A thematic introduction to Chinese religion, ranging from ancient to contemporary. The first half focuses on classics of Chinese philosophy (Book of Changes, Analects of Confucius, Daoist and Buddhist classics, etc.). The second half utilizes journalism, ethnography, films, social media, and author interviews to consider contemporary China, atheism, popular movements, state control of religion, cosmology, gods, saints, divination, gender, and ritual.

This course introduces the Hebrew Bible (Christian "Old Testament"), a complex anthology written by many people over nearly a thousand years. In this class, we will ask questions about the Hebrew Bible's historical context and ancient meaning, as well as its literary profile and early reception. Who wrote the Bible? When and how was it written? What sources did its authors draw on to write these stories? And to what circumstances were they responding? Students will develop the skills to critically analyze written sources, and to understand, contextualize, and critique the assumptions inherent in modern treatments of the Bible.

Western stereotypes often equate Islam with violence. The goal of this course is to dismantle stereotypes and to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the Islamic ethics of war and peace, in theory and in practice. How have Muslim thinkers, past and present, debated the laws of war? What has warfare meant for ordinary people? What does "jihad" mean? Can a war be just? What have been the results of the so-called "war on terror"? We explore these questions and others through primary sources in translation (including poetry and novels), modern scholarship, and films. An optional trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art is included.

Who was Jesus of Nazareth and how do we know about him? Why did certain interpretations of his message win out over others? How did the small, illicit Christian movement grow to attract numerous followers, reshaping the social, political, sexual, and religious landscape of the Roman Empire and cultures worldwide? To explore these questions, we will study the earliest gospels, letters, Jewish and Roman historical sources, prison writings, martyr narratives, and papyrus documents, as well as scholarly interpretations of these texts. No matter your religious background, you will gain valuable insights and be able to contribute to the discussion.

This course merges research in American religious history with creating an archive using digital and deep mapping practices. It explores the politics of mapping, geography and race before delving into a place-based exploration of American religious communities during the late 19th century. The course asks, how do religious communities develop and construct space, foster and develop from movement? How are these processes influenced by the constructions of power reflected in defining religion, race and geography?

The most penetrating critiques of Christianity have the power to unsettle our sense of self and disrupt our most natural ways of being - for Christians and non-Christians alike. For these critiques don't focus on attacking religious beliefs alone; rather, they target many of the deepest values, attitudes, and tendencies at the core of Christianity and Christian-molded cultures, and perhaps even at the core of our humanity. This course explores some of the key 19th and 20th century critiques of Christianity. It will involve opening ourselves up to the self-reckoning demanded by the likes of Kierkegaard, Emerson, Nietzsche, Baldwin, and Butler.

Most people have heard of Zen Buddhism, but what is it? Who gets to define it? This class looks at Zen in China, Korea, Germany, Japan, Vietnam, and the United States through a range of methods from reading classic texts to studying ethnographic accounts. By considering Zen in different times and places, we explore how a religion is shaped by its political and cultural environs. We examine tensions between romanticized ideals and practices on the ground and grapple with how to study complicated and sometimes troubling traditions. Topics include myths, meditation, mindfulness, monastic life, gender, war, and death.

In this course we will focus on the rich body of Jewish norms and practices, the literature that discusses and prescribes them, and the diverse ways in which Jews have lived them out throughout history. We will highlight the embodied, material, mundane, and habitual aspects of Jewish practice and the ways in which they are enforced. We will also explore the common ground that Jewish norms (halakha) have with Islamic norms (sharia). Our focus on Jewish religiosity will bring us to examine the relationship between practice and belief as well as the very concept of "religion."

This class will concentrate on some of the earliest and most extensive religious and historical texts authored by Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, specifically by the Maya, Mexica (Aztec), Hopi, and Diné (Navajo). This set will allow for a critical and comparative study of Native rhetoric, mythic motifs, notions of space and time, morals, and engagements with non-Native peoples and Christianity.

This course introduces students to the Tantric traditions of premodern India through a close study of the idealized religious careers of Tantric initiates. It uses primary sources (in translation) to reconstruct the milestones, practices, and experiences that defined what it meant to be a member of a Hindu or Buddhist Tantric community. We will consider especially the broader religious context, Tantric initiation, and post-initiatory rituals involving yogic exercises, sexual practices, and violent sorcery. Students will also gain an understanding of the relationship between Hindu and Buddhist forms of Tantric scripture and practice.

An introduction to some of the major works of Jewish thought and literature that survive from antiquity until the early modern era. We'll closely read a wide array of primary texts in translation, from the Hebrew Bible to Spinoza, discuss the worlds in which the people who produced them lived, and consider some of the ways in which they add up to an ongoing tradition across time and space - and some of the ways in which they don't. Students with reading knowledge of Hebrew and Aramaic are warmly encouraged to use them, but this is optional; no prior knowledge of Judaism is required.

The choice of a kind of life involves both fundamental commitments and day-to-day decisions. This course is interested in zooming out and zooming in: how should we adopt commitments, and how do we realize them in ordinary life? What is the purpose of life, and how can you fulfill it? Should you live by an overall narrative, or is your life just the sum of what you actually do? Are commitments chosen or given to you? Are the decisions we think of as high stakes important at all? When should you relinquish what you thought were your deepest commitments? What should you do when commitments clash?

The course objective is to equip future leaders to successfully identify and navigate ethical dilemmas in their careers. The course integrates ethical theory and practice with practical tools for values-based leadership and ethics in professional life (e.g., public policy, for-profit and non-profit, business, tech, and other contexts). It also considers the role of religion as a potential resource for ethical formation and decision-making frameworks. The class explores contemporary case studies and includes guest CEOs and thought leaders from different professional spheres and backgrounds.

In this course, we critically examine some of the core issues in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language and ethics that are elaborated by Buddhist philosophers. The course analyzes core texts of Buddhist philosophy supported by secondary literature. Once we gain an understanding of the views expounded by Buddhist philosophers, we will subject their doctrines to rational scrutiny. The course will also incorporate guided meditations from a range of different Buddhist practices and give you the choice of experimenting and reflecting on your experience as part of your assessment.

This class looks at the histories, religion, and material culture of Caribbean Jews from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, and traces their impact on the US Jewish life. Prior to 1825, the largest, wealthiest, and best educated Jewish American communities were in the Caribbean. In the early nineteenth century many Caribbean Jews traveled North and settled in the United States, but the region would once again play a key role between WWI and WWII as a sanctuary for Holocaust refugees. Communities we will cover include Recife, Curaçao, Jamaica, Suriname, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba.

This course examines changes in Americans' understanding of and response to death from the Puritans through the post-modern era, with special attention to how ethnicity impacts traditions and stories surrounding death. We will examine both elegies and gothic literature about the "undead," particularly the grim reaper, skeletons, ghosts, vampires, and zombies. We will study the material culture related to death, including cemeteries and places where the dead are prepared for burial or cremation. The timid should beware, as we will take a field trip to the Princeton cemetery to do iconographic and seriation studies.