The Studies in Religion Program provides students with a basic knowledge of the history, psychology, philosophy, and anthropology of religion; promotes an understanding of diverse religious traditions; and examines religious questions which arise in all cultures. The concern of the program is not to inculcate a particular doctrine or faith but rather to broaden and deepen a student's knowledge and understanding of religious traditions.
122(121)/ACABS 122. Introduction
to the New Testament. (4). (HU).
See ACABS 122.
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202/Buddhist Studies 220/Asian
Studies 220. Introduction to World Religions: South and East Asia.
(4). (HU).
See Buddhist Studies 220.
(Sharf)
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204/APTIS 262. Introduction
to Islam. (4). (HU).
See APTIS 262. (Jackson)
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309/Hist. 309. The Christian
Tradition in the West from Luther and Calvin to the Present. (3).
(Excl).
The Christian Tradition from the Reformation to the Present. This
course is the continuation of Religion/History 308, "The
Christian Tradition from the New Testament to 1521." A survey
of Christian teaching, institutions, and culture. Among the topics
studied will be varieties of Protestant Reformations (Lutheranism, Anabaptism, Calvin and the Reformed tradition, Anglicanism); the
scientific revolution; Deism and the Enlightenment; 17th and 18th-century
revivals; Christianity and the modern state; Higher (Biblical)
Criticism; Modernism; Christianity and modern science; Fundamentalism; the modern Papacy; the Christian churches and Nazi Germany; and contemporary theological, moral, and scholarly controversies.
Students will be graded on two short essays on the assigned reading;
a midterm, and a final. There are no prerequisites and students
will be constantly encouraged to ask for clarification of material they do not understand. Since our orientation is academic, students
need not believe "in" anything to take this course.
Cost:3 WL:4
(Tentler)
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310/CAAS 335. Religion in the Afro-American Experience. (3). (HU).
This course will provide students with a general survey of the religious experience of Afro-Americans, concentrating on developments
in the religious life of Black people in America. Various religious
impulses within the Black community will be studied, including
traditional Christianity, Islam, Judaism, cultic Christianity
(as expressed in the various Pentecostal movements which have
been described as "personality cults" such as those
led by Father Divine, Daddy Grace Prophet Jones, and Rev. Oke).
A brief survey of the traditional African approach to religion
is given in the background for a proper understanding of the ways
in which the introduction of Christianity affected African people, followed by a study of the development of religion among Black
people in ante-bellum America. The study of Black religion since
1900 will explore the social and political cross-currents which
led to the rise of separatist religious groups in the twentieth
century. The role of mainline churches and their success or failure
in translating the needs and aspirations of the Black community
to the larger society will be studied in relation to the civil
rights struggle of the 1960s and the development of new social-action
oriented religious movements. The course will conclude with an
exploration of Black religious moods in contemporary society.
Cost:1 WL:1 (Miles)
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358/ACABS 321/Hist. 306.
History and Religion of Ancient Israel. (3). (HU).
See ACABS 321. (Schmidt)
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369/Psych. 313. Psychology
and Religion. Introductory psychology or senior standing.
(4). (Excl).
An exploration of the historical and thematic connections
between psychology and religion, with a special emphasis on the
scientific study of religious behavior and experience. Religion
and psychology are presented as competing or overlapping explanations
of behavior, as legislations of mental health and "disease,"
and as techniques for the "cure of souls." These issues
are explored through two guiding questions: (a) Why is it common
to assume a connection between religion and psychological well-being
(or disorder, as the case may be)? (b) What do we mean when we
speak of religious experiences? What is the nature of such experiences, and to what extent are they autonomous with respect to other types
of human experiences? Course materials: films, textbook, and course
pack with selections from the literature of psychology, anthropology, and history of religions. Requirements include: attendance to
lectures; leading and participating in discussions; two exams
during the term, and a final exam. Cost:3
WL:3 (Gómez)
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380. Selected Topics. (3).
(Excl). May be repeated for a total of six credits. Only one course
from Religion 380, 387, and 487 may be elected in the same term.
Section 001 – Religious Encounters in the New World. The
European discovery of the Americas set in motion one of the largest
encounters in the Atlantic World. Although it would take close
to a century to fully understand the scale and magnitude of their
discovery, the European encounter with the other in the New World
produced entirely new people, societies, and cultures. Along with
new foods, new languages, and new ways of speaking, this encounter
resulted in the creation or invention of new religions, world-views, and belief-systems. This course will explore the European encounter
with other forms of religious expression as it unfolded in the
New World. Initially praised as an Eden populated by child-like
others, the New World was reinvented as an uncivilized land and native peoples as savages. This course will examine the formation
of syncretic or hybrid cosmologies that have combined various
aspects of New and Old World beliefs as well as alternate and oppositional world-views that have contested traditional interpretations
of ritual, divinity, and Scripture, be they Native, European, or African. Our approach will be multidisciplinary. Drawing on
an array of recent anthropological, literary, and socio-historical
studies, we will read, discuss, and critique both old and new
work in the field in an attempt to move beyond approaches to religion, world-view, and attendant notions as mirrors or reflections of
secular activities. This course assumes no prior knowledge of the topic and will be based on lectures, films, and class discussions.
Grades will be based on class participation, essay-type exams, a 10-20 page critique of two ethnographies, and a 20-30 minute
oral presentation. Cost:2
WL:4 (Pulis)
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393/ACABS 393/APTIS 393.
The Religion of Zoroaster. (3). (HU).
See ACABS 393. (Windfuhr)
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402. Topics in Religion.
Religion concentrators with junior or senior standing.
(1-3). (Excl).
Section 001 – Holy Woman, Holy Man: The Charismatic and Social
Power. (3 credits). This course will examine the figure of the "holy" person in a wide number of cultures – "holy"
in the sense that they are characterized by possessing and exerting
a power which seems compelling, personal, and uncanny: they are
charismatic. We will discuss these figures and their relations
to other social sorts of power, referring to Native American cultures, European cultures, and Asian/Pacific cultures. The range of reference
will include the contemporary as well as the historical. Why are these figures characteristically female in some cultures, male
in others? How does their power relate to institutional channels
of authority? What of the secular charismatic – the charisma of
some politicians, and of celebrities? We will note the special
role of the media in the operation of charisma now – of the way
in which a billion people can feel themselves in the presence
of the charismatic person or community simultaneously. The course
will meet on Monday evenings for lectures by major figures from the University and elsewhere in the country who study these phenomena.
There will be discussions sections, including one for Honors students, and one in the evening for people whose schedules make daytime
classes difficult. Students will read from a course pack and two
or three books, view films, and write two essays and a final examination.
Cost:2 WL:4 (Williams)
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447/Poli. Sci. 447. Comparative
Studies in Religion and Politics. (3). (Excl).
See Political Science 447.
(Levine)
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448/Psych. 418. Psychology
and Spiritual Development. (3). (Excl).
See Psychology 418. (Mann)
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452/Anthro. 448. Anthropology
of Religion: Ritual, Sanctity and Adaptation. Junior
standing. (3). (Excl).
See Cultural Anthropology
448. (Pulis)
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455/Soc. 455. Religion and Society. (3). (Excl).
See Sociology 455. (McGinn)
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469/HJCS 478/Judaic Studies
468. Jewish Mysticism. (3). (Excl).
See HJCS 478. (Ginsberg)
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471/HJCS 577/Judaic Studies
467. Seminar: Topics in the Study of Judaism. (3).
(Excl). May be repeated for a total of nine credits.
See HJCS 577. (Ginsberg)
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481/Engl. 401. The English
Bible: Its Literary Aspects and Influences, I. (4).
(HU).
See English 401. (Williams)
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