Course:

REL 103 A Buddhism

Professor:

Dominique Townsend  

CRN:

90043

Schedule:

 Tue  Thurs    2:00 PM - 3:20 PM Bard Chapel

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

D+J Difference and Justice

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Asian Studies

For more than 2,500 years Buddhist thought and practice have evolved around the central problem of suffering and the possibility of liberation. The importance of cultivating compassion and wisdom and the reality of death are among Buddhism's guiding concerns. Across diverse cultural landscapes, Buddhism comprises a wide array of philosophical perspectives, ethical values, social hierarchies, and ritual technologies. It is linked to worldly politics, institutions, and charismatic personalities. At the same time, it is geared towards renunciation. Buddhism's various faces can seem inconsistent, and they are frequently out of keeping with popular conceptions. This course offers an introduction to Buddhism's foundational themes, practices, and worldviews within the framework of religious studies. Beginning with Buddhism's origination in India, we will trace its spread and development throughout Asia. We will also consider its more recent developments globally. There are no prerequisites for this course

 

Course:

REL 103 B Buddhism

Professor:

Hillary Langberg  

CRN:

90044

Schedule:

 Tue  Thurs    3:50 PM - 5:10 PM Aspinwall 302

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

D+J Difference and Justice

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Asian Studies

For more than 2,500 years Buddhist thought and practice have evolved around the central problem of suffering and the possibility of liberation. The importance of cultivating compassion and wisdom and the reality of death are among Buddhism's guiding concerns. Across diverse cultural landscapes, Buddhism comprises a wide array of philosophical perspectives, ethical values, social hierarchies, and ritual technologies. It is linked to worldly politics, institutions, and charismatic personalities. At the same time, it is geared towards renunciation. Buddhism's various faces can seem inconsistent, and they are frequently out of keeping with popular conceptions. This course offers an introduction to Buddhism's foundational themes, practices, and worldviews within the framework of religious studies. Beginning with Buddhism's origination in India, we will trace its spread and development throughout Asia. We will also consider its more recent developments globally. There are no prerequisites for this course

 

Course:

REL 104  Introduction to Judaism

Professor:

Joshua Boettiger  

CRN:

90045

Schedule:

Tue  Thurs    3:50 PM – 5:10 PM Olin 308

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

D+J Difference and Justice

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Jewish Studies; Middle Eastern Studies

For millennia, the Jewish tradition has played a sizable role in religious and world history. This course introduces students to the array of diverse "Judaisms" that have arisen from ancient to contemporary times, with an emphasis on the historical encounters (from within and from without) that have shaped and continue to shape Judaism. There will be a particular focus on the transition from biblical to rabbinic civilization, as well as the modern development of new iterations of Judaism – including Hasidism, the Haskala (Jewish Enlightenment), modern European and American denominations (Reform, Orthodox, Conservative et al), Zionism, and so-called "cultural" Judaism. We will examine the foundational practices, ideas, and expressions of Judaism in light of its inner diversity as well as its sense of coherence.

 

Course:

REL 106  Islam

Professor:

Nora Jacobsen Ben Hammed  

CRN:

90046

Schedule:

 Tue  Thurs    10:20 AM - 11:40 AM Olin 202

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap:

18

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Medieval Studies; Middle Eastern Studies

This course will introduce you to Islam as a religious, historical, cultural, and social phenomenon. We will begin thinking carefully about what it means to take Islam as our object of study, and about our own beliefs and biases that we take into the classroom.  We will proceed by studying the origins of Islam in pre-Islamic Arabia with the reception of revelation by the Prophet Muhammad and the formation of a community of believers. We will examine the Qur'an as an aural-literary phenomenon distinguished by Muslims as being of inimitable beauty and fundamental, divine truth.  In the first half of the course, we will explore the prolific intellectual production of thinkers of the medieval Islamic world, including theological, philosophical, legal, and mystical texts and traditions.  We will address Islam not only as it is expressed in text but also through the senses, devoting time to Islamic visual art and architecture, poetry, and music.  The course will also seek to address women in Islam by exploring women's voices, not only through reading modern Muslim feminist exegesis and critical analysis, but also through such contextualization as our discussion of Sufi women. Finally, we will explore various modern instantiations of the Islamic, ending the course with discussions of fundamentalism, modernization, and the economic and political forces shaping these questions and crises, and a discussion of Islam in America.

 

Course:

REL 111  First Bible

Professor:

Bruce Chilton and Mary Grace Williams

CRN:

90041

Schedule:

 Tue  Thurs    10:20 AM - 11:40 AM Bard Chapel

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap

24

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Jewish Studies; Theology

This introductory course looks at the biblical texts in the order in which they were actually produced. Particular attention is paid to the material culture and art of the periods involved. We see how the Bible grew and evolved over centuries. This enables us to understand in literary terms what the Bible is, how it was built and why, and show how its different authors were influenced by one another.

 

Course:

REL 119  Introduction to Christianity

Professor:

Bruce Chilton  

CRN:

90042

Schedule:

Mon  Wed     2:00 PM - 3:20 PM Bard Chapel

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Theology

The purpose of this seminar is to enable us to understand how Christianity developed through systemic changes, and to read selected authors against the background of that evolution.

 

Course:

REL 244  Yogis, Monks, and Dharma Kings: Religious Cultures of Classical India

Professor:

Richard Davis  

CRN:

90049

Schedule:

 Mon Wed    8:30 AM - 9:50 AM Olin 307

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap:

18

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Asian Studies; Classical Studies

Mahatma Gandhi spoke of early India as the "nursery of religions."  Certainly the millennium of classical India (500 BCE to 500 CE) was a time of intense religious innovation in India, during which Buddhism and Jainism established themselves as new religions and the older Vedic order was transformed into Hinduism.  Religious seekers pioneered the spiritual techniques that have come to be practiced in the United States, after considerable alteration, as yoga, meditation, and mindfulness.  This course will examine the religious debates of the period, the social organizations of the Buddhist monastic order and the Brahmin class, the ascetic non-violence of the Jains, and the search for a righteous form of political rule.  Emphasis in the course will be on engagement with primary written sources from classical India, such as the Vedic Upanishads, the earliest Buddhist sutras, the edicts of Emperor Ashoka, and Hindu epic poetry.  Archeological remains will also provide primary sources, including the Ashokan pillars, Buddhist stupa sculpture, and the earliest Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain icons.

 

Course:

REL 297  Qur'an

Professor:

Nora Jacobsen Ben Hammed  

CRN:

90047

Schedule:

Tue  Thurs    2:00 PM - 3:20 PM Olin 310

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap:

18

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Medieval Studies; Middle Eastern Studies

The Qur'an, the holy book of Islam understood to be the revealed word of God, has influenced every aspect of cultural and intellectual production in the Islamic world.  A serious understanding of the many rich traditions of Islam begins, therefore, with grounding oneself in this sacred aural-literary text whose very inimitable beauty is believed to be the miracle of the Prophet Muhammad. This course introduces students to the structure and content of the Qur'an, its intertextual relationship with other religious traditions, and the many ways it has been interpreted historically by Muslims (including theologians, philosophers, Sufis, and modern feminist thinkers).  We will also explore how the Qur'an has served as a transethnic grounding for intellectual, cultural, and artistic traditions in the Islamic world, including the interweaving of Qur'anic verses in Sufi poetry, the employment of revelation to confirm reason (and vice versa) in theological treatises, and even the inscription of verses in magical talismans. Finally, we will also consider recent scholarly debates on the origins of the sacred text and the future of Qur'anic studies as a field.

 

Course:

REL 316  Visual Religion: Vision, Icon, and Temple

Professor:

Richard Davis  

CRN:

90050

Schedule:

  Wed     2:00 PM - 4:20 PM Olin 301

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Art History

Does God have a body?  Can we see it?  Can and should this be represented in artistic form?  How should human worshipers respond to such divine images?  What kinds of material practices of fabrication, display, decoration, and ritual treatment are suitable for the divine bodies of gods?  How should the sacred be housed or made palpable in constructed spaces?  In many religious traditions, gods and goddesses are visible beings who present themselves to their devotees in visions, in icons, and in grand image-filled temples.  Other religious traditions, by contrast, have often considered the embodiment of God in material form as deeply problematic or as a sacrilege.  This course examines the practices, issues, and debates surrounding divine icons and the religious arts in a comparative perspective.  In a larger sense, it seeks to investigate the role of the visual in religion.  We will explore a series of examples, from the earliest recorded image practices of ancient Mesopotamia up to contemporary icons, popular posters, visual rituals, and sacred spaces in multiple religious traditions.  We will also consider recent debates over the repatriation of icons and other religious objects from colonized cultures now housed in the museums of former colonial powers.

 

Course:

REL 349  Death and Dying

Professor:

Dominique Townsend  

CRN:

90701

Schedule:

  Thurs     9:20 AM - 11:40 AM Olin 304

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap:

12

Credits:

4

The pandemic has brought us face to face with pervasive death & dying and the sense of helplessness it can bring. Buddhist literatures pay a great deal of attention to the inevitability of death—arguably Buddhism’s main concern. Many Buddhist practices are designed to help people approach the process of dying pragmatically by introducing meditative techniques and philosophical perspectives that reframe more typical ways of coping with death. Such methods do not discount the fear and pain of loss. In this course we will develop practices for writing about death & dying for public audiences, taking Buddhist literature as our starting point. 

 

Course:

REL COL  Religion Colloquium

Professor:

Richard Davis  

CRN:

90048

Schedule:

Mon       3:50 PM - 5:10 PM Olin 306

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap:

15

Credits:

2

Cross-listed:  Theology

A writing workshop for those working on projects involving topics in the study of religion, in the ISR program or other programs.  In this 2-credit course we will examine writing and thinking strategies, research methods, and development of bibliographies.  Faculty will present works-in-progress and discuss their own work methods.  Students in the course will discuss and present their own projects over the semester.  The colloquium also features special Religion lectures.  This colloquium is required for ISR seniors, and is open to students in any year and any program with a project in the scholarly study of religion.

 

Cross-listed courses:

 

Course:

ANTH 238  Anthropology of Religions

Professor:

Naoko Kumada  

CRN:

90506

Schedule:

 Mon Wed    5:40 PM - 7:00 PM Hegeman 204

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap:

20

Credits:

4

    Cross-listed:  Asian Studies; Religion

 

Course:

CLAS 238  Houses of the Gods: Ancient Greek Sacred Space

Professor:

Ranjani Atur  

CRN:

90477

Schedule:

Tue  Thurs    12:10 PM - 1:30 PM Hegeman 204

Distributional Area:

AA Analysis of Art

Class cap:

22

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Architecture, Art History and Visual Culture, Religion

 

Course:

HIST 331  Latin America: Race, Religion and Revolution

Professor:

Miles Rodriguez  

CRN:

90161

Schedule:

  Wed     9:20 AM - 11:40 AM Olin 303

Distributional Area:

HA Historical Analysis

D+J Difference and Justice

Class cap

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  American Studies; Global & International Studies; Human Rights; Latin American/Iberian Studies; Study of Religions

 

Course:

PHIL 317  Spinoza

Professor:

Robert Tully  

CRN:

90038

Schedule:

   Thurs    2:00 PM - 4:20 PM Olin 304

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap

12

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Jewish Studies; Study of Religions

 

Course:

PHIL 399  Kierkegaard

Professor:

Daniel Berthold  

CRN:

90040

Schedule:

 Tue      2:00 PM - 4:20 PM Olin 306

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value

Class cap

12

Credits:

4

Cross-listed:  Study of Religions

 

Course:

SOC 273  Democracy and Religious Pluralism in Comparative Perspective

Professor:

Karen Barkey  

CRN:

90571

Schedule:

 Mon  Wed    8:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis

Class cap:

15

Credits:

4

Cross-listed: Study of Religions