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Course Criteria
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4.00 Credits
Jewish Studies Diverse Judaic religious systems ("Judaisms")have flourished in various times and places. No single Judaism traces a linear, unitary, traditional line from the beginning to the present. This course sets forth a method for describing, analyzing, and interpreting Judaic religious systems and comparing one such system with another. It emphasizes the formative history of Rabbinic Judaism in ancient and medieval times and studies both its development in modern times and Judaic systems competing with it: Reform, Orthodox, and Conservative Judaisms in the 19th century and Zionism, the American Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption, in the 20th. In both the classical and the contemporary phases of the course, analysis focuses on the constant place of women in Judaic systems as a basis for comparison and contrast.
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4.00 Credits
Theology Is Islam in 7th-century Arabia the same religion as Islam in 21st-century Michigan? Is a woman in 15th-century Iran the same kind of Muslim as a man in 19th-century Indonesia? Does West African Islamic mysticism differ from South Asian Islamic mysticism? This course answers these questions by introducing Islamic religious systems in world context. Regions encountered include Arabia, Iran, Africa, South Asia, Indonesia and Malay Peninsula, and America. Themes include conceptions of prophecy, ritual practice, development of Islamic theology and jurisprudence, forms of mysticism, relationship between genders, and definitions of communal identity. Texts include the Qur'an, traditions of the prophet Muhammad, philosophical treatises, mystical guidebooks, reform literature, and contemporary educational manuals.
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4.00 Credits
The Bible is of pivotal importance in understanding the development of literature and history in the West, and it offers unique insights into the nature of the religious consciousness of humanity. Familiarity with the biblical documents and a critical appreciation of those documents are therefore among the attainments of an ordinarily well-educated person in our culture. By means of lectures, discussions, quizzes, essays, and a test, this course is designed to help students become biblically literate. Tutorials in Greek and Hebrew may be arranged in association with the course.
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4.00 Credits
Theology Capital punishment, euthanasia, warfare, the environment, abortion, reproductive technologies, homosexuality, premarital sexuality, and divorce are among the issues on which individuals and communities seek to make appropriate moral responses. Within Christianity, there are several recognized sources of moral guidance: the Scriptures, tradition, natural law, reason, conscience, official church declarations, and personal experience. Diverse Christian traditions variously weight these sources, resulting in differing outlooks not only between traditions but in the application of shifting standards of moral reasoning from issue to issue within traditions. Focusing on a selection of moral issues, this course closely examines notions of the processes of moral decision making within Christianity, as well as various understandings of the moral life itself.
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4.00 Credits
Asian Studies A historical overview of the series of religious movements in India collectively referred to as "Hinduism." Readings drawn from a vast corpusof mythic and epic literature present the gods, goddesses, and heroes that have been central to Hindu religious practice throughout history. Students explore a range of social and devotional paths taken by Hindus by examining caste structure and social location, as well as the paths of action, devotion, and wisdom (karma, bhakti, and jnana, respectively). Moving into the contemporary context, the course focuses on modern ethnographic accounts of how the tradition is lived, both in India and the United States, with a special eye to the construction of sacred space through temples and pilgrimage.
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4.00 Credits
American Studies, Theology During the final decades of the 20th century, sharp questions regarding the continued viability and usefulness of Christianity were raised with increasing force and frequency-not only by its external critics, but by thoughtful Christians. The social contexts of such questions include the challenge to Western imperialism in all its forms by developments such as the popular pursuit of individualized spiritualities without religious affiliation, the reconceptualization of gender and sexuality, and the emergence of technologies that extend human manipulation of the world in ways that were previously unimaginable. At stake in contemporary disputes about moral issues, church polity, discipline, and doctrine are the conceptual foundations of Christianity. Can they be rethought?
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4.00 Credits
American Studies Life in the American republic presented Roman Catholics with new opportunities and challenges, including religious pluralism, democratic ideals, and minority status in a predominantly Protestant society. Within the framework of a historical overview, this survey course examines the understandings and strategies employed by Catholic organizations and individuals as they engaged life in the United States to craft a distinctively American Catholic culture. American Catholic responses to the social, cultural, and theological challenges posed by the post-Vatican II, post-1960s period are examined in depth.
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4.00 Credits
GIS, Medieval Studies, Middle Eastern Studies The rise of Islam in Arabia dramatically affected the historical landscape of territories stretching from Spain to the Indus Valley and from Central Asia to Yemen. This course surveys the political, social, religious, and cultural developments of these Islamic worlds from the 7th to 16th centuries C.E. It examines each region's initial encounter with Muslims, investigates the process by which these regions transformed into "Islamic" societies, and determines how theirparticular cultural and dynastic forms evolved and eventually influenced the idea of the "Islamic World." The course addresses topicssuch as the process of conversion, the relationship between Muslim rulers and their Muslim and non-Muslim subjects, the maturation of Islamic theology and sciences, the formation of Islamic art, and the growth of political and religious institutions. Readings include historical monographs, biographical traditions, poems, epic tales, political and religious manuals, and philosophical treatises.
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4.00 Credits
A consideration of pilgrimage as one unifying theme in the exploration of human religiosity. As a religious arena in which multiple cultural patterns converge and shape each other, pilgrimage in its various forms has also played a significant historical role in shaping trade and commerce, geographic consciousness, centers of political power, and artistic forms. While this course regularly returns to examinations of "ritual pilgrimages"-such as the Islamic hajj toMecca and the Hindu yatra to Benares-it also investigates pilgrimage more metaphorically, by looking at literary (John Bunyan's The Pilgrim'sProgress), legendary (the Tibeto-Himalayan Buddhist kingdom of Shambhala), and visionary (the Huichol Indians' peyote quests) journeys. Works by Barbara Aziz, Joseph Kitagawa, James Preston, and Victor and Edith Turner are read as frameworks for the analyses.
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4.00 Credits
Classics A review of Sanskrit foundations and an introduction to the reading of Sanskrit texts in the original. The readings include selections from the Indian epic Mahabharata. Students also practice recitation of Sanskrit, to gain an appreciation of the aural quality of the "perfected language."
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