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| Religion-African Religions | |
| RELA 1559 | New Course in African Religion (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions | |
| RELA 2400 | Introduction to Africana Religions (3) |
| An introductory survey course exploring the topic of Africana religions generally -- including the practices of spirituality of black people in the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and on the continent of Africa. Particular attention will be paid to the relations between these various locations, the similarities and differences. We will engage music, watch film, read fiction, poetry, sacred texts and works of critical nonfiction. Course was offered Fall 2023 | |
| RELA 2559 | New Course in African Religions (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions. | |
| RELA 2700 | Festivals of the Americas (3) |
| Readings will include contemporary ethnographies of religious festivals in the Caribbean ans South, Central, and North America, and increase their knowledge of the concepts of sacred time and space, ritual theory, and the relationships between religious celebration and changing accounts of ethnicity. | |
| RELA 2748 | Introduction to African Philosophy: Race, Religion, and Rationality (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course will survey the central debates of the field of African Philosophy: what counts as "African"? what counts as "philosophy"?, the universality or cultural particularity of rationality, the role of race and racism in modern, Western Philosophy, the role of writing and orality in philosophy, and "African" conceptions of the self, truth, knowledge, gender, ethics, and justice. Course was offered Summer 2024, Spring 2024 |
| RELA 2750 | African Religions (3) |
| Introduces the mythology, ritual, philosophy, and religious art of the traditional religions of sub-Saharan Africa, also African versions of Christianity and African-American religions in the New World. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2017, Fall 2014, Summer 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2009 | |
| RELA 2800 | Introduction to Yoruba Religions (3) |
| The Orisa traditions of the Yoruba-speaking peoples of West Africa have survived and thrived across centuries of war, slavery, and colonization, and continue to provide meaning to the lives of millions of people all over the world. This course will survey the various Orisa traditions of West Africa and the Americas, their interactions with other traditions as well as their influence on Black Atlantic art and spirituality. Course was offered Fall 2022 | |
| RELA 2850 | Afro- Creole Religions in the Americas (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | A survey course which familiarizes students with African-derived religions of the Caribbean and Latin America Course was offered Spring 2021, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2010 |
| RELA 3000 | Women and Religion in Africa (3) |
| This course examines women's religious activities, traditions and spirituality in a number of different African contexts. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, literary, and religious studies scholarship, we will explore a variety of themes and debates that have emerged in the study of gender and religion in Africa. Topics will include gendered images of sacred power; the construction of gender through ritual; sexuality and fertility; and women. Course was offered Spring 2024, Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2015, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| RELA 3073 | Religion and Society in Nigeria (3) |
| Not only is Nigeria home to uniquely dynamic, diverse, and globally influential religious traditions, but these traditions have profoundly shaped the history, culture, and politics of the nation-state of Nigeria and its diaspora. This course examines the historical development of religious traditions in Nigeria and their interactions. Course was offered Spring 2022 | |
| RELA 3351 | African Diaspora Religions (3) |
| This seminar examines changes in ethnographic accounts of African diaspora religions, with particular attention to the conceptions of religion, race, nation, and modernity found in different research paradigms. Prerequisite: previous course in one of the following: religious studies, anthropology, AAS, or Latin American studies | |
| RELA 3559 | New Course in African Religions (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions. Course was offered Spring 2024, January 2023, Janiuary 2022, Fall 2021, January 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, January 2020, Spring 2016, Fall 2014 | |
| RELA 3730 | Religious Themes in African Literature and Film (3) |
| An exploration of religious concepts, practices and issues as addressed in African literature and film. We will examine how various African authors and filmmakers weave aspects of Muslim, Christian and/or traditional religious cultures into the stories they tell. Course materials will be drawn from novels, memoirs, short stories, creation myths, poetry, feature-length movies, documentaries and short films. | |
| RELA 3890 | Christianity in Africa (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Historical and topical survey of Christianity in Africa from the second century c.e. to the present. Cross listed with RELC 3890. Prerequisite: A course in African religions or history, Christianity, or instructor permission. |
| RELA 3900 | Introduction to Islam in Africa through the Arts (3) |
| This course will survey the history of Islam and Muslim societies in Africa through their arts. Covering three periods (Precolonial, Colonial, and Post-colonial), and four geographic regions (North, East, West, and Southern Africa), the course will explore the various forms and functions of Islamic arts on the continent. Through these artistic works and traditions we will explore the politics, cultures, and worldviews of African Muslim societies. | |
| RELA 4085 | Christian Missions in Contemporary Africa (3) |
| An examination of Christian missions in Africa in the 21st Century. Through a variety of disciplinary lenses and approaches, we examine faith-based initiatives in Africa--those launched from abroad, as well as from within the continent. What does it mean to be a missionary in Africa today? How are evangelizing efforts being transformed in response to democratization, globalization and a growing awareness of human rights? | |
| RELA 4510 | Advanced Topics in African Religions (3) |
| This topical course provides upper level undergraduate students in Religious Studies an opportunity for advanced coursework in African Religions | |
| RELA 4559 | New Course in African Religions (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions. Course was offered Spring 2014 | |
| RELA 5000 | Women and Religion in Africa (3) |
| This course examines women's religious activities, traditions and spirituality in a number of different African contexts. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, literary, and religious studies scholarship, we will explore a variety of themes and debates that have emerged in the study of gender and religion in Africa. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| RELA 5073 | Religion and Society in Nigeria (3) |
| Not only is Nigeria home to uniquely dynamic, diverse, and globally influential religious traditions, but these traditions have profoundly shaped the history, culture, and politics of the nation-state of Nigeria and its diaspora. This course examines the historical development of religious traditions in Nigeria and their interactions Course was offered Spring 2022 | |
| RELA 5094 | What is Love?: Reflections from the Islamic Tradition (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This seminar will examine some of the most profound and influential writings about love from the Islamic intellectual and poetic traditions. Perhaps more than any other civilization, the literary and philosophical traditions of Islamic civilization have been "love-centric." In this course we will closely read and discuss various philosophies and theories of love from the mundane to the mystical. |
| RELA 5559 | New Course in African Relgions (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions Course was offered Spring 2020, Fall 2012 | |
| RELA 5620 | Ritual & Remembrance (3) |
| By reading ethnographic accounts of ritual performances in West Africa and its Atlantic diaspora, the seminar considers theories of ritual, discursive and non-discursive forms of remembrance, and the production, malleability and politics of memory amidst the particular challenges that the histories of slavery, colonialism, and collective trauma pose to the development of collective identities in the Afro-Atlantic World. | |
| RELA 5750 | INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN RELIGIONS (3) |
| An introduction to African religions that originated south of the Sahara. Drawing on ethnographic, historical, and religious studies scholarship, we explore indigenous religious systems, institutions, and ways of knowing ¿ including cosmologies, rituals, healing and devotional practices. We assess the impact of colonialism on African religious cultures, consider developments in the postcolonial era, and discuss Islam and Christianity. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| RELA 7410 | Yoruba Religion (3) |
| The study Yoruba traditional religion, ritual art, independent churches, and religious themes in contemporary literature in both Africa and the Americas. Prerequisite: RELA 4100 Yoruba Religion | |
| RELA 7559 | New Course in African Religions (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions. Course was offered Spring 2015, Spring 2012 | |
| RELA 8559 | New Course in African Religions (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of African Religions. | |
| RELA 8757 | Tutorial: Religion and Decoloniality (3) |
| This individualized graduate tutorial covers some of the most important authors and developments in decolonial studies, with particular attention to their relevance and intersection with religious studies. The goal of the tutorial is to train graduate students in the emerging canon of work on decoloniality, its methods of exposing, critiquing, and dismantling coloniality in academic disciplines and beyond, and its importance to religious studies. Course was offered Fall 2022 | |
| Religion-Buddhism | |
| RELB 1559 | New Course in Buddhism (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Buddhism. | |
| RELB 2054 | Tibetan Buddhism Introduction (3) |
| Provides a systematic introduction to Tibetan Buddhism with a strong emphasis on tantric traditions of Buddhism - philosophy, contemplation, ritual, monastic life, pilgrimage, deities & demons, ethics, society, history, and art. The course aims to understand how these various aspects of Tibetan religious life mutually shape each other to form the unique religious traditions that have pertained on the Tibetan plateau for over a thousand years. Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Janiuary 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| RELB 2067 | Buddhism and Environmental Thought and Practice (3) |
| An introduction to environmental ideas, texts and practices of Buddhism in broad historical and geographical context. Engages Buddhist "environmental imagination" through readings of primary texts, considers the ways that contemporary Buddhists around the world have interpreted environmental problems, and the ways that Buddhist modernist movements draw upon Buddhist ideologies in the service of social-environmental change. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2023 | |
| RELB 2100 | Buddhism (3) |
| Theravada, Mahayana, and Tantrayana Buddhist developments in India. Course was offered January 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Summer 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Summer 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| RELB 2120 | Buddhist Literature (3) |
| Introduces Buddhist literature in translation, from India, Tibet, and East and South East Asia. Course was offered Spring 2018 | |
| RELB 2130 | Taoism and Confucianism (3) |
| Surveys the major religions of Chinese Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. | |
| RELB 2135 | Chinese Buddhism (3) |
| This course examines the ways in which Chinese Buddhism differs from the Buddhisms of other countries. The first half of the course introduces Buddhism with a focus on the historical development of the tradition.The second half of the course surveys several philosophical schools and forms of practice including Huayan, Chan, Pure Land, and Tantric Buddhism. | |
| RELB 2165 | Buddhist Meditation and the Modern Secular World (3) |
| This course focuses on meditation from three overlapping perspectives: traditional Buddhist practices, contemporary scientific research, and modern secular adaptations; students also learn secular meditative practices firsthand. Each day we will explore a major type of meditation that relates to a variety of topics and practices - attention, insight, compassion, aesthetics, somatic work, visualization, open awareness, and so forth. | |
| RELB 2200 | Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This is a lecture-based course--an idiosyncratic but hopefully helpful introduction to Buddhist philosophy. A few aspects of Buddhist philosophy, at any rate. The subject is potentially endless and can be grabbed from several different ends. Note: this course emphasizes the history of Buddhist concepts and arguments in premodern South Asia. But we will explore what are hopefully ideas of interest: in philosophy of mind; metaphysics; gender. |
| RELB 2252 | Buddhism in Film (3) |
| This course is an introduction to Buddhism and an exploration of the place of Buddhism within contemporary Asian, European, and North American cultures through film. The goals are 1) to identify longstanding Buddhist narrative themes in contemporary films, 2) to consider how Buddhism is employed in films to address contemporary issues, and 3) to gain through film a vivid sense of Buddhism as a complex social and cultural phenomenon. | |
| RELB 2450 | Zen (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Studies the development and history of the thought, practice, and goals of Zen Buddhism. |
| RELB 2559 | New Course in Buddhism (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Buddhism. | |
| RELB 2715 | Introduction to Chinese Religion (3) |
| This course serves as an introduction to the religious beliefs and practices of China, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora. The course covers several broad themes in Chinese religion, including ritual, self-cultivation, means of communicating with the gods, and the intersection of political authority and religion. We will engage with textual, material, and visual traditions. | |
| RELB 2770 | Daoism (3) |
| This course surveys the history of Daoist literature, thought, and practice. We will consider how early Daoism emerged in the context of other religious practices, how it developed institutional forms, and how textual revelations led to new traditions. We will also examine how Daoism defined itself against Buddhism and the role Daoist ritual plays in the contemporary religious landscape of Taiwan and China | |
| RELB 2900 | Buddhist Meditation Traditions (3) |
| The goal of this course will be to examine different conceptions of Buddhist meditation and how these different conceptions affect the nature of practice and the understanding of the ideal life within a variety of Buddhist traditions. Thus, the study of Buddhist meditation traditions reveals not just intricate forms of practice, but reveals the nature of the good life and how one lives it. | |
| RELB 3000 | Poetry and Meditation (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Buddhist Mysticism and Modernity |
| RELB 3030 | Mindfulness and Compassion: Living Fully Personally and Professionally (3) |
| This course provides an in-depth experience in contemplative practices to prepare students to live more fully, be more engaged & compassionate citizens & professionals, & navigate life's stressors with greater clarity, peace of mind, & healthy behaviors. Besides mindfulness training, this course will also foster the cultivation of compassion and prosocial qualities. For more info: http://pages.shanti.virginia.edu/Mindfulness__Compassion/. Course was offered Spring 2018, Spring 2017 | |
| RELB 3150 | Seminar in Buddhism and Gender (3) |
| This seminar takes as its point of departure Carolyn Bynum's statements: "No scholar studying religion, no participant in ritual, is ever neuter. Religious experience is the experience of men and women, and in no known society is this experience the same." The unifying theme is gender and Buddhism, exploring historical, textual and social questions relevant to the status of women and men in the Buddhist world from its origins to the present day. Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Fall 2010 | |
| RELB 3160 | The Religions of Japan (3) |
| This course is a survey of religions in Japan as well as their roles in Japanese culture and society. The topics that will be discussed are syncretism between Buddhism and Shinto, the development of uniquely Japanese forms of Buddhism, the spontaneous emergence of Pure Land Buddhism, the use of Shinto as a nationalistic ideology, and the role of Christianity. No prerequisites; but a basic knowledge of Buddhism or Japanese history is useful. | |
| RELB 3180 | Nondualism (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Common to all the world¿s philosophies is engagement with the claim that all that exists in the universe is ultimately one, whether in one¿s awareness or in actual fact. This course examines how Hindus and Buddhists have articulated this idea, basing the same in detailed analysis of one¿s subjective awareness of reality, in an examination of the nature of existence independent of one¿s experience of it, and on the basis of scriptural revelation. |
| RELB 3190 | Buddhist Nirvana (3) |
| This seminar will examine what Buddhists mean when they talk about Nirvana. We'll begin with how the concept of Nirvana develops in the culture in which Sakyamuni Buddha lived and taught, explore how different forms of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Tibet, China, Japan, and in the west developed new ideas about what Nirvana is and how it can be experienced. We'll read classic sutras on the topic, as well as books and essays by contemporary Zen Masters. | |
| RELB 3408 | Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy (3) |
| Tibet possesses one of the great Buddhist philosophical traditions in the world. Tibetan Buddhist thinkers composed comprehensive and philosophically rigorous works on human growth according to classical Buddhism, works that surveyed ethics, meditation practice, the nature of personal identity, and enlightenment itself. In this seminar we will read and discuss famous Tibetan overviews of Buddhist philosophy. Pre-Requisites: One prior course in religion or philosophy recommended | |
| RELB 3422 | Anthropology of Global Buddhism (3) |
| This course examines social and cultural dynamics of Buddhism in relation to its rapid and recent transmutation into a global religion. Drawing upon anthropological theory on globalization, and ethnographic and historical studies, it addresses topics such as processes of transmission and adaptation, encounters with modernity, and the role of mass migration and electronic media in the process of transnationalization of Buddhist traditions. Course was offered Spring 2018 | |
| RELB 3495 | Early Buddhism in South Asia (3) |
| This course explores the origins and development of Buddhism in South Asia. It assumes students have no prior knowledge of Buddhism. The goal is to understand the complex of teachings, practices, and relationships that would become known later as Buddhism and, simultaneously, how such a complex has developed within specific cultural contexts. | |
| RELB 3559 | New Course in Buddhism (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Buddhism. Course was offered Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| RELB 3655 | Buddhism in America (3) |
| This course is a seminar that examines the development of Buddhism in America going from its earliest appearance to contemporary developments. Course was offered Fall 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2019, Fall 2017, Fall 2015, Fall 2012, Spring 2012 | |
| RELB 4520 | Advanced Topics in Buddhism (3) |
| This topical course provides upper level undergraduate students in Religious Studies an opportunity for advanced coursework in Buddhism Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| RELB 4559 | New Course in Buddhism (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Buddhism | |
| RELB 5011 | Readings in Chinese Buddhist Texts I, II (3) |
| Instruction in the reading and interpretation of Chinese Buddhist texts and the use of reference tools such as Chinese language dictionaries, bibliographies, encyclopedias, and indices. Course was offered Fall 2009 | |
| RELB 5012 | Readings in Chinese Buddhist Texts I, II (3) |
| Instruction in the reading and interpretation of Chinese Buddhist texts and the use of reference tools such as Chinese language dictionaries, bibliographies, encyclopedias, and indices. | |
| RELB 5027 | Buddhism and Orientalism (3) |
| This course will explore how scholars have understood the concept of Orientalism to describe processes in which Westerners have distorted (and even constructed wholesale) understandings of what Buddhism can be to serve their own interests. We will begin with Edward Said's foundational work, Orientalism, then consider how his ideas have been used to develop critiques of Western understandings of Buddhism up to the present day. Course was offered Spring 2023 | |
| RELB 5047 | The History of Tibetan Buddhist Literature (3) |
| A history of Tibetan Buddhist literature from the origins in the 7th century to the early 20th century, focused on literature produced in Tibet, covering major genres and styles from all the major schools, traditions, eras and regions. Weekly readings of excerpts and short pieces. Course is entirely in English translation. Knowledge of Tibetan language encouraged but not required. Seminar format, active discussion required. Course was offered Fall 2022 | |
| RELB 5055 | Buddhist Philosophy (3) |
| Study of the Pali and Sanskritic Buddhist philosophical traditions. Course was offered Spring 2024, Fall 2019, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2014, Spring 2012, Spring 2010 | |
| RELB 5170 | The Dalai Lamas of Tibet (3) |
| A seminar on the history, mythology, and Buddhist doctrinal basis of the Dalai Lamas, the most important religious and political leaders of traditional Tibet. Prerequisite: one course on Buddhism or Tibet Course was offered Spring 2012 | |
| RELB 5250 | Seminar in Japanese Buddhism (3) |
| Examines selected topics in the major schools of Japanese Buddhism, Tendai, Shingon, Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen. Prerequisite: RELB 2130 or 3160, or instructor permission. | |
| RELB 5390 | Tibetan Buddhist Tantra Dzokchen (3) |
| Examines the Dzokchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhist Tantra focusing on its philosophical and contemplative systems and its historical and social contexts. | |
| RELB 5430 | Sanskrit Religious Texts (3) |
| Readings in Sanskrit religious and philosophical texts, their syntax, grammar, and translation. Prerequisite: SANS 5010, 5020, or equivalent and instructor permission. | |
| RELB 5435 | Formations of Buddhist Modernity (3) |
| This class explores the issue of modernities as they take shape in relation to Buddhist cultures. As part of this, the class will also explore notions of the secular, as secular ideas often coincide with forms of modernity. Such explorations will require sustained side-glances at developments in Western countries and in some non-Buddhist contexts (particularly Hindu South Asia). | |
| RELB 5440 | Sanskrit Religious Texts (3) |
| Readings in Sanskrit religious and philosophical texts, their syntax, grammar, and translation. Prerequisite: SANS 5010, 5020, or equivalent and instructor permission. Course was offered Spring 2015, Spring 2013 | |
| RELB 5460 | Seminar in Mahayana Buddhism (3) |
| Studies the Middle Way School of Madhyamika, including Nagarjuna's reasoning and its intent and place in the spiritual path. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2015 | |
| RELB 5470 | Literary Tibetan V (3) |
| Advanced study in the philosophical and spiritual language of Tibet, past and present. Prerequisite: RELB 5000, 5010, 5350, 5360, or equivalent. | |
| RELB 5480 | Literary Tibetan VI (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Advanced study in the philosophical and spiritual language of Tibet, past and present. Prerequisite: RELB 5000, 5010, 5350, 5360, or equivalent. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011 |
| RELB 5490 | Religious History of Tibet (3) |
| Surveys political, social, religious, and intellectual issues in Tibetan history from the fifth to fifteenth centuries, emphasizing the formation of the classical categories, practices, and ideals of Tibetan Buddhism. Course was offered Fall 2018, Spring 2011 | |
| RELB 5495 | The Buddhist Canon: An Introduction (3) |
| This course introduces the structure, scope, and contents of the Tibetan-language Buddhist canonical collections. We will read and discuss selections in both English and Tibetan from the 5000 works in the Scripture (Bka' 'gyur) and Treatise (Bstan 'gyur) collections, as well as reference aids and current research on the canons. The course goal is to develop a firm basis for all research involving Tibetan-language canonical literature. | |
| RELB 5520 | Seminar in Daoism (3) |
| Topics on the history, scripture, thought, and practice of religious Daoism, with an emphasis on the formative period (2nd-10th c.). | |
| RELB 5559 | New Course in Buddhism (1 - 4) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Buddhism. Course was offered Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2010, Spring 2010 |
| RELB 5600 | Elementary Pali (3) |
| Studies Pali religious and philosophical works, including grammar and translation. Prerequisite: SANS 5010, 5020, or equivalent. Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2010 | |
| RELB 5610 | Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit (1 - 3) |
| Studies Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit works and their grammar and translation. Prerequisite: SANS 5010, 5020 or equivalent. | |
| RELB 5655 | Buddhism in America (3) |
| Over the fourteen weeks of the semester, we will explore the following question: How did we go from Buddhism as a highly marginal and even overtly marginalized phenomenon at the end of WWII to a highly influential and culturally powerful force? We will move toward one part of the answer by looking at the genealogy of insight meditation in America. Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| RELB 5660 | Seminar on Indian Buddhism (3) |
| Investigates the techniques and presuppositions involved in the methods used to study Buddhism, including textual, historical, philosophical, and social scientific methods. | |
| RELB 5715 | Seminar on Chinese Religion and Society (3) |
| Studies Chinese religion and society within the context of a specific period of Chinese history, or in terms of a specific theme. Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and popular religion will be covered (along with other forms of religion, as appropriate). | |
| RELB 5800 | Literary Tibetan VII (3) |
| Examines the Yogachara-Svatantrika system as presented in Jang-kya's Presentation of Tenets, oral debate, and exercises in spoken Tibetan. Prerequisite: RELB 5000, 5010, 5350, 5360, 5470, 5480 or equivalent. | |
| RELB 5810 | Literary Tibetan VIII (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Examines the Yogachara-Svatantrika system as presented in Jang-kya's Presentation of Tenets, oral debate, and exercises in spoken Tibetan. Prerequisite: RELB 5000, 5010, 5350, 5360, 5470, 5480 or equivalent Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012 |
| RELB 5991 | Seminar in Chinese Buddhism (3) |
| Examines the major schools of Chinese Buddhism: T'ien-t'ai, Hua-yen, Pure Land, and Ch'an. Course was offered Spring 2017 | |
| RELB 7559 | New Course in Buddhism (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Buddhism. Course was offered Spring 2018, Spring 2010 | |
| RELB 8200 | Literary Tibetan VII (4) |
| Literary Tibetan VII | |
| RELB 8210 | Literary Tibetan VIII (4) |
| Literary Tibetan VIII Course was offered Spring 2011 | |
| RELB 8230 | Advanced Literary and Spoken Tibetan (3) |
| Readings in various genres, including philosophy, poetry, ritual, narrative, and so forth. Course was offered Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| RELB 8310 | Advanced Sanskrit/Pali I (1 - 3) |
| Advanced readings in poetry, psychology, or philosophy. Course was offered Spring 2014, Spring 2010 | |
| RELB 8559 | New Course in Buddhism (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Buddhism. | |
| RELB 8706 | Tutorial in the Buddhist Canon in Tibet (3) |
| This tutorial introduces the structure, scope, and contents of the Tibetan-language Buddhist canonical collections. We will read and discuss selections in both English and Tibetan from the 5000 works in the Scripture (Bka' 'gyur) and Treatise (Bstan 'gyur) collections, as well as reference aids and current research on the canons. The course goal is to develop a firm basis for all research involving Tibetan-language canonical literature. | |
| RELB 8718 | Tutorial in Thalgyur Tantra and Commentary (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course is exploring one of the most important scriptures in the history of esoteric Buddhism, the Thalgyur, and its extensive commentary attributed to Vimalamitra. The two texts are over a thousand pages in length, only existent in Tibetan, and extremely difficult to understand. This course explores the texts through detailed philological and interpretative analysis. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Fall 2018, Spring 2018 |
| RELB 8721 | Tutorial in Sanskrit: Buddhist Tantra (3) |
| This tutorial constitutes a reading course in Sanskrit, the classical language of India. Students will read the original texts and translate them into English, analyzing and interpreting the materials in light of the Indian tradition of commentary and exegesis and in light of contemporary scholarly and other analyses of the relevant subject matter: Buddhist esoteric literature, a.k.a. Buddhist Tantra. | |
| RELB 8724 | Tutorial in Classical Tibetan Literature and Religion (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course explores classical Tibetan literature and religious systems through a variety of genres in the original Tibetan texts. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2019, Fall 2018 |
| RELB 8728 | Tutorial in Theravada Buddhism (3) |
| This tutorial explores key recent works on the Buddhism of South and Southeast Asia. It includes the study of pre-modern and modern forms of what comes to be called Theravada Buddhism. Course was offered Spring 2019 | |
| RELB 8733 | Tutorial in Buddhist Philosophy (3) |
| This tutorial will train students to read Buddhist Philosophical texts in Sanskrit at an advanced level. Course was offered Fall 2019, Spring 2019 | |
| RELB 8735 | Tutorial - Pali Reading (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | In this course students will read a selection of Pali canonical and commentarial texts. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2019 |
| RELB 8738 | Tutorial in Chinese Buddhist Texts (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This tutorial will focus on the translation of Chinese Buddhist texts into English. Texts will be drawn from a variety of time periods, traditions, and genres. Students will gain familiarity with Buddhist Chinese, and the themes and conventions of Buddhist texts. |
| RELB 8757 | Tutorial in History and Methodology of Buddhist Studies (3) |
| This tutorial will examine the field of Buddhist Studies from its formation in Asia, Europe, and North America to contemporary critiques. We will consider the underlying assumptions, historical changes in what is taken to be the object of study, and the contributions of different methodological approaches. The aim is to provide students of Buddhism with a means to situate their own research in the context of the larger field of Buddhist Studies. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| RELB 8758 | Tutorial in Gender and Buddhism in Asia (3) |
| This tutorial will examine the making of gender in Buddhist practice across Asia. We will interweave discussions in three regions of Asia: We will read historical texts on men, women, and Pa¿¿aka from South Asia; women as patrons of Buddhist art in East Asia; and contemporary ethnographic accounts of gender and gendered Buddhist movements in Southeast Asia Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| Religion-Christianity | |
| RELC 1050 | Introduction to Christian Traditions (3) |
| Explore Christianity in its modern and historical contexts, combining an examination of current historical and theological scholarship, worship, and practice. The emphasis is on modern American Christianity. | |
| RELC 1210 | Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Studies the history, literature, and religion of ancient Israel in the light of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Emphasizes methods of contemporary biblical criticism. Cross listed as RELJ 1210. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2009 |
| RELC 1220 | New Testament and Early Christianity (3) |
| Studies the history, literature, and theology of earliest Christianity in light of the New Testament. Emphasizes the cultural milieu and methods of contemporary biblical criticism. Course was offered Fall 2024, Summer 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Fall 2010, Spring 2010 | |
| RELC 1559 | New Course in Christianity (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Christianity | |
| RELC 2000 | The Bible and Its Interpreters (3) |
| Surveys Jewish and Christian interpretations of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). Examines how the Bible becomes sacred scripture for Jews and Christians. Course was offered Summer 2022 | |
| RELC 2050 | The Rise of Christianity (3) |
| This course traces the rise of Christianity in the first millennium of the Common Era, covering the development of doctrine, the evolution of its institutional structures, and its impact on the cultures in which it flourished. Students will become acquainted with the key figures, issues, and events from this formative period, when Christianity evolved from marginal Jewish sect to the dominant religion in the Roman Empire. | |
| RELC 2060 | The Reform and Global Expansion of Christianity (3) |
| How did Christianity become a global religion with hundreds of denominations and nearly two billion adherents? In this course, we will explore the reform and expansion of Christianity in the second millennium of the Common Era, from the high Middle Ages to the present day. | |
| RELC 2215 | Mormonism and American Culture (3) |
| This course is designed to add substantive depth to a general understanding of American religious pluralism and insight into the socio-historical context of American religion through the study of Mormonism. In addition to introducing Mormonism's basic beliefs and practices, the course will explore issues raised by Mormonism's move toward the American mainstream while retaining its religious identity and cultural distinctiveness. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2020, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014 | |
| RELC 2245 | Global Christianity (3) |
| The story of Christianity's emergence in the Middle East and its migration into Europe and then North America is just one aspect of Christian history, which also has a rich and long history in Africa, Asia and other parts of the global South. This course looks at the shape Christianity is taking in non-Western parts of the world and how this growth impacts Christianity in the West. | |
| RELC 2330 | History of Christian Social and Political Thought I (3) |
| Surveys the history of Christian social and political thought from the New Testament to 1850 including the relation of theological ideas to conceptions of state, family, and economic life. Course was offered Fall 2009 | |
| RELC 2340 | History of Christian Social and Political Thought II (3) |
| Surveys the history of Christian social and political thought from the rise of Social Gospel to the contemporary scene. Considers 'love' and 'justice' as central categories for analyzing different conceptions of what social existence is and ought to be. | |
| RELC 2360 | Elements of Christian Thought (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course considers the complex world of Christian thought, examining various perspectives on the nature of faith, the being and action of God, the identity of Jesus of Nazareth, the role of the Bible in theological reflection, and the relationship between Christian thought and social justice. Students will read various important works of Christian theology and become acquainted with a range of theological approaches and ideas. |
| RELC 2401 | History of American Catholicism (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course engages in a historical survey of American Catholicism from colonial beginnings to the present. It especially explores the theme of how Catholicism has been enculturated in America, how Catholic faith and practice have interacted with the social, cultural, and political environment of the nation. Course was offered Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELC 2460 | The Spirit of Catholicism: Its Creeds and Customs (3) |
| The course will trace the origins and development of Roman Catholic doctrine in light of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The following topics will be treated: the nature and person of Christ as examined in the first ecumenical councils from Nicaea (325) to Chalcedon (451); the nature of the Church and its authority vested in bishops and the pope; original sin, grace, and justification; the rise of hte Reformation in western Christianity; Course was offered Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| RELC 2559 | New Course in Christianity (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Christianity Course was offered Fall 2021, Spring 2018, Summer 2017, Summer 2016, Summer 2015, Summer 2014, January 2014, Fall 2013, January 2013, Fall 2011 | |
| RELC 2770 | The Black Church (3) |
| "The Black Church" carries unique symbolic weight in America--but why? This course explores how the idea of the Black Church gained moral authority, whether there is a collective Black Church or only black churches, the traditions and practices the concept names, who the concept celebrates and who it marginalizes, and how--or whether--the Black Church, as myth or reality, is still relevant in African American life today. | |
| RELC 2850 | The Kingdom of God in America (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course examines the influence of theological ideas on social movements in twentieth- and twenty-first-century America and investigates how religious commitments shape everyday living, including racial perception and economic, political, and sexual organization. The course will examine the American Civil Rights Movement, late 1960s counter-cultural movements, and recent faith-based community-development movements and organizing initiatives. Course was offered Spring 2021, Spring 2017 |
| RELC 3006 | Augustine's City of God (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | A text-focused class that will read the entire City of God, supplementing that work with several other of Augustine's smaller texts (particularly letters and sermons) to attempt to understand that work's argument, paying attention to the various audiences to which it was addressed, and to Augustine's larger thought as captured in that one great and difficult book |
| RELC 3009 | Protestant Theology (3) |
| This course uses the category of protest to understand western Christian thought in the modern period. We examine the rise and development of Protestant thought, considering how Christians conceptualized challenges to established ideas, norms, and institutional structures during and after the Reformation. | |
| RELC 3030 | Jesus and the Gospels (3) |
| This course focuses on Jesus of Nazareth as an historical figure, that is, as he is accessible to the historian by means of historical methods. Our most important sources of information on Jesus are the canonical Gospels, and so much of the course will involve reading and attempting to understand these texts. We will attempt to reconstruct at least the broad outlines of Jesus activity and teachings, keeping in mind the limits of our sources. Course was offered Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Summer 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Spring 2017, Fall 2014, Fall 2012, Summer 2012, Summer 2011, Summer 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| RELC 3040 | Paul: Letters and Theology (3) |
| Intensive study of the theological ideas and arguments of the Apostle Paul in relation to their historical and epistolary contexts. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Fall 2019, Fall 2015, Fall 2013, Fall 2011, Spring 2011 | |
| RELC 3043 | Themes in Eastern Orthodoxy: An Introduction (3) |
| This course is an introduction to the thematic core of the Orthodox Christian tradition. There is first reviewed the major elements of the Orthodox faith, its theology and doctrine, that developed over the course of the Byzantine era, This study is followed by an examination of writings on scripture and tradition, iconography. liturgy and sacrament, as well as the relationship of Orthodox Christianity to the culture. | |
| RELC 3045 | History of the Bible (3) |
| The history of the formation, transmission, translation, forms and uses of the Christian Bible from the 1st to the 21st century. Course was offered Spring 2013, Spring 2012 | |
| RELC 3055 | American Feminist Theology (3) |
| Contemporary theological models for American Christian feminists. The primary goal is to understand the various types of Christian feminism that exist in America today and how these theologies contribute to or challenge American feminism. Prerequisite: introductory religious studies and SWAG courses recommended. | |
| RELC 3056 | In Defense of Sin (3) |
| Critical analysis of Ten Commandments, seven deadly sins, and shifting prominence of sin in Judaism and Christianity | |
| RELC 3058 | The Christian Vision in Literature (3) |
| Studies selected classics of the Christian imaginative traditions; examines ways in which the Christian vision of time, space, self, and society emerges and changes as an ordering principle in literature and art up to the beginning of the modern era. | |
| RELC 3077 | Christian Theologies of Liberation (3) |
| In the context of Christian thought, "liberation theology" refers to scholarship that links reflection on God, Jesus of Nazareth, human beings, creation, the Holy Spirit, and ethics with normative analyses of race, sex and gender, economic injustice, poverty, sexuality, post-colonialism, and human rights. This course engages both landmark and cutting-edge texts in this field of study. | |
| RELC 3090 | Plagues, Pestilence, Pox, and Prophecy (3) |
| This course treats the phenomenon of prophecy in ancient Israel in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Biblical texts often deal with plagues and pestilence. Does our current location in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak help us understand these texts in new ways? How do these stories reveal ancient Israel's most cherished values? Do biblical accounts of plagues and pestilence offer us insight into our own predicament in the age of corona? | |
| RELC 3095 | The Bible in Fiction and Film (3) |
| In this course, we will study the biblical text itself, appreciating it in its own terms but also paying special attention to the ambiguities that activate our own imaginations. Then, we will analyze how fiction, film, and poetry respond to and re-imagine the biblical text-how they might make us think of the biblical text differently (or perhaps shed light on issues that were already there?). | |
| RELC 3115 | Evangelicalism (3) |
| From the revivals of George Whitefield to the antebellum abolitionists to the unexpected rise of Donald Trump, Evangelicals have played a vital and contested role in American society. Evangelicalism has also burgeoned into a truly global faith tradition, with an estimated 600 million+ adherents around the world. This course presents a multidisciplinary and polyperspectival introduction to this religious movement in World Christianity. | |
| RELC 3150 | Salem Witch Trials (3) |
| Salem Witch Trials | |
| RELC 3155 | Christianity and Ecology (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Reading historical and social analyses along with a range of environmental theologies, this seminar investigates entanglements of Christianity with modern environmental problems. It considers the influence of Christianities in various environmental imaginations, and the role of ecological science and environmental stress in reshaping religious imaginations. Course was offered Spring 2023 |
| RELC 3181 | Medieval Christianity (3) |
| This course introduces students to the extensive philosophical, theological and exegetical work of St. Thomas Aquinas. Students will read his foundational texts, a range of important tractates from the *Summa theologiae*, and a range of Aquinas's scriptural exegeses. Comparisons will be made to other scholastic theologians and commentators, including those of the previous generation, i.e., the monastic theologians. Course was offered Fall 2023, Spring 2015 | |
| RELC 3200 | Medieval Church Law (3) |
| Surveys the origins and development of the law of the Christian Church, the canon law, from its origins to its full elaboration in the 'classical period', 1140-1348. Readings and exercises from original sources will focus on general principles of the law, using marriage law as the particular case. | |
| RELC 3211 | American Christian Autobiography (3) |
| This course examines Americans' self-perceptions and religious analysis in light of dominant American values, notable national and international events, cultural trends, and Christian doctrine. Among the autobiographers are Henri Nouwen and Anne Lamott. Course was offered Summer 2010 | |
| RELC 3215 | American Religious Innovation (3) |
| This course is about America's newer religious movements: Scientology, Nation of Islam and Mormonism. The class will be using theories of ritual and text to understand how religious communities constitute themselves around an originating vision and retain a sense of continuity notwithstanding dramatic change. We will ask also why these three movements have created such crisis for the American state and anxiety among its citizens. | |
| RELC 3222 | From Jefferson to King (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | A seminar focused upon some of the most significant philosophical and religious thinkers that have shaped and continued to shape American religious thought and culture from the founding of the Republic to the Civil Rights Movement, including Thomas Jefferson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jane Addams, William James, Reinhold Niebuhr and Martin Luther King, Jr. We will explore how their thought influenced the social and cultural currents of their time. |
| RELC 3231 | Reformation Europe (3) |
| Surveys the development of religious reform movements in continental Europe from c. 1450 to c. 1650 and their impact on politics, social life, science, and conceptions of the self. | |
| RELC 3240 | Medieval Mysticism (3) |
| Introduces the major mystical traditions of the Middle Ages and the sources in which they are rooted. | |
| RELC 3245 | Religion, Law, and Culture (3) |
| An examination of the legal evolution, philosophical underpinnings and political application of the First Amendment religion clauses. Analysis of specific controversies and court opinions will be supported by attention to such key concepts as "secularism," "tolerance," "civilization," "gender" and "race" in the application of these clauses domestically and in U.S. foreign policy. | |
| RELC 3270 | Salvation in the Middle Ages (3) |
| Studies four topics in medieval Christian thought: How can human beings know God? How does Jesus save? How does grace engage free will? How does posing such questions change language? Authors include Athanasius, Irenaeus, Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, Anslem, Aquinas, Bernard of Clairvaux, Julian of Norwich, Martin Luther, and some modern commentators. | |
| RELC 3280 | Eastern Christianity (3) |
| Surveys the history of Christianity in the Byzantine world and the Middle East from late antiquity (age of emperor Justinian) until the fall of Constantinople. | |
| RELC 3292 | The Book of Job & Its Interpretation (3) |
| A seminar on the biblical book of Job (with attention to its literary artistry and compositional history) and its subsequent interpretation. Course was offered Spring 2015 | |
| RELC 3360 | Judaism and Christianity (3) |
| Studies the relationship between Judaism and Christianity from the origins of Christianity as a Jewish sect through the conflicts of the Middle Ages and modernity; and current views of the interrelationship. | |
| RELC 3447 | History of Christian Ethics (3) |
| Survey of development of Christian ethical thought and teaching from beginnings through Reformation era. Major ethical themes are traced through the centuries, as the church's scripture, evolving doctrine, and emerging tradition interact with secular society, politics, and philosophy. Readings will be taken mostly from primary texts, such as the Bible and the writings of selected Christian thinkers. Course was offered Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011 | |
| RELC 3465 | American Religion, Social Reform, and Democracy (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course examines the history of the interplay between theology, morality, social movements, and politics in America. Topics covered include temperance and prohibition, abolition, labor, civil rights, anti-war and pacifism, and environmentalism. Lecture, weekly readings (often a book), class presentations, short papers, and original research. |
| RELC 3469 | Survey of Apocryphal Christian Literature (3) |
| There are four gospels, one book of "acts," and one "apocalypse" (that is, "revelation") in the canonical New Testament -- but early Christian authors produced far more literature than that. In this course, we will read a wide range of "apocryphal" (or "noncanonical") gospels, acts, and apocalypses, focusing on texts that, despite their noncanonical status, were widely read and highly influential in the history of Christianity. Course was offered Fall 2021 | |
| RELC 3470 | Christianity and Science (3) |
| Christian Europe gave rise to modern science, yet Christianity and science have long appeared mutual enemies. In this course we explore the encounter between two powerful cultural forces and study the intellectual struggle (especially in Galileo, Newton, Darwin, and Freud) about the place of God in the modern world. | |
| RELC 3480 | Dynamics of Faith (3) |
| Studies a variety of contrasting contemporary accounts of the character and status of 'religious faith.' | |
| RELC 3550 | Faith and Reason (3) |
| Studies approaches to the relation between reason, faith, doubt, and certainty in selected classical writings (e.g., Aquinas, Pascal, Kant, Kierkegaard, William James). Course was offered Summer 2010 | |
| RELC 3559 | New Course in Christianity (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of Christianity. Course was offered Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| RELC 3610 | Female Saints in the Western Tradition (3) |
| This course is a study of the lives of female saints from the early Christianity through the present. The course focuses on the theological writings of female saints as well as exploring the cultural/historical importance of canonization. Prerequisite: one religious studies course. | |
| RELC 3620 | Modern Theology (3) |
| Who are the great modern Christian theologians? What do they have to say to us? What do they argue about? Who did they offend and why? In this seminar we shall read major works by four of the truly great modern theologians of the twentieth century. Two are Protestant (Karl Barth and Paul Tillich), and two are Catholic (Karl Rahner and Henri de Lubac). | |
| RELC 3625 | Christ (3) |
| This course is an introduction to Christology, that part of Theology concerned with the claim that Jesus is the Christ. How is this doctrine built up from Scripture, Church Councils, and the Fathers? What roles do heresies and creeds play in the construction? What events in the life and death of Jesus are most relevant to Christological claims? Particular attention is given to Jesus's preaching of the Kingdom of God. | |
| RELC 3645 | God and the Mystery of the World (3) |
| This course explores the experience and idea of mystery in theological perspective. The goal is to understand, analyze and appreciate the diverse expressions of mystery in human identity and psychology, social and ethical relation, and aesthetic encounter. Course was offered Spring 2018 | |
| RELC 3650 | Systems of Theological Ethics (3) |
| Examines one or more contemporary systems of Christian ethics, alternating among such figures as Reinhold Niebuhr, C.S. Lewis, Jacques Ellul, and Jacques Maritain. | |
| RELC 3665 | Gender and Sexuality in the Bible (3) |
| This course will interrogate the complex and diverse picture of gender and sexuality presented in the Bible. Students will read stories focusing on key biblical figures generating their own analysis on the dynamics of gender at play, while also considering ancient and modern interpretations and methodological approaches. Throughout, students will be exposed to the cultural and historical milieu that produced these texts. Course was offered Spring 2020, Spring 2019 | |
| RELC 3675 | Women in Ancient and Medieval Christianity (3) |
| Why were women excluded from the priestly hierarchy of the church? How did male clerics subsequently circumscribe women's roles in the church? And how did women respond? These are the questions that we will explore in this course on the intersection between gender and power in pre-modern Christianity. | |
| RELC 3681 | Cultural Catholicism (3) |
| Exploration of Roman Catholic experience outside structure of the Holy See (for example, devotions, pilgrimages, shrines, art, fiction, cinema, television), particularly as committed Catholics argue over how to honor their spiritual tradition in day-to-day life. Study of current challenges wrought by women, Jews, and gays. Special attention paid to contemporary intellectuals and artists who criticize John Paul II while fiercely guarding their own. Course was offered Fall 2011 | |
| RELC 3685 | Christianity, Gender, and Sexuality (3) |
| This class engages debates about Christianity, gender, and sexuality in past and present. Topics addressed include: biblical treatments of sex, gender, and sexuality; theological views of the human in patristic, medieval, and modern theology; Christianity, feminism, and feminist theology; sexuality and sexual ethics; and queer theology. Course was offered Spring 2020, Spring 2014 | |
| RELC 3690 | The Gospel of John and Its Interpretation (3) |
| A close reading of the Gospel of John, this course considers literary, historical, and theological issues. Questions raised include: What is distinctive about the portrayal of Jesus in the Gospel of John in comparison with the synoptic gospels. Why was this gospel so important for the development of Christian theology? Some attention will also be given to the book's reception history, especially its role in the early centuries of the church. | |
| RELC 3695 | Sex and Creation in Christianity (3) |
| What is the origin of human sexuality and what are it's purposes? What do sexual identities as male and female have to do with the Christian doctrines of Creation, the imago Dei (image of God), original sin, and salvation? Are male and female complementary or incidental? What value does the Christian faith five to the body? How should we view the body with respect to our sexuality. Premarital sex, dating, cohabitation, and marriage. Course was offered Fall 2013 | |
| RELC 3700 | The Revelation to John and Its Interpretation Throughout the Centuries (3) |
| Course considers both the book's meaning in the original first-century context and its reception through the ages in music, art, literature, film, politics, and theological works. | |
| RELC 3715 | Walker Percy and Flannery O'Connor (3) |
| The course covers the major fiction of two important American writers of the twentieth century who challenged and tested the modern temper with a Christian imagination and vision of the human condition Course was offered Spring 2015 | |
| RELC 3770 | Flannery O'Connor and Walker Percy (3) |
| This course covers the major fiction of two important American writers of the twentieth century who challenged and tested the modern temper with a Christian imagination and vision of the human condition. | |
| RELC 3790 | Augustine of Hippo (3) |
| Examines the life and thinking of Augustine of Hippo, a major figure in Christian history and a formative influence on Christian thought to this day. Prerequisite: Any RELC course or instructor permission. Course was offered Fall 2022 | |
| RELC 3795 | Theology, Spirituality and Ethics of Sustainability (3) |
| Primarily through the readings of theologians from the Protestant, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, this course explores theological, spiritual and ethical perspectives on the environmental issues that are becoming increasingly important across the globe. | |
| RELC 3804 | American Catholic Social and Political Thought (3) |
| This seminar examines American Catholic social and political thought. | |
| RELC 3835 | Christian Art (3) |
| Among other topics, this course explores the derogation of Jews as 'the people without art'; the theological implications of Augustine's renumbering of the commandments; the Protestant backlash against Catholic art in the Counter-Reformation; and the controversy surrounding the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which published twelve cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005. | |
| RELC 3880 | Religion in Children's Literature (3) |
| This course examines the great fairy tales and works of children's literature for their capacity to communicate moral norms and to instill virtue..The stories that are read raise a host of theological questions that touch on the meanings of faith, grace, good and evil, sin, forgiveness, and redemption. Stories included: Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Wind in the Willows, Narnia Chronicles, and fairy tales of Andersen, the Grimms, and MacDonlad Course was offered Spring 2014, Spring 2013 | |
| RELC 3890 | Christianity in Africa (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Historical and topical survey of Christianity in Africa from the second century c.e. to the present. Cross listed with RELA 389. Prerequisite: a course in African religions or history, Christianity, or instructor permission. |
| RELC 3910 | Women and the Bible (3) |
| Surveys passages in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and the New Testament that focus specifically on women or use feminine imagery. Considers various readings of these passages, including traditional Jewish and Christian, historical-critical, and feminist interpretations. Cross-listed as RELJ 3910. Prerequisite: Any religious studies course or instructor permission. | |
| RELC 4025 | Family Values (3) |
| Exploration of family structures and norms, specifically of what came to be known in the United States as 'family values' in the early 1970s, with particular attention to the Family Research Council and James Dobson's 'Focus on the Family' today. How are family values enforced and transmitted through religious communities, social pressures, and laws? | |
| RELC 4044 | Religion and the American Courts (3) |
| What is the nature of religion and its role in American society? This seminar will explore the limits of spiritual convictions in a liberal democracy which guarantees religious freedom. This course will examine: 1) the First Amendment; 2) legal methodology; and 3) the contemporary debate over whether citizens and public officials have a duty to refrain from making political and legal decisions on the basis of their religious beliefs. | |
| RELC 4085 | Missions in Contemp Africa (3) |
| An examination of Christian missions in Africa in the 21st Century. Through a variety of disciplinary lenses and approaches, we examine faith-based initiatives in Africa--those launched from abroad, as well as from within the continent. What does it mean to be a missionary in Africa today? How are evangelizing efforts being transformed in response to democratization, globalization and a growing awareness of human rights? Course was offered Fall 2023 | |
| RELC 4160 | Salem Essays (1) |
| An Opportunity for students to write a short essay based on the court records of the Salem Witch trials to be posted on the Salem Witch trials documentary archive. Prerequisite: RELC 4150 Salem Witch Trials | |
| RELC 4530 | Advanced Topics in Christianity (3) |
| This topical course provides upper level undergraduate students in Religious Studies an opportunity for advanced coursework in Christianity | |
| RELC 4559 | New Course in Christianity (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of Christianity. | |
| RELC 4610 | Sex and Morality (3) |
| A theological overview of Jewish and Christian reflection on proper sexual conduct in the United States, with specific emphasis on pre-marital sex, adoption, abortion, gay marriage, and the teaching of sex education in public schools. Course was offered Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| RELC 5009 | Theology, Resistance, Reconciliation: Bonhoeffer, Niebuhr, MLK, Soelle (3) |
| The course has four goals: (1) to understand the theologies of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Martin Luther King Jr.; (2) to explore the themes of resistance and reconciliation in their writings and actions; (3) to examine their ambivalent relationships with academic theology; and (4) to consider the promise of lived theology for contemporary religious thought. | |
| RELC 5043 | Prospects in Eastern Orthodox Theology (3) |
| A study of important theological writings from the past fifty years by Orthodox theologians on such topics as the dovtrine of God, Christology, liturgy, theological aesthetics, and ethics.This will include major works of Vladmimir Lossky, Seerius Bulgakoc John Zizioulas, and Alexander Schmeman, as well as more recent writers such as Kallistos Ware, Phillip Sherrard, ChrsitosYannaras, David Hart, Elizabeth Behr-Sigel and Olivier Clement. Course was offered Spring 2014 | |
| RELC 5048 | Philo of Alexandria and Hellenistic Judaism (3) |
| An indepth inquiry into the writings and thought of Philo of Alexandria (ca. 20 BCE-50 CE) Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| RELC 5052 | Seminar in American Catholic History (3) |
| Examines a selected movement, issue, or figure in the history of Catholicism in America. Prerequisite: Instructor permission. | |
| RELC 5077 | Pius XII, Hitler the US and WW II (3) |
| For the past forty years the role of Pius XII and the Vatican during World War II has been controversial. This seminar will look at that controversy and place it in the context of newly available archival material. The students will read several books on both sides of the question and then present their own research papers, the topics of which will be chosen in consultation with the professor. | |
| RELC 5080 | World Christianity (3) |
| A graduate seminar overview of Christianity's remarkable cross-cultural presence, highlighting the community's global scope, cultural pluriformity, and confessional diversity, as well as its historic and current centers in the Global South. Throughout, the class examines how a range of chronological, ideological, social, political, linguistic, and cultural contexts interact with Christian communities, beliefs, and practices. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| RELC 5090 | African-Americans and the Bible (3) |
| In this course, we will look at the ways African American scholars, clergy, laity, men, women, the free, and the enslaved, have read, interpreted, preached, and taught scripture. In examining these uses, we will also seek to sketch out a broader theology, history, and sociology of black people as they used the tool at hand, the Bible, to argue for their own humanity, create their own cultures, and establish their own societies. | |
| RELC 5130 | Being and God (3) |
| A constructive treatment of questions related to the possibility of the experience of being and God or of the being of God. Course was offered Fall 2013, Spring 2012 | |
| RELC 5135 | America's Bibles: Narrative Construction of Relig (3) |
| This course asks why and to what ends have Americans produced so many versions of the Bible, as well as several new scriptures, such as the Book of Mormon? We will be analyzing the uses of the Bible both as a sacred text for some and an unavoidable cultural object others. Questions of historicity and myth, reason and revelation will run throughout the course. Specific texts will raise issues of race, gender, nationalism, & millennialism. | |
| RELC 5155 | Ecology, Christianity, and Culture (3) |
| This seminar examines ancient through modern sources of an ecological vision within Christianity, including patristic and medieval writers, liturgy, hymnody and poetry, and contemporary writings on ecology and environmental ethics. The aim is to reach deeper than policy discussions; to canvas the theological and cultural resources that the Christian faith has furnished for adherence to and practice of a serious ecological ethos. Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| RELC 5158 | History of Christian Ethics (3) |
| This course is designed to provide a solid understanding of the historical roots, from the New Testament period to the Reformation, of Christian ethics, experience in working with historical source materials, and familiarity with some important interpreters of this history. In seminar discussions, we will primarily explore primary materials, but also consider the work of interpreters such as Ernst Troeltsch and Peter Brown. | |
| RELC 5230 | Pentecostalism (3) |
| Examines the history, theology, and practices of Pentecostalism, the fastest growing Christian movement in the world, from its origins among poor whites and recently freed African Americans to its phenomenal expansion in places like South America, Asia, and Africa. Course was offered Spring 2013, Spring 2010 | |
| RELC 5310 | Religions of the Roman Empire (3) |
| An investigation of the diverse religious landscape of the Greco-Roman world from the end of the Roman Republic through the rise of Christianity. We will consider a variety of religious practice and expression, including the Roman public cult, Dionysiac/Orphic cult, Isis cult, Mithras cult, Greco-Roman Magic, Hellenistic Judaism and early Christianity. Course was offered Fall 2009 | |
| RELC 5360 | Elements of Christian Thought (3) |
| This course considers the complex world of Christian thought. Engaging a wide range of ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary sources, it considers various approaches to theological reflection and diverse views on the identity of Jesus of Nazareth, the meaning of salvation, the being and action of God, and the nature of creation. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| RELC 5385 | The Song of Songs (3) |
| A seminar on the biblical Song of Songs (with attention to its literary artistry and compositional history) and its subsequent interpretation. | |
| RELC 5445 | The Atonement in Christian Thought (3) |
| This course engages landmark Christian statements about atonement. For about two-thirds of the semester, we read classic texts by Anselm of Canterbury, Julian of Norwich, Martin Luther, G. W. F. Hegel, and others. In the remaining third of the course we consider contemporary statements, with an especial focus on liberationist perspectives that examine the possible connections between Christian doctrines, violence, and discrimination.
Prerequisite: The course is open to graduate students in Religious Studies and undergraduates who have taken at least three academic classes on Christian thought at the university/college level. Course was offered Fall 2019, Spring 2015 | |
| RELC 5551 | Seminar in Early Christian Thought (3) |
| Intensive consideration of a selected issue, movement or figure in Christian thought of the second through fifth centuries. Prerequisite: RELC 2050 or instructor permission. | |
| RELC 5559 | New Course in Christianity (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of Christianity Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| RELC 5665 | Freedom: Theological & Philosophical Perspectives (3) |
| This seminar examines perspectives on freedom in landmark texts of Christian theology, western philosophy, and recent critical theory. It engages diverse accounts of (a) the relationship of divine and human action; (b) the nature of sin and grace; and (c) gender, sex, race, and class as they bear on human subjection and/or liberation. Course was offered Fall 2022, Spring 2017 | |
| RELC 5676 | Human Image, Divine Image (3) |
| This is a study of major figures of the Patristic and medieval Christianity as well as several modern or contemporary theologians who have reflected on the Imago Dei and the humanity of God with respect to Christology and Christian anthropology and inclusive of Christian dogmatics, hymnody, poetry, and sacramentology. Course was offered Spring 2015 | |
| RELC 5685 | Orthodoxy and Heresy in Early Christianity (3) |
| This seminar traces the making of Christian 'orthodoxy' in Late Antiquity. Our focus will be debates concerning the doctrines of God and Christ, which we will place in their historical, philosophical and exegetical contexts. Our study is informed by the move in modern scholarship towards anti-essentialist notions of orthodoxy and heresy, and so we will be attentive to the myriad ways in which early Christians sought to authorize their own views. Course was offered Fall 2014 | |
| RELC 5700 | Patristic Greek (3) |
| Readings of Greek fathers such as John Chrysoston and Gregory of Nazianzus, with emphasis on grammar, syntax and rhetoric. An intermediate to advanced level course. Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| RELC 5730 | Theological Interpretations of Culture (3) |
| Theological assessments of culture, considered as the human-made environment comprising: language and patterns of living; structures of belief, norms, and practices; and forms of work, thought, and expression. Topics include cultures as contexts for identity, secular experience and secularization, critiques of religion as an aspect of culture, cultural conflict and religious plurality, and theological interpretations of culture and nature. Course was offered Fall 2020 | |
| RELC 5795 | The Icon in Orthodox Christianity (3) |
| Course explores the history and theology of the icon. How is the icon itself a form of theology, and how does it function in liturgy and worship? Iconography understood as interpretation of Scripture and dogmatic teaching. Study of the theological aesthetics of the icon and of the images themselves, both traditional icons of the Byzantine and Russian type and gospel illuminations of the Armenian, Ethiopic and Coptic traditions. Course was offered Fall 2013 | |
| RELC 5830 | Love and Justice in Christian Ethics (3) |
| Examines various conceptions of love and justice in selected Protestant and Catholic literature mainly from the last fifty years. | |
| RELC 5840 | Christian Nationalism (3) |
| Amid a global resurgence of localism, populism, strong identity heritages, and nationalist political cultures, this graduate seminar explores the history, ideology, current form, and critiques of Christian Nationalism. It further raises questions about how Christians have thought, do think, and should think about their cultural contexts, national identities, and political orders. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| RELC 5850 | The Ethics of Death and Dying in Christian Thought (3) |
| This course examines Christian discussions of death & dying. It starts with a historical analysis of topics like Stoic influences, whether death is a good, the early modern art of dying tradition, & twentieth century shifts in dying. The second half of the class brings this historical material into discussion with key contemporary bioethical debates at the end of life including euthanasia, withdrawing treatment, & the determination of death. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| RELC 5910 | Religion, Race and Politics in American Society (3) |
| This course will examine the role of religion and race in politics in the US with an emphasis on elections from the 1960s to the present. Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| RELC 5970 | Schleiermacher and Tillich: Theology and Culture (3) |
| A comparative study of key works by F. D. E. Schleiermacher and Paul Tillich, two of the most important Protestant thinkers of the last two hundred years. The course attends particularly to both authors' attitudes to the category of "religion," the nature and meaning of cultural production, and the vexed category of "experience." It also engages both authors' perspectives on central issues in the fields of Christian thought and religious ethics. Course was offered Fall 2021 | |
| RELC 5976 | The Theology of Friedrich Schleiermacher (3) |
| An in-depth analysis of the major writings of Friedrich Schleiermacher, one of the most important European theologians of the nineteenth century. Texts studied include *On Religion*, *Hermeneutics*, *Brief Outline*, and *The Christian Faith* Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| RELC 5980 | The Theology of Karl Barth (3) |
| A semester-long engagement with the writings of the most important Protestant theologian in the twentieth century. While we will read some of Barth's earlier work, our main focus will be the *Church Dogmatics*. | |
| RELC 7245 | Religious Liberty in Historical and Legal Perspective (3) |
| An analysis of America's church-state conflicts and enduring questions that have tested and contributed to its evolving understanding of First Amendment guarantees of church disestablishment and freedom of conscience. Course was offered Spring 2016 | |
| RELC 7515 | Themes and Topics in Christian Thought (3) |
| An advanced graduate class, run tutorial-style, which will acquaint graduate students with core texts, themes, and thinkers in Christian thought. | |
| RELC 7559 | New Course Christianity (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Christianity. Course was offered Fall 2011 | |
| RELC 8315 | Trinity (3) |
| This seminar develops a systematic theology of the doctrine of the Trinity. Course was offered Spring 2011 | |
| RELC 8410 | Seminar on American Religious Thought I: Edwards to Emerson (3) |
| A historical and theological examination of seminal figures in the development of American religious thought from the Enlightenment through the 'American Renaissance.' Prerequisite: Instructor permission. | |
| RELC 8420 | Seminar on American Religious Thought II: Liberalism Through Neo-Orthodoxy (3) |
| A historical and theological examination of the work of major religious thinkers in American from 1860 to 1960. | |
| RELC 8559 | New Course in Christianity (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Christianity. | |
| RELC 8590 | Topics in New Testament Studies (3) |
| Selected issues in the theory and methods of New Testament criticism. Course was offered Spring 2011 | |
| RELC 8701 | Tutorial in Christian Apocrypha (3) |
| In this tutorial, students will work with manuscripts to produce an edition of a Greek text, an English translation of that edition, and a short commentary on the text. Students will also assemble an annotated bibliography. | |
| RELC 8702 | Tutorial in Translating Greek (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | In this tutorial, students will work on developing translation skills: grammar will be reviewed as necessary. |
| RELC 8705 | Tutorial in Translating Biblical Poetry (3) |
| An advanced tutorial in translating biblical poetry, with several interrelated goals: developing skills in advanced biblical grammar; furthering capacities for biblical interpretation; exploring the dynamics of biblical poetry; understanding how ancient poetry and biblical books formed, developed, and were redacted; evaluating secondary literature as a prelude to developing sound arguments and coherent elegant translations. | |
| RELC 8712 | Tutorial in Christian Ethics (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | A tutorial covering major themes and texts in Christian moral thought from antiquity to present. Course was offered Spring 2018 |
| RELC 8729 | Bible, Culture, and Ritual in the Eastern Roman Empire (3) |
| The Bible played a deeply formative role in shaping the culture of the later Roman Empire, particularly in the Eastern regions, where Christianity had initially spread much more widely and more rapidly than in the West. This seminar will examine, through a close reading of a wide variety of texts in English translation, the various ways that the Bible was woven into the fabric of the later Roman and Byzantine empires. Course was offered Spring 2019 | |
| RELC 8731 | Tutorial in The Theology of Karl Barth (3) |
| In this tutorial, we will examine works by Karl Barth, arguably the most important European Protestant theologian of the twentieth century. In addition to considering occasional works, we will read large portions of the Church Dogmatics. We will engage major doctrinal themes -- revelation, the Trinity, Christology, pneumatology, theological anthropology and ethics, ecclesiology, Christian life, -- and a range of philosophical and political issue Course was offered Spring 2019 | |
| RELC 8737 | Creation and Providence Tutorial (3) |
| This tutorial explores Christian statements regarding the origin of the world and the relationship that God has with the world and its creatures. Topics include the doctrine of creation from nothing, divine action, the nature of human and nonhuman beings, sex and gender, problem of evil, and the relationship between Christian theology, philosophy, scientific inquiry, and critical theory. Course was offered Fall 2019 | |
| RELC 8742 | Tutorial in Early Christian Thought (3) |
| This tutorial will provide a critical overview of the development of early Christian thought in Late Antiquity. We will also include narrative sources in our analysis. We will focus, in particular, on texts that are concerned with questions pertaining to the nature of God, the person of Christ, and the human condition. Course was offered Spring 2021, Spring 2020 | |
| RELC 8745 | Queer Perspectives in African American Theology and Religion (3) |
| This tutorial critically engages literature in the fields of African American religion, Christian theology, and Black queer studies. It considers constructions of sexuality, gender, and normativity in African American Christian communities in light of cutting-edge theological works, while also paying close attention to the concrete lives of the marginalized. Course was offered Fall 2020 | |
| RELC 8757 | Tutorial in the History of Idea of Peace (3) |
| Tutorial introducing graduate students to advanced scholarly inquiry into the history of the category of "peace" from Greco-Roman antiquity until today, and its associated and secondary literature. Course was offered Fall 2022 | |
| RELC 8758 | Post-Vatican II Roman Catholic Theology (3) |
| This individualized tutorial will introduce graduate students to some of the major Roman Catholic documents and theologians of/following the Second Vatican Council, with coverage of a variety of themes (including theological aesthetics, mysticism and contemplation, inculturation, liberation theology, and theopoetics) and geographies. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023 | |
| RELC 8760 | Tutorial in the Doctrine of God (3) |
| This tutorial will focus upon the doctrine of God in 19th and 20th century theology with a special focus on Schleiermacher, Karl Barth and the Barthian tradition. It will examine both the features of the doctrine of God and the theological methods used by the various thinkers to construct their doctrine of God. Authors include Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Karl Barth, Jürgen Moltmann, Eberhard Jüngel, Robert Jenson and John Webster. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| RELC 8761 | Christian Theologies of Liberation (3) |
| In the academic study of Christian thought, ¿liberation theology¿ encompasses scholarship that ties reflection on God, Jesus of Nazareth, human beings, creation, the Holy Spirit, and ethics to analyses of race and racism, sex and gender, economic injustice, poverty, sexuality, and colonialism. This graduate tutorial engages landmark and contemporary texts by liberation theologians, many of whom hail from North and South America. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| RELC 8920 | Seminar in Early Christianity (3) |
| Studies selected topics in early Christian history and thought. Topic varies annually. | |
| Religion-General Religion | |
| RELG 1000 | Questions in the Study of Religion (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | What is religion? Why do people reach out to God(s) or other unseen powers? How are beliefs in spiritual entities expressed and perpetuated? Why do people come together to form religious communities? How does religion order people's lives, and what impact have religious visionaries and institutions had on societies through the ages? This is a co-taught seminar that introduces students to the rich and interdisciplinary field of Religious Studies. |
| RELG 1001T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Artistic, Interpretive, and PSYCosophical Inquiry. | |
| RELG 1002T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Cultures and Societies of the World. | |
| RELG 1003T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to PSYCorical Perspectives. | |
| RELG 1004T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Social and Economic Systems. | |
| RELG 1005 | World Religions (3) |
| This course is a comparative study of the world's enduring religious traditions and their cultural expressions in architecture, art, and music. Among others, the course will examine Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and their expression in world culture. | |
| RELG 1005T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Chemical, PSYCematical, and PSYCical Inquiry | |
| RELG 1006T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Living Systems. | |
| RELG 1007T | Non-UVA Transfer/Test Credit (1 - 4) |
| Transfer credit or test credit that is not equivalentto current UVA coursework. Contains content related to Science and Society | |
| RELG 1010 | Introduction to Western Religious Traditions (3) |
| Studies the major religious traditions of the Western world; Judaism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam. | |
| RELG 1040 | Introduction to Asian Religions (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Introduces various aspects of the religious traditions of India, China, and Japan. Course was offered Summer 2024, Spring 2024, Summer 2023, Spring 2023, Summer 2022, Fall 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Summer 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELG 1200 | Chinese Philosophy (3) |
| This course introduces key figures in early Chinese philosophy, and how they defined the good life, ethical ideals, and exemplary rulership. Through close readings, we will consider where these philosophers located what they called the Dao¿in human society, in the natural world, or in the cosmos¿and how they thought humans could best apprehend truths about their world. Intended for first and second year students. | |
| RELG 1400 | The Art and Science of Human Flourishing (3) |
| This course explores human flourishing, well-being, and resiliency across academic, personal, and professional spheres. The course presents a balance of theory and practice, organized into five domains: self-awareness, well-being, connection, wisdom, and integration. Each week explores a single quality of flourishing through scientific research, humanistic reflection, and artistic expression, as well as a detailed set of contemplative practices. | |
| RELG 1500 | Introductory Seminar in Religious Studies (3) |
| These seminars introduce first- and second-year students to the academic study of religion through a close study of a particular theme or topic. Students will engage with material from a variety of methodological perspectives, and they will learn how to critically analyze sources and communicate their findings. The seminars allow for intensive reading and discussion of material. Not more than two Intro Seminars may count towards the Major. Course was offered Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017 | |
| RELG 1559 | New Course in Religious Studies (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Religious Studies. | |
| RELG 2140 | Archaic Cult and Myth (3) |
| Surveys scientific and popular interpretations of prehistoric, ancient, and traditional religions. | |
| RELG 2150 | Religion in American Life and Thought to 1865 (3) |
| This course will examine American religious life and thought prior to the Civil War, including but not limited to Puritanism, the "Great Awakening," slavery, the American Revolution, reform movements, and the Civil War. | |
| RELG 2155 | Whiteness & Religion: Religious Foundations of a Racial Category (3) |
| This class examines the role religion plays in defining a racial category known as whiteness. By reading cultural histories and ethnographies of the religious practices of various communities, we will examine how groups now classified as white (Irish, Italians, Poles, Jews, etc.) and religious images (depictions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary) "became white" and the role that religious practice played in this shift in racial classification. Course was offered Spring 2017, Spring 2016 | |
| RELG 2160 | Religion in American Life and Thought from 1865 to the Present (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Includes American religious pluralism, religious responses to social issues, and the character of contemporary American religious life. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Summer 2013, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Summer 2011, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 |
| RELG 2190 | Religion and Modern Fiction (3) |
| Studies religious meanings in modern literature, emphasizing faith and doubt, evil and absurdity, and wholeness and transcendence in both secular fiction and fiction written from traditional religious perspectives. Course was offered Spring 2023, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| RELG 2210 | Religion, Ethics, & Global Environment (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course interprets humanity's changing ecological relationships through religious and philosophical traditions. It takes up ethical questions presented by environmental problems, introduces frameworks for making sense of them, and examines the symbols and narratives that shape imaginations of nature. Course was offered Summer 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Fall 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013 |
| RELG 2220 | Devotional Poetry: Religion and Literature (3) |
| This course explores the dynamic interconnections between literature and religion. What is the role of imagination in belief? How are practices of reading, interpretation, contemplation, and memory intertwined? We read devotional poetry (love poems, stories in verse, meditations, prayers, and more) from a wide range of historical periods, regions, and traditions (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and others). | |
| RELG 2255 | Religion and Film (3) |
| This course will introduce students to the relationship between religion and film. We will watch several films in class and, after learning the basics of film analysis, we will be able to perceive and interpret how films portray religions, religious peoples, and religious categories, and even to consider what religion and film have in common as experiences. Viewing of the films will be supplemented by short lectures and class discussion. Course was offered Summer 2012, Summer 2011 | |
| RELG 2260 | Religion, Race, and Relationship in Film (3) |
| This course explores themes of religion, race, gender, and relationship to the religious or racial 'other' in films from the silent era to the present. It will consider film as a medium and engage students in analysis and discussion of cinematic images, with the goal of developing hermeneutic lenses through which these images can be interpreted. The films selected all ask "How should we treat one another?" Course was offered Spring 2013, Spring 2012 | |
| RELG 2266 | Religion, Media, and Democracy (3) |
| Engaging commentary from a range of religious traditions and media sources, this course examines the enduring intellectual and political challenges of engaging religion in a pluralistic and democratic context. In addition to religious studies and theology, course readings will include material from media studies, law, political science, philosophy, and cognitive psychology. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023 | |
| RELG 2285 | Religion, Politics, Society (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Politics and religion are links to the exploration to culture, history, and current events. This course seeks to understand what is meant by religion and the multiple ways in which it is politically important by examining the world views of various religious traditions and their political implications. Course was offered Spring 2023 |
| RELG 2290 | Business Ethics (3) |
| Studies contemporary issues in business from a moral perspective, including philosophical and religious, as well as traditional and contemporary, views of business. Topics include international business, whistleblowing, discrimination, the environment, and marketing. | |
| RELG 2300 | Religious Ethics and Moral Problems (3) |
| Examines several contemporary moral problems from the perspective of ethical thought in the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish traditions. Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2022, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| RELG 2370 | Religion After Jefferson (3) |
| This course explores the history of the idea of "religion" as a distinct concept, and introduces students to a crucial topic of modern public life and helps them prepare to grapple with this problem from a global perspective. A Jefferson Public Citizens course. | |
| RELG 2380 | Faith and Doubt in the Modern Age (3) |
| This course introduces undergraduates to seminal writings in modern Western thought that explore and question the meaning, truthfulness, and uses of religious belief. The goal is to develop a multi-storied narrative of the variety of interpretations given to the idea of God in modernity and to clarify the conditions of responsible religious belief in a pluralistic world. Requirements include two exams and a research paper. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2019, Spring 2015, Fall 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 | |
| RELG 2475 | God (3) |
| An introduction to the personality of God as portrayed in the sacred literatures, histories, and practices of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (For the religious studies major, or minor, this counts as either RELC, RELI or RELJ) | |
| RELG 2495 | Religious Violence in the West: From the Crusades to #Charlottesville (3) |
| If religious teachings so often focus on love and peace, why is so much violence committed in the name of religion? In this course, we will consider the ways in which religion and violence have intersected in Western religions (particularly Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) over the past two millennia, from the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire to the modern world. | |
| RELG 2559 | New Course in Religious Studies (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Religious Studies. Course was offered Fall 2022, Janiuary 2022, Fall 2021, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, January 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Summer 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Fall 2011, Spring 2011 | |
| RELG 2630 | Business, Ethics, and Society (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course studies how to be a moral agent in a market society. It attends to how economic issues influence different spheres of human life, both public and private, and discusses the ethics of a professional career, the moral obligations of corporations, the nature of inequality, the economic ethics of major world traditions, and how to live a morally sane human life in a market system. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELG 2650 | Religion, Ethics & Health Care (3) |
| Analyzes various moral problems in medicine, health care, and global health from Christian (Catholic and Protestant), Jewish, and Islamic theological perspectives with reference to salient philosophical influences. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Fall 2010, Summer 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| RELG 2660 | "Spiritual But Not Religious": Spirituality in America (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course asks: what does "spiritual but not religious" mean, and why has it become such a pervasive idea in modern America? We'll study everything from AA to yoga to Zen meditation, with stops in Christian rock, Beat poetry, Abstract Expressionist painting and more. In the end, we'll come to see spirituality in America as a complex intermingling of the great world religions, modern psychology, and a crassly commercialized culture industry. Course was offered Summer 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012 |
| RELG 2713 | Sensing the Sacred: Sensory Perception and Religious Imagination (3) |
| Seeing is believing. Or is it? In this course, we will examine the role of sensory perception in religious imagination. We will consider how religious practitioners think about the senses, utilize the senses to experience the world, and assign meaning to the senses. We will also probe the ways in which religious traditions deploy sensory metaphors to describe human experience of the sacred. | |
| RELG 2715 | Introduction to Chinese Religion (3) |
| This course serves as an introduction to the religious beliefs and practices of China, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora. The course covers several broad themes in Chinese religion, including ritual, self-cultivation, means of communicating with the gods, and the intersection of political authority and religion. We will engage with textual, material, and visual traditions. Course was offered Spring 2022, Spring 2021 | |
| RELG 2820 | Jerusalem (3) |
| This course traces the history of Jerusalem with a focus on its significance in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. How has Jerusalem been experienced and interpreted as sacred within these religious communities? How have they expressed their attachments to this contested space from antiquity to modern times? Discussion will be rooted in primary texts from Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sources, with attention to their historical context. | |
| RELG 3001 | Gods, Humans, Robots (3) |
| The growing role of robots in society presents new challenges, but many of the ethical and philosophical issues raised by robots have long histories. This course will examine golems, automatons, robots, and cyborgs to consider what distinguishes humans, what it means to create other beings, what it means to be embodied, and what relationships we should have with the nonhuman. Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| RELG 3050 | Religions of Western Antiquity (3) |
| Studies Greco-Roman religions and religious philosophies of the Hellenistic period, including official cults, mystery religions, gnosticism, astrology, stoicism; emphasizes religious syncretism and interactions with Judaism and Christianity. | |
| RELG 3051 | Religion and Society (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Critical appraisal of classical and contemporary approaches to the sociological study of religion and society. Course was offered Spring 2015, Spring 2013 |
| RELG 3053 | Religion and Psychology (3) |
| Major religious concepts studied from the perspective of various theories of psychology, including the psychoanalytic tradition and social psychology. | |
| RELG 3057 | Existentialism: Its Literary, Philosophical and Religious Expressions (3) |
| Studies Existentialist thought, its Hebraic-Christian sources, and 19th and 20th century representatives of the movement (Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, Camus, Buber, and Tillich). Course was offered Fall 2010 | |
| RELG 3200 | Martin, Malcolm, and America (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | An analysis of African-American social criticism centered upon, but not limited to, the life and thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X Course was offered Spring 2022, Spring 2020, Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELG 3210 | Major Themes in American Religious History (3) |
| Examines a major religious movement or tradition in American history. | |
| RELG 3240 | Religion and Race in American Democracy (3) |
| An examination of the ethos of democracy as articulated by various philosophers and religionists in the American context and the ways in which that ethos has been warped by racism. We will consider a diverse set of theorists of American democracy including Jefferson, Douglass, Whitman, Addams, Du Bois, Dewey, King, and Baldwin, as we also explore the racial and religious milieu they respond to. | |
| RELG 3255 | Ethics, Literature, and Religion (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Explores how ethical issues in religious traditions and cultural narratives are addressed in literature, scripture, essay, and memoir. How do stories inquire into "the good life"? How may moral principles and virtues be "tested" by fiction? How does narrative shape identity, mediate universality and particularity, reflect beliefs and values in conflict, and depict suffering? |
| RELG 3305 | Basic Philosophy Plato to Kant (3) |
| This course introduces students to the primary philosophic contributions of Plato/Socrates, Aristotle, the Stoics, Augustine, Locke, Descartes, Hume, and Kant, with briefer studies in Thomas, Maimonides, Ibn Sina, and Leibniz. Discussion will focus on these thinkers' potential significance for contemporary studies in religion and theology. | |
| RELG 3315 | Jefferson, Religion and the Secular University (3) |
| The undergraduate seminar will explore as inter-related topics the religious formation and outlook of Thomas Jefferson, his conception of the proper relation of religion and the civil power, his idea of the university as a secular institution, ad the role of religion in the founding and subsequent history of the University of Virginia. Course was offered Fall 2013 | |
| RELG 3325 | The Civil Rights Movement in Religious and Theological Perspective (3) |
| The seminar considers the American Civil Rights Movement, its supporters and opponents, in religious and theological perspective. While interdisciplinary in scope, the seminar will explore the religious motivations and theological sources in their dynamic particularity; and ask how images of God shaped conceptions of personal identity, social existence, race and nation in the campaigns and crusades for equal rights under the law. | |
| RELG 3333 | Literature and Ethics (3) |
| Explores ethical questions raised by religious-traditional and cultural narratives as well as by fiction and memoir. How do stories inquire into the good life? How may moral principles and virtues be tested by fiction? How does narrative shape identity, mediate universality and particularity, reflect values that may conflict, and depict suffering. Format: literature and theory, guided discussion, critical essays, and a final presentation. | |
| RELG 3360 | Conquests and Religions in the Americas, 1400s-1830s (3) |
| Beginning with Islamic-ruled Spain and the Aztec and Incan empires, the course examines historical changes in the religious practices of indigenous peoples, enslaved Africans and European settlers in Latin America and the Caribbean under European colonization and the transatlantic slave trade. Topics include: religious violence, human sacrifice, the Inquisition; missions; race, gender and sexuality; slavery, revolts, revolutions, nationalism. | |
| RELG 3365 | Conscious Social Change: Contemplation and Innovation for Social Change (3) |
| This course offers an experiential social venture incubator integrating mindfulness-based leadership and contemplative practices and social entrepreneurship tools. Students will work in teams to develop a business plan for a real or hypothetical social-purpose venture. Daily contemplative practice, interactive personal leadership work and dialogue will allow students to explore both the inner and external dimensions of becoming change leaders. | |
| RELG 3370 | God Since Cinema (3) |
| A survey of films about God and the effect these films (as opposed to books or paintings) have had on the Western understanding of God. | |
| RELG 3375 | Spiritual Writing (3) |
| This course in spiritual writing chronicles quests for meaning, purpose and direction. The reading and writing assignments explore encounters with the sacred, and consider such written wrestlings within faith communities, and other sources of wisdom. Over the semester, students will study examples of contemporary spiritual writing in diaries, memoir, and fiction. They will also write about "matters of the spirit" in various genres. | |
| RELG 3380 | Feasting, Fasting and Faith: Food in Judaism and Christianity (3) |
| Students study and research religion as it has been practiced in everyday life in two different traditions and write up and communicate their findings in articulate and thoughtful ways. As they focus on the themes of feasting and fasting in Jewish and Christian communities, they engage in various forms of interdisciplinary inquiry, including the study of sacred texts, history, ethics, and ethnography. Course was offered Spring 2015 | |
| RELG 3400 | Women and Religion (3) |
| Introduces the images of women in the major religious traditions, the past and present roles of women in these traditions, and women's accounts of their own religious experiences. | |
| RELG 3405 | Introduction to Black and Womanist Religious Thought (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Is thought always already racialized, gendered, sexed? This Introduction to Black and Womanist Thought course argues that thought does not have to submit itself to modern regimes of knowledge production, that there are alternative ways to think and practice and be in the world with one another. An introduction to major thinkers in both religious thought and traditions with attention to theology, philosophy, and history. |
| RELG 3416 | Sustainability and Asceticism (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | To what extent does the pursuit of sustainability require restraining or retraining our desires? How can people be encouraged to consume less, or in less destructive ways, when cultures of consumption prove resistant to change? This seminar will explore these questions from the perspective of South Asian traditions (Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain). We will consider classical sources as well as contemporary debates about sustainable development. |
| RELG 3420 | First Amendment Limits (3) |
| The promise of religious liberty contained in the First Amendment has always been subject to a variety of restraints by federal and local governments. This course will focus on the cultural experience of these restraints; not only how they were devised by courts and implemented by regulatory agencies, but also how they are understood in the popular imagination and, finally, what influence they have on the shape of religion in America. | |
| RELG 3444 | Religious Conflict and Resolution Among the Abrahamic Religions (3) |
| What are the religions of Abraham? Are they bound for peace or conflict? This course introduces students to the scriptural sources and medieval to modern practices of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism including key historical narratives from the Qur'an, and the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. An examination of the role these scriptures play in people's lives is followed by focusing on the 'hot spots' of inter-Abrahamic conflict today. Course was offered Summer 2012, Summer 2011 | |
| RELG 3450 | The Emotions (3) |
| Exploration of how what we feel colors what we believe, what we claim to know. What are human emotions and why do we have them? Philosophers, psychiatrists, neurologists and religious thinkers disagree. We will analyze these disagreements, along with the question of how the emotions can be controlled or educated. We will focus on William James, who influentially argued that for most believers, religious experience is first and foremost emotional. Course was offered Spring 2018, Spring 2017 | |
| RELG 3470 | Christianity and Science (3) |
| Christian Europe gave rise to modern science, yet Christianity and science have long appeared mutual enemies. Does science undermine religious belief? Can human life and striving really be explained in terms of physics and chemistry? In this course we explore the encounter between two powerful cultural forces and study the intellectual struggle to anchor God in the modern world. | |
| RELG 3485 | Moral Leadership (3) |
| This course introduces students to the moral frameworks of Aristotle, Maimonides, Machiavelli, and Jeff McMahon and then examines pressing moral issues in contemporary America. | |
| RELG 3559 | New Course in Religious Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Religious Studies. Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, January 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, January 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, January 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, January 2012, Fall 2011, Summer 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2009 |
| RELG 3560 | Issues in Theological Ethics (3) |
| Studies a moral problem or set of related problems (e.g., human experimentation, special moral relations, or warfare) in the context of recent work in theological ethics. | |
| RELG 3600 | Religion and Modern Theatre (3) |
| Examines the works of several playwrights, some of whom dramatize explicitly religious themes or subjects, and others who are predominantly concerned with secular situations and contexts that imply religious questions and issues. | |
| RELG 3605 | Religion, Violence and Strategy: How to Stop Killing in the Name of God (3) |
| This course will teach students to evaluate critically the leadership and strategies of social impact campaigns, and the ways in which governments, religious actors and civil society have tried to reduce violent conflict. Students will be organized into small integrated teams to research the root causes and triggers for religion-related violence across the Middle East and North Africa. Course was offered Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017 | |
| RELG 3630 | Idolatry (3) |
| Beginning with Biblical sources and concluding with contemporary texts, this course will examine the philosophical framework of casting idolatry as an unspeakable sin: What is an idol, and why is idolatry so objectionable? With an emphasis on Judaism, though not exclusively, we will discuss idolatry in the context of representation, election, otherness, emancipation, nationalism, secularism, religious innovation, and messianism. | |
| RELG 3640 | Religion, God, and Evil (3) |
| Studies the 'problem of evil,' using philosophical, literary, and various religious sources. | |
| RELG 3650 | Systems of Theological Ethics (3) |
| Examines one or more contemporary systems of Christian ethics, alternating among such figures as Reinhold Niebuhr, C. S. Lewis, Jacques Ellul, and Jacques Maritain. | |
| RELG 3713 | Black Religion and the Criminal Justice System (3) |
| This course examines the relationship between black religion and the criminal justice system in the U.S. from Jim Crow to the Black Lives Matter era. We will focus on the ideas, lived experiences, and activism of the incarcerated; religious engagements with policing; and movements for criminal justice reform and prison abolition. Authors likely will include Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Elijah Muhammad. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2023 | |
| RELG 3730 | Conversations in the Study of Religion (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This seminar explores the major conversations that scholars of religion are having, and have had, about what "religion" is and the best ways to study it. Focusing on classical controversies, ongoing debates, and new developments, this course will help students map out the field of religious studies and begin to situate their own studies within it. This course is geared towards Religious Studies majors but open to any interested student. Course was offered Spring 2024 |
| RELG 3750 | Taoism and Confucianism (3) |
| Taoism and Confucianism | |
| RELG 3780 | Faulkner and the Bible (3) |
| This class is study of the influence of the Bible (both Hebrew and Christian canons) on the fiction of William Faulkner. We will also see how this ancient text and its heritage informed Faulkner's views on race, community, and personal identity as well. | |
| RELG 3795 | Theology, Spirituality and Ethics of Sustainability (3) |
| Primarily through the readings of theologians from the Protestant, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, this course explores theological, spiritual and ethical perspectives on the environmental issues that are becoming increasingly important across the globe. | |
| RELG 3800 | African American Religious History (3) |
| This course will explore African American religious traditions in their modern and historical contexts, combining an examination of current scholarship, worship and praxis. It will examine the religious life and religious institutions of African Americans from their African antecedents to contemporary figures and movements in the US. | |
| RELG 3820 | Global Ethics & Climate Change (3) |
| This seminar takes up questions of responsibility and fairness posed by climate change as ways into a search for shared ground across moral traditions. It investigates the ethical dimensions of climate change as a way to consider broad frameworks for developing responsibilities across national, cultural, and religious borders. | |
| RELG 3860 | Human Bodies and Parts as Properties (3) |
| An analysis and assessment of theological, philosophical, and legal interpretations of rights holders and rights held in living and dead human bodies and their parts, in the context of organ and tissue transplantation, assisted reproduction, and research. Prerequisite: RELG 2650 | |
| RELG 3950 | Evil in Modernity: Banal or Demonic (3) |
| Investigates how modern thinkers have understood the character of evil and the challenge it poses to human existence. Evaluates the proposals made in response to that challenge. Prerequisite: Any course in religious studies. Course was offered Spring 2024, Fall 2013 | |
| RELG 3960 | Religion and the Black Freedom Struggle (3) |
| This course will explore the role of religion in the black freedom struggle in the United States, with a focus on the twentieth century to the present. We will consider the question, how have black people harnessed religion to conceptualize and fight for various notions of black progress and the salvation of black people (broadly construed) amid the persistence of racial inequality? Course was offered Spring 2022 | |
| RELG 4023 | Bioethics Internship Seminar (3) |
| The course enables students to spend time in medical settings as 'participant-observers,' in order to gain first-hand experience of the subject matter that is the focus of the theory, teaching, and practice of bioethics.
Prerequisites: Bioethics Major/Minor Course was offered Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| RELG 4220 | American Religious Autobiography (3) |
| Multidisciplinary examination of religious self-perception in relation to the dominant values of American life. Readings represent a variety of spiritual traditions and autobiographical forms. | |
| RELG 4450 | Visions of the Apocalypse (3) |
| The course will introduce apocalypticism in Western religious traditions, but will soon focus on the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Explorations will take us from slave revolts to UFO cults to Dr. Strangelove, from Edward Bellamy to genetic engineering, from the space program to Left Behind, and from the Great Disappointment of the 1840s and the Ghost Dance of 1890 to the New Age of the present. Course was offered Fall 2010 | |
| RELG 4500 | Majors Seminar (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Students in this course will fashion their own approach to studying religion and develop a retrospective project that interweaves the various strands of their prior study over the course of the major. Building on earlier courses in Religious Studies, this capstone seminar completes the major's sequence by applying questions and conversations in the study of religion to some advanced theme crafted by the instructor. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELG 4540 | Advanced Topics in General Religious Studies (3) |
| This topical course provides upper level undergraduate students in Religious Studies an opportunity for advanced coursework in General Religious Studies | |
| RELG 4559 | New Course in Religious Studies (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Religious Studies. Course was offered Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2018, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2011, Fall 2009 | |
| RELG 4800 | Crafting a Research Project in Religious Studies (3) |
| This course offers third- and fourth-year Religious Studies majors resources for conceiving and executing a major research project. As a follow-up, students usually take RELG 4900 ("Distinguished Major Thesis"), which affords them an opportunity to write the research project they have conceived in this course. Whether you plan to write a thesis or not, RELG 4800 offers an accessible introduction to the craft of research in Religious Studies. | |
| RELG 4810 | Poetry and Theology (3) |
| This seminar seeks to develop a close reading of major religious poetry by two major religious poets Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2014 | |
| RELG 4900 | Distinguished Major Thesis (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Students write a thesis, directed by a member of the department, focusing on a specific problem in the theoretical, historical or philosophical study of religion or a specific religious tradition. The thesis grows out of the project proposal and annotated bibliography developed in the Research Methods seminar.
Prerequisite: Selection by faculty for Distinguished Major Program and completion of RELG 4800. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016 |
| RELG 4910 | Secularism and Religion (3) |
| Does religion belong in the public square? Does it have a legitimate role in secular life, despite a lack of unanimity in the religious beliefs of the public? Can religion be separated from public and political life? This course explores theoretical works that examine these and related questions and queries the ways in which religion shapes, challenges, and clashes with the modern nation-state. | |
| RELG 5030 | Readings in Chinese Religion (3) |
| Examines selected readings from a specific text, figure, or theme. Readings emphasize possible structures of religious language and their translation. | |
| RELG 5070 | Interpretation Theory (3) |
| Analyzes existentialist, phenomenological, structuralist, literary, historical, and psychological approaches to the interpretation of texts, especially narrative religious texts; and the interactions of language, history, and understanding. | |
| RELG 5088 | Dostoevsky and Eliot: Notes from the Wasteland (3) |
| The title of this course is not just a play on words. It suggests the common mind of both authors concerning the character of the modern world. Each has given us an acute and haunting diagnosis of modernity. Each has explored the failures of faith and love among the inhabitants of modernity. Yet each also has rendered a compelling vision of a reintegrated world of community, communion, and salvation.. Course was offered Fall 2014 | |
| RELG 5170 | Seminar in History of Religions (3) |
| Introduces the basic thinkers in the field of history of religions and to fundamental problems in the study of religious sociology, mythology, and ritual. Course was offered Spring 2019, Spring 2011 | |
| RELG 5193 | Religion and the Power of Sound (3) |
| This course gives particular attention to music and sounds that are created or used by various religious communities, and we discuss the ways sounds are imagined and experienced by audiences, congregations, & gatherings. We also explore sound itself, instrumentation, and noise. We investigate uses of ambient sound and silence. We listen and respond to voices. We ask what does the production of sound mean for the practice of religious community? Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| RELG 5195 | Blackness and Mysticism (3) |
| This course considers the radicalism internal to a European Mystical Tradition but also its delimitation, particularly with how it gets cognized in western thought. We will then investigate a Black Radical Mystical Tradition that cannot be, as Robinson might say, "understood within the particular context of it genesis." It is a lived and living tradition, a tradition against religion, a tradition against western thought and modern Man. Course was offered Fall 2019 | |
| RELG 5220 | The Religious Left in America: Progressive Politics and Progressive Faith (3) |
| This course examines the history and theology of the religious left in the United States from the nineteenth century until the present. It charts how liberal religion shaped both electoral politics and activism around issues that include abolition, women's suffrage, the peace movement, civil rights, the labor movement, and immigration. It also explores the impact of theology and religious modernism on the American left. Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| RELG 5225 | The Civil Rights Movement Religious Perspectives (3) |
| The seminar considers the American Civil Rights Movement in religious and theological perspective. While interdisciplinary in scope, the seminar will explore the movement's religious influences and theological sources and ask how differing images of God and doctrinal commitments shaped particular ways of interpreting and engaging the social order. Course was offered Fall 2020 | |
| RELG 5240 | Problems in Philosophy of Religion (3) |
| Examines classic and contemporary discussions of problems in the philosophy of religion. Course was offered Spring 2022 | |
| RELG 5320 | Research Seminar in Religion, Conflict, and Peace (3) |
| Advanced research on religion, politics and conflict for students of "religion-on-religion" conflict/conflict resolution. Research methods drawn from religious studies, politics, anthropology and linguistics, history, sociology, nursing, philosophy, systems analysis and data science. Topics recommended by current work in the Global Covenant of Religions, the UVA Initiative on Religion in Conflict, and other professional work in the field. | |
| RELG 5321 | Proseminar in Religion, Politics & Conflict (1) |
| The Proseminar for MA students in Religion, Politics & Conflict meets monthly each semester to discuss student research, to integrate methods and themes in the field, to facilitate professional development, and to deepen relationships with colleagues. Course was offered Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018 | |
| RELG 5331 | Religion and Science in the Modern West (3) |
| The always-complex entanglement of religion and science represents perhaps the central intellectual drama of the modern West. Neither "religion" nor "science" have been stable categories, and this course concerns their formation and re-formation as much as their so-called conflict. In this seminar we will attend to epistemology, secularization, the modern self, and evolving ideas about nature, awe, wonder, and the unknowable, among other topics. | |
| RELG 5360 | Introduction to Theories and Methods in Religious Studies (3) |
| This course introduces MA students to the multiple theories and methods important to the field of religious studies, past and present. | |
| RELG 5375 | Aesthetics and Ethics (3) |
| How do, might, or ought the aesthetic dimensions of human experience inform engagement with religion in the public life of a pluralistic society? Employing the theological aesthetic principles of foregrounding and interlacing to structure our investigation, our study examines philosophical, theological, and ethical (both religious and theological) responses to this question. Course was offered Spring 2024, Fall 2021 | |
| RELG 5395 | Religion and the Common Good (3) |
| How is a religiously pluralistic society to pursue a societal common good? This graduate seminar explores responses to this question within religious ethics at local, national, and global levels. Readings will address major contributions to this topic within political philosophy before pivoting to responses in religious and theological ethics, including broadly Augustinian, Thomistic, and critical theological approaches. Course was offered Spring 2023, Spring 2019 | |
| RELG 5455 | Recent Feminist Thought (3) |
| In this course we shall explore in depth works published in the last decade or two that demonstrate, to varying degrees, feminist thought as increasingly integral to on-going conversations and controversies in ethics, both social/political and theological, and at the same time instrumental in taking those discussions in new and important directions. The emphasis in the course is on careful reading and explication, and on recognition and critique Course was offered Spring 2014 | |
| RELG 5485 | History of American Religion and Social Reform (3) |
| American Religion and Social Reform examines the history of the interplay between theology, morality, and politics in American history. Topics covered include temperance and prohibition, labor, civil rights, the peace movement, and environmentalism. Weekly reading, class presentation, and original research will be important components of the class. Open to graduate students and advanced undergraduates. | |
| RELG 5541 | Seminar in Social and Political Thought (3) |
| An examination of the social and political thought of selected religious thinkers. Course was offered Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2013, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| RELG 5559 | New Course in Religion (1 - 4) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of general religion. Course was offered Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELG 5600 | Health in Aging: An Interdisciplinary Seminar (3) |
| Caring well for an aging population is among the greatest challenges facing both the United States and the world. Significant gaps persist between the health and social systems that older adults need, and those to which they have access. This course uses a multidisciplinary approach--encompassing history, public health, ethics, the social sciences, and literature--to explore these gaps, their impact, and their meaning Course was offered Spring 2023 | |
| RELG 5630 | Seminar: Issues in the Study of Religion and Literature (3) |
| Analyzes, in terms of fundamental theory, the purposes, problems, and possibilities of interdisciplinary work in religion and literary criticism. | |
| RELG 5740 | Religion and War (3) |
| In this seminar, grad students will gain both social scientific knowledge and humanistic understanding of the relationship between religion, violent conflict, and peace. | |
| RELG 5760 | Religion, Violence & Strategy (3) |
| This course teaches students how to design and evaluate impact-driven strategies with potential to inhibit religion-related violence. Social hostilities and sectarian violence are rising worldwide. Many religious minorities perceive themselves under existential threat from their neighbors, and even from modernity itself. What can be done to interrupt cycles of religion-related violence? Is religion the underlying problem or a critical part of the solution? A concerted effort to stem violence will require strategies to engage religious actors, policymakers, civil society, women, and youth. | |
| RELG 5775 | Religion on Fire: Religion, Politics, Conflict (3) |
| The course examines "religion" as an element of socio-political activity in major conflicts in the past two decades: examining the global phenomenon of irremediable, religion-related violent conflict, recent efforts to diagnose religion-specific sources of both violence and peacebuilding, and prospects for cooperative peacebuilding efforts among governmental, civil society, and religious agencies. Course was offered Fall 2017 | |
| RELG 5780 | Wallace Stevens and the Absolute (3) |
| A close reading of Wallace Steven's major poems and an evaluation of their theological significance. Prerequisite: Graduate seminar plus advanced undergraduates in approved. Course was offered Spring 2015, Fall 2010 | |
| RELG 5801 | Crafting a Research Project in Religious Studies (3) |
| This course offers MA students in Religious Studies resources for conceiving and executing a major research project or thesis. By the end of the semester, each participant will have completed a well-organized, detailed prospectus. The prospectus will reflect the guidance of one's thesis advisor as well as the scrutiny of the instructor and input from peers. Each student will thus be poised to begin writing his/her thesis the following semester. | |
| RELG 5805 | Hegel, Materialism, & Theology (3) |
| A study of key texts by G. W. F. Hegel and their impact on philosophical, theological, ethical, and religious thought in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. Topics considered include philosophical method, the relationship between philosophy and theology, the meaning of Spirit, dialectical materialism, critical theory, and key topics in Christian theology (God, Christology, pneumatology, etc.). Course was offered Fall 2023, Spring 2020 | |
| RELG 5820 | Introduction to World Religions, World Literatures (3) |
| An interdisciplinary course that includes the following elements: studies in the textual traditions of particular religions; studies in literary theory; studies in literary traditions; the application of literary theory to studies in religious text traditions; and the application of the history of religions to the study of literary canons. Course was offered Fall 2023 | |
| RELG 5821 | Proseminar in World Religions, World Literatures (1) |
| This monthly seminar explores methods and issues vital to the combined study of literatures and religions. It brings all MA students together, under faculty guidance, to attend to the broad range of individual projects and to foster a rich conversation that traverses the emergent field of study. Course was offered Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2018, Spring 2018 | |
| RELG 5835 | Ethnography and the Study of Religion (3) |
| This course familiarizes students with a range of ways of studying practice in religions as it is evidenced in sacred texts, religious artifacts, images and locations; as it is chronicled in historical documents; as it is reflected in literary and artistic creations; and as it revealed in contemporary practice. | |
| RELG 5850 | Narrative in Ethics and Theology (3) |
| Examines the nature of narrative modes of representation and argument, and how narrative theory has been employed in contemporary ethics and religious thought. | |
| RELG 5860 | Evil and Suffering (3) |
| This course will explore the interrelations between evil and suffering of 20th- and 21st- century European and American thinkers, theologians, and theorists, as well as literary authors and artists, with particular attention to the Holocaust and American slavery. Course was offered Spring 2022 | |
| RELG 5870 | Climate Law & Climate Ethics (3) |
| This seminar examines responses to climate change from law and from ethics in order to ask questions about the relation of regulatory instruments and moral culture. Co-taught by a scholar of environmental law and a scholar of environmental ethics, the course is jointly listed in the Law School and the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Course was offered Fall 2023 | |
| RELG 5900 | Ethics, Politics, and Rhetoric (3) |
| Studies the perennial problems of politics and morals considered primarily by the reading of plays, novels, speeches, and historical documents. | |
| RELG 5960 | What Is Scripture? (3) |
| 'What is Scripture?' That is the defining question for this introductory seminar in Scripture, Interpretation, and Practice - one of three entry courses for the SIP program. While SIP prides itself in not asking 'what is?' questions, this course risks the question but only as a source of context-specific, tradition-based reasonings. The goal is sampling: examining selected passages from each canon to answer the question, what is scripture? Course was offered Spring 2018, Spring 2013 | |
| RELG 7130 | American Spirituality (3) |
| What is "spirituality" and why has it become such a pervasive term in contemporary American culture? This course explores this question through historical interrogation of the category and its development since the early nineteenth century. The encounter of historic religious traditions, especially Protestant Christianity, with the intellectual, cultural, economic, and social currents of modernity will form the larger background for our analysis. | |
| RELG 7360 | Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion (3) |
| Given the multidisciplinary character of religious studies, it is imperative for new scholars to gain a basic sense of theoretical and methodological options in the field. By way of an examination of landmark texts, this course surveys the formation of religious studies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and considers some important contemporary approaches. | |
| RELG 7450 | Phenomenology and Theology (3) |
| This seminar investigates the relations between phenomenology and theology. Course was offered Spring 2014, Spring 2010 | |
| RELG 7460 | Religion, Theory, Theology, and Modernity (3) |
| This interdisciplinary class acquaints graduate students with landmark texts that consider the place, significance, and purpose of religion in late modernity. Focusing on works written over the last few decades, it draws on multiple genres of study: philosophy, anthropology, social science, religious studies, and theological inquiry. | |
| RELG 7528 | Topics in Modern Religious Thought (3) |
| Examination of a major topic in modern religious thought--e.g., religious imagination, ethical and religious subjectivity, metaphor and religious language, religious and ethical conceptions of love. | |
| RELG 7559 | New Course in Religious Studies (1 - 3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Religious Studies. Course was offered Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010 | |
| RELG 8000 | Negativity and the Religious Imagination (3) |
| Examines ways in which tragedy (and other forms of imaginative literature), scripture and theology, and hermeneutics and criticism portray and reflect on aspects of suffering and evil. | |
| RELG 8006 | Major Christian Thinker (3) |
| Tutorial on important themes, topics, and context of one or more major Christian Thinkers. Course was offered Fall 2021 | |
| RELG 8130 | Figures and Traditions in Philosophical and Religious (1 - 3) |
| A two-semester course that introduces the basic ethical works and theories of central figures in the Western tradition: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Bentham, Mill, Buber, Dewey, and Rawls. Course was offered Spring 2014, Spring 2010 | |
| RELG 8205 | Edmund Husserl's Philosophy (3) |
| This seminar seeks to read a range of texts by Edmund Husserl, beginning with his "breakthrough" text The Logical Investigations and ending with his final re-statement of phenomenology The Crisis of the European Sciences. Some attention will be paid to the Nachlass as well as to the writings that Husserl published in his own lifetime. The importance of intentionality, of intuition, and of the epoche and reduction will be stressed. Course was offered Spring 2017, Spring 2015 | |
| RELG 8220 | American Religious Autobiography (3) |
| Examination of twentieth-century American religious autobiography. Course was offered Fall 2021 | |
| RELG 8330 | Comparative Religious Ethics (3) |
| Examines the theoretical and methodological questions underlying comparative studies of religious ethics. Tests several methods in relation to materials from different religious traditions. Course was offered Spring 2012 | |
| RELG 8350 | Proseminar in Scripture Interpretation and Practice (1) |
| This one credit seminar introduces students the Scriptural Interpretation and Practice (SIP) program to recent approaches to the comparative study of scriptural sources and scriptural traditions. Course was offered Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010 | |
| RELG 8400 | Historiography Seminar in American Religion (3) |
| Examines current historiographical issues in the interpretation of religion in American history. Prerequisite: instructor permission. | |
| RELG 8559 | New Course in Religious Studies (1 - 6) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of general religion. | |
| RELG 8704 | Themes and Topics in Religious Ethics (3) |
| Tutorial on important themes, topics, and figures in religious ethics, both historically and in the present moment. | |
| RELG 8708 | Tutorial in Ethics and Literature (3) |
| We will explore the narrative dimensions of ethical thought and expression and the ethical questions raised by particular literary texts, including how we make ethical decisions, what it means to be a good person and live a good life, how we should live with and respond to those around us, what visions of the world we should cultivate and seek to realize, and what responses we might develop to life's sufferings and the fact of our mortality. Course was offered Spring 2019, Fall 2017 | |
| RELG 8711 | Tutorial in Aesthetics, Theology and Ethics (3) |
| How might aesthetics, theology, and ethics inform approaches to religious engagement in plural socio-political contexts? The course explores contemporary theological and ethical conversations as well as constructive horizons in this area of inquiry. Course was offered Spring 2019, Spring 2018 | |
| RELG 8713 | Tutorial on Aesthetic, Hermeneutic, and Ethical Experience in Melville (3) |
| This tutorial seminar explores linkages in how Moby-Dick represents characters engaged in activities of 1) giving rapt attention to perceptible phenomena; 2) of interpreting such phenomena; and 3) of recognizing ethical responsibility. Approaches include phenomenological and religious aesthetics, philosophical hermeneutics, post-structuralism, and narrative ethics. The main seminar activity is to produce close readings of Melville. Course was offered Spring 2018 | |
| RELG 8715 | Philosophic Resources for Abrahamic Theologies (3) |
| This seminar provides some philosophic disciplines needed for theological study today: resources in logic, philosophic reasoning, metaphysics, and epistemology, from classic Greek sources through the contemporary period. Students will examine how these resources inform works in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theology: medieval, modern and contemporary. For 2018, the seminar will focus on sources and uses of claims about the "universal," the "true." | |
| RELG 8716 | Religion, Politics and Conflict (3) |
| Advanced research on religion, politics and conflict. Research methods drawn from religious studies, politics, anthropology and linguistics, history, sociology, nursing, philosophy, systems analysis and data science. Extensive reading on recent literature in religion and peace building, religion and foreign affairs, conflict analysis, policies and strategies identity-and religion-related conflict. | |
| RELG 8719 | The Frankfurt School (3) |
| This course will focus on key texts of the group of scholars known as the Frankfurt School, including Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, Walter Benjamin, and Jürgen Habermas. Course was offered Fall 2018 | |
| RELG 8720 | Theology and Blackness: Psychoanalysis, Structuralism, Phenomenology (3) |
| This course analyzes how theology and black studies intersect with psychoanalysis, structuralism, and phenomenology. It examines how conceptions of blackness, social death, and fugitivity relate to theorizations of completeness, conceptuality, givenness, revelation, libidinal economy, abyss, apocalypse, and difference. Authors include Fanon, Marriott, Wilderson, Marion, Spillers, Fink, Moten, Levi-Strauss, and Malabou. Course was offered Spring 2023, Spring 2022 | |
| RELG 8723 | Tutorial in American Spirituality (3) |
| What is "spirituality" and why has it become such a pervasive term in contemporary American culture? This course explores this question through historical interrogation of the category and its development since the early nineteenth century. The encounter of historic religious traditions, especially Protestant Christianity, with the intellectual, cultural, economic, and social currents of modernity will form the larger background for our analysis. Course was offered Spring 2021, Fall 2018 | |
| RELG 8727 | Tutorial on Hermeneutics and the Study of Religions (3) |
| This tutorial explores the "philosophical hermeneutics" paradigm in critical theory, represented by figures such as Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Gadamer, and Ricoeur and invites evaluation of third paradigm in the context of the study of religions. Course was offered Spring 2019 | |
| RELG 8732 | Tutorial in Religion and Nationalism (3) |
| The course supports advanced graduate students researching topics in the field of religion and politics, particularly in North America, with a particular focus on the intersecting arenas of religion and nationalism as they have developed from the late 18th century to the present. The readings will be historiographical in nature, and the course will culminate in a substantial writing project--either a historiographical essay or primary research. Course was offered Spring 2019 | |
| RELG 8734 | Tutorial: Memory, History, and Religion (3) |
| In this tutorial, we will explore the interrelations between memory, history, and religion, as well as questions about collective and individual identity; how the past affects our responsibilities, rights, and debts in the present; the relationship between truths, histories, and memories; and the ways religious traditions have understood and shaped the practices of memory and history. Course was offered Fall 2019 | |
| RELG 8740 | Mediterranean Cultural Encounters Tutorial (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Study of cultural encounters between Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Mediterranean world, ca. 500-1300. The tutorial explores themes such as translation movements, science, exegesis, conversion and polemic, inviting broad comparison of cultural and intellectual encounters between communities. Course was offered Spring 2021, Spring 2020 |
| RELG 8741 | Tutorial in Spiritual Writing (3) |
| Students will chronicle and document quests for meaning, purpose and direction by analyzing diverse, multi-cultural examples of contemporary spiritual writing in diaries, memoir, essays and fiction. They will deepen their study of spiritual experience by creating personal texts concerning "matters of the spirit" in genres of their choosing. Ideally, they will expand their pedagogic abilities by strengthening both analytical and creative skills. Course was offered Spring 2021, Spring 2020 | |
| RELG 8746 | Tutorial: Gender, Race, and Virtue Epistemology (3) |
| A graduate tutorial featuring readings on the relationship between gender, race, and virtue epistemology. Course was offered Fall 2020 | |
| RELG 8747 | Tutorial: Religion, Secularism, and Post-Secularism (3) |
| This course is dedicated to the exploration of the claims of, critiques of, and afterlives of secularization theory. The course addresses the major questions that arise when making distinctions between "secularism" as a political expression and "the secular" as an epistemic model. The course provides special attention to a survey of earlier theories, the cross-sections of race, politics, and gender and the secular, and post-secular critiques. Course was offered Fall 2020 | |
| RELG 8754 | Tutorial: Black Feminism and Abolition (3) |
| Readings in the tradition of black feminist thought with a particular focus on the history of abolition as a philosophical, theological and spiritual practice. Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| RELG 8755 | Tutorial in Religion, Immigration, and Environment (3) |
| Drawing on methodologies such as history, ethics, theology, policy, literary criticism, and ethnography, this course considers the intersection of immigration, religion, and environment primarily in the context of the Americas. Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| RELG 8756 | Crucibles of American Modernity: 1870-1930 (3) |
| This graduate tutorial examines the crucible of modernization in the United States between the years 1870 and 1930, from Reconstruction to the Great Depression. The tutorial focuses on how the intersection of religion, politics, race, gender, sexuality, urbanization, settler colonialism, and material culture shaped the rise of as well as resistances to American modernity, thereby transforming American conceptions of the sacred. Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| RELG 8759 | Tutorial in Evil in Modern Thought (3) |
| Modern thought has been captivated by reflection on the problem of evil. This tutorial studies modern thinkers' efforts to understand evil, to help us understand evil and to understand the challenge that evil presents to the modern world's self-understanding. Focus will be on theoretical efforts both to understand the phenomenon and to explain and reframe the question of why we seek to understand it. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| RELG 8760 | Tutorial in American Religious Historiography (3) |
| Advanced training in American Religious History through careful analysis of landmark scholarship, including critical questions about historical epistemology and historiographical patterns. The course also seeks to develop an understanding of the ways in which religious history interacts with wider disciplinary & theoretical conversations, with a range of religious traditions in American context, and with varying sites of American culture. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| RELG 8761 | Tutorial in Sensory Religion (3) |
| This interdisciplinary research collaboration explores religious ways of sensing and sense-making. In recent decades, cultural anthropology, history, sociology, philosophy, literature, and religious studies, among others, have taken a sensory turn, resulting in the emergent field of sensory studies. Students will read and analyze sensory theory, case studies in sensory religion, and contribute original research on a topic of their choice. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| RELG 8762 | Tutorial: Black Apocalyptic Theory (3) |
| This tutorial examines Black Religious Studies and Black Studies scholarship that utilizes apocalyptic ideas to analyze Black religion, thought, politics, culture, and metaphysics. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| Religion-Hinduism | |
| RELH 1559 | New Course in Hinduism (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Hinduism | |
| RELH 2090 | Hinduism (3) |
| Surveys the Hindu religious heritage from pre-history to the 17th century; includes the Jain and Sikh protestant movements. Course was offered Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2010, Summer 2010 | |
| RELH 2095 | Contemporary Hinduism (3) |
| Introduces Hinduism through the examination of the religious lives, practices, and experiences of ordinary Hindus in the modern world. | |
| RELH 2195 | Theory and Practice of Yoga (3) |
| An investigation of yoga practice throughout history from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Topics include yoga's origins in ancient India, systematic yoga theories in Buddhism and Hinduism, Tantric Yoga, and the medicalization and globalization of Yoga in the modern period. Students' readings and writing assignments are supplemented throughout with practical instruction in yoga. Course was offered Summer 2022, Summer 2019, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Spring 2014 | |
| RELH 2300 | Philosopher Queens of Hinduism (3) |
| This course revisits the lives and conceptual legacies of notable female philosophers in Hinduism. In particular, we track a historiographical problem, a question of genre, and a conceptual question: how shall we recover women's voices? What link between certain genres of thought and the role of female philosophers in history? What relationships between gender, embodiment, subjectivity and experience? | |
| RELH 2559 | New Course in Hinduism (3) |
| his course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Hinduism | |
| RELH 3105 | Hinduism and Ecology (3) |
| This course will explore Hindu views of the relationship between human, natural, and divine worlds, as well as the work of contemporary environmentalists in India. We will read texts both classical and modern (from the Bhagavad Gita to the writings of Gandhi), and will consider case studies of Hindu responses to issues such as wildlife conservation, pollution, deforestation, and industrial agriculture. | |
| RELH 3140 | The Jain Tradition (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Examines Jain history, belief, and practice. Prerequisite: RELG 1040, RELH 2090, 2110, or instructor permission. |
| RELH 3180 | Nondualism (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Common to all the world¿s philosophies is engagement with the claim that all that exists in the universe is ultimately one, whether in one¿s awareness or in actual fact. This course examines how Hindus and Buddhists have articulated this idea, basing the same in detailed analysis of one¿s subjective awareness of reality, in an examination of the nature of existence independent of one¿s experience of it, and on the basis of scriptural revelation. |
| RELH 3426 | The History of Yoga (3) |
| Yoga is practiced by millions of people across the world and comes in an astonishing variety of forms. Historically, yoga has roots in ancient Indian practices of asceticism and meditation. But how are these practices related to yoga as it practiced today? This seminar will trace the history of yoga from its earliest origins to the present. Readings will include both primary sources (in translation) and works of contemporary scholarship. Course was offered Spring 2022 | |
| RELH 3440 | Religion and Violence in Modern India (3) |
| The purpose of this course is to study the phenomenon of religious violence in one geographic and cultural context. We will examine the roles of religion and violence in Indian political life from the British period until contemporary times, and through the Indian example, we will explore current questions and problems regarding the relationship between religion and politics. | |
| RELH 3559 | New Course in Hinduism (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Hinduism. Course was offered Janiuary 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, January 2015, Fall 2012, Spring 2010 | |
| RELH 3710 | Hindu Traditions of Devotion (3) |
| Examines the history of Hindu devotionalism in three distinct geographical and cultural regions of India, focusing on the rise of vernacular literature and local traditions of worship. Prerequisite: Any course in Asian religions or instructor permission. | |
| RELH 3725 | Travel Writing and India (3) |
| This course examines western encounters with India by reading the fiction and travel writing of Europeans, expatriate Indians, and Americans in India. In reading such works, the course will explore the place of India in the European and American literary and cultural imagination. | |
| RELH 3740 | Hinduism Through its Narrative Literatures (3) |
| Examines a major genre of Hindu religious narrative. Genre varies but may include the epics; the mythology of the Puranas; the 'didactic' Kathasaritsagara and Pancatantra; the hagiographies of the great Hindu saints; and the modern novel. Prerequisite: RELG 1040, RELH 2090, RELH 2110, or instructor permission. | |
| RELH 3745 | The Hindu Epics (3) |
| This course involves the close reading of selected passages of the Hindu Epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Students will read the primary sources in translation (from one or both epics), along with relevant secondary scholarly works. An advanced knowledge of Indian religions and/or Hinduism is presumed of students wishing to enroll in this course. | |
| RELH 4550 | Advanced Topics in Hinduism (3) |
| This topical course provides upper level undergraduate students in Religious Studies an opportunity for advanced coursework in Hinduism | |
| RELH 4559 | New Course in Hinduism (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Hinduism | |
| RELH 5053 | Hindu Philosophical Systems (3) |
| This course offers an advanced survey of the "six schools" of Indian philosophy. The purpose of the course is to develop a strong familiarity with the major schools of Hindu thought and the major philosophical concerns they addressed, and students will be asked to develop an historical understanding of the relevant authors and traditions. We will read primary texts in translation, along with selected secondary sources. Course was offered Spring 2023 | |
| RELH 5173 | The History of Yoga (3) |
| As yoga has risen to global prominence, the scholarly study of yoga has flourished. This course offers an introduction to this scholarship, as well as an overview of the theory and practice of yoga from its ancient past to the present day. The course will focus primarily on historically Hindu traditions, though some attention will devoted to parallel traditions from Buddhism and Jainism. Course was offered Fall 2023, Spring 2020 | |
| RELH 5221 | Hindu-Muslim Encounters (3) |
| This course examines Hindu-Muslim interactions in South Asia, bridging the long-standing gap between Hindu and Islamic studies while introducing critical issues currently facing the historiography of Hindu-Muslim relations. Special topics within the ambit of Hindu-Muslim encounters will be explored in depth, with a particular emphasis on intellectual interactions between traditions of Hindu and Islamic philosophy. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| RELH 5340 | Ritual and Renunciation (3) |
| This course examines the place for ritual practice and world-renunciation in Hinduism by examining two pivotal Hindu philosophical traditions: the M'm''s', a hermeneutical tradition that interprets the Vedas and the ritual actions they prescribe; and the Ved'nta, which offers a world-renouncing path to spiritual liberation (mok'a). We ask how Hinduism conceives of ritual, of renunciation, and, most importantly, of how the one informs the other. | |
| RELH 5450 | Hindu-Buddhist Debates (3) |
| This course examines philosophical debates of Hindu and Buddhist authors from the time of the founding of Buddhism to the medieval period. Primary sources in translation and secondary, scholarly sources are examined in this course.
Prerequisite: Significant prior exposure to Hinduism and/or Buddhism. | |
| RELH 5465 | Shaiva Tantra (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | The purpose of this course is to provide a comprehensive introduction to Indian tantric Saivism, beginning with the proto-tantric traditions of the "Outer Way" (atiarga) and including the increasingly goddess orientated and increasingly non-dualistic developments evidenced by the myriad traditions of the "Way of Mantras" (mantramarga). Students who wish to take this course are expected to have a deep familiarity with Hindu traditions. Course was offered Fall 2014 |
| RELH 5475 | Social Vision in Hinduism (3) |
| This course will examine the public and social dimensions of Hinduism. Topics will include the role of religion in shaping social institutions (e.g.: caste, the law), cultural attitudes toward sexual and other personal relationships, and the relationship between religion and government. Put in emic terms, we will explore the nature of the first three of the four Hindu goals of life (purusarthas): dharma, artha, and kama. Prerequisite: Basic Knowledge of Hindu Traditions Course was offered Spring 2016 | |
| RELH 5495 | Aesthetics (3) |
| The purpose of this course is to offer a thorough and systematic survey of Indian aesthetic theory in Sanskrit, what is referred to as the alamkarasastra. Major works and authors, as well as key contributions from the secondary literature, will be surveyed. | |
| RELH 5559 | New Course in Hinduism (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Hinduism. Course was offered Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Fall 2010 | |
| RELH 5723 | The Rise of Vedanta (3) |
| This course will explore the intellectual and social history of Vedanta, one of the most influential schools of Indian philosophy. We will trace its rise to prominence from the early classical period, when it was one of several competing schools, to the colonial period, when it came to be identified by many as the essence of Hinduism. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| RELH 7045 | Panini and the Sanskrit Grammarians (3) |
| This course offers a comprehensive introduction to the system of the great Sanskrit grammarian, Panini. The purpose of the course is to cultivate familiarity and facility with Panini's generative grammar. Students will learn the principles of the grammar and how to apply them in addressing a range of technical and grammatical issues. Key commentators on the grammar will also be read, as will relevant secondary sources. Course was offered Fall 2020, Spring 2018 | |
| RELH 7559 | New Course in Hinduism (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Hinduism. | |
| RELH 8559 | New Course in Hinduism (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Hinduism. Course was offered Spring 2011 | |
| RELH 8702 | Tutorial in Sanskrit: Aesthetics (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This tutorial constitutes a reading course in Sanskrit, the classical language of India. Students will read the original texts and translate them into English, analyzing and interpreting the materials in light of the Indian tradition of commentary and exegesis and in light of contemporary scholarly and other analyses of the relevant subject matter: aesthetics, or the alamkarasastra. |
| RELH 8722 | Tutorial in Sanskrit: Devotional Poetry (3) |
| This tutorial constitutes a reading course in Sanskrit, the classical language of India. Students will read the original texts and translate them into English, analyzing and interpreting the materials in light of the Indian tradition of commentary and exegesis and in light of contemporary scholarly and other analyses of the relevant subject matter: the stotra genre or that of Indian devotional poetry. | |
| RELH 8725 | Tutorial in Sanskrit: Hindu Law (3) |
| This tutorial constitutes a reading course in Sanskrit, the classical language of India. Students will read in Sanskrit the primary sources associated with "Hindu Law," the Dharmasutras, Dharmasastras, and the literature on Artha or Statecraft. Advanced Knowledge of Sanskrit required. Course was offered Fall 2018 | |
| RELH 8743 | Tutorial in Sanskrit: Philosophy (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This tutorial constitutes a reading course in Sanskrit, the classical language of India. Students will read the original texts and translate them into English, analyzing and interpreting the materials in light of the Indian tradition of commentary and exegesis and in light of contemporary scholarly and other analyses of the relevant subject matter: philosophical literature. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Spring 2020 |
| RELH 8744 | Hinduism and Ecology (3) |
| This tutorial offers an advanced introduction to Hinduism and ecology for graduate students working on religion and environment. The course will explore Hindu views of the relationship between human, natural, and divine worlds, as well as the work of contemporary environmentalists in India. At the end of the course, students will submit an original research project contributing to existing scholarship in the field. Course was offered Spring 2021, Spring 2020 | |
| RELH 8753 | Tutorial in Sanskrit: Yoga (3) |
| This course is an advanced tutorial focusing on yogic literature in Sanskrit. We will focus primarily on the Yogasutras of Patañjali (with commentaries), with additional readings from the Bhagavadgita (with commentaries) and the Hathayogapradipika. The tutorial is intended as a complement to RELH 5173: The History of Yoga, which covers secondary scholarship on the Sanskrit texts we will read for the tutorial. | |
| RELH 8756 | Tutorial in Sanskrit: Saiva Texts (3) |
| Tutorial constitutes a reading course in Sanskrit, the classical language of India. Students will read the original texts and translate them into English, analyzing and interpreting the materials in light of the Indian tradition of commentary and exegesis and in light of contemporary scholarly and other analyses of the relevant subject matter: Saiva Religion. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| Religion-Islam | |
| RELI 150 | Special Topics in Islam (0) |
| Special Topics in Islam. | |
| RELI 1559 | New Course in Islam (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam | |
| RELI 2024 | Jewish-Muslim Relations (3) |
| Jewish and Muslim communities share a complex history of interaction, spanning from seventh-century Arabia to the present day, and including instances of collaboration as well as moments of violence. Our course examines this dynamic relationship through documentary and literary sources. We focus on points of contact between Muslims and Jews in contexts ranging from battlefields to universities, from religious discourse to international politics. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Spring 2018 | |
| RELI 2070 | Classical Islam (3) |
| Studies the Irano-Semitic background, Arabia, Muhammad and the Qur'an, the Hadith, law and theology, duties and devotional practices, sectarian developments, and Sufism. | |
| RELI 2080 | Global Islam (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Global Islam traces the development of political Islamic thought from Napoleons invasion of Egypt in 1798 to the Arab Spring in 2010 and its aftermath in the Middle East. Course was offered Summer 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Spring 2019, Summer 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 |
| RELI 2085 | Modern Islam: From the Age of Empires to the Present (3) |
| Surveys Islamic history from the "age of the great empires" (Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal) to the colonial period and up to the present day, including Islam in America. Islamic life and thought will be examined from multiple angles -- including popular piety and spirituality, philosophy and theology, law, gender, art, architecture, and literature -- with particular attention paid to the rise of modern Islamic "fundamentalist" movements. | |
| RELI 2559 | New Course in Islam (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam | |
| RELI 3110 | Muhammad and the Qur'an (3) |
| Systematic reading of the Qur'an in English, with an examination of the prophet's life and work. | |
| RELI 3120 | Sufism: Islamic Mysticism (3) |
| This course will be a historical and topical survey of the development of Sufism from the classical Islamic period through the modern age, paying special attention to the interaction of ideas and the social and political contexts surrounding them. | |
| RELI 3200 | Muslim Misfits: Islam and the Question of Difference (3) |
| Islam began strange and will return to strange as it began. So blessings to the strange ones! So goes a famous saying of the Prophet Muhammad, celebrating the virtue of truth over conformity. This course examines Islamic movements that have sought to push back against religious and political norms of their times. Along the way, we read debates about orthodoxy: what are the limits of the Muslim community and how are such limits contested? Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| RELI 3355 | Prophecy in Islam and Judaism (3) |
| Prophecy provides the theme for our comparative inquiry into two sacred scriptures (the Qur'an and the Hebrew Bible) alongside the rich traditions of Muslim and Jewish interpretive literature. We will consider narratives about specific prophets, medieval debates between and within Muslim and Jewish communities about the status and function of prophecy within their traditions, and modern theoretical approaches to prophecy | |
| RELI 3415 | Medieval Books and Scholars (3) |
| Colloquium on medieval books and scholars | |
| RELI 3559 | New Course in Islam (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam. Course was offered Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2012, Fall 2010 | |
| RELI 3670 | Islamic Politics (3) |
| From Islamic states to Muslim secularism, from progressivism to salafism, from Islamic feminism to social conversativism, this course examines a broad range of political thought and practice that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Exploring thinkers and real-world cases, historical and contemporary, students will get beneath the headlines, coming to a robust understanding of the place of Islam in modern politics across the globe. Course was offered Spring 2023 | |
| RELI 3900 | Introduction to Islam in Africa through the Arts (3) |
| This course will survey the history of Islam and Muslim societies in Africa through their arts. Covering three periods (Precolonial, Colonial, and Post-colonial), and four geographic regions (North, East, West, and Southern Africa), the course will explore the various forms and functions of Islamic arts on the continent. Through these artistic works and traditions we will explore the politics, cultures, and worldviews of African Muslim societies. | |
| RELI 4559 | New Course in Islam (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam | |
| RELI 4560 | Advanced Topics in Islam (3) |
| This topical course provides upper level undergraduate students in Religious Studies an opportunity for advanced coursework in Islam | |
| RELI 5094 | What is Love?: Reflections from the Islamic Tradition (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This seminar will examine some of the most profound and influential writings about love from the Islamic intellectual and poetic traditions. Perhaps more than any other civilization, the literary and philosophical traditions of Islamic civilization have been "love-centric." In this course we will closely read and discuss various philosophies and theories of love from the mundane to the mystical. |
| RELI 5221 | Hindu-Muslim Encounters (3) |
| This course examines Hindu-Muslim interactions in South Asia, bridging the long-standing gap between Hindu and Islamic studies while introducing critical issues currently facing the historiography of Hindu-Muslim relations. Special topics within the ambit of Hindu-Muslim encounters will be explored in depth, with a particular emphasis on intellectual interactions between traditions of Hindu and Islamic philosophy. Course was offered Spring 2024 | |
| RELI 5345 | People of the Book Under Islam (3) |
| Interfaith relations under Islam. | |
| RELI 5380 | Islamic Biomedical Ethics (3) |
| Seminar will explore the foundations of religious ethics, ethical principles and rules developed by Muslim scholars to provide guidelines in medical practice and research in various cultural and political contexts. | |
| RELI 5400 | Muslim Comparative Theologies: Sunni-Shi'i Creeds (3) |
| The seminar will undertake to study the comparative Sunni and Shi'ite theologies to underscore a historical development of Muslim creeds in the context of social and political conditions. The course will cover the development of Muslim theology in general and the Sunni and Shi'ite creeds in particular. Prerequisites: RELI 2070 or 2080 Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| RELI 5415 | Introduction to Arabic and Islamic Studies (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This graduate seminar provides a comprehensive survey of the subjects and areas addressed in the field of Arabic and Islamic Studies. |
| RELI 5420 | War and Peace in Islam: A Comparative Ethics Approach (3) |
| Studies Islamic notions of holy war and peace as they relate to statecraft and political authority in Muslim history. | |
| RELI 5425 | Islamic Philosophy & Theology (3) |
| This course surveys the major developments within Islamic philosophy and theology from the classical to the early modern periods. Topics covered include the early theological schools (Ash'aris, Maturidis, Mu'tazilis), the transmission of Greek philosophy into Arabic, Peripatetic philosophy, Illuminationism, Shi'ite philosophy, and philosophical Sufism, concluding with the challenges faced by Islamic philosophy through the colonial and modern eras. This course has no prerequisites, but some previous experience in either Islamic studies or philosophy will be helpful. | |
| RELI 5520 | Advanced Arabic Seminar (3) |
| Advanced readings in Arabic texts. Topics will vary from semester to semester, addressing a range of materials and textual genres (philosophical, theological, exegetical, legal, ethical, mystical, literary, historiographical, etc.). Course readings will be in Arabic. | |
| RELI 5540 | Seminar in Islamic Studies (3) |
| Topics in Islamic Studies Course was offered Fall 2022, Fall 2020, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2016, Spring 2011, Fall 2009 | |
| RELI 5559 | New Course in Islam (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam. Course was offered Spring 2023, Fall 2021, Fall 2019, Fall 2017, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELI 5637 | Anthropology of Islam (3) |
| The discipline of anthropology has made significant contributions to the study of Islam. Yet far too rarely has it been asked, how might we take Islamic traditions' own ways of knowing not merely as objects of inquiry, but as intellectual partners? This course will engage readings in ethnography & critical theory that examine diverse expressions of Islam as it intervenes into debates over what it means to be human in the world. Course was offered Fall 2023 | |
| RELI 7100 | Islamic Religious Law (3) |
| Studies the sources and implications of the Islamic Religious Law (the Sharia). Prerequisite: RELI 2070 or RELC 5300. | |
| RELI 7559 | New Course in Islam (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam. | |
| RELI 8559 | New Course in Islam (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam. Course was offered Fall 2021 | |
| RELI 8703 | Advanced Readings in Arabic (3) |
| Advanced readings in Arabic philosophical, theological, mystical, and literary texts. Course readings will be in Arabic. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2018 | |
| RELI 8707 | Advanced Readings in Persian (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Advanced readings in Persian philosophical, theological, mystical, and literary texts. Course readings will be in Persian. Course was offered Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2018, Fall 2017 |
| RELI 8709 | Islamic Studies Tutorial (3) |
| Tutorial in Islamic Studies on philosophy, theology, jurisprudence, ethics, and political Islam. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017 | |
| RELI 8711 | Tutorial in Arabic Madih Nabawi (3) |
| This individualized graduate tutorial provides an introduction to the important tradition of Arabic poetry in praise of the prophet Muhammad, surveying both secondary literature & Arabic poetry in the original. Students will learn about the history, uses, formal features, & contemporary legacy of this literary tradition. At the end of the tutorial, an annotated bibliography or translation or review essay (>20 pages) will be submitted for grading. Course was offered Fall 2023 | |
| RELI 8752 | Tutorial: The Perfumed Life: Islamic Sources of the Self (3) |
| This course will examine the ways the ideal life has been imagined in Islamic thought, from antiquity to modernity. Putting these narratives in conversation with writings on the nature of self-hood and subjectivity in Euro-American academic traditions, we will examine what unique resources Muslim traditions have to explore the capabilities and limits of the self, and in what ways they participate in dilemmas shared across traditional boundaries. Course was offered Fall 2022 | |
| Religion-Judaism | |
| RELJ 1210 | Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Studies the history, literature, and religion of ancient Israel in the light of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Emphasizes methods of contemporary biblical criticism. Cross listed as RELC 1210. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2009 |
| RELJ 1410 | Elementary Biblical Hebrew I (3) |
| First half of a year-long introduction to biblical Hebrew, using an innovative language-learning approach. Through communicative activities in an immersive environment, students acquire oral and aural capacities naturally, in Hebrew. These capacities enable students to internalize the language and thus achieve the overall course goal: read simple biblical Hebrew prose with immediate comprehension. No Prerequisites. | |
| RELJ 1420 | Elementary Biblical Hebrew II (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Second half of a year-long introduction to biblical Hebrew, using an innovative language-learning approach. Through communicative activities in an immersive environment, students acquire oral and aural capacities naturally, internalize the language, and efficiently develop the ability to read biblical Hebrew prose with immediate comprehension. Students read the prose portions of the Book of Jonah and master basic Hebrew grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 1410 or the equivalent. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 |
| RELJ 1559 | New Course in Judaism (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Judaism | |
| RELJ 1590 | Topics in Jewish Studies (3) |
| This course provides the student with an opportunity to explore a new topic in Jewish Studies | |
| RELJ 2024 | Jewish-Muslim Relations (3) |
| Jewish and Muslim communities share a complex history of interaction, spanning from seventh-century Arabia to the present day, and including instances of collaboration as well as moments of violence. Our course examines this dynamic relationship through documentary and literary sources. We focus on points of contact between Muslims and Jews in contexts ranging from battlefields to universities, from religious discourse to international politics. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Summer 2021, Spring 2021, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Spring 2018 | |
| RELJ 2030 | Judaism, Roots and Rebellion (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | What does it mean to construct one's identity in dialogue with ancient texts and traditions? Can the gap between ancient and contemporary be bridged? Or must texts and traditions born of a remote time and place remain hopelessly irrelevant to contemporary life? This course explores these questions by examining the myriad ways that contemporary Jews balance the complexities of modern life with the demands of an ancient heritage. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Fall 2017, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Fall 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELJ 2031 | Introduction to Jewish Life in America (3) |
| This class is an introduction to Jewish Life in America in its religious and cultural manifestations. Students will become familiar with Jewish texts, holidays, rituals, lifecycle events, philosophical issues, communities and cultural practices as they are encountered NOW. Course was offered Fall 2022 | |
| RELJ 2040 | American Judaism (3) |
| Description and explanation of the diverse forms of Jewish religious life in America. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2022 | |
| RELJ 2056 | Classical Sources in the Jewish Tradition (3) |
| Classical Sources in the Jewish Tradition/Judaism in Antiquity | |
| RELJ 2061 | Judaism, Modernity, and Secularization (3) |
| This course attempts to develop the history and intellectual underpinnings of the Jewish experience of modernity and secularization. It will explore the variety of Jewish responses and adjustments to the modern world and their implications for present day Judaism in its many forms. | |
| RELJ 2230 | Jewish Spiritual Journeys (3) |
| Jewish Spiritual Journeys | |
| RELJ 2240 | Jewish Ritual (3) |
| Jewish Ritual | |
| RELJ 2300 | Introduction to Israeli Literature in Translation (3) |
| This course explores Israeli culture and society through the lens of its literature. Beginning with the revival of modern Hebrew and following the formative events of the Israeli experience, we will study a range of fictional works (and poetry) that represent the diverse voices of Israeli self-expression. Readings include S.Y. Agnon, Aharon Appelfeld, Yoel Hoffmann, Etgar Keret, A.B. Yehoshua, Yehudit Hendel, and others. Course was offered Fall 2010 | |
| RELJ 2410 | Intermediate Biblical Hebrew I (3) |
| Readings in the prose narratives of the Hebrew Bible. Emphasizes grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. Attention to issues of translation and interpretation. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 1420 or the equivalent. | |
| RELJ 2420 | Intermediate Biblical Hebrew II (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Readings in the poetry of the Hebrew Bible. Emphasizes grammar, vocabulary, and poetics. Attention to issues of translation and interpretation. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 2410 or the equivalent Course was offered Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 |
| RELJ 2521 | Special Topics in Judaism (3) |
| Special Topics In Judaism. | |
| RELJ 2559 | New Course in Judaism (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of Judaisim. Course was offered Spring 2016, Summer 2015, Summer 2014, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, January 2011, Fall 2009 | |
| RELJ 2590 | Topics in Jewish Studies (3) |
| This course provides the student with an opportunity to explore a new topic in Jewish Studies Course was offered Spring 2023, Fall 2013 | |
| RELJ 3052 | Responses to the Holocaust (3) |
| Responses to the Holocaust | |
| RELJ 3070 | Beliefs and Ethics after the Holocaust (3) |
| Examines how theologians and ethicists have responded to the human catastrophe of the Nazi Holocaust, 1933-45. Readings include twentieth-century reflections on the Holocaust, and previous Jewish and Christian responses to catastrophe from Biblical times through the nineteenth- and twentieth-century pogroms in eastern Europe. Prerequisite: Any religious studies, history, or philosophy course, or instructor permission. | |
| RELJ 3080 | Israeli Fiction in Translation (3) |
| Israeli Fiction in Translation | |
| RELJ 3085 | The Passover Haggadah: A Service Learning Course (3) |
| The Passover Haggadah cultivates sensitivity for the plight of the stranger, and we will study how it came about and how it has been used as a template for rituals of social activism on behalf of oppressed peoples, and in particular, of refugees. In volunteer placements in the community, UVA students will work with individuals who have have found refuge in Cville. Together, they will collaborate on designing haggadahs and community seders. | |
| RELJ 3090 | Plagues, Pestilence, Pox, and Prophecy (3) |
| This course treats the phenomenon of prophecy in ancient Israel in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Biblical texts often deal with plagues and pestilence. Does our current location in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak help us understand these texts in new ways? How do these stories reveal ancient Israel's most cherished values? Do biblical accounts of plagues and pestilence offer us insight into our own predicament in the age of corona? | |
| RELJ 3095 | The Bible in Fiction and Film (3) |
| In this course, we will study the biblical text itself, appreciating it in its own terms but also paying special attention to the ambiguities that activate our own imaginations. Then, we will analyze how fiction, film, and poetry respond to and re-imagine the biblical text-how they might make us think of the biblical text differently (or perhaps shed light on issues that were already there?). | |
| RELJ 3100 | Medieval Jewish Thought (3) |
| This course introduces the medieval Jewish intellectual tradition (9th-13th centuries) in its cultural and historical context. We will explore key themes such as the nature of God, prophecy, exile, the status of Scripture, the history of religions, and the quest for spiritual perfection. Readings will be drawn from philosophical, theological, exegetical, pietistic and mystical texts, including works from Saadia Gaon, Judah Halevi, and Maimonides. | |
| RELJ 3170 | Modern Jewish Thought (3) |
| This course offers an introduction into the major themes of Modern Jewish Thought. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013 | |
| RELJ 3220 | Judaism and Zionism (3) |
| Studies the complex relationship between Judaism the sacred tradition of the Jews and Zionism the modern ideology of Jewish national revival. | |
| RELJ 3292 | The Book of Job & Its Interpretation (3) |
| A seminar on the biblical book of Job (with attention to its literary artistry and compositional history) and its subsequent interpretation. Course was offered Spring 2015 | |
| RELJ 3300 | The Jewish Mystical Tradition (3) |
| Historical study of the Jewish mystical tradition, emphasizing the persistent themes of the tradition as represented in selected mystical texts. Course was offered Spring 2014 | |
| RELJ 3310 | Jewish Law (3) |
| Studies the structure and content of Jewish law in terms of its normative function, its historical background, its theological and philosophical principles, and its role in contemporary society both Jewish and general. | |
| RELJ 3320 | Judaism: Medicine and Healing (3) |
| Judaism: Medicine and Healing | |
| RELJ 3330 | Women and Judaism: Tradition and Change (3) |
| Women and Judaism: Tradition and Change | |
| RELJ 3340 | Jewish Medical Ethics (3) |
| Jewish Medical Ethics | |
| RELJ 3350 | Judaism and Ethics (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | An exploration of ethical thinking using the resources of the Jewish tradition. |
| RELJ 3355 | Prophecy in Islam and Judaism (3) |
| Prophecy provides the theme for our comparative inquiry into two sacred scriptures (the Qur'an and the Hebrew Bible) alongside the rich traditions of Muslim and Jewish interpretive literature. We will consider narratives about specific prophets, medieval debates between and within Muslim and Jewish communities about the status and function of prophecy within their traditions, and modern theoretical approaches to prophecy. | |
| RELJ 3360 | Judaism and Christianity (3) |
| Studies the relationship between Judaism and Christianity from the origins of Christianity as a Jewish sect through the conflicts of the Middle Ages and modernity; and current views of the interrelationship. | |
| RELJ 3370 | Modern Movements in Judaism (3) |
| Studies the modern religious movements in Judaism including Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, as well as Zionism, both secular and religious, with an emphasis on their theological and philosophical assertions and historical backgrounds. | |
| RELJ 3372 | German Jewish Culture and History (3) |
| This course provides a wide-ranging exploration of the culture, history & thought of German Jewry from 1750 to 1939. It focuses on the Jewish response to modernity in Central Europe and the lasting transformations in Jewish life in Europe and later North America. Readings of such figures as: Moses Mendelssohn, Heinrich Heine, Rahel Varnhagen, Franz Kafka, Gershom Scholem, Martin Buber, Karl Marx, Rosa Luxembourg, Walter Benjamin, and Freud. Course was offered Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Spring 2011 | |
| RELJ 3390 | Jewish Feminism (3) |
| Jewish Feminism Course was offered Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Fall 2020, Spring 2017, Spring 2015, Spring 2014 | |
| RELJ 3430 | Women in Judaism (3) |
| Women in Judaism Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| RELJ 3475 | Judaism and Science (3) |
| A study of the place of science in Judaism, focusing of the example of creation. Topics include: The Genesis story in plain sense, historical scholarship, rabbinic commentary and Jewish philosophy; The Big Bang through the history of Jewish reasoning; Newton and Modern Jewish Humanism; Quantum Physics and the Logic of Scripture; Science in modern and contemporary Jewish thought and belief; Judaism and the environment. | |
| RELJ 3490 | Jewish Weddings (3) |
| As we study the ritual of the Jewish wedding ceremony from antiquity to the present day, we will see how notions about marriage, gender relations, and the normative family are displayed and challenged. In particular, we will be investigating the establishment of innovations in the contemporary Jewish weddings (traditional, liberal, same-sex and interfaith) in America and Israel. | |
| RELJ 3559 | New Course in Judaism (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of Judaism. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, January 2010, Fall 2009 | |
| RELJ 3590 | Topics in Jewish Studies (3) |
| This course provides the student with an opportunity to explore a new topic in Jewish Studies Course was offered January 2019, Fall 2013 | |
| RELJ 3615 | Joseph, Esther, Daniel: Biblical Novels (3) |
| The finest narratives in ancient Judaism - stories about Joseph, Esther, Daniel - describe an exiled hero, who delivers his or her people against all odds; related literature includes Ruth, Tobit, Judith, Joseph & Asenath. This course examines the literary, historical, theological significance of these works and common themes: exile, restoration, extraordinary women, coincidence, human agency, the remote deity, the vindication of the underdog. Course was offered Spring 2013 | |
| RELJ 3652 | Sensibilities, Values and Virtue in Jewish Ethics (3) |
| Jewish virtue ethics in classical rabbinics and in contemporary writings and ethnographic practice and theory. An introduction to the ethical force of Hebrew Scripture, prayer, and religious practice as received by selected rabbinic thinkers and philosophers from classic times through the medieval period to today. | |
| RELJ 3665 | Gender and Sexuality in the Bible (3) |
| This course will interrogate the complex and diverse picture of gender and sexuality presented in the Bible. Students will read stories focusing on key biblical figures generating their own analysis on the dynamics of gender at play, while also considering ancient and modern interpretations and methodological approaches. Throughout, students will be exposed to the cultural and historical milieu that produced these texts. Course was offered Spring 2020, Spring 2019 | |
| RELJ 3705 | The Jewish Experience in Europe: Vienna and Budapest (3) |
| This course will explore Jewish history, culture and everyday life in Europe from a multidisciplinary perspective. It will consist of introductory lectures, site visits, guest speakers, and student presentations. The course is designed to be 12-day term with primary locations in Graz, Vienna, and Budapest. | |
| RELJ 3708 | Enduring Questions in Modern Judaism (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course is built around the "big" questions Jews in the modern period have faced--such as "Who is a Jew?," "Are there divine commandments?," "Must a Jew believe anything?," "Can there be God after Auschwitz?" Each unit will approach a different question from a variety of perspectives and sources--secular and religious--offering tools to understand complexities, acknowledge context, and ask new questions. Course was offered Spring 2021 |
| RELJ 3830 | Talmud (3) |
| Talmud Course was offered Fall 2014, Spring 2012 | |
| RELJ 3885 | Introduction to Judaism Through The Arts (3) |
| This course is organized around great works in the history of art whose thematic content and historical context intersect with the Jewish experience. Each session focuses on one representative artwork from antiquity to the present to reveal something about Jewish history. Textual sources (biblical, poetic, literary, scholarly) help interpret the artwork. | |
| RELJ 3910 | Women and the Bible (3) |
| Surveys passages in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and the New Testament that focus specifically on women or use feminine imagery. Considers various readings of these passages, including traditional Jewish and Christian, historical-critical, and feminist interpretations. Cross-listed as RELC 3910. Prerequisite: Any religious studies course or instructor permission. | |
| RELJ 4559 | New Course in Judaism (1 - 4) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer new topics in the subject of Judaism. | |
| RELJ 4570 | Advanced Topics in Judaism (3) |
| This topical course provides upper level undergraduate students in Religious Studies an opportunity for advanced coursework in Judaism | |
| RELJ 4590 | Topics in Jewish Studies (3) |
| This course provides the student with an opportunity to explore a new topic in Jewish Studies | |
| RELJ 4591 | Topics Modern Jewish History (3) |
| This topical course will explore topics in modern Jewish history, from 1948 to the present day. Course was offered Fall 2009 | |
| RELJ 4950 | Senior Seminar in Jewish Studies (3) |
| This course introduces and examines the origins and development of Jewish Studies with emphasis on its interdisciplinary character. Requirements include active class participation and a significant research paper based on a topic of the student's choice.
This course is required of all fourth-year Jewish Studies majors. It is also open to all interested students with permission of the instructor. | |
| RELJ 5030 | Judaism, Roots, and Rebellion (3) |
| This course examines the ways that contemporary Jews balance the complexities of modern life with the demands of an ancient heritage. The course toggles back and forth between the historical conditions that produced seminal texts and traditions, and the use to which they are put in the making of contemporary Jewish identities, with special attention to attention to strategies of resistance, adaptation and affirmation. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2022 | |
| RELJ 5048 | Philo of Alexandria and Hellenistic Judaism (3) |
| An indepth inquiry into the writings and thought of Philo of Alexandria (ca. 20 BCE-50 CE) Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| RELJ 5050 | Judaism in Antiquity (3) |
| Description and analysis of representative systems of Judaic religion which flourished in Palestine, Egypt, and Mesopotamia from 505 BCE to 600 CE. Course was offered Spring 2010 | |
| RELJ 5065 | Jewish History, Meta-History, Counter History (3) |
| The course discusses models of history, meta-history, counter history, and anti-history in modern Jewish thought. Readings from Heinrich Graetz, Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Walter Benjamin, A.J. Heschel, Leo Strauss, and others. Course was offered Fall 2013 | |
| RELJ 5100 | Theology and Ethics of the Rabbis (3) |
| This course explores theological and ethical themes in classical rabbinic literature (c. 200-600 CE). Focus is on gaining fluency in textual and conceptual analysis. Questions examined include: How is the relationship between God, humans generally and the people Israel specifically, imagined? What is evil and how is it best managed? What is the nature of one's obligation to fellow human beings? How does one cultivate an ideal self? | |
| RELJ 5105 | Religion and Culture of the Rabbis (3) |
| An examination of religion and culture of the rabbinic movement (c. 70-600 CE) in the social and cultural contexts of Greco-Roman antiquity. Among the issues to be examined: rituals and institutions of the rabbis, social organizations within the rabbinic movement, engagement with other sectors of Jewish and gentile society. | |
| RELJ 5145 | Medieval Jewish Thought (3) |
| Students explore the gems of the medieval Jewish intellectual tradition (9th-13th centuries), considering models of theology, exegesis, pietism, belles lettres, ethics, and mysticism. Focus on the development of foundational religious ideas and innovative literary forms, in historical and cultural context, with attention to parallels in the Islamic and Christian traditions. Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| RELJ 5165 | Scripture and Philosophy in Judaism and Beyond (3) |
| What happened when classical Jewish traditions of study and learning encountered the Hellenic traditions of philosophy? This course examines instances of encounter between philosophy and Jewish text learning throughout Jewish history, from the days of Philo to today, focusing on contexts of history, text-reading and hermeneutics. The second half of the course will explore implications for studies in Christianity and Islam. Course was offered Fall 2015 | |
| RELJ 5210 | Mishnah Seminar (3) |
| This course trains students to read Mishnah in the original language. Primary emphasis will be on giving students tools to decode the text and set the text in its appropriate historical and cultural contexts. Special attention will be paid to literary and legal aspects of the text. The Mishnah will also compared with parallels from contemporary compositions (the Tosephta and midrash halakhah). Secondary readings will expose students to the range Course was offered Fall 2014 | |
| RELJ 5250 | Jewish Bible Commentaries (3) |
| This course explores the Jewish Bible commentary in its formative period, between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Emphasis is given to the exegetical techniques and cultural significance of the genre, its engagement with the rabbinic tradition, and its parallels with Muslim and Christian hermeneutics. By comparing commentaries on a given biblical passage, we will consider the craft of Jewish commentary writing in varied historical circumstances. | |
| RELJ 5291 | The Book of Genesis and Its Interpretation (3) |
| A seminar on the book of Genesis (with attention to its literary artistry, compositional history, and theological issues) and its subsequent interpretation. Course was offered Fall 2015, Spring 2012 | |
| RELJ 5292 | The Book of Job & Its Interpretation (3) |
| A seminar on the biblical book of Job (with attention to its literary artistry and compositional history) and its subsequent interpretation.
Prerequisite: One course on biblical scholarship is required; knowledge of Hebrew and/or Greek is preferred, but, if not, then admission by instructor permission. Course was offered Spring 2015 | |
| RELJ 5350 | Judaism and Ethics (3) |
| An exploration of ethical thinking using the resources of the Jewish tradition. Course was offered Fall 2021 | |
| RELJ 5365 | Hermann Cohen and Modern Religious Thought (3) |
| The Jewish philosopher Hermann Cohen was one of the most influential thinkers of 20th-century religious thought. The seminar traces Cohen's neo-Kantian legacy in Europe and the United States. Apart from Cohen's work, we will cover select topics in Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Ernst Cassirer, Ernst Bloch, Leo Strauss, Mordecai Kaplan, and Steven Schwarzschild. Course was offered Spring 2020, Spring 2019 | |
| RELJ 5385 | The Song of Songs (3) |
| A seminar on the biblical Song of Songs (with attention to its literary artistry and compositional history) and its subsequent interpretation. Course was offered Spring 2020, Spring 2017 | |
| RELJ 5559 | New Course in Judaism (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Judaism Course was offered Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Spring 2010 |
| RELJ 5950 | Midrashic Imagination (3) |
| Midrashic Imagination Course was offered Spring 2013, Fall 2009 | |
| RELJ 7559 | New Course in Judaism (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Judaism. Course was offered Spring 2010 | |
| RELJ 8559 | New Course in Judaism (3) |
| This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Judaism. Course was offered Fall 2012 | |
| RELJ 8705 | Tutorial in Translating Biblical Poetry (3) |
| An advanced tutorial in translating biblical poetry, with several interrelated goals: developing skills in advanced biblical grammar; furthering capacities for biblical interpretation; exploring the dynamics of biblical poetry; understanding how ancient poetry and biblical books formed, developed, and were redacted; evaluating secondary literature as a prelude to developing sound arguments and coherent elegant translations. | |
| RELJ 8710 | Tutorial in Mishnah Translation (3) |
| Assorted passages from the Mishnah are read out loud, subjected to grammatical and content-based analysis, rendered into elegant English, and considered as exemplars of rabbinic literature. | |
| RELJ 8714 | Scriptural Reasoning in Judaism (3) |
| How recent Jewish philosophy and theology has turned back to the study of sacred texts. How that turn has engendered another turn: to intensive dialogue with like-minded Christian and Muslim philosophers and theologians. The course will require considerable reading in scriptural texts and in both classical and contemporary commentaries - philosophic and theological. | |
| RELJ 8717 | Tutorial in The Book of Job and Its Interpretation (3) |
| An advanced tutorial on the book of Job and its related texts--ancient, medieval, and modern--which allow us to establish the literary and theological traditions out of which Job was composed and the literary and theological legacies that it has engendered, including thinking about divine justice, human piety, the limits of human knowledge, and the nature of the divine-human encounter. Course was offered Spring 2021, Spring 2018 | |
| RELJ 8726 | Tutorial: Themes in Modern Jewish History (3) |
| This course explores the major themes and debates in modern Jewish history and historiography from the Enlightenment to the present. Course was offered Spring 2019 | |
| RELJ 8730 | Tutorial in Midrash Translation (3) |
| This tutorial helps graduate students develop and strengthen skills in the reading and translation of ancient rabbinic Hebrew. It prepares them to do advanced research with ancient rabbinic texts, with a focus on midrashic texts in particular. It gives students the interpretive skills to make sense of the texts and provides an overview of the scholarly issues pertinent to their study. | |
| RELJ 8736 | Tutorial: Jewish Liturgy (3) |
| Students will read through a year of Jewish liturgy. Primary sources will include Jewish prayer books of different denominations and secondary sources will include the works of Larry Hoffman, Ruth Langer, Alan Mintz, Judith Plaskow, and Marcia Falk. The course will highlight the variations of Jewish liturgy across denominations and will end with contemporary feminist liturgy. Course was offered Fall 2019 | |
| RELJ 8739 | Tutorial:Buber, Heschel, & Levinas: Dialogical Approaches in Jewish Thought (3) |
| This tutorial brings together three major Jewish thinkers of the 20th century with a special focus of dialogical philosophy and theology. Course was offered Spring 2021, Spring 2020 | |
| RELJ 8748 | Tutorial: Formation of the Hebrew Bible (3) |
| This graduate tutorial explores the history and formation of the Hebrew Bible. Course was offered Fall 2020 | |
| RELJ 8749 | Tutorial in Holocaust Studies (3) |
| This tutorial focuses on key texts in the field of Holocaust Studies. Reading lists will be adjusted to the particular interests of the student, but may include scholarship on the ethics of representations, individual and collective memory, evil and suffering, moral agency and culpability, comparative studies of genocide and mass atrocities, theodicy and anti-theodicy, and Holocaust testimony. | |
| RELJ 8750 | Tutorial: Jewish Feminism (Abrahamic Context) (3) |
| This tutorial puts Jewish feminism in conversation with Muslim and Christian feminisms, in the particular contexts of sacred texts, prayer, ritual practice, law, sexuality, leadership, and community. Course was offered Spring 2021 | |
| RELJ 8751 | Tutorial in Second Temple Judaism (3) |
| This interdisciplinary research collaboration explores the variegated expressions of Judaism between the construction of the second Jerusalem temple in the 6th century BCE, through the Hellenistic and Roman periods, down to the temple's destruction by the Romans in the 1st century CE. Given the chronological and geographical vastness and complexity of the subject, this course will of necessity consider a selection of problems, issues, and topics. | |
| RELJ 8752 | Tutorial: Theopolitics Modern Judaism II: Mendelssohn & the Enlightenment (3) |
| Tutorial 2 in sequence of 3. Mendelssohn's book Jerusalem, or on Religious Power (1783), the center of our discussion and a response to Hobbes, Spinoza, and Locke, is both a theory of government & a novel interpretation of Judaism, but also a program of enlightenment and modernization that has to be seen in the context of Jewish emancipation in the 18th century. The course introduces texts by Kant, Lessing, Herder, Friedlander, & Schleiermacher. | |
| RELJ 8753 | Theopolitics Modern Judaism I: Spinoza (3) |
| This graduate course is a sequence of three independent tutorials on theopolitical thought in Modern Judaism: I. Spinoza, II. Mendelssohn and the Enlightenment, III. Martin Buber, Hermann Cohen, and Franz Rosenzweig. Each tutorial lasts one semester and can be taken outside the sequence. The focus of the course lies on the alliance and confrontation of religion and politics in Modern Jewish thought and its immediate intellectual historical context. Course was offered Spring 2024, Spring 2021 | |
| RELJ 8757 | Tutorial: Theopolitics: Modern Judaism III: Buber, Cohen, Baeck, Rosenzweig (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This tutorial, the third in a sequence on theopolitical thought in Modern Judaism, will focus on 20th-century Jewish philosophers, especially Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, Leo Baeck, and Franz Rosenzweig. Their distinct views on the state, the nation, and the theocratic community, as well as how modern Christian thought grappled with similar questions, will be analyzed in the context of a crisis of politics during the interwar period. Course was offered Spring 2023, Spring 2022 |
| RELJ 8760 | Tutorial in Readings in Medieval Hebrew (1 - 3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This reading course introduces students to the medieval Hebrew literary tradition and the distinctive linguistic features of Hebrew in this period. The texts under consideration will vary by semester. Scholarly articles will supplement and contextualize the Hebrew readings. Students will discuss the religious and historical significance of the passages that they prepare in advance of our sessions. Course was offered Spring 2024 |
| RELJ 8880 | Biblical and Jewish Palestinian Aramaic (3) |
| Introduces the Aramaic language, intended especially for New Testament graduate students. Emphasizes mastery of the grammar and syntax of Official or Imperial Aramaic and especially Middle Aramaic (second century b.c.e. to second century c.e.). | |
| Religion-Special Topic | |
| RELS 4980 | Senior Essay (3) |
| Studies selected topic in religious studies under detailed supervision. The writing of an essay constitutes a major portion of the work. Prerequisite: Permission of departmental advisor and instructor. | |
| RELS 4995 | Independent Research (1 - 6) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Systematic readings in a selected topic under detailed supervision. Prerequisite: Permission of departmental advisor and instructor. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, January 2019, Fall 2018, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, January 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELS 8100 | Buddhism in America (3) |
| This course asks how Buddhism transformed from a marginal phenomenon at the end of WWII to a highly influential force in America today. We will move toward the answer by looking at the complex interactions of a number of forms of Buddhism in the U.S. By doing so, we will not only gain a sense of why Buddhism has developed as it has in the United States, but an understanding of Buddhism more generally and what distinguishes its American forms. Course was offered Fall 2023 | |
| RELS 8500 | Topics for Supervised Study and Research (1 - 6) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | This topical course provides Master's and Doctoral students in Religious Studies an opportunity for advanced coursework in selected, established areas of the department's curriculum. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011 |
| RELS 8700 | Tutorial in HEBREW CODICOLOGY AND PALEOGRAPHY (3) |
| This tutorial is designed to introduce students to the study of Hebrew manuscripts. It provides a foundation for codicology and training in paleographic analysis. The tutorial is ideal for graduate students who are preparing to conduct advanced manuscript research. Course was offered Fall 2024 | |
| RELS 8960 | Thesis Research (3) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Research on problems leading to a master's thesis. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELS 8995 | Research (1 - 12) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | Systematic readings in a selected topic under detailed supervision. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Summer 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Summer 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Summer 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELS 8998 | Non-Topical Research, Preparation for Research (1 - 12) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | For master's research, taken before a thesis director has been selected. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELS 8999 | Non-Topical Research (1 - 12) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | For master's thesis, taken under the supervision of a thesis director. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELS 9998 | Non-Topical Research, Preparation for Doctoral Research (1 - 12) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | For doctoral research, taken before a dissertation director has been selected. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Summer 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Summer 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Summer 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Summer 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Summer 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |
| RELS 9999 | Non-Topical Research (1 - 12) |
| Offered Spring 2025 | For doctoral dissertation, taken under the supervision of a dissertation director. Course was offered Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2009 |