Religious Studies and Philosophy

RELS 100: Introduction to Religion: Texts, Contexts, Practices

This course introduces students to the critical study of religions and to the character of religious traditions as living, dynamic communities of interpretation with textual, ritual, moral, philosophical and practical dimensions. The course considers three different religious traditions through the lens of a topic or problem with which religions are concerned or through which they can be usefully analyzed. The topic and the traditions vary with the expertise and interest of the professor teaching the course, but one eastern tradition and one biblical tradition are always included. Attention is given to the nature and definition of religion and to methodologies in the critical study of religion.

RELS 210: Yoga and Meditation

Through a concentrated study of yoga asanas (postures), mantras (chants), pranayama (breath work), meditation techniques, and religious and philosophical scriptures, students have the opportunity to learn the history, philosophy, and techniques of several styles of yoga.

RELS 215: Religion and Literature

This course explores religious ideas and practices in works of literature from different cultures. The focus is on modernity, since it is the last several centuries that have presented the greatest challenges to traditional religious systems. In the course, students will study a wide range of literature written by persons of different genders, races, and ethnicities.

RELS 220: Introduction to World Religions

Introduction to World Religions is a thematic introduction to the study of religion and examines the multiplicity of ways in which humans throughout the world find and create meaning and value in their lives. Primary religious traditions of both the East and West, including ancient indigenous cultures and their contemporary expressions, are studied.

RELS 224: Religion and Culture

Religion and Culture explores the relationship between religion and culture andthevariety ofways inwhich they aremutually interactive in the construction of, for example, meaning, values, worldviews, practices, institutions, and artifacts. As part of that exploration, the course undertakes a critical analysis of the theoretical and methodological concerns associated with the academic study of religion.

RELS 229: Christianity

This course explores the myriad Christian beliefs and practices around historical doctrines, such as God, the person of Jesus, creation, sin, salvation, the Holy Spirit, the resurrection, and life after death. Multiple academic and faith perspectives will be utilized, and emphasis will be given to Christianity's relationship to other religious traditions

RELS 231: Judaism

This course will explore the origins of an ancient faith through a close examination of the early traditions and laws presented in the Hebrew Bible as well as the various cultural contexts of the ancient Near East that influenced them. The course utilizes the Hebrew Bible, portions of the Babylonian Talmud, and the Zohar to trace the development of these ancient traditions and practices into the various branches of modem Judaism and the foremost concerns and challenges faced by the modem Jewish communities.

RELS 235: Sex, the Body, and Religion

This course examines the origins of attitudes and beliefs in the Judeo-Christian traditions concerning human sexuality and the human body. Focus is on the contribution of such beliefs in the evolving relationship between the individual and society. The course begins with an exploration of Levantine fertility cults and traces their influence on early Judaism. Moving toward the emergence and eventual spread of Christianity, discussion centers on the continued influence of Near Eastern fertility traditions on gender differentiation, the “fall” of humanity, and procreation. Topics such as marriage and divorce, birth control and abortion, asceticism and celibacy, and death and resurrection of the body will be discussed within the context of Judeo-Christian tests and traditions.

RELS 241: Religious and Psychological Lenses on Social Justice

In this cross-listed, interdisciplinary course, religious studies and psychological lenses are employed to examine issues of social justice, including factors which either promote or interfere with the creation of communities that value inclusion, diversity, and peace. Aiming to foster a concern for social justice, the course provides theoretical and practical tools to challenge injustice, including opportunities to think and work alongside local advocacy organizations. (This course may be taken for credit as PSYC 241.)

RELS 244: Hinduism and Buddhism

Students in the course encounter, understand, and appreciate Hindu and Buddhist religious life, as manifested in multiple Asian cultures as well as in twenty-first century life in the United States. Course priorities include the study of the primary practices, texts, and themes of Hinduism and Buddhism and experiential encounters with Hindus and Buddhists.

RELS 251: Death and the Afterlife

Death and the Afterlife is a critical examination of literature from the ancient Near East including the Bible, that deals with death, dying, and the “next life,” an examination of the ways Western culture has attempted to address and understand these issues, and a comparative analysis of similar themes in a variety of non-Western traditions. The course examines ways in which various constructions of “heaven” and “hell” reflect the influence of ancient religious thought and literature on modem social structures, social values, and notions of justice.

RELS 259: Special Topics in Religious Studies

From time to time, topics will be offered under this designation to address issues of particular currency, pursue topics of interest to students, or to make faculty research projects available for student learning.

RELS 260: Religion and Food

This course addresses the multitude of roles that food plays in so many religious traditions and the ways people use food to make sense of the world. Topics such as fasting, sacrifice, medicine, food laws, rituals and magic are addressed. This course introduces students to the study of religion, using food as an entry point. Through readings, lectures, slides, videos, and in-class discussion, the course investigates case studies from numerous countries and cultures, ancient and modem. Foodways such as cooking, farming, sacrifice, aesthetics, and display as they relate to myth, magic, ritual, healing, ethics, and doctrine will be explored throughout the semester. This class challenges participants to move beyond easy notions of culture, religious authority, identity and doctrine.

RELS 270: Introduction to Hebrew Language I

This course provides the student with a working knowledge of biblical and modem Hebrew. With the successful completion of this course, the student will be able to read selected passages of narrative in biblical and modem texts with the aid of a lexicon/dictionary, will gain knowledge of modem Hebrew in both written and spoken form and will strengthen her/his cultural understanding of ancient and modem Israel. Students will build a strong knowledge base in Hebrew vocabulary, verb paradigms, and grammar essentials. (This course may be taken for credit as HEBR 110.)

RELS 271: Introduction to Hebrew Language II

This course provides further advancement of a student’s knowledge of biblical and modem Hebrew. Students will become adept in the usage of a Hebrew-English dictionary/lexicon for translation of texts in biblical and modem contexts and will improve their conversational skills in modem Hebrew. Students will continue to build a strong knowledge base in Hebrew vocabulary, verb paradigms, and grammar. (This course may be taken for credit as HEBR 120.)

RELS 301: Poetry, Prophecy, and (Poly)theism: A Critical Analysis of the Hebrew Bible

This course is an historical-critical analysis of the books of the Hebrew Bible that emphasizes the historical, social, and ideological dynamics of various authorial traditions within this corpus. Additionally, these texts are analyzed within modem interpretive frameworks in order to recognize the ways in which themes from the Hebrew Bible continue to play a role in the construction of Western thought and culture.

RELS 305: Archaeology of the Ancient Near East

This course is an introduction to the archaeology of the ancient Near East as it pertains to the Hebrew Bible. The initial phase of this course will explore basic archaeological field methods, terminology, and chronologies, and will offer a brief history of “biblical archaeology.” The second phase of the course examines a variety of major excavations throughout the Middle East and presents an overview of the archaeological data from these sites, ranging (in most cases) from the Late Bronze Age through Iron Age II.

RELS 310 : Professional Internship

The internship is a faculty supervised on or off-campus experience that is related to religious studies. The off-campus experience must be approved by the department chair prior to the beginning of the internship. Off-campus work is supervised jointly by a faculty supervisor and a designated off-campus supervisor. After completing the internship, students submit reflective essays regarding the quality of the internship experience and its connection to religious studies. The student is evaluated by the faculty supervisor who may take into consideration the evaluation of the mentor. Fifty hours of work is required for each one credit. (This course is a credit/no credit course.)

RELS 311: Studies in the Gospels

Studies in the Gospels is an introduction to methods of critical analysis in New Testament interpretation, highlighting the messages presented by the writers of the synoptic gospels. Students explore the ways in which both traditional and contemporary methods of exegetical analysis contribute to the discussion of the “historical” Jesus of Nazareth.

RELS 352: Islamic Civilization

This course is a survey of the emergence of Islam during late Roman antiquity and the middle ages, highlighting the life of the prophet Mohammed and the development of Islamic religion, philosophy, and literature in the early Islamic empires. Also considered is the development of Islamic fundamentalism in the modem world and institutional, operational, and environmental factors which demonstrate differences between the Islamic and the Western worlds. (This course may be taken for credit as HIST 329.)

RELS 355: Philosophy of Religion

The major aspects of religion are examined from a philosophical perspective. Topics studied are the religious experience, the meaning and significance of faith, belief and criteria, knowledge, proof, evidence, and certainty, the concept of deity, and the impact of religion on human life. (This course may be taken for credit as PHIL 355.)