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RELIG 201 Introduction to World Religions: Western Traditions (5) I&S Wellman
History of religions, concentrating on religious traditions that have developed west of the Indus. Primary attention to the Semitic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and to their ancient world background with emphasis on basic conceptual and symbolic structures.
Instructor Course Description:
Darrell W Udd
Eugene Webb
Martin S. Jaffee
James K. Wellman
Brannon M. Wheeler
RELIG 202 Introduction to World Religions: Eastern Traditions (5) I&S Tokuno
History of religions, concentrating on religions that have developed in South Asia and East Asia. Primary attention to Hinduism and Buddhism; other important Asian religions are discussed in relation to them, with emphasis on basic conceptual and symbolic structures.
Instructor Course Description:
Collett D. Cox
Frank F Conlon
Heidi R. Pauwels
Ulrich Pagel
Kyoko Tokuno
RELIG 205 Religion, Violence, and Peace: Patterns Across Time and Tradition (5) I&S Noegel, Wellman
Investigates the complex relationship between violence and peace in a variety of religious traditions. Examines case studies from the ancient Near East, medieval East Asia, and the contemporary West from the standpoint of lived experiences and contemporary theories derived from several academic disciplines. Offered: jointly with HUM/NEAR E 205; W.
RELIG 210 Introduction to Judaism (5) I&S Jaffee, Pianko
Basic ideas and motifs of Judaism: God, Covenant, Law, Life Cycle (birth, marriage, family life, sexual laws, role of women, death); Cycle of the Year (Sabbath, holidays, festivals); Holy Land, prayer, Messianism.
Instructor Course Description:
Martin S. Jaffee
Michael A Williams
Noam Pianko
RELIG 211 Islam (5) I&S/VLPA
Introduction to important cultural and historical aspects of Islam, focusing on basic concepts and developments such as prophethood, Quran and Hadith, canon and law, ritual, social theory, Sufism, theology, and sectarianism. Special attention to comparison of varied Muslim practices and beliefs, and their relation to textual and personal authority. Offered: jointly with NEAR E 211.
Instructor Course Description:
Brannon M. Wheeler
RELIG 212 Introduction to the Quran (5) I&S/VLPA
Emphasis on the historical context of the Quran, the history of the text, its collection, organization, and interpretation. In English. Offered: jointly with NEAR E 212.
Instructor Course Description:
Brannon M. Wheeler
RELIG 220 Introduction to the New Testament (5) I&S/VLPA Williams
Modern scholarly methods of research and analysis in dealing with New Testament books and their interpretation. Genres of various books (gospel, epistle, sacred history, apocalypse); problems of the relationships among author, material, and intended audience; relationships between theme and image.
Instructor Course Description:
Darrell W Udd
Michael A Williams
RELIG 240 Introduction to the Hebrew Bible: Old Testament (5) I&S/VLPA Noegel
Examines the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) in translation and its relationship with literatures of ancient Near East. Comparisons drawn between the biblical text and the literary works of Canaan, Egypt, Greece, and Mesopotamia. Emphasis on the sophisticated literary techniques employed by the biblical writers. Offered: jointly with NEAR E 240.
Instructor Course Description:
Scott B. Noegel
RELIG 254 American Religions (5) I&S Wellman
Seeks to understand religious diversity in the American context and the varieties of religions in the American historical horizon including religious minorities, American Protestants, public religious expressions, and new American religions.
Instructor Course Description:
James K. Wellman
RELIG 264 Sacred Music in the European Tradition (5) VLPA
Surveys European and American sacred music from the 12th to 20th centuries, examining the important role of music in religious worship. Considers the means composers used to make musical works sound the way they do to convey the messages of the texts through music. Offered: jointly with MUSIC 264.
RELIG 301 Religious Thought Since the Middle Ages (5) I&S
Development of religious thought in the West from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. History of focal ideas: God, man, knowledge, and authority during this period and the relation of changes in these ideas to the ways in which basic issues in religious thought have been conceived. Recommended: RELIG 201
Instructor Course Description:
Eugene Webb
James K. Wellman
RELIG 307 Religion and World Politics (5) Gill
Explores the intersection of religion and politics in various regions of the world, including the U.S., Europe, Middle East, Latin America, and other regions. Presents a historical perspective on religion alongside contemporary issues in religion, politics, and church-state relations. Offered: jointly with POL S 307.
RELIG 320 Comparative Study of Death (5) I&S
Death analyzed from a cross-cultural perspective. Topics include funerary practices, concepts of the soul and afterlife, cultural variations in grief, cemeteries as folk art, and medical and ethical issues in comparative context. American death practices compared to those of other cultures. Offered: jointly with ANTH 322.
Instructor Course Description:
E. Floyd Aranyosi
James W Green
RELIG 321 Comparative Religion (3) I&S
Anthropological approaches to religious experience and belief with emphasis on conceptual issues such as ritual, symbolism, identify, ecstatic experience, and revitalization movements in the context of globalization. Also addresses the diversity of religious expression in American culture and how that compares with other societies. Offered: jointly with ANTH 321.
Instructor Course Description:
James W Green
RELIG 322 The Gospels and Jesus of Nazareth (5) I&S Williams
Gospel material from early Christianity, including both canonical and noncanonical gospels. Relation of gospels to analogous literature from the Hellenistic-Roman period. Recommended: ENGL 310 or RELIG 220.
Instructor Course Description:
Michael A Williams
RELIG 324 The Emergence of Christianity (5) I&S Williams
Studies stages in the development of Christianity as a new religion, during the first to fifth centuries CE, as the classical forms and institutions of Christian "orthodoxy" gradually achieved definition, and as this emerging Christian tradition became a dominant cultural and socio-political force. Recommended: HIST 307, RELIG 201, or RELIG 220.
RELIG 327 Eastern Christian Traditions (5) I&S
Eastern Christian traditions, with principal focus on Eastern Orthodox tradition in Byzantium and Russia from time of the Council of Nicea to the twentieth century. Considers significant differences between eastern and western Christianity and their doctrinal and cultural origins; explores distinctive features of eastern tradition. Recommended: HIST 307 or RELIG 201.
Instructor Course Description:
Eugene Webb
RELIG 330 Religion, Identity, and Cultural Pluralism (5) I&S
The role of religion in shaping personal and communal identity in a pluralistic society. Themes include current dimensions of American pluralism, effects of ethnicity, immigration, and electronic communication o building religious communities, and issues of conflict, violence, and reconciliation. Offered: jointly with ANTH 330.
RELIG 350 Buddhism and Society: The Theravada Buddhist Tradition in South and Southeast Asia (5) I&S
Religious tradition of Theravada Buddhism (as practiced in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia). Variations in ethical orientations developed through Theravada Buddhist ideas. Recommended: RELIG 202 or one eastern religions course. Offered: jointly with ANTH 352.
Instructor Course Description:
Charles F Keyes
RELIG 352 Hinduism (5) I&S Novetzke, Pauwels
Varieties of Hindu religious practice; the diverse patterns of religious thought and action among contemporary Hindus. Includes ritual behavior, village Hinduism, tantrism, sadhus, yoga, sects, the major gods and their mythologies, religious art, and the adjustments of Hinduism to modernity. Recommended: RELIG 202 or one South Asian culture course.
Instructor Course Description:
Heidi R. Pauwels
RELIG 354 Buddhism (5) I&S Cox, Tokuno
Buddhism as a religious way and as a way of thinking; the forms of Buddhism known in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka) and those introduced from there to Tibet and other parts of Central Asia. Includes the "Three Jewels" (i.e., the Buddha or Awakened Person, the Teaching [Dharma], and Community [Sangha]) around which Buddhism is traditionally articulated. Recommended: RELIG 202 or one Asian cultures course.
Instructor Course Description:
Collett D. Cox
RELIG 380 The Nature of Religion and Its Study (5) I&S Jaffee, Wellman
Study of religion as a general human phenomenon. Manner in which different methods of inquiry (phenomenology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, literary criticism, archaeology, philosophy, theology) illuminate different aspects of religion and help to shape our conceptions of its nature. Recommended: RELIG 201 or RELIG 202. Offered: jointly with CHID 380.
Instructor Course Description:
Eugene Webb
Martin S. Jaffee
James K. Wellman
Charles L. Richter
RELIG 399 Study Abroad -- Comparative Religion (1-5, max. 15) I&S
For participants in study abroad program. Specific course content varies. Courses do not automatically apply to major/minor requirements.
RELIG 400 The Jewish Mystical Tradition (5) I&S Jaffee
Jewish esoteric thought from antiquity to early modern times. Emergence of Spanish Kabbalah. The thought of Isaac Luria and its immense influence in Jewish history through other movements-specifically the mystical messiah. Sabbetai Sevi, and the rise of Hasidism. Recommended: RELIG 201 or RELIG 210.
Instructor Course Description:
Martin S. Jaffee
RELIG 405 Scripture in Judaism (5) I&S Jaffee
Explores the phenomenon of religious interpretation of sacred books by attending to the destiny of the Bible as read within Judaism. Begins with the canonization of the biblical text itself and continues into the rationalist and mystical interpretive innovations of the Middle Ages. Recommended: HIST/SISJE 250, RELIG 201, or RELIG 210.
RELIG 410 Law in Judaic Experience (5) I&S Jaffee
Place and function of law in Jewish social and personal experience. Discusses the various ideological justifications of the law in biblical and rabbinic literature, examines representative texts, and explores theological reflection on law by medieval and modern thinkers. Recommended: RELIG 201; RELIG 210; RELIG 400 or RELIG 405.
Instructor Course Description:
Martin S. Jaffee
RELIG 415 Modern Jewish Thought (5) I&S Jaffee,Pianko
Major trends in Jewish religious thought since the European Enlightenment, focusing on encounters between Judaism and the modern world. Includes Haskalah; varieties of religious reform and accommodation; Zionism; socialism; the philosophy of Rosenzweig, Buber, and Kaplan; and theological responses to the Holocaust. Recommended: HIST/SISJE 250, HSTEU/SISJE 469, RELIG 201, or RELIG 210.
Instructor Course Description:
Noam Pianko
Hannah S Pressman
RELIG 420 The World of the Early Church (5) I&S Williams
Early Christian church within the context of the Greco-Roman sociopolitical, philosophical, and religious environment. Covers the period from about AD 100 to 300. Christian thinkers and documents studied include both the classical "orthodox" and the "heretical." Recommended: HIST 307, RELIG 220, or RELIG 324.
Instructor Course Description:
Michael A Williams
RELIG 421 The Age of St. Augustine (5) I&S
Christian church in the fourth and fifth centuries as a major institution in the Roman Empire. Great figures of patristic theology, such as Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Augustine. Recommended: HIST 307, RELIG 320, or RELIG 324.
Instructor Course Description:
Eugene Vance
RELIG 426 Gnosticism and Early Christianity (5) I&S Williams
Impact of Gnosticism on the development of Christianity and several other religious groups of that period. Readings dating from the first through the third centuries AD.
Instructor Course Description:
Michael A Williams
RELIG 428 Modern Christian Theology (5) I&S
Modern Protestant and Catholic thought since the nineteenth century: Kierkegaard, Barth, Bultmann, Rahner, Lonergan, and other major figures. Recommended: RELIG 301.
Instructor Course Description:
Eugene Webb
RELIG 430 Scripture and Law in Islam (5) I&S/VLPA
Examines concept and use of scripture in Islam, with special attention to issues of canon and commentary, heavenly books, talismanic uses, and the place of scripture in ritual. In English. Offered: jointly with NEAR E 430.
RELIG 432 Ritual and Territory in Islam (5) I&S/VLPA
Comparative study of Islamic ritual practices and related development of jurisprudence and law. Focus on sacrifice, political and social legal theory, pilgrimage, regulation of the body, and the diversity of contemporary practices. In English. Offered: jointly with NEAR E 432.
RELIG 433 Life of Prophet Muhammad (5) I&S/VLPA
Examines historical and religious traditions associated with the life of the Prophet Muhammad with particular attention to the biography in classical Islam. Focuses on Muhammad as prophet, holy man, law-giver, mystic, and statesman. Comparison with other religious figures such as Jesus and the Buddha. In English. Offered: jointly with NEAR E 433.
RELIG 442 Art, Religion, and Politics in the Early Christian Period, 300-700 AD (3) I&S/VLPA Kartsonis
Evolution of the art of the early Christian period (300-700 AD) in the context of contemporary religious, political, and cultural developments. Recommended: some background in Byzantine art or history. Offered: jointly with ART H 452.
Instructor Course Description:
Anna D. Kartsonis
RELIG 443 Art, Religion, and Politics in Byzantium, 700-1453 AD (3) I&S/VLPA Kartsonis
Evolution of the art of Byzantium (700-1453 AD) in the context of contemporary religious, political, and cultural developments. Recommended: some background in Byzantine art or history. Offered: jointly with ART H 453.
Instructor Course Description:
Anna D. Kartsonis
RELIG 445 Greek and Roman Religion (5) I&S/VLPA Harmon, Hollmann, Levaniouk
Religion in the social life of the Greeks and Romans, with emphasis placed on their public rituals and festivals. Attention is given to the priesthoods, personal piety, rituals of purification and healing, and the conflict of religions in the early Roman Empire. Many lectures illustrated by slides. Recommended: RELIG 201.Recommended: RELIG 201. Offered: jointly with CLAS 445.
RELIG 452 Topics in the Buddhism of Tibet (3) I&S
Topics in the development of Buddhism of Tibet. Includes the relationship between reasoning and religious thought; the concept of a person; the formation of the different schools of Tibetan Buddhism; the notion of lineage; the master-disciple relationship in the tantric tradition. Recommended: ANTH 352, RELIG 202, RELIG 350, or RELIG 354.
RELIG 454 Perceptions of the Feminine Divine in Hinduism (5) VLPA Pauwels
Explores implications of the perception of a feminine divine for gender issues in South Asia. Includes historical overview of goddess worship in South Asia, mythologies, philosophical systems, cults, and rituals associated with the major goddesses, the phenomena of suttee, goddess possession, and women's goddess rituals at the village level.
Instructor Course Description:
Heidi R. Pauwels
RELIG 457 The History of Biblical Interpretation (3) I&S/VLPA Noegel
Traces biblical interpretation and translation technique from the earliest translations of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) to the various historical literary, deconstructionist, and holistic strategies of more recent times. Adopts a "hands-on" approach to the material and explores various hermeneutics by applying them in class. Offered: jointly with NEAR E 457.
RELIG 460 Anti-Semitism As a Cultural System (5) I&S Jaffee
Comparative study of various anti-Semitic cultural systems from ancient to modern times. Topics include how anti-Semitism can be defined as a cultural phenomenon; the conditions that explain the circulation of anti-Semitic traditions in a given society; the conditions under which social conflict with Jews becomes anti-Semitism.
RELIG 490 Special Topics (1-5, max. 15) I&S
Topics vary with each offering.
Instructor Course Description:
George S Bozarth
Hillel Gamoran
Heidi R. Pauwels
James K. Wellman
Loryn Hazan Paxton
Michael E. Meeker
Hubert G. Locke
Kyoko Tokuno
Brannon M. Wheeler
RELIG 491 Seminar: Topics and Issues in Judaism (5) I&S Jaffee
Topics vary. Recommended: RELIG 210; RELIG 400, RELIG 405, or RELIG 410.
Instructor Course Description:
Martin S. Jaffee
RELIG 492 Seminar: Topics in Early Christianity (5) I&S Williams
Topics vary. Recommended: one early Christian history or literature course.
Instructor Course Description:
Michael A Williams
RELIG 497 Field Archaeology (1-10, max. 20)
Professionally-guided archaeological fieldwork at a recognized archeological dig in the United States or abroad. Offered: S.
RELIG 498 Honors Thesis (5) I&S
Required course for Comparative Religion honors students.
RELIG 499 Undergraduate Research (1-5, max. 15)
Primarily for comparative religion majors and majors in the School of International Studies.
RELIG 501 Approaches to the Study of Religion (5)
Major approaches employed by modern scholarship in the study of religion, including historical, phenomenological, anthropological, sociological, and psychological. Prerequisite: admission to the comparative religion MAIS program or permission of instructor.
Instructor Course Description:
Martin S. Jaffee
Brannon M. Wheeler
RELIG 502 Religion in Comparative Perspective (5, max. 15)
Analysis of selected theme or symbols in relation to several different religious traditions. Topics vary. Prerequisite: admission to the comparative religion MAIS program or permission of instructor.
Instructor Course Description:
Cabeiri Debergh Robinson
Martin S. Jaffee
James K. Wellman
Charles F Keyes
Michael A Williams
Kyoko Tokuno
RELIG 504 Religion and Culture (5)
Study of the relations between religion and culture, with attention to the role of religion in defining conceptions of order and grounding socio-political and artistic traditions.
Instructor Course Description:
Eugene Webb
RELIG 510 Colloquium in Comparative Religion (1, max. 6)
Required colloquium for graduate students in comparative religion program. Introduction to faculty research and to major methods and disciplines in the study of religion. Credit/no credit only.
RELIG 520 Seminar On Early Christianity (5) Williams
Problems in the history and literature of early Christianity.
Instructor Course Description:
Eugene Webb
Michael A Williams
RELIG 528 Christian Theology (5)
Study of exemplary figures in the history of Christian religious thought. Prerequisite: RELIG 428.
Instructor Course Description:
Eugene Webb
RELIG 570 Religion and Literature (5)
The relation of religious thought to the study of imaginative literature. Includes both critical theory and practical criticism of exemplary texts.
Instructor Course Description:
Eugene Webb
RELIG 580 Seminar in Hinduism Studies (5) Pauwels
Introduction to the academic study of Hinduism for graduate students. Examines major problems currently addressed in the academic study of Hinduism and the methods used. Provides a historical perspective on past scholarship. Offered: jointly with ASIAN 580.
RELIG 590 Special Topics (2-5, max. 10)
Offered occasionally by visitors or resident faculty. Course content varies.
Instructor Course Description:
Terry J Ellingson
Eugene Webb
James K. Wellman
Michael A Williams
Brannon M. Wheeler
RELIG 600 Independent Study or Research (*)
