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.
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201/ACABS 200/AAPTIS 200/HJCS 200. Introduction to World Religions: Near Eastern. (4). (HU).
Religions of the Book: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This course serves two main functions: the first of these is to provide an introductory sense of what is involved in the academic study of religion; the second, which will occupy almost the whole term, is to introduce the major religious traditions of the Near East, with emphasis on the development and major structures of Israelite Religion, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The course will keep two foci in view: one will have to do with the historical development of these religious traditions, their sacred texts and major personalities; the second will involve a comparative view of these traditions by analyzing their sense of the sacred in space, time, and text, their views on holy people. This is an introductory course: it is not necessary for students to have any previous experience in the study of religion. The course consists of three weekly lectures and a discussion group. Writing for the course typically involves an essay, a midterm, and a final exam. Cost:3 WL:4 (Williams, Jackson, Schramm)
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202/Buddhist Studies 220/Asian Studies 220. Introduction to the Study of Asian Religions. (4). (HU).
See Buddhist Studies 220.
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303/S&SEA 303. Sikhism. (3). (HU).
See South & Southeast Asia 303. (Singh)
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308/Hist. 308. The Christian Tradition in the West from New Testament to Early Reformation. (4). (Excl).
A survey of the doctrine, institutions, and culture of Christianity in the West from Apostolic times to 1521, when Luther's religious reform was condemned at the Diet of Worms. Lectures will provide students with a basic knowledge of the political, institutional, and intellectual history necessary to interpret various examples of primary sources from the tradition. Examples of topics and periods emphasized are: the New Testament canon; expansion and recognition in antiquity; the age of the Latin Fathers; Benedictine monasticism; the papacy and the government of "Christendom"; the mendicant orders; scholasticism and medieval universities; Crusades and Christian monarchies; late medieval religious practice and dissent; Christian humanism; and the early years of the Reformation. A likely list of authors assigned might include: Augustine, Benedict, Bernard, Abelard, Francis, James of Voragine, Thomas Aquinas, Joinville, Thomas à Kempis, Wyclif, Gerson, Thomas More, Erasmus, and Luther. Students will be graded on class participation; three short essays on the assigned reading; midterm and a final. There are no prerequisites; and although previous religious education might obviously prove helpful, I will try not to assume that students have any background in the history or doctrine of any Christian church. Since our orientation is academic, students need not believe "in" anything to take this course. The sequel is Religion 309 "The Christian Tradition from the Reformation to the Present." Cost:3 (Tentler)
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402. Topics in Religion. 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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478/HJCS 477/Judaic Studies 478. Modern Jewish Thought. (3). (Excl).
See HJCS 477. (Ginsburg)
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496/AAPTIS 495/WS 471/Hist. 546. Gender and Politics in Early Modern Islamdom. Students should preferably have had one course in Islamic Studies. (3). (Excl).
See AAPTIS 495. (Babayan)
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