(Summer 2025, Professor Michelle Molina)
Religion: we think we recognize it when we see it, and yet it is always changing. How does one study a moving target? In the first weeks of the course, we look back in time to understand how the ideas about religion that are familiar to us today are rooted in history. The emergence of the concept of "religion" as an object of comparison and study grew out of early modern European sectarian violence and colonial overseas expansion. We then turn to study some thinkers from the 19th and 20th centuries who developed theories about the best ways to study religion. These scholars developed and honed the fields of sociology, anthropology, and psychology by testing their methods on case studies about religion. To know this history is to know our present, as well as to understand the methodologies that shape the university curriculum. What do we do with this legacy? Are these methods adequate to understanding religion today? In the second half of this class, we critically evaluate these methods by putting them to work to analyze religion in the world, both past and present. We will focus on how religion moves people. People are rooted in space and place by their religious practices, while simultaneously being moved by religion. As will have become clear in the first half of the course, religion is a moving target because people themselves do not stay the same. Throughout the course, we track the tension between rootedness and mobility by examining three themes: "conversion," "borderlands," and "death/afterlives." 

(Summer 2025, Dhondup T. Rekjong)

This course explores the intersection of Buddhism, science, and mindfulness, aiming to deepen and enrich students' understanding of secular Buddhism in the contemporary world. It moves beyond traditional Buddhist teachings to offer undergraduates a unique opportunity to challenge common perceptions of Buddhism, often viewed solely as a religion. Throughout the course, we will examine the historical interactions between Buddhism, science, and mindfulness, engage with recent debates through dialogues, discussions, and workshops, and consider their un/certain future. By doing so, we will gain insights into cutting-edge scientific developments while rethinking the relevance and role of Buddhism within a broader secular context.