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Courses in
Religion
Religion at the University is not studied with
the assumption that one faith is true and the
others are false. Rather, all religions are seen
as creative, living systems of beliefs and
practices that enable men and women around the
globe to make sense of their lives. By studying,
and to a limited degree projecting ourselves
into, these belief systems, we are better able
to appreciate the outlooks and values of other
cultures and gain new insight into what gives
meaning and worth to our lives. At the
University religion is studied as the Supreme
Court recommended in a 1963 opinion: “It might
be said that one’s education is not complete
without the study of comparative religion or the
history of religion and its relationship to the
advancement of civilization.”
The study of religion is an integral part of a
liberal education. It is also an enrichment for
courses of study in preparation for careers in
business, education, health care, social and
psychological services. Courses in religion are
a good preparation for post-graduate studies in
law, medicine, and the ministry.
100. Introduction to Religious Inquiry.
3 credits. An introduction to the
questions posed by those seeking religious truth
as well as the methods and tools used by all
religious traditions. This course is designed as
a foundational entry into the academic study of
religion, well suited for students with little
or no training in the academic study of
religion. F
101. Introduction to Religion (West).
3 credits. A survey of the classical
stories, rituals, and symbols of religious
culture in Western civilization from ancient
times to the present. F
102. Introduction to Religion (East).
3 credits. A survey of the classical stories,
rituals and symbols of religious culture with an
emphasis on the traditions of the Orient from
ancient times to the present. S
120. Religion in America. 3
credits. A study of religious life in America.
Emphasis is placed on the role of religion in
the development of American life and character.
S/2
203. World Religions. 3 credits. A
general survey of the beliefs and practices of
major world religions, with a focus on Islam,
Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Native American
traditions. S
216. Women and Religion. 3
credits. An examination of the role of women’s
experiences in religious thought, symbols and
traditions, beginning with the centrality of
goddess and mythic female figures, to the shift
from matriarchy to patriarchy in the major
cultures of the world and the consequential
suppression of women’s experiences by
patriarchal society, up to the current trend
towards reformation and reconstruction of
traditional religions by contemporary women
theologians and religious thinkers. S
221. Jewish Scripture/Old Testament.
3 credits. An introduction to the
academic study of this ancient literature that
includes an investigation of its historical,
cultural, and religious contexts, as well as an
examination of the fundamental interpretive
approaches employed by biblical scholars. F
231. Christian Scripture/New Testament.
3 credits. An introduction to the
academic study of the New Testament that
includes an investigation of its historical,
cultural and religious contexts, as well as an
examination of the fundamental interpretive
approaches employed by biblical scholars. S
228. Early Christian Traditions.
3 credits. A survey of Christian traditions,
from their origins in Judaism and Greek
philosophy; continuing through the growth of
Christian doctrine in the 4th to 8th centuries;
and concluding with the church in the Middle
Ages. F
238. Christianity in the Modern World.
3 credits. A survey of Christianity
from the Protestant Reformation to Vatican II,
with an emphasis on the influence of
Protestantism, responses to the Enlightenment in
Christian theology, and twentieth-century
challenges. S
247. Introduction to Judaism. 3
credits. Comparative Jewish thought in cultural
context and as manifest in Jewish literature.
Topics to be studied include the sacred, the
human community, the role of Israel, ethics, the
Holocaust. F/3
250. East and West in Religion.
3 credits. A critical and comparative study of
people’s religious orientation between Eastern
and Western traditions. F
300. Jesus in Gospel and History.
3 credits. A study of one of the most
significant personalities in religious history.
Biblical and non-biblical texts which have
defined and described Jesus will be examined. F
301. Life and Religion of Paul.
3 credits. A study of the Pauline themes
underlying the Christian faith as seen through
the writings of this creative religious
personality. Emphasis on current Pauline
studies. S
305. Mysticism. 3 credits. A study of
mystics and their writings from the Eastern and
Western traditions and the application of
methods of religious inquiry into the presence
of mystical phenomena. F
309. Atheism, Theism, and Secularism.
3 credits. Exploration of the basic
theistic and atheistic options regarding the
ultimate meaning and value of human life, with a
study of the impact the rise of secularism has
had on religious faith. On demand.
315. Religion and Philosophy in China
and Tibet. 3 credits. A survey of the
major religions and philosophical systems of
China and Tibet, from the bronze age through the
Marxist-Leninist-Mao Zedong thought of the
People’s Republic of China. S/3
320. Religion and Philosophy in India.
3 credits. A survey of the incredible
range of beliefs and practices developed by the
great religions and philosophical teachers of
India. F/3
321. Prophets and Prophecy. 3
credits. This course investigates the religious
phenomenon of prophecy in both traditional
contexts (ancient Israelite religion and the
ancient near east, early Christianity and the
Greco-roman world), as well as in its present
day manifestations within a variety of
indigenous cultures and contemporary religions.
S/3
342. Religious Ethics. 3
credits. Problems concerning the presuppositions
of religious ethics and their application to
personal moral issues and to such areas of
community life as business, race relations, war
and peace. On demand.
345. Death and Dying. 3
credits. An examination of various perspectives
on death and dying in our own and other cultures
with a view to coping with the problems of
mortality and immortality. Medical,
psychological, philosophical, and religious
aspects contributing to an understanding of the
meaning of death will be offered by resource
people whose experience will lend assistance to
the student’s confronting the reality of death
and dying. Lecture and discussion. F
380. Buddhism. 3 credits. A
historical and critical survey of different
Buddhist schools in India, China, Tibet, and
Japan. S/3
399. Selected Topics. 1-3
credits. A selected topic in the area of
religious studies such as Atheism, Religion and
Public Life, Lessons of the Holocaust, Religion
and the Environment, Greco-Roman Religion,
African American Religious History, Women
Religious Writers, F, S
410. Asian Religions in the United
States. 3 credits. A survey of Asian
religions in the U.S., with special attention
paid to the ways in which Asian religions are
becoming Americanized and American popular
culture is becoming Easternized. S/3
423. Psychology of Religion. 3
credits. The psychological significance of
various types of religious experience, personal
and social. An examination of classical
psychological statements about religion
including James, Allport, Kierkegaard, Freud,
and Jung. S/2
431. Religious Violence and the
Apocalyptic Mind. 3 credits. This
course examines contemporary examples of
religious violence by placing them within a
broader context of ancient and modern examples
of apocalyptic thought. S/3
466. Sex, Gender and Religion.
4 credits. This course presents issues generated
by the interrelationship of sex, sexual
orientation and gender with religon. Included in
our investigation are examination of the various
interpretations of sacred texts which produce
discourses of sexual control, establish moral
authority and seek to define sexual identity.
Other discourses are those created from other
religious experiences and therefore resist those
of the dominant society. S/2
491. Seminar on Religion. 3
credits. Prerequisites: Junior or Senior
standing and some upper level work in Religion
or consent of the instructor. A consideration of
selected topics or religious classics of mutual
interest to departmental staff and advanced
students in Religion. On Demand.
494. Independent Studies in Religion.
1-3 credits, may be repeated to 8 credits.
Prerequisite: consent of the instructor.
Supervised reading and study on an individual
basis. F, S |
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