Course Listing
Below is a list of available courses offered by the Religious Studies Department. Consult the Registrar’s Office and the College Catalog for registration information.
RELG 111 - HEBREW BIBLE/OLD TESTAMENT
A study of the growth of Israel's literature and religion, seen against the background of her history from 2000 to 165 B.C.E. The course includes discussion of the early traditions and legends of Israel, the historical narratives, the role of the prophets, and the wisdom writings.
Hours credit: 3.
RELG 112 - NEW TESTAMENT
A scholarly analysis of the literature of the early Christian movement, emphasizing its provenance in provincial Palestinian culture of the first two centuries CE. Students will study and employ the established strategies for ascertaining the origin, configuration, relations, life-setting, aims, and concerns of the New Testament writings. Topics include the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, beliefs and practices of the early Christian communities, first century Christian diversity, early Jewish-Christian relations, the ministry and theology of Paul, the rise of orthodoxy, and canon-formation. Some attention will be paid to non-canonical texts.
Hours credit: 3.
RELG 115 - RELIGION IN AMERICA
The role of religion in the American experience. Attention will be given to the history of Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism in America. Among the issues to be considered will be the shaping of a Protestant America and its subsequent transformation and decline in the age of immigration, religion and American anti-intellectualism, revivalism, American civil religion, and Black religion.
Hours credit: 3. Offered second semester.
RELG 183 - FAITH AND DOUBT
Is 'faith' a desperate pitch to gain influence over a world only partly intelligible to mind and ill-suited to the human need for security? Is it a by-product of fear, guilt, resentment, or a primitive stage in human intellectual development? Is it immoral? Is it coherent? Can it be rational? This course investigates several significant instances of "doubt" as representative of four general approaches to the critique of theistic belief. Attention will be given to the faith(s) that inspire such critiques, repercussions for believers, and some responses and strategies of response to these critiques. Identical with Philosophy 183.
Hours credit: 3.
RELG 187 - INTRODUCTION TO BUDDHISM
An introduction to Buddhist thought and practice, from its roots in ancient India to its efflorescence in Asia and elsewhere. Analysis of central Buddhist narratives and tenets will be balanced by study of the 'lived religion' in several diverse cultural contexts. Shared and distinctive commitments and practices of the three major living traditions, Therav?da, Mah?y?na, and Vajray?na, will receive close attention. Sources include classical texts, memoirs, scholarly essays, and documentary and feature film.
Hours credit: 3. One time only.
RELG 208 - RELIGIOUS ETHICS & THE PUBLIC SQUARE
A select study of critical social issues in the context of religious commitment. Students will examine the ethical reasonings of Jews and Christian apropos sex, sexuality, forgiveness, capital punishment, warfare, and work (among others). Particular attention is paid to the ways in which religious particularity informs ethical reasoning, i.e. to the ways in which religionists bring their "theologics" to bear on moral issues occupying the public square.
Hours credit: 3. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Offered alternate years.
RELG 228 - THE RELIGIONS OF ASIA
An introduction to the great living religions of Asia. The course will examine the characteristic features of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto, and Zoroastrianism.
Hours credit: 3. Prerquisite: sophomore standing or permission of the instructor.
RELG 237 - THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM
A thematic survey of the principal religious traditions of the 'West', to wit, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The course emphasizes the logic internal to each 'tradition' and studies the sundry resources upon which each relies for the construction and interpretation of meaning, authority, moral insight, and religious practice. Students will further seek to ascertain each tradition's account of the divine identity, the nature of the cosmos, human community, and the individual's residence therein.
Hours credit: 3. Prerequisite: sophomore standing.
RELG 261 - FAITH AND FILM
Studies the emergence of "the religious" via the intersection of filmic 'texts,' graphic texts, and disciplined conversation. Students will examine filmic representations of religious phenomena, using film as an occasion for theological reflection on the religious contents imaged therein. The course will further use film to open up a discursive space wherein to think critically about religious desire and imagination. This will occasion more general reflection on the nature of filmic representation or the relation between the medium and the message. Films include Winter Light. Babette's Feast, Breaking the Waves, and The Quarrel (among others).
Hours credit: 3. Prerequisite: sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. Offered alternate years.
RELG 272 - REPRESENTATIVE CHRISTIAN THINKERS
An examination of such leading Christian theologians as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and Kierkegaard. The individuals considered are representative of major concerns in the Christian theological tradition. They are considered against their background and in the light of their influence upon the history of Christian thought.
Hours credit: 3. Prerequisite: sophomore standing or permission of the instructor.
RELG 275 - PHILOSOPHIES OF RELIGION
A study of chiefly modern and postmodern reflection belonging to the sub-discipline Philosophy of Religion, centering on epochal transformations in the philosophical analysis of religions. Areas of study include the existence of god(s), phenomenologies of religious experience, analyses of the relation between faith and reason, religion and sex, religion and gender, religion and violence, the analysis of religious discourse, and the death of god. Identical with PHIL 275.
Hours credit: 3. Prerequisite: sophomore standing.
RELG 276 - BIBLE & COMPASS:RENAISSANCE & REF EUROPE
A survey of European History from the beginnings of the Renaissance in 14th century Italy through the reign of Elizabeth I in England. Topics include the Italian and Northern Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic response, and the transformations wrought by the Age of Discovery. Identical with History 276.
Hours credit:3. Prerequisite: sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. Offered alternate years.
RELG 285 - INTRODUCTION TO HINDUISM
An introduction to the South Asian family of religious traditions sometimes termed 'Hinduism.' From the ritually re-created cosmos of Vedic texts to the philosophically contemplative Upanishads to the devotional effusions of vernacular poets, students will examine the historical foundations and abiding practice of the three marg?s--ritual, contemplative renunciation, and devotion. Attending carefully to the central concepts of karma, dharma, and bhakti, students will study the ways in which Hindus from different historical moments, local traditions, and social backgrounds attempt to make sense of the cosmos and their places in it.
Hours credit: 3. One time only.
RELG 289 - INDEPENDENT STUDY
RELG 301 - IMMORTAL LONGINGS: FORM MYSTICAL CONSCIO
A close study of the plural formations of mystical consciousness in world religious traditions. Students will approach 'mysticism' as part and parcel of broader historical, cultural, institutional, and textual settings, paying particular attention to conceptual underpinnings, the role of language in pursuit of union or co-presence, interactions with the 'mainstream,' and the cultivation of somatic and ecstatic experiences, among other matters. What precisely do we mean by 'mysticism'? Is it more than a scholarly fiction for assessing religious texts and practices that bypass 'company' gatekeepers? Is it an inevitable corollary of institutionalization and 'stifling the Spirit'? What did Meister Eckhart mean when he said: "I pray God that he rid me of God"? Come see.
Hours credit: 3.
RELG 315 - RELIGION AND FICTION
Studies the way(s) in which modern literature articulates intrinsically religious question, to wit, questions concerning the relation between human nature and spirit, the signification of suffering and evil, the human desire for wholeness and completion, and the human need for rootedness in a symbolic order of meaning. Some the fictionists studied write texts intended to reflect their religious traditions (e.g. Flannery O'Conner, Elie Wiesel). Others interweave different traditions to create more idiosyncratic expressions of a religious life (e.g. N. Scott Momaday, Annie Dillard). Still others craft "secular" narratives that nevertheless raise questions with religious implication (e.g. Milan Kundera, Toni Morrison). This course affords the opportunity to study some of these fictionists and other interpreters and theorists of religion.
Hours credit: 3. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of the instructor. Offered alternate years.
RELG 317 - TOPICS IN MOD/CON RELIGIOUS THOUGHT
A seminar on a topic in modern and contemporary religious thought. Topics vary from year to year.
Hours credit: 3. Prerequisite: open to sophomores with permission of the instructor. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
RELG 390 - INDEPENDENT STUDY
RELG 493 - SEMINAR
Preparation by each student of a research paper on a subject approved by the Department; faculty supervision through individual conferences.
Hours credit: 2. Prerequisite: permission of the Department.
RELG 494 - SEMINAR
A supervised reading program designed to meet the student's special interests and, to some extent, to supplement and integrate the student's knowledge of the major field. Discussion meetings of students and staff will be scheduled.
Hours credit: 2. Prerequisite: permission of the Department.
RELG 497H - DEPARTMENTAL HONORS
RELG 498H - DEPARTMENTAL HONORS
