ReligionCollege of Liberal Arts and Sciences
RELSRK
Credits: 3.
Introduces the historical underpinnings, geographical movement, development and current expression of a variety of religious traditions.
Credits: 3.
Examines the relationship between religion and sustainability and explores how the world’s different religious traditions address the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Topics include social and environmental justice, sustainable consumption and sustainable agriculture. Case studies highlight multiple religious perspectives, especially in Latin America and south Asia. (H) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Explores competing secular and religious views regarding human impacts on and moral responsibilities toward nature and of the key thinkers and social movements in contention over them. (H) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Historical inquiry into the ideological origins and social context of American religious life. (H and D)
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REL 2166 Religion and the Environmental Crisis
Credits: 3.
Examines the relationship between religion, nature and ethics in different religious traditions. (H and N) (WR)
Credits: 3.
History, literature, and beliefs of the Israelites from the Biblical text in the light of modern scholarship. (H)
Credits: 3.
Introduces various literary, social, and religious contexts of the books of the New Testament. (H)
REL 2300 Introduction to World Religions
Credits: 3.
Origin, historical development, and key figures, concepts, symbols, practices and institutions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and East Asian traditions, including Taoism, Shinto, and Confucianism. (H and N)
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Credits: 3.
History, performing arts, and cultural expressions of the Hindu traditions of India and in the diaspora.
Credits: 3.
Studies the religious dimensions of human culture, focusing on Asia: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto. (H and N) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Introduces doctrines, practices, and institutions that shaped the essential identity of Buddhism as a pan-Asian religion that transcended ethic, cultural, and linguistic boundaries. (H)
Credits: 3.
Historical introduction to Islamic tradition. The foundational elements of the tradition, based on the life of Prophet Muhammad and the text of the Qur'an and on an examination of subsequent Islamic expressions. (H and N)
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REL 2388 Indigenous Religions of the Americas
Credits: 3.
Religious values, attitudes, and norms of Native American peoples within the United States. (H) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Includes origins and development of Christianity, beliefs and rituals, global diversity, Christianity-inspired literature, and engagement with contemporary cultural issues.
Credits: 3.
Multidisciplinary approach to the Jewish experience from its Biblical origins to modern times.
Credits: 3; can be repeated with change in content up to 6 credits.
Variable topics at an introductory level. (H)
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Credits: 3.
Theory and method in the anthropological and religious studies of myths, rituals, religious specialists, and religious movements using examples from cultures throughout the world.
REL 3076 Cults and New Religious Movements
Credits: 3.
Investigates significant new religious movements such as the People's Temple and the Branch Davidians. The origins, internal structure, popularity, and functioning of these movements as well as claims of manipulation and discrimination. (S)
Credits: 3; Prereq: sophomore standing.
Non-conventional healers and healing practices in religious traditions around the globe.
REL 3103 Religion and Nature in North America
Credits: 3.
Investigates ways that religion and nature have evolved and influenced one another during the cultural, political, and environmental history of North America since European contact. (H)
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Credits: 3.
Explores the relationship between food and religion by investigating food in the context of specific religious traditions, such as Hinduism, and examines food as a moral and ethical category in religious and secular contexts, e.g., organic and locavore. (D and H) (WR)
REL 3120 Religion and the American Immigrant Experience
Credits: 3.
Offers a survey of the roles that religion has played in some significant movements of people into and out of the U.S. from the pre-Colonial period to the present.
Credits: 3.
Interdisciplinary study of African-American religious experience from its beginnings in the 17th century to the present. (H)
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Credits: 3.
Interaction of religion and social institutions; the ways religious groups influence and are influenced by the socio-cultural environment. (S) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Explores the problem of violence that springs from religious roots in Western, Asian, African, and Native American traditions. (H and N) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Examines the relationship between gender and nature as it is constructed in different religious traditions.
Credits: 3; Prereq: sophomore standing.
Examines the relationship between religion, science, and philosophy in different religious traditions, focusing on the West. (H) (WR)
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REL 3169 Religion and Environmental Movements of the Global South
Credits: 3; Prereq: sophomore status minimum.
Explores the religious dimensions of environmental movements in the global South, including seed-saving campaigns in India and Mexico, Liberation Theology and the Green Belt Movement. Examines global environmental issues; e.g., loss of biodiversity, climate change and privatization of water that disproportionately affect the poor and marginalized.
Credits: 3; Prereq: sophomore standing or above.
Examines ethical issues facing contemporary U.S. society, with a focus on cultural and religious diversity. Introduces major religious and philosophical frameworks as ways of understanding and addressing these issues. (D)
Credits: 3.
Examines the interplay of religion, race, and rebellion in the various revolts, insurrections, and social movements of African Americans in the United States.
REL 3191 Death and the Afterlife: Perspectives from World Religions
Credits: 3; Prereq: sophomore standing.
Examines conceptions of death and the afterlife from the perspectives of various religious traditions and popular culture. Considers certain ethical issues related to death and how some American religious traditions engage with such issues.
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Credits: 3.
Intensive introduction to the literary study of the Hebrew Bible within the context of ancient Near Eastern literature and history.
Credits: 3; Prereq: instructor permission.
Examines the biblical book of Job and the ongoing tradition of its interpretation.
Credits: 3.
Examines ancient Israelite and early Jewish wisdom literature alongside similar literature from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Credits: 3; Prereq: REL 2210 or REL 2240, or instructor permission.
Redaction-critical study of selected portions of the canonical Gospels with particular attention to the development of traditions about Jesus in the earliest church. (H) (WR)
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REL 3252 Acts, Paul and Early Christianity
Credits: 3; Prereq: REL 2210 or REL 2240, or instructor permission.
Examines the narrative of the beginning of Christianity according to the Book of Acts, especially as it describes the career of Paul. The second half focuses on the letters of Paul as an alternative source for understanding the earliest forms of Christianity. (H) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Critical examination of the literary representation and historical realities of gender and sexuality in ancient Israel through close readings of selected texts from the Hebrew Bible.
Credits: 3.
Explores Jewish and Christian apocalypticism through a survey of apocalyptic texts from the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple Jewish literature (including the Dead Sea Scrolls), and the New Testament. (H)
Credits: 3.
Comprehensive historical survey of the main religious traditions in China, with focus on Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
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Credits: 3.
Examines the Jewish-Christian encounter. The historical interaction between Judaism and Christianity including how each group symbolized the other, and the practical implications of the representations. (H and N) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Historical look at the major religious traditions of the Indian subcontinent. (H and N) (WR)
REL 3333 Gods, Sages and Kings: Mythology
Credits: 3.
Survey and analysis of important narrative genres and myth cycles of premodern India, featuring selections from the Vedas, Puranas, and the Indian epics, read in translation. (H)
REL 3335 Hindu Sacred Text/Social-Ritual Context
Credits: 3; Prereq: any course in Asian religion, Asian scripture or REL 4024.
Investigates the development, use, authority, and performance of sacred texts in ritual, drama, festival, and music within the Hindu tradition. (H and N)
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Credits: 3.
Studies religious traditions of India and their interpretation in relation to conditions of the modern world. (H and N) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Comprehensive historical survey of Chinese Buddhism. Explores the growth and transformation of the beliefs, doctrines, practices and institutions that shaped the historical trajectory of Chinese Buddhism.
Credits: 3.
Religion and culture in Africa, the encounter of Islam and Christianity with indigenous religions, and diasporic reformulations. (H and N) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Development of Muslim societies in Africa from the 7th to the early 20th century with a focus on the religious dynamics that led to the formation of a multitude of African Muslim cultures.
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Credits: 3.
Main religious traditions in Latin America: native religions, Catholicism in its various forms, Protestantism, and African-based religions. (H and N)
Credits: 3.
Examines the modern outlook, focusing upon conceptual commitments associated with present cultural styles, with attention to certain critical issues for religion. (H) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Investigates central issues connected with the concept of God in Western religious traditions. Topics include arguments for the existence of God, the problem of evil, theodicy, faith, and reason. (H)
Credits: 3.
Religious perspectives on nature and the environment that focus on different theological understandings of the natural world; approaches to using natural resources and efforts to understand human responsibility for the realm of nature. (H)
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Credits: 3.
American Catholic experience from an historical and sociological perspective. (H) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Introduces Jewish biblical interpretation, or midrash, from antiquity to today.
Credits: 3.
Surveys Jewish traditions about nature, the environment, and ecology.
Credits: 3.
Intensive introduction to the study of religion. Required of all religion majors during the junior year.
Credits: 3; can be repeated with change in content up to 12 credits.
Special topics in religion. (H) (WR)
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Credits: 3; Prereq: instructor permission.
Examines relationships between ethics and utopias in literature, religious communities, and millenarian movements. (H) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Development of religious life in the South through its history, with particular reference to its interaction with regional culture. (H) (WR)
Credits: 3.
Investigates diverse relations between religion and processes of social change. Uses both theoretical and ethnographic case studies to explore issues raised by religion's social role in the U.S., Britain, Asia, Latin America, and Africa. (S) (WR)
Credits: 3; Prereq: instructor permission.
Provides an understanding of both the oppressive and liberatory aspects for women of the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
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REL 4168 Religion, Nature and Social Change
Credits: 3; Prereq: junior standing or above.
Explores relationships between religion, nature, and society as a means to understand how these relationships reflect and shape social relations among people.
REL 4177 Special Topics in Religion and Ethics
Credits: 3; can be repeated with change in content up to 9 credits.
Special topics in religion and ethics. (WR)
REL 4188 Special Topics in Religion and Ethics
Credits: 3.
Examines the ethical, religious, and political dimensions of the relationship between ideas and practices, including the divergence between expressed values and actual practices, and some possible reasons for this divergence.
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REL 4209 Dead Sea Scrolls and Early Jewish Literature
Credits: 3; Prereq: refer to the department.
Explores the varieties of literature that arose within Judaism from 250 BCE to 220 CE, including selections from the Dead Sea Scrolls, the OT Pseudepigrapha, Philo, and Josephus. (H)
Credits: 3; can be repeated with change in content up to 6 credits. Prereq: instructor permission.
In-depth study of the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) in light of modern biblical scholarship.
REL 4293 Special Topics in Biblical Studies
Credits: 3; can be repeated with change in content up to 9 credits.
Advanced study of special topics for those with previous biblical studies courses. (WR)
Credits: 3; Prereq: one course in Hinduism.
Studies women in Hindu traditions, focusing on their participation in temple practices, religious scholarship, and practices of piety and austerity. Pays special attention to female poets, scholars, ascetics, and patrons in Hindu religions and society. (H and N) (WR)
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Credits: 3; Prereq: introduction to Buddhism, Chinese religions or instructor permission.
Comprehensive inquiry of the history, doctrines, and practices of the Chan/Zen tradition of East Asian Buddhism.
Credits: 3; Prereq: introduction to Buddhism or instructor permission.
Theory and practice of Buddhist meditation; focuses on the systems of meditation practice developed by the Theravada school in Sri Lanka and the main traditions of Chinese Buddhism.
Credits: 3; Prereq: instructor permission.
Provides an interdisciplinary understanding of the history and role of women in Islam.
REL 4367 The History of Islam in the Modern World
Credits: 3; Prereq: REL 2362.
History of Muslims from the 18th century to the present with particular attention to certain critical issues and interpretations in relation to conditions of the modern world. (H and N) (WR)
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REL 4382 Religion and Politics in Latin America
Credits: 3.
Relationship between religion and politics in Latin America from a variety of perspectives and approaches. Addresses millenarian movements, gender, ethnicity and class, as well as church-state dynamics. (S and N)
Credits: 3; Prereq: instructor permission.
Provides knowledge of Islam in the Americas from the 15th century to the present. (H) (WR)
Credits: 3; Prereq: instructor permission.
In-depth exploration of the main works of various existentialist thinkers with a particular emphasis on their views of religion.
REL 4490 Special Topics in Religious Thought
Credits: 3; can be repeated with change in content up to 9 credits.
Special topics in religious thought. (WR)
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REL 4491 Sacred Geographies: Place, Space and Pilgrimage in South Asia
Credits: 3; Prereq: REL 2317, REL 2341 or REL 3022.
Focuses on reading primary texts in translation, supplemented with recent ethnographies, to explore various conceptions of sacred space and place, including movement to, from and between them, in the Indic imagination.
Credits: 3; Prereq: instructor permission.
Comparative survey of literary, historical, ritual, and material aspects of ancient Israelite religion with evidence from Canaan, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome.
Credits: 3; Prereq: refer to the department.
Critical and historicized introduction to the rabbinic texts of Mishnah, Midrash, and Talmud. Emphasizes the growth and development of the rabbinic movement, and upon reading practices. (H and N)
Credits: 1 to 5; can be repeated with change in content up to 9 credits. Prereq: 9 credits in religion or department permission.
Majors or other advanced undergraduates who wish to supplement regular coursework by individual studies under guidance may apply to a member of the faculty for individual work.
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REL 4930 Special Topics in Religious Thought
Credits: 3; can be repeated with a change in content up to 6 credits.
Special topics in religious thought.
Credits: 3.
Thesis preparation option for honors-level students.
REL 4933 The Comparative Study of Religion
Credits: 3; Prereq: junior or senior standing and department permission.
The history and major methods that have contributed to the modern study of religion. (H) (WR)
REL 4936 Special Topics in Religious Studies
Credits: 3; can be repeated with change in content up to 9 credits.
Advanced study for those with proper preparation of selected topics involving one or more religious traditions. (WR)
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Credits: 4.
First of a two-semester series that introduces the Sanskrit language through the Devanagari Script.
Credits: 4.
Second of a two-semester series that introduces the Sanskrit language through the Devanagari Script with an emphasis on reading, writing, grammar and oral recitation.
Credits: 3; Prereq: SRK 1121 with a minimum grade of C, or equivalent.
Intermediate study of Sanskrit to increase knowledge of vocabulary by developing reading and translation skills.
Credits: 3; Prereq: SRK 2200 with a minimum grade of C, or equivalent.
Continuation of intermediate Sanskrit to increase knowledge of vocabulary by developing reading and translation skills.
Credits: 3; Prereq: SRK 2201 with a minimum grade of C, or equivalent.
Advanced study of Sanskrit to further develop skills in reading and understanding texts.
Credits: 3; Prereq: SKR 3410 with a minimum grade of C, or equivalent.
Continuation of advanced Sanskrit to further develop skills in reading and understanding texts.
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