This course examines emergence and evolution of Islamic Civilizations from the seventh century though the modern era. It covers the birth and spread of Islam, the rise and fall of Muslim Empires, religious and political institutions, scientific and cultural achievements, and the position of women and religious minorities.
An introduction to the major religious traditions in the cultural areas of South, Southeast, and East Asia: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto.
An introduction to the major religious traditions that have shaped Near Eastern and Western culture; especially Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
This course will survey the Bible and some other related Near Eastern literature, focusing on the development of genres, motifs, and other literary forms that have influenced the form and content of Western literature, including the parable, the proverb, the loss of Eden, exile and return, origin stories, and hero stories. (Offered jointly with English).
An introduction to selected critical issues relating to contemporary academic concerns. A variety of religion to modern culture and intellectual positions will be analyzed and discussed.
The comparative study of the ethical dilemmas and discourse within religious narratives and traditions. The course presents selected ethical dilemmas and raises questions requiring students to analyze the positions embedded within religious narratives, and develop their own informed ethical positions. Topics include war, human rights, ecology, economic justice, and sexuality.
A study of selected texts and religious thought from India, China, and Japan in relation to their impact on personal spiritual development and cultural integration.
This course will explore - thematically rather than cronologically - major trends in contemporary Islamic thought and practice through a study of key thinkers and a close reading of their works. Such trends include modernism, reformism, fundamentalism, nationalism, centrism, liberalism and feminism.
This course will trace changing conceptions of gender roles and the functions of women in various religious traditions. Feminine and masculine images of divinity will be compared and recent scholarship in feminist theology on questions such as the nature of divinity, immortality, and religious devotion will be examined.
This course examines the role of religion in contemporary American society and in communities around the globe from a geographic perspective. Significant places and spatial patterns associated with religions will be investigated along with the relationship between religion and the political landscape. Students will be expected to identify, visit, and analyze two religious sites in their community.
An examination of the significant role played by religious ideas and traditions in American society from colonial times to the present in historical and cultural perspectives.
A study of the function and forms of religious groups in primitive and contemporary societies; a theoretical examination of religion as a basic social institution. (Offered jointly with sociology).
A critical examination of philosophical and religious materials dealing with death and dying. Issues such as the nature of death, the fear of death, the possibility of an afterlife, the concept of immortality, ethical and legal problems raised in the dying process, the ethics of hospice care, and the morality of euthanasia will be considered.
This course will examine the origins, implementation, and legacies of the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews. It is intended to help students gain an appreciation of the importance of the Holocaust to the Jewish experience, while understanding that other groups also were victimized. (Offered jointly with Sociology).
Variable topics. Group activity oriented presentations emphasizing `hands on` and participatory instructional techniques. Repeatable
Variable topics. Group activity. Not offered regularly in the curriculum but offered on topics selected on the basis of timeliness, need, and interest, and generally in the format of regularly scheduled Catalog offerings. Repeatable
Variable topics.
Study of a selected topic or topics under the direction of a faculty member. Repeatable