Religion Courses

Course Offerings Fall 2013

Course Code	Title/Instructor	Meets
RELG 104-01	Introduction to Judaism Instructor: Andrea Lieber Course Description: Cross-listed with JDST 104-01.	1030:MWF DENNY 212
RELG 121-01	What is Hinduism? Instructor: Daniel Cozort Course Description: A study of the dominant religion of south Asia that focuses on the contemporary "embodiment" of religion in culture. This course will explore ways in which religion permeates the Hindu cycle of life, shapes choices such as occupation and marriage partner, and infuses Indian arts. It will ask whether the variation in these patterns over time, among regions of India, in city and country, and among different groups, are diverse "Hinduisms" that nevertheless contain a vital unity.	1130:MWF EASTC 405
RELG 214-01	Hist of Christ.: Reform/Modern Instructor: Mara Donaldson Course Description: The course concentrates on the emergence of the Protestant tradition in the 16th century and the Catholic response. Considers the impact of the Enlightenment on both Protestant and Catholic self-understanding.	1030:MWF EASTC 300
RELG 226-01	Yoga: Theory and Practice Instructor: Daniel Cozort Course Description: Buddhism, Hinduism, and Daoism have ancient and rich traditions of spiritual practices. This course will examine methods of mind training and the philosophy that undergirds them. Prerequisite: 121, 122, or permission of instructor.	1330:MR EASTC 300
RELG 250-01	Women, Gender and Judaism Instructor: Andrea Lieber Course Description: Cross-listed with JDST 240-01 and WGST 201-01. This course examines issues of gender in Jewish religion, Jewish culture and Jewish literature in various historical periods. We will begin by looking at the roles of women in the Bible and other classical Jewish texts, though the course will concentrate on gendered representations of Jews since the 19th century and contemporary debates about gender in modern Jewish life. What are the cultural and historical sources of Jewish stereotypes, such as the Jewish American Princess, the Jewish mother or the effeminate (and nuerotic) Jewish male? In what way has the advent of feminism challenged Judiasm's traditional gender roles and the roles of male/female in the Jewish family? Readings explore the connection between gender stereotypes and anti-Semitism and how they have affected relations among Jews and between Jews and non-Jews.	1130:MWF DENNY 104
RELG 250-03	Religion and Communism Instructor: Dominic Rubin Course Description: Cross-listed with RUSS 260-01. Taught in English. This course traces how Soviet communism developed out of religious roots in Russian Orthodoxy and other traditions, and came to display many features of a substitute religion. We look at how, as a result, it jealously repressed the traditional religions, and how the latter (Christian denominations, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism) struggled to survive in a totalitarian state, as they wavered between going completely underground and engaging in limited cooperation with the government. Finally, we look at the marks this has left on post-communist religion today: to what extent have religions in the post-Soviet space (primarily Russia, but also Eastern Europe and Central Asia) recovered from repression? How do the 70 years of communism continue to shape believers' mentalities even today? What are the political effects of this?	1330:MR BOSLER 319
RELG 260-01	Beyond Belief: Jewish Sec Cltr Instructor: Andrea Lieber Course Description: Cross-listed with JDST 250-01. Many Jews nowadays define themselves in secular or cultural terms rather than religious ones. But how did the tradition of secular Judaism come to be? This course will survey the development of secular Jewish identity through an examination of key thinkers over the last three and a half centuries, including Spinoza, Freud, Marx and Einstein. The course will conclude with an examination of secular Judaism in American culture - the drama of Clifford Odets and Arthur Miller, the films of Mel Brooks and Sidney Lumet, and the television shows Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm.	1230:MWF DENNY 104
RELG 311-01	Buddhism and the Environment Instructor: Daniel Cozort Course Description: Cross-listed with ENST 311-02.	1500:TF EASTC 300
RELG 318-01	Care of the Soul Instructor: Mara Donaldson Course Description: This course explores the contemporary synthesis between religion and psychology, described by Thomas Moore as "care of the soul." We will examine the concept of "soul" in it's classical sense and follow the evolution of "soul" into Western preoccupations with the "self," "idenitity," and "a meaningful life". The methodological emphasis will be on the work of CJ Jung and Joseph Campbell.	1330:MR STERN 12
RELG 390-01	Interpreting Religion Instructor: Theodore Pulcini Course Description: An advanced introduction to some fundamental issues of theory and method in the academic study of religion. Selected religious phenomena will be examined using the perspectives such as those of the history of religions, psychology, sociology, anthropology, philology, philosophy, and theology. Emphasis will be placed upon methods of research and styles of writing in the study of religion. This course fulfills the WR graduation requirement.	0900:TR EASTC 312