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These are the course listings for the Religious Studies Program at Pomona, Claremont McKenna (CM), Scripps (SC), Harvey Mudd (HM), and Pitzer (PZ) Colleges. Please consult the Programs page for information concerning the areas of specialization (HRT I, HRT II, PRT, and CWS) and the requirements for the major and minor in Religious Studies. For information regarding the Religious Studies faculty, please consult the Faculty page. This course listing is subject to change.
Course ListingsCM 10. Introduction to Asian Religious Traditions. Mr. Shimkhada. Historical study of major Eastern religious traditions in India, China, and Japan. Comparative methodology used to examine significant themes in each of these religious traditions. Each semester. (HRT 1) 11. The Medieval Mediterranean. Mr. Wolf. A survey of late antique and medieval Mediterranean history that explores the close ties between Latin, Greek, and Arabic peoples who were the heirs to the Roman Empire. Principal themes: 1) the interactions between these three cultures; 2) the efforts on the part of Christians, Muslims, and Jews to reconcile their religious traditions with the Greco-Roman legacy. Same as HIST 11. Spring 2006. (HRT II) 20. The Biblical Heritage.
Staff. Critical introduction to the Bible, emphasizing
comparative interpretation of the literature in its
historical and religious context. Biblical text supplemented
by secondary readings designed to illustrate different modes
of interpretation. Lecture and discussion. Offered in 2006-07. (HRT
II) CM 21. Introduction to Judaism: God, Torah, and
Israel.
Mr. Arnold. A
critical survey of Jewish thought and culture. Through
readings from classical Jewish texts, the course explores
the variety of Jewish beliefs and practices, including views
about God, the covenant with Israel, forms of worship, scripture
and its interpretation, Jewish law, sacred festivals and
rituals, ethics, the land of Israel, the Diaspora, and relations between Jews
and non-Jews. Fall 2005. (HRT II) CM 22. Introduction to Western
Religious Traditions.
Staff.
Drawing on historical and contemporary sources, this course
is a study of major Western traditions, including Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam. Comparative methodology used
to examine significant themes and issues in each religious
tradition. Offered in 2006-07. 40. Religious Ethics.
Ms. Eisenstadt. How do various world religions accommodate moral
reasoning to their fundamental understanding of the
universe? What experiential factors and models of
decision‑making are at work in prescribing personal
and social conduct? In asking such questions, what do we
discover about our own ethical orientation, religious or
secular? Lecture and discussion. Fall 2005. (PRT)
CM 41. Morality and Religion.
Mr. Kucheman. Introduction to moral theory, e.g., reasoning about
moral obligation and the possibility of its justification.
Arguments of selected Jewish and Christian religious
ethicists are emphasized. Attention to the questions of
whether and how moral obligation is religious. Each
semester. (PRT) CM 43. Introduction to Religious Thought.
Mr. Kucheman. A study of contemporary Judaism and Christianity in
nontheistic as well as theistic interpretations. Offered in
2006-2007. SC 60. Feminist Interpretations to the Bible.
Staff. Sampling from various literary families of the Bible, this course will carry out feminist interpretations and their political
motivations. Through the exploration of different feminist perspectives, methods, contexts and social locations, the course will underline how
these various factors shape feminist interpretations of the Bible. Fall 2005. (CWS, HRT II) CMC 61. Religious
Autobiography.
Mr.
Campagna-Pinto. Introduces the lives of persons who pursue self-knowledge that
attains a type of spiritual insight transformative of self
and world. Guiding concerns include
self-representation in language and narrative; the nature
and reliability of introspective knowledge; the role of
gender in autobiographical writing; the question of fictive
truth; and the relationship between self-knowledge and
knowledge of God. Figures studied include St. Augustine,
Marc Chagall, John Coltrane, Annie Dillard, Malcolm X, and
Frank Lloyd Wright. First semester. (HRT II) PZ 80. Congregations and Community. Mr. Zuckerman. Through months of hand-on participation in and involvement with several congregations in Ontario, California, students will experience and critically examine the ways in which religious congregations function as community centers and sites of social activism. Offered 2006-07. (CWS) PZ 88. China: Gender, Cosmology, and the State. Mr. Chao. This course examines historical and ethnographic sources on Chinese society dating from the late imperial era to the present. Particular attention will be paid to kinship, gender, ritual, ethnicity, popular practice and state discourse since the 1949 revolution. Same course as PZ ANTH 88. Fall 2005. (HRT 1, CWS) 100. Worlds of Buddhism.
Mr. Ng. An introduction to Buddhism as a critical element in the
formation of South, Central, Southeast, and East Asian
cultures. Thematic investigation emphasizing the public and
objective dimensions of the Buddhist religion. Topics
include hagiography, gender issues, soulcraft, and
statecraft, and the construction of sacred geography. Fall 2005. (HRT I) CM 102. Hinduism and South Asian Culture.
Mr. Shimkhada. Explores
the main ideas, practices, and cultural facets of Hinduism
and Indian culture. Emphasis on the development of the major
strands of Hinduism, the caste system, yoga, and Hindu
relations with Sikhs, Muslims, and the West. Offered in
2006-07. (HRT I) 103. Religious Traditions of China.
Ms. Ng. Surveys vast range of religious beliefs and practices in
Chinese historical context. Examines myriad worlds of
Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism, and meets with ghosts,
ancestors, ancient oracle bones, gods, demons, Buddhas,
imperial politics, social, and more, all entwined in what
became the traditions of china. Lecture and discussion.
Spring 2006. (HRT 1) 104. Religious Traditions of Japan.
Ms. Ng. Surveys the vast range of religious beliefs and practices in
the Japanese historical context. Examines the myriad worlds
of Buddhism, Confucianism, Shinto, and the so-called
New Age Japanese religions, and meets with kami, demons,
amulets, charms, mountain worship, the tea ceremony,
imperial politics, the social, and more, all entwined in
what became the traditions of Japan. Lecture and discussion.
Offered in 2006-07. (HRT 1) 105. Korean Buddhism.
Mr.
McBride. An introduction to the culture and practice of Buddhism in Korea
from ancient times to the present. Focuses mainly on
the introduction and assimilation of Buddhism in ancient
Korea and Korean contributions to the development of Zen
Buddhism in East Asia. Also covers Buddhism under
Confucian domination and colonialism, and the place of
Buddhism in present-day Korea. Fall 2003. (HRT I) PZ 106. Zen Buddhism.
Mr. Parker. An examination of Zen Buddhism, not as a mystical cult,
but as a mainstream intellectual and cultural movement in
china, Japan, and in the modern West. Offered in 2006-07. (HRT I) 117. The World of Mahayana Scriptures: Art, Doctrine,
and Practice. Mr.
Ng. Examines Mahayana
Buddhist scriptures in written texts and through their
visual representations and the spiritual practices (e.g.,
ritual, meditation, pilgrimage) they inspired. Doctrinal
implications will be discussed, but emphasis will be on the
material culture surrounding Mahayana scriptures.
Prerequisite: 10 (equivalent), or permission of instructor.
Advanced seminar course. Spring 2006. (HRT 1) 118. Hindu Goddess Worship.
Ms. Humes. Historical and comparative treatment of devotion to Hindu
goddesses from prehistory to modern era. Topics include
concepts of gender in the divine; continuations and
divergences between textual and popular goddess worship;
Shaktism; Tantra; spirit possession; female saints and
renunciants; and relation of human men and women to Hindu
goddesses. Prerequisite: religious studies course, junior
standing, or permission of the instructor. Offered in
2004-2005; offered alternate years. (HRT 1, CWS) PZ 119. Religion in Medieval East Asia.
Mr. Parker. Survey of shamanism, Buddhism, Taoism, and
Neo-Confucianism of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam
during the 10th to 15th centuries. Examines religious texts
and institutions in context of socio-historical
transformations, and also emphasizes religious dimensions of
medieval East Asian culture, including landscape painting
and poetry, theatre, and artistic and literary theory.
Prerequisites: Religious Studies 10, 100, 103, 104 or 117,
or permission of instructor. Offered in 2006-07. (HRT I) CMC 120. The Life of Jesus.
Mr. Arnold. A survey of the issues surrounding scholarly study of
the life of Jesus. Readings from the gospels and from
ancient, modern, and contemporary constructions of the life
of Jesus. The gospels will be studied with emphasis on their
dating, sources, relationships to each other, literary
structure, and theological meaning. Fall 2005. SC 121. The Pauline Tradition.
Staff. Examination of letters of Paul in social, cultural, and
religious settings and later writings, both biblical and
non-biblical, from early Christian literature claiming
to represent the thought of Paul. Special attention given to
women's role in Pauline communities and impact of Pauline
theology on women's lives and spiritual experiences. Offered in 2006-07. (HRT II) CM 122. Biblical Interpretation.
Mr. Arnold . The first section of the course surveys various forms of Jewish and Christian biblical interpretation, examining reading strategies and hermeneutical theories employed by ancient and medieval Jewish and Christian writers. In the second section, students in the class will engage in a focused study of the book of Genesis and how interpretations of this fundamental text have shaped Jewish thought and practice. Spring 2006, (HRT II) SC 123. Christianity in Africa.
Staff. Inculturation of Christianity in Africa
will be examined through selected studies on the history of
Christianity in Africa, including the independent church
movement and the roles of women in the churches.
African Christian theologies and biblical
interpretations will also be studied. Offered in 2006-07. (HRT II) 124. Myth in Classical and Contemporary Religious
Traditions.
Staff. A comparative analysis of mythological
texts drawn principally from Ancient Near Eastern and
Mediterranean cultures. Emphasis will be placed on the
interplay and tension between myth and ritual with attention
to the adaptation of mythological themes in Western drama,
literature, and theology. Lectures and discussion. Offered
in 2006-07. (HRT II) 125. Greek Religion.
Mr. Jackson. Survey of Greek religion using original
documents, ranging from the late Bronze Age to
ate antiquity, and broadly defined to include the
religions of all peoples of the ancient Mediterranean and
Near East who either fell under the sway of the Greeks or
came into contact with them. Identical to Classics 125.
First semester; offered alternate years. (HRT II) 126. Gnosticism. Mr. Jackson. An introduction to the
great religious movement known as Gnosticism, its origins in
the Hellenic and Roman Near East, its "radical Hellenization
of Christianity," its varieties, its historical evolution
into a world religion in the form of Manichaeism, its
rediscovery in the important manuscript finds of the past
century in Egypt and Central Asia, and its influence on
modern literature and philosophy. Offered alternate years;
next offered 2002-03. 127. Saints and Society.
Mr. Wolf. A history of the idea of Christian sanctity
in late antiquity and the Middle Ages and its relationship
to the institutional development of the Roman church as well
as to the evolution of the Christian society. Identical to
History 105. Fall 2005. (HRT II) 128. The Religion of Islam.
Ms. Kassam. Introduction to Islamic tradition: its
scripture, beliefs, and practices and the development of
Islamic law, theology, philosophy, and mysticism. Special
attention paid to the emergence of Sunnism, Shi'ism, and
Sufism as three diverse expressions of Muslim interpretation
and practice, as well as to gender issues and Islam in the
modern world. Offered in 2007-08.
(HRT II) CM 129. Jewish and Christian Origins.
Mr. Arnold. An examination of the religious,
historical, and social factors which led to the formation of
classical Judaism and Christianity. Trace the development of post-biblical texts and traditions
which through divergent interpretations produced the
distinctive characteristics of Judaism and Christianity.
Spring 2006. (HRT II). 130.
Christian, Muslim and Jew in Medieval Spain.
Mr. Wolf. A history of the Iberian peninsula and the Maghrib from the third
through the fifteenth century. The principal theme of the
course - the interrelationships between Christians, Muslims,
and Jews, and other peoples encountered at home and abroad -
will be presented within a framework of political
history. Identical to HIST 100Y. Offered 2006-07. CM 131. Building God's House.
Mr. Gilbert. Survey early synagogues and churches,
along with related examples of Greco-Roman temples and
shrines, through their architecture and artwork. The course
will explore the contributions archaeological data make to
the understanding of Judaism and Christianity and how each
religious tradition physically and ideologically constructs
sacred apace. Offered in 2006-07. (HRT I) CM 132. Messiahs and the Millennium. Ms. Runions. Course traces the origins and development of apocalyptic thought, studies those who have espoused apocalyptic ideas and lead millennial communities, and surveys contemporary responses to the "end of time." Fall 2005. (HRT II)
PZ 133. Native Americans and Their Environments.
Mr. Miller. Investigation
of traditional interrelationships of Native American ethnic
groups with their environments. Effects of the physical
environment on social systems, politics, art, and religion.
Offered 2006-07. PZ 134. Classical Mythology.
Mr. Glass. A systematic examination of the
traditional cycles of Classical myth. Readings from ancient
literature in English translation.
Some attention is given to the problems of
comparative mythology, ritual, and related areas of
archaeology and history. Identical to PZ CLAS 121. Spring 2006. (HRT II) CM 136. Religion
in Contemporary America. Mr.
Espinosa. Examines themes and controversies in
religion in American culture since the 1950's. Topics
include the changing religious landscape of America as it
relates to personal spirituality and institutional religion;
the civil rights movement; the peace movement; feminism and
religion; separation of church and state; religion and
politics, particularly fundamentalism and compassionate
conservatism; and religious terrorism. Offered in 2006-07. (HRT II,
CWS) CM 137. Jewish-Christian Relations. Mr. Gilbert. Examines relations between Jews and Christians from antiquity to the present. It traces the origins of Christian and anti-Judaism and explores the ways in which Jews and Christians have thought about the other. We shall attempt to understand what issues divided the two communities, how theological, social, political and racial concepts contributed to the development of anti-Semitism, how Jews have understood Christians and responded to Christian religious and social claims about Jews, and what attempts have been made throughout history but particularly since the Holocaust, to establish more constructive relations. Offered in 2006-07. (HRT II) CM 138. American
Religious History.
Staff. Examines the role that religion has played
in the history of the United States, and asks students to
explore critically how peoples and communities in various
places and times have drawn upon religion to give meaning to
self, group, and nation. Covers a wide range of
religions traditions, as well as regional, denominational,
and racial-ethnic dimensions within these groups.
Fall 2005. (CWS). 139. Benjamin, Blanchot, Levinas, Derrida: Contemporary Continental Jewish Philosophy. Ms. Eisenstadt These philosophers all object to the totalizing nature of the philosophy of history, which, as they see it, has dominated modern thought. We examine the wat they critique or replace it with a philosophy of language-translation, dialogue, writing in which theorizing arises from the relation of same and other. Spring 2006. (PRT, CWS) 140. The Idea of God: Modern Theologies of Belief. Mr.
Irish.
An exploration and assessment of 20th-century European and North
American theologians. How do they describe the human
condition? Are their descriptions convincing? Do their ideas
of God, religion, and morality match our own? Are they
asking questions we would ask, and do their responses give
expression to our beliefs, religious or secular?
Fall 2005. (PRT) 141. The Experience of God: Contemporary Theologies
of Transformation. Mr. Irish. An exploration and assessment of African American,
Asian, ecological, feminist, liberation, and process
theologies. What do these theologies have in common? How do
they differ? Do they speak from our experience? What
insights do they have for our pluralistic, multicultural
society? Spring 2006. (PRT) 142. The Problem of Evil: African-American Engagements With(in) Western Thought. Mr. Smith. Thematically explores the many ways African-Americans have encountered and responded to evils (pain, wichedness and undeserved suffereing) both as a part of and apart from the broader Western tradition. We will examine how such encounters trouble the distinction made between natural and moral evil, and how they highlight the tensions beween theodicies and ethical concerns. Fall 2005. (CWS, PRT) CM 143. Philosophy of Religion.
Mr. Davis. Can God's existence be proved? Is
religious faith ever rationally warranted? Are religious
propositions cognitively meaningful? Can one believe in a
good, omnipotent God in a world containing evil? Readings
from historical and contemporary sources. Spring 2006. (PRT)
CM 144. Life, Death, and Survival of Death.
Mr. Davis. A study of philosophical and theological
answers to questions about death, the meaning of life, and
survival of death. Fall 2005. (PRT) CM 145. Religion and Science.
Mr. Henry. Examines historical encounters between
science and religion and provides a systematic analysis of
their present relationship. Goal is to produce an
appropriate synthesis of science and religion. Readings from
ancient, modern, and contemporary science, philosophy of
science, and theology. Evolution, mechanism, reductionism,
indeterminacy, incompleteness, and the roles of faith and
reason in science and religion. Spring 2006. (PRT) CM 146. The Holocaust.
Mr. Roth. An interdisciplinary examination of the
antecedents, realities, and implications of the Nazi attempt
to exterminate the Jews. Identical to CM PHIL 105.
Offered in 2006-07. (HRT II) CM 147. Perspectives on the American Dream:
Philosophical, Literary, Religious and Historical. Mr.
Roth. Interdisciplinary examination of American ideals,
past and present, as they appear in theory and in practice.
Fiction and nonfiction readings by a variety of important
historical and contemporary writers. Offered in 2006-07. (PRT) 148. Sufism. Ms. Kassam. What is the Muslim mystics' view
of reality? How is the soul conceptualized in relation to
the divine being? What philosophical notions did they draw
upon to articulate their visions of the cosmos? How
did Muslim mystics organize themselves to form
communities? What practices did they consider
essential in realizing human perfection? Fall 2005. (PRT, HRT II) 149. Islamic Thought. Ms. Kassam. Examines various facets of Islamic thought with respect to religious authority, political theory, ethics, spirituality, and modernity. Addresses these issues within the discussions prevalent in Islamic philosophy, theology, and mysticism, and, where available, their modern representatives. Offered 2006-07. (PRT) 151. Spirit
Matters: In Search of a Personal Ecology.
Mr. Irish. An exploration of religious and scientific
ways of knowing. How do the diverge and/or converge?
How do their characteristic assumptions, metaphors,
hypotheses, and practices mirror and shape our
experience? How do we imagine and exercise personal
agency in a world understood at once spiritually and
scientifically? Spring 2006. (PRT) CM 153. Religion and American Politics. Mr. Espinosa . Explore major debates and controversies in American religions and politics from the colonial period to the present. Attention will be paid to debates about the impact of religion on the constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independance, African American and Latino Civil Rights movements, the Christian Right, Church-State debates, Supreme Court decisions, presidential elections, religion and political party affiltion and voting patterns, women, religion and politics, and Black, Latino, Jewish and Muslim faith-based politics and activism. Offered in 2006-07. (PRT)
154. Life, Love and Suffering in Biblical Wisdom and the Modern World. Ms. Runions . Examines the wisdom literatures of the Hebrew Bible (Proverbs, Job, Qohelet) in their ancient Near Eastern and literary contexts, and alongside what might be considered latter-day wisdom literature, that is, works by 20th-century writers influenced by existentialism (Simone de Beauvoir, Elie Wiesel and Tom Stoppard). Spring 2006. (CWS) 155. Religion, Ethics, and Social Practice.
Mr. Irish. How do our beliefs, models of moral
reasoning, and communities of social interaction relate to
one another? To what extent do factors such as class,
culture, and ethnicity determine our assumptions about the
human condition and the development of our own human
sensibilities? Discussion and a
three-hour-per-week placement with poor or
otherwise marginalized persons in the Pomona Valley. Offered in 2006-07. (PRT) SC 156. The Bible in Two-Thirds World. Staff. The demogrphy of Christianity, hence Bible readers, has largely shifted to Two-Thirds World geographical spaces and populations. This course will study how the Bible is read and how it functions in Two-Third World cultures and struggles. It will explore the lives and interpretations of the Bible in Two-Thirds World politics and within the economy of the spirituality of resistance, reconciliation, transformation and healing. Spring 2006. (CWS) 158. Jewish Mysticism. Ms. Eisenstadt. Close reading of selections from various texts of medieval Jewish mysticism in translation, including the Zohar, Abulafia, Cordovero, Luria, and the Hasidim. Foci arise from the primary texts themselves, but we also read some of the standard scholarship and consider its central question, for instance, whether there exists in these texts a unio mystica, whether the authors intended the texts to be read literally or metaphorically, and to what extent they speak of practice as opposed to spirit. Spring 2004. (PRT)
CMC 159. Researching the Holocaust: Historical and
Philosophical Perspectives. Mr. Petropoulos and Mr. Roth. Interdisciplinary,
team-taught exploration of research and reflection on
current issues and debates of Nazi Germany's attempt to
annihilate the Jews. In a seminar-style inquiry
designed for students who want to take their previous
Holocaust studies to a more advanced level, attention
focuses on film and internet resources, as well as on recent
books and articles. Second semester. (CWS) SC 160. Feminist Perspectives on the Gospels.
Ms. Dube. Analysis of both canonical
and non-canonical gospels, using feminist methods of
biblical interpretation including the reconstruction of
early Christian women's history, literary criticism,
hermeneutics, and theology. Feminist views of christology
and new christologies. The biblical, theological, and
hermeneutical interpretations of African, African American,
Asian, and Latin American women. Spring 2004. (CWS, HRT
II) 162. Modern Jewish Thought. Ms.
Eisenstadt. Introduces Jewish philosophy in the modern period,
beginning with early modern attempts to define Judaism as
against secular society, and its evolution into contemporary
modern and postmodern theories about the role of dialogue
with the other in the formation of the individual.
Texts by Spinoza, Mendelssohn, Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber,
and Emmanuael Levinas will be taken up closely. Other
authors, literary and philosophical, will be read for
context, among them Heine, Kafka Soloveitchik, and Celan.
Spring 2004. (CWS, PRT). CMC 163. Women and Gender in the Jewish Tradition.
Mr. Gilbert. Examines representation of women and
gender in Jewish tradition and how women from 1iblical
period to present have experienced Judaism. Attention to
articulation of these issues in biblical and rabbinic texts,
influence these texts have had on Jewish attitudes and
practices, particular religious activities practiced by
women, and opportunities and questions raised by
developments in contemporary Judaism including liturgical
revisions and ordination of women as rabbis. Offered in
2004-2005. (CWS) 164. Engendering and Experience: Women in the Islamic
Tradition. Ms. Kassam. Explores the normative bases of the roles and
status of women and examines Muslim women's experience in
various parts of the Muslim world in order to appreciate the
situation of and the challenges facing Muslim women. Second
semester. (CWS) PI 165. Sex and Religion. Mr.
Zuckerman.
Sex and religion are two of the most powerful and passionate
aspects of human existence. How are they related? How are
they in conflict? This seminar will focus primarily on
sexuality in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Intensive
reading and discussion. Offered in 2004-2005. (CWS) 166. Comparative Studies in Religion.
Examines a facet of religious expression in diverse
religious traditions according to current models or theories
of understanding and analyzing religious data. (CWS, PRT) 166A. The Divine Body.
Ms. Kassam. An examination of the topic in
philosophical and mystical texts from five different
religious traditions. For juniors and seniors. Presentations
and discussion. Offered in 2004-2005. (CWS, PRT) PI 167. Theory and Practice of Resistance to Monoculture. Mr. Parker. Examines models of resistance to monoculture as imposed by (neo)imperial and capitalist relations and selected European scientific truth systems. Readings and exercises survey systems that survive monoculture and provide resources for egalitarian relations, spiritual values, and sustainable societies, such as Curanderismo, Santeria, Buddhism, Chinese science, Wicca and other traditions. Offered in 2004-2005. (CWS)
PI 168. Culture and Power. Mr. Parker. Introduces different theories of the relation of culture to power within and between societies, as well as to such processes as cultural nationalism, cultural imperialism, and cultural appropriation. Attention given to the interaction of gender, race, class, sexual orientation, religion, nation, and other factors in the distribution and circulation of power. Prerequisite: PI IIS 10, or PI WS/ID 26, or an introductory course in one of the ethnic studies programs, or permission from the instructor. Spring 2004. (CWS)
SC 169. The Church of the Poor in Latin America. Ms. Forster. Since the advent of liberation theology, the church in Latin America has become a deeply fractured institution. A look at the powerful currents that have swept Catholicism and nourished social movements for justice "on earth as well as in heaven." Spring 2004. (CWS)
CMC 170. God and Money. Mr. Campagna-Pinto. Investigates traditional religious concepts of money, work, and consumption with a specific focus on American History and contemporary culture. How do western religious traditions view wealth and poverty? What does money symbolize, and how does it induce existential anxieties of finitude, identity and status? What role does affluence play in notions of the sacred and in shaping moral and religious values? Does consumerism function as a religion? Can wealth foster the good through philanthropic and charitable activities? Spring 2004. (CWS)
CMC 172. Religion and Violence. Mr. Campagna-Pinto. Studies the relationship between religion and violence in cases involving religion and racism in South Africa and the US; Muslim Hindu religious conflict and territorialism in India; violence against women in fundamentalist Islam; anti-abortion violence in the US; and anti-Semitism and the Holocaust in Germany. Can religion exist without violence? How can religious traditions rid themselves of violence? Which ideas and values intrinsic to religion can motivate such change while maintaining the integrity of traditional belief? Fall 2003. (CWS) CMC 175. Visions of the Divine Feminine: An Exploration of the Goddess in World Religions from Ancient to Modern Times. Mr. Shimkhada. How different cultures have conceived of the Divine as gendered. Study world myths originating from ancient Sumeria to modern America. Themes include nature of myths and their relation to reality, significance of myths for women's and men's roles, feminist theories of religion, patriarchal inversion of myths, and role of historical change in interpreting mythical texts. Advanced seminar course. Spring 2004. (CWS) SC 176. Women's Religious Experience in Early
Christianity.
Staff. Selected readings from early Christian
literature through the 4th century examine the range of
religious behaviors available to women in early
Christianity. Special emphasis on texts written by women and
texts that deal with the role of the physical body in
spiritual experience. Advanced seminar course. Offered in
2004-2005. (CWS, HRT II) HM 179. Section 1. Comtemporary Pragmatism and Religion. Mr. Tirres. A survey of contemporary interpretations of pragmatism and their bearings on religious studies and theology Readings will include the work of Richard Rorty, Cornal West, Sheila Greeve Davaney, and Rebecca Chopp, among others. Prior enrollment in "Classical Pragmatism" is highly recommended but not required. Spring 2006. (CWS, PRT) 180. Interpreting Religious Worlds.
Ms. Kassam. See description in Integrative Courses,
Independent Study, and the Senior Thesis. 181. Rationalizing Religion: Social Scientific
Approaches to Religion. Mr. Wolf. This seminar explores a wide range of modern European
and American efforts to explain religion by conceiving of it
as a product of human society rather than the result of
divine revelation. Each week we will read, write about, and
discuss one "classic" in the field. Our goal will
be to develop an appreciation for the complexity of the
subject as well as to test and shape our own ideas about
religion as a social phenomenon. Offered in 2004-2005. Integrative Courses, Independent
Study, and the Senior Thesis
180. Interpreting Religious Worlds.
Ms. Kassam. An examination of contemporary
theoretical frameworks drawn from a variety of disciplines
(philosophy of religion, history of religions, ritual
studies, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and political
science) for the study and analysis of religious phenomena.
Second semester. 190. Senior Seminar in Religious Studies.
Staff. Advanced readings, discussion, and seminar
presentations on selected areas and topics in the study of
religion. First semester. 191. Senior Thesis. Mr. Whedbee. Required of all senior
majors in Religious Studies. One course credit, based on
one-half credit per semester. Each semester. 199. Independent Study.
Staff. A reading and research program for juniors and
seniors. Permission of instructor required. Course or
half-course. Each semester.
Courses of Related Interest
HIST 11. The Medieval Mediterranean. Mr. Wolf. Spring 2004. (HRT II)
CLAS 52a,b. Elementary Classical Hebrew. Mr. Whedbee.
PI ANTH 88. China: Gender, Cosmology, and the State. Ms. Chao. Second Semester. (HRT I)
PI ENGL 124. Homer and the Hebrew Bible. Mr. Wacthel. (HRT II).
ANTH 150. Religion, Myth, and Ideology. Mr. Thomas.
PI HIST 173. Religion, Social Violence, and Tolerance, 1450-1650. Ms. Johnson. (HRT II)
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