Graduate Program
REL 502 Philosophy and the Study of Religion
Graded */aud Total Enrollment 20
Professor(s): Leora Batnitzky
10:00am – 12:50pm F
The impact of modern philosophical ideas on the academic study of religion: naturalism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, genealogy, ideology, social construction, and epistemic injustice, among other philosophical movements, as well as the complex interplay between constructions of religion, race, and gender.
REL 505: Studies in Religion in America: Reading and Writing American Religious History
Graded */aud Total Enrollment 10
Professor(s): Wallace Best
1:30pm – 4:20pm W
This course introduces for an in-depth analysis the most important and influential texts written on American and African American religious history over the last half century. These texts have shaped the narrative structures, historical frames, and the theoretical assumptions that have had the most profound impact on the field of religious studies. The aim of the course is to be particularly attuned to the structure of argument and the use of evidence with the understanding that the mastery of these two aspects account for their influence. The aim of the course, then, is to read as much for structure as for content.
REL 511 Special Topics in the Study of Religion: Trends and Approaches in Qur’anic Studies
Graded */aud Total Enrollment 10
Professor(s): Tehseen Thaver
1:30pm – 4:20pm F
This graduate seminar examines key scholarly trends, debates, and conversations in the field of Qur’anic Studies over the last three decades or so. It explores themes including debates over the Qur’an’s origins, Qur’an and Late Antiquity, the Qur’an’s commentarial tradition, Qur’an and translation, the Qur’an in multiple regional contexts, and Qur’an and modernism. A major thrust of this course will be on connecting a study of the Qur’an with broader questions and conversations in the Humanities on related themes such as hermeneutics, language, orality and experiential elements of scripture.
REL 517 Culture, Society and Religion Workshop
Graded */aud Total Enrollment 20
Professor(s): Jonathan Gold
12:00pm – 1:20pm M
Presentation and critical discussion of research in progress by participants, dealing with the study of religion in any field within the humanities and social sciences. Note: REL 517 (fall) and REL 517 (spring) constitute this year-long workshop. In order to receive credit, students must take the course both semesters.
REL 518 Religion and Critical Thought Workshop
Graded */aud Total Enrollment 15
Professor(s): Eric Gregory
10:00am – 11:30am TH
A weekly, year-long workshop focused on current student and faculty research in religion and critical thought, designed primarily for graduate students working on dissertations and general examination essays on the philosophy of religion, religious ethics, and the role of religion in politics. Note: REL 518 (fall) and REL 519 (spring) constitute this year-long workshop. In order to receive credit and/or a grade, students must take the course both semesters.
REL 523 Religion in America Workshop
Graded */aud Total Enrollment 10
Professor(s): Seth Perry
3:00pm – 4:20pm TH
A weekly, year-long workshop focused on the current research of visiting presenters, current students, and faculty in American religious history. The workshop is designed primarily for Ph.D. students in the field, but is open as well to undergraduate concentrators with a strong background in the study of American religion and culture. Note: REL 523 (fall) and REL 524 (spring) constitute this year-long workshop. In order to receive credit and/or a grade, students must take the course both semesters.
REL 525 Religions of Late Antiquity Workshop
Graded */aud Total Enrollment 10
Professor(s): Staff
TBA
A weekly, year-long workshop providing students in the Religions of Late Antiquity with the opportunity to present their current research for discussion. Note: REL 525 (fall) and REL 526 (spring) constitute this year-long workshop. In order to receive credit and/or a grade, students must take the course both semesters.
REL 529 Workshop in Islamic Studies
Graded */aud Total Enrollment 10
Professor(s): Tehseen Thaver
12:00pm – 1:30pm M
A weekly year-long Religion workshop focusing on the research and writing of graduate students, faculty, and visitors in Islamic Studies. This workshop provides a forum for presentation of works in progress: drafts of dissertation chapters, dissertation proposals, seminar papers, conference papers, articles and book chapters. All Islamic Studies graduate students are encouraged to participate as presenters and as commentators. The workshop fosters collegiality and professional development. Note: REL 529 (fall) and REL 530 (spring) constitute this year-long workshop. Students must take the course both semesters to receive credit/grade.
REL 533/EAS 535: Readings in Japanese Religions: Buddhist Exchange between the Continent and Japan
Graded */aud Total Enrollment 10
Professor(s): Bryan Lowe
1:30pm – 4:20pm TH
This seminar explores exchange between Japanese and continental (China and Korean) Buddhism. We read primary sources and secondary scholarship including transmission narratives, hagiographies, and pilgrimage records to show how Buddhism in East Asia was facilitated by exchange and to move beyond nation-centered narratives. Significant time is spent on translation, as well as research methods and tools necessary for the study of premodern Japanese Buddhism. Readings require basic familiarity with classical Chinese or kanbun.
REL 555: Introduction to Coptic Language and Literature
Graded */aud Total Enrollment No limit
Professor(s): Lydia Bremer-McCollum
11:00am – 12:20pm TTH Class
This course offers an introduction to Coptic language and literatures. The class will provide the foundational grammatical and linguistic concepts to build elementary Coptic reading competency (with focus on the Sahidic dialect primarily but not exclusively). Through course examples and group reading, students will gain exposure to a broad Coptic corpus including Nag Hammadi literature, martyr literature, monastic texts, magic or medical recipes, and other documentary texts. The course will also introduce students to the tools and resources of Coptic studies – dictionaries, grammars, as well as digital humanities resources.
Cross-Listed Courses:
NES 507/REL 585 Muslim South Asia
Graded A-F, P/D/F, Audit Total Course Enrollment 20
Professor(s): Muhammad Q. Zaman
1:30pm – 4:20pm T Seminar
This graduate course seeks to provide the participants with a broad introduction to major intellectual trends in the history of Islam in South Asia from the early nineteenth century to the present. We focus on the work of select individuals and discuss their writings in the context of their intellectual, social, cultural, and political milieu. Translations and exegeses of the Qur’an, Islamic law, politics, and social thought are among the themes on which we focus.
For more detailed information on each course, please visit:
http://registrar.princeton.edu/course-offerings/