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.