Course:

REL 103  Buddhism

Professor:

Hillary Langberg  

CRN:

15613

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs  11:50 AM – 1:10 PM Olin Language Center 115

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value D+J Difference and Justice

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 22

Crosslists: 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 108  Religions of the World

Professor:

Nora Jacobsen Ben Hammed  

CRN:

15614

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    10:10 AM - 11:30 AM Olin 204

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value D+J Difference and Justice

Credits: 4

 

Class cap 22

Crosslists: Asian Studies; Global & International Studies; Medival Studies; Middle Eastern Studies; Theology

This course is intended to offer an entrée into the academic study of religion. We will examine some major religions of the world as they have developed over the course of world history. The approach will be comparative, focusing on the idea of “scripture,” and how the formative texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism interacted with the ideas and practices of these religions, and also with the secular sphere.

 

Course:

REL 117  Hindu Religious Traditions

Professor:

Hillary Langberg  

CRN:

15615

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    3:30 PM – 4:50 PM Olin 202

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value D+J Difference and Justice

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 22

Crosslists: Asian Studies

Hinduism is a living religion with an expansive history. In this course, we will investigate a series of religious movements in India, past and present, which have been collectively labeled “Hinduism.” Students will analyze the roles, myths, and symbolism of Hindu deities in both classical literary texts and visual art. We will also examine foundational concepts from the Vedas (karma, jnana), the paramount importance of the epic literature (Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita), the devotional songs and poetry of the medieval bhakti saints, and the role of Hinduism in Indian politics. Along the way, we also consider ethnographic accounts of how Hinduism is lived in India and the United States today, looking closely at the construction of sacred space through temples and pilgrimage sites. Within these contexts, students will address issues of difference in devotees’ access to worship based on class/caste, gender, and sexual orientation.

 

Course:

REL 154  The New Testament in Contexts

Professor:

Bruce Chilton  + Mary Grace Williams

CRN:

15616

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    10:10 AM – 11:30 AM Bard Chapel

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 22

Crosslists: Jewish Studies; Theology

The New Testament emerged within the setting of Judaism during the first century. This course investigates the literary, social, religious, and theological contexts in which Jesus’ movement arose, and then produced an innovative literature all its own. The foundations of Christianity are explored on that basis.

 

Course:

REL 211  Digital Dharma: Buddhism and New Media

Professor:

Dominique Townsend  

CRN:

15617

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    11:50 AM – 1:10 PM Olin 101

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 18

Crosslists: Asian Studies; Experimental Humanities; Global & International Studies; Human Rights

Digital Dharma: Buddhism and New MediaMany high profile figures associated with world religions, such as the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis, have adopted social media to communicate with followers, spread philosophical views, and offer spiritual instructions. In the Buddhist world, teachers use digital technologies to reach huge followings and to disseminate Buddhist texts, practical and ethical instructions, and iconic Buddhist imagery to students across the globe. The engagement with digital media has radically increased due to the pandemic as Buddhist communities have sought ways to convene safely. How have digital technologies reshaped how Buddhist teachers instruct students and attract new disciples, especially since the arrival of COVID-19? How do platforms such Twitter and WeChat constrict or alter Buddhist teacher’s messages, and how do they allow for an unprecedented global reach? What are the social and political risks and benefits of digital expressions of Buddhism? In this course students will analyze the function of digital Buddhist texts and images and investigate the use of digital media as a means for Buddhist teachers and communities to reach large and distant audiences. Recent digital trends will be considered in multiple cultural, political, and historical contexts that takes into account a diversity of Buddhist practices and pedagogies.

 

Course:

REL 231  Jewish Textualities: Conceiving the Jewish Bookshelf

Professor:

Shai Secunda  

CRN:

15618

Schedule/Location:

Mon  Wed     11:50 AM – 1:10 PM Reem Kayden Center 115

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 18

Crosslists: Jewish Studies; Literature

Since the Middle Ages, Jews have been known as a people of the book – though what that means depends on period, place, and perspective. Jews have produced an impressive variety of texts, many of which defy modern literary categorization. This course introduces twenty-one enduring Jewish “books,” spanning from antiquity to the present and ranging from biblical works and classic rabbinic texts to beguiling mystical tracts, philosophical writings, Hassidic tales, memoirs, novels, and works of poetry. Besides engaging with the different genres and imaginative worlds these books and their reception histories present, we will consider relevant theoretical issues of canon, intertextuality, and ask whether we can or should conceive of a coherent Jewish textuality.

 

Course:

REL 298  Sharing the Sacred: Space, Narratives and Pilgrimages

Professor:

Karen Barkey  

CRN:

15737

Schedule/Location:

 Tue  Thurs    11:50 AM – 1:10 PM Olin 309

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 15

Crosslists: Sociology

This course is intended as an advanced undergraduate seminar where we will explore the religious, sociological, historical, and political conditions that make the sharing of sacred sites possible. Conversely, what factors foreclose the possibilities of peaceful coexistence among different religious groups? We will observe the pilgrimages to shared sites, the narratives, rituals, and objects that circulate across these spaces and aim to illuminate the rich histories that underpin these sites. Students will participate in the exploration of such sites through historical materials, visual media and documentaries and narrative accounts of pilgrimages.

 

Course:

REL 317  Imagining Religion

Professor:

Dominique Townsend  

CRN:

15619

Schedule/Location:

  Wed     9:10 AM – 11:30 AM Olin 307

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 12

In this course we investigate and explore the field of religious studies, paying close attention to the motivating questions, key categories, and interpretive methods scholars employ in researching and writing about the study of religion. The course will introduce students to the history of religious studies as well as familiarizing them with contemporary practices and critical concepts. Assigned texts focus on various religious traditions and demonstrate an array of interdisciplinary methodologies—including literary, historical, anthropological, cultural, gender, and political studies. The course is designed for moderated majors in the Religion Program, but all students are welcome and there are no formal prerequisites.

 

Course:

REL 328  The River and the Desert in Writing and the Religious Imagination

Professor:

Shai Secunda  

CRN:

15620

Schedule/Location:

  Wed     9:10 AM – 11:30 AM Olin 203

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value D+J Difference and Justice

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 10

Crosslists: Jewish Studies; Middle Eastern Studies; Written Arts

This course spans two distinct sites that have loomed large in the religious imaginary – the river and the desert – by studying and writing about and towards these geographies. The course will be taught by Shai Secunda (with several visits by the NYC-based novelist Ruby Namdar) and in collaboration with a parallel course at Ben Gurion University (taught by the novelist Shimon Adaf), uniting two international campuses set in these distinct settings – Bard College, in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY and Ben Gurion University, in Israel’s Negev Desert. The course alternates between reading, discussion, and small writing exercises, and intensive writing and work-shopping about and within these spaces. Readings include river and desert writings in Christian, Islamic, and Jewish sources, as well as desert texts in Beduin poetry and river texts in Native American traditions. A series of video-conferenced meetings will take place between the Bard and Ben Gurion participants , and in April, the Ben Gurion class will fly to the Hudson valley for a few days of intensive writing and work-shopping with fellow Bard students.

 

Course:

REL 336  Sufism

Professor:

Nora Jacobsen Ben Hammed  

CRN:

15621

Schedule/Location:

Mon       12:30 PM – 2:50 PM Olin 304

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value D+J Difference and Justice

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 15

Crosslists: Medival Studies; Middle Eastern Studies

This course examines the mystical tradition of Islam or Sufism. We will cover a range of topics including Sufism and Orientalism, the intellectual and institutional history of Sufism, Sufi textual traditions, Sufi orders and the master-disciple relationship, gender and Sufism, and Sufism and modernity. A major focus of this class will be on the close reading of primary texts from multiple intellectual disciplines, time periods, and regions, with particular attention paid to philosophical mysticism (all in translation).

 

Cross-listed courses:

Course:

CLAS 317  Touching the Gods: Sacred Images in the Ancient Mediterranean World

Professor:

Ranjani Atur  

CRN:

15543

Schedule/Location:

   Thurs    12:30 PM – 2:50 PM Olin Languages Center 208

Distributional Area:

AA Analysis of Art  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap 15

Crosslists: Art History; Study of Religions

 

Course:

CC 108 B The Courage to be:  The Face of the Other

Professor:

Joshua Boettiger  

CRN:

15984

Schedule/Location:

Mon   Thurs    1:30 PM - 2:50 PM Olin 307

Distributional Area:

MBV Meaning, Being, Value  LA Literary Analysis in English  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap: 16

Crosslists: Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Religion

 

Course:

HIST 2255  Shari’a and the History of Middle Eastern Society

Professor:

Omar Cheta  

CRN:

15607

Schedule/Location:

Mon  Wed     11:50 AM – 1:10 PM Olin 201

Distributional Area:

HA Historical Analysis D+J Difference and Justice

Credits: 4

 

Class cap 22

Crosslists: Human Rights; Middle Eastern Studies; Study of Religions

 

Course:

MES/PS 302  Muslim Political Thought and Anticolonialism

Professor:

Pinar Kemerli  

CRN:

15681

Schedule/Location:

    Fri   12:30 PM – 2:50 PM Olin 305

Distributional Area:

SA Social Analysis  

Credits: 4

 

Class cap 15

Crosslists: Global & International Studies; Human Rights; Philosophy; Political Studies; Study of Religions