Religion 240 - Religious Thought and Spirituality in Revolutionary Russia

Offered as REL 240 and RES 240. The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries marked one of the most brilliant yet destructive periods in Russia’s history. This course explores the religious, spiritual, and philosophical ideas that fueled both a renaissance in the arts and a political revolution, each of which had enormous impact worldwide. Drawing on the visual arts, music, and theater, as well as religious, philosophical, and political writings, the course introduces students to some of the best-known thinkers and cultural innovators in Russia’s late-imperial and Soviet past, as well as in the post-Soviet present. Discussions include: ways to enlightenment; religious faith, materialism, atheism, and science; meanings of history; Freemasonry, theosophy, and the occult; the body, sex, and spirituality; art, human creativity and god-building.