FALL 2009
REL 104 Study of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
Silver (TF 9:50-11:00)
Critical introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, studying its role in the history and culture of ancient Israel and its relationship to ancient Near Eastern cultures. Special focus on the fundamental techniques of literary, historical, and source criticism in modern scholarship, with emphasis on the Bible’s literary structure and compositional evolution.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
REL 105 Study of the New Testament
Hobbs (TF 9:50-11:00)
The writings of the New Testament as diverse expressions of early Christianity. Close reading of the texts, with particular emphasis upon the Gospels and the letters of Paul. Treatment of the literary, theological, and historical dimensions of the Christian scriptures, as well as of methods of interpretation. The beginnings of the break between the Jesus movement and Judaism will be specially considered.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall, Spring Unit: 1.0
REL 203 Prophets and Prophecy in Ancient Israel
Silver (TF 1:30-2:40)
Examination of texts in the Hebrew Bible bearing on the phenomenon of prophecy: narrative descriptions of prophetic behavior and literary texts which purport to be the words of the biblical prophets themselves. Consideration of prophetic behavior in its ancient Near Eastern context and in relation to the unique cultural, social and political conditions in ancient Israel. Particular attention to the relationship between poetry and political critique and on the transition from orally delivered oracles to written prophetic texts.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
REL 209 Women, Sexuality, and Patriarchalism in the New Testament
Hobbs (M 1:30-4:00)
The world from which Christianity emerged was largely patriarchal and sexist, with a variety of attitudes towards sexual behavior and marriage. The Christian movement itself took several different approaches toward each of these issues, which found their way into the New Testament collection and thus became the foundation for a multiplicity of stances in later centuries. This variety in the documents will be examined, with special attention to their roots and their results. Normally alternates with REL 211.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
REL 216 Christian Thought: 100-1600
Elkins (MTh 11:10-12:20)
A study of major issues and influential thinkers in the Christian religious tradition from the post-Biblical period through the Reformation. Good and evil, free will and determinism, orthodoxy and heresy, scripture and tradition, faith and reason, and love of God and love of neighbor examined through primary source readings. Special attention to the diversity of traditions and religious practices, including the cult of saints, the veneration of icons, and the use of scripture. Normally alternates with REL 215.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
REL 220 Religious Themes in American Fiction
Marini (9:50-11:00)
Human nature and destiny, good and evil, love and hate, loyalty and betrayal, tradition and assimilation, salvation and damnation, God and fate in the writings of Hawthorne, Thoreau, Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Leslie Marmon Silko, Rudolfo Anaya, Alice Walker, and Allegra Goodman. Reading and discussion of these texts as expressions of the diverse religious cultures of nineteenth- and twentieth-century America. Normally alternates with REL 218.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Language and Literature or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
REL 240/CLCV 240 Romans, Jews, and Christians in the Roman Empire
Geller, Rogers (Classical Studies) (W 2:15-4:45)
At the birth of the Roman Empire virtually all of its inhabitants were practicing polytheists. Three centuries later, the Roman Emperor Constantine was baptised as a Christian and his successors eventually banned public sacrifices to the gods and goddesses who had been traditionally worshipped around the Mediterranean. This course will examine Roman era Judaism, Graeco-Roman polytheism, and the growth of the Jesus movement into the dominant religion of the late antique world. Students may register for either REL 240 or CLCV 240 and credit will be granted accordingly.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
REL 244 Jerusalem: The Holy City
Geller (MTh 2:50-4:00)
An exploration of the history, archaeology, and architecture of Jerusalem from the Bronze Age to the present. Special attention both to the ways in which Jerusalem’s Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities transformed Jerusalem in response to their religious and political values and also to the role of the city in the ongoing mid-East and Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Normally alternates with REL 243.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
REL 251/SAS 251 Religion in South Asia
Shukla-Bhatt (South Asia Studies) (MTh 11:10-12:20)
An examination of religions in South Asia as expressed in sacred texts and arts, religious practices, and institutions in a historical manner. Concentration on the origins and development of Hindu traditions, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, and Sikhism, as well as Integration of Islam and Christianity in the religious landscape of South Asian. Interactions among the diverse communities of the region will also form a major theme. Students may register for either REL 251 or SAS 251 and credit will be granted accordingly.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
REL 260 Islamic/ate Civilizations
Rollman (MTh 9:50-11:00)
Historical survey of Muslim-majority societies and the diverse cultural forms produced within them from the seventh century to the beginnings of the modern period. Topics include literary and artistic expression, architecture, institutions, philosophical and political thought, religious thought and practice. Critical attention to the concept of “civilization” and its uses and drawbacks for understanding the complex historical and cultural processes under study in the course. Normally alternates with REL 262.
Prerequisite: None. Not open to students who have taken REL [160].
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
REL 319 Seminar. Religion, Law, and Politics in America
Marini (Th 1:30-4:00)
A study of the relationships among religion, fundamental law, and political culture in the American experience. Topics include established religion in the British colonies, religious ideologies in the American Revolution, religion and rebellion in the Civil War crisis, American civil religion, and the New Religious Right. Special attention to the separation of church and state, selected Supreme Court cases on the religion clauses of the First Amendment, and religious and moral issues in current American politics. Normally alternates with REL 317.
Prerequisite: 200, 217, 218, or at least one 200-level unit in American religion, history, sociology, or politics.
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
REL 326 Seminar. Liberation Theology
Elkins (W 2:15-4:45)
A close reading of recent works by major Latin American and Hispanic liberation theologians. Some attention also to Asian, African, and African American authors. Normally alternates with REL 323.
Prerequisite: One unit in Hebrew Bible, New Testament, or Christianity; or permission of instructor.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
REL 364 Seminar. Sufism: Islamic Mysticism
Marlow (T 1:30-4:00)
An interdisciplinary exploration of the diverse manifestations of mysticism in Islamic contexts. Topics include the experiences and writings of individual Sufis, including Rabi’a, al-Junayd, Hujviri, Ibn al-‘Arabi, Jalal al-Din Rumi, ‘Abd al-Qadir Gilani, Ruzbihan Baqli; the formation of Sufi organizations and development of mystical paths; the place of Sufism in Islamic legal, theological and philosophical traditions as well as in Muslim religious practice; Sufism in local contexts; both urban and rural; holy men and women; Sufism’s permeation of artistic and aesthetic traditions, especially poetry and music; the reception, interpretations and practices of Sufism in Western countries. Normally alternates with REL 367.
Prerequisite: Open to juniors and seniors, students who have taken at least one unit in Middle Eastern Studies or Religion, and by permission of the instructor.
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Fall Unit: 1.0
SPRING 2010
REL 109 Religions of the Silk Road
Marlow
An introduction to the major religious communities and traditions of East, South and West Asia, with particular attention to their contacts and interactions as facilitated by trade, travel and pilgrimage from antiquity until roughly the fifteenth century. The framework for our study of these religious cultures will be the “Silk Road,” which stretched from Eastern China to the Mediterranean Sea and linked together the many communities that thrived across Eurasia throughout the pre-industrial era. In addition to Buddhism and Islam, the course will cover Confucianism, Daoism, Jainism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism, as well as Manichaeanism and Nestorian Christianity. Readings are drawn from foundational sacred texts, and the accounts of merchants, travelers and pilgrims. Additional attention to the material cultures and artistic works produced by the religious communities of the Silk Road. Normally alternates with REL 108.
Prerequisite: None. Not open to students who have taken REL 108.
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
REL 205 Wisdom Literature in the Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism
Silver
The worldview of ancient Israelite wisdom literature: its philosophical, ethical and cosmological systems, and broader cross-cultural contexts. Also the adaptation of individual ethical doctrines to the governance of the political collective during the great Judean reform movement of the 7th century BCE, and the breakdown of this system in the wake of the Babylonian Exile. Special attention to scribal responses to the Problem of Evil and their ideas on the relationship between the created cosmos and divine intentionality.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
REL 208 Legend, Satire and Storytelling in the Hebrew Bible
Silver
The art of narrative composition in the Hebrew Bible. The literary techniques and conventions of ancient Israelite authors in the Bible’s rich corpus of stories. Philosophical and aesthetic treatment of themes such as kingship, power, gender and covenant. Primary focus on the role of narrative in the cultural life of ancient Israel, with attention also to the difficulties of interpreting biblical stories from within our contemporary milieu.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
REL 217 Christian Thought from the Reformation to the Present
Marini
A study of defining issues and essential thinkers in the Christian religious tradition from the sixteenth century to the present. Faith and grace, free will and determinism, mysticism and radicalism, reason and emotion, secularization and existentialism, orthodoxy and doubt, religious morality and social action examined in writings by Luther, Calvin, Pascal, Locke, Wesley, Newman, Kierkegaard, Bonhoeffer, and Tillich.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
REL 226 The Virgin Mary
Elkins
The role of the Virgin Mary in historical and contemporary Christianity. Topics include Mary in the Bible and Apocryphal writings, her cult in the Middle Ages, artistic productions in her honor, theological debates about her, and her appearances at Guadalupe, Lourdes, and Fatima. Attention also to the relation between concepts of Mary and attitudes toward virginity, the roles of women, and “the feminization of the deity.” Normally alternates with REL 221.
Prerequisite: None. Not open to students who have taken REL [316].
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
REL 230 Ethics
Marini
An inquiry into the nature of values and the methods of moral decision-making. Examination of selected ethical issues including self-interest, freedom, collective good, capitalism, just war, racism, environmental pollution, globalism, and religious morality. Introduction to case study and ethical theory as tools for determining moral choices. Normally alternates with REL 200.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
REL 245 The Holocaust and the Nazi State
Geller
An examination of the origins, character, course, and consequences of Nazi anti-Semitism during the Third Reich. Special attention to Nazi racialist ideology, and how it shaped policies which affected such groups as the Jews, the disabled, the Roma and the Sinti, Poles and Russians, Afro-Germans, homosexuals, and women. Consideration also of the impact of Nazism on the German medical and teaching professions.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
REL 261 Cities of the Islamic World
Marlow
An exploration of the religious and cultural history of selected cities across the Islamic world from late antiquity to the present. Examines and critiques the concept of “the Islamic city” while focusing on the study of particular cities, including Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, Istanbul, Isfahan, Samarqand, Lucknow and Lahore. Topics include migration, settlement, and the construction of new cities; conversion; the emergence of “holy cities” as centers for pilgrimage, religious education and Islamic legal scholarship; sacred space and architecture; religious diversity in urban environments; and the impact of colonialism on urban life. Normally alternates with REL 269.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Historical Studies or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
REL 281/SAS 211 Sacred Arts of South Asia
Shukla-Bhatt (South Asia Studies)
Cultural life in South Asia is vibrant with aesthetic expressions of religion in its diverse traditions – Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, and Christian. This course introduces students to one of the most powerful avenues for transmission of religious knowledge in the traditions of South Asia – the aesthetic experience derived through a variety of forms. In addition to visual messages sent through architectural motifs and paintings, teaching of religious doctrines through narratives in drama, dance, and musical performance is common across religious boundaries. The course will introduce theories of aesthetic experience and religious knowledge from the sub-continent and relate them to contemporary theories of performance. Students may register for either REL 281 or SAS 211 and credit will be granted accordingly.
Prerequisite: None
Distribution: Arts, Music, Theatre, Film, Video or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit 1.0
REL 298 New Testament Greek
Hobbs
Reading and discussion of many characteristic New Testament texts, with attention to aspects of Koiné Greek which differ from the classical Attic dialect.
Prerequisite: One year of Greek; or exemption examination; or permission of instructor.
Distribution: Language and Literature or Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
REL 310 Seminar. Mark, the Earliest Gospel
Hobbs
An exegetical examination of the Gospel of Mark, with special emphasis on its character as a literary, historical, and theological construct, presenting the proclamation of the Gospel in narrative form. The Gospel’s relationships to the Jesus tradition, to the Old Testament/Septuagint, and to the Christological struggles in the early church will be focal points of study. Normally alternates with REL 308.
Prerequisite: At least one unit on the Bible.
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
REL 342 Seminar. Archaeology of the Biblical World
Geller
An examination of the ways in which archaeological data contribute to the understanding of the history of ancient Israel, and the Jewish and Christian communities of the Roman Empire.
Prerequisite: At least one unit in archaeology, biblical studies, classical civilization, early Christianity, or early Judaism.
Distribution: Historical Studies
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
Distribution: Religion, Ethics, and Moral Philosophy
Semester: Spring Unit: 1.0
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