RLGN 101: Religion and Culture
Justine Howe- TR 10:00-11:15
This course introduces students to the study of religion by examining religious practices within a variety of cultural and historical contexts around the world. The course invites students to think comparatively and critically about the role of religion within broader cultural discourses (e.g., gender, politics, and the environment).
Instead of surveying what were formerly called the “world’s great religions,” this course builds religious literacy by examining religious practices within particular geographical and thematic areas. Through comparative case studies drawn from a diverse range of “non-western” cultures, students will learn about religions and spiritualities across the globe. These cultural touchstones will build core literacy in other cultures, positioning students to engage more fully in the religious and cultural diversity that they will encounter in their own lives and careers.
Alongside these geographic case studies, the course will also examine key themes in the study of religion, such as diasporic transnationalism, liberation theology, and ritual practice. We will use these themes to tease out and debate some of the core theoretical and methodological challenges in the study of religion, including postcolonial critiques of the origin and history of the field of religious studies itself.
To be clear, religion is our subject, not our approach. Although students will find opportunities to reflect on their own spirituality/disbelief, the course does not presume any particular religious or non-religious perspective. Indeed, the study of religion is itself concerned not only with the world’s religious traditions, but also with contemporary questions of skepticism, science, disbelief, and secularity.
Evaluation will be based on class preparation and participation, regular short papers, a midterm exam, and a final take-home essay exam.
Perspectives:
- Moral and Ethical Reasoning
- Understanding Global Perspectives
- Human Diversity and Commonality
RLGN 172: Introducing Islam
Ramez Islambouli- MW 3:20-4:35
This course is an introduction to the beliefs, practices, sacred texts, and intellectual traditions of Islam. We will approach the many dimensions of Islam from the perspective of religious studies. Our goal is to develop a foundational understanding of the core aspects of Islam, while exploring the scholarly approaches to the study of Muslim belief, practices, and communities. Throughout the term, we will examine major developments in the history of Islam, underscoring the dynamic changes that the tradition has undergone in its 1400+ year history and in various cultural contexts in West Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and China.
Skill: Communication Intensive
Perspective: Understanding Global Perspectives
RLGN 206: Religion and Ecology
Timothy Beal- R 4:00-6:30
Cross-religious and cross-cultural introduction to the interdisciplinary field of religion and ecology. Ecological ideas and practices from Indigenous religions, South and East Asian religions, and monotheistic religions will be examined and compared as they relate to ecology and environmental ethics in our contemporary context. Themes include: climate crisis and climate justice in the Anthropocene, human exceptionalism, ideas of the wilderness, human-animal relations, and ecological interdependence.
Perspectives:
- Moral and Ethical Reasoning
- Understanding Global Perspectives
- Human Diversity and Commonality
RLGN/ASIA/ETHS/HSTY 226: Southeast Asia and the World: History, Politics, Religions
Jonathan Tan- T 4:00-6:30
This course explores the background and factors contributing to the development and shaping of contemporary Southeast Asia, as well as the intersection and synthesis of the social, cultural, geographical, religious, and political dimensions by placing ordinary lives within the context of emerging postcolonial nation states in Southeast Asia. It analyzes major trends and transformations across the whole Southeast Asia region during different historical periods — the conquest of traditional kingdoms, colonial rule, the impact of World War II, nationalist revolutions, and the emergence of new postcolonial nations. More broadly, it also examines the intersection and synthesis of the social, cultural, geographical, religious, and political dimensions by placing the ordinary lives of Southeast Asian peoples within the context of emerging postcolonial nation states. At the end of the course, students will gain a firm foundation in acquiring a foundational knowledge in the history, religion, culture, geography, and society of Southeast Asia, as well as understanding the implications of the continuing socio-cultural, economic, and political transformation of contemporary Southeast Asia and the significance that this region has for the rest of the world.
Perspectives:
- Understanding Global Perspectives
- Human Diversity and Commonality
RLGN 230: Drugs, Religion, and Mystical Experiences
Deepak Sarma- TR 11:30-12:45
This class examines the relationship between drugs, religion/ religious traditions, and mystical experiences. While many religious traditions prohibit the use of alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs, many advocate the use of substances to achieve desired cognitive states, for spiritual or even medical/ therapeutic purposes. The class will look at several case studies, scientific papers, and philosophical monographs that pertain to, or provoke, these complexities. In this way we will problematize the categories “drug,” “religion,” and “mystical experience.” We will look at cases from Asia, South America, and Mexico.
Perspectives:
- Understanding Global Perspectives
- Human Diversity and Commonality
RLGN 236: Religion and the Internet: Digitizing the Sacred
Alanna Cooper- TR 4:00-5:15
Religion offers a path for practitioners to connect to the Divine, join with community, and identify ultimate purpose. Although these lofty aspirations operate on a spiritual plane, they are accessed via our physical world; through holiday feasts, houses of worship, ritual garb, dance and song. Given the materiality of religious practice, the rise of the internet and metaverse has raised challenges and offered new possibilities for religious practitioners and their leaders. In this course we will explore what happens when sacred spaces become virtual, when communal gatherings occur through avatars, and when holy texts are studied on-line. Driving the course are pressing questions of meaning: What is the nature of the relationship between humanity and the Transcendent; between the body and the spirit; and between our physical world and that which is virtual? As we study various facets of virtual religion in class, students will work towards a final creative research project, which focuses on ways digital technology is redefining sacred spheres.
Skill: Communication Intensive
Perspectives:
- Moral and Ethical Reasoning
- Understanding Global Perspectives
RLGN 249: Sacred Places and Pilgrimage in Buddhism
Jue Liang- MW 12:45-2:00
Building on an innovative design of experiential and embodied learning, this course explores the following themes and questions in Buddhist traditions worldwide: What makes a place sacred? How do people interact with these sacred places and build community around them? What does it mean to be present? And what are the different expressions of presence in pilgrimage? It engages with practices of space and movement in its rich expressions — literary, artistic, somatic, and psychological, to name a few. Together, the instructor and students will construct a toolkit for experiencing bodily agency, empathy, and community building by approaching the themes of place and movement from a multitude of perspectives.
Perspective: Human Diversity and Commonality
RLGN/PHIL 253/CHIN/ETHS 253C: Religion and Philosophy in China
Jonathan Tan- TR 10:00-11:15
This course critically examines the three principal religious and philosophical traditions of China: the Confucian, Daoist, and Chinese Buddhist traditions. Through a combination of assigned print and online readings, video clips and documentaries, class discussions, and written assignments, students explore the origins and historical developments, principal thinkers, central religious and doctrinal themes, ethics, spirituality, popular devotions, social movements, and contemporary developments of these three major religious and philosophical traditions of China. Students will consider the wider social, cultural, ethical, economic, and political dimensions of Chinese religions and philosophies generally, and themes of community and society, identity constructions, personal experiences, movements, as well as their socio-cultural reproductions in contemporary China, and where appropriate, the Chinese Diaspora in North America.
Perspectives:
- Moral and Ethical Reasoning
- Understanding Global Perspectives
- Human Diversity and Commonality
RLGN 309: Cults and New Religious Movements
Deepak Sarma- TR 1:00-2:15
This course is an analysis of cults and new religious movements as a category. How and why are people persuaded or coerced to join? What rights and freedom do such “cults” and their members have? Moreover, how do such groups earn the name “Cult”? What can be said about their charismatic leaders and the ways that they construct their identities? In this class, students will learn about cults in America, Asia, and South America, with the goal of understanding their appeal, development, and influence.
The class will focus on intellectual cultures outside the United States. It will address in a substantive way ethnic, gender, sexual, philosophical, religious, or other cultural practices outside the United States, to provide students with new perspectives on their own cultural assumptions, traditions, and experiences. It will also address and examine the complexities of socially/ humanly constructed categories.
Skill: Communication Intensive
Perspective: Understanding Global Perspectives
RLGN 347/447/ WGST 347: Buddhism, Gender, and Sexuality
Jue Liang- M 3:30-6:00
Historian Joan Wallach Scott once warned that scholars could not simply insert gender into their research as though adding a new room on a house already built; they would have to begin again from the bottom. Considering gender as a cultured way of being in, understanding, and interacting with the world within which we are situated, this seminar queries the conceptualization of gender and sexuality in Buddhism and Buddhist communities across space and time, with particular emphasis on those located in Asia. What does it mean to be a woman, a man, someone of the third sex, or none of the above? What are the Buddhist idea(l)s about femininity, masculinity, and personhood? How do these idea(l)s change with translation and transmission? We will explore together the theories and practices of gender and sexuality expressed by Buddhist communities from its beginnings to the present day. Buddhism’s major conversation partners throughout history — Hinduism, Confucianism, and Daoism — will also be brought into discussion. Previous knowledge of Buddhism is preferred but not required.
Skill: Communication Intensive
Perspectives:
- Understanding Global Perspectives
- Human Diversity and Commonality
RLGN/AFST/ENGL/ETHS/WGST/WLIT 365F: Afrofuturism and the Black Imaginary: Legacies and Futures
Michele Berger- TR 11:30-12:45
This course explores the theoretical, literary and cultural expressions of Afrofuturism. The term Afrofuturism was developed in 1993 by scholar Mark Dery and is an all-encompassing term used to describe creative work – literature (especially science fiction), music, art – that focuses on Afro-diasporic ways of being and knowing. The course explores the multiple meanings and expressions of Afrofuturism and how it expands various literary traditions. Traditional speculative fiction canons have often distorted and/or erased the existence of people of color in the future. This course recenters these experiences. Readings will delve into the legacies of slavery, colonialism, entrenched inequalities to understand their impact on real and imagined technological futures. Students will spend time exploring how Afrofuturist writers and cultural workers imagine new possibilities that expand our sense of liberation and justice. Recommended preparation: Academic Inquiry Seminar (AIQS) or SAGES First Seminar.
Skills:
- Communication Intensive
- Wellness
Perspective: Human Diversity and Commonality
RLGN/JWST/HSTY 389: History of Zionism
Alanna Cooper and Jay Geller- TR 1:00-2:15
This course seeks to elucidate the major strands of Zionism, their origins, how they have interacted, and their impact on contemporary Israeli society. These may include political Zionism, cultural Zionism, socialist (labor) Zionism, Revisionist Zionism, and religious Zionism. This course will also examine the differences in the appeal of Zionism to Jews in different places, such as Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the United States.
Skill: Communication Intensive
Perspectives:
- Understanding Global Perspectives
- Human Diversity and Commonality