Department of Religious Studies
Courses For Fall 2006
REL 101.01, Introduction to Religious Studies
SOPPER, TR , 9:30-10:45 ,
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 ereserve system.
REL 109.01, Religion and Contemporary Culture
SOPPER, TR, 12:30-1:45
Credits: AE, CAE, GPR, Grogan
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, 12-12:50
Credits: AE, CAE, GPR
Understandings of religion as shaped by contemporary social institutions, the arts, politics, and philosophy.
REL 109.03, Religion and Contemporary Culture
MORTIMORE, MW, 2-3:15
Credits: AE, CAE, GPR
REL 111.01 Non-Western Religion
DUCKWORTH, MWF, 10:00-10:50
Credits: AULER - NW/CNW; GEC: PRE, GN
REL 111.02 Non-Western Religion
DUCKWORTH, R, 6-8:50
Credits: AULER - NW/CNW; GEC: PRE, GN
(see above)
REL 190.01, Intro to Scriptural Languages: Hebrew’s Beginning
NATKIN, TR; 9:30-10:45
This course is designed to provide students with the tools to read and understand most biblical texts. It teaches reading and writing the Hebrew alphabet, and progresses to word and sentence level in preparation for reading actual texts from the Bible. Hebrew grammar is introduced as well, enabling the student to understand how Biblical Hebrew works.
Prerequisite: None
REL 204.01, New Testament and Origins of Christianity
BURRIS, MW, 3:30-4:45
REL 204.02, New Testament and Origins of Christianity
BURRIS, W; 6-8:50
Credits: CPM, GHP, GL, GPM, HP
This course examines the origins of Christianity through its earliest literature, most of which is preserved in the New Testament. This examination will be geared toward asking historical questions about the nature of the diverse social groups which made up the earliest Jesus movement. Through close readings of the texts, we will attempt to extract details about the beliefs, social structures and practices of these groups. Our historical reconstructions will be illuminated by contextualizing them within their cultural milieu. By the end of the course, students will attain a general understanding of the types of literature produced by ancient Christian groups and a variety of issues and methods involved in the modern historical study of the New Testament.
REL 207.01, Modern Problems of Belief
RAMSEY; MWF; 9-9:50
Credits: AE, CAE, GPR
A study of some of the new paradigms, worldviews and belief systems emerging in contemporary western culture with a focus on changing definitions of the human person, nature and supernature, and the relationship between spirituality and science. The course is designed as an online seminar, with an emphasis on discussion and close reading of primary texts.
REL 209.01, Elements of Christian Thought
ROGERS, MWF; 11-11:50
REL 209.02, Elements of Christian Thought
ROGERS, MW; 2-3:15
Credits: GL, GPR
Investigates the coherence of Christian accounts of such topics as incarnation, trinity, creation, evil, sacraments, the body, and salvation. GPR, GL. Readings average 30-50 pages, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. Announced and unannounced quizzes, two tests.
REL 215.01, Judaism
BREGMAN, TR; 12:30-1:45
REL 215.02, Judaism
BREGMAN, TR; 2-3:15
Credits: CMO, GHP, GL, GMO, HP
This course provides an initial orientation to Judaism as a religion and as a culture. Students will be introduced to the development of basic Jewish practices, beliefs and institutions and to the major works of Jewish literature, concretized by focusing selectively on a number of specific texts, themes and topics.
REL 221.01, Buddhism
ORZECH, TR; 2-3:15
REL 221.02, Buddhism
ORZECH, TR; 11-12:15
Credits: CNW, GN, GPR, NW
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 Buddhist religious traditions and their 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 231.01, Religion in America
LEVINSON, TR, 11-12:15
Credits: GHP, GMO, CMO, HP
This course is an introduction to a great variety of religious traditions and movements including diverse Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Christianities that first emerged in the Near East, Western and Eastern Europe and Eurasia; as well as Christianities that began in the United States, including Latter Day Saints, Christian Scientists, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses; as well as Judaism, Humanism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and New Age and Self-help movements. Special topics will include: responding to religious diversity, studying and describing religions, the role of religion in public life, alternative themes in American Christianity, African-American Christianity, and religion as an individual and cultural problem.
REL 258.01, Darwin, Evolution, Human Nature
HART, TR, 3:30-4:45
Credits: GPR
Charles Darwin’s The Origin of the Species revolutionized our understanding of life. This course explores the religious, philosophical, and ethical implications of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.
REL 298.01, Thinking About Religion
GRIEVE, TR, 12:30-1:45
Credits: WI
This course in required of all Religious Studies majors. This course is not strictly introductory and expects that students have some familiarity with the academic study of religion before taking the course. Ideally it will be a third or fourth course in the major, taken within a semester of declaring the major.
Critical reflection on the academic study of religion. Evaluation of theories of religion drawn from the social sciences, humanities, and religious traditions themselves through their application to case studies.
REL 311.01, Topics in Biblical Studies: Sacrifice of Issac
BREGMAN, T, 6-8:50
Credits: WI
This course will focus on one biblical narrative, “the Sacrifice of Isaac” (Genesis 22:1-19) that is foundational for both Judaism and Christianity. Students will learn how the biblical text can be approached both objectively and subjectively through classroom discussion and guided writing assignments.
REL 314.01, Saint Society in Early Middle Ages
KRUEGER, M, 6-8:50
Credits: WI
This course examines the rise and function of the veneration of Christian holy men and women between the fourth and eighth centuries in the Eastern Roman Empire ( Byzantium ) and the Latin West. We will consider the concept of sanctity in Late Ancient, early Byzantine, and early Medieval society. What is holiness? How is it related to the ordinary? What makes something, someone, or someplace holy? We will explore the location of sanctity both in people and in places by considering the rise of Christian pilgrimage and the cult of the saints both living and dead. We will investigate the use of religious language, imagery, and symbolism--turning our attention to topics such as the liturgical celebration of the Virgin Mary, beliefs in angels and demons, the performance of miracles, and the veneration of images (icons) of holy people and events. Above all we will be concerned to understand hagiography, the composition of accounts of the saints, as a literary exercise, an attempt to convey in narrative form a system of religious values to an audience. Readings will be drawn from primary literary sources originally composed in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Coptic--saints' lives, sermons, hymns, prayers, and theological tracts of the period--as well as from the work of modern historians of religion.
This course is designed for undergraduate majors and others with a strong interest in Christianity in Late Antiquity, Byzantium , and the early Middle Ages. 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 125 pages per week. Students should expect to spend 5 or 6 hours a week preparing for our three hour class meetings .
REL 324.01, Phil. Issues in Religion: James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, and Richard Wright
HART/LEVINSON, T, 6-8:50
Credits: WI
This course explores the spiritual longings (artistic, political, and religious) of three black male writers (Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, and James Baldwin) during the middle decades of the twentieth century.
REL 333.01, Religion and Psychology
RAMSEY, R, 6-8:50
Credits: WI
Religious Studies 333 is designed as an upper level seminar on the topic of the relationship between psychology and religion. In the course we will be engaged in readings from a variety of disciplines: religious studies, depth psychology, psychoneuroimmunology, philosophy. The specific focus of the course is to begin to discern the differentiations in contemporary culture and academics between psychology, religion and spirituality. The objectives of the course are: to develop facility in reading on a specific topic from a variety of academic fields; to develop your writing (through weekly response papers and rewrites of those responses); to develop a critical perspective on contemporary American culture’s language about and understanding of psychology, religion, and spirituality.
REL 366.01, Religions of China: Selected Topics
ORZECH, W, 6-8:50
Credits: WI
This fall's seminar on Chinese religion will focus on the development and practice of Buddhism in China . We will begin with an introduction to traditional Chinese religions and then move on to a brief overview of Buddhist traditions in South Asia . We will then shift to reading some of the classic texts of Chinese Buddhism, and to examining the development of traditional and distinctive Chinese Buddhist practices—both those based in monasteries and those among the laity. Although REL 366W has no formal prerequisite, a previous course in religion--particularly a non-western religion—would be helpful, and a previous course either in Buddhism or in Chinese Religions would be highly desirable.
The aim of the course is not only to familiarize you with a subject, but also to sharpen your written and verbal skills. The course is writing intensive. Students prepare and respond to readings in on-line discussion before each class. Each student must post ten substantive on-line responses and participate in in-class group work and discussion. There will also be two 7 to 9 page essays, each of which will be critiqued by peer writing groups in workshop sessions.
REL 383.01, Seminar in a Major Christian Thinker: Aquinas
ROGERS: MW, 3:30-4:45
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was the most important theologian of the Middle Ages and is still the most important theologian for the Catholic Church, now increasingly studied by Protestants as well. He is best known for combining the philosophy of Aristotle with the theology of Augustine. Writing intensive. Weekly postings to Discussion Board, including the first week.