Major,
Minor
Religion
Programs
-
Religion,
Courses
REL 128: Jewish/Christian Encounters
Credits 3How does Christianity understand itself in relation to Judaism? How do Jews think about Christians? Has there always been conflict? Has there been mutual influence? An introduction to these traditions through themes of religious and cultural encounters. Themes include: sexuality and gender, race and violence, conversion, theology and politics.
REL 129: Contemporary Issues in Religion
Credits 4This course introduces students to the Study of Religion by focusing on a single issue of importance to the field and to contemporary society at large. Potential topics include the body, death and dying, cults, ritual, the sacred, and so on.
REL 130: Damn the Gods
Credits 3In spite of the terrible behavior demonstrated by the Greek and Roman gods, they remained the focus of religious attention for millennia. By closely analyzing these mythological narratives, students will consider what these myths have to say about Greek and Roman religion, and about Greco-Roman conceptualizations of the world around them.
REL 144: Bible in Politics
Credits 3The Bible is the foundational sacred text for more than 2 billion people — and a source of political conflict, ethical dispute, and cultural inspiration. This introductory course focuses not only on the historical and geographical contexts in which the Bible arose but on its "afterlives" as well. This course will consider the variety of ways in which the Bible is employed in contemporary political and geopolitical conflicts and its influence on modern literature.
REL 151: Science, Medicine, & Religion
Credits 3Is religious belief compatible with science and reason? How have Jews and Christians understood epidemics, illness, medical ethics, and the relationship of the Bible to science? In what ways have scientists defended or debunked "religion"? Topics also include controversies over evolution, racial science, public health, theologies of health care equity.
REL 171: Hindu Traditions of India
Credits 4An introduction to South Asia's diverse communities and religious traditions, especially Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Muslim, and Jain, through stories of and by several of the religion's most celebrated, sometimes most controversial, moral and spiritual adepts. Sources include works of narrative literature, visual art, drama, poetry and ethnography. Special attention to gender and the body as sites of ethical engagement, implicit theories of the self and selftransformation, and the role of the moral or spiritual adept in society and as an agent of social reform.
REL 172: Buddhist Traditions: Contemporary Masters
Credits 4Introduction through teachings, films and videos, and memoir to the three Buddhist "turnings of the wheel": Theravadan Buddhism in India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia; Tibetan Tantric Buddhism; and Zen in East Asia. Students will learn methods of meditation, maintain a journal, and discuss readings and experiences together.
REL 180: Religions of East Asia
Credits 4Topics include the early community and the life of Muhammad, portions of the Qur'an, the historical development of Islamic civilization, Sufism and issues in the contemporary Islamic world (such as the role of women, the nature of jihad and Islam's relationship to other religions).
REL 204: The New Promised Land
Credits 3The first Jews set foot on American soil in 1584, and Jewish understanding of the United States and its non-Jewish majority have been complicated ever since. This course explores the history, sociology and theology of American Judaism from the colonial period to the present day with a particular focus on the Jewish minority experience and the evolution of Jewish-Christian relationship. Students also will consider themes of Jewish activism, the rise of the congregational denominations, the appeal of nostalgia, and the development of a particularly Jewish-American culture and cuisine.
REL 205: Introduction to Quaker History
Credits 3An introduction to the history of the Religious Society of Friends from the 1640s to the present. Particular attention will be given to Quakers as activists and reformers and the role of Earlham in Quaker history.
REL 209: Religion & Popular Literature in US
Credits 4This course will examine popular religious literature published in the United States — such as The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the Left Behind series — and ask how it embraces or pushes against established religious traditions and literary norms. Students will investigate how authors use different literary genres to explore religious belief, practice and community. Appropriate for first-year students.
REL 211: Religion & Spirit in African American Literature
Credits 3This course looks at religious and spiritual elements in African American literature. How do literary texts embrace or push back against religious beliefs and communities? And, how have black American writers used religion and spirituality to think through race and inequality in the United States?
REL 214: Jerusalem: City of Peace, City of Conflict
Credits 3Jerusalem is sacred for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. We will examine Jerusalem's long history, divisive politics, contested character, and possible futures from different disciplinary perspectives. The course attends to Jerusalem's place in the “Abrahamic” faiths, and explores how religion, nationalism, and identity shape the city in war and in peace.
REL 215: Holocaust: Historical, Religious & Ethical Issues
Credits 3This course is an inquiry into the victims, perpetrators, rescuers, and bystanders around the Nazi genocide of Europe's Jews. Utilizing film, history, memoir and scholarship we examine aspects of the Holocaust from the perspective of ethics, theology and religious studies. Topics also include race/anti-racism, Zionism, interfaith reconciliation and American memory.
REL 230: History of African American Religious Experiences
Credits 4An introductory survey of the central historical events, people and faith perspectives that have shaped African American (or Black) religious experiences in the United States. Includes the Middle Passage and "New World" Slavery, The Great Awakening and later Revival(s), Emancipation, Reconstruction, migration and urbanization; Jim/Jane Crow, Civil Rights, Black Power and Black Humanism.
REL 244: The Modern Jewish Experience
Credits 3Explores major intellectual, political, and historical movements that define the modern Jewish experience in Europe, America, and the Middle East. Considers topics like emancipation and assimilation, Zionism, race, migration, and the Holocaust to understand the radical shifts of the Jewish diaspora.
REL 299: Religion & Culture of Hip Hop
Credits 4Bringing to bear written texts, music, film and other media sources, this course explores the definition and moral significance of Hip Hop as a religious and cultural phenomenon within popular culture. Specific issues explored in this course include the syncretism of religious symbols and sensibilities in Hip Hop; the racial, ethnic, sex-gendered, and class dynamics of Hip Hop; as well as the language and aesthetics of Hip Hop.
REL 304: Judaism, the Other & State: Encounters in Modern Jewish Thought
Credits 3What does it mean to be Jewish in the modern world? This seminar considers the political and theological challenges of modern Judaism, from European Jewish emancipation to the present day. The class will discuss the rise of Jewish voices in the public sphere; the complex relationship between modern Jewish and Christianity, conflicts over history, science and biblical interpretation and the rise of Jewish nationalism. Students also will consider how the Jewish minority experience compares to experiences of other religious and cultural minorities in the modern West.
REL 306: Creation, Gender, & Sexuality in Judaism
Credits 3We will consider notions of gender, sexuality, and purity in the Hebrew Bible as well as Talmudic and later rabbinic sources. Reading through a critical-historical lens, we will explore the innovations and controversies that exist in Jewish texts and traditions regarding issues like women's leadership, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and interfaith marriage.
REL 307: Radical Christianities
Credits 4This course will examine American Christians and Christian groups who pushed back against large denominations, the American government, or American popular culture. We will look at conflicts, people, and groups in the U.S. from the 17th through 20th centuries. We will ask, how do radical forms of Christianity push back against or cement American values and power structures?
REL 308: Buddhist Ethics
Credits 4This course explores the place of ethics and moral reflection in Buddhist thought and practice. As students examine sources that hail from across the Buddhist world, the class will inquire about what it means to think and act well according to different Buddhist visions of the ideal life and human flourishing. Prerequisite: consent of the instructor.
REL 309: Prophetic Black Women
Credits 3This course is a study of Black religious women in the U.S., and how they wrote about their religious beliefs and experiences. Students will encounter leaders who changed or led established movements such as Zilpha Elaw and Jarena Lee, women who had religious visions such as Shaker Rebecca Cox Jackson, and literary writers who interrogated religious groups and practices such as Nella Larsen. Students will be asked to consider how religious belief and practice might shape the way people conceptualize what it means to be a Black woman in the U.S.
REL 310: Is Religion "T(t)rue"
Credits 4A critical survey of influential modern proposals concerning the nature, function and value of religion in human life. Engages students in close primary and secondary readings and analysis of (representative) major figures and themes in the global study of religion, both academically and confessionally. Incorporates resources from philosophy, theology, the social sciences and cultural studies.
REL 311: Religion & Power in the US
Credits 3This course examines how religious groups in the United States have defined and responded to the concept of power — religious power, political power, and cultural ideologies. Students will read theoretical, religious and historical texts to understand the complicated nature of power, and how it is enacted in everyday life.
REL 313: The Jews of Spain and Portugal
Credits 4From “convivencia” among Jews, Christians and Muslim to the Spanish Inquisition and Expulsion of 1492, this course will explore the explore the history and culture of Jews from the Iberian Peninsula from the medieval period through the modern day.
REL 330: Mass Incarceration & Moral Vision
Credits 4A critical examination of the social functions and theories of contemporary criminal justice in the United States. Special attention to the collateral social consequences of the "prison industrial complex," paramilitary policing and the death penalty. Fosters moral interpretations that contribute to popular movements for positive change.
REL 345: Eco-Spirituality: Global Traditions
Credits 4A course on the intersection of religion and ecology, focusing on (1) how diverse religious traditions understand and influence human relationships to the natural world; and (2) how responses to current ecological crises are informed and/or challenged by religious worldviews.
REL 488: Senior Capstone & Research Seminar
Credits 3A two-semester research seminar designed to provide an informative, structured and supportive group environment for the preparation and oral defense of a major research project in the study of religion. Class time devoted to identifying, developing and accomplishing this project in conversation with one another and faculty. The paper and oral interview fulfill the Senior Capstone.