15457

REL  103   

 Buddhist Thought  & Practice

Rae Erin Dachille-Hey

. T . Th .

1:30pm-2:50pm

OLIN 202

HUM/DIFF

Cross-listed:  Asian Studies; Theology   This course introduces Buddhism as a tradition best understood by looking at the rich historical, philosophical, narrative, artistic, and ritual traditions that define it.  We begin by examining the assumptions we bring to the study of Buddhism as a “religion” and the

circumstances of the initial Western encounter with Buddhist traditions.  We then look at the Indian origins of Buddhism and its relationship to other Indian religious and philosophical traditions. In particular, we consider how Buddhism evolved in relation to other major developments in Indian culture such as the invention of writing and the rise of images as a form of religious expression. Next, we explore representations of the Buddha’s birth and enlightenment in the art and texts of the early tradition. As we proceed to look at key aspects of the tradition, thinking about how Buddhism challenges existing ideals of self and identity will feature prominently in our discussions.  While much of the course focuses upon the rise of Buddhism as an Indian religion, we will also consider how the tradition was reinvented in its spread to Southeast and East Asia and the Himalayas.   Class size: 22

 

15439

REL  104   

 Introduction to Judaism

Alan Avery-Peck

M . . . .

1:30pm-3:50pm

OLIN 310

HUM/DIFF

Cross-listed: Jewish Studies, Theology   Diverse Judaic religious systems ("Judaisms") have flourished in various times and places. No single Judaism traces a linear, unitary, traditional line from the beginning to the present. This course sets forth a method for describing, analyzing, and interpreting Judaic religious systems and for comparing one such system with another. It emphasizes the formative history of Rabbinic Judaism in ancient and medieval times, and the development, in modern times, of both developments out of that Judaism and Judaic systems competing with it: Reform, Orthodox, Conservative Judaisms in the 19th century, Zionism, the American Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption, in the twentieth. In both the classical and the contemporary phases of the course, analysis focuses upon the constant place of women in Judaic systems as a basis for comparison and contrast.

Religion program category:  Historical  Class size: 18

 

15441

REL  106   

 Islam

Tehseen Thaver

M . W . .

11:50am-1:10pm

OLIN 201

HUM/DIFF

Cross-listed:  Global & Int’l Studies, Middle Eastern Studies  An examination of the intellectual and lived traditions of Islam. In addition to early Muslim political history this course will also familiarize students with the major disciplines in Islam including the Qur’an, Hadith, theology, Islamic law, Islamic philosophy, and Sufism. The concluding segments of this course interrogate the interruptions of modernity in these traditions through the study of contemporary Muslim reform movements, Muslim modernism, and Islamism. We will utilize a variety of sources including primary sources (in translation), historical works, anthropological and literary sources, and films to guide our discussion. Through the study of Islam, this course will also provide students a solid theoretical foundation in larger conceptual questions and categories pertinent to the academic study of religion and to the humanities more broadly. Class size: 18

 

15376

REL  124   

 Reading Religious Texts

Richard Davis

M . . . .

. . W . .

3:10pm-4:30pm

2:10pm-4:30pm

OLIN 309

OLIN 309

HUM/DIFF

This course offers an introduction to some of the primary texts of the major world religions, and to the strategies adopted in reading them by both believers and scholars.  It will focus on several genres of religious writing, such as myths of origin, lives of founders, narratives of the formation of religious communities, and accounts of apocalypse.  Traditional commentarial and hermeneutical methods employed within religious traditions are examined, along with modern methods in historical and critical scholarship.  This is a Writing Intensive course.  Class size: 15

 

15440

REL  141   

 Sanskrit II

Richard Davis

. T . Th .

10:10am- 11:30am

OLIN 310

FLLC

Cross-listed: Asian Studies, 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:  Interpretative  Class size: 18

 

15377

REL  240   

 Intolerance: Political Animals

and their prey

Bruce Chilton

. . W . F

1:30pm-2:50pm

OLIN 101

HUM

Cross-listed: Human Rights, Theology  Bard College and the United States Military Academy at West Point have agreed to collaborate in coordinated seminars on this topic, involving courses at each institution during the spring of 2015 and culminating in a conference in Annandale. The collaboration extends the work of an earlier project, "Can War be Just?" (2012), published as Just War in Religion and Politics by the University Press of America (2013). As in the case of "Can War be Just?" the new conference, "Intolerance – Political Animals and their Prey," is designed to investigate an issue that may be addressed along many lines, including anthropological, ethical, historical, philosophical, political, and religious. Whether in terms of case studies or systematic analyses, the conference will discuss the extent to which enmity is intrinsic within social self-definition.  Class size: 15

 

15378

REL  247   

 Christianity's Evolution

Bruce Chilton

. . W . F

11:50am-1:10pm

HEG 300

HUM

Cross-listed: Theology (Working Theologies course) Recent advances in the critical study of theology have developed paradigms of how religious systems function. For the purpose of the comparative study of religion, religious systems are approached along the lines of ritual, meaning, and ethics. In this course, each of these terms is explained further. But we can say provisionally that “ritual” refers to the agreed activities that people in society learn in order to relate commonly to one another and to the central values they share. “Meaning” involves how those values are articulated into a coherent view of the purpose of life in society, and often beyond society. (Typically, meaning involves a conception of the divine, but there are religious systems that resist postulation of God.) Finally, ethics is the actionable face of a religious system, where a person’s engagement with daily life articulates religion in immediate terms. By approaching the basics of Christianity as a religious system that evolves through history, both their context and their significance will make it plain what makes them indispensable. At the same time, a theoretical approach that assesses Christianity as scholars of religion might approach any system means the analysis benefits, not only practitioners, but all those who wish to understand how the world’s largest religion has grown, evolved, and shaped the sensibilities of its adherents. Class size: 20

 

15446

REL  257   

 Gender & Sexuality IN Judaism

David Nelson

. T . Th .

11:50am-1:10pm

RKC 111

HUM/DIFF

Cross-listed: Gender & Sexuality Studies, Jewish Studies  Traditional Judaism is often seen as a highly patriarchal system in which women have little access to public ritual roles or community leadership. It enforces a strict separation between men and women in many social situations, and prohibits even casual physical contact between husband and wife during the wife’s menstrual period. It defines some sexual acts between two men as an “abomination” for which capital punishment is prescribed. What are the origins of these practices, and the social, theological, and psychological attitudes that they reflect? This course will examine a broad sweep of issues relating to gender and sexuality in the earliest strata of Jewish historical development, that is, the biblical and rabbinic periods. Topics to be covered will include public and private gender roles; power dynamics between men and women; views of sexuality, marriage and its variants; homosexuality; etc. We will read both narrative and legal primary texts, as well as current scholarship on the development of these issues in the ancient world. Our goal will be to gain an understanding of some of the beliefs and values that drove the development of early Judaism.   Class size: 22

 

15375

REL  268   

 Qur'an

Tehseen Thaver

M . W . .

3:10pm-4:30pm

HEG 308

HUM/DIFF

Cross-listed: Medieval Studies, Middle Eastern Studies  This course will involve a close reading of the Qur’anic text and a study of different translations. We will explore the history of the Qur’an’s compilation and codification, its major themes, structure, and literary aspects. This course will also go beyond approaching scripture as a bounded, collected, literary text, by examining the ritual, experiential and material encounters between the Qur’an and Muslim communities. Some of the questions that we will address in this class are:  How does the Qur’an operate within societies and what are its multiple functions? How are the controversial verses often associated with the Qur’an interpreted?  How do modern understandings of “scripture,” “sacrality,” “text,” and “meaning” determine, dominate, and perhaps limit the way we engage with premodern sacred material?  Class size: 22

 

15379

REL  348   

 Tantric Buddhism

Rae Erin Dachille-Hey

. T . Th .

3:10pm-4:30pm

RKC 103

HUM/DIFF

Cross-listed: Asian Studies, Theology  This course provides an introduction to the principles of tantric ritual and addresses themes of guru devotion, vows of secrecy, rites of consecration and visualization practice.  In particular, the course will guide students in contemplating what it means to imagine oneself as a deity as a means of attaining enlightenment. Himalayan art will be integrated as a fundamental element of the course, and students will gain familiarity with online image databases. Class size: 15

 

15430

REL  COL   

 Religion Colloquium

Richard Davis

M . . . .

5:00pm-6:00pm

OLIN 101

 

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.  Program category:  Theoretical   Class size: 20