Course	REL 106 Introduction to Islam
Professor	Ismail Acar
CRN	90423
Schedule	Tu Th 4:00 – 5:20 pm OLIN 301
Distribution	OLD: A	NEW: Humanities

Cross-list: Middle Eastern Studies, Theology

Is Islam in Arabia in the seventh century the same religion as Islam in Michigan in the twenty-first century? Is a woman in fifteenth-century Iran the same kind of Muslim as a man in nineteenth-century Indonesia? Does West African Islamic mysticism differ from South Asian Islamic mysticism? This course answers these questions by introducing Islamic religious systems in world context. We will study a series of cultures in order to explore differing elements of Islamic practice and to understand some commonalities of Islamic faith. Regions we will encounter include Arabia, Iran, Africa, South Asia, Indonesia and Malay Peninsula, and America. Themes we will trace include conceptions of prophecy, ritual practice, development of Islamic theology and jurisprudence, forms of mysticism, relationship between genders, and definitions of communal identity. Textual traditions we will examine include the Quran, traditions of the prophet Muhammad, philosophical treatises, mystical guidebooks, reform literature, and contemporary educational manuals. Religion program category: Historical

Course	REL 115 Christian Moral Decision Making
Professor	Paul Murray
CRN	90062
Schedule	Tu Th 2:30 -3:50 pm OLIN 203
Distribution	OLD: A/C	NEW: Humanities

Cross-listed: Theology

Capital punishment, euthanasia, warfare, the environment, abortion, reproductive technologies, homosexuality, pre-marital sexuality, and divorce are among the issues on which individuals and communities seek to make appropriate moral responses. Within Christianity, there are several recognized sources of moral guidance: the scriptures, tradition, natural law, reason, conscience, official church declarations and personal experience. Various Christian traditions variously weight these sources, resulting in differing outlooks not only between traditions but in the application of shifting standards of moral reasoning from issue to issue within traditions. Moreover, church history offers striking illustrations of significant reframings of moral standards for such issues as capital punishment, usury, slavery, homosexuality and abortion, which result in radical reassessments and reversals on matters long regarded as settled. Focusing on a selection of moral issues, this course will closely examine notions of the processes of moral decision-making within Christianity, as well as various understandings of the moral life itself.

Religion program category: Historical

Course	REL 117 Hindu Religious Traditions
Professor	Richard Davis
CRN	90128
Schedule	Mon Wed 3:00 -4:20 pm OLIN 107
Distribution	OLD: A/C	NEW: Humanities

Cross-listed: Asian Studies

This course will provide an historical overview of the series of religious movements in India collectively referred to as ‘Hinduism.’ For the foundations of classical Hinduism, we will read from a vast corpus of mythic and epic literature and familiarize ourselves with the gods, goddesses, and heroes that have been central to Hindu religious practice throughout history. We will explore a range of social and devotional paths taken by Hindus by examining caste structure and social location, as well as the paths of action, devotion, and wisdom (karma, bhakti, and jnana, respectively). Moving into the contemporary context, we will focus on modern ethnographic accounts of how the tradition is lived, both in India and the United States, with a special eye to the construction of sacred space through temples and pilgrimage.

Religion program category: Historical

Course	REL 140 Sanskrit
Professor	Richard Davis
CRN	90063
Schedule	Mon Wed 12:00 -1:20 pm OLIN 304
Distribution	OLD: D	NEW: FLLC

Cross-listed: Asian Studies

Sanskrit is the language of ancient India, the language in which such works as the Bhagavad Gita, the great Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, and the Upanisads were written. In this course students will learn the grammar and syntax of Classical Sanskrit and acquire a working vocabulary. In the second semester students will read substantial portions of original texts in Sanskrit.

Religion program category: Interpretive

Course	REL 228 Devotion & Poetry in India
Professor	Richard Davis
CRN	90064
Schedule	Tu Th 10:30 - 11:50 am OLIN 301
Distribution	OLD: C	NEW:

Cross-listed: Asian Studies

Bhakti means "participation in" or "devotion to" God. From 700 C.E. to 1700 C.E., in every region of India, bhakti poet-saints sang songs and lived lives of intense, emotional devotion to their chosen gods. The songs, legends, and theologies of these saints and the communities they established permeate the religious life of India. This course explores the world of bhakti through its poetry. We examine issues of poetics and theology, bhakti and opposition to orthodox social conventions, bhakti and gender, the interactions of Hindu devotionalism and Islamic Sufism, the role of bhakti in Indian music, and the problem of bhakti in twentieth-century Indian literature.

Religion program category: Interpretative

Course	REL 268 The Quran: Listening, Reading Viewing
Professor	Ismail Acar
CRN	90889
Schedule	Wed Fri 9:00 – 10:20 am OLIN 204
Distribution	OLD: C	NEW: Humanities

Cross-listed: Theology

Unlike other religious texts, the Quran explains itself. It announces itself as the word of God, and verse after verse reiterates that its form and content provide proof of the reality of Allah’s dominion. This course aims to understand how the Quran as a divine book is situated within Islamic culture. In assessing the position of and meanings in the Quran, we will approach the text through three modes of analysis: listening, reading, and viewing. In the first part of the course, we will review scholarship about the Quran’s constitution. In the second part, we will examine Quranic recitation as the mechanism by which most Muslims first encountered and continue to encounter the text. In the third part, we will study verses in thematic clusters in order to understand the Quran’s message and proclaimed relationship with other religious books. In the fourth part, we will focus on Quranic inscriptions in calligraphic and visual arts. No Arabic required.

Program category: Interpretive

Course	REL 274 Jesus
Professor	Bruce Chilton
CRN	90167
Schedule	Wed Fr 12:00 -1:20 pm OLIN 107
Distribution	OLD: A/C	NEW: Humanities

Cross-listed: Theology

Recent study of the material and cultural contexts of ancient Israel has advanced critical understanding of Jesus, but the religious context of Jesus and his movement has received less attention. In this course we will investigate Jesus, not just as a product of first century Galilee, but also as a committed Israelite, and analyze the visionary disciplines that lie at the heart of his announcement of the divine kingdom, his therapeutic arts, his parabolic actions and sayings, as well as his death and resurrection. We proceed along the narrative order of his life, (unit 1) conception, birth, and nurture, (unit 2) his association with and break from John the Baptist, (unit three) his emergence in Galilee as exorcist, healer, and prophet, (unit four) his confrontation with Roman as well as cultic authorities in Jerusalem, (unit five) his execution and post-mortem appearance to his disciples.

Course	REL 320 Sacred Pursuits: Seminar in Study of Religion
Professor	Paul Murray
CRN	90066
Schedule	Mon 4:00 -6:20 pm OLIN 301
Distribution	OLD: A/C	NEW: Humanities

Cross-listed: Anthropology, Theology

The modern study of religion is an eclectic field, drawing upon many other disciplines in its attempt to circumscribe and comprehend the diversity of human religiosity. This course examines critically various approaches to the study of religion in the 20th century, including psychological, sociological, anthropological, and phenomenological. The class considers where this field of study may be heading in its postmodern present. Required for religion majors, open to others.

Program category: Theoretical

Course	REL COL Religion Colloquium
Professor	Paul Murray
CRN	90067
Schedule	Mon 7:00 -8:40 pm OLINLC 115

2 credits The religion colloquium is a two-credit course open to all students, but required of religion moderands. The purpose of the colloquium is to foster a community of scholarship among students and faculty interested in the study of religion, and to prepare public presentations of independent research. The colloquium is designed to encourage interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives on students’ topics of particular interest. Weekly sessions will be devoted to discussion of new books, films, CD-roms, etc. as well as regular updates of progress on senior projects. Public sessions of the colloquium will be scheduled three or four times each semester; students who enroll for credit will shoulder the responsibility for preparing papers to present in these sessions. Outside speakers and faculty members may also be invited to present papers in these public sessions. Religion program category: Theoretical