Winter 2019 Class Schedule
Winter 2019 Course DescriptionsCourse | Title | Instructor | Day/Time | |
---|---|---|---|---|
REL 210-20 | Introduction to Buddhism | Jacoby | TTh 9:30-10:50am | |
REL 210-20 Introduction to BuddhismThis course provides an introduction to key aspects of the Buddhist religious traditions of multiple Asian countries and the United States. Through careful examination of a variety of literature produced by these traditions, we will consider the ways in which Buddhists have understood human suffering, life after death, karma, merit, the nature of the world and human's place within it, and the path to enlightenment. Our emphasis will be on attempting to understand the moral values, philosophical insights, ritual practices, and social concerns that have shaped Buddhism over centuries of dynamic change in diverse cultural contexts. We will examine not only the history of Buddhism and its three-fold division into Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, but also facets of the contemporary practice of Buddhism with a focus on the place of mindfulness in America. In addition to textbook readings, course readings privilege primary source readings in order to introduce students directly to the narrative, doctrinal, liturgical, and biographical texts that inform our knowledge of what it has meant to live a Buddhist life over time and across cultures. (Winter 2019, Professor Sarah Jacoby) | ||||
REL 221-20 | Introduction to New Testament | Dingeldein | MW 11:00-12:20pm | |
REL 221-20 Introduction to New TestamentToday, the New Testament is widely known and accepted as Christians' authoritative and sacred collection of texts. But roughly two thousand years ago, there were no Christians, and there was no New Testament. Rather, there existed in the eastern part of the Roman Empire a small group of people who had begun worshiping a Jewish healer and teacher as divine. It is this historical moment to which we turn in this course. We will study the people, events, and texts of the first and second centuries that shaped a small Jewish movement into the religion now known as Christianity, using as our main evidence the letters and stories of the New Testament. (Winter 2019, Professor Laura Dingeldein) | ||||
REL 230-20 | Introduction to Judaism | Wimpfheimer | MWF 1:00-1:50pm | |
REL 230-20 Introduction to JudaismThis course attempts to answer the questions "What is Judaism?" and "Who is a Jew?" by surveying the broad arc of Jewish history, reviewing the practices and beliefs that have defined and continue to define Judaism as a religion, sampling the vast treasure of Jewish literatures, and analyzing the unique social conditions that have made the cultural experience of Jewishness so significant. The class will employ a historical structure to trace the evolutions of Jewish literature, religion, and culture through the ages. (Winter 2019, Professor Barry Wimpfheimer) | ||||
REL 265-20 (HISTORY 200-20) | American Religious History from WWII to Present (RLP) | Orsi | TTh 11:00-12:20pm | |
REL 265-20 (HISTORY 200-20) American Religious History from WWII to Present (RLP)This course examines major developments, movements, controversies and figures in American religious history from the 1920s, the era of excess and disillusionment, to the 1980s, which saw the revival of conservative Christianity in a nation becoming increasingly religiously diverse. Topics include the liberalism/fundamentalism controversy of the 1920s; the rise of Christian realism in the wake of the carnage of World War I; the making of the "tri-faith nation" (Protestant/Catholic/Jew); the supernatural Cold War; the Civil Rights Movement; the revolution in American Catholicism following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the rise of Catholic political radicalism in the 1960s; religion and the post-1965 immigration act; the religious politics of abortion; and the realignment of American religion and politics in the 1970s and 1980s. Counts towards Religion, Law and Politics (RLP) major concentration. | ||||
REL 275-20 | Mysticism & Spirituality (RHM) | Kieckhefer | MWF 10:00-10:50am | |
REL 275-20 Mysticism & Spirituality (RHM)If mysticism involves some kind of union with God, is that necessarily the same experience, involving the same deity, whether the mystics are Jews or Hindus, Christians or Muslims? What does it mean when mystics use erotic imagery for their relationship with Christ, Krishna, or Allah? What sorts of prayers or meditations do mystics promote, and what are they meant to accomplish? If spirituality sometimes involves séances and healing crystals, does it also have areas of overlap with mysticism? Which of the two, mysticism or spirituality, is more closely tied to mainstream religious traditions and institutions? Why are mysticism and spirituality sometimes criticized and even attacked? What basis is there to the claim that spirituality promotes health of the body or the mind? This course will examine all these questions and others. Counts towards Religion, Health and Medicine (RHM) religious studies major concentration. (Winter 2019, Professor Richard Kieckhefer) | ||||
REL 319-20 (ASIAN_LC 390-22) | Chan/Seon/Zen Buddhism | Buckelew | MW 3:30-4:50pm | |
REL 319-20 (ASIAN_LC 390-22) Chan/Seon/Zen BuddhismThe Chinese Chan (Japanese Zen, Korean Seon or Sŏn) tradition is one of the most famous branches of Buddhism in the world, but also one of the most widely misunderstood. This course explores the rich complexity of Chan/Seon/Zen Buddhism in East Asia by closely examining the tradition’s history, literature, philosophy, visual culture, and monastic practices. We begin by situating Chan’s origins among medieval Chinese meditation masters, and consider how the tradition’s rise to preeminence in the Song dynasty (960–1278) constituted a pivotal turning point in Chinese Buddhist history. By then, Chan had become much more than a school of meditation, and its rise gave birth to new genres of Buddhist literature written in semi-vernacular Chinese—such as “recorded sayings” and “public case” (Japanese kōan) collections—important examples of which we will closely read and analyze. Chan Buddhism was configured as a succession of “patriarchs,” but a small number of women also joined their ranks, and we will study their examples and the broader gendered dynamics of Chan. We then turn to the transmission of Chan to Japan through the study of two major figures in Japanese Zen, Dōgen and Hakuin. After delving into the history and present-day monastic practice of Korean Seon Buddhism, we conclude by investigating the reception of Chan, Seon, and Zen Buddhism in the modern and contemporary United States. (Winter 2019, Professor Kevin Buckelew) | ||||
REL 339-20 | Kabbalah | Wimpfheimer | MW 11:00-12:20pm | |
REL 339-20 KabbalahKabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, is an esoteric (secret) tradition of deliberating about and experiencing the mysteries of those spaces that are inaccessible to the five senses. Though for much of its history Jewish mysticism has been the province of a select few devotees, at times Kabbalah has flourished as a popular religious movement. Recent years have seen a rise in the popularity of Kabbalah as various celebrities (including Madonna and Kanye West) have become affiliated with The Kabbalah Center. This course will introduce the discourse of Kabbalah, think about mysticism as both an experiential and an intellectual tradition and consider why Kabbalah has become so popular today. (Winter 2019, Professor Barry Wimpfheimer) | ||||
REL 339-21 | Gender and Sexuality in Judaism | Sufrin | TTh 2:00-3:20pm | |
REL 339-21 Gender and Sexuality in JudaismFrom its most traditional to its most liberal forms, contemporary Judaism has been deeply influenced by feminism and its call to pay attention to the way gender and sexuality shape and are shaped by religious experiences and ideas. In this course, we will use gender and sexuality as lenses for analyzing the sacred texts, rituals, and theology of Judaism. Along the way, we will also consider how attention to gender and sexuality sheds light on the lives of Jewish men and women of the past and present. The course is divided into three sections, each organized around a central category of Jewish thought: Torah, Israel, and God. The first section, Torah, considers two stories from the biblical book of Genesis: first the creation of the world and then the sisters Leah and Rachel, both married to the patriarch Jacob. How does each story define what it is to be a man or a woman? Where is there room for more subversive readings that might question masculinity or femininity? The second section, Israel, turns our focus to the rituals of Niddah, women’s monthly immersion in the mikveh, ritual bath, following menstruation, and brit milah, circumcision. We will consider the origins of these rituals, how they construct notions of gender and personhood, and contemporary views of the practices. How have these rituals been adapted for use by individuals who are transgender? The third section, God, examines examples of feminist and queer Jewish theology and, in particular, the use of marriage as a metaphor for the relationship between God and the Jewish people in biblical, rabbinic, and contemporary contexts. (Winter 2019, Professor Claire Sufrin). | ||||
REL 369-20 (ASIAN_AM 350-1) | Asian American Religions | Tse | MW 2:00-3:20pm | |
REL 369-20 (ASIAN_AM 350-1) Asian American ReligionsUsually, Asian American religions are confused with Asian religions in the United States. This situation sometimes produces confusion about how to talk about the everyday religious practices of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders themselves, including those of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who claim to be nonreligious. I have assigned some texts that might be able to help us to parse what Asian American and Pacific Islander religions are. The crux of this course will be student projects conducted over the quarter on one practice in one community of their choice exploring the question of what Asian American and/or Pacific Islander religion might be. We will begin by exploring how the confusion between Asian American religions and Asian religions came to be. We will then look more closely at the lived religious practices of Asian Americans and their communities. We will conclude by sharing our projects. (Winter 2019, Professor Justin Tse) | ||||
REL 371-20 (RTVF 398-23) | Existentialism and Film | Molina | W 1:00-3:50pm | |
REL 371-20 (RTVF 398-23) Existentialism and FilmIn the aftermath of the World War I, many artists and filmmakers asked new questions about the relationship between realism and religion. Could one reconcile concrete reality (or realism) with faith in the other-worldly? Many of the artists under discussion in the course drew upon themes that had already been raised by Kierkegaard in the 19th century. What was the relationship between religion and modernity, faith and ethics, reality and the supernatural, observable phenomena and invisible causes? How did one make sense of death in a meaningless universe? Was the universe meaningless? Could meaning be found in realism itself? Through engagement with films by directors ranging from Robert Bresson, Luis Buñuel, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Ingmar Bergman, to Woody Allen and Harold Ramis, we will study mid-to-late 20th century films whose common theme is the quest to understand the meaning of life, either actively through taking up religious life, or because the protagonists consider themselves inhabiting a godless and meaningless universe. Class will be discussion-based, with a few short lectures to set up pertinent themes. Our discussions will likely range broadly, but important themes will be realism, existentialism, atheism, and the quest for philosophical truth to be found in filmic portrayals of everyday life. Class readings will include Kierkegaard, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, among others. (Winter 2019, Professor Michelle Molina) | ||||
REL 379-21 (ENGLISH 388-20) | Science Fiction and Social Justice (RHM, RSG) | King | MW 12:30-1:50pm | |
REL 379-21 (ENGLISH 388-20) Science Fiction and Social Justice (RHM, RSG)This course will examine major utopian and dystopian texts and films in relation to social justice issues in the twentieth century and beyond, while following the stories of artists, organizers, and communities that have used speculative world-building to imagine livable, sustainable futures. We will focus on how feminist, anarchist, LGBTQ, and Afrofuturist art and activism have contributed to a substantial critical discourse on the intersections of science, technology, ecology, war, race, gender, sexuality, health, and ability. This course will further examine how artists and activists have understood religion as both impediment and partner to social justice work, while alternatively embracing, subverting, and defying religious authority. We will also attend to how religious myths and imagery are sampled and remixed by science fiction authors to plot an alternative course for world history. Counts towards Religion, Health and Medicine (RHM) and Religion, Sexuality and Gender (RSG) religious studies major concentrations. (Winter 2019, Ashley King) | ||||
REL 379-24 (HISTORY 395-0-28) | Refugees/Migration/Exile: A Research Seminar (RLP) | Molina | TTh 3:30-4:50pm | |
REL 379-24 (HISTORY 395-0-28) Refugees/Migration/Exile: A Research Seminar (RLP)In this course, students will be asked to begin with a case study among the many refugee and migration crises that have dominated the news cycle in recent years. In developing individual research projects, we will foreground different methodological approaches: 1) To move beyond journalism, we will conduct primary and secondary historical research to understand the complex historical roots of the particular case study). 2) We will analyze and practice forms of ethnographic writing to help students better situate and describe the lived experience of migration and exile, both past and present. 3) We will also pay attention to various forms of media, whether print culture, sound, or visual media, to interrogate but also experiment with contemporary modes of narrating and conveying human experience in the digital age. Students are required to petition for permission to enroll in the class. Your brief statement should include: Your name, your major(s), one short paragraph on the reason why you have an interest in honing your research skills, and second short paragraph on a current topic about migration and exile that motivates your desire to do further research on the topic. Attach a recent news item (article or video) about the topic that drives your interests. This will help me organize our first sessions in Winter Quarter. Our work in class will be collaborative, thus a key prerequisite is that you are mature and self-motivated. You do not need to have prior research experience, but you need to demonstrate a desire to dig into your topic and hone your ability to write deeply informed, rigorous, and nuanced arguments. Counts towards Religion, Law & Politics (RLP) religion major concentration. (Winter 2019, Professor Michelle Molina) | ||||
REL 471-21 (POLI_SCI 490-26) | Religion, Race and Politics | Hurd | W 9-11:50am | |
REL 471-21 (POLI_SCI 490-26) Religion, Race and PoliticsThis seminar is an experiment in studying the intersections of religion, race, and global politics. We discuss how particular understandings of ‘religion’ and ‘race’ have informed contemporary scholarship and also shaped national and international legal and governmental practice. These questions are examined in contexts ranging from anti-superstition laws in Haiti, to religious aspects of the colonial encounter in the Dutch East Indies, to the celebration of “moderate” religion at the US State Department, to the politics of secularism, magic and spirituality in India and China, and beyond. Cross-cutting themes include religion and the rise of the nation-state; the politics of religious establishment and religious freedom; the role of race in the formation of the disciplines of religious studies and international relations; the formation of modern vocabularies of religious and racial exclusion; the role of race and secularism in American history at home and abroad, and the international politics of religion and race in colonial and postcolonial contexts. Readings are comprised of books and articles, including new and not yet published work, which draw on international politics, religion, political theory, law, anthropology and history. (Winter 2019, Professor Elizabeth Shakman Hurd) | ||||
REL 473-20 | Studies in the History of Religions: Tibetan Language Seminar | Jacoby | TBA | |
REL 473-20 Studies in the History of Religions: Tibetan Language SeminarComing Soon |