Fall 2017 Class Schedule
Course DescriptionsCourse | Title | Instructor | Day/Time | |
---|---|---|---|---|
REL 101-20 | First-Year Seminar: Islamophobia | Ingram | TTh 9:30-10:50am | |
REL 101-20 First-Year Seminar: IslamophobiaThis course examines the history, politics, culture and economy of how Islam and Muslims have been represented in the north Atlantic world (the 'West'). It begins with a brief overview of Western representations of Muslims during the early modern period, then explores how colonialism shaped the modern history and politics of contemporary Islamophobia. The bulk of the course will focus in depth on the politics, culture and economy of Islamophobia in the United States, aiming to empower students to understand and navigate the contemporary context. The course gives particular attention to ways that Muslims have sought to challenge, complicate and subvert how they are represented. | ||||
REL 101-21 | First-Year Seminar: Tolerance: A Global History | McClish | MW 9:30-10:50am | |
REL 101-21 First-Year Seminar: Tolerance: A Global HistoryIn this course we will explore the ways that global Christianity laid the groundwork for European ideas about diversity and tolerance. The aim of the course is to understand how the historically contingent confrontations with religious diversity were foundational to, and indeed, shaped the terms of the development of modern assumptions not only about religious tolerance, but also about tolerance of cultural diversity broadly speaking. | ||||
REL 170 | Introduction to Religion | Balberg | TTh 2:00-3:20pm | |
REL 170 Introduction to ReligionWhy do we say "bless you" when someone sneezes? How did the design of Starbucks' holiday-themed cups lead to a consumer boycott? Why did the University of Ottawa cancel its yoga classes? And are celebrities the new gods? This course sets out to develop a deeper and broader understanding of religion as a human phenomenon, by focusing on three interrelated questions: What is religion, How to study religion, and Why study religion. | ||||
REL 200 | Introduction to Hinduism | McClish | MW 12:30-1:50pm | |
REL 200 Introduction to HinduismOne of the largest and most ancient of all religions, 'Hinduism' is actually a family of related traditions. Over the last 4000 years or more, the Hindu traditions of South Asia have developed an astonishing diversity of rituals, beliefs, and spiritual practices and a pantheon of hundreds of gods and goddesses, from the elephant-headed Ganesa to the fierce goddess Kali. This course will examine the breadth of the Hindu traditions as they developed over time, highlighting the shared features that make them a family, such as ritual sacrifice, world renunciation, law, spiritual discipline, devotion, worship, and theology. | ||||
REL 210 | Introduction to Buddhism | Jacoby | TTh 9:30-10:50am | |
REL 210 Introduction to BuddhismHaving begun in India some 2500 years ago, Buddhism now exists in almost all parts of the world. The Buddhist religion has shaped the thought and culture of Asia and has also influenced Western thought and culture in significant ways. To comprehend this diverse religion, this course approaches it from several perspectives: the historical, cultural, philosophical and religious. In the short time that we have in this quarter, our primary emphasis will be on investigating the philosophical and religious systems in the teachings of the Buddha in India as well as the thought of the later Buddhists in other parts of Asia. In looking at both the history and the philosophy, we see Buddhism as a religion that established a system of values, an interpretation of existence and a pattern of cultural practices and rituals that the Buddhists have interpreted in various ways to find meaning in life. (Spring 2018, Professor George Bond) | ||||
REL 264 (HISTORY 200-22) | American Religious History From 1865 To The Great Depression | Orsi | TTh 9:30-10:50am | |
REL 264 (HISTORY 200-22) American Religious History From 1865 To The Great DepressionThis course examines major developments, movements, controversies, and figures in American religious history from the end of the Civil War, as the nation struggled to make sense of the carnage of war and to apportion responsibility, to the 1930s, when economic crisis strained social bonds and intimate relations and challenged Americans to rethink the nature of public responsibility. Topics include urban religion; religion and changing technologies; African American religion; religion and politics; and the religious practices of immigrants and migrants. | ||||
REL 339-20 (POLI SCI 390-20) | Religion and Politics In The State Of Israel | Ringel | MW 9:30-10:50am | |
REL 339-20 (POLI SCI 390-20) Religion and Politics In The State Of IsraelThis course explores the historical development and socio-political impact of the relationship between religion and state in Israel both in terms of its domestic and foreign policies. As part of our exploration, we will delve into the extent to which the Israeli model represents broader trends in the Middle East specifically and in the world at large; the complex nature of the relationship between democracy and religion, and between religion and politics in a democracy; and the impact of religion on political violence and peace-making. | ||||
REL 339-21 | Jews and the Transgender Movement | Wimpfheimer | MW 11:00-12:20pm | |
REL 339-21 Jews and the Transgender MovementThe past few years have come to be labeled a "transgender movement" because of the increasing visibility of transgendered individuals in law, the media and popular culture. This course is a theoretical rumination on the intersection of Jewishness and gender fluidity in terms of personal identity, cultural politics and institutional normativity. Both Jewishness and gender identity are cultural constructions with strong relationships to biological "facts." They share the experience of internal cohesion through external labeling and persecution. Modernity has transformed both gender identity and Jewish identity into somewhat autonomous self-characterizations even as the choice to transform one's identity comes with significant social judgment and cost. | ||||
REL 345 | Sainthood | Kieckhefer | MW 2:00-3:20pm | |
REL 345 SainthoodThe phenomenon of sainthood opens a range of issues: a saint is an exemplar of heroic virtue, and ideas of sainthood reflect the ethical norms of a particular Christian society; a saint is the focus of veneration, and the ways people behave toward saints (going on pilgrimage to venerate their relics, showing reverence to their images, etc.) tells a great deal about official and unofficial Christian piety; a saint is a figurehead for some interest group such as a religious order or a city, and in churches that have a process of canonization this becomes a mirror of ecclesiastical politics. | ||||
REL 349-20 (ENG 331, 338) | Religion and Literature | Schwartz | MW 9:30-10:50am | |
REL 349-20 (ENG 331, 338) Religion and LiteratureNo description available | ||||
REL 374 | God After the Holocaust | Sufrin | TTh 2:00-3:20pm | |
REL 374 God After the HolocaustThroughout the history of the Jewish religion, times of crisis and collective suffering have given rise to theological innovation and creative shifts in religious expression as Jews sought to understand their tradition in light of their experiences. In the wake of the Holocaust, Jews and others faced a similar need for religious rethinking. In theological terms, they asked: where was God and should we expect God to act in human history? What does this event indicate about God's existence? In human terms, they asked: how do we live as Jews today? How do we live as human beings? | ||||
REL 375 | Foundations of Christian Thought | Kieckhefer | MWF 10-10:50am | |
REL 375 Foundations of Christian ThoughtThis course will examine the central issues in premodern Christian thought. We will begin with two works that show Christian thinkers struggling with theological issues that arise largely from their own experience: St. Augustine's Confessions and Julian of Norwich's Showings. Then we will examine the teachings on God and Christ, as set forth by writers in the Eastern and Western Churches. | ||||
REL 379-21 (POLI SCI 382-20) | Politics of Religious Diversity | Hurd | TTh 11:00-12:20pm | |
REL 379-21 (POLI SCI 382-20) Politics of Religious DiversityNo description available | ||||
REL 395 | Theories of Religion | Taylor | W 1:00-3:30pm | |
REL 395 Theories of ReligionNo description available | ||||
REL 396-1 | Senior Honor Seminar | Taylor | F 2:00-4:30pm | |
REL 396-1 Senior Honor SeminarNo description available | ||||
REL 471 (GNDR_ST 490-23) | Graduate Seminar: Catholicism and Modern Sexualities | Orsi | T 2:00-4:50pm | |
REL 471 (GNDR_ST 490-23) Graduate Seminar: Catholicism and Modern SexualitiesRoman Catholicism was one of—if not the—major force in shaping modern sexualities, as irritant, fantasy, boundary, and more. From whatever perspective—aesthetics, theology and ritual, penitential practice and disciplines, of the control of bodies and desires, the construction of sexual identities over time, missionaries and the extension of Catholic sexuality beyond Europe and North America—the Catholic imaginary is central to the history of modern sexuality. In the era after the Council of Trent in 1545, when the history of modern Catholicism begins, there was a determined effort within the Church to discipline Catholics around the world into obedience and submission to Roman rules and rubrics. Sexuality was mobilized in different ways as a site of disciplinary action and of resistance in this project, within Catholicism and at the border between Catholicism and other cultures. | ||||
REL 473 | Graduate Seminar: Studies in Buddhism | Jacoby | F 10:00-1:00pm | |
REL 473 Graduate Seminar: Studies in BuddhismThis course will survey the state of the field of Tibetan Buddhist Studies by examining a selection of recent monographs in the field covering a broad array of topics including tantra, medicine, ritual, literature, history, and art history. The focus will be on analyzing how authors of recent monographs in Tibetan studies constructed these works including their main methodological influences and primary sources with an eye towards preparing graduate students for their own writing projects. | ||||
REL 481-1 | Graduate Seminar: Classical Theories and Methods | Traina | M 3:00-6:00pm | |
REL 481-1 Graduate Seminar: Classical Theories and MethodsThis course covers the emergence of the field of religious studies by exploring its early theorists and their impact. Authors covered include but are not limited to Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, William James, Rudolf Otto, Mircea Eliade, E.B. Tylor, and Ludwig Feuerbach. Students will give brief presentations on resources they have prepared for common use and will write a final paper on the reception history of one author. |