Required of candidates for Honors in Religion. Preparation and oral defense of a scholarly essay on a topic approved by the Department. Detailed outline of thesis and adequate bibliography for project required before Thanksgiving; preliminary version of substantial portion of thesis by end of the semester.
Open to seniors with consent of the instructors. Fall semester. The Department.
How to handle overenrollment: null
Independent Reading Course. Reading in an area selected by the student and approved in advance by a member of the Department.
Fall and spring semesters. The Department.
How to handle overenrollment: null
Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: in-depth independent student research and substantial written work
(Formerly offered as ASLC-381 and RELI-381)
Close readings of “classics” from the Islamic world. Topics may include: theories of language and revelation; the role of the human intellect and imagination; ritual and prayer; ethics and responsibility; prophecy and miracles; the Quran and its interpretation; sin and salvation. All readings are in English. No prerequisites.
Fall Semester. Professor Jaffer.
How to handle overenrollment: null
This course will explore the relationship between a family of religious traditions (Christianity) and an ideal of governance (democracy), both historically and theoretically. Over the past two thousand years Christian traditions have existed within a wide range of systems of governance. Very few of these have been democratic systems. The history of Christian traditions includes substantive reflections on matters of governance by Christian thinker
(Offered as RELI 277 and HIST 274 [TC/TE/P] ) Literature from the later Roman empire abounds with accounts of heightened acts of violence between religious groups: Roman judges torture religious deviants; monks massacre banqueters and destroy temples with their bare hands; Christians clash with each other on darkened city streets; Christians attack Jewish synagogues and festival-goers. What about the late Roman world encouraged such violence? Were some religious groups more or less tolerant than their counterparts?
(Offered as RELI 261 and SWAG 239) Ranging from ancient texts to contemporary documentaries, we explore the portrayals and roles of women in Jewish tradition. Sources include biblical and apocryphal texts; Rabbinic literature; selections from medieval commentaries; letters, diaries, and autobiographies written by Jewish women of various periods and settings; works of fiction; and visual media.
(Offered as RELI 255 and ASLC 256) A systematic exploration of the place of ethics and moral reasoning in Buddhist thought and practice. The scope of the course is wide, with examples drawn from the whole Buddhist world, but emphasis is on the particularity of different Buddhist visions of the ideal human life. Attention is given to the problems of the proper description of Buddhist ethics in a comparative perspective.
2025 Fall. Professor M. Heim
How to handle overenrollment: null
This course introduces students to the academic study of religion by exploring the practices and material culture of Christianity during its first six centuries. We will consider how the lived experience of Christianity shaped religious subjectivities and how it intersected with the practices of Roman imperialism and hierarchies of gender, class, and ethnicity. Our examinations will include ritual practices, material culture, architectural spaces, relics and pilgrimage, music, olfaction, food cultures, and magic.
The past century and a half have seen Christians engaging capitalism in various ways. Some have argued that capitalism and Christianity are opposed at the level of first principles, with capitalism dedicated to an ethos of competition and Christianity to one of co-operation. Others have argued that capitalism is just human freedom in the sphere of economics, and that the Christian’s duty is to defend capitalism against threats from those who would dismantle it. Some have argued that Jesus preached the virtue of poverty; others, that he blesses his followers with wealth.
Familiarity with the Bible is essential to any liberal arts education. This course is the place to begin. A master-work of great complexity revealing many voices and many periods, the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament is a collection of traditional literature of various genres including prose and poetry, law, narrative, ritual texts, sayings, and other forms. We seek to understand the varying ways Israelites understood and defined themselves in relation to their ancestors, their ancient Near Eastern neighbors, and their God.
Fall Semester. Professor Niditch.
