Programs of Study
Major in Religion Studies
The major in religion studies consists of 32 credit hours of coursework (eight courses). Requirements include:
- In consultation with a major advisor from the departmental faculty, students will devise a balanced plan of study responsive to individual needs and interests. The curriculum for each major will demonstrate exposure to a diversity of approaches to the interdisciplinary, trans-cultural field of religion studies.
- At least four courses at the 100 level or above.
- Rel 374 Seminar for majors.
The department recommends that in consultation with a major advisor, students concentrate in one of the major religious traditions, or in a comparative or thematic approach to the study of religion. The concentration should include at least four courses. Language study appropriate to the concentration is also desirable.
Students are particularly encouraged to consider a joint or double major with another major field from any of the three colleges at the university.
Departmental Honors
Religion studies majors are admitted to honors by invitation of the departmental faculty toward the end of the student’s junior year. To be eligible, a student must have attained at least a 3.25 average in his or her major program by the end of the junior year. Upon admittance to honors, the student will work out a special program of studies for the senior year with the major advisor, culminating in the writing of a senior essay.
Minor in Religion Studies
The minor in religion studies consists of a total of 16 credits. The specific courses to be taken by each student are to be decided upon jointly by the student and the departmental advisor. Ordinarily, the student will be expected to take one introductory course unless specifically exempted by the department chair.
Course Offerings
Rel 1. Sacred Scriptures in Religious Traditions (4)
An encounter with the different sacred books of the world’s major religions. Both the books and differing attitudes in these traditions towards sacred books are examined. Books investigated include the Bhagavad Gita, the Analects of Confucius, the Qur’an and the Jewish and Christian Bibles. Wright. (HU)
Rel 2. Death in Religious Traditions (4)
Introduces students to the study of religion through an exploration of what different religious traditions have to say about the great mystery that we all face, death. Because we all must die, all religions must deal with the challenge and sense of crisis provoked by the deaths of those close to us, of innocent victims of disaster, disease and crime, and our own imminent deaths. Death thus provides an excellent point of comparison among the various religious traditions. Weissler. (HU)
Rel 3. (Phil 3) Global Religion, Global Ethics (4)
Introduction to philosophical and religious modes of moral thinking, with attention given to ethical issues as they arise cross-culturally in and through religious traditions. The course will reference the United Nations Millennium Goals to consider family life and the role of women, social justice, the environment, and ethical ideals. Particular focus varies but may include one or more of the following: abortion and reproductive health, the death penalty, religiously motivated violence, and problems of personal disorder (heavy drinking, anorexia, vengeance). A Global Citizenship course. Steffen. (HU)
Rel 4. How to Study Religion (4)
How do sociologists, psychologists and philosophers answer such questions as: Why and how do religions arise? Why and how do people develop beliefs in God? Where do religious scriptures come from? Why do people ascribe authority to religious traditions? Why has religious faith declined in modern society? (HU)
Rel 5. Spiritual Exercises in Religious Traditions (4)
Explores a variety of religious disciplines developed in both eastern and western religious traditions, ranging from the practice of yoga and the martial arts to various forms of prayer, meditation and asceticism. Raposa. (HU)
Rel 6. Religion and the Ecological Crisis (4)
Past and present responses to nature in world religions. Contemporary topics include the animal rights debate, ecofeminism, and the development of environmental ethics. Is "the end of nature" at hand? Why is the environment a religious issue? Kraft. (HU)
Rel 8. (WS 8) Prehistoric Religion, Art, and Technology (4)
Origins and early development of religions, with focus on interactions of religion, art, and technology in the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. Special attention to the emergence of patriarchal social forms and the figure of the goddess. Interdisciplinary methods with a consideration of feminist theories of cultural development. Girardot. (HU)
Rel 9. Spiritual Journeys (4)
A comparative survey of spiritual traveling-from overland pilgrimages to inward journeys in search of truth. Through autobiographies, diaries, poetry and films, students encounter the experiences of seekers from diverse religious traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Rozehnal. (HU)
Rel 12. (Asia 12) Introduction to Asian Religions (4)
This course explores the principal religions of Asia, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. What is each tradition's view of human potential? How is ultimate reality depicted and experienced? What do home altars, boisterous festivals, and silent meditation halls have in common? Several primary texts are read in translation. Kraft. (HU)
Rel 14. "Virtual" Religion (4)
The contemporary world is replete with social phenomena that resemble religious thought and practice - sports fandom, trekkies, nationalistic rituals, online gaming, military comraderie and codes, environmental activism, etc. In this course we will explore and discuss many of these "virtually" religious phenomena through the lens of the study of religion. Hussain. (HU)
Rel 60. (Asia 60) Religions of South Asia (4)
A thematic introduction to the foundational religious traditions of South Asia: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Islam. Students explore the social and spiritual dimensions of these religious worlds through scripture, ritual practices, narrative and teaching traditions, music and art. Rozehnal. (HU)
Rel 64. (Asia 64) Religions of China (4)
History and meaning of the major forms of Chinese religion- especially Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, Taoist mysticism, Buddhism (Ch’an/Zen), and popular religion. Girardot. (HU)
Rel 65. (Asia 65) Religions of Japan (4)
A survey of Japan’s diverse religious heritage and its impact on contemporary culture. Japanese approaches to the self, the world, and the sacred are considered in comparative perspective. Topics covered include: Shinto, Buddhism, Zen, Confucianism, the way of the warrior, folklore, and postwar movements. Kraft. (HU)
Rel 67. (Asia 67) Japanese Civilization (4)
This course explores the history and culture of Japan from the sixth century to the nineteenth century. How did Japan develop its distinct sense of itself? What aspects of Japanese culture have gained recognition on an international scale? Special consideration is given to the rise of the warrior class, the flowering of religious expression, and the dynamics of family life. Kraft. (H/S)
Rel 73. The Jewish Tradition (4)
Judaism is both a textual tradition and a lived religion. Students read basic Jewish texts-Bible, Talmud, Midrash-and study the ways Jews sanctify the life cycle through rites of passage, and the round of the year through the festival cycle. Silberstein, Weissler. (HU)
Rel 75. The Christian Tradition (4)
Introduction to the Christian tradition from its early variety and subsequent classical definition in the church councils up to the enlightenment. Special emphasis will be placed on the multiform interpretations of the Christian message. Wright. (HU)
Rel 76. Reading the Bible in the Contemporary World (4)
Reading passages from the Bible with an eye toward distinguishing and understanding different sorts of questions that can be asked of them and various perspectives that can be adopted when reading them. What are these stories about? What do they mean, when, and to whom? Wright. (HU)
Rel 77. (Asia 77) The Islamic Tradition (4)
A thematic introduction to Islamic history, doctrine and practice. Topics include: Qur'an: prophecy and sacred history; ritual practices; community life; legal interpretation; art and aesthetics; mysticism; politics and polemics. Rozehnal, Hussain. (HU)
Rel 111. Jewish Scriptures/Old Testament (4)
The religious expression of the Hebrews, Israelites, and Jews as found in the Jewish Scriptures (TANAK/Christian Old Testament). Near Eastern context of Hebrew religion, the Patriarchs, the Exodus, the monarchy, prophecy, Exile and Return. Emphasis on historical, literary, critical problems, and newer socio-historical methods. Wright. (HU)
Rel 112. The Beginnings of Judaism and Jewish Origins: Jewish Diversity in the Greco-Roman World (4)
The variety of approaches to Judaism in the period following the Babylonian exile through the second century C.E. The literature studied will include Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Wright. (HU)
Rel 114. (Clss 114) Christian Origins: New Testament and the Beginnings of Christianity (4)
Early Christianity from its beginnings until the end of the second century. Coverage includes the Jewish and Hellenistic matrices of Christianity, traditions about the life of Jesus and his significance, and the variety of belief and practice of early Christians. Emphasis on encountering primary texts. Wright. (HU)
Rel 115. (Psyc 115) Religion and Psychology (4)
A study of the origins, development and consequences of religion from a psychological perspective. Attention will be given to classic and contemporary sources, with a focus on major psychoanalytic theorists of religion (Freud, Jung, Erikson); psychological analyses of religious experience (e.g., Wm. James, Victor Frankl); and the diverse cultural and religious forms that structure the connection between religion and psychology (e.g., Buddhist psychology, Japanese Morita therapy). course examines the role of religion as a powerful meaning system that can affect the lives of individuals in terms of motivations, beliefs, emotions and behaviors, and can influence their interactions on both interpersonal and intergroup levels. Steffen. (HU)
Rel 116. (HMS 116, Phil 116) Bioethics (4)
Moral issues that arise in the context of health care and related biomedical fields in the United States today, examined in the light of the nature and foundation of moral rights and obligations. Topics include: confidentiality, informed consent, euthanasia, medical research and experimentation, genetics, the distribution of health care, etc. (HU)
Rel 118. (Phil 118) Ethics in Practice (1-4)
A variable content course focusing on ethical issues arising in a particular profession, such as law, health, business, engineering, military. Variable credit. May be taken more than once. (HU)
Rel 120. Newish Jewish: New Forms of Judaism in North America (4)
The new millennium has seen the emergence of new forms of Judaism and of Jewishness in North America: Jewish hip hop music, graphic novels, zines, performance arts, blogs, earth-based spirituality, and ecological activism. The course will examine the roots of these phenomena in Jewish traditions and texts and in American popular culture, and explore the uses of hybridity and pastiche in the forms of Jewish identity they create. Weissler. (HU)
Rel 121. Sources for the Life of Jesus: the Jewish and Christian Context (4)
Ancient sources that claim to provide information about Jesus of Nazareth. Approaches taken to Jesus’ life and career; early Christian interpretations of the significance of Jesus; methodology in assessing evidence for the historical Jesus and his message. Wright. (HU)
Rel 124. (Phil 124) Philosophy of Religion (4)
A critical look, from a philosophical perspective, at some fundamental problems of religion: The nature of religious experience and belief, reason and revelation, the existence and nature of God, the problem of evil, and religious truth. Raposa. (HU)
Rel 125. Comparative Religious Ethics (4)
How have thinkers within the three major Abrahamic traditions handled ethical questions and dilemmas throughout history? This course will focus on many issues including but not limited to violence and pacifism, debates concerning revelation versus reason, the different accounts of justice and peace, the nature of scripture and the divine. We will look comparatively both within and across these traditions. Hussain. (HU)
Rel 129. (Phil 129) Jewish Philosophy (4)
How major Jewish thinkers from the first to the 20th centuries confronted questions at the intersection of religion and philosophy: the existence and nature of God, free will, evil, divine providence, miracles, creation, revelation, and religious obligation. (HU)
Rel 132. Hasidic Tales (4)
Examines the mysterious and beautiful tales told by Hasidim, participants in the movement of spiritual revival which arose within 18th century Judaism. Compares Hasidic tales to European fairy tales, and shows how later writers transformed Hasidic narratives to express their own religious or literary meanings. Weissler. (HU)
Rel 133. Alternative Religions in the 21st Century (4)
An exploration of alternative religious beliefs and practices in the late 21th century. Topics include the new pluralism, adaptations of Asian traditions, goddess religion, and spiritual environmentalism. What distinguishes a religion from a cult? What goes awry when violence is perpetrated in the name of religion? Kraft. (HU)
Rel 138. (WS 138) Women in Jewish History (4)
Contributions of, and limitations on, women at different stages of Jewish history, using both primary sources and secondary material. Experience of modern Jewish women, and the contemporary feminist critique of traditional gender roles. Weissler. (HU)
Rel 139. (Anth 139) Jewish Folklore (4)
Examines the transformation of folk and popular Judaism from the Old World, through the period of immigration to America, to ethnic and later forms of American Jewish culture. Attention paid to concept of folklore revivals and their meanings. Four case studies: folk tales and storytelling, klezmer music, life-cycle rituals, and food. Weissler. (SS)
Rel 141. (Phil 141) Medieval Islamic Philosophy (4)
An introduction to Islamic philosophy in the medieval era, the Golden Age of Islamic civilization. The course focuses on primary sources. Readings include both expositions and critiques of philosophical doctrines and argument, selected from the writings of al-Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), al-Ghazali, Ibn Tufayl, and Ibn Rushd (Averroes). Yaqub. (HU)
Rel 144. (Art 144) Raw Vision: Creativity and Ecstasy in the Work of Shamans, Mystics, and Artist Outsiders (4)
Comparative exploration of the nature and meaning of religious and artistic experience as reflected in shamanism (both prehistoric and tribal), mystic traditions (especially Taoism and Christianity), and contemporary self-taught artistic visionaries (e.g., Jean Dubuffet, Howard Finster, Mr. Imagination, Lonnie Holley, Norbert Kox). Various disciplinary perspectives will be employed including comparative religions, anthropology, art history, and psychology. Girardot. (HU)
Rel 145. (Asia 145) Islam in the Modern World (4)
Examines how numerous Muslim thinkers-religious scholars, modernists, and Islamists-have responded to the changes and challenges of the colonial and post-colonial eras. Special emphasis is placed on the public debates over Islamic authority and authenticity in contemporary South Asia. Rozehnal. (HU)
Rel 146. (Asia 146) Islam in South Asia (4)
A survey of the dynamic encounter between Islamic and Indic civilizations. Topics include: Islamic identity, piety and practice; art and aesthetic traditions: inter-communal exchange and conflict; the colonial legacy; and the politics of contemporary religious nationalism. Rozehnal. (HU)
Rel 148. (GCP 148) Islam Across Cultures (4)
Explores the Muslim world's diversity and dynamism in multiple cultural contests-from the Middle East and North Africa, to Asia and America-through literature, ethnography, and films. Topics include: travel and trade networks; education; women and gender; Islam and cultural pluralism; colonialism; and identity politics. Rozehnal. (HU)
Rel 149. Modern Islamic Ethics (4)
This course will focus on developments in Islamic thinking and ethics that emerge from the modern encounter between Muslim societies and the West. We will discuss Islamic modernism and fundamentalism through short primary texts from a variety of modern Muslim thinkers. Hussain. (HU)
Rel 152. American Judaism (4)
Diverse cultural and social forms through which American Jews express their distinct identity. Is American Jewry an example of assimilation and decline or creative transformation? What, if anything, do American Jews share in common? Compatibility of Judaism with individualism, pluralism, and voluntarism. How have the Holocaust and the State of Israel shaped the self-understanding of American Jewry? (HU)
Rel 153. The Spiritual Quest in Contemporary Jewish Life (4)
What factors explain the current growth of spirituality in American Jewish life? How does Spirituality differ from conventional religion? What is the impact of Jewish spirituality in contemporary Jewish worship? How does the growth of Jewish spirituality relate to the broader issues of Jewish identity? What accounts for the growing interest in Buddhsim among Jews? What is the impact of feminism on Jewish spirituality? How does the growth of spirituality among Jews relate to the growth of spirituality in general American culture? (HU)
Rel 154. (Hist 154) The Holocaust: History and Meaning (4)
The Nazi holocaust in its historical, political and religious setting. Emphasis upon moral, cultural and theological issues raised by the Holocaust. (HU)
Rel 157. (Hist 157) Europe in the Age of the Reformation (4)
The breakup of the religious culture of medieval Christian Europe in the reformation movements of the sixteenth century. The origins and varieties of Protestantism; the intersection of religious ideas and politics in Germany, Switzerland, Britain, France and the Netherlands; the "wars of religion" and the emergence of the European state system. Baylor. (HU)
Rel 159. Roman Catholicism in the Modern World (4)
A survey of the various intellectual, cultural, political and ecclesiastical developments that have shaped contemporary Roman Catholic life and thought. Raposa. (HU)
Rel 160. (Asia 160) The Taoist Tradition (4)
Consideration of the religious and cultural significance of Taoism in its various historical forms. Primary attention will be given to a close reading of some of the most important texts of the early philosophical tradition (e.g. Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tzu) and of the later religious tradition (e.g. Pao P’u Tzu and other selections from the Tao Tsang). Contemporary implications of Taoist thought will also be considered (e.g. "The Tao of Physics", "a Taoist on Wall Street", and "the Tao of Japanese Management"). Girardot. (HU)
Rel 162. (Asia 162) Zen Buddhism (4)
History, doctrines, and practices of Zen Buddhism in China, Japan, and the West. Monastic life, notable Zen masters, Zen’s cultural impact, and enlightenment. Current aspects of the Zen tradition. (Optional meditation workshop.) Kraft. (HU)
Rel 167. (Asia 167) Engaged Buddhism (4)
Examines a contemporary international movement that applies Buddhist teachings and practices to social, political, and environmental issues. Topics include: important thinkers, forms of engagement, and areas of controversy. Kraft. (HU)
Rel 168. (Asia 168) Buddhism in the Modern World (4)
Explores contemporary Buddhism in Asia, America, and Europe. Topics include the plight of Tibet, Buddhist environmentalism, and the emergence of a socially engaged Buddhism. How are Westerners adapting this ancient tradition to address present-day concerns? Kraft. (HU)
Rel 171. (SSP 171) Religion and Society (4)
An Introduction to the sociology of religion. Covers classical and contemporary approaches to defining and studying the role of religion in society. Emphasis on understanding religious beliefs and practices in the United States, the sources and contours of religious change, and the effects of religion on individuals and society. Specific topics include religious fundamentalism, religious conversion, religious practices and authority, secularization, religion in public life, religion in social change religious terrorism, and the ways in which religion impacts our personal health, educational attainment, and family life. Munson. (SS)
Rel 174. Contemporary Theology (4)
Major 20th century movements within Christian and Jewish theology understood as responses to the problems of modern times. May be repeated for credit as the subject matter varies. Raposa. (HU)
Rel 180. (Hist 180) Religion and the American Experience (4)
The historic development of major American religious groups from colonial times to the present; their place in social and political life, and the impact of the national experience upon them. Raposa. (HU)
Rel 184. (WS 184) Religion, Gender, and Power (4)
Gender differences as one of the basic legitimations for the unequal distribution of power in Western society. Feminist critiques of the basic social structures, cultural forms, and hierarchies of power within religious communities, and the ways in which religious groups have responded. (HU)
Rel 187. Science, Technology, and the Religious Imagination (4)
Impact of the scientific and technological culture on the Western religious imagination. Roots of science and technology in religious ideas and images. Ways of knowing and concepts of experience in religion and science. Raposa. (HU)
Rel 188. Religion and Literature (4)
Religious themes in the modern novel or the spiritual autobiography. Melville, Tolstoy, Camus, Updike, Walker, and Morrison; or Woolman, Tolstoy, Malcolm X, Wiesel, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Kukai. Steffen. (HU)
Rel 189. Religion and the Visual Arts (4)
To what extent does the process and production of artistic images relate to visionary experience in the history of world religions, and expose a religious dimension in life? In what sense is an artistic vocation similar to the religious vocation of a shaman, prophet, or saint? In what way do artists and religious figures respond to, change, and create the "real" world? Girardot. (HU)
Rel 213. (Clss/Hist 213) Ancient Roman Religion (4)
Religious experience of the Roman people from prehistory to end of the empire. Nature of polytheism and its interactions with monotheism (Christianity, Judaism). Theories of religion. Emphasis on primary source materials. (SS)
Rel 220. (Asia 220) Classics of Asian Religion (4)
Sacred scriptures of Asia and an introduction to the religions they represent. What do these texts teach about reality, humanity, divinity, and society? How is the path of spiritual practice presented in the different traditions? Kraft, Girardot. (HU)
Rel 221. (Asia 221) Topics in Asian Religions (4)
Selected thematic and comparative issues in different Asian religious traditions. May include Buddhism and Christianity, religion and martial arts, Asian religions in America, Taoist meditation, Zen and Japanese business, Buddhist ethics. May be repeated for credit. Girardot, Kraft, Rozehnal. (H/S)
Rel 222. Topics in Western Religions (4)
Selected historical, thematic, and comparative issues in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. May be repeated for credit as the subject matter varies. (HU)
Rel 224. (Phil 224) Topics in the Philosophy of Religion (4)
Selected problems and issues in the philosophy of religion. May be repeated for credit as the subject matter varies. Raposa, Hussain. (HU)
Rel 225. Topics in Religion and Ethics (4)
Analysis of various moral problems and social value questions. Possible topics include: environmental and non-human animal ethics; medical ethics; drug and alcohol abuse; spiritual meaning of anorexia. (HU)
Rel 226. (HMS 226) From Black Death to AIDS: Plague, Pandemic, Ethics and Religion (4)
An investigation into the way religion and morality shape interpretations of plague and pandemics. Three specific pandemics are examined: the bubonic plague of the 14th century, the 1918 influenza pandemic, and the current global AIDS crisis. Moral issues provoked by institutional, political and social responses to pandemic disease are also considered. Steffen. (HU)
Rel 228. Theories of Religion (4)
What is religion? Does it have a universal, cross-cultural and trans-creedal essence? Drawing on numerous academic disciples, the course engages the major issues and most influential authors in the academic study of comparative religions. Rozehnal, Hussain. (HU)
Rel 230. Kabbalah: The Jewish Mystical Tradition (4)
Explores the history of the quest to know God, through mystical experience or theosophical speculation, as found in Jewish tradition. Examines such issues as the tensions between institutional religion and personal religious experience, between views of God and immanent in the world or transcending it, and between imagery for God and religious experience of God. Not open to students who took Rel 130. Weissler. (HU)
Rel 231. Classic Jewish Texts (4)
While many people know that the Hebrew Bible ("Old Testament") is a foundational scripture for Judaism, fewer are familiar with the post-biblical Jewish classics. Yet these works shaped the understanding of God, the identity of the Jewish people, and the vision of history and of the ethical life that inform Judaism as we know it today. As students read the Talmud, Midrash, and traditional prayer-book, they will become familiar with the wisdom of the rabbinic sages, and the central concepts of Jewish tradition. Weissler. (HU)
Rel 234. (Asia 234) Buddhist Visions of a Good Society (4)
This course examines Buddhist visions of a better world. Present-day Buddhist teachers, most notably the Dalai Lama, propose "zones of peace," advocate "a policy of kindness," and extol "compassionate consumption." Are there wiser ways to pursue happiness? What is the relation between individual transformation and social transformation? Can we imagine a community guided by altruism and nonviolence? The process of contemplating alternative societies is also a way to achieve a clearer understanding of one's own highest ideals. Kraft. (HU)
Rel 241 (Phil 241) Critics of Religion (4)
A seminar devoted to an analysis of the critiques of religion in the writings of Benedict Spinoza, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Michel Foucault and William E. Connolly. Hussain (HU)
Rel 243 Religious Nationalism in a Global Perspective (4)
Religion has become a renewed political force on the world stage in recent years. This course will focus on how religion has often provided both the ideological language and the organizing principles for many modern nationalisms. Our exploration of this topic will take the form of case studies from various parts of the world, including but not limited to Pakistan, Isreal, No. Ireland, India, Iran and the USA. Hussain. (HU)
Rel 244. (GCP 244, GS 244) Globalization and Religion (4)
This course examines the complexity of globalization and its multi-layered impact on religious identity and piety. Though comparative in methodology and historical framework, the class will give special attention to Islam and Hinduism in South Asia. Topics include: European colonialism; Orientalism and its legacy; religious nationalism; Islamophobia; and the Internet and mass media. Rozehnal. (HU)
Rel 247. (Asia 247) Islamic Mysticism (4)
Sufism, the inner or 'mystical' dimension of Islam, has deep historical roots and diverse expressions throughout the Muslim world. Students examine Sufi doctrine and ritual, the master-disciple relationship, and the traditions's impact on art and music, poetry and prose. Rozehnal. (HU)
Rel 251. (Clss 251) Classical Mythology (4)
Myth, religion and ritual in ancient Greece and Rome. Emphasis on primary sources; introduction to ancient and modern theories of myth. Cross-cultural material. (SS)
Rel 254. (Asia 254, ES 254) Buddhism and Ecology (4)
Buddhism's intellectual, ethical, and spiritual resources are reexamined in light of contemporary environmental problems. Is Buddhism the most green of the major world religions? What are the moral implications of actions that affect the environment? Prerequisite: One prior course in religion, environmental studies, or Asian studies. Kraft. (HU)
Rel 262. Critics of Modernity (4)
Many modern thinkers find modernity and its forms of social organization and politics to be deeply troubling. Including both religious and non-religious critiques, this course will explore the varying meanings of modernity and how these thinkers challenge such meanings. Critics including but not limited to Gandhi, Hannah Arendt, Reinhold Neibuhr, Sayyid Qutb, Alasdair MacIntyre and Ruhollah Khomeini. Hussain. (HU)
Rel 317. (Engl 317) Topics in Jewish Literature (4)
This course will explore the American and global contemporary Jewish experience through poetry, fiction and memoir. We'll read Nobel prize-winners, American masters, Russian and Sephardic immigrants, and cutting-edge experimentalists. Readings, films and guest speakers will offer provocative springboards from which to discuss ethnic literatures, Jewish responses to the Holocaust, tradition and assimilation, gender roles, Jewish literature itself, and what it means to be a Jew in the contemporary world. May be repeated for credit as title varies. Setton. (HU)
Rel 335. (Anth 335) Religion, Witchcraft and Magic (4)
Addresses broad questions about the roles that religion, magic, and witchcraft play in human life, as philosophical systems of meaning, as useful tools for understanding, and as practical and moral guides for human action. Special focus on the role of witchcraft and magic in the modern world, especially in the lives of disempowered people. Casgrande. (SS)
Rel 337. (Anth 337, Asia 337) Buddhism and Society (4)
In this course we approach Buddhism as a lived tradition rather than as a textual tradition. We examine how Buddhist practices are integrated into local traditions and how religious practices become part of the larger social, political, and value systems. Societies examined may include Thailand, Nepal, Japan, China, and the United States. Students will develop a comparative framework that inclues Theravada, Tibetan, and Zen Buddhism. Tannenbaum. (SS)
Rel 347. (Phil 347, Amst 347) American Religious Thinkers (4)
An examination of the writings of key figures in the history of American religious thought (such as Edwards, Emerson, Bushnell, Peirce, James, Royce, Dewey and the Niebuhrs). Attention will be directed both to the historical reception of these writings and to their contemporary significance. Raposa, Hussain. (HU)
Rel 350. (Pols 350) Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective (4)
This research seminar attempts to identify the conditions under which religious parties arise and become influential, how religion influences popular understandings of secular politics and the extent to which religion is a necessary feature of modern public discourse. These topics are explored through country specific cases from around the world. Deo. (SS)
Rel 361. Fieldwork (1-4)
Opportunity for students to work, or observe under supervision, religious organizations or institutions. Consent of chair required. (ND)
Rel 371. Directed Readings (1-4)
Intensive study in areas appropriate to the interests and needs of students and staff. (ND)
Rel 374. Seminar for Majors (4)
A capstone seminar for departmental majors. Considers the methodologies of religious studies and assesses current issues in the field. Offers opportunities for in-depth work on a particular tradition under the guidance of a faculty member. Offered in Spring Semester. May be repeated for credit. (HU)
Rel 375. (SSP 375) The Christian Right in American (4)
What do we know about the Christian Right? Who are they? What do they believe? Where do they come from? Seminar explores answers to such questions through a focus on the history of the Christian Right as well as its ideologies and beliefs, the people who are a part of it, and its evolving relationship to the American political system. Topics include some of the most divisive social issues of our time: abortion, homosexuality, capital punishment, pornography, taxes, education, and the separation of church and state. Munson (SS)
Rel 391. Senior Thesis in Religion (4)