Department of Religious Studies
Courses For Spring 2007
REL 109.01, Religion & Contemporary Culture, MCKINNON, Matthew, MWF, 11-1150, Graham 212
REL 109.02, Religion & Contemporary Culture, MCKINNON, Matthew, W, 6-850, Graham 212
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 109.03, Religion & Contemporary Culture, RAMSEY, Bennett, MW, 2-315, Foust 111
AE, CAE, GPR, Honors
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 111.01, Non-Western Religions, DUCKWORTH, Douglas, MWF, 1000-1050, Graham 212
CNW, GN, GPR, NW
This course is an introduction to three major religious traditions of Asia: the traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and religions of China. This course offers a window to these religious traditions in a historical perspective. The basic ideas and practices of these traditions will be presented in a way that students will have the opportunity to learn about important facets of these traditions while gaining familiarity with some of the tools of the academic discipline of Religious Studies. Through the course of the semester, students will become more familiar with these traditions and be challenged to think about religion in different ways.
REL 191.01, Studies Scriptural Languages: Hebrew, NATKIN, Yudit, TR, 930-1045, Foust 111
This course is a follow-on from the previous semester's beginners' class. Having studied the rudiments of the language, we continue our study of Hebrew, focusing on the elements of grammar and syntax. At the same time, we shall be studying actual texts from the Bible and this will give you an opportunity to read, analyze and comprehend the Hebrew. In this way you will reach an understanding of how the commentators were able to look inside the text for inner meanings. We shall also be comparing different translations with the Hebrew text.
Prerequisites: This course requires the ability to read and write Hebrew and also a basic vocabulary and grammar.
REL 201.01, The Bible in Western Culture: The Sacrifice of Isaac, BREGMAN, Marc, TR, 11-1215, Bryan 112
GL
This course will survey the broad spectrum of interpretation of one biblical narrative, “the Sacrifice of Isaac” (Genesis 22:1-19), that is foundational for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Students will learn how the biblical text can be approached both objectively and subjectively through guided reading assignments and classroom discussion, which will focus on the philosophical, religious and ethical issues raised by this perplexing biblical text.
REL 207.01, Modern Problems of Belief, RAMSEY, Bennett, T, 6-850
AE, CAE, GPR
REL 210.01, Christianity to Reformation, ROGERS, Eugene, MW, 2-315, McIver 028
CPM, GHP, GL, GPM, HP
We follow five questions from early Christianity to the Reformation.
1) The question of the knowledge of God: How do Christians believe that talk about God is possible at all, since God cannot be captured in language? Topics include negative theology, mysticism, mystery, and analogy.
2) The question of soteriology: How do Christians believe that Jesus saves them? Topics include deification (God becoming human makes human beings divine), ransom (Jesus tricks the devil at his own game) satisfaction (Jesus pays the debt that humans owe to God), and example (seeing what God does for human beings in Jesus inspires them to love).
3) The question of grace and free will: If part of my salvation is up to me, and God can be relied upon to do God's part, then doesn't everything really hang on what I do, so that effectively I end up saving myself? Or it is really God who saves me, am I left out of the process of my own salvation, so that it's hard to tell that it's really me getting saved? Or are those somehow false alternatives?
4) The question of growth: Why does the story of God's dealings with humanity take time, and why does salvation take time?
5) The question of theology in Religious Studies. What is a Christian thinker or teacher trying to do when he or she writes theology? I.e., what sort of a community practice is that intellectual activity? We will be testing the following hypothesis: religion is like a culture or language, and doctrines are like its rules or grammar.
Frequent announced and unannounced quizzes, three tests, heavy reading. Don't take this course if you don't like reading and thinking.
REL 218.01, Nonwestern Religions: China, ORZECH, Charles, TR, 11-1215, Bryan 114
CNW, GN, GPR, NW
This course is an introduction to Chinese Religion, both in the past and the present. I will use the results of the best recent scholarship to introduce you to current issues and methods in the study of religions and to provide an in-depth exploration of a culture quite foreign to most of you. While we will, to some extent, be looking at Chinese Buddhism, the course will focus on the indigenous religions of China including Confucianism, Daoism, and folk traditions. A major element of this course is the reading of three ‘case studies’ which link traditional Chinese religion with the modern world. The course makes extensive use of films, online texts and images, and slides. There will be a 15 minute mini exam early in the term, and two comprehensive tests, the first halfway through the semester and the second on the last day of class.
REL 221.01, Buddhism, DUCKWORTH, Douglas, MWF, 1100-1150, ABCB 107
CNW, GN, GPR, NW, WI
This course is an introduction to the study of the Buddhist tradition. We will explore the theories and practices of Buddhist traditions and examine the historical developments of Buddhist doctrines and communities. We begin by looking into the fundamental characteristics of a Buddhist worldview. We will then turn to a thematic survey of important topics in Buddhism, which include the roles of monasticism, ethics, meditation, philosophy, and rituals. Finally, we examine the historical developments of Buddhism in various permutations of Buddhist traditions around the world, in South Asia, China, Japan, and Tibet. We will also discuss the roles that Buddhism plays in the contemporary world, both in Asia and America.
REL 223.01, Hinduism, GRIEVE, Gregory, TR, 930-1045, HHRA 1207
REL 223.02, Hinduism, GRIEVE, Gregory, TR 1230-1:45, Foust 111
CNW, GN, GPR, NW, WI
DESCRIPTION: Through readings, lectures, discussion, and writing, this course investigates Hinduism through a nonsectarian, unbiased approach that uses various methods and theories to understand the religious life of others. The course will concentrate more on practice than philosophy, with attention to some of the myths, rituals, and images that inform the lives of Hindu women and men. The student will become familiar with significant features that contribute to Hinduism as a religion, including basic terms and common concepts, major deities and their myths, and forms of devotional expression, and will consider the significance of the teachings of key Hindu classics, such as the Veda, Upanishads, Puranas, and the Bhagavad Gita. An underlying but no less important objective of this course is to become familiar with a theoretical "tool box" for the academic study of religion in general, especially as it pertains to the study of South Asia.
TEACHING METHODS AND ASSIGNMENTS FOR ACHIEVING LEARNING OUTCOMES: This course is designed as a speaking and writing intensive workshop. Student participation is essential, and while the instructor will lead discussion and lecture, student-led discussion will drive the course. Besides gaining an understanding of Hinduism, the aim of the class is for students to demonstrate their ability to express themselves clearly and effectively in speech and in writing. Pursuant to this, students will engage in library research, the craft of writing academic research papers, as well as and the practice of oral presentation and debate.
REL 225.01, Islam, SOPPER, John, TR, 930-1045, Curry 334
REL 225.02, Islam, SOPPER, John, TR, 1230-1:45, Graham 423
CNW, GN, GPR, NW
About a ¼ of the worlds population, (1 billion people) identify themselves as Muslims. The traditional centers of this Islamic world are currently experiencing a vibrant and sometimes violent resurgence of religious devotion, practice and passionate reform that touches every aspect of contemporary life and that raises important questions concerning the relation of Muslims to non-Muslims and to the major institutions of the current international system. The need to understand and engage thoughtfully and constructively with Islam is a pressing one for both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. To begin to meet that need, this course introduces you to the main elements of classical Sunni and Shiite Islam. We examine the main beliefs, values, sacred texts, rituals, and holy days of classical Islam. We also examine the history of Islamic civilization as it develops from the time of Muhammad to the present, with particular emphasis on the role of Islam in shaping society, law and politics. Finally we examine contemporary debates among Muslims on such important topics as the quest for a truly Islamic state and society under modern conditions, jihad, peace, tolerance of non-Muslim religions and minorities, gender roles and the place of women in Muslim society, democracy, international relations and social justice.
REL 229.01, Intro to African American Religions, ROSS, Sabrina, MWF, 12-1250, Graham 423
GHP, GMO, AFS
In this course we explore the rituals, performances, and practices of black religion.
REL 231.01, Religion in America, MORTIMORE, Jeffrey, MW, 330-4:45, Graham 308
REL 231.02, Religion in America, MORTIMORE, Jeffrey, M, 6-850, Graham 313
GHP, GMO
Diverse religious traditions and thinkers that have played a significant role in the history of the United States from Native American beginnings to the present. (Formerly REL 131)
REL 232.81, American Religious Thought: Survey, LEVINSON, Henry, WEB ON-LINE COURSE
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 250.01, Religious Traditions and Care of the Earth, HEADINGTON, Charles, TR, 330-4:45, Graham 424
CNW, GN, GPR, NW
This course introduces the student to the study of religion by focusing on the ways that various religious traditions view and treat the natural world. Religious rituals, symbols, stories, and ethical systems generate different cultural and social responses to nature. In our present age, when species and natural systems are threatened with extinction, we need to understand the biases of various religious traditions, especially those of the West, and offer proposals for an ethic of sustainability. We will study indigenous people and western and eastern religions. We will also look at current attempts in the West to fashion a more life-enhancing ethic.
Our study will take up three major themes: The Great Work, Food, and Simple Living. Each will comprise a third of the course.
For each theme or third of the course, you will have a test on the material we’ve covered in class and readings, and you’ll have two projects to complete on Food and Simple Living. Thus, you’ll have a theoretical and an experiential way of understanding the material.
REL 303.01, Exp, Christianity in Byzantium, KRUEGER, Derek, TR, 2-3:15, Foust 111
WI
This course explores the practice of Christianity in Byzantium from the sixth to the twelfth century to understand Byzantine Christianity as a religious system. We will survey a variety of literary, visual, and material evidence in order to understand a wide range of devotional behaviors in their historical, geographical, and cultural contexts. Topics to be explored include liturgy, the veneration of images, the cults of the saints, the quest for healing, monasticism, the architecture and illustration of churches, and the shape of Byzantine religious thought about God, creation, and redemption. Distinctions between elite and popular piety will be intentionally blurred in order to understand how a variety of religious practices cohered for participants at various levels of society. We will investigate Byzantine use of religious language, imagery, and symbolism. Our investigations will provide insight into the formation of Orthodox Christianity and to the cultural heritage of Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean. This course will also address larger questions about what a religion is, how religions can be studied, especially historical religions, from a variety of sources, and how scholars might come to understand what a religion is like for the people who practice it.
This course is designed for undergraduate majors and others with a strong interest in Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Middle Ages. Class will be run as a seminar discussion with everyone expected to contribute to our common task of interpreting the primary texts and evaluating the secondary literature. This course is writing intensive; it is also reading intensive. Reading assignments will average 125-150 pages per week. Students should expect to spend 5 or 6 hours a week preparing for our three hour class meetings. At the end of the course, students will be familiar with Byzantine Christianity as a cultural system and will have developed a variety of techniques for understanding it in its temporal and geographic contexts.
REL 313.01, Topics in Ancient Judaism: Jewish Law, BREGMAN, Marc, T, 6-850, Foust 111
WI
This course will provide an introduction to Jewish Law by surveying selected topics in this vast field. Students will learn the fundamentals of Jewish law through guided readings in primary sources and secondary literature. Writing assignments will require each student to summarize and to compare or contrast approaches to legal issues within the Jewish tradition.
REL 323, Religious Movements and Communities: Tantra, ORZECH, Charles & Gregory GRIEVE, W, 6-850, Mary Foust Dorm
WI, WGS
This course explores "Tantra," a complex body of religious texts and practices that spread throughout Hindu and Buddhist traditions. The Tantras advocate ideologies and practices that make worldly aims (power, pleasure, etc.) central to or even identical with religious attainment. While some tantric works are abstract and theological, others use sexual imagery in ways intended to shock traditional practitioners of Hinduism and Buddhism. This dimension of the Tantras has played a central role in how the West has imagined Asia. This course offers a critical account of Tantra as a religious phenomenon. We will trace Tantra both in classical texts, scholarly imaginations, and popular culture, and we will explore the use of gender imagery in the traditions themselves and in Western appropriations of Tantra.
REL 340, Major Modern Jewish Thinkers, LEVINSON, Henry, R, 6-850, 807 Seven Oak Drive
WI
This course follows the writings of three great thinkers.
Martin Buber is famous for I and Thou, but also Between Man and Man, Paths in Utopia, and Tales of the Hasidim (2 vols.) All these books concentrate on the "dialogical principle."
Franz Rosenweig is famous for The Star Redemption, a work he wrote as a German soldier, fighting in the trenches, during World War I. There, he wrote his three hundred page book on post-card. When he returned from the war, he married, suffered ALS, and worked out a system of blinks for each letter of the alphabet. Over the course of many years, his wife translated all those blinks that constitute his book. Rosenweig also wrote The New Thinking, a kind of pragmatism.
Abraham Joshua Heschel is a famous Jewish thinker. He emigrated during World War II. He taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York . Among other things, he marched along Dr. Martin Luther King on the march to Selma, Alabama. His two major works are Man is not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion and, God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism.
REL 382.01, God, The Body, & Sexual Orientation, ROGERS, Eugene, M, 6-850, Foust 111
WI, WGS
Christianity has much to say about bodies. The creation of human beings, the incarnation of God in Jesus, the sacraments of baptism, communion and marriage, and the resurrection of the dead all involve physical bodies. What does God want with bodies in Christianity? and what do the social sciences say about that? Current controversies about the body in Christianity center on gender and sexual orientation. Arguments for and against same-sex marriage will play a prominent role. Fulfills the Writing Requirement. 3 five-page papers, weekly postings on Blackboard participation, seminar discussion. This is not a bull session or a soapbox, but will require heavy reading, careful writing, and willingness to speak up thoughtfully in seminar. A one-page paper will be due at the end of the first week. Don't take this course if you don't like reading, thinking, and writing.
REL 410.01, Senior Seminar, RAMSEY, Bennett, F, 2-4:45, Foust 111
SI, WI, Required of all seniors.
Colloquium on a unifying theme or major recent work in Religious Studies. Topic will vary with instructor.