COURSES

Religion 215: Christian Spirituality
A study of historical and contemporary texts that exemplify varieties of Christian spirituality. Historical works read include Augustine’s Confessions, Thomas à Kempis’ The Imitation of Christ, Teresa of Avila’s Autobiography, Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, and The Way of the Pilgrim. Contemporary authors include Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Merton, and Kathleen Norris. Normally alternates with REL 216.

Religion 216: Christian Thought: 100-1600
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.

Religion 221: Catholic Studies
Contemporary issues in the Roman Catholic Church, with particular attention to the American situation. Topics include sexual morality, social ethics, spirituality, women’s issues, dogma, liberation theology, ecumenism, and inter-religious dialogue. Readings represent a spectrum of positions. Normally alternates with REL 226.

Religion 225: Women in Christianity
Martyrs, mystics, witches, wives, virgins, reformers, and ministers: a survey of women in Christianity from its origins until today. Focus on women’s writings, both historical and contemporary. Special attention to modern interpreters – feminists, Third-World women, and women of color.

Religion 226: The Virgin Mary
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.

Religion 323: Seminar. Feminist Theologies
Feminist reassessments of traditional images of God in Christianity. Consideration also of alternative concepts of divinity coming from ecofeminists, lesbians, and the goddess movement. Special attention to womanist and mujerista theologies, and to the contributions of African American, Asian American, and Latina authors. Normally alternates with REL 326.

Religion 326: Seminar. Liberation Theology
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.