Religious Studies (B.A.)

First-Year Seminars

* RLST 007a, What Didn't Make It into the Bible  Maria Doerfler

Over two billion people alive today consider the New Testament to be sacred scripture. But how did the books that made it into the bible get there in the first place? Who decided what was to be part of the bible and what wasn't? How did these decisions affect the structure of nascent Christian communities, their relationship to surrounding Greco-Roman and Jewish society, and the subsequent development of Christian churches? How would the history of the world's largest organized religion look differently if a given book didn't make the final cut and another one did? Hundreds of ancient Christian texts are not included in the New Testament. This course focuses on these excluded writings and uses them to help reconstruct the earliest Christian communities. We explore Gnostic gospels, hear of a five-year-old Jesus throwing temper tantrums while killing (and later resurrecting) his classmates, peruse ancient Christian romance novels, tour heaven and hell, read the garden of Eden story told from the perspective of the snake, and learn how the world will end. In critically examining these ancient narratives and the communities that wrote them, you will learn about the content and history of the New Testament, better appreciate the diversity of formative Christianity, understand the historical context of the early church, examine the earliest social forms of Christianity, and explore the politics behind what did and did not make it into the bible.  WR, HU
MW 2:30pm-3:45pm

* RLST 015a / SAST 057a, Gods and Heroes in Indian Religions  Phyllis Granoff

The basic doctrines and practices of India's three classical religions, Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism, explored through close reading of texts in translation. Lives of the founders, great monks, nuns, and lay followers of Buddhism and Jainism; myths of the major Hindu gods; heroines and goddesses in the three traditions. Enrollment limited to first-year students. Preregistration required; see under First-Year Seminar Program.  HU
MW 2:30pm-3:45pm

* RLST 018a / SAST 058a, Yoga in South Asia and Beyond  Supriya Gandhi

The history of yoga practice and thought from the earliest textual discussions of yoga until the present day. Topics include the body, cosmology, cross-cultural interactions, colonialism, and orientalism. Enrollment limited to freshmen. Preregistration required; see under Freshman Seminar Program.  HU
MW 11:35am-12:50pm

RLST 100a / MMES 191a, Introduction to World Religions  Gerhard Bowering

Introduction to the literature, ideals, concepts, practices, rituals, and institutions of four major world religions as they have appeared in history: Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. A historical survey combined with a phenomenological treatment of principal topics.  HU
TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm

* RLST 102b / EAST 390b, Atheism and Buddhism  Hwansoo Kim

A critical examination of atheism and religions (Buddhism), with a focus on intellectual, religious, philosophical, and scientific debates about God, the origin of the universe, morality, evolution, neuroscience, happiness, enlightenment, the afterlife, and karma. Readings selected from philosophical, scientific, and religious writings. Authors include some of the following: Charles Darwin, Bertrand Russell, Christopher Hitchins, Richard Dawkins, Deepak Chopra, Sam Harris, Owen Flanagan, Stephen Batchelor, and the Dalai Lama.  HU
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

* RLST 105b, Animals in Indian Religions  Phyllis Granoff

Examination of divergent beliefs about the place of animals in the hierarchy of living beings. Study of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain texts dealing with animals, with readings of the Buddha's births as an animal, the Ramayana on the monkey god Hanuman, and Jain rebirth narratives. Philosophical readings on animal sacrifice culminate in a consideration of recent debates against sacrifice in the Indian supreme court.  HU
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

* RLST 107a / PHIL 192a, Metaphysics and Modernity  Nancy Levene

This course surveys concepts and controversies in and among select works of philosophy, theology, and literature. The focus is twofold: on reading works in view of their own principles, thus on questions of truth and interpretation, and on histories of the ideas, thus on questions of origin, change, and story. What and when is metaphysics? What and when is modernity?  HU
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

RLST 115a / AMST 116a, How to Build an American Religion  Kathryn Lofton

How communities can be organized through code, charisma, ritual, and cosmology. Topics include strategies for concretizing utopia and establishing communal principles, expanding audiences, and specifying creed. This course serves as an introduction to religion through theoretical readings and specific examples drawn from the transnational American scene, past and present. Discussion of particular leaders, sects, practices, and media will offer insights into how ideas organize societies and individuals establish themselves as icons. Students adapt strategies taught in the course in order to practice their own capacity to foster social movements, develop and critique brands, and consider the relationship between religion, politics, and economy.  HU
MW 1:30pm-2:20pm

RLST 118b / PLSC 242b, Biblical and Constitutional Interpretation in Dialogue  Maria Doerfler

How people read important books. Study of the strategies used throughout history to interpret two of the most authoritative texts: the bible and the U.S. Constitution. Different exegetes and exegetical communities continue to disagree on ways to read these books, and on how these readings should shape thought, practice, and national policy. Case studies include discussion of proper relations between civic and religious communities; the issue of slavery; and the topic of same-sex marriage.  WR, HU
MW 11:35am-12:50pm

RLST 155b / HIST 351b / MMES 193b, The Golden Age of Islam  Gerhard Bowering

The development of Islamic civilization in the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, Iran, and India from Muhammad through the Mongol invasions to the rise of the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires (600–1500 C.E.). Emphasis on the intellectual and religious history of Islam in the age of the caliphates and during the rule of regional dynasties.  HU
TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm

RLST 160a / HIST 280a / ITAL 315a, The Catholic Intellectual Tradition  Carlos Eire

Introductory survey of the interaction between Catholicism and Western culture from the first century to the present, with a focus on pivotal moments and crucial developments that defined both traditions. Key beliefs, rites, and customs of the Roman Catholic Church, and the ways in which they have found expression; interaction between Catholics and the institution of the Church; Catholicism in its cultural and sociopolitical matrices. Close reading of primary sources.  HU
TTh 2:30pm-3:20pm

* RLST 121b / EALL 296b / EAST 391b, Religion and Culture in Korea  Hwansoo Kim

Introduction to Shamanism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Christianity, and new religions in Korea from ancient times to the present. Examination of religious traditions in close relationships with social, economic, political, and cultural environments in Korean society. Examination of religious tensions, philosophical arguments, and ethical issues that indigenous and foreign religions in Korea have engaged throughout history to maximize their influence in Korean society.  HU
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

* RLST 166b / PHIL 135b, Classical Arabic Philosophy  Frank Griffel

Close reading of primary texts from the Arabic philosophical tradition c. 750–1300, with attention to the major arguments and underlying assumptions of each author. The translation movement via al-Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), al-Ghazali, Maimonides, and others; the philosophical textbooks of Muslim madrasa education.  HU
TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm

RLST 188a / HSAR 143a / SAST 260a, Introduction to the History of Art: Buddhist Art and Architecture, 900 to 1600  Mimi Yiengpruksawan

Buddhist art and architecture of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Tibet from the tenth century to the early modern period. Emphasis on cross-regional engagements including the impact of Islam.  HU
TTh 2:30pm-3:45pm

* RLST 197a, Introduction to Jain Story Literature  Phyllis Granoff

This course allows students to gain familiarity with the wealth of narrative literature preserved by Jains in commentaries to canonical sutras, medieval Treasuries of Stories, and monastic biographies. Where appropriate students also read and discuss corresponding Buddhist narratives. All reading is in the primary languages. One year of Sanskrit required.  HU
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

* RLST 201a / HIST 232Ja / HUMS 443a / JDST 270a / MMES 342a, Medieval Jews, Christians, and Muslims In Conversation  Ivan Marcus

How members of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities thought of and interacted with members of the other two cultures during the Middle Ages. Cultural grids and expectations each imposed on the other; the rhetoric of otherness—humans or devils, purity or impurity, and animal imagery; and models of religious community and power in dealing with the other when confronted with cultural differences. Counts toward either European or Middle Eastern distributional credit within the History major, upon application to the director of undergraduate studies.  WR, HU  RP
W 9:25am-11:15am

RLST 202b / HIST 345b / JDST 265b / MMES 148b, Jews in Muslim Lands from the Seventh to the Sixteenth Centuries  Staff

Jewish culture and society in Muslim lands from the time of the Prophet Muhammad to that of Suleiman the Magnificent. Topics include Islam and Judaism; Jerusalem as a holy site; rabbinic leadership and literature in Baghdad; Jewish courtiers, poets, and philosophers in Muslim Spain; and the Jews in the Ottoman Empire.  HU  RP
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm

* RLST 233a / ENGL 346a / HUMS 253a, Poetry and Faith  Christian Wiman

Issues of faith examined through poetry, with a focus on modern Christian poems from 1850 to the present. Some attention to poems from other faith traditions, as well as to secular and antireligious poetry.  HU
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

RLST 245a / ARCG 244a / NELC 109a, The Age of Akhenaton  John Darnell

Study of the period of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaton (reigned 1353–1336 B.C.E.), often termed the Amarna Revolution, from historical, literary, religious, artistic, and archaeological perspectives. Consideration of the wider Egyptian, ancient Near Eastern, African, and Mediterranean contexts. Examination of the international diplomacy, solar theology, and artistic developments of the period. Reading of primary source material in translation.  HU
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm

* RLST 251a / AFST 128a / ARCG 128a / EGYP 128a, Magic and Ritual in Ancient Egypt  John Darnell

Introduction to ancient Egyptian magic and rituals with an overview on the use of magic and discussion of the different rituals and festivals attested in Ancient Egypt.  HU
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

* RLST 260a / AMST 451a / HIST 174Ja, Religion, War, and the Meaning of America  Harry Stout

The relationship between religion and war in American history from colonial beginnings through Vietnam. The religious meanings of Americans at war; the mutually reinforcing influences of nationalism and religion; war as the norm of American national life; the concept of civil religion; biblical and messianic contexts of key U.S. conflicts.  HU
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

RLST 268b / HIST 281b, Christian Mysticism, 1200–1700  Carlos Eire

An introductory survey of the mystical literature of the Christian West, focusing on the late medieval and early modern periods. Close reading of primary texts, analyzed in their historical context.  HU
TTh 2:30pm-3:20pm

* RLST 277a / PHIL 202a, Existentialism  Noreen Khawaja

Introduction to key problems in European existentialism. Existentialism considered not as a unified movement, but as a tradition of interlocking ideas about human freedom woven through the philosophy, religious thought, art, and political theory of late modern Europe. Readings from Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heti, Lukács, Gide, Heidegger, Fanon, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Cesaire.  HU
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

RLST 290a / MMES 290a / PLSC 435a, Islam Today: Jihad and Fundamentalism  Frank Griffel

Introduction to modern Islam, including some historical background. Case studies of important countries in the contemporary Muslim world, such as Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. Islam as a reactive force to Western colonialism; the ideals of Shari'a and jihad; violence and self-sacrifice; and Islam as a political ideology.  HU
TTh 10:30am-11:20am

* RLST 303b / PHIL 311b, The End of Metaphysics  Nancy Levene

Exploration of metaphysics in light of the supposition that it is at an end. Readings from classics and critics in philosophy, religion, and literature.  WR, HU
T 3:30pm-5:20pm

* RLST 306a, Ethics of Forgiveness  Andrew Forsyth

What does it mean to forgive? Is forgiveness a cross-cultural phenomenon—a human universal? Or are forgiveness's assumptions and practices reliant on particular cultural, religious, or philosophical underpinnings? This seminar proceeds historically and thematically. We move from Ancient Greece and Rome, through early Judaism and Christianity and the thought world of medieval Europe, to early-modern, modern, and post-modern philosophical, theological, and literary terrains. And we ask questions such as: Who can forgive? Which reasons (if any) are needed to forgive? How does divine forgiveness relate to human forgiveness? Can states or nations forgive? And is forgiving a virtue, a duty, or just a moral option?  HU
T 3:30pm-5:20pm

* RLST 321a / SAST 362a, Hindus and Muslims in South Asia  Supriya Gandhi

Study of engagements between Hindu and Muslim traditions in South Asia from medieval to modern times. Exploration of historical case studies of Hindu-Muslim relations and the formation of religious identities, as well as how memories of the past intersect with modern discourses on religion and politics.  HU
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

* RLST 368b / EVST 368b / HIST 491Jb / HSHM 479b, The History of the Earth from Noah to Darwin  Ivano Dal Prete

Young earth creationism and flood geology have long been among the most divisive features of American culture and politics. Yet a basic postulate is shared across the spectrum: for better or worse, the old age of the Earth is regarded as the recent product of a secular science, consistently rejected by traditional Christianity. This seminar challenges this long-established narrative, by uncovering the surprising boldness, complexity, and societal diffusion of pre-modern debates on the history of the Earth, and of humankind itself. Students have opportunity to explore the nature, assumptions, and methods of Earth sciences before the advent of modern geology, to question ingrained assumptions about their relation to religion and society, and to place outstanding issues into historical perspective. How have the great monotheistic religions dealt with the possibility of an ancient Earth? Was a young creation always important in traditional Christianity? If not, what led to the emergence of young Earth creationism as a force to be reckoned with? What are the intellectual roots of American preadamism, which claims that the black and white races were created at different times and do not descend from the same ancestor? These and other questions are addressed not only through scholarly literature in the field, but also with the analysis of literary, visual, and material sources available on campus.  WR, HU
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

* RLST 390a / RUSS 228a, Russian Religious Culture in Thought and Practice  Harvey Goldblatt

Examination of the Russian Religious Culture through the centuries, from the origins of an Old Rus´ spiritual civilization in the 11th century to the emergence of post-Soviet literature and art forms in the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Representative works in literature and the visual arts, which deal with both elite and popular culture as well as religious and secular modes of discourse, are chosen from both old Russian bookish culture to the new Russian cultural trends that have their origins in the seventeenth century. All works are examined against a broad comparative background to illustrate the variant and invariants in the long history of Russian religious culture. Special attention is devoted to (1) diverse interpretive approaches and methodological perspectives, (2) traditional and innovative theories of literary and artistic expression, and (3) the connections between cultural activity and ideological trends. All readings and discussions are in English.  HU
W 1:30pm-3:20pm