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