Course	REL 103 Buddhist Thought and Practice
Professor	Kristin Scheible
CRN	15133
Schedule	Tu Th 1:30 -2:50 pm OLIN 203
Distribution	OLD: C / D	NEW: Humanities

Cross-listed: Asian Studies

This course is designed to explore the “three jewels” of Buddhism: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teaching), and the Sangha (the Buddhist community).  We will move imaginatively through different historical periods, cultures, and what might be called “Buddhisms” in this introductory survey of Buddhist teachings and practices. Our goals are threefold: first, we must consider what tools are potentially helpful in the comparative study of religion.  We will revisit and reevaluate this objective throughout the course.  Second, and most importantly, we will explore the diversity of thought and practice within the religious tradition monolithically referred to as “Buddhism,” by acquainting ourselves with the texts and participants of various communities (or “schools”) of Buddhists including Theravada, Tibetan, Pure Land and Zen.  Finally, the “three jewels” framework will help us to organize our findings and to make sense of apparent continuities and differences among the traditions.  

Religion program category: Historical

Course	REL 141 Sanskrit II
Professor	Richard Davis
CRN	15000
Schedule	Tu Th 10:00 - 11:20 am OLIN 304
Distribution	OLD: D	NEW: FLLC

Cross-listed: Classics

The Spring semester continues the study of Sanskrit foundations begun in the Fall, and introduces readings of Sanskrit texts in the original. The readings will include selections from the Indian epic Mahabharata. We will also continue our recitation practice, to gain an appreciation of the aural quality of the "perfected language."

Program category: interpretive

Course	REL 201 Theology of Judaism
Professor	Jacob Neusner
CRN	15003
Schedule	Tu Th 3:00 -4:20 pm OLIN 306
Distribution	OLD: A	NEW: Humanities

Cross-listed: Jewish, Studies, Theology

Theology thinks philosophically about religion: generalizes and orders, proportions and regularizes the complex and diverse data of behavior and belief that the data of a religion ‹ its canonical writings for example ‹ convey. The outcome is a system and a structure of belief that not only coheres but accounts for further data. This course illustrates what it means to think philosophically about the data of a religion.  The case is that of Judaism in its normative writings deriving from the formative age, the first six centuries C.E. In them Judaism sets forth a theological system and structure, making a coherent statement through the myriad of the details of those legal, exegetical, and narrative writings. This course sets forth the theology of Judaism animating the Rabbinic canon that defines the norm: the system and structure that animate the law and narrative and exegesis of the canon and that all together form the philosophical statement of religion, the theology of Judaism.

Course	REL 221 History of Early India
Professor	Richard Davis
CRN	15364
Schedule	Mon Wed 1:30 -2:50 pm OLIN 301
Distribution	OLD: C / D	NEW: History

Cross-listed: Asian Studies, History

This course offers an overview of the early history and culture of

South Asia, from its earliest urban civilization in the Indus Valley

(2500-1800 BCE) up to the classical period of the Gupta dynasty in northern India (300-550 CE). Within this three-millennium frame, we will look at archeological reconstructions of the Indus Valley civilization and textual reconstructions of early Indo-Aryan or Vedic culture, the period of second urbanization in the Indo-Gangetic plain and the transition from tribal organization to kingdoms, the rise of the Mauryan imperial formation, the emergence and growth of heterodox orders of Buddhists and Jains and responses to their challenge from orthodox Hindus, the post-Mauryan period of Central Asian rule, and the articulation of a classical Indian culture during the Gupta period. While tracing this chronological history, the course will pay greater attention to key issues and debates within Indian history: social hierarchy and the development of caste society, the status of women, the roles of religious specialists in the political order, and the ideology and practice of kingship.

Program Category: Historical

Course	REL 261 Women in Buddhism
Professor	Kristin Scheible
CRN	15006
Schedule	Mon Wed 11:30 - 12:50 pm OLIN 305
Distribution	OLD: A	NEW: Humanities

Cross-list: Gender/Sexuality Studies, GISP, Asian Studies

Paying attention to an immense diversity in historical, geographic and cultural locations of our subjects, we will encounter the sacred images and social realities of women in the Buddhist world.  Specifically, we will consider the ways in which categories such as "woman," "feminine," "gender," and "nun" have been explained and imagined by Buddhist communities (as well as by academics and feminists) through various historical and cultural locations.  We will begin with an examination of early Buddhist sources, the stories surrounding the founding of the nun's order and the songs of women saints (Pali Therigatha).  We will then consider gender(ed) imagery in Mahayana sources, with a sustained focus on the evolution of the bodhisattva Kuan-yin in China.  We will consider the feminine principle as envisioned by Vajrayana Buddhists in Tibet before devoting a significant portion of the course to the study of how real women in the contemporary Buddhist landscape, especially those who have taken vows, understand theoretical and practical tensions inherent in the Buddhist tradition.  Sources for this section will be the collected observations of nuns who were in attendance at the First International Conference on Buddhist Nuns, individual biographies of Buddhist women, and ongoing debates about women’s roles in the Buddhist sangha (community).

Program category: Theoretical

Course	REL 267 Sacred Times: The Festivals of Christianity
Professor	Bruce Chilton
CRN	15482
Schedule	Sun 7:00 – 8:20 pm OLIN 201
Distribution	OLD: A	NEW: Humanities

The sacrificial practice of the ancient Near East resulted in a calendar of sacred time that has influenced both Judaism and Christianity. How does time become sacred? Where have the calendars of the past intersected to shape the experience of time today? Those questions will foreground our inquiry into the functioning of the Christian calendar.

Course	REL 268 Quran:Listening, Reading, Viewing
Professor	Nerina Rustomji
CRN	15004
Schedule	Tu Th 11:30 am – 12:50 pm PRE 101
Distribution	OLD: A	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 282 America and the Muslim World
Professor	Nerina Rustomji
CRN	15005
Schedule	Mon Wed 11:30 - 12:50 pm OLIN 201
Distribution	OLD: A / C	NEW: Humanities/ Rethinking Difference

Cross-list: History, Human Rights, American Studies

The first Muslims in America were West African slaves. Since then American encounters with Islam have been far richer and more complex than the popular metaphor “Clash of Civilizations” suggests. How have the American understanding of Islam and the consumption of “Oriental” products shaped American culture? This course explores the perceptions of Islam in America and how they have influenced culture and politics. Our examination will begin by tracing patterns of consumption from Muslim slaves to the fashionable oriental carpets. In this section, we will prepare a class study of Frederick Church’s home Olana in Hudson, New York. We will then examine the presence of Muslim communities and concerns in politics from nineteenth century discussions about the prophet Muhammad to the rise of organizations like the Nation of Islam in the twentieth century. Finally, we will study contemporary images of Muslims and Arabs in American culture. We will end by exploring twenty-first century perceptions of America held by Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East. Texts for the course include historical monographs, primary sources, material culture, film, and public image “polls.”

Program category: Interpretive

Course	REL 320 Sacred Pursuits: Seminar in the Study of Religion
Professor	Paul Murray
CRN	15007
Schedule	Mon 4:00 -6:20 pm OLIN 308
Distribution	OLD: A / C	NEW: Humanities

Cross-listed: Anthropology

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 326 The Bible as Literature
Professor	Bruce Chilton
CRN	15008
Schedule	Tu Th 3:00 – 4:20 pm OLIN 202
Distribution	OLD: A	NEW: Humanities

Cross-listed: Theology

The Bible is of pivotal importance in understanding the development of literature and history in the West, and it offers unique insights into the nature of the religious consciousness of humanity. Familiarity with the biblical documents, and a critical appreciation of those documents are therefore among the attainments of an ordinarily well-educated person in our culture. By means of lectures, discussions, quizzes, essays, and a test, the present course is designed to help students become biblically literate. Tutorials in Greek and Hebrew may be arranged in association with the course.

Program category: Historical

Course	REL COL Religion Colloquium
Professor	Richard Davis
CRN	15009
Schedule	Mon 7:00 -8:30 pm OLIN 201
Distribution	OLD: n / a	NEW:

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

Cross-Listed Courses

Course	HIST / REL 181 Jews in the Modern World 1492 - 1948
Professor	Cecile Kuznitz
CRN	15129
Schedule	Tu Th 10:00 - 11:20 am OLIN 306
Distribution	OLD: C	NEW: History / Rethinking Difference

Cross-listed: Jewish Studies

This course will survey the history of the Jewish people from the expulsion from Spain until the establishment of the State of Israel. It will examine such topics as the expulsion and its aftermath; social, intellectual, and economic factors leading to greater toleration at the start of the modern period; the varying routes to emancipation in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Islamic world; acculturation, assimilation, and their discontents; modern Jewish nationalist movements such as Zionism; the Holocaust; the establishment of the State of Israel; and the growth of the American Jewish community

Course	ECON / REL 260 Religion and Economics
Professor	Tamar Khitarishvili
CRN	15412
Schedule	Tues 10:00 - 11:20 am OLIN 303 Thur 10:00 – 11:20 am HDR 302
Distribution	OLD: A / C	NEW: Social Science

Cross-listed: Human Rights, Religion

Using an interdisciplinary approach, this course analyzes the relationship between religion and economic development. We start by looking at the impact that religion and religious thinking have had on the formation of economic order in societies. What role has monotheism played in the development of economic ethics (e.g. attitude towards money, economic well-being, the meaning of work)? How have religious views affected the evolution of capitalism? What are the views of different religions on globalization? Next, we look at the role that economic incentives have played in the growth of religions. We analyze how economic factors may have influenced the spread of Christianity in the first-century Rome. We also look at the role they played in the growth of Islam. Other case studies will include the analysis of the impact of the Templar Order of 12th century on the development of financial institutions in Europe; the economic history of Russian Old Believers, a schismatic group of the Russian Orthodox Church; and the role that the lack of economic opportunities in the Middle East may have played in the growth of terrorism. A summer camp in the community of Old Believers in Russia may follow the course.