Religion

RELIGION 100—INTRODUCTION TO RELIGION (HA)

Fall, Spring. Credit, three hours. An exploration of diverse ways of being religious in thought, action, community, and experience, as displayed in two or three traditions and cultures, including the non-Western.

RELIGION 150—INTRODUCTION TO SACRED TEXTS (HA)

Fall, Spring. Credit, three hours. Comparative study of sacred texts in two or more religious traditions and examination of the function of sacred texts in religious communities.

RELIGION 205—BIBLICAL LITERATURE (HA)

Fall. Credit, three hours. The Hebrew scriptures in translation, examined in their historical setting, and their application in early Jewish and early Christian writings.

RELIGION 211—WESTERN RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (HA)

Fall (alternate years). Credit, three hours. This course examines Western religions over a significant span of history, special emphasis on interactions between culture and religions and between religions: topic varies.

RELIGION 212—ASIAN RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS (HA)

Spring (alternate years). Credit, three hours. Thematic study of at least two Asian religious traditions. Thematic emphasis may include relationships of text and context, pilgrimage, gender, epic performance, religious institutions, visual arts, or colonial and post-colonial identities. The course will introduce the student to some major Asian religious and philosophical traditions and will focus upon the traditions, key historical developments, and contemporary forms.

RELIGION 226—INTRODUCTION TO ISLAM (HA)

Fall, alternate years. Credit, three hours. Explores norms of Muslim belief and practice, locating them in the historical context of their origin in seventh-century Arabia and examining their interpretations in various historical and geographical contexts. 

RELIGION 230—ISLAM IN AMERICA (SS)

Spring. Credit, three hours. Exploration of the multiple ways Muslim communities in the United States have been both maintaining and reconfiguring their cultural, ethnic and religious identities in the American public square. 

RELIGION 245—THE ETHICS OF JESUS (HA)

TBA. Credit, three hours. An exploration of the ethics of Jesus.

RELIGION 247—PORTRAITS OF JESUS: ART AND THE INTERPRETATION OF THE GOSPELS (HA)

Spring. Credit, three hours. An exploration of the New Testament gospels as literary works of art in the first-century contexts and how passages from those gospels have been dynamically (re)interpreted through the visual arts.

RELIGION 305—INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM

Fall (alternate years). Credit, three hours. Introduction to practices, doctrines, literature, and institutions of Buddhism, with particular focus on contemplative practices, ethics, and methods of philosophical investigation, narrative traditions, and transformation of Buddhism across cultures.

RELIGION 323—DEATH AND DYING

Fall, on demand. Credit, three hours. Prerequisite: One course in religion. Mastery of the basic vernacular of the study of religion is necessary for this course dealing with a focused topic within comparative religions. Understanding death through a study of religious attitudes and practices, modern therapies for the dying, ethical issues, and Western and Asian theological perspectives.

RELIGION 348—THE NEW TESTAMENT IN ITS CONTEXT

Fall, Spring. Credit, three hours. Interpretation of the New Testament in the context of the historical, social, religious, and literary environment of the eastern Mediterranean world during Late Antiquity.

RELIGION 370R—SPECIAL TOPICS: RELIGION AND CULTURE

TBA. Credit, one to four hours. Prerequisite: One course in religion; other prerequisites as specified for topic. Aspects of religion in relation to contemporary culture.

RELIGION 373R—SPECIAL TOPICS IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES

TBA. Credit, one to four hours. Prerequisite: One course in religion and permission of instructor. Study in depth of a limited historical or theoretical problem. May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

RELIGION 397R—DIRECTED STUDY

On demand. Credit, one to four. Prerequisites: One course in religion and permission of instructor. Independent reading and research under the direction of a faculty member. This course does not satisfy distribution requirements in humanities.