Religion Impacts Us ALL
Title
Sacred Spaces of India
FALL 2025 REL 360
Experience firsthand how the blend of geography, architecture, and art shapes the cultural belief systems of South Asia, both past and present.
On-campus Wednesdays 2-4:30 PM
In India: December 28th-January 16th
Visits to Mysore Palace, the ghats, Kashi Vishwanath Temple, and other Hindu, Jain, Islamic, and Buddhist sites
→ New Year's Eve celebration, movie screenings, music &e dance workshops, performances, cultural exchanges
.. AND MORE!
Questions? contact:
Dr. Anna Tosato: tosato@illinois.edu
Dr. Adam Newman: anewman4@illinois.edu
REL/CWL 283 - Jewish Sacred Literature (Fall 2025) M-TH 9-9:50 AM - B term: starts Oct. 20, 2025
This course introduces students to the great literary works of the Jewish tradition from the Hebrew Bible to nineteenth-century Hassidism. The class will read and reflect upon a rich array of Jewish texts from several genres including biblical interpretation, rabbinic narratives, philosophical works, mystical texts (Kabbalah), poetry and law codes. Attention will be given not only to content and form, but also to the historical and social context that gave rise to these important masterpieces.
REL 495 - Intro to Jainism (Fall 2025) TR 12:30-1:50 B Term: Starts 10/21
Everything you need to know about this ancient Indian religion. This course will teach you the basics of Jainism in a creative and interesting way. Non-violence, vegetarianism, asceticism, material culture, and more. We will learn about the ideas that shaped Jainism and made it so relevant in the ancient and contemporary world. No previous knowledge of the topic is required to take this class.
REL 360: Sacred Spaces of India (Fall 2025) W 2-4:30 Term B Starts 10/20
Introduction to sacred spaces in India through a study abroad experience. As we explore the holy sites of Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, and Buddhism, you will experience firsthand how the blend of geography, architecture, and art shapes the cultural belief systems of South Asia, both past and present. Students will visit cultural heritage sites in and around the cities of Mysuru and Varanasi and attend thought-provoking lectures by local and UIUC faculty, witness performances of traditional arts, and engage with centuries-old traditions that bring these sacred spaces to life.
REL 419 - Jesus and Judaism (Fall 2024 T/TH 3:00-5:30: Meets 10/21/24-12/11/24)
Examines the ways Jews over the last two thousand years thought about, polemicized against, and celebrated, Jesus of Nazareth.
REL 535- Historiography of Religion in America (Fall, 2024 Wednesdays 3-5:30 PM)
This course immerses students in major works of recent American religious history. Written from multiple disciplinary perspectives and wrestling with the knotty problems in which religion has been interwoven, these books will give the student a solid foundation in American religious history.
AFRO 345/REL333 - Becoming Martin and Malcolm (Fall 2024 T/TH 12:30-1:50 PM)
Re-examines the lives and legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. & Malcolm X. Through their speeches, essays, and biographical writing, we explore the origins of their religious and political philosophies and consider how their memory is deployed in current day movements for social change.
REL 494 - Complicity, Responsibility, and Structural Injustice (Fall 2024, Mondays 3:00-5:00)
Many of our most pressing social issues are complex, structural, and systemic phenomena. Included among these collective problems are climate change, migrant deaths, income inequality, sweatshop labor, homelessness, and housing/school segregation. Amid such complex social evils, how should we think about blame and responsibility? In this course, we will examine Christian theological, philosophical, and sociological sources in order to better understand complicity, responsibility, and blameworthiness as it relates to structural injustices or structural sin.
REL 495 Introduction to Jainism (Fall 2024, T/TH 12:30-1:50 starts 10/22/24)
Everything you need to know about this ancient Indian religion. This course will teach you the basics of Jainism in a creative and interesting way. Non-violence, vegetarianism, asceticism, material culture, and more. We will learn about the ideas that shaped Jainism and made it so relevant in the ancient and contemporary world. No previous knowledge of the topic is required to take this class.
REL 350 South Asian Goddesses (Fall 2024 M,W, F 12:00-12:50 starts 10/22/24)
Introduction to the most well-known Hindu goddesses, at both the pan-Hindu and local level, and explores their mythical narratives, associated powers, iconography, and rituals of worship. Presents different methodological approaches scholars employ in the interpretation of goddess worship in South Asia and abroad. Materials are drawn from textual, historical sources as well as contemporary ethnographic research, and seek to include representative figures from different regions throughout India and the Himalayan region.
REL 199 - Becoming Martin and Malcolm (Spring 2024, T/TH 3:30-4:50 PM)
This course re-examines the lives and legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
REL 511 - Crime, Punishment, and Redemption in America (Spring 2024 Mondays 3-5:30)
The criminal-penal system in the United States is a complex web of mutually rein-forcing institutions, practices, & moral val-ues. This course focuses on the religious concepts that have informed our moral imaginations, which in turn, inform the so-cial practices we enact and the institutions we build & maintain.
REL 335 - Religion in Contemporary America (Spring 2024, T/TH 11:00-12:20)
Examines the religious dynamics of the twenty-first century United States.
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