Religious Studies (RELG)

Survey of the major religions of the world; including among others Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Daoism.

Examination of the religious dimension of human life, the ways in which it is defined, and the methods by which it is studied.

Introduction to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Historical and religious development of Judaism from biblical times to the present.

Study of the literature, history, and culture of ancient Israel within the broader context of the ancient Near East.

Study of the literature, history, and beliefs of the first Christians within the broader cultural context of the Roman Empire.

In this course, we will consider the interaction between Christianity and imperial power, the creation of a specifically Christian culture, the origins and development of the ascetic movement within Christianity, Christian conflicts with Jews and Hellenes, and the ways that Christian ritual and sacred space changed the landscape of the Mediterranean world.

This introductory course examines the Quran, the life of the prophet Muhammad, Islamic law, philosophy, theology, mysticism, and art.

The public, personal, and mystery religions of the Greeks and Romans, and the development of classical religious ideas. Crosslisted as CLAS 211.

The primary purpose of this course is to explore the various theories and methods of interpretation in the field of biblical studies. Students will immerse themselves in the most innovative developments to issue from literary, queer, and cultural studies and to bring them into dialogue with biblical texts.

Among topics taught at different times: Current Theological Issues, The Roman Catholic Tradition, World Religions II. Different subjects taught under this course number count as different courses.

A study of the variety of African-American religious expression from colonial times to the present. Course will include slave religions, African-American interpretations of Protestant and Roman Catholic thought, Religion and the Civil Rights struggle, as well as Santeria and Voodoo.

A study of the variety of Native American religious expression from pre-European contact times to the present. Course will explore the similarities and differences among the beliefs of the First Nations, as well as a discussion of how contact with European settlers influenced those faiths.

This course is designed to familiarize students with political aspects of Islam, in particular radical Islam and its major ideologies. The emphasis will be placed on modern and contemporary periods (1850-present).

In this course, the life of Prophet Muhammad with special emphasis on his sayings (Hadith literature) will be studied first, followed by an in-depth study of the Qur'an. Verses of the Qur'an will be analyzed and interpreted particularly those that are in dialogue with Judaism and Christianity.

An examination of principal figures, trends, and issues in religion in America from the pre-contact era to the Civil War.

An examination of principal figures, trends, and issues in religion in America from the Civil War to the present day.

This course explores the diverse beliefs, rituals, and literatures of Indian religion that constitute Hinduism, the historical progression of their development, and their current expressions throughout the world. Cross-listed with PHIL 283.

An introduction to the thought and traditions of Buddhism. Readings from the Dhamapada as well as from various Theravada and Mahayana traditions.

Compares Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian and Muslim constructions of the moral self, and explores provocative exemplars renowned for their response to violence, injustice and power in the modern world.

In this course, we will explore some of the most influential early Christian ascetics, as well as their most extreme practices such as sexual renunciation, fasting, and poverty.

A historical and thematic examination of the ways in which sexual identity, gender identity, and religion have shaped each other in American culture and history.

A historical and thematic examination of the interaction of religion and politics in U.S. culture.

Students will examine how early Christians thought about, ritualized, and created theological principles around the various processes of and theories on the topic of death and dying.

Study of the changing understanding and roles of gender and sexuality in the Early Christian

Prerequisite: Any one 100-or 200-level religion course or the permission of the instructor. Philosophical examination of such topics as the relationship between faith and reason, the existence or non-existence of God, life after death, mysticism, and miracles. Cross-listed with PHIL 318.

Among topics taught at different times: Asceticism, Body, and Gender in Late Antiquity; 19th-Century Theology; Religion and Politics in Islam, Early Christian Monasticism. Different subjects taught under this course number count as different courses.

An examination of the intersection of geography and religion with an emphasis on sacred spaces. The course explores how religions understand, create, and give meaning to sacred space, and includes a review of major theories and methods in the geographic study of religion. Cross-listed as GEOG 335.

Prerequisite: Any one 100-or 200-level religion course or the permission of the instructor. Among thinkers studied in some depth at different times: Paul, Augustine, Avicenna, al-Ghazzali, Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, Wiesel. Different figures taught under this course number count as different courses.

Prerequisite: Any 100-200 level RELG course. In this course, the phenomenon of religion will be analyzed and interpreted from a purely scientific perspective. This emerging field is a branch of evolutionary psychology and evolutionary biology which uses all the tools of a scientific method to study why humans have been religious throughout history.

Any 100 or 200 level RELG course. Central themes and topics in the Islamic theological and philosophical tradition will be discussed in some detail. Such topics include the existence of God, free will and determinism, eschatology, ontology and epistemology. References will be made between major Islamic philosophers and their medieval Christian counterparts. Cross-listed with PHIL 353.

Prerequisite: Any 100 or 200 level RELG course. Explores Tibetan Buddhism’s experiential descriptions of dying, death, intermediate states between lifetimes, and rebirth, which are framed within its philosophy of karma, the relative world we inhabit, and the ultimate goal of liberation from it. Also surveys meditation practices in preparation for death and death rites.

Prerequisite: Junior or Senior status or consent of instructor. In-depth study of selected religious texts chosen by the instructor. Text selection will vary; examples include the Bhagavadigita, Kierkegaard's Philosophical Fragments and Augustine's Confessions.

Preparation of a senior thesis or project under the direction of the religion faculty. Choice of topic by student.

IIndependent work under the supervisionof a membe of the Religion faculty. Must have permission of instructor and department chair.

Independent work under the supervision of a member of the Religion faculty. Must have permission of instructor and department chair.

Supervised off-campus learning experience, developed in consultation with the religion faculty.