Department of Religious Studies
Courses for Fall 2004
REL 101.01, Introduction to Religious Studies
SOPPER, TR, 9:30-10:45, Graham 313
Credits: AE/CAE; GEC: PRE, GL
This course introduces students to the academic study of religion through a survey of the major beliefs, values, ritual practices, sacred writings and historical developments of the major western religions, namely, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. We approach these religions as things that humans do. In other words, we look at religion as an aspect of the societies, cultures and behavior of those human beings (past and present) who describe themselves as Jews, Christians and Muslims. Our main goal is to learn more about the different ways Jews, Christians and Muslims have thought, felt and acted over the course of their long histories. While we may have religious commitments and questions of our own, in this class we are not asked to “be religious.” Rather we are asked to be thorough investigators seeking to know, understand and appreciate our chosen subject matter. The course will consist mainly of regular lectures on relevant topics; regular assigned readings and periodic exams which require students to demonstrate detailed knowledge of the material presented in lectures and assigned readings.
Required Texts: weekly readings from text book chapters and scholarly articles and essays accessed from the library e-reserve system.
REL 109.01, Religion and Contemporary Culture
SOPPER, TR, 1400-1515, Grogan
Credits: AE, CAE, GPR
This course is designed as a large group introductory course in contemporary issues in western religious thought. In this course we will study such topics as religion and social change, the religious roots of race, class, gender and sexuality, new understandings in psychology and spirituality, and contemporary religious movements. The course will be run primarily as a discussion course, with occasional brief lectures.
REL 109.02, Religion and Contemporary Culture
MCKINNON, MWF, 10-10:50, Library 032
Credits: AE, CAE, GPR
Understandings of religion as shaped by contemporary social institutions, the arts, politics, and philosophy.
REL 111.01 Non-Western Religion
GORVINE, W, 1800-2050, Library 032
REL 111.02 Non-Western Religion
GORVINE, TR, 1400-1515, Graham 203
Credits: CNW, GN, GPR, NW
Comparative study of non-Western religions and their contributions to modern religious self-understanding, focusing critically and evaluatively on such patterns of expression as myth, ritual, and social forms.
REL 131.01, Religion in America
HART, TR, 1100-12:15, Petty Science 322
Credits: HP/CHP-CMO; GHP
In this course we will explore the role of slavery in the transition from African-based religions to Christianity and "black magic."
REL 202.01 Intro to Hebrew Scriptures
HAUS, MWF, 1000-1050, Nursing 227
REL 202.02 Intro to Hebrew Scriptures
HAUS, MWF, 1100-1150, Nursing 227
Credits: HP/CHP-GPM; GPH; Majors - T&HS
In this course students will explore the history and literature of the Hebrew Bible through the study of selected texts. Close readings of short biblical narratives, broader discussions of biblical themes, and an overview of biblical scholarship and methodology will all be incorporated in this course. Readings will include English translations of the biblical texts as well as a scholarly discussions of the historical context in which the narratives unfold. Students will also gain a basic grounding in the vocabulary and religious foundations of the biblical tradition.
REL 204.01, New Testament and Origins of Christianity
MULLINS, MW, 1400-1515, Library 032
REL 204.02, New Testament and Origins of Christianity
MULLINS, MW, 1530-1645, Library 032
Credits: CPM, GHP, GL, GPM, HP
Study of the New Testament texts in their historical, sociological, and literary contexts.
REL 221.01, Buddhism
ORZECH, TR, 1400-1515, Mary Foust 118
REL 221.02, Buddhism
ORZECH, TR, 1100-1215, Library 032
Credits: CNW, GN, GPR, NW
Course Description: REL 221 Buddhism has three goals. First, the course is an introduction to the study of religion, to its methods, concepts, and to the issues raised by religion in the modern world. Second, the course is an introduction to the Buddhist religious tradition and its cultural contexts. Third, our exploration of Buddhism will involve inquiry into our own culture and its religious traditions as reflected in our understanding (or misunderstanding) of Buddhism. We will focus on classical Buddhism in India and China (with occasional asides to Japan and Buddhism in the modern world).
REL 223.01, Hinduism
GORVINE, MW, 1400-1515, Nursing 130
REL 223.02, Hinduism
GORVINE, TR, 1530-1645, Graham 204
Credits: CNW, GN, GPR, NW
Introduction to the Hindu religious tradition, its myths, rituals, music, social structure, and philosophical thought
REL 232.01, American Religious Thought: Survey
LEVINSON, R, 1800-2050, 806 Seven Oaks Drive
Credits: AE, CAE, GPR
This course traces a tradition of American religious thinking which revolves around envisioning 'the American Dream'. In particular, we'll be investigating THREE distinctive American Dreams: first, the Dream of America as Holy Commonwealth ; then the Dream as America as a Nation; then the Dream of America as a Pluralistic Democratic Republic
We'll begin with readings from Andrew Delbanco's The Real American Dream to set our inquiry within a context in which the crucial cultural problem for Americans is persistent melancholy, or the nagging feeling that life is meaningless or without purpose; and where an equally urgent cultural quest is the maintenance and development of some sort of larger, sustaining hope that can keep such melancholy at bay.
REL 259.01, Philosophy of Religion
HART, TR, 1400-1515, Foust 111
Credits: Major
Marx, Nietzche, Freud. In this course we explore the influence of these "masters of suspicion" by placing their critiques of religion within the context of their general theories.
REL 301.01, Early Christianity
KRUEGER, TR, 1400-1515
Credits: Majors, WI
This course will examine a wide variety of Christian beliefs, practices, and experiences in the period from the second to the fifth centuries, with an emphasis on the history of ideas. It is conceived as a survey of Patristic literature, the writings of the early Church fathers. We will read and discuss primary sources including theological and apologetic writings, sermons, letters and an autobiography. Topics of investigation will include the development of Christian institutions, structures and rituals, relations between Christians and the Roman state, the emergence of a Christian intellectual culture, the formation of Orthodox doctrines concerning the incarnation and the Trinity, and the role of the contemplation in the Christian life.
Class will be run as a seminar discussion with everyone expected to contribute to our common task of interpreting the primary texts. This course is writing intensive; it is also reading intensive. Reading assignments will average 150 pages per week. Students should expect to spend 5 or 6 hours a week preparing for our three-hour class meetings.
REL 313.01 Topics in Ancient Judaism: Hebrew Language
NATKIN, TR, 930-1045, Foust 111
Credits: Majors – T&HS
Training in elementary Hebrew for students interested both in reading Hebrew Bible and liturgy and those wanting to develop skills in contemporary conversational Hebrew.
REL 315.01W, Religious Autobiography in the West
HART, R, 1800-2050, Foust 111
Credits: Majors, WI
In this course we will explore in the creation of the "religious self" in the autobiographies of Augustine, Teresa de Avila, and Malcolm X.
REL 323.01, Religious Movements in the Community: Jewish Migration
HAUS, W, 1400-1650, Foust 111
Credits: Majors
The history of Jews in the Diaspora has largely been a history of movement. Sometimes by choice and sometimes by necessity, Jews have circulated all over the world during the last 2000 years. This course will explore issues in the migration of Jews at different points in history, examining factors specific to each migration and ultimately comparing the different migratory experiences. During the coming semester, we will study the causes and consequences of migration, and its political, social, and economic impact upon the religious lives of Jewish immigrants and their hosts. The course will draw upon diverse source material, including primary and secondary historical documents, literature, and film.
REL 326W.01, American Religious Thought I
LEVINSON, T, 1800-2050, 806 Seven Oaks Drive
Credits: AE/CAE, WI, Majors
This seminar pursues the lives; the writings; the social, political, and cultural activities; and most importantly, the religious thinking and activities of two of the most famous Earl y American thinkers and prophets we still read about in courses in Religious Studies, American Studies as well as ones concerning modern Christianity and Western or World Civilizations: Jonathan Edwards and Benjamin Franklin. Both of these thinkers are often credited, for good or ill or some of each, with inventing 'The American Character'.
REL 333.01W, Religion and Psychology
RAMSEY, M 1800-2050, Foust 111
Credits: Majors, WI
This course is designed as an upper-level seminar on psychology and religion. In the course we will examine various understandings of the "soul" in the late nineteenth and twentieth century religious and psychological writings. Readings for the course include works by Freud, Ulanov, Hillman, Kristeva, Irigaray, and Keller.
REL 351.01, Religions in Traditional Societies: Native American Religions
LOFTIN, R, 7-9:50, Graham 203
Credits: CNW, GN, NW
Course Description: American Indian Religions is a course about the religious lives of the people who inhabits on the North American continent prior to the arrival of Europeans and their descendants. Traditional Native American religious phenomena such as creation mythology, trickster stories, hunting, farming and fishing, architecture and housing, family and kinship, the ceremonial calendar, warfare and world view will all be examined in detail. By looking at all significant aspects of their humanity we shall come to understand how life was, and is, a prayer for American Indians.
Attention will also be given to Native American religious history, particularly those events following contact with European Americans. One cannot understand American Indian religious experience today without examining the impact of European American political dominance since the nineteenth century. Important changes in Native America religious understanding paralleled contact with Europeans and we will want to look very closely at those developments.
We will certainly want to look at the Ghost Dance, the Peyote Cult and a number of American Indian sacred revolutions and rebellions which emerged with the arrival of and contact with European Americans. These discussions will raise a number of important theoretical issues, including some fundamental questions about the nature of religion and the definition of American Indians.
Required Texts:
Lee Irwin, The Dream Seekers: Native American Visionary Traditions of the Great Plains
John D. Loftin, Religion and Hopi Life in the Twentieth Century
Vine Deloria, Jr., For This Land: Writings on Religion in America
Walter Holden Capps, Ed., Seeing with a Native Eye: Essays on Native American Religions
REL 365W.01, Myth and Religion
ORZECH, W, 1800-2050 Mary Foust Dorm
Credits: WI; Majors
Myth and Theory is designed to introduce you to the study of mythology. Unlike many courses on myth, Religious Studies 365 does not seek to acquaint you with a "classical" mythic corpus. Rather, Myth and Theory is an exploration of the problem of myth, and of the methods of analysis and tools of interpretation available for the study of myth . We will examine myth both as an important component of all societies (evident in religion, ideology, politics, ethics, popular culture, and media), and as an artifact of our own inquiries. Our explorations will focus on analytical techniques developed from the nineteenth century through the present; techniques that include historical criticism, structuralism, hermeneutics, psychological theory, and postmodern critical theories. The readings and assignments are designed to engage you in analyzing myths and in considering the implications of your analysis. Emphasis will be on classroom and on-line discussion, group work, evaluation and analysis, and on the application of these skills to other areas of life. Thus, for instance, you may research mythic themes in a series of presidential speeches, in advertising campaigns, in movies, games, and so on. On completion of this course students will be able to articulate the major theories of myth and to discuss their contexts and implications.
REL 401.01 Tutorial
TBA
REL 402.01 Tutorial
TBA
REL 403.01 Tutorial
TBA
REL 404.01 Tutorial
TBA
REL 420.01, Internship Religious Studies
TBA
REL 493.01, Honors Work
TBA