REL 109 - Religion & Society in West II
Introduction to classic writers and texts in Western religious and social thought from the Enlightenment to the present, with emphasis on their social and historical contexts.
• Professor Shelby King • MWF 11:00-11:50 • CRN 66735
REL 110 - World Religions
Survey of the leading living religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; examination of basic texts and of philosophic theological elaborations of each religion.
• Professor Richard Layton • MW 9:00-9:50 • CRN 66741
REL 112 - Elementary Greek II
Grammar and reading in classical and koine Greek.
• Professor Angeliki Tzanetou • MWF 11:00-11:50 • CRN 67014
REL 115 – Language and Culture in India
Examines the relationship between language and culture in the multilingual and multicultural context of India. Special topics of focus are: linguistic and cultural diversity in India, impact of the language and cultural contact on the structure and function of languages (convergence, diglossia, code-mixing, pidgins and creoles), language and identity, language of religion, language and gender, language in the media, literature and culture, language and power, language and globalization.
• Professor Mithilesh Mishra • Online • CRN 68465
REL 132 – Zen
Introduces the history, teachings, and practice of Zen Buddhism in China and Japan.
• Professor Christopher Callahan • TR 2:00-3:20 • CRN 66810
REL 201 - Hebrew Bible in English
Analyzes the critical issues in the interpretation of the literature of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament; surveys the history and religion of Ancient Israel with special reference to Israel's setting in the ancient Near East.
• Professor Dov Weiss • MTWR 9:00-9:50 Term B • CRN 77199
REL 204 - Classical & Koine Greek II
Continuation of GRK 201. Further readings in classical Greek prose, and narrative and epistolary New Testament texts.
• Professor Joy Reeber • MWF 11:00-11:50 • CRN 67024
REL 208 - Cultures & Literatures of South Asia
Introduction to the literary traditions of South Asia from the beginnings to the end of the Mughal era. Students will read - in translation - selections from a wide range of texts beginning with the earliest Vedic Hymns to the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Sufi poetry and songs. Provides students an understanding of the heterogeneous and rich literary and cultural past of the region.
• Professor Rini Mehta • Online • CRN 67039
REL 212 – History of Antisemitism
Studies the negative representations of Judaism and Jews from antiquity to the modern world. Topics include: Greco-Roman concepts of the Jewish religion; medieval Christian symbolization of the demonic Jew; Jews and negative attitudes to capitalism; blood purity and blood libel; the rise of racial prejudice in the modern nation state; totalitarianism and genocide; antisemitism and anti-Zionism.
• Professor Eli Rosenblatt • TR 11:00-12:20 • CRN 77184
REL 214 - Introduction to Islam
History of Islamic thought from the time of Muhammad to the present, including the prophethood of Muhammad, the Qur'an, theology and law, mysticism and philosophy, sectarian movements, modernism and legal reform, and contemporary resurgence.
• Professor Mukhtar Ali • Online • CRN 70163
REL 215 – African Muslim Societies
Focuses on the history and historiography of Muslim societies in Africa. Investigates the dynamics of the spread of Islam in Africa, and explores differences in Islam in Africa from other areas of the Islamic world, with attention to the image in Western scholarship of Islam in Africa. Provides students with the knowledge and skills they need to understand this central phenomenon in modern world history.
• Professor Mauro Nobili • TR 2:00-3:20 • CRN 68210
REL 231 – Religion and Philosophy
Introduces students to philosophical and theological perspectives and methodologies by focusing on one or two key thinkers, books, or topics. Study and critical assessment will attend to the larger historical context.
• Professor Stephanie Thurston • TR 2:00-3:20 • CRN 74579
REL 236 - Religion, Violence, & America
Examination of the interactions among religion, violence, and American culture from the colonial period to the twenty-first century. Using a wide range of primary and secondary texts, students will study the perspectives of the perpetrators and victims of religiously motivated and/or religiously justified violence, both in domestic and international affairs.
• Professor Stephanie King • MWF 2:00-2:50 • CRN 77936
REL 269 – Jewish History Since 1700
Explores how life was lived by Jewish women and men through the past three centuries. Will also focus on wider place of the Jews in European society, and the achievements and tragedies of the modern Jewish-non-Jewish relationship.
• Professor Anastasiia Strakhova • MWF 11:00-11:50 • CRN 68086
REL 286 – Introduction to Hinduism
Elements of Hindu thought and practice; selected topics presented in historical order and in the context of Indian cultural history (including the present).
• Professor Adam Newman • MW 12:30-1:50 • CRN 66813
REL 322 – Crime, Punishment, and Redemption in the U.S.
The criminal-penal system in the United States is a complex web of mutually reinforcing institutions, practices, and moral values. This course fosters a deep analysis of the U.S. criminal-penal system with special attention to the role of religion and explores the religious concepts that have informed our moral imaginations regarding crime, punishment, redemption, and the socio-political resistance against our criminal-penal system.
• Professor Stephanie Thurston • M 3:00-5:30 • CRN 77299
REL 345 - Medieval Civilization
The architectural, artistic, philosophical, political, and religious components of medieval culture, thought, and patterns of behavior; includes monasticism and society and the individual.
• Professor Carol Symes • MW 2:00-3:20 • CRN 68665
REL 350 - South Asian Goddesses
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.
• Professor Anna Tosato • MW 12:00-1:20 Term B • CRN 68608
REL 402 – Gods Demons and Heroes in Hindu Literature
An exploration of Hindu literature with a focus on representations of gods and goddesses, demons, and heroes in foundational texts such as the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas. Through close textual analysis, students will examine the philosophical, theological, and sociocultural dimensions of these narratives. Emphasis will be placed on the interplay between myth and history and the influence of these texts on South Asian literary and religious traditions through the modern period.
• Professor Adam Newman • W 3:00-5:30 • CRNs 77940 & 77941
REL 419 – Jesus and Judaism
Examines the ways Jews over the last two thousand years thought about, polemicized against, and celebrated, Jesus of Nazareth. The course will cover numerous types of Jewish literature including, but not limited to, folk stories and Talmudic teachings (from Late Antiquity), published letters, polemical treatises, law codes, philosophical tracts, and mystical writings (from the Middle Ages) and, lastly, works of Reform theology, ecumenical treatises, Zionist literature, and Jewish artistic expressions (in the Modern Period).
• Professor Dov Weiss • MW 3:00-5:30 Term B • CRNs 77942 & 77943
REL 442 - History of Early Judaism
The history of Judaism from Ezra to the rise of Islam: Hellenism and Judaism, varieties of Judaism, Palestinian Judaism and its documents, Babylonian Judaism, the rabbis, and popular Jewish culture.
• Professor Marc Abou Abdallah • MW 9:00-11:40 Term B • CRNs 77944 & 77945
REL 494 - Topics in Religious Thought
Race, Body, and Being in Black Religious Thought: This interdisciplinary seminar enters the conversation of Black Studies through the lens of religion. It commences with the question of being within the context of existential absurdity. That is, we shall interrogate and consider the ontological and anthropological condition of Blackness within the materiality of the absurd as a threat of non-being. We will engage critical race theory, afro-pessimism, and mysticism via a religious studies lens, considering the question of the human, Black being, freedom, and otherwise possibilities and imaginations. Contemplating these issues from the question of religion, participants will engage a wide variety of thinkers such as Albert Camus, Saidiya Hartman, James Cone, Fred Moten, M. Shawn Copeland, and Calvin Warren. Seminar participants will conclude the course having gained a working knowledge of new cartographies in the study of Black religion and Black studies, as well as critical issues facing the intersection of race and religion in North America.
• Professor Leonard McKinnis • W 3:00-5:30 • CRN 71830
REL 495 - Topics in Asian Religions
Perhaps no other Buddhist scripture has had more impact on East Asian Culture than The Lotus Sutra. After reading the sutra and recent scholarship concerning its production and reception in India and China, we will examine the fundamental role the sutra played in Japanese Buddhism, with special attention to medieval Tendai and Nichiren. Attention will also be given to the impact the Lotus Sutra has had on art, literature, gender and Japanese society.
• Professor Christopher Callahan • F 1:00-3:50 • CRNs 68098 & 68097
REL 495 - Topics in Asian Religions
Material Jainism: Learn about one of the world’s oldest religions through its material culture: 8 weeks, 8 objects, 1 object every week.
• Professor Anna Tosato • TR 12:30-1:50 Term B • CRNs 75819 & 75820
REL 511 – Seminar in Study of Religion
Introduction to Jewish Studies Course Description: This graduate seminar introduces students to methods and concerns in Jewish Studies, an interdisciplinary scholarly field that spans the humanities and social sciences. We will read newer scholarship that contributes something to distinct to the field. How do different disciplinary tools interact with “the Jews” as subject and as instrument? The socio-political conditions which gave way to the emergence of different Jewish Studies traditions in Germany, the United States and elsewhere will also be closely examined.
• Professor Eli Rosenblatt • T 3:00-5:30 • CRN 68627
REL 514 – Islamic Theology
Study of the language, arguments and schools of classical Islamic theology, mainly through direct study of English translations of theological texts from two different theological schools.
• Professor Mukhtar Ali • MW 11:00-12:50 Term A • CRN 78136
REL 590 - Independent Study
Special topics not treated in regularly scheduled courses; for graduates.
REL 599 - Thesis Research
Researching and writing a thesis in consultation with a faculty adviser.