Religion
Courses
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 3REL 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 3REL 171: Hindu Traditions of India
Credits 4REL 172: Buddhist Traditions: Contemporary Masters
Credits 4REL 180: Religions of East Asia
Credits 4REL 204: The New Promised Land
Credits 3REL 205: Introduction to Quaker History
Credits 3REL 209: Religion & Popular Literature in US
Credits 4REL 211: Religion & Spirit in African American Literature
Credits 3REL 214: Jerusalem: City of Peace, City of Conflict
Credits 3REL 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 4REL 299: Religion & Culture of Hip Hop
Credits 4REL 303: Human Rights in the Muslim World
Credits 4This course is motivated by several questions to which students will be trusted to develop their own answers. Questions include: What is Islam? What are human rights? How do Muslims embody human rights? How much variation is there in how Muslims articulate and enact human rights?
REL 304: Judaism, the Other & State: Encounters in Modern Jewish Thought
Credits 3REL 307: Radical Christianities
Credits 4REL 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.