Monthly Archives: May 2005

Global Religion Course Summary

Posted on May 31, 2005 by Gabor

This was a fun class, for two reasons. Professor Juergensmeyer is a charming speaker, full of anecdotes and knows the art of provoking his guests without insulting them. The other reason was the weekly visit we did to various places … Continue reading →

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Mark Juergensmeyer: Global Religions: An Introduction

Posted on May 30, 2005 by Gabor

This slim, 155 page, volume is a skeleton of a much larger volume by the same title. Here we have an opening essay by Professor Juergensmeyer. The others, each written by a different scholar included six essays on how specific … Continue reading →

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Interpersonal Relations Course Summary

Posted on May 29, 2005 by Gabor

This was the worst course in my college career. It was a small class, 24 people. We were regulated like 6 year olds; set seating, total quiet, no questions, no laughing. The professor talked extra slow, but to his credit … Continue reading →

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Shugendo Course Summary

Posted on May 28, 2005 by Gabor

Shugendo is Japanese esoteric Buddhism. The professor was French and had an accent that sometimes made it difficult for me to understand him. He also used a lot of complex words. The combination of the two (plus me not always … Continue reading →

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Pragmatism Course Summary

Posted on May 27, 2005 by Gabor

The professor was a born performer. He jumped around, screamed, did mime, played with his voice and body all over the room. He was so enthused about his subject matter that he dragged the whole class with him. But the … Continue reading →

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Marvin Harris: Cannibals and Kings: Origins of Cultures

Posted on May 26, 2005 by Gabor

I read it chapter by chapter in 8-9 weeks. It would have been better to read it in one sitting. It is a fascinating book. I don’t think I can or want to do better than the Amazon summary: “Marvin … Continue reading →

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John Baldwin: George Herbert Mead: A Unifying Theory for Sociology

Posted on May 25, 2005 by Gabor

I had a hard time with this book. It was written by the professor who I had a course with on Pragmatism through Mead. I kept having the vision that this book is the professor’s philosophy and not Mead’s. Mr. … Continue reading →

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Sikhism Course Summary

Posted on May 24, 2005 by Gabor

The professors smiled almost all the time. He got slightly agitated only twice in the entire quarter. The rest of the time his tone and voice was like an Indian saint. Keeping it low, cool and warm. But it was … Continue reading →

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Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti: Behzti (Dishonour)

Posted on May 23, 2005 by Gabor

I wrote a 20 page paper (PDF) on this play and now I feel empty when wanting to come up with a paragraph. The play is set in a Gurdwara, Sikh Temple in the UK, were a young woman is … Continue reading →

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A Vanished World

Posted on May 23, 2005 by Gabor

Here is another book not directly of the Kabbalah, but should be mentioned: Chris Lowney’s A Vanished World: Medieval Spain’s Golden Age of Enlightenment. An excerpt from the press release: “A VANISHED WORLD” chronicles religious minorities worshipping in freedom; an … Continue reading →

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