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Course Criteria
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0.00 Credits
This seminar will closely examine ancient Israel from the traditions of the Patriarchs through the monarchy to the Babylonian exile in 587/6BCE, giving attention to the social, religious, and political institutions of the Hebrew people. The factors that created the Israelite monarchy and its influence on religious practice will be studied in depth. Biblical and ancient near eastern texts will be studied as will some archeological data. Prerequisite: Religion 211 and Religion 212, or permission of the instructor. (May be counted toward Middle Eastern Studies.) 1.00 units, Seminar
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3.00 Credits
This course studies the religious culture of early Christian communities by examining their art in conjunction with close reading of contemporaneous theological texts. It will emphasize analysis of catacomb art, Christian funerary sculpture, illustrated codices, architectural monuments, and the origins of Byzantine iconography as expressions of the Asian, African, and European forms of Christianity in which they originated. Prerequisite: At least one course in Religion or Art History. 1.00 units, Seminar
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1.00 Credits
Through a close reading of Catherine Albanese's tome, A Republic of Mind and Spirit, the first book that demands recognition of the metaphysical in American life, this course will cover the history of Hermetica, Freemasonry, Mormonism, spiritualism, freethought, and various contemporary New Age movements. 1.00 units, Seminar
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1.00 Credits
An introduction to the literature that comprises the Old Testament Apocrypha, including books such as Judith, Tobit, and Susanna. Considered scripture by Roman Catholics, these texts did not make it into the Protestant and Jewish Bibles. Focus will be on the value of these texts for understanding the culture (late Second Temple Judaism) that gave birth to Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. Along with considering the historical period that produced most of this literature, we will investigate how biblical language, images, and motifs evolved during this period and, in turn, influenced the literature of early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. 1.00 units, Lecture
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1.00 Credits
An examination of the competing ethics of war and non-violence as reflected in traditional understandings of duty, truth, rebirth, and the spiritual quest. Using readings from the Vedas, Buddhist and Jain sutras, and the Upanisads, this course will give special focus to the Bhagavad Gita, and to Gandhi's understanding of this particular aspect of his Hindu heritage. Enrollment limited. (May be counted toward international studies/Asian studies.) 1.00 units, Lecture
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1.00 Credits
An in-depth exploration of the historical teachings of, and contemporary controversies within, Christianity on selected moral issues in sexuality, economics, business, medicine, ecology, race, war and pacifism, and foreign policy. Special attention will be given to problems in contemporary American society. 1.00 units, Seminar
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1.00 Credits
This course will study the major theological movements, topics, and thinkers of American mainline Protestantism from the early 20th century to the present day, and American Catholicism from the 1950s to the present day. Major theological movements and topics will include evangelical liberalism, the Social Gospel movement, the modernist-fundamentalist controversy, Boston School personalism, Chicago School naturalistic empiricism, neo-orthodoxy and Christian realism, the ecumenical movement, the Civil Rights movement, secularism, process metaphysics, Vatican II, the death-of-God controversy, liberation theology, feminist theology, environmentalism, and postmodernism. Major theologians and philosophers will include Walter Rauschenbusch, Shailer Mathews, Edgar S. Brightman, Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, Martin Luther King Jr., Gregory Baum, Rosemary Radford Ruether, John B. Cobb Jr., J. Deotis Roberts, and Elizabeth Johnson. 1.00 units, Seminar
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3.00 Credits
This seminar will focus on Buddhism in America, a phenomenon known as "the fourth turning of the wheel of the law." We will look at the religions of Asian immigrants, the writings of the 19th-century Transcendentalists, and the influence of Zen, Vipassana, and Tibetan teachers on American culture. Special attention will be given to assessing categories such as elite, ethnic, and evangelical Buddhism, to the variety of Buddhist practices and communities available, and to the broad range of Buddhist arts and literatures of contemporary America. Enrollment limited. (May be counted toward international studies/Asian studies.) 1.00 units, Lecture
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1.00 Credits
This course will survey the philosophy and practice of Buddhism in the cultural contexts of Southeast Asia, including Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. We will draw on a close reading of key primary texts, audio-visual tools and Internet sources to explore the application of key philosophical, mythical and cosmological concepts to contemporary realities. Theravada Buddhism - - "the way of the elders" - - represents the oldest unbroken Buddhist tradition in existence: its texts, art work, meditative practices and models of social order have roots in the middle of the first millennium BC, and continue to shape the religious, social and political lives of Buddhists throughout Southeast Asia. Readings and discussions will be grounded on an on-going exploration of the link between philosophy and Theravada Buddhism as it is practiced in Southeast Asia today. Special attention will be given to "socially engaged" Buddhist movements in SE Asia, including those of Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi and Sulak Sivaraksa of Thaila 1.00 units, Seminar
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1.00 Credits
The historical role of religion in shaping American life and thought, with special attention to the influence of religious ideologies on social values and social reform. (May be counted toward American Studies.) 1.00 units, Lecture
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