RELIGION 1014: ASIAN RELIGIONS

(formerly 1015) - Area 2, Core Curriculum

The nature of "religion," approaches to understanding "religion," traditional and contemporary features of Asian "religions" (including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shinto), including their manifestations in the USA and their involvement in critical issues in a global context. (3H,3C). I.
 

RELIGION 1024: JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, AND ISLAM

(formerly 1016) - Areas 2 & 7, Core Curriculum

The nature of "religion," approaches to understanding "religion," traditional and contemporary features of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, including their manifestations in the USA and their involvement in critical issues in a global context. (3H,3C). II.
 

RELIGION 1034: RELIGION AND THE MODERN WORLD

(formerly 1025) - Area 2, Core Curriculum

Modern challenges to traditional religion and responses to these challenges, including conservative, liberal, and radical responses; science and religion; issues of race and gender; church and state issues. (3H,3C). I, II.
 

RELIGION 1044: RELIGIOUS ETHICS

(formerly 1026) - Area 2, Core Curriculum

Influential representative social and religious ethical perspectives from the mid-sixties to the present; ethical reasoning on current pressing and perennial social issues based on historical and ethical analysis of case studies; theoretical assumptions about morality as the relation between justice and the good. (3H,3C). I, II.
 

RELIGION 2104 (GR 2104): GREEK NEW TESTAMENT

Readings from the New Testament in Greek, with attention to grammatical analysis, historical background, and other clues to interpretation. Prerequisite: GR 1106. (3H,3C). I. Even years.
 

RELIGION 2124: RELIGION IN AMERICAN LIFE

Area 2, Core Curriculum

The role of religion in American life in selected periods from the original settlements to the present. The influences of religious institutions and movements in American history and the impact of the "American experience" on religious life and expression. (3H,3C). I. Alternate years.
 

RELIGION 2144 (BLST 2144): AFRICAN RELIGIONS

The role of religious (or belief) systems in African societies, especially the three predominant religious traditions in Africa: the so-called African Traditional Religions, Islam, and Christianity; the universe of religious systems and religious experiences and processes of Africa, in particular, sub-Saharan Africa; critical examination of the mythic stature of Africa's "religions" within Western cultural (and scholarly) world views and institutions. (3H,3C).

RELIGION 2234 (WS 2234): WOMEN, ETHICS, AND RELIGION

Areas 2 & 7, Core Curriculum

Women's religious ethical formation; the roles and understandings of women in traditional and major modern religious traditions; authoritative writings and practices of various traditions as they focus on issues of sex and gender; gynocentric methods of study of women, ethics, and religion; feminist and womanist approaches to liberation and social change. (3H,3C). II.
 

RELIGION 2414: HEBREW BIBLE/OLD TESTAMENT

(formerly 2405) - Area 2, Core Curriculum

Introduction to the academic study of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament); a variety of scholarly approaches to the Bible, including historical-critical, literary, and gender studies methods. Emphasis on developing skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing about the Bible. (3H,3C). I.
 

RELIGION 2424: NEW TESTAMENT

(formerly 2406) - Area 2, Core Curriculum

Introduction to the academic study of the New Testament; a variety of scholarly approaches to the New Testament, including historical-critical, redaction critical, and literary methods. Emphasis on developing skills in critical thinking, reading, and writing about the New Testament as a way of understanding the faith and history of early Christianity. (3H,3C). II.
 

RELIGION 2464 (HST 2464/AAEC 2464): RELIGION AND SCIENCE

Area 7, Core Curriculum

Exploration of the relationships between religion and science in the western tradition. Topics include: basic frameworks for relationships between religion and science, types of human knowledge and truth, historical and cultural contexts and institutions, science and technology as religion, evolution, ecology, and contemporary issues. (3H, 3C)

RELIGION 2734 (BLST 2734) (WS 2734):THE BLACK WOMAN IN THE U.S.

The emerging womanist perspective of "interstructured oppression" (i.e., the simultaneous effects of racism, sexism, and classism) as relevant to the contributions of Black women in the United States of America; views of Black women from African backgrounds, the Atlantic slave trade, and the progressive rise of womanist/feminist liberation movements in Black culture; contributions of Black women in the U.S. and globally. (3H,3C).
 

RELIGION 2744 (BLST 2744): THE BLACK CHURCH IN AMERICA

Interdisciplinary approach to African American religious experiences, utilizing traditional theological disciplines to analyze the ethos, pathos, logos, and theos that members of the African American faith communities pass down from generation to generation; the cultural, philosophical, and spiritual values of African American peoples viewed through the lens of Black non-fiction and fiction narratives; impact of the contexts of slavery and racism on Black life and religious expression. (3H,3C).
 

RELIGION 3024: RELIGION AND LITERATURE

Area 2, Core Curriculum

Analysis of literary works and critical debates in four areas: pilgrimage, myth, disaster, and transcendence. Students will make presentations, develop their own research projects, and design sessions--with short reading assignments--later in the semester. As a final project, students will assemble a portfolio charting their work in the course. (3H,3C). II. Alternate years.

RELIGION 3214: RELIGION AND CULTURE IN INDIA

Area 2, Core Curriculum

Interaction of religion and culture from Indus Valley civilization to the present; Brahmanism and Hinduism, the Buddha and his teachings, Parsis, Jains, Sikhs, and their respective literatures and rituals; modern reforms and recent trends. (3H,3C). I. Alternate years.

RELIGION 3224: RELIGIONS OF CHINA AND JAPAN

Area 2, Core Curriculum

Religious movements in East Asia with reference to specific situations in China and Japan; Confucianism, Taoism, Mahayana Buddhism, Vajrayana, Shinto, Japanese Folk Religions, the "New Religions" of Japan; recent trends. (3H,3C). Alternate years.
 

RELIGION 3234: ISLAM

The rise of Islam under the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia and its spread across Asia and Africa. The development of Islam in the Middle Ages and its resurgence in the 20th century. Prerequisite: 1024 or consent. (3H,3C). Alternate years.
 

RELIGION 3414: JESUS AND THE GOSPELS

Area 2, Core Curriculum

Academic study of the four canonical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; several scholarly methodologies; the problem of the historical Jesus; noncanonical gospels. Prerequisite: 2414 or 2424. (3H,3C). I. Alternate years.
 

RELIGION 3424: PAUL AND HIS INTERPRETERS

Area 2, Core Curriculum

Academic study of the New Testament letters by or attributed to Paul; historical, literary, and theological context of the letters; classic and contemporary interpreters. Prerequisite: 2414 or 2424. (3H,3C). I. Alternate years.
 

RELIGION 4074 (HIST 4074): TOPICS IN RELIGIOUS AND INTELLECTUAL HISTORY

Selected topics in the role of religion and intellectual systems in human history. May be repeated with different content. Prerequisite: HIST 2004 and 3 other hours of history; junior standing or above. (3H,3C).
 

RELIGION 4324 (HUM 4324): TOPICS IN RELIGION AND CULTURE

Selected topics from the religions of the world such as time and the sacred, preliterate religions, women and religion, religion and science, mysticism. May be taken three times for credit with different topics. Prerequisite: 3 REL credits. (3H,3C).
 

RELIGION 4414: TOPICS IN BIBLICAL STUDIES

Selected topics concerning either the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) or the New Testament or both; a specific subject, theme, or biblical book chosen for careful, detailed analysis. Prerequisite: 2414 or 2424 or 3414 or 3424. (3H,3C). Alternate years.
 

RELIGION 2974/4974: INDEPENDENT STUDY

May be arranged with a faculty member by a student with a 2.5 or higher QCA (Quality Credit Average). Variable credit course.
 

RELIGION 2984/4984: SPECIAL STUDY

Variable credit course.

 

REL/IDST 5134: ISLAMIC POLITICAL THOUGHT

Graduate credit.

The course will review the most significant elements of Islamic political thought throughout Islamic history: the teaching of the Qurâan, the formation of political thought in the medieval period, and the main trends of political thought in the modern world, including in the West. It will examine the connections between Islamic political thought in the medieval and modern periods. (3H,3C). Alternate years.