REL 101-8-22 First-Year Writing Seminar: Afterlives and Living After: Envisioning Other Worlds
(Spring 2024, Dr. Lily Stewart)
Humans for thousands of years have documented their visions of other worlds and afterlives. Whether informed by religious revelation, collective trauma, or individual creativity, these visions provide important vantage points for assessing cultural values and experiences. In this class we will explore religious models of “The Afterlife” while also analyzing afterlives constructed in fiction, film, art, and other forms of popular media. We will ask how envisioning other worlds can help us to alternately articulate and blur the boundaries between life and death, trauma and healing, past and present, and reality and fiction. We will also explore what it means to “live after” major ruptures in individual and collective experience. For instance, how do we envision life after pandemic? After climate change? Revolution? Immigration? Utopia? Through speculative fiction, how to we envision the afterlives of humanity as we assess the potential for a post-human world?
Sources will include ghost stories from around the world, medieval visions of hell, purgatory, and heaven, videos of dead celebrities resurrected as holograms, episodes of Upload, The Good Place, and Star Trek, contemporary news releases, and short speculative fiction. Students will develop skills in analytical writing, creative thinking, and classroom collaboration.
REL 172-21 Introduction to Religion, Media, and Culture
(Spring 2024, Professor Sarah Taylor) Dive into one of today’s most exciting and rapidly growing areas of scholarship – the intriguing entanglements of religion and media in society and culture. This course draws from an array of sources, such as television, film, and radio, digital gaming worlds, billboards, advertisements and media campaigns, popular music, streaming video, social media, and even tattoos, body art, and graffiti. Study media while getting to make your own media for course projects!
(Spring 2024, Prof. Ramírez and Prof. Hanretta) How have communities outside of Europe and Euro-America shaped Christianity, and what role has Christianity played in the histories of those peoples? This course explores the experiences of Christians in what is often called the “Global South,” in Latin America and Africa, as well as Asia and the Middle East. We pay special attention to institutional and experiential forms; the ways individuals experienced Christianity, gave it meaning, and made meanings out of it; and the contributions of communities in the “Global South” to the rest of the world.
(Spring 2024, Dr. Darcie {Price-Wallace) This course provides a rich introduction to the complexity and plurality of Buddhist values, beliefs, practices, institutions and experiences which have flourished in different societies and cultures in the modern era. Our general goal will be to understand Buddhism as not simply an abstract philosophy or doctrine espoused by monastic elites, but as a multifaceted living tradition informing the lives of a wide range of practitioners within any given society. Grounded in anthropological, historical, and philosophical approaches, the course will enable you to both sympathetically understand and critically investigate various Buddhist traditions and their historically specific configurations of cultural values, everyday practices, beliefs, social institutions and personal experiences. Given the limited time available to us, we won't be able to examine the full diversity of contemporary Buddhist societies and cultures in their varying national settings. Instead, we will focus on the Buddhist traditions of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, China, Japan, Nepal, and Tibet. A few of the topics we will cover include syncretism, modernism, popular religion, monasticism, gender, economic development, social movements, political violence and religious revival.
(Spring 2024, Professor Shira Schwartz) This section of Introduction to Judaism will serve as an introduction to Jewish textual sources. The course can explore a range of classical and contemporary Jewish textual genres, as well as Jewish textual objects, from Torah scrolls and Jewish type to digital commentary. Students will learn how to engage texts deeply through different hermeneutics, including through close-reading and in partnership with other students. Our approach will also pay attention to the media and materiality of Jewish transmission across different kinds of Jewish sources.
REL 262-0-20 / BLK_ST 262-0-2 / AMER_ST 310-0-2 NEW: Intro to Black Religions
(Spring 2024, Professor KB Dennis Meade)
This course introduces you to the variety of Black religions that developed during and after the Atlantic slave trade up to the present in what is now the United States. The historical contexts surrounding the development of Black religions and the lived experiences of Black Americans are the main topics of our course. The course orients us to these traditions as continuities/changes of West African religious cosmologies. We explore the impact of the Atlantic slave trade, the role of politics, the construction of racial identities, and most importantly, the diversity of Black Religion in the United States and locally in Chicago. We will examine the interplay between religion, and race within various forms of Christianity, Islam, and American expressive cultures.
REL 319-20 Encountering Buddhism through Women Writers, Artists, & Musicians (RSG)
(Spring 2024, Dr. Darcie Price-Wallace) The course broadens the ways of understanding of Buddhism by bringing attention to the much-neglected voices of women. Drawing from women’s writings within and outside the Buddhist canon, film, and art on Buddhist women by women, this course emphasizes women’s experiences on the Buddhist path as they navigate suffering and its alleviation across cultures over 2600 years. This course is reading intensive, incorporating three novels in addition to poetry, film, and art. The first novel retells the life of the Buddha and his awakening through his wife’s perspective; the second describes Japanese teen’s reliance on a Zen nun as she navigates trauma, grief, selfhood, and time; the third explores a Tibetan family’s generational displacement in the face of colonialism, violence, the movement of the Tibetan diaspora, and cultural appropriation. In addition, this course engages with canonical material such as the collection of poems by the earliest nuns who recount their path to awakening in the Pali tradition, explores the first Chinese nuns’ biographies and Zen nuns writing on non-duality and emptiness, and considers biographies of female Tibetan religious professionals on their pursuit for liberation alongside contemporary Tibetan poets’ perspectives on Buddhist thought and the immigrant experience. The class includes exploring Buddhist ideas together with their exposition in literature, film, and art while accounting for canonical doctrinal paradoxes such as: inclusion/exclusion, unity/diversity, ultimate/relative, self/selflessness. *Counts toward the Religion, Sexuality and Gender (RSG) religious studies major concentrations.
In this course, students will read writings from Buddhist canonical and non-canonical literature on a variety of subjects to gain an introduction to the variety of literary genres used in Buddhist works, as well as to consider the central tenets of the Buddhist literary tradition these works convey. Who was the Buddha? What did he preach? Why do we suffer and how do we realize enlightenment? How should one follow the Buddhist path? What metaphors and parables have Buddhists used to convey these insights over the centuries? Students will be able to explore these and other questions through a selection of English translations of original texts in Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, and Tibetan including the life of the Buddha, his sayings, Buddhist sutras, and Buddhist autobiographies. As this course is an introduction to Buddhist literature, there are no prerequisites, and students will gain familiarity with Buddhist teachings through engaging directly with primary sources in translation.
(Spring 2024, Allison Hurst) What does the Bible have to say about sex, and why should we care? The Bible has been a source of many things—fantastical stories, ethical principles, hope in the midst of despair—but perhaps none is more personal than when the Bible is used as a source for sexual guidance. In this class, we’ll delve into what the Bible says about who can have sex with whom, what kind of sex they can have, who can (and cannot) consent to sex, and more. Beyond what the texts of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Testament say explicitly, however, we’ll also consider the contexts in which these texts were written and the ideas about sex and sexuality that would have been present in their respective cultural milieus. Finally, we will discuss how these texts have been deployed in discussions about sex and sexuality into the modern period.
This course is for students who are (or are willing to become) comfortable talking explicitly about sex and sexuality. Together, we will read and analyze both primary and secondary sources and engage in discussion about these sensitive topics. During the course, we will look at several case studies of contemporary issues together, but students will also have the opportunity to investigate the use of a biblical passage of their choice in a context that is relevant to them (for example, legal rulings, public policies, medical standards of care, etc.). *Counts toward the Religion, Sexuality and Gender (RSG) religious studies major concentrations.
REL 349-22 Blood and Christianity: A History in Substance (RHM, RSG)
(Spring 2024, Dr. Lily Stewart) Whether it causes fear or fascination, blood holds a mysterious sway on the modern imagination. From those who faint at the sight of it, to those who love vampire movies and gory thrillers, to those who study and analyze it in labs, this strange substance serves as a constant source of conflict, anxiety, and ideology. Representations of blood in Christian art, literature, and theology have been just as fraught. Ancient and medieval Christians saw the substance as alternately miraculous and polluting, life-giving and death-bringing, a marker of difference and a symbol of unity. Blood had the capacity to reveal whether a person was sick or healthy, whether they were sexually active, what god they worshipped, and even whether they were guilty of murder. If it was shed on a battlefield it was considered valiant; if it was shed from the bodies of virgins or martyrs it was considered holy; if it was shed during childbirth or menstruation it was considered polluting; and if it was shed in pursuit of love it was considered romantic. The Christian language of blood and blood purity crept into developing ideas about race and sexuality, forging links between morality and embodiment that have in turn informed understandings of biology and human difference.
In this class, we will explore these complex and often contradictory representations of blood and bloodshed in Christian history. By approaching this topic from a range of sources and theoretical perspectives we will use blood as a starting point for exploring broader questions about gender, religion, race, culture, and individuality. Moreover, we will consider how historical assessments of blood value, purity, and pollution continue to shape constructions of identity today.
(Spring 2024, Eda Uca) This course introduces students to the academic study of Asian American religions within a lived religions framework. We will consider the development of Asian American religions through/against Orientalism, colonialism, migration, xenophobia, diaspora, racialization, Islamophobia, and “Americanization”; investigate the role of religion in Asian American identity formation, cultural transmission, institution-building, and social justice activism; explore Asian American experiments in ethnic, Pan-Asian, multiracial, and “culture free” religion; and critically reflect on the gaps between Asian American Studies, the academic study of religion, and the religious lives of Asian Americans. Units on Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and “religiously unaffiliated” Asian Americans provide broad exposure to the field. Student learning will be evaluated through seminar discussions, reading responses, group presentations, and final papers or projects. There are no prerequisites for this course. Enrollment will be limited to 15.
(Spring 2024, Professor James Bielo) Material culture is integral to the practice of religion, from making an identity public to being socialized into a tradition. While the sacred stuff of religion is often treasured by individuals and communities, it is also often discarded. This course examines the after lives of religious material culture, how things circulate through curated collections, capitalist markets, and donation piles. Diverse materials are divested in diverse ways: unwanted inheritance after death, downsizing, institutional de-accession and closure, donating surplus gifts, and so on. Through closely analyzing sacred waste across cultures and religious traditions, we will ask how the circulation of religious material culture reflects and re-creates issues of identity, culture change, memory, erasure, and power relations. Students will critically engage with professional scholarship in religious studies and related disciplines focused on the study of material culture and waste. And, students will design and conduct original research on a sacred waste topic of their choosing.
(Spring 2024, Dr. Ashley King) When the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Kentucky was one of 13 states to begin enforcing a “trigger law” that effectively bans abortion. That October, three Jewish women brought a lawsuit arguing that Kentucky’s ban violated their religious freedom, writing, “Jews have never believed that life begins at conception.” In Missouri, an interfaith group of Christian and Jewish religious leaders filed a similar suit to block their state’s abortion ban. And in Idaho and Indiana, the Satanic Temple did the same.
These lawsuits illustrate how religious views on abortion are varied and complex. Moreover, religious people’s ethical reflections and medical decisions may run against the grain of official doctrine. This course examines why some religious groups have opposed abortion rights, while others have actively campaigned for them. We will also discuss how some traditions have created space for people who have abortions to receive spiritual care or participate in special rituals, such as funerary rites for aborted fetuses in Japanese Buddhism or full-body immersion (mikveh) in some forms of Judaism.
The legal challenges discussed above also highlight the fraught intersection between religious practice, medical ethics, and abortion law. This course focuses on four case studies to explore these issues: the United States, Ireland, Israel-Palestine, and Japan. Readings comprise historical and legal studies on abortion alongside anthropological, autobiographical, and artistic representations of the women, trans men, and nonbinary people who seek abortions.
Student evaluation is based on participation, short writing assignments, and a final project. Required readings will be made available on Canvas or through links printed in the syllabus.
Pentecostalism is one of the fastest growing religions, globally. We know Pentecostal churches by their spirit-filled services with stirring music, singing, and worship. In this course you’ll learn about the belief systems, history, and the importance of Pentecostalism in the lives of practitioners in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, African-American and Latinx communities in the United States. We will examine how race, gender, and sexuality play a role in the history and practice of the tradition and how it offers a divine framework for believers to imagine social change.
(Spring 2024, Professor Robert Orsi) Religion(s) is implicated in all aspects of human life, such as sexuality, politics, sickness and healing, and family relations. What does it mean to think about religion as both distinct from and entangled in these various areas of human existence? What sorts of critical tools can we use to assess religion’s impact on the world and, conversely, the world’s impact on religion? Is religion even about human relationships with gods or other special beings? In this course we study how thinkers past and present have considered these questions.
REL 471-22 / GERMAN 441-1 / HISTORY 492-26 Graduate Seminar: The Scholar’s Vocation
(Spring 2024, Professor Robert Orsi & Professor Christine Helmer)
This seminar addresses the question of what it means to be a scholar in the contemporary academic and social context. The lens through which we examine this topic is the work of the scholar of religion, around which we will raise comparative questions about other disciplines as well in their respective relationships to the university. The question of knowledge production is at the forefront of our explorations. What does scholarship mean as mind (and heart) are oriented to knowledge? What does an embodied approach to scholarship look like? What habits of mind and heart ought/might the scholar cultivate? The seminar will be attentive throughout to planetary climate crisis, considering how to enlarge our vocation in response to it. Readings from Max Weber, Anna Tsing, Friedrich Schleiermacher, bell hooks, and others.
REL 482-20 Graduate Seminar: Beauty and Meaning: Aesthetic Experience in the Study of Religion
(Spring 2024, Professor McClish)
What is beauty? What experiences does this concept evoke, and what might be the value of such experiences? What related concepts can be found in different cultures, and how have they understood the value of such experiences? What might exploring all of this disclose about conceptions of the human condition? What, in other words, might an engagement with beauty and related concepts tell us about being human and living a meaningful life? Although the idea of beauty has long been exiled from art theory and aesthetic theory, it remains a vital concept in daily life that points to commonly-experienced moments of special significance. For a number of artists, thinkers, religious traditions (e.g., Kashmiri Śaivism, Zen Buddhism) and cultures (e.g., Diné; Yoruba), beauty and related concepts have been central to a general understanding of what gives human life meaning and signficance. This class will explore practices, philosophies, religious traditions and cultures for which the experience of beauty (and closely related concepts) is of particular or greatest importance. What does it mean to put experiences of beauty at (or near) the center of human existence, to consider them to be uniquely and profoundly meaningful? How might this affect our sense of what it means to be human? And how have such dispositions served to connect humans in different times and places to presences, communities, and powers beyond (or within) the everyday? This course will emphasize collaborative, student-led inquiry, challenging participants to develop their own interpretations and innovate their own approaches to subject.
