| Description: | The United States has often been imagined as both a deeply Christian nation and a thoroughly secular republic. These competing visions of the nation have created conflict throughout American history and have made the relationship between religion and politics quite contentious. This course surveys the complex entanglements of religion and public life from the colonial era through the contemporary landscape. Topics covered include: religious liberty and toleration, secularization, the rise of African-American churches, the Civil War, national identity and the Protestant establishment, the religious politics of women's rights, religion and the market, the Cold War, the civil rights movement, the religious left and right, debates over church-state separation, constructions of religious pluralism, and religion after 9/11. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 10:00A-11:30A | Eads / 215 | Schmidt, Martin | Paper/Project/Take Home | 20 | 24 | 0 | | |
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| Description: | In the United States, most people assume that to be religious one should be sincere. You should really believe what you say you believe; don't fake it. Since the mid-twentieth century, courts have used the "sincerity test" for religious claimants, evaluating whether they truly believe, not whether their beliefs are true. In the twenty-first century, state legislators have passed laws protecting citizens' "sincerely held religious belief." This course explores these issues of religion, sincerity, and authenticity in American politics and culture. It is not a chronological survey but, rather, a topically organized introduction to some key questions and issues. We will pay particular attention to how racial, gender, national, and religious identities intersect to inform American ideas about sincerity, authenticity, and "realness." These discussions connect directly to how the law has treated religious believers and the matter of "sincerely held religious belief." Finally, we will consider how sincerity might help us think about the problems of deliberative democracy and the public sphere in our supposedly "post-truth era." |
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| Description: | This course explores American religious and political history with particular attention to themes of dissent and reform. From Anne Hutchinson's challenges to the puritan establishment in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to evangelical abolition movements in the nineteenth century, to arguments for a "black Jesus" and civil rights in the 1960s, American religion is full of trailblazers that push political boundaries and contest religious orthodoxies. This course attends to themes of gender, race, class, and economic power to contextualize movements and give students tools to understand the arrival of new movements and the cultural and political power of religious ideas. This course pays particular attention to the role of religious dissenters in movements for social and political change, how religious beliefs and practices have been mobilized (often against co-religionists) to protest the economic status quo, empower women, promote civil rights, and end war. We also examine how many of these movements were themselves disrupted or complicated through further dissension and division. |
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| Description: | This course introduces students to American Indian religions and politics. We will think of American Indian religiosity as tied together with a strong sense of place and a long history of oppression. To do so, we will employ an interdisciplinary approach, reading historical, ethnographic, legal, and literary texts about Native American experiences of contact, conquest, genocide, and struggles for religious freedom and land rights. We will discuss political and legal controversies around a 1920s ceremonial Pueblo dance and the relationship between the Ghost Dance and the Red Power Movement; a US Supreme Court case about the ceremonial use of peyote in the Native American Church and an ethnography of Native American Alcoholics Anonymous. We will watch documentary films about various relationships between White Christian Americans and American Indians and ask how Native American experiences and accounts can help us to better understand (and also to criticize) Western religiosity, history, ecology, and politics. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 1:00P-2:30P | Seigle / 104 | Lloyd | Paper/Project/Take Home | 20 | 22 | 0 | | |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:30A | Seigle / 111 | Zuern | Paper/Project/Take Home | 25 | 17 | 0 | | |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 11:30A-1:00P | Seigle / 205 | Barmash | Paper/Project/Take Home | 24 | 18 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| Description: | This course will provide students with a basic understanding of the history, teachings, and practices of the Buddhist tradition. We will begin with a look at the Indian religious milieu from which Buddhism emerged, and then move on to consider the life of the Buddha, the early teachings, the founding of the monastic order, and the development of Buddhist doctrinal systems. We will then turn to the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, and the transformation of Buddhism as it moved from India to the countries of Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, and finally, the West. The last several weeks of the class will be devoted to an exploration of contemporary issues and topics, such as Buddhism and violence, the influence of Buddhism on literature and the arts, the growing popularity of mindfulness practice in America, etc. Class materials will include both primary and secondary readings, as well as films and videos. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 11:30A-1:00P | Cupples I / 218 | Grant | Paper/Project/Take Home | 30 | 27 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| Description: | What did Jesus of Nazareth and his early followers teach about sexuality-about marriage, adultery, divorce, the virtues of procreation and celibacy, same-sex relationships, and erotic desire? How and why did ancient Christians take different stances on these issues, and how do these traditions continue to inform sexual ethics and gender roles today? In this class, we will study these questions by examining key passages from the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, Paul's letters, writings of early church leaders, martyr propaganda, monastic literature, and apocryphal books deemed heretical. We will also consider the interpretations of contemporary historians of religion informed by recent trends in sexuality and gender theories. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 4:00P-5:30P | Simon / 022 | Jenott | Paper/Project/Take Home | 29 | 27 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| Description: | This seminar explores the history of religion, gender, and race in the context of empire in Latin America, focusing primarily on the colonial period (1492-1821), but including some pre-colonial materials. Through primary documents, secondary scholarship and student-centered discussion, we will consider connections between religious beliefs, gender norms and relations, and the ways race, class, and gender intersected with ideas about religion, empire and power. We will study the clash of religions that occurred during the conquest and its terrible aftermath, the politics of evangelization, and how marginalized subjects such as women, African slaves, and indigenous peoples navigated religious authoritarianism to develop their own spiritual beliefs and expressions. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:30A | Seigle / L003 | Kirk | Paper/Project/Take Home | 25 | 14 | 0 | | |
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| Description: | Although it is now common to differentiate between South and Southeast Asia, historically these regions have often been conceptualized as part of a single geographical area. Known as the "(East) Indies", this area is marked by a rich history of (earlier) Hindu and Buddhist influences, as well as (later) Islamic and Christian influences. The present course will take an in-depth look at the four aforementioned religious traditions, and examine how they have shaped local forms of culture in premodern and modern times. Students will be introduced to host of phenomena in South and Southeast Asian societies, including religious worship, education, law, traditional governance, colonial governance, art, architecture, economic production, kinship, gender, and sexuality. Countries to be studied in the course include India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 4:00P-5:30P | Eads / 115 | Nakissa | Paper/Project/Take Home | 30 | 25 | 0 | | |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 4:00P-5:30P | Eads / 203 | Jay | May 3 2019 6:00PM - 8:00PM | 35 | 27 | 0 | | |
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| Description: | This course will investigate the roles children play in some of the world's major religious traditions and how those traditions construct their concepts of childhood. From child disciples to child martyrs, from the miraculous childhoods of religious founders to the rites marking childhood's end, and from divine commandments involving fertility to those mandating celibacy, we will explore a wide range of different religions' teachings about children and childhood. We will combine primary and secondary sources including written texts, movies/video, and web-based content in order to learn more about the complex relationships between children and the religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. |
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| Description: | What is religion, and how can we study it? Do we need an answer to the first question to pursue the second? Why, and toward what ends, might we undertake such study? This course considers these questions through the investigation of significant attempts to study religion over the past century, paying particular attention to the methods, motivations, and aims of these works. Is the study of religion an effort to disprove or debunk it, or perhaps to support it? What would each mean? Is it an effort to describe the indescribable, or perhaps to translate complex beliefs and practices into a language in which they can be discussed by others? Why would such a translation be helpful, and to whom? Is the study of religion an investigation of a social phenomenon, an organization of communities, a specific formation of individuals, or perhaps a psychosis or illusion, evidence of the workings of power on our lives and the difficulty of bearing it? What is at stake in defining religion in these ways, and then in undertaking its study? In this course, we will discuss major theoretical approaches to the study of religion in relation to these questions and others, toward a better understanding of what religion might be and how it might be studied today. NOTE: This course is required for Religious Studies majors and minors. It is recommended that this course be taken after completion of L23 102 Thinking About Religion. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 1:00P-2:30P | Rudolph / 282 | Kravchenko | Paper/Project/Take Home | 11 | 6 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:30A | Umrath / 140 | Valeri | Paper/Project/Take Home | 25 | 14 | 0 | | |
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| Description: | When the 13th century author Ibn al-Adim from the city of Aleppo, Syria, titled his book on food Reaching the Beloved through the Description of Delicious Foods and Perfumes, he was perhaps not concerned so much with simply how to satisfy hunger. Thinking through the title alone opens a window for us on all sorts of cultural, social, economic, and political questions about food and drink. Our history as humans with food is long and complicated. It extends from seeking basic nutrition to sustain our livelihood to contracting diseases. Food also plays a fundamental role in how humans organize themselves in societies, differentiate socially, culturally, and economically, establish values and norms for religious, cultural, and communal practices, and define identities of race, gender, and class. Food has been one of the most visible signs of social status in any given society and a vital part of many movements of political and social reform and transformation. Food has been a major question in trans-regional, international, and recently global cooperation and conflict as well. This course will cover the history of food and drink in the Middle East to help us understand our complex relation with food and look at our lives from perspectives we intuitively feel or by implication know, but rarely critically and explicitly reflect on. This course does not intend to spoil, so to speak, this undeniably one of the most pleasurable human needs and activities, but rather to make you aware of how food shapes who we are as individuals and societies. We will study the history of food and drink in the Middle East across the centuries until the present time, but be selective in choosing themes, geographic regions, and historical periods to focus on. Course work is geared toward increasing your ability to think about food and drink analytically as a socio-economic and cultural capital, noticeable marker of identity, and indicator of a political position. In a sense we will try to tease out in class why we are what we eat! Please consult the instructor if you have not taken any course in the humanities. Enrollment priority given to seniors and juniors. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 10:00A-11:30A | Seigle / 304 | Barmash | May 6 2019 10:30AM - 12:30PM | 12 | 12 | 0 | | |
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| Description: | This course will introduce you to Japan's "indigenous" religion by exploring the enchanted universe of Shinto through a popular cultural lens. We will utilize the rich trove of manga and anime as a window into a world full of gods and ghosts that still impacts everyday life and politics in Japan. You will encounter full-length feature movies such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, or Onmyoji, anime series such as Spice and Wolf or Mushi-shi, as well as manga series such as Dream Saga. In so doing, you will playfully learn about the structure and function of temples and their relationship to local communities, the connection between Japan's political elite and kami worship, miko and bodily possessions, the complex relationship between Buddhism and Shinto, and the modern, yet anachronistic construction of Shinto as a "national" religion during the Meiji period (1868-1912). In other words, you will experience in this course an exciting and fun, yet at the same time critical avenue to the history of Shinto and its various religious practices. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 2:30P-4:00P | Cupples II / 230 | Zuern | Paper/Project/Take Home | 40 | 34 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 2:30P-4:00P | Crow / 205 | Epstein-Levi | May 8 2019 3:30PM - 5:30PM | 18 | 1 | 0 | | |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 1:00P-2:30P | Lopata Hall / 302 | Nakissa | Paper/Project/Take Home | 25 | 10 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| Description: | This seminar examines contemporary theories and approaches to materiality in the study of religion. Particular attention is given to how scholars envision the relationship between bodies, rituals, religious objects and human ability to think, know and act in the world. By attending to a variety of "things" - prints, icons, ritual clothes, food, incense - and to the history of their use within such traditions as Islam, Buddhism, Candomblé, Lucumí, and Christianity this course seeks to provide students with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with contemporary studies that take seriously the power of material objects to make and sustain religion. This course is simultaneously designed to allow students to practice utilizing material culture as a method in their own research. |
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| | 01 | -T----- | 3:00P-6:00P | Ridgley / 107 | Kravchenko | Paper/Project/Take Home | 10 | 3 | 0 | | | Actions: | | Books | | Syllabus | | Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use. |
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| Description: | Nuns -- women vowed to a shared life of poverty, chastity, and obedience in a cloistered community -- were central figures in medieval and early modern religion and society. This course explores life in the convent, with the distinctive culture that developed among communities of women, and the complex relations between the world of the cloister and the world outside the cloister. We look at how female celibacy served social and political, as well as religious, interests. We read works by nuns: both willing and unwilling; and works about nuns: nuns behaving well, and nuns behaving scandalously badly; nuns embracing their heavenly spouse, and nuns putting on plays; nuns possessed by the devil, and nuns managing their possessions; nuns as enraptured visionaries, and nuns grappling with the mundane realities of life in a cloistered community. NOTE: Section 2 is for graduate students only. |
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| | 01 | -T-R--- | 1:00P-2:30P | Seigle / 305 | Bornstein | Paper/Project/Take Home | 18 | 11 | 0 | | |
| 02 | M------ | 3:00P-6:00P | TBA | Bornstein | Paper/Project/Take Home | 10 | 0 | 0 | Desc: | NOTE: Section 2 is for graduate students only. |
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| | 01 | M-W---- | 11:30A-1:00P | Simon / 020 | Yucesoy | Paper/Project/Take Home | 10 | 5 | 0 | | |
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| Description: | Muslim societies are prevalent in Africa-from the Horn, the North, the East to the West, with smaller conclaves in Central and South Africa. Islam has played an influential role in these diverse societies, particularly through its Sufi form. Even though Sufism originated in the Arabian Peninsula, it has fit well with African beliefs and cultures. This course aims to explore Sufi beliefs, values, and practices in Africa. It intends to reconsider the academic constructions of "African Islam" by exploring education, intellectual life, economics, gender roles, social inequalities, and politics. The goal is to show that Africa is a dynamic part of the Muslim world and not a peripheral one, as it is most often portrayed by the international media or historically, through travelers and colonial accounts. African Muslim brotherhoods have served as political mediators between countries and people (i.e. the role of the Tijaniyya in the diplomatic rivalry between Morocco and Algeria, or its role in reconciliation of clanic rivalries in Sudan). In addition, the course will pay attention to hierarchy in particular tariqa. Finally, the course will examine how African Sufi orders have shaped their teachings to fit transnational demands over the 20th and 21st century. We will explore these issues through readings, current media, lectures and special guest speakers. |
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| Description: | Since the late 1980's, three major upheavals have transformed European senses of identity. The demise of the Soviet Union has forced citizens of new "post-socialist' nations to forge new senses of belonging and new strategies of survival. The rise of a new public presence of Islam, and the growth of children of Muslim immigrants to adulthood, have challenged notions that Europe is a secular or post-Christian space. Finally, the heightened authority of European institutions has challenged the nation-state from above, and by granting new forms of sub-national autonomy to regions and peoples, from below. The new Europe is increasingly constituted by way of regional identifications and transnational movement(s), and by umbrella European legal and political organizations; these new realities occasion new rhetorics of secularism, nationalism, and ethnic loyalties. We examine these forms of diversity, movement, and debate by way of new works in anthropology, sociology and political science. |
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| | 01 | TBA | | See Dept / | [TBA] | No Final | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
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