{"id":110,"date":"2017-10-11T05:30:09","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T05:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/160-religious-studies\/courses\/"},"modified":"2024-06-20T20:05:49","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T20:05:49","slug":"courses","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.macalester.edu\/religious-studies\/courses\/","title":{"rendered":"Course Descriptions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Religious Studies<\/h2>\n \n
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RELI 100 - Introduction to Islam: Formation and Expansion<\/h3>\n
\n This course charts the formation of Islam and the expansion of Muslim peoples, from the life of the Prophet Muhammad to the Mongol conquest of Baghdad. It will examine Muslim institutions, beliefs, and ritual practices in their historical contexts. In addition to the basics of Muslim practice and belief, the class will introduce students to mystic traditions (Sufism), Islamicate statecraft, and intellectual\/legal traditions as well as cultural trends including art, architecture, and literature.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 101 - Islam in America<\/h3>\n
\n 8 million Muslims in America make up only 3% of the population but represent worlds of culture reflecting the diversity of Muslim societies worldwide. The story of Muslims in America distinguishes, for historical and religious reasons, three groups: Blackamericans (42% of American Muslims), Indo-Pakistanis (29%), Arab\/Middle Easterners (12%) from the rest of the American Muslim population. The historical and numerical importance of Blackamericans followed by Indo-Pakistanis (whose presence in America can be dated back to the split of the Subcontinent into India and Pakistan in 1946) interacts with the religious importance of Arab\/Middle Eastern Muslims and becomes the basis of contentions about religious authority and the American Muslim identity. 9\/11 presented unique challenges to American Muslims. These issues will be explored in this course. <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 102 - Modern Islam<\/h3>\n
\n Muslim-majority societies faced daunting social, political, and intellectual challenges after Europe-s military and economic expansion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the modern period, Muslims have pursued various attempts at re-imagining Islam and strengthening Muslim-majority polities through different agendas of reform and revival. The course will survey the early-modern Muslim empires (Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal), the encounter of Muslim peoples with colonialism, and the major religious and social developments from the eighteenth century to the present. <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 109 - Sufism: The Islamic Quest for Intimacy with the Beloved<\/h3>\n
\n With attention to both classical texts and contemporary contexts, this course examines the formative development of Islamic mysticism, or Sufism, and its rich legacy of embodied piety and mystical intimacy. Drawing on the teachings of key Muslim mystics, we will explore the sacred sources, unitive doctrines, and metaphysical cosmology of Sufism, as well as its devotional practices, celebrated poetry, and contested ecstatic discourse.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 110 - The Big Questions<\/h3>\n
\n What is religion? Why are people religious? What are the broad similarities and differences among various religions across culture and time? Some people describe themselves as spiritual but not religious. What does that mean? These are the basic questions that we consider in this introductory course. We shall explore religion as a practice of constructing similarities and differences that recruits virtually every issue that humans find important. Birth, puberty, and death; sex, money, and power; ethics and politics; humanity, divinity, and animality, earth and sky are all part of the religious imagination. We shall approach religion as a comparative practice, both intercultural and cross-cultural, through which people understand themselves and others.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 111 - Introduction to Buddhism<\/h3>\n
\n Buddhism is increasingly well-known in the USA, but what is it, and how does Buddhism encourage people to organize and think about their lives? Organized on the basis of the Eightfold Noble Path, with a focus of 'morals, the Buddhist psychology of mind, and meditation,' this course offers an introduction to the personalities, teachings, and institutions of Buddhism. Beginning in India at the time of the Buddha, this course focuses on Theravada Buddhism, asking students to think historically, philosophically, and anthropologically. Many Friday sessions will be dedicated to an exploration of the variety of Buddhist meditative techniques.<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n
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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>ASIA 113<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 112 - Buddhist Literature<\/h3>\n
\n Buddhist Literature introduces students to the forms, style, and usages of Buddhist literatures, as well as considerations of their content as well as their histories of creation, commentary, and social use. We will examine the structure of Buddhist canonical literatures but will also be focused on non-canonical literatures such as stories of past-life memories, biographies, and narrative visual and physical arts. Texts from multiple traditions of Buddhism, including Therava\u0304da and Maha\u0304ya\u0304na, will be included. This course's primary activities will be reading, discussion, and reflective work.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Alternate years.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>ASIA 112<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 120 - The Jewish Bible<\/h3>\n
\n In this course, we will study the Jewish Bible (also called the Tanakh or Old Testament) in its original cultural and literary contexts. Alongside an analysis of the biblical texts, students will also encounter related literature from the Ancient Near East to compare with the Bible. Through this comparative approach, we will gain insight into ancient history, as well as the political and theological views of the Israelites and their neighbors. We will also see how the Jewish Bible contributes to various topics of discourse that remain relevant today, including issues around ethnicity, feminism, LGBTQ concerns, God and science, ethics, and collective memory. As such, students will have the opportunity to put the Bible into dialogue with their own understandings of identity, society, and religiosity.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 121 - Jesus, Peter, Paul and Mary: The Beginnings of Christianity<\/h3>\n
\n This course examines the diverse literature of the New Testament along with some other early Christian texts that did not become part of the Christian \"canon.\" We will employ historical-critical approaches in order to situate New Testament texts in their social, political, and historical contexts. We will pay special attention to how the various authors of the New Testament produced Jewish-Christian difference and how they understood the role of women within their communities. Contemporary modes of interpretation will be employed to explore the formation of identity in the first and second centuries of Christianity.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered every other year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 124 - Dharma and Dao: Big Ideas in India and China<\/h3>\n
\n An introduction to the study of Asian religious traditions in South and East Asia (India, China and Japan). Open to everyone but especially appropriate for first and second year students.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>ASIA 124<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 126 - Religion in America<\/h3>\n
\n The social and intellectual history of religion in the United States through the year 1900, with an emphasis on popular religious movements. The social and economic correlates of religious developments will be analyzed as well as the impact of Christian values on American institutions.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered alternate years.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 127 - Religions of India<\/h3>\n
\n An introductory level course on the popular, classical and contemporary religious traditions of South Asia. Topics include Advaita Vedanta and yoga, popular devotionalism, monastic and lay life in Theravada Buddhism, the caste system, Gandhi and modern India.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Alternate years.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

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Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>RELI 124<\/a> or permission of instructor.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>ASIA 127<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 130 - Folklore and Religion<\/h3>\n
\n This course will introduce students to the study of folklore, belief and religious folklife. We will consider examples of folktales, myths, foodways, material arts, paranormal experience narratives, magic, healing and other traditions as they relate to religion. By examining folklore that emerges within, between, and in reaction to religious traditions, students will be challenged to move beyond simple notions of culture, religious authority, and doctrine. Participants in the course should be prepared for a heavy but exciting reading load. <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 135 - India and Rome<\/h3>\n
\n This course is taught jointly between the department of Religious Studies and the department of Classics, by a specialist in the Roman East and a specialist in classical India. We will start on either side of this world, with Alexander the Great and Ashoka, exploring the relationship between empire and religion from Rome to India in the world's crossroads for the thousand years between Alexander and the rise of Islam.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Alternate years.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>CLAS 135<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 136 - World Religions and World Religions Discourse<\/h3>\n
\n Our goal will be to make an effort to comprehend just what cultural literacy would mean when studying the major religious traditions of the world, while at the same time developing an appreciation of some of the blind spots and problems in this enterprise. To a large extent, we will do some serious construction before we feel ready for de-construction. Every couple of weeks, we will cover one of five major areas (South Asia, East Asia, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) and each student will read a different author's treatment of this material.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 145 - Pagans, Christians and Jews in Classical Antiquity: Cultures in Conflict<\/h3>\n
\n This course studies the interaction of Jewish, Christian, and pagan cultures, and the protracted struggle for self-definition and multi-cultural exchange this encounter provoked. The course draws attention to how the other and cultural and religious difference are construed, resisted, and apprehended. Readings include Acts, Philo, Revelation, I Clement, pagan charges against Christianity, Adversus Ioudaios writers, the Goyim in the Mishna, and apologetic literature.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Alternate years.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>CLAS 145<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 172 - Cambodia: Empire to Today<\/h3>\n
\n This survey course examines aspects of the histories and cultures of Cambodia. Emphasizing an interdisciplinary focus, we will examine aspects of geography, language, art, and religion, moving from the enormous and significant Angkor empire to contemporary Cambodia.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Alternate years.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>ASIA 172<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 194 - Topics Course<\/h3>\n
\n Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 200 - The Qur'an and the Prophet<\/h3>\n
\n This course introduces students to the Qur'an (Koran) through diverse perspectives, including through its revelation, assembly as a text, its interpreters, and the Qur'an as a material object. Students will learn about the life of the Prophet Muhammad in conjunction with the revelation of the Qur'an as well as the importance of the Prophet's own sayings and example in Islamic law and practice. We will examine interpretations of the Qur'an from different chronological, geographical, and gendered perspectives. Students will leave the class with an understanding of the role of the Qur'an for Muslims and Islam historically and in contemporary times, as well as debates surrounding it. We will also examine contemporary expressions of Islamophobia, considering how misunderstandings of the Qur'an and its contents contribute to fears of the text and Islam.<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 202 - Atheism Past and Present<\/h3>\n
\n Over the last decade atheists have entered the public sphere in unprecedented fashion, authoring best-selling books and forcefully arguing their case in the international media. This seminar explores the origins, varieties, and arguments of atheist thought, past and present. <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 212 - Philosophy of Religion<\/h3>\n
\n The Philosophy of Religion seeks an understanding of religion by raising philosophical questions about its underlying assumptions and implications. When we believe something it is because we think it is true and because we think we have good evidence to support our belief. In the case of religious beliefs, however, we are immediately faced with questions concerning the nature of such beliefs. What claims do they make? What would count as good evidence for a religious belief? What is the nature of religious truth? In this course we will examine the nature of religious beliefs and the ways in which philosophers in different traditions have justified or argued against such beliefs. Perhaps in response to the increasing challenge to religion from the natural sciences, twentieth century philosophers have questioned the traditional philosophical approach to religion. Some philosophers, Wittgenstein for example, question traditional interpretations of religious language and re-examine the relationship between faith and reason. Can religious life be practiced without a theology or with skepticism or agnosticism regarding theological questions? Other topics covered in the course include the attempt to introduce intelligent design into public schools as part of the science curriculum; religious pluralism; the belief in life after death; and feminist critiques of religious language.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Alternate years.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>PHIL 212<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 215 - Religion and Law in Africa<\/h3>\n
\n Religion and Law in Africa is an intermediate cross-listed history and religion course designed to teach students how to think like historians and assess how the legal systems of indigenous African societies have been shaped by their respective religions and cosmologies. This course also explores how Arab migration and European colonization in different parts of Africa imposed new legal systems that were influenced by either Islam or Christianity. The major themes of this class include African agency, indigenous African forms of knowledge and periodization, the interconnectedness of religious, legislative, and judicial facets of African societies, and diversity among African regions, societies, ethnic groups, religions, and languages. It counts toward the Legal Studies and African Studies concentrations. For history, it meets either the pre-1800 or post-1800 requirement and can count towards the \"Law & Social Justice,\" or \"Race and Indigeneity,\" or \"Africa & Atlantic World\" fields.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered occasionally.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>HIST 215<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 222 - Christianity in Late Antiquity<\/h3>\n
\n This course introduces students to the emergence of a diverse social movement now termed \"Christianity'' within the political, economic, historical and cultural worlds of the ancient Mediterranean (i.e. the Roman Empire) We will examine the formation of early Christian identity during the first four centuries of the common era. We will explore multifaceted forms of religious practice, resistance to and adaptations of institutional and social power, relations between Christians and non-Christians, and rhetorical strategies used in articulating Christian identity.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered every other year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 223 - Orthodoxy and Heresy in Early Christianity<\/h3>\n
\n The critical study of ancient Christian texts involves making strange texts familiar and familiar texts strange. In this course, we will consider non-canonical texts alongside canonical texts in order to develop insight into the formation of Christian identity in the first through fourth centuries. Special emphasis will be given to the development of the discourses of orthodoxy and heresy, the diversity of Christian beliefs and practices, and the examination of early Christian writings within their social and political contexts. Instead of investigating the material in strict chronological order, we will consider how different people (Jesus, Mary Magdalene, James, Paul, etc) serve as authorizing figures for the texts. Using this organization, we will investigate issues at stake in the development of Christian \"canon,\" including theology, Christology, apostolic authority, women's roles, and the relation of Christianity to the state and to other religious traditions. <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 225 - Women and the Bible<\/h3>\n
\n In this course we will examine the roles, identities, and representations of women in the Tanakh\/ Old Testament, New Testament, and Jewish and Christian apocrypha. We will explore how biblical writers used women \"to think with,\" and we will consider how gender is co-constructed alongside religious, social, and sexual identities. We will ask the following sorts of questions: What opportunities for social advancement and leadership were open to women in ancient Israelite, early Jewish, and early Christian communities, and how did these opportunities differ from those open to women in other religious formations in the ancient Mediterranean? How did biblical regulations of bodies, sexuality, marriage, and family life shape women's lives? What are the social and material effects of biblical representations of women? And how might current feminist theories inform our interpretation of biblical texts about women?<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Alternate spring semesters.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>WGSS 225<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 226 - Martyrdom Then and Now<\/h3>\n
\n From Socrates to suicide bombers, martyrs have been forced to give up their lives, or chosen to risk them and even to die, rather than renounce their beliefs or practices. Of course, we know their stories only second hand. This course explores how narratives about martyrs (\"martyrologies\") relate to the formation of religious identities and communities. Over the course of the semester, we will analyze martyrologies from the early Christian and Jewish periods, the beginnings of Islam, the sixteenth century, and modernity. We will pay special attention to the social and political contexts with which martyrs often found themselves at odds (including the Roman Empire in the ancient past, and the U.S.\/Middle East conflicts of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries). In class discussions, readings, and written work, you will have the opportunity to reflect on the following questions (among others): How do the stories we tell about martyrs shape the way we understand religious practices and beliefs? How do narratives of bearing witness, suffering, and death help to illumine relationships between religious and political domains? How might our current understanding of martyrdom be informed for better and for worse by a study of history? <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 232 - Religion and Food<\/h3>\n
\n Why does food play such a big part in so many sacred traditions? How do people use food to make sense of the world? Why do we fast, kill animals, feed spirits, and throw potluck suppers in the name of religion? This course will introduce students to the study of religion, using food as an entry point. Through readings, lectures, slides, videos, and hands-on experiences, we will investigate case studies from many cultures and historical periods. We will explore aspects of foodways such as cooking, farming, sacrifice, aesthetics, and display as they relate to myth, magic, ritual, healing, ethics and doctrine. Students will be expected to keep up with an intensive but interesting schedule of reading, to participate in class discussions and activities, and to complete written assignments including responses, several mini-projects, and a final library or field project on a topic of their choice. <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 233 - Hindus and Muslims<\/h3>\n
\n This class will be a reflection on the long history of co-existence of people in South Asia thought to belong to two very different religions Hinduism and Islam. We will begin by looking at the formation of classical Islam in the Middle East, and looking at the classical Hindu epic, the Ramayana. From there we will move to a survey of the history of encounter and exchange, from the early period (al Biruni), to the establishment of the great Muslim sultanates. We will critically examine the evidence of religious conflict, alongside the evidence of rich cultural exchange, and interrogate the competing historigrahic narratives, according to which South Asia either become a single Indo-Islamic civilization or a place of two cultures destined to become different modern nation states (India, Pakistan and Bangladesh). Finally, we will consider colonial and post colonial South Asia and conclude with a reflection on the Babri Masjid crisis and India's debates about secularism.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered alternate years.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 234 - Introduction to Jewish Life and Thought<\/h3>\n
\n This course will survey Judaism's basic beliefs and practices, from the Bible to the present day, through examination and discussion of religious and social literature created by the Jewish people. <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 235 - Theorizing Religion<\/h3>\n
\n The course is an introduction to some of the important theoretical and methodological work conducted by scholars in various disciplines who hope to better define and understand religious phenomena. This seminar begins with some of the early twentieth century texts that are often cited and discussed by contemporary scholars of religion (e.g., Durkheim, Weber, Freud) and then turns to a number of investigations stemming from engagement with earlier theorists or refracting new concerns. The course inquires into the problems of defining and analyzing religious cultures, and the researcher's position or positions in this analysis, as this has been approached from anthropological, sociological, and religious studies perspectives.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered every year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 236 - Sanskrit and Classical Religion in India<\/h3>\n
\n Like Latin and Greek in Europe, Sanskrit is a highly inflected language of scholarship and revered as the perfect medium for discourse on everything from science and sex to philosophy and religion. It flourished in its classical form after the age of the Buddha (5th century BC) and served as a scholarly lingua franca in India until the Islamic period. This course serves as an introduction to the grammar an script of Sanskrit, and we will advance to a point of reading simplified texts from the classical epic Ramayana.Students will be expected to attend class regularly and spend at least ten hours a week outside class studying the grammar and vocabulary. Without this sort of effort, no progress is possible in such a complex language. In addition to the rigorous study of the language, we will consider both the role of the language in classical Indian culture and religion, and some texts from the Ramayana, looking at both English translation and Sanskrit originals.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every other year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>ASIA 236<\/a>, CLAS 202<\/a>, and LING 236<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 238 - Catholics: Culture, Identity, Politics<\/h3>\n
\n A study of the religious tradition of Roman Catholicism. Some attention will be given to the theology and historical development of the Roman Catholic Church, but major emphasis will fall on the relationship of the Catholic religion to various Catholic cultures, including Ireland, Mexico, Poland and the United States.<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 241 - Reclaiming Zen, Yoga and Church: Asian American Religions<\/h3>\n
\n Asian Americans are often overlooked in the study of religion in the U.S., and yet the impact of Asian religious practices can be seen at every turn: yoga studios, mindfulness meditation, \"zen\" aesthetics of minimalism, and so on. What do we make of the gap between how Asian religions are practiced in Asian American communities and how these traditions have been reinterpreted by predominantly white, educated, middle class adherents? How do Asian American Christians negotiate their identities in the context of non-Asian Christian churches or the intergenerational tensions within their own ethnic churches? The approach of this course is interdisciplinary (and sometimes counterdisciplinary); it draws on theoretical and methodological insights from ethnic studies, religious studies, history, and sociology. Topics include: race and the racialization of Asian Americans; the politics of cultural and religious exchange; the commodification of Asian religious practices; and issues of assimilation and hybridity within Asian American Christian traditions.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Spring semester only.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>AMST 241<\/a> and ASIA 241<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 252 - Martin and Malcolm: Racial Terror and the Black Freedom Struggle<\/h3>\n
\n This course situates Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X within the larger context of the black freedom struggle. While focusing on them as individuals, the bulk of the course addresses historical contexts, organizations, events, and individuals which are obscured by King's and X's celebrity. The black freedom struggle has always been national in scope with international implications. In addition to the \"southern theater,\" we explore of the black freedom struggle in the Western, Midwestern, and Northern regions of the country. We also explore the relation between historical expressions of the black freedom struggle such as the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s and contemporary movements such as Black Lives Matter and Say Her Name. A major theme of the course is the role of religion and the larger category of spirituality as a kind of connective tissue among the various dimensions of the black freedom struggle.<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 253 - James Baldwin and the Black Religious Imagination<\/h3>\n
\n This course explores James Baldwin's life and work as a writer and activist. Baldwin was a black queer man in an antiblack and heteronormative world. His queer imagination and spirituality are part of the same cloth. Deeply scared by the black church, Baldwin's spirituality and art were, nevertheless, profoundly shaped by the spirit and language of black church religiosity. Through a heterogenous body of writing and the life he lived, Baldwin explored the souls of black folks (including queer blackness) and the nature of American identity.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Fall semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>AMST 253<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 254 - Dealing with the Dead<\/h3>\n
\n This broadly anthropological class introduces issues in the social study of death and the dead generally, focusing on the diverse ways in which different societies treat the dead as a social group, and the social powers that emerge from the practices of dealing with the dead. The class uses comparative examples to explore general themes, rooting these discussions in concrete cases.<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 256 - Marxism, Anarchism, and Religion<\/h3>\n
\n This course intends to introduce students to the foundational theories and concepts of the Marxist and Anarchist theoretical traditions, as they apply to the academic study of religion. I emphasize three words in the preceding sentence: foundational, theoretical, and religion, in order to clarify that this course will focus almost exclusively on older texts to the exclusion of more contemporary efforts in either tradition, that it will not focus on the practical revolutionary efforts of either Marxists or Anarchists, but rather on the theoretical writings of those traditions, and finally, that we will focus exclusively on those elements in the tradition that are most relevant to the study of religion.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every third year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 276 - Marx, the Imaginary, and Neoliberalism<\/h3>\n
\n All readings and class taught in English; no pre-knowledge required. Marx's contribution to the theorization of the function of the imaginary in both the constitution of subjectivity and the mechanisms of politics and economy-usually referred to as ideology-cannot be overestimated. The first part of this course traces Marx's gradual conceptualization of the imaginary throughout his work-as well as further Marxist theoreticians, such as Louis Althusser, E\u0301tienne Balibar, and Slavoj Z\u030ciz\u030cek-while exploring how the imaginary enabled Marx's discovery of three further crucial concepts: structure, the unconscious, and the symptom, all of which are central in the analysis of culture and ideology. In the second part of the course, we shall focus on the logic and mechanisms of power in contemporary neoliberalism, including the claim that today Marx's theory is no longer relevant (readings will include Friedrich Nietzsche, Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Maurizio Lazzarato, McKenzie Wark).<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered occasionally.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

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Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>GERM 276<\/a>, MCST 276<\/a>, and POLI 276<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
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RELI 277 - Metaphysics in Secular Thought<\/h3>\n
\n All readings and class taught in English; no pre-knowledge required. A widespread tendency in contemporary Western societies is to associate metaphysics with religion, if not with what is often dismissively called the \"irrational.\" This course will dismantle this myth by reading closely European philosophy and political theory, mostly since the seventeenth century, in their relation to theology and their reception by twentieth-century critical theory. This will allow us to examine the ways in which secular thought emerges not as an alternative to metaphysics-something which thought cannot supersede anyway-but rather as a different way of dealing with the very same metaphysical questions and issues that concern religion, from the meaning of life to the imminence of death, and from (actual or imagined) guilt to the hope for redemption. We shall endeavor to identify the similarities and differences between the 'secular' and the 'religious' ways, including their respective relations to rationality and their functions in ideology. Readings may include: Aristotle, Talal Asad, George Bataille, Walter Benjamin, Kenneth Burke, Richard Dienst, Emile Durkheim, Michel Foucault, Sigmund Freud, Peter Harrison, Jacques Lacan, Karl Marx, Marcel Mauss, Carl Schmitt, Baruch Spinoza, Alberto Toscano, Max Weber, Slavoj Zizek.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Occasionally.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

\n

Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>GERM 277<\/a> and POLI 277<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 278 - Marx, Religion, and Biopolitical Race<\/h3>\n
\n All readings and class taught in English; no pre-knowledge required. In this course we shall examine the relation of religion to both capital and the modern forms of political power (what Michel Foucault termed biopolitics or biopower), as well as the biopolitical formations of race and racism as means for sustaining power-while discovering the enduring pertinence of Marx's work in theorizing the above issues. Biopower emerges gradually in secular capitalist modernity as a form of power that legitimizes itself not through its right to \"take life\" (as in traditional forms of sovereignty) but through its obligation to protect and enhance life. Yet, albeit \"secular,\" biopower is a form of \"pastoral power\" (Foucault). We shall explore: the interconnectedness of modern biopower and religion; Marx's critique of the dominant (Enlightenment) critique of religion and his thesis that the secular state presupposes religion; the colonial and racial constructions of religion; racial capitalism; the biopolitical constructions of race in its relation to social class and other forms of domination; and anti-racist criticisms of both Foucault and Marx. <\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered occasionally.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

\n

Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>GERM 278<\/a>, MCST 278<\/a>, and POLI 278<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 294 - Topics Course<\/h3>\n
\n Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n
\n

RELI 311 - Ritual<\/h3>\n
\n The word \"ritual\" is used in many contexts to refer to types of practice that are considered centrally important, as well as formalistic and repetitive. This seminar-style course concentrates on the concept of ritual as a central component of social practice, within and without religious groupings. Focusing on developing the concept of ritual, we will focus on ritual across traditions. This requires students to 'work with' concepts - forming a conception of what they mean by ritual, and be willing to change that conception when faced with contradictory evidence.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered alternate years.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

\n

Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>ANTH 311<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 325 - Conquering the Flesh: Renunciation of Food and Sex in the Christian Tradition<\/h3>\n
\n This course explores how bodily practices of fasting and sexual abstinence have shaped Christian identities from the first century, C.E. to today. From Paul of Tarsus' instructions about sexual discipline to the True Love Waits\u00ae campaign, from the desert fathers' rigorous bodily regimens to the contemporary Christian diet movement, Christians have often understood the practice of renunciation as a necessary feature of spiritual perfection. In this course we will consider several ascetic movements in Christian history, including the development of ascetic practice in late antiquity, the rise of fasting practices among women in medieval Europe, and the culture of Christian dieting and chastity in the U.S. We will pay special attention to how Christian practices of piety both draw upon and contribute to cultural understandings of gender and the body.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every other year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n

\n

Cross-Listed as: <\/strong>WGSS 325<\/a> <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 336 - Gender, Caste, Deity<\/h3>\n
\n Since sociologists and anthropologists have long argued that people think about religion and the divine in categories that correlate closely to their social system, it is not surprising that they have been especially interested in the religion and society of India. Beginning with the classic account of the caste system by social anthropologist Louis Dumont, we will examine is view of the hierarchical nature of society and its relationship to religious views that affirm and assume hierarchy in human and divine worlds. From there we will go on to consider the many responses to Dumont's view, including studies of gender roles; sexuality in mythology and ascetic traditions; untouchability; religious hierarchy and political power; and, resistance to and inversions of hierarchical systems in India.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every other year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 354 - Human Sacrifice: Killing for God and State<\/h3>\n
\n Though sacrifice is often viewed as the exclusive property of religion, this course is organized around the claim that religion and statecraft (the art of governing a nation well) are connected through practices of human sacrifice. Thus, in this course, we use \"human sacrifice\" as a comparative category to understand aspects of religion and statecraft, especially in war, capital punishment, torture, terrorism, and genocide. Though torture, terrorism, and genocide are important, our special focus is warfare and capital punishment, which encompass the other sites of human sacrifice. The central questions are the following: Why do gods and states demand blood; whence the impulse to human sacrifice? What are the relations between divine sovereignty, political sovereignty, and sacrifice? What are the modalities of human sacrifice? Is human sacrifice inevitable?<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every other year.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 359 - Religion and Revolution: Case Studies<\/h3>\n
\n An examination of five revolutions and their religious engagements: The Diggers and the English Civil War, The Taiping Rebellion in China, Buddhism and the Cambodian Revolution, Cultural Rebirth and Resistance in Native America, and the Algerian Islamist Revolution. All participants will read one work about each example, and then will focus more deeply on the examples in group and individual work. The course intends to develop critical skills in comparing the radical social changes implied by the word revolution with the differing revolutionary impulses that are sometimes drawn from religion, and sometimes opposed to it. <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n
\n

RELI 394 - Topics Course<\/h3>\n
\n Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n
\n

RELI 469 - Approaches to the Study of Religion<\/h3>\n
\n An advanced seminar required for religious studies majors, open to minors. Both classic and contemporary theories on the nature of religion and critical methods for the study of religion will be considered.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Spring semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Two courses in Religious Studies and permission of instructor.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 494 - Topics Course<\/h3>\n
\n Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. <\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n
\n

RELI 601 - Tutorial<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 602 - Tutorial<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 603 - Tutorial<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 604 - Tutorial<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 611 - Independent Project<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 612 - Independent Project<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 613 - Independent Project<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 614 - Independent Project<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 621 - Internship<\/h3>\n
\n A maximum of one internship may be applied toward the religious studies major.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 622 - Internship<\/h3>\n
\n A maximum of one internship may be applied toward the religious studies major.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 623 - Internship<\/h3>\n
\n A maximum of one internship may be applied toward the religious studies major.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 624 - Internship<\/h3>\n
\n A maximum of one internship may be applied toward the religious studies major.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 631 - Preceptorship<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 632 - Preceptorship<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 633 - Preceptorship<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 634 - Preceptorship<\/h3>\n
\n \n \n

Frequency: Every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 641 - Honors Independent<\/h3>\n
\n Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. <\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 642 - Honors Independent<\/h3>\n
\n Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. <\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 643 - Honors Independent<\/h3>\n
\n Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. <\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
\n \n

\n

RELI 644 - Honors Independent<\/h3>\n
\n Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project.<\/span>\n \n

Frequency: Offered every semester.<\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n \n

\n

Prerequisite(s): <\/strong>Permission of instructor and department chair. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n \n <\/div>\n
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