Curriculum Development

The Institute has established a five-year project at Trinity College to create syllabi, curricula, and bibliographies on secularism and secularization at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Each year, a selected group of faculty fellows at Trinity College and Claremont University Consortium in California develops new courses based on a common theme across a range of academic disciplines. The themes are:

2005-06: The Roots of the Secular Tradition in the West

2006-07: The Secular Tradition and Foundations of the Natural Sciences

2007-08: Secularism and the Enlightenment

2008-09: The Global Impact of Secular Values

2009-10: Evolution in Nature and Society

2010-11: Separation of Religion & State: Contemporary Issues

2011-12: Gender & Secularism 

An annual peer review conference for educators is held at the end of each academic year.

In July 2005, the newly-formed Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture (ISSSC) issued a call for full time, continuing faculty members at Trinity College to apply for the position of Program Fellows for the Academic Year 2005-06. If accepted, they would receive course development grants under the ISSSC’s new program, Secular Traditions and the Liberal Arts. The grant would allow them each to develop a new course (or thoroughly revise an appropriate existing course) under the theme of Year One.

Introduction: The Roots of the Secular Tradition in the West
Resident Fellow: Dr. Michael Ben-Chaim

ISSSC Teaching Conference on Secular Traditions in the West
May 24-25, 2006 - Lenox, MA

An academic meeting of philosophers, political scientists, and historians of science to discuss the courses developed by ISSSC faculty fellows.

Keynote Presentation: The Early Modern Origins of Secularism: Revisiting the Relationship Between Knowledge and Faith
Dr. Paula Findlen, Ubaldo Pierotti Professor in Italian History, Department of History, Stanford University

Course Title: Skepticism and Toleration in Early Modern Philosophy
Faculty Member: Dr. Todd Ryan, Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Course Title: From Theocracy to Democracy: the Foundations of Modern Liberal Politics
Faculty Member: Dr. Christopher Nadon, Associate Professor of Political Science

Course Title: Science, Nature and Religion in Early Modern Europe
Faculty Member: Dr. Sean Cocco, Assistant Professor of History 

Part II:
The Secular Tradition and Islam

Course Title: Worldly Islam: The Sacred, the Secular
Faculty Member: Dr. Raymond Baker, Professor of International Politics

Course Title: Religious and Secular Thought in Iran
Faculty Member: Nastaran Moosavi, McGill Teaching Fellow in International Studies

Course Title: The History of Evolutionary Ideas
Faculty Member: Dr. Daniel Blackburn, Professor and Chair of Biology

Course Title: European Exploration and Science, 1320-1700
Faculty Member: Dr. Sean Cocco, Assistant Professor of History 

Course Title: Science and Religion (First Year Seminar)
Faculty Member: Dr. Kent Dunlap, Associate Professor of Biology

Course Title: Acid Rain in Europe 1979-1989 (First Year Seminar)
Faculty Member: Dr. David Henderson, Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Environmental Science Program

Part II, at Trinity College:

Core Course Title: Secularism and the Problem of Authority
Faculty Members: Dr. Barry Kosmin, Director, ISSSC and Research Professor, Public Policy & Law Program;
Dr. Ariela Keysar, Associate Director, ISSSC and Associate Research Professor, Public Policy & Law Program

Part III, at Claremont University Consortium, California:
The Roots of the Secular Tradition in the West

Course Title: The Sacred and the Profane in the Middle Ages
Faculty Fellow: Dr. John Eldevik
History Department, Pomona College

Course Title: Medieval Thought
Faculty Fellows: Dr. Carina Lee Johnson
History Department, Pitzer College and
Dr. Brian Keeley Philosophy, Pitzer College

Course Title: Classical Ethical Theory: Plato
Faculty Fellow: Dr. Suzanne Obdrzalek
Philosophy Department, Claremont McKenna College

Course Title: Secularism, Skepticism, and Critiques of Religion
Faculty Fellow: Dr. Phil Zuckerman
Sociology Department, Pitzer College

Course Title: Enlightenment and Romanticism in Italy
Faculty Members: Dr. John Alcorn, Assistant Professor of Italian Studies  & Dario Del Puppo, Associate Professor

Course Title: The Strange Meaning of Things
Faculty Member: Dr. Barbara M. Benedict, Charles A. Dana Professor of English Literature 

Course Title: Eighteenth-Century European Art & Architecture
Faculty Member: Dr. Alden R. Gordon, Gwendolyn Miles Smith Professor of Art History and Chair of the Fine Arts Department

Course Title: Knowledge and Power in the French Enlightenment
Faculty Member: Dr. Jean-Marc Kehres, Assistant Professor of Modern Languages and Literature

Course Title: Science and Society in the Age of Enlightenment - France 1715 - 1799
Faculty Member: Dr. Kathleen Kete, Associate Professor of History

Course Title: Britain: Political Culture and Empire, 1688-1948
Faculty Member: Dr. Susan D. Pennybacker, Borden W. Painter Jr Associate Professor of European History

Claremont University Consortium, California
Secularism and the Enlightenment

Course Title: The Nature of Nature: Enlightenment Ideas about the Landscape
Faculty Member: Dr. Bruce Coats, Professor of Art History, Scripps College

Course Title: Liberty of Conscience and the Creation of Secular Society
Faculty Member: Dr. George Thomas, Assistant Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College

Course Title: German Enlightenment in an International Context
Faculty Member: Dr. Friederike Schwerin, Assistant Professor of German and Russian, Pomona College

Course Title: Government 165: Political Philosophy and History
Faculty Member: Dr. James Nichols, Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College  

Course Title: Anxiety in the Age of Reason
Faculty Member: Dr. Andre Wakefield, Assistant Professor of History, Pitzer College

Courses Developed
Academic Year 2008-09

Course Title: Modern Italy
Faculty Member: John Alcorn, Principal Lecturer in Language & Cultural Studies

Course Title: The World Disenchanted: The Origins and Impact of Secularization
Faculty Member: Jonathan Elukin, Associate Professor of History

Course Title: Modern Secular Nationalism, Ancient Memories: The Case of the Jews
Faculty Member: Samuel Kassow, Charles H. Northam Professor of  History 

Course Title: The Dao of Secularism: Political Transformation and Secular Values in 20th Century Asia
Faculty Member: Michael Lestz, Associate Professor of History

Claremont University Consortium, California
The Global Impact of Secular Values

Course Title: Government 162: Statesmanship and Leadership
Faculty Member: Mark Blitz, Professor, Department of Government, Claremont McKenna College

Course Title: Life, Death and Meaning
Faculty Member: Amy Kind, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College

Course Title: Global Justice, World Poverty, and Human Rights
Faculty Member: Alex Rajczi, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College

Course Title: American Culture Wars
Faculty Member: John Shields, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College

Course Title:  Church, State & Public Policy​

Faculty Member: Renny Fulco, Associate Professor of Public Policy & Law