(Offered as RELI-280 and ENGL-297)

(Offered as BLST 323, PHIL 215 and RELI 223) This course explores the structure, beliefs, and practices of West African indigenous religions with an eye to their deeper philosophical meanings.

What does religious studies study? How do its investigations proceed? Can a religion only be truly understood from within, by those who share its beliefs and values? Or, on the contrary, is only the person who stands “outside” religion equipped to study and truly understand it? Is there a generic “something” that we can properly call “religion” at all or is the concept of religion, which emerged from European Enlightenment, inapplicable to other cultural contexts? This course will explore several of the most influential efforts to develop theories of religion and methods for its study.

This course examines ideas about and rituals surrounding death and dying in Judaism from the Biblical period through the present. The course is organized into five major units that explore a theme related to death (i.e., corpses, burial, mourning, the afterlife, etc.). Each unit begins with biblical and classical Jewish sources, and traces how these sources shape significant developments in Jewish history, theology, and practice.

(Offered as RELI 152 and ASLC 152) This course is an introduction to the diverse ideals, practices, and traditions of Buddhism from its origins in South Asia to its geographical and historical diffusion throughout Asia and, more recently, into the west. We will explore the Three Jewels—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha—and how they each provide refuge for those suffering in samsara (the endless cycle of rebirth).

What is happiness? What is a life well lived? How is happiness connected to virtue and ethics? How are considerations of happiness and meaning connected to beliefs about the afterlife?  This course explores the basic problem of living a meaningful life by considering the wisdom of philosophers and religious thinkers from across the world, past and present. As we develop scholarly tools to address these questions, we combine a critical eye with an openness to many different conceptions of human flourishing and how they might offer possibilities for us.

Open to senior majors in Psychology who have received departmental approval. A double course.

Spring semester. 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: Writing-intensive, attention to research, and attention to writing.

Open to senior majors in Psychology who have received departmental approval.

Spring semester. 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: Writing-intensive, attention to research, and attention to writing.

A double course. Open to seniors majors in psychology who have received departmental approval. 

Spring semester. 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: Students who enroll in this class will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning and assessment. Writing attentive, attention to research, and attention to writing.

Autobiographical memory encompasses everything we know about our personal past, from information as mundane as our Social Security number to the most inspirational moments of our lives. This course will begin by evaluating several theoretical frameworks that structure the field. We will consider how personal knowledge influences our sense of self and will examine both the contents of autobiographical memory and the contexts in which it functions, including eyewitness testimony, flashbulb memories, and the false/recovered memory controversy.