Recent Course Offerings

I. Koukios
MW 12:45-2:00 PM

Introduction to the major religions of the world: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. Examination of the central aspects of these religions including the doctrinal, ethical, ritual, experiential, and social dimensions. Exploration of similarities and differences between these religious traditions.

C. Rollston
MW 2:20-3:35 PM

The literature, history, and religious thought represented by the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Continuities and contrasts between Israel and the ancient Near East are considered through study of the world view, oral and literary tradition, main religious ideas, and chief figures and movements of the biblical literature.

Cross-listed with CLAS 2105.80 and JSTD 2001.80

Literature and history of earliest Christianity in the setting of the religious movements of the Greco-Roman world and developments within Judaism. The meaning of the earliest Christian proclamation about the significance of the life, teaching, and death of Jesus of Nazareth becomes the basis for tracing the formation and expansion of the Christian movement.

R. Eisen
TR 12:45-2:00 PM

A survey of Jewish thought and practice from the biblical to the modern period; introduction to the Hebrew Bible, rabbinic Judaism, Jewish philosophy and mysticism, Judaism in the modern period; an examination of the central rituals in Judaism, including Sabbath, dietary laws, and major festivals.

This course introduces key moments in the history, development, and expansion of Christianity as a global religious movement. We will examine primary and secondary sources from the earliest to the most contemporary expression of Christian beliefs, practices, communities, and conflicts. 

P. Beldio
TR 4:45-6:00 PM

Study of continuity and change in Hinduism, with emphasis on historical development and the consolidating features of the religion. Attention to relations between classical and popular living forms.

X. Kang
MW 11:10 AM - 12:25 PM

Historical introduction to the major religious and philosophical traditions in China, Japan, and Korea, with focuses on ancestor worship, shamanistic cults, Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Shinto. The interactions of common East Asian religious and philosophical traditions how these traditions evolved over time, and the way each cultures assimilates foreign elements. How the very ideas of religion and philosophy are formulated and practiced differently in East Asia from those in the Western tradition.

Crosslisted with EALL 3814.80 and PHIL 3100.83

X. Kang
MW 12:45-2:00 PM

A general introduction to the Daoist tradition from the antiquity to contemporary times, through reading major Daoist classics, scriptures, poems, novels, and examining Daoist material cultures and bodily cultivation techniques. Those who take it for graduate credit will have extra assignments.

Crosslisted with EALL 3831.80, EALL 3831.80, and PHIL 3100.82

D. Schell
MW 3:45-5:00 PM

The complex interrelationship between psychology and spirituality: health and wellness; development of a spiritual life; psychological factors involved in spirituality; therapy and multicultural issues.

K. Pemberton
TR 2:20-3:35 PM

Historical, theological, and ethical investigation of the image and role of women in Judaism and Christianity; special consideration of the Biblical experience, the sexual qualifications for religious office, use of male and female images and languages, and contemporary issues.

Crosslisted with WGSS 3981.80

S. Nasr & M. Faghfoory
TR 3:45-5:00PM

Major schools of Islamic philosophy and theology considered in morphological and historical contexts. Relation between revelation and reason, determination and free will, and divine and human knowledge, and among science, philosophy, and religion.

Crosslisted with REL 6414.80

S. Nasr
TR 11:10 AM- 12:25 PM

Interaction between Islamic and Western civilization during the past fourteen centuries. Christian contact with and development of views about Islam; formation of Islamic civilization and the influence of Islamic ideas upon the West; encroachment upon and subsequent colonization of the Islamic world by the West; the spread of Western ideas among Muslims; and Islamic responses to the advent of modernism coming from the West. Present day relations.

M. Faghfoory
TR 9:35-10:50 AM

Islamic political thought from inception during the lifetime of the Prophet to its elaboration and expansion by philosophers, theologians and political theorists and its encounter with political thought from the Western world in the modern period.

Crosslisted with REL 6425.80

Analysis of different ways in which religious phenomena can be approached. Readings and discussion of some of the epoch-making books in the development of the study of religion.

R. Eisen
MW 12:45-2:00 PM

Historical analysis of the violent and peaceful dimensions of the three Abrahamic faiths, with focus on the relationship of the scriptures of each of the three traditions to the later interpretations that supported both violent and peaceful readings of those texts.

E. Aviv
TR 12:45-2:00 PM

Special Topics course surveying the ideas and applications of Buddhist Philosophy in the Cognitive Sciences

I. Koukios

I. Koukios

Includes a significant engagement in writing as a form of critical inquiry and scholarly expression to satisfy the WID requirement.