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Black Women and Spiritual Narrative (LA)
Subject associations
AAS 318 / REL 318 / GSS 375

This course will analyze the narrative accounts of African American women since the nineteenth century. Working from the hypothesis that religious metaphor and symbolism have figured prominently in Black women's writing (& writing about Black women) across literary genres, we will explore the various ways Black women have used their narratives not only to disclose the intimacies of their religious faith, but also to understand and to critique their social context. We will discuss the themes, institutions, and structures that have traditionally shaped Black women's experiences, as well as the theologies Black women have developed in response.

Additional description

Area of Study Requirement: Religion in America

Instructors
Wallace D. Best
Black Women and Spiritual Narrative (LA)
Subject associations
AAS 318 / REL 318 / GSS 375

This course will analyze the narrative accounts of African American women since the nineteenth century. Working from the hypothesis that religious metaphor and symbolism have figured prominently in black women's writing (& writing about black women) across literary genres, we will explore the various ways black women have used their narratives not only to disclose the intimacies of their religious faith, but also to understand and to critique their social context. We will discuss the themes, institutions, and structures that have traditionally shaped black women's experiences, as well as the theologies black women have developed in response.

Instructors
Wallace D. Best
Poetry and Transcendence in some Western Christian Mystical Theologies (EM)
Subject associations
REL 320

The "mystical" as understood in the Western Christian traditions refers to experience of the divine pressing on the limits of language, and poetry is often its natural expression. This course examines some poetic expressions of the mystical from the Hebrew Song of Songs through Dante, John of the Cross, George Herbert, to Hopkins, and TS Eliot.

Additional description

Department Area Requirement: Critical Thought

Instructors
Denys A. Turner
Sympathy for the Devil: Satan in American Religious Thought from Contact to Q (EM)
Subject associations
REL 320

Every story needs a villain. This seminar explores the figure of Satan and the concept of the demonic in American theology, history, and art over five centuries. Satan has always been about much more than theological notions of sin and transgression, serving as a tool for invoking perceived threats and for marginalizing political, racial, and cultural others. Some, on the other hand, have embraced the character of Satan to liberatory or comedic effect. Looking at sources both scholarly and artistic, we will attempt to assess the stakes of "demonic" rhetoric and take the measure of the most despised major player in American religious history.

Additional description

Area of Study Requirement: Religion in America

Instructors
Seth A. Perry
Black Rage and Black Power (HA)
Subject associations
AAS 321 / REL 321

This course examines the various pieties of the Black Power Era. We chart the explicit and implicit utopian visions of the politics of the period that, at once, criticized established Black religious institutions and articulated alternative ways of imagining salvation. We also explore the attempt by Black theologians to translate the prophetic Black church tradition into the idiom of Black power. We aim to keep in view the significance of the Black Power era for understanding the changing role and place of Black religion in Black public life.

Instructors
Eddie S. Glaude
Buddhism in Japan (HA)
Subject associations
REL 322 / EAS 322

This course will examine representative aspects of Buddhist thought and practice in Japan from the sixth century to the present. We will focus on the major Buddhist traditions--including Lotus, Pure Land, esoteric Buddhism, and Zen--as well as Buddhism and the literary arts, modern challenges to traditional Buddhism, and contemporary Buddhist movements. Readings will include scriptures, sermons, tales, and philosophical essays, as well as selected secondary sources. Some background in either Japan or Buddhism is strongly recommended.

Instructors
Jacqueline I. Stone
Japanese Mythology (CD or HA)
Subject associations
REL 323 / EAS 358

Myths are powerful. The stories we will read were first recorded around 1,300 years ago and continue to be told in the present day. We will ask why people -- both in Japan and humans more generally -- tell these types of tales. To answer this question, we will explore comparative approaches that search for universal patterns, myths as "ideology in narrative form" used as tools of legitimization, and appropriation of myths for new purposes in original contexts including feminist critiques.

Additional description

Department Area Requirement: Religions of Asia

Instructors
Bryan D. Lowe
Japanese Mythology (CD or HA)
Subject associations
REL 323 / EAS 358

Myths are powerful. The stories we will read were first recorded around 1,300 years ago and continue to be told in the present day. We will ask why people -- both in Japan and humans more generally -- tell these types of tales. To answer this question, we will explore comparative approaches that search for universal patterns, myths as "ideology in narrative form" used as tools of legitimization, and appropriation of myths for new purposes in original contexts including feminist critiques.

Additional description

Area of Study Requirement: Religions of Asia

Satisfies Critical Approaches (CA) Requirement for Majors

Instructors
Bryan D. Lowe
Mind and Meditation (EC)
Subject associations
REL 324

This course examines the philosophy, history, and methods of Buddhist meditation. Primary readings will be Buddhist works on the nature of the mind and the role of meditation on the path to liberation (nirvana). We will ask how traditional Buddhist views have been reshaped by modern teachers, and we will interrogate the significance of current research on meditation in the fields of neuroscience, psychology and the philosophy of mind. In addition to other coursework, students will be practicing meditation and keeping a log and journal. Some coursework in Philosophy or Religion is expected.

Instructors
Christopher Kelley
Mind and Meditation (EC)
Subject associations
REL 324

This course examines the philosophy, history, and methods of Buddhist meditation. Primary readings will be Buddhist works on the nature of the mind and the role of meditation on the path to liberation (nirvana). We will ask how traditional Buddhist views have been reshaped by modern teachers, and we will interrogate the significance of current research on meditation in the fields of neuroscience, psychology and the philosophy of mind. In addition to other coursework, students will be practicing meditation and keeping a log and journal.

Additional description

Area of Study Requirement : Religions of Asia

Instructors
Jonathan C. Gold
Mind and Meditation (EC)
Subject associations
REL 324

This course examines the philosophy, history, and methods of Buddhist meditation. Primary readings will be Buddhist works on the nature of the mind and the role of meditation on the path to liberation (nirvana). We will ask how traditional Buddhist views have been reshaped by modern teachers, and we will interrogate the significance of current research on meditation in the fields of neuroscience, psychology and the philosophy of mind. In addition to other coursework, students will be practicing meditation and keeping a log and journal.

Instructors
Jonathan C. Gold
Buddhist Literature: Scripture in Stone (HA)
Subject associations
REL 326

This course in Buddhist literature is centered around Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple in the world, from ninth century central Java, Indonesia. Borobudur's thousands of relief panels depict some of the most conceptually rich and historically important pieces of classical Buddhist literature. We will study this monumentalized literary corpus, and interrogate the choices made in representing Buddhist stories, principles and practices in different forms. And, we will place Borobudur in context, to develop broader understandings of the textual and physical worlds of premodern Buddhism across Asia.

Additional description

Area of Study Requirement: Religions of Asia

Instructors
Jonathan C. Gold
Guy T. St. Amant
Gender Trouble: Transing and Transpassing in Muslim Societies (SA)
Subject associations
REL 327 / GSS 298

This seminar explores the ways in which complex gendered identities have been articulated, challenged, and lived in Muslim societies, past and present. Topics include: gender and "gender trouble" in Classical Islamic thought; intersexed and trans identities; same-sex relationships; colonial and post-colonial gendered discourses; being Muslim and LGBTQ; gendered Western responses to Muslim refugees and migrants. We will address these topics through close reading of primary texts in translation, critical readings of modern scholarship, as well as in explorations of literature, art and media from the Muslim world.

Instructors
Shaun E. Marmon
Women and Gender in Islamic Societies (SA)
Subject associations
REL 328 / GSS 328

What were/are the representations of gender and sexuality in Muslim societies in the past and present? Is there one Islam or Islams? What are the domestic, ritual, economic, and political roles that Muslim women have played/play? What about the body, sex and "gender trouble"? What can we learn about the daily lives of Muslim women in past/present? How have modern Muslim women challenged gender roles and male religious authority? Material include: Qur'an, legal texts, medieval and modern literature; newspapers; letters; films; novels; internet sites. Guest speakers. No prior background in Islam or Gender Studies required.

Instructors
Shaun E. Marmon
Women and Gender in Islamic Societies (SA)
Subject associations
REL 328 / GSS 328

What were/are the representations of gender and sexuality in Muslim societies in the past and present? Is there one Islam or Islams? What are the domestic, ritual, economic, and political roles that Muslim women have played/play? What about the body, sex and "gender trouble"? What can we learn about the daily lives of Muslim women in past/present? How have modern Muslim women challenged gender roles and male religious authority? Material include: Qur'an, legal texts, medieval and modern literature; newspapers; letters; films; novels; internet sites. Guest speakers. No prior background in Islam or Gender Studies required.

Instructors
Shaun E. Marmon
Women and Gender in Islamic Societies (SA)
Subject associations
REL 328 / GSS 328

Inter-disciplinary seminar makes use of texts in translation including: Qur'an and hadith, legal treatises, documents, letters, popular literature, autobiography, novels and subtitled films. These texts are supplemented by scholarly literature from religious studies, anthropology, history, gender studies, and sociology. Topics include: women in the Qur'an and hadith, sexuality and the body, woman and law, gendered space, marriage and the family, nationalism and feminism, gender and post-colonial societies, women's voices, women and Islamic revivalism. No prior background in gender studies or Islamic studies required.

Instructors
Shaun E. Marmon
Buddhism and Politics (EM)
Subject associations
REL 329 / SAS 329

A study of Buddhist traditions of social and political thought, traditional and modern. We will ask how Buddhist thinkers and political actors have imagined, shaped, and critiqued their societies, and how Buddhists have challenged, and been challenged by, modern and contemporary political conversations. What is the role of a Buddhist ruler? Is the monastic community best understood as a model society, a social force, or an escape from politics? When is Buddhism a motivation for war, and when for denouncing violence? When have Buddhist traditions supported social divisions, and when have they sought to transcend them?

Instructors
Jonathan C. Gold
Through Muslim Eyes: Lived Islam in Pre-Modern Times (HA)
Subject associations
REL 332 / NES 313

How do we find a window into the lives of ordinary Medieval Muslims? How did the ethics, language and rituals of Islam inform their daily lives? What can we learn about emotions, struggles, material culture, relationships, and lived religion? Course materials include translated letters, petitions, contracts, court cases, tombstone inscriptions, graffiti, and excerpts from chronicles and legal texts. We will also make use of artefacts, images, archaeological evidence and coins. Two class sessions will be held in Rare Books and Special Collections. The class will make a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Additional description

Area of Study Requirement: Islam

Instructors
Shaun E. Marmon
Interpreting the Qur'an: Text, Context, and Materiality (EC)
Subject associations
REL 333 / NES 333

This course will involve a close reading of the Qur'anic text and its interpretive traditions. The course will also go beyond approaching scripture as a bounded, collected, literary text, by examining the ritual, experiential and material encounters between the Qur'an and Muslim communities. How does the Qur'an operate within societies? What are its multiple functions? How are the controversial verses often associated with the Qur'an interpreted? Through a critical engagement with categories like "scripture," and "interpretation" students will be introduced to larger debates on hermeneutics and material culture within the study of religion.

Instructors
Tehseen Thaver
Interpreting the Qur'an: Text, Context, and Materiality (EC)
Subject associations
REL 333 / NES 333

This course will involve a close reading of the Qur'anic text and its interpretive traditions. The course will also go beyond approaching scripture as a bounded, collected, literary text, by examining the ritual, experiential and material encounters between the Qur'an and Muslim communities. How does the Qur'an operate within societies? What are its multiple functions? How are the controversial verses often associated with the Qur'an interpreted? Through a critical engagement with categories like "scripture," and "interpretation" students will be introduced to larger debates on hermeneutics and material culture within the study of religion.

Additional description

Department Area Requirement: Islam

Satisfies Critical Approaches (CA) requirement for majors

Instructors
Tehseen Thaver