, ə̄ = ö, ṅ = ŋ, v = w; ṛ retained); see Andrea Acri and Arlo Griffiths (2014), “The Romanisation of Indic Script Used in Ancient Indonesia,” Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia 170.2–3: 365–78.
Syllabus for a four-week interdisciplinary course designed by Timothy Lubin and Shikha Silwal tau... more Syllabus for a four-week interdisciplinary course designed by Timothy Lubin and Shikha Silwal taught in Kathmandu/Lalitpur in 2017 and again in 2019. (It was first offered on campus at Washington and Lee University after the 2015 earthquake prevented travel to Nepal.)
Course Theme:
Social stratification touches every aspect of life, and South Asia’s traditional caste structure is a special case: this highly complex, strictly adhered to system has been religiously legitimized and criticized over a 3000-year history, and is nowadays seen as being at odds with the modern world. Yet it remains a crucial factor in social identity, economic roles, legal status, and religious practice. These four interlocking factors, considered both historically and in practice today in Nepal, will each be the subject of a unit in this 360º survey of caste. Guest speakers and experience “on the ground” will enhance the program.
A largely rural country with a population mostly of Hindus and Buddhists (including many Tibetan refugees), Nepal has undergone some major changes in its recent history. After emerging from a decade of civil war in 2006, the country abolished its 239-year-old monarchy in 2008, and a new constitution is currently being formulated. Amidst all these changes, issues related to caste are central and timely.
counts toward LJS and MESA minors Course Theme The terms 'law' and 'religion' denote two complex ... more counts toward LJS and MESA minors Course Theme The terms 'law' and 'religion' denote two complex realms of life that have much shared history and continue to intersect in the modern world. In both spheres, personal, institutional, and textual authorities jostle with each other, and with the norms derived from custom and convention. Both spheres contribute to the shaping of group identities, the legitimation of power, and the regulation of society. This seminar will compare examples from a range of places and periods, premodern and modern, to cast into perspective dilemmas and debates that figure in the U.S. today. During the first half of the term, we look at religious conceptions of law, that is, legal systems and practices developed within in particular religious traditions, to note the legacy of religious principles in modern law and to highlight the persistence of religiously defined legal systems today. In the second half, we turn to legal conceptions of religion: how secular models of law define 'religion' and balance the protection of religious freedom with their standards of equity and religious neutrality. Course Requirements (i) Five biweekly five-hundred-word response papers guided by prompts, due by midnight on Friday each even-numbered week (except Week XII), submitted on Canvas. (Cumulatively 40% of final grade.) (ii) A research paper (ca. 4000 words [undergrad] / 5000 words [law]) on a topic to be chosen by the student in consultation with the professor (50% of final grade); students will also make an 8-minute oral
How do religious and scientific systems of knowledge and modes of inquiry differ? How is "real" m... more How do religious and scientific systems of knowledge and modes of inquiry differ? How is "real" magic supposed to work? What is the role of reason in each of these cases? What is the role of authority? Where do systems such as alchemy or astrology fit in the spectrum of such ideas and practices? This course draws together a wide range of materials from antiquity to the present, from Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia, that will illustrate a variety of types of systems of knowledge that have been proposed, and the bases upon which they have been constructed. We begin by reviewing various classical, medieval, and modern philosophical, religious, and scientific views of what counts as knowledge, how it is acquired and taught, the authority of tradition, and the role of experience (perception, experiment) and reason in establishing or confirming knowledge. Theoretical and methodological readings will be balanced with a selection of case studies in which these questions arise. These will be drawn from a diverse range of contexts: rites and doctrines of ancient and medieval religions, ancient and medieval natural philosophy, alchemy, astrology, sorcery, traditional and alternative medical traditions, and new religious movements. Students will research a system of their choice and analyze its presuppositions, criteria of validity, and modes of reasoning and argumentation in comparison with those of other traditions covered in the course, using the analytic framework described at the end of the syllabus. We will emphasize how ideas and bodies of knowledge have communicated and exchanged across Eurasia since antiquity, up to the present. COURSE REQUIREMENTS 1. A midterm examination (25% of the final grade). 2. A final examination (25% of the final grade). 3. A ca. 4000-word research paper (40% of the final grade) on a particular tradition, including an analysis of the criteria used within the tradition to make claims to truth or efficacy, and the ways in which it positions itself in relation to other spheres of knowledge and action. Papers will follow a common format to facilitate comparisons between topics. 4. In-class contributions, including an 8-minute presentation in class of research findings (10%).
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Teaching Documents by Timothy Lubin
We are used to thinking of the law only as something laid down by the state, but that is only one sort of law. Society is made up of multiple groupings — schools, corporations, religions, guilds, associations, tribes, international alliances, etc. — each defined by a set of customary norms and more or less formal rules, which apply in various ways depending on the individual status of each member. Individuals (and groups) are thus subject to overlapping obligations and claims, and authorities often come into conflict. This is legal pluralism. Even through the law of the state usually claims supremacy within it bounds, it must still deal with, and often recognize, accommodate, or even enforce aspects of other legal orders.
This seminar explores the various ways in which such interactions can play out in a range of social, religious, and political environments, and the ways in which they can affect individuals of different statuses differently. Examples are drawn from a range of periods and places: the Roman empire, the Middle East and South Asia past and present, the United States, and modern Europe. In each context, we examine the ways in which the legal status of individuals is defined in relation to the state, religious community, ethnicity or race, and social class. At each step, we ask: Given a complex environment with different, overlapping, often conflicting claims to authority (secular as well as sacred), rights, and obligations, how is justice to be defined, and how can it be served?
http://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/5_var/oldjav/slokant_u.htm
Text as in: Ślokāntara, an Old Javanese Didactic Text, critically edited and annotated by Sharada Rani, New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1957.
Employing Acri and Griffiths’ modification of the transliteration system used in Zoetmulder’s OJED (with ə = ĕ, ə̄ = ö, ṅ = ŋ, v = w; ṛ retained); see Andrea Acri and Arlo Griffiths (2014), “The Romanisation of Indic Script Used in Ancient Indonesia,” Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia 170.2–3: 365–78.
Course Theme:
Social stratification touches every aspect of life, and South Asia’s traditional caste structure is a special case: this highly complex, strictly adhered to system has been religiously legitimized and criticized over a 3000-year history, and is nowadays seen as being at odds with the modern world. Yet it remains a crucial factor in social identity, economic roles, legal status, and religious practice. These four interlocking factors, considered both historically and in practice today in Nepal, will each be the subject of a unit in this 360º survey of caste. Guest speakers and experience “on the ground” will enhance the program.
A largely rural country with a population mostly of Hindus and Buddhists (including many Tibetan refugees), Nepal has undergone some major changes in its recent history. After emerging from a decade of civil war in 2006, the country abolished its 239-year-old monarchy in 2008, and a new constitution is currently being formulated. Amidst all these changes, issues related to caste are central and timely.