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Course Criteria
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4.00 Credits
This course surveys religious and spiritual movements for social transformation in the United States from the early nineteenth century to the present. We will consider such movements as abolitionism, pacifism, feminism, socialism, the social gospel, and civil rights, paying special attention to the theological and denominational diversity of religious activism, external and internal criticisms of religious leftists, and the interplay between religious radicalism and other religious and cultural traditions.
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4.00 Credits
The course will explore the theoretical articulation of sex, gender, and sexuality in twentieth-century medicine, social science, psychoanalysis, philosophy, and feminist and queer theory. Attention will be given to the ramifications of these concepts for the study of religion. Readings will include texts by Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, Jacques Lacan, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Julia Kristeva, Monique Wittig, Judith Butler, Moira Gatens and others.
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4.00 Credits
This seminar-style course is organized around close and critical readings of recent work in the philosophy of religion, broadly construed. Although there are no specific pre-requisites, previous course work in philosophy will be assumed.
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4.00 Credits
Readings in the life, religious thought, and social activism of M.K. Gandhi, considering Gandhi in his own time and historical context as well as his connections to those who took inspiration from his approach to issues of non-violent change and social justice. We will consider biographies and studies of Gandhi, his own autobiographical writings, his writings on non-violence, self-reliance, religion, and social transformation.
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4.00 Credits
W. C. Smith said, "the mythical can be seen as what has made human history human." Taking up this idea, this course considers myth as a basic religious phenomena; introduces four religious complexes (Ancient Greek, Christian, Islamic, and Hindu) by looking at the place of myth in each; traces the role that the category of myth has played in the academic study of religion; explores the place of myth in modern critical thinking.
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4.00 Credits
Distinctive traditions of Tibetan Buddhism in their historical contexts. Topics include: the ethics of compassion, visionary meditations; tantric yoga and physiologies; death and reincarnation practices; magic and state rituals; the creation of sacred landscape; religious authority and discipline; and cultures of writing, learning and painting. Throughout the course we will consider the relation of these religious practices to the historical development of Tibetan cultures, Buddhist institutions, and state formations.
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4.00 Credits
An introduction to the study of narrative and story literature in the Buddhist world. A primary focus will be on the narrative and story literature found in Buddhist scriptures and commentaries, but there will also be consideration of examples of narrative and story literature that circulated independently. Examples will be drawn from across the Buddhist world.
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4.00 Credits
This introductory course will focus on the symbolism and ritual function of animals in human religious worlds. Using particular cultural histories as paradigms, we will consider themes such as cosmogony, hierarchy, magic, metamorphosis, antinomianism, prophecy, mimesis, hunting, sacrifice, and the role of fantastic creatures. Central to our work will be the evaluation of developmentalist and other theoretical models and their impact on the history of religion.
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4.00 Credits
South Asia is home to the largest concentration of Muslims in the world. This course surveys the development of Muslim communities in the region focusing on an exploration of their identities in diverse contexts. Issues and themes will be considered within religious and socio-political contexts, as well as the broader framework of South Asian cultures as expressed in language, literature, and the arts. The course also examines various ways in which the terms "Islamic" and "Muslim" are understood in pre-modern and modern discourses as well as the lived experiences of being Muslim in contemporary India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
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4.00 Credits
This course reviews the literature produced by social scientist and historians on the origins, ideologies, and political practices of 20th century Islamist movements as well as on their evolution in the early 21st century.
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