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Course Criteria
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4.00 Credits
Theology With the close of the ColdWar, a confrontation between the Soviet and American empires ensued that took on some traits of a religious struggle. George H. W. Bush announced a "new world order," and Francis Fukuyama predicted "the end of history." Events have disappointedbelief in those and other forecasts. Instead, the underlying role of religion in shaping behavior, which had been obscured by the polarity of the "Superpowers," has become increasingly evident,and in some cases troubling. This course investigates how the global religions shape ideals, policies, and strategies of governance out of their classic resources.
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4.00 Credits
In 1979, Iran underwent a revolution that overthrew Shah Reza Pahlavi and replaced his rule with an Islamic theocracy. In an attempt to understand the revolution's significance within Middle Eastern history, two narratives have emerged. The first argues that the presence of an Islamic state is a divergence from the process of modernization; the second interprets the revolution as a culmination of political and religious resistance against imperialism and colonialism. Students examine historical monographs, imperial communiqués, ethnographies, novels, and films in order to assess these opposing narratives. The course analyzes social and political movements of the British, French, Iranian, and Ottoman governments, as well as how events influenced and were influenced by the peoples of the various regions of the Middle East.
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4.00 Credits
Jewish Studies, Theology Theology thinks philosophically about religion; it generalizes and orders, proportions and regularizes the complex data of behavior and belief that a religion-e.g., its canonical writings-convey. The outcome is a system and a structure of belief that not only coheres but accounts for further data. This course illustrates what it means to think philosophically about the data of a religion. The case is that of Judaism in its normative writings deriving from the formative age, the first six centuries C.E. In these texts Judaism sets forth a theological system and structure, making a coherent statement through the myriad of legal, exegetical, and narrative details. This course sets forth the theology of Judaism that defines the norm: the system and structure that animate the Rabbinic canon and form the philosophical basis of Judaism.
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4.00 Credits
Jewish Studies, Philosophy See Theology 212 (Interdivisional Studies) for description.
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4.00 Credits
GSS, Theology Contemporary reappraisals of the domains of sexuality and spirituality have shed new light on the boundaries placed between themin Christian traditions. This course examines the historical, social, cultural, and theological roots and significance of these boundaries, as well as the numerous tensions and movements that cluster around them within contemporary Christianity, for example, regarding sexual ethics, sexual orientation, and gender. Theological attempts to move beyond the presumed opposition of sexuality and spirituality are examined in detail. Extra-Christian religious perspectives, including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and the cultic beliefs and practices of indigenous populations, are drawn into the discussion for comparison.
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4.00 Credits
Asian Studies, Historical Studies An overview of the early history and culture of South Asia, from its earliest urban civilization in the Indus Valley (2500-1800 B.C.E.) up to the classical period of theGupta dynasty in northern India (300-550 C.E.). Considered within this time frame are the Indus Valley civilization and early Indo-Aryan or Vedic culture; the period of second urbanization in the Indo-Gangetic plain and the transition from tribes to kingdoms; the rise of the Mauryan empire; the emergence and growth of heterodox orders of Buddhists and Jains and responses to their challenge from orthodox Hindus; the post-Mauryan period of Central Asian rule; and classical Indian culture during the Gupta period. While it traces this chronological history, the course pays greater attention to key issues and debates within Indian history: social hierarchy and the development of caste society, the status of women, the roles of religious specialists in the political order, and the ideology and practice of kingship.
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4.00 Credits
Asian Studies The course combines intermediate-level readings in Sanskrit with the study of Indian society and religion. Beginning with a review of basic grammatical structures of Sanskrit, students go on to read the classical stanzaic verse of kavya, in the form of Asvagosa's Buddhacarita, or Life of the Buddha ( c. 200 C.E.). Students also begin to work with bhasya, or commentary, using as their text Sayana's 14th-century commentary on the great Hindu work the Bhagavad Gita. In all readings, students focus not only on the techniques of Sanskrit poetry and prose styles, but also on the religious, philosophical, and socioeconomic ideas conveyed by such techniques. Prerequisite: Sanskrit 140-141.
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4.00 Credits
Bhakti means "participation in" or "devotion toGod. From 700 C.E. to 1700 C.E., in every region of India, bhakti poet-saints sang songs and lived lives of intense, emotional devotion to their chosen gods. The songs, legends, and theologies of these saints and the communities they established permeate the religious life of India. The course explores the world of bhakti through its poetry-poetics and theology, bhakti and opposition to orthodox social conventions, bhakti and gender, the interactions of Hindu devotionalism and Islamic Sufism, the role of bhakti in Indian music, and the problem of bhakti in 20th-century Indian literature.
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4.00 Credits
Middle Eastern Studies Sufism is one of the most important philosophical and theological movements within the world of Islam. While primarily known for their production of mystical poetry and achievement of ecstatic states, Sufis have produced a unified system of belief and interpretation that both transgresses and defines the boundaries of the Islamic religious tradition. This course examines some of the central ideas of Sufism, such as the nature of the relationships between God and humanity and God and His creation, and the implication of these relationships for the process by which the Sufi hopes to achieve closeness or even union with God. The historical developments of the Sufi orders, and their social and political role in Islamic history are also explored. As far as possible, translations of original Sufi texts make up the majority of the course readings.
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4.00 Credits
Asian Studies Stories about the legendary heroes and gods of India form the basis for much of the literature, visual art, and performing arts of southern Asia. Students examine narratives from the Hindu epics, Puranas, and other literary sources relating the deeds of Vishnu and his incarnations, the various manifestations of the Goddess, Siva in his multiple forms, and the Buddha Sakyamuni and his former lives. The class also explores how these myths have been visually represented in painting and temple sculpture and how they are retold in the performative traditions of Indian drama and dance. The preservation and transformation of these mythological traditions in the arts of Bali and Indonesia are also considered.
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