Course |
REL 103 Buddhist Thought and Practice |
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Professor |
Kristin Scheible |
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CRN |
17169 |
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Schedule |
Tu Th 10:30 - 11:50 am OLIN 306 |
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Distribution |
OLD: C/D |
NEW:
Humanities
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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. Program
category: Historical On-line
registration
Course |
REL 110 The Bible as Literatures |
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Professor |
Bruce Chilton |
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CRN |
17173 |
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Schedule |
Wed Fr 12:00 -1:20 pm OLIN 201 |
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Distribution |
OLD: B/C |
NEW:
Humanities
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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 On-line registration
Course |
REL 120 The Future of Christianity |
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Professor |
Paul Murray |
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CRN |
17076 |
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Schedule |
Tu Th 2:30 -3:50 pm OLIN 201 |
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Distribution |
OLD: A/C |
NEW:
Humanities
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Cross-listed: American Studies, Theology
Related
interest: Gender & Sexuality Studies
Does Christianity have a
future? Are contemporary social and
cultural conditions such that it must
“change or die,” as Bishop John Shelby Spong suggests? During the final decades of the twentieth
century, sharp questions regarding the continued viability and usefulness of
Christianity were raised with increasing force and frequency not only by its
external critics, but by thoughtful Christians, as well. The social contexts of such questions include
developing oppositions to Western imperialism in all its forms, including
attempts to proselytize non-Christian peoples, religious pluralism as an
existential reality, the popular pursuit of individualized spiritualities
without religious affiliation, the reconceptualization of gender and sexuality,
and the emergence of technologies that extend human manipulation of the world,
including the human organism, in ways that were previously unimaginable. These contexts, however, are only the
immediate forms of still more deeply rooted intellectual challenges to
traditional Christian beliefs and practices.
Modern Biblical studies, linguistics, archeology, patristics, and historical studies have
compelled Christians -- Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox -- to reexamine
foundational assumptions about their respective traditions. At stake in contemporary disputes about
moral issues, church polity, discipline and doctrine are the conceptual
foundations of Christianity. Can they
be rethought? Or, to draw on an
aphorism of Jesus, will ‘new wine burst
the wine skins’? Course readings will
consider the roots and forms of these questions in theologies, church
declarations, literature and the arts. Program category: Historical On-line registration
Course |
REL 141 Sanskrit II |
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Professor |
Richard Davis |
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CRN |
17171 |
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Schedule |
Mon Wed 12:00 -1:20 pm OLIN 203 |
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Distribution |
OLD: D |
NEW: Foreign
Language, Literature & Culture
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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 On-line
registration
Course |
REL 221 History of Early India |
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Professor |
Richard Davis |
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CRN |
17078 |
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Schedule |
Tu Th 9:00 - 10:20 am OLIN 301 |
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Distribution |
OLD: C/D |
NEW:
Humanities
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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 On-line registration
Course |
REL 254 Buddha Imagined: Literary and Artistic Landscapes of Buddhism |
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Professor |
Kristin Scheible |
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CRN |
17172 |
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Schedule |
Tu Th 1:00 -2:20 pm OLIN 303 |
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Distribution |
OLD: C |
NEW:
Humanities
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Cross-listed:
Asian Studies
We will begin our investigation of the sustaining
myths and arts of Buddhism with the earliest images of the Buddha. How is the absent Buddha re-presented? Drawing upon literary and artistic sources, we
will see how the biography of the Buddha is writ upon the landscape of his
birthplace, and how his projected presence through images, relics, and stupas
reinvents Asia in Buddhist terms. We
will move beyond the paradigmatic biography of the Buddha to examine how new
myths and images evolve to imagine and explain an expanding religious
tradition. From early “aniconic,”
symbolic stand-ins for the image of the Buddha to the later highly articulated
and vast pantheon of Mahayana holy beings, we will consider how the central,
mythic narrative and images transform as they are received and interpreted by
other cultural settings.
Course |
REL 283 The History of Christian-Muslim Relations |
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Professor |
Ismail Acar |
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CRN |
17174 |
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Schedule |
Tu Th 10:30 - 11:50 am OLIN 301 |
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Distribution |
OLD: A |
NEW:
Humanities / Rethinking Difference
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Cross-listed: Medieval Studies
This
course provides a historical overview of Christian-Muslim relations by
discussing the lives and writings of significant persons against the backdrop
of important events and developments, including the exploration of some of the
key issues that have divided Christians and Muslims. In light of these
conversations, each student will be challenged to develop a paradigm of
relating the past, the present, and the future. This course is open to all
students interested in religion and history.
Course
|
REL
290 Special Topics in Religion:
Religious Foundations Of Tolerance. Comparing Religions |
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Professor |
Bruce Chilton / Jacob Neusner |
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CRN |
17175 |
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Schedule |
Tu 1:00 -2:20 pm OLIN 301 |
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Distribution |
OLD: A/C |
NEW:
Humanities
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A course in preparation for an academic conference
at Bard on April 24-26 2007, Religious Resources of Toleration takes up the
ideas of major world religions on how to make sense of religious difference and
why to put up with other religions. Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism,
Hinduism, and other religions are asked to explain the basis for toleration.
Each religion is presented through academic papers written for this seminar by
various experts. Program
category: Theoretical On-line
registration
Course |
REL 321 Seminar in Islamic Law: Jihad |
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Professor |
Ismail Acar |
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CRN |
17176 |
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Schedule |
Wed 1:30 -3:50 pm OLIN 205 |
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Distribution |
OLD: A/C |
NEW:
Humanities / Rethinking Difference
|
Cross-listed: Human Rights
In its root meaning of "struggle," jihad
is one of the key generative categories for Islam and Islamic law; it refers to
the believers' struggle against evil inclinations, the jurists' struggle to
make sense out of the sacred texts, and the struggle against unbelief in
warfare. Taking jihad as its primarily
lens, this course will trace the history and development of Islamic Law from
its Qur'anic roots to its modern applications, looking at the place of jihad
alongside rules of ritual, prayer, business transactions, and inheritance. A
strong emphasis will be placed on the classical texts of the early centuries in
order to understand the interpretive strategies employed by later generations.
Students will work primarily with Arabic sources in English translation. An
Arabic tutorial is available for students who have completed two years (or the
equivalent) of Arabic language study. Program category: Interpretive On-line
registration
Course |
REL COL Religion Colloquium |
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Professor |
Paul Murray |
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CRN |
17080 |
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|
Schedule |
Mon 7:00 -8:20 pm OLIN 201 |
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Distribution |
OLD: n/a |
NEW: n/a
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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