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Offerings - Fall 2008 |
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CM 10. Introduction to Asian
Religious Traditions.
Mr. Michon. 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.
CM 15. Myth and Religion.
Mr. Michon. Interrogates myth, and how it has been
understood in ancient and contemporary societies. Offers a
historical survey of various types of myths and the academic
understandings of them. Models of understanding applied to
myths from ancient Babylonian, Greek, Australian, Indian,
and Native American traditions. A redefinition of myth is
offered for students to apply this to contemporary
discourse.
20. The Biblical Heritage.
Ms. Runions. 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.
CM 22. Introduction to Western
Religious Traditions. Ms. Yonemoto. 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.
CM 37. History of World
Christianity. Ms. Yonemoto. The history of
Christianity from Jesus to the present. The origins of
Christian doctrine, the canon of Scripture, orthodoxy vs.
heresy, rise of the papacy, monasticism, scholasticism,
mysticism, the Crusades, church-state debates,
Catholic-Orthodox/Christian-Muslim/Christian-Jewish
conflicts, the Reformation, missions, Protestant
denominationalism, Christian liberalism, fundamentalism,
Pentecostalism, liberation theology and struggles over
indigenization, autonomy and colonialism in Africa, Asia and
Latin America.
40. Religious Ethics.
Ms. Eisenstadt. What is ethics? Is it the study of the best
way to live, or of how best to serve others? Are these
things the same or different? To whom and for whom am I
responsible? Where do these responsibilities come from? What
do the various religious traditions of the world have to say
about these questions? To what extent do they lay claim to
the question of ethics, a question on which the
philosophical traditions also have a lot to say? Are such
claims legitimate? Do religious traditions generally say the
same thing about morality, or do they differ on ethical
fundamentals? In this course we begin to think about these
difficult questions, through a careful study of selected
texts.
CM 43. Introduction to Religious
Thought.
Mr. Davis. A study of such concepts as creation, evil, and
the nature of God in recent and contemporary monotheistic
traditions.
SC 61. New Testament and Christian
Origins.
Mr. Jacobs. Students will examine the New Testament and
other Christian literature of the first and second centuries
in the context of the history, culture, religion, and
politics of the late ancient Mediterranean. The course will
emphasize analytical reading, the varieties of early
Christian expression and experience, and key scholarly and
theoretical issues.
SC 92. Varieties of Early
Christianity.
Mr. Jacobs. Through study of ancient texts and monuments,
this course explores the diverse forms of Christianity that
arose in the first six centuries CE. We will pay particular
attention to political, cultural, and social expressions of
early Christianity, including: martyrdom, asceticism,
religious conflict (with Jews, pagans, and heretics), and
political ideology.
CM 135. Jerusalem: The Holy City.
Mr. Gilbert. Survey of the religious, political, and
cultural history of Jerusalem over three millennia as a
symbolic focus of three faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam. Focus on the transformation of sacred space as
reflected by literary and archaeological evidence by
examining the testimony of artifacts, architecture, and
iconography in relation to the written word. Study of the
creation of mythic Jerusalem through event and experience,
and discussion of the implications of this history on
Jerusalem’s current political situation.
CM 138. American Religious
History.
Mr. Espinosa. 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 religious
traditions, as well as regional, denominational and
racial-ethnic dimensions within these groups.
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,
wickedness and undeserved suffering) 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
between theodicies and further ethical concerns.
158. Introduction to 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.
CM 163. Women and Gender in the
Jewish Tradition.
Mr. Gilbert. Examines representation of women and gender in
Jewish tradition and how women from biblical 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.
HM 183. Ghosts and Machines.
Ms. Dyson. Explores the interrelations between occult
mediumship, modern media and technology in Europe and the
United States from the nineteenth century through the
present. Topics for the course include: ghostly visions and
magic lantern phantasmagoria; American spiritualism and the
telegraph; phrenology and rise of the archive; psychical
research and stage magic; radio’s disembodied voices; and
spirit photography and therapeutic light therapies; psychic
television; magic on film.
190. Senior Seminar in Religious
Studies.
Ms. Kassam. Required for all senior majors. Advanced
readings, discussion and seminar presentations on selected
areas and topics in the study of religion.
191. Senior Thesis.
Staff. Required of all senior majors in Religious Studies.
Related Courses
ANTH 25 SC. Anthropology of the Middle East.
ANTH 87 SC. Contemporary Issues: Gender and Islam.
ANTH 88 PZ. China: Gender, Cosmology, and the State.
ANTH 120. Altered States of Consciousness.
CLAS 65 SC. Pagans and Christians.
GOVT 138 CM. Religion & Politics in Latin America.
HIST 56 CM. Middle East: Ottomans to the Present.
HIST 165 CM. Middle East in Modern Times.
IIS 146 PZ. International Religions of the Middle East.
MUS 89A The Islamic Voice.
PHIL 84 PZ. Islamic Philosophy.
PHIL 170 SC. Philosophy of Religion.
REL 425 CGU. Survey of Islamic Theology, Philosophy and
Mysticism.
REL 436 CGU. Islamic Law and Legal Theory.
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