Topic for Spring 2019: Religion in Dostoevesky and Tolstoy
The course concentrates on religion and spirituality as explored in literary and some non-fiction works by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Lev Tolstoy. Among the topics discussed are: the nature of God and the nature of humanity, the mystery of life and death, the nature of good and evil, the path/s to self-betterment and spiritual enlightenment, and the role of religion in life in general and in the Russian society of the late nineteenth century in particular. The course explores the role these authors played in the difficult discussions of their time and the impact they had on their contemporaries and followers.