February 03, 2016

Barber Defense

Mr. Brooks Barber presented his dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy on Friday, December 4, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. His dissertation is titled, "Metaphors of Sickness and the Social Body in the Constantinian Era."

Final Examination of
Mr. Brooks L. Barber
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Monday, November 16, 2015
2:00p.m., Caldwell Room 125
Abstract
"Poverty in al-Ghazali's Ihya Ulum al-Din"
Director: Wilhelmus Valkenberg, Ph.D.
This dissertation researches the meaning and function of poverty ( faqr ) in the thought of the Muslim theologian al-Ghazali (d. 1111), whose I?y?' includes an entire book of material devoted to the subject. Here, we find poverty used as a foundational stage of spiritual development in the trajectory of al-Ghazali's mystical ethics, so that a Muslim who becomes materially poor begins a journey along a path that leads to God and thus overcoming the poverty of existence inherent to all of creation. Although Jesus appears in this text as an important exemplar for both poverty and the related renunciation ( zuhd ) in al-Ghazali's work, the author chooses another figure to represent the highest manifestation of poverty in this life, the Prophet Muhammad's wife 'A'isha. Her detachment from the wealth of the world demonstrates her attainment to the level of 'one without need' ( mustaghn? ), a designation that aligns her, and any other who reaches it, with the divine attribute of Needlessness ( al-Ghan? ), and this with God.
This understanding of poverty as a spiritual ideal is then contextualized at various levels: in relation to the broader thought of al-Ghazali, in reference to his historical sources and interlocutors, and inter-religiously in comparison with the writings on poverty of the thirteenth-century Franciscan tradition. Using three primary currents of thought on poverty that emerge from the Franciscan poverty disputes, this dissertation establishes a heuristic device that allows for an inter-religious comparison between al-Ghazali and Bonaventure, both of whom occupy moderate theological positions on poverty in relation to their own religious traditions. This comparison results in the recognition of both superficial similarities and deeper doctrinal and theological differences about Jesus's role in exemplifying poverty. Such a comparison leads to a mutual understanding of the two theological traditions studied here, and to the realization that differing interpretations of the figure of Jesus can contain inter-religious enrichment.

About Brooks :
Brooks L. Barber was raised just outside of Dallas, TX. He received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Baylor University, and then a Master of Arts in Religion from The George Washington University. After working briefly at the National Academies of Science and travelling abroad for several months, he enrolled in a doctoral program in Religion and Culture at The Catholic University of America. His academic studies have been focused around the comparative study of Islam and Christianity since his undergraduate degree, and they have culminated in a research project in comparative theology.
While pursuing his doctoral degree, Brooks has served as a teaching assistant for faculty in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America. He has also taught several courses in the STRS, including as a teaching fellow for the First Year Experience program. In addition, he worked for one semester as an adjunct professor in the department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Saint Mary's College of Maryland. For the past several years, he has returned to his hometown of Dallas, TX and has worked in several college-readiness programs at the secondary educational level.
Course Summary:
TRS 760A Theological Foundations
TRS 780A Introduction to the Study of Religion
TRS 891 Seminar in Zen
TRS 780B Hermeneutics and Religion
TRS 864C Muslim God, Christian God
TRS 782B Interreligious Dialogue
TRS 782D Practical Issues between Muslims and Christians
TRS 882 Spiritual Quest: Modern Society
TRS 750A Classics in Christian Spirituality I
TRS 750B Classics in Christian Spirituality II
TRS 751A Teaching & Learning: Religious Ed. & Catechetics
SEM 541 Introduction to Arabic I
CNGU 527/THEO 703 Qur'an and its Readers
SEM 542 Introduction to Arabic II
HIST 993 Directed Research in Early Islamic History
SEM 545 Arabic Literature I
CNGU 606/THEO 606 Mysticism in Christianity and Islam
SEM 546 Arabic Literature II

TRS 599D Doctoral Comps

TRS 997 Doctoral Dissertation Guidance

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