Religion Courses

NOTE: Complete undergraduate and graduate catalogs can be found here.

RELG 111 (3)
Good and Evil
What do the world's religions say about war and peace, hunger and poverty, death and dying, science, technology, medicine, the environment, the political and economic order, sexuality, civil rights and business? This course will examine the ways in which religions deal with principal moral issues in the modern world. Offered alternate years. V5

RELG 177 (3)
Introduction to the Study of Religion
An introduction to the borad field of religious studies from a variety of perspectives drawn from anthropology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, the fine arts, gender studies and history. The course will consider what the elements of religion are (myth, doctrine, ritual, ethics, world view, human community and destiny), how they are to be interpreted vis-a-vis modern academic perspectives on culture, and whether religion as a concept makes any sense in an age of scientific rationalism. V1, V

RELG 178 (3)
Introduction to World Religions
A comparative survey of the world's major religious traditions from the time of their foundation to the present. Emphasis will be placed on understanding how religious traditions both reflect and are formative in the cultures and societies in which they appear. V5

RELG 221 (3)
Hindus, Jainas, and Sikhs
A comprehensive survey of the major religious movements of India. This course will examine Indian notions of truth, ritual, family life, social organization, human destiny and salvation, literature and arts as they have developed within the Hindu, Jaina and Sikh communities. Students will also examine the role of these communities in the development of modern Indian nationalism and ethnicity. Offered alternate years. V4

RELG 222 (3)
Buddhism
A broad historical study of the development of Buddhism in India and its adoption and adaptation in Tibet, China and Japan. This course will examine the Buddhist world view, Busshist forms of spirituality (Mahayana, Hinayana and Tantrayana), Buddhist rituals, philosophy, literature, arts, organizations and Buddhism's relation to political and economic systems. Offered alternate years. V4

RELG 231 (3)
Taoism
A broad comparative study of the development of Taoism in China, Korea and Japan. This course will examine the origins of Taoism in China, its development of cosmological, political, ritual, gymnastic, alchemical and monastic forms, and the regional understandings and uses of these forms in Korea and Japan. V4

RELG 235 (3)
Latin American Religion
The study of religion in Latin America includes the diverse cultures of indigenous, African-American and Hispanic peoples from South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. The course may consider: indigenous religions from geographically distinct regions (from the Yahgan of Tierra del Fuego to the Pueblos and Yaquis of Mexico); Catholicism in its many cultural forms; African cultures from Brazilian condomble to Afro-Caribbean ritual; and contemporary religious movements. Critical approaches include precontact, colonial and post-colonial issues; cosmovisiones, conflict and mestizaje, religion and society and modernity in Latin American perspectives. Offered alternate years. V4

RELG 236 (3)
Multicultural Religious America
This course explores a diversity of new approaches to relition in pluralistic America, considering new historical understanding of Protestant, Catholic and Jewish traditions adn many non-mainstream religions. The study will include Native American religion, African American Christianity and Islam, Hispanic Catholicism, Asian American traditions, Mormonism and new religious movements. Pluralistic religious America will be examined in light of colonialism, post- colonial interpretations, cultural and regional diversity, gender issues, ethics and social issues. Offered alternate years. IIIO, V

RELG 241 (3)
Judaism
An historical study of the origins and development of Judaism down to the present. the course will deal with Jewish ethics, gender, literature, law, ritual and notions of history and ethnic identity as they developed in various Jewish communities throughout the world. Offered alternate years. IIIW, V

RELG 244 (3)
Christianity
An historical survey of the developement of Christianity from its beginnings in the Greco-Roman empire through its global establishment in the modern era. The focus of the course will be on how Christianity in its literature, rituals, institutional forms and intellectual traditions changes and develops as it encounters new peoples and new cultures. IIIW, V

RELG 248 (3)
The Religions of Africa
Students will examine religions of Africa, both in their indigenous expressions and in the Diaspora, Methodological issues such as what constitutes a "traditional" religion will be examined, as will questions of ritual, cosmology, myth-making and the place of women. The effects of colonialism and the situation of post-colonialism will be discussed in-depth in the context of both continental and diaspora religious experience. The relationship of colonialism to syncretism will be explored in the examination of diaspora religions in the Caribbean and American settings. Movements such as Voodoun and Rastafarianism will be studied with a view to understanding how new religions are created as a process of intercultural contact and adaptation to historical events. IIIO, V

RELG 255 (3)
Islam
An introduction to the "world of Islam," beginning with an examination of its foundation in the 7th century and concluding with a consideration of issues pertaining to Islam in the modern world. The course will deal with such topics as: Muhammad; the Qur'an; Islamic "Traditions" (hadith) and the "Law" (shariah); the Caliphate; sectarian divisions, especially the Sunni-Shiite schism; Sufi mysticism; Muslim influences on medieval European societies; the Crusades; Islamic art and literature; and the modern resurgence of Islam. Offered alternate years. V4, V

RELG 261 (1)
Directed Study
Special topics pursued by individual students under supervision.

RELG 263 (3)
Asian Philosophies
A survey of the major philosophers in North and South Asia. This course will look at the philosophical contributions made to world philosophy by such philosophers as Confucius, Laozi, Zhuxi, Nagarjuna, Candrakirti, Shankara, and Ramanuja. The course will focus on the basic questions of human existence and nature, notions of truth and ultimate meaning, ethical obligations, and the nature of society. Offered alternate years. V5

RELG 301 (3)
Religion, Science, and Occultism
Are there critical differences between scientific and religious ways of knowing, and are there ways in which humans have tried to bridge the gap between science and religion? This course will examine the philosophy of science as a means of understanding modern intentional revivals of ancient religious traditions, including modern witchcraft, fertility practices, various divination and fortune-telling techniques, the development of parapsychology and New Age religion. Offered alternate years.

RELG 302 (3)
The Comparative Philosophy of Religion
Philosophical analysis of religious claims about the nature of human existence, religious notions of authority, religious language, ethics and theories of knowledge. While the categories of analysis are drawn fromt he Western philosophical tradition, the data are drawn from the world's religions. IIIO, V

RELG 316 (3)
The Psychology of Religion
This course will explore theories of the psychological underpinnings and functions of religion. Students will acquire an understanding of Modernist and Post-modernist theories of psychology, religion and their intersection. It will begin with the classic works of Freud and Jung and move through the 20th century re-interpretations of their writings in Lacan, French feminism, Renee Girard, James Hillman and David L. Miller. It will ask whether theories designed for individuals may be accurately applied to religious groups. The course will raise questions of applicability of archetypal models of paychology in a post-modern society. It will also examine how psychology has contributed to increased individualism and whether the practice of psychanalysis has taken over some or many of the traditional functions of religion.

RELG 350 (3)
Religion and U.S. Law
An examination of the issues produced by religious and state interests in the United States from the colonial period to the present. The course will focus on understanding the history of colonial and post-colonial views of religion and government, the process that led to the constitutional separation of religion and government, and the history of interpretations of this constitutional doctrine by the U.S. Supreme Court. Offered alternate years. V7

RELG 361 (1)
Special Study
Special topics pursued by individual students under supervision.

RELG 451 (3)
Research Seminar in the Study of Religion
This seminar provides an opportunity for students and faculty to collaborate in research that will produce a student-faculty publication in an appropriate academic form (e.g. a conference presentation, a paper journal or an electronic journal). Offered alternate years.

RELG 452 (3)
Senior Seminar
Fundamental problems of religion, ethics and theology, such as religious authority and experience, understandings of the world, humanity and history, doctrines of salvation, the study of sacred scriptures, phenomenology of religion and the methodologies of religious studies. IIIO

RELG 461 (1)
Independent Study
Special topics pursued by individual students under supervision.

RELG 470 (3)
Junior Honors Research

RELG 472 (3)
Senior Honors Thesis