Department of Religious Studies

Introduction

The Department of Religious Studies is dedicated to the study of religions as historical and cultural phenomena. It examines the history, texts, objects, beliefs, practices, and rituals of a variety of religious traditions across the globe. Inherently interdisciplinary in its approach, religious studies explores religions in light of related fields in the humanities and social sciences such as anthropology, archaeology, classics, geography, history, philosophy, political science, and sociology.

Advising

The director of undergraduate studies advises majors and minors in religious studies. Please contact the Department of Religious Studies for updated contact information.

The director of Jewish studies advises majors and minors in Jewish studies. Please contact the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies for updated contact information.

The director of Christianity and culture advises minors in the study of Christianity and culture. Please contact the Department of Religious Studies for updated contact information.

The director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations advises minors in Islamic and Middle Eastern studies. Please consult the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations for updated contact information.

Graduate School and Career Opportunities

Those wishing to proceed to graduate work in religious studies can consult the director of undergraduate studies. We encourage students to pursue the study of two or more languages used by specific religious communities, as well as the modern languages of scholarship. In addition to the language courses offered by this department, UNC–Chapel Hill offers courses in German, French, Spanish, Greek, Modern Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi-Urdu, Latin, Arabic, Sanskrit, Persian, Bengali, and Tamil.

Students majoring in religious studies often choose to pursue an M.A. or Ph.D. in religious studies or other related fields in the humanities and social sciences. Some of the graduates of the program go on to professional schools in law, medicine, divinity, or journalism. Each year the department awards the Bernard Boyd Fellowship to a graduating religious studies major who is planning to pursue graduate study in religion.

Professors

Barbara Ambros, Yaakov Ariel, Bart D. Ehrman, Juliane Hammer, Jodi Magness, Evyatar Marienberg, Todd Ramón Ochoa, Zlatko Pleše.

Associate Professors

Andrea Cooper, Brandon Bayne, Jessica Boon, Joseph Lam, David Lambert, Lauren Leve, Hugo Méndez, Randall Styers, Brendan Thornton, Waleed Ziad.

Assistant Professors

Youssef Carter, Eden Consenstein, Abelardo de la Cruz.

Adjunct Professors

Cemil Aydin, Jason Bivins (NCSU), Philip F. Gura, Charles Kurzman, Bruce B. Lawrence (Duke University), Fred Naiden, Albert Rabil Jr., James B. Rives, Omid Safi (Duke University).

Adjunct Associate Professors

Anna Bigelow (Stanford University), Levi McLaughlin (NCSU), Christian Lundberg, Barry Saunders, Margaret J. Wiener, Molly Worthen.

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Maria Doerfler (Yale University).

Professors Emeriti

Carl W. Ernst, David J. Halperin, Peter I. Kaufman, Laurie Maffly-Kipp, Jack Sasson, John Van Seters.

Subjects in this department include: Religious Studies (RELI) and Jewish Studies (JWST)

The department offers a variety of courses ranging from large lecture to advanced seminars, as well as independent studies, an honors thesis program, and a capstone course for all majors (RELI 697). Introductory courses, which are numbered below 200, orient students to the field of religious studies or to major approaches, topics, or issues within that broader field. Intermediate courses are numbered between 200 and 399, and they provide more in-depth analysis. Advanced courses, which are numbered 400 and above, often build on knowledge or skills derived from lower-level courses, and they provide opportunities for research-intensive study in particular areas of concentration in the study of religion.

RELI–Religious Studies

Undergraduate-level Courses

IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 60.  First-Year Seminar: Religion and Racism.  3 Credits.  

How does religion become a source of ethnic or racial prejudice among religious practitioners? When does prejudice against religious persons constitute a form of racism? This class explores answers to these questions by examining the connections between religion and racism in modern societies like the United States and South Africa.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, CI, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 61.  First-Year Seminar: Religion, Magic, and Science.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the ways in which religion, magic, and science are defined in the modern world and the different forms in which supernaturalism circulates within contemporary culture.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 62.  First-Year Seminar: A History of Heresy: Christian Dissent from the Gnostics to the Pentecostals.  3 Credits.  

Christian orthodox beliefs or practices often get formulated expressly to marginalize a viewpoint or community considered too radical. This course examines a variety of Western Christian dissenters and the authorities who opposed them: Gnostics; medieval, Spanish, and Latin American inquisitions; Protestant Anabaptists; witches; Galileo; Mormons; and Pentecostals.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 63.  First-Year Seminar: The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  3 Credits.  

In this seminar students learn about the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient manuscripts dating to the time of Jesus from caves around the site of Qumran by the Dead Sea. They include early copies of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and sectarian works belonging to the Jewish community that lived in Qumran.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 64.  First-Year Seminar: Reintroducing Islam.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the Islamic religious tradition, focusing on major themes of Islamic religious thought, bringing out both traditional spirituality and the critical issues confronting Muslims today.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-GLOBAL or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 65.  First-Year Seminar: Myth, Philosophy, and Science in the Ancient World.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the conflicting ways in which ancient myth, science, and philosophy explained creation of the universe, origins of mankind, nature of dreams, and foundations of culture.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 66.  First-Year Seminar: Buddhism in America: From the Buddha to the Beastie Boys.  3 Credits.  

Introduces students to Buddhism and traces its history in the United States, highlighting the period since 1965. It focuses on immigrants, converts, and the cultural influence of Buddhism in America.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 67.  First-Year Seminar: Nature/Culture/Self-Identity: Religion in the Construction of Social Life.  3 Credits.  

This course explores how different religious traditions conceive of human nature and cultural personhood, and the ways that these understandings are reflected in diverse forms of personal identity and public life.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 68.  FYS: Charisma in Religion, Science, and Poetry Studies in the Entrepreneurial Imagination.  3 Credits.  

A comparative examination of prophet, scientist, and poet as critics and creators of the entrepreneurial outlook and sensibility in individuals and organizations with special attention to innovator's dilemmas. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 69.  First-Year Seminar: Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Judaism.  3 Credits.  

Taking a global perspective, the course compares the manners in which Jewish communities in America, Israel, Europe, Asia, and Africa have accommodated themselves to the changing norms in gender and sexuality in the last generation.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 70.  First-Year Seminar: Jesus in Scholarship and Film.  3 Credits.  

This seminar explores the ways the historical Jesus has been portrayed in the writings of modern scholars and films of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 71.  First-Year Seminar: The Spirit of Capitalism.  3 Credits.  

Examines scholarly work on the overlap of religion and capitalism.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 72.  First-Year Seminar: Apocalypse Now? Messianic Movements in America.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the messianic idea in America as well as the messianic movements that have been active in the nation's history and their interaction with American society and culture.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 73.  First-Year Seminar: From Dragons to Pokemon: Animals in Japanese Myth, Folklore, and Religion.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the cultural construction of animals in Japanese myth, folklore, and religion. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 74.  First-Year Seminar: Person, Time, and Religious Conduct.  3 Credits.  

Within the vast field of activity called "religion," this course examines how people and societies give meaning to the relation between human organisms and the universe in time and space. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 75.  First-Year Seminar: Sacrifice and Surrender.  3 Credits.  

This course will consider the questions of debt, loss, and surrender as we explore the problem of sacrifice. Readings will address the associated problems of violence, transgression, and animality.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 76.  First-Year Seminar: Money and Morality: Divining Value in Social Life.  3 Credits.  

This seminar explores the many ways that different religions and cultures have imagined spiritual wealth, secular riches, and the appropriate modes of interaction between them in different places and times.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 77.  First-Year Seminar: Martyrs and Warriors: Religion and the Problem of Violence.  3 Credits.  

This seminar asks why some people choose to take life (their own or another's) for religious purposes and how texts, practices, and communities shape these motives. Focuses on martyrological traditions in Western religions, but also tracks idioms of war, sacrifice, and ritualized suffering in other religious contexts and secular discourses.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-GLOBAL or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 78.  First-Year Seminar: Reading the Bible: Now and Then.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. We will look at the biblical text as modern interpreters and through the eyes of the Bible's earliest Jewish and Christian interpreters with special attention to changing assumptions about how to read the Bible and the nature of Scripture itself.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-AESTH or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 79.  First-Year Seminar: Human Animals in Religion and Ethics.  3 Credits.  

This course investigates the figure of the human animal in religion and philosophy. What kind of animal is the human, and what separates humans from animals? We will consider how attending to distinctions between humans and animals can highlight varying ideological and religious viewpoints.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 80.  First-Year Seminar: Religion and Writing in the Ancient World.  3 Credits.  

This seminar considers the role of writing as a technology in the shaping of ancient religious traditions, from the inventions of writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt to the advent of Islam. Topics include the early alphabet, magical/mystical uses of writing, religion and literacy, and the development of "Scripture" (e.g., Bible, Qur'an).

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 85.  First-Year Seminar: Sex, Marriage, and Family in Religion.  3 Credits.  

This course approaches the central role of discourses about sexual norms, marriage, and family in select religious traditions. It asks how religious traditions have defined and negotiated normative models for marriage and family in their connection to larger theological frameworks and religious source texts.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 87.  First-Year Seminar: Confessions.  3 Credits.  

This course will examine autobiographies and memoirs from at least two religious traditions and different historical eras, in which individuals interpret their changing religious identity through first-person narrative and/or artistic expression. We will consider how individuals negotiate and represent themselves to different communities according to need, time, and circumstance.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-AESTH or FC-KNOWING.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 88.  First-Year Seminar: Religion and Society in Historical Novels.  3 Credits.  

In this seminar we will read several books. Most of them are bestsellers and can be described as "historical novels." Having these books as a starting point, we will explore religion and society in Europe and the Middle East in the medieval and early modern period.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 89.  First-Year Seminar: Special Topics.  3 Credits.  

Special topics course. Content will vary each semester. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 101.  Introduction to Religious Studies.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the academic study of religion that considers approaches to the interpretation of religion and includes study of several religious traditions.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 102.  World Religions.  3 Credits.  

This course examines forms of religious expression as embodied in several important religious traditions. It investigates religious experience; myth and ritual; teachings and scripture; historical, social, and artistic aspects of religion; and the nature and function of religion in society, with a special focus on ethics and values.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 103.  Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Literature.  3 Credits.  

This course introduces students to the various books of the Hebrew Bible and to the history and culture of ancient Israel, focusing on the formation of national identity, ancient conceptualizations of divinity, ritual practice, and modes of social regulation, all of which are set against the background of the ancient Near East. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 103.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 104.  Introduction to the New Testament.  3 Credits.  

This course studies the New Testament from both a literary and a historical perspective, focusing on its origins in the land of Israel and moving into the eastern Mediterranean. In it students learn to wrestle with the nature of historical evidence, develop their skills for making argumentation, and learn how to analyze the philosophical and ethical claims of the ancient Christian texts, and participate in class debates on contemporary ethical issues. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 105.  Religions of the Greco-Roman World.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to religions and the religious life of the ancient world (1000 BCE-300 CE) in various cultural settings: Greek cities, cosmopolitan Hellenistic kingdoms in Egypt and Syria, and the Roman Empire.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 106.  Judaism in the Time of Jesus.  3 Credits.  

This course surveys Jewish history and religion during the Second Temple and Rabbinic periods, from the destruction of the First Jewish Temple (Solomon's Temple) in 586 BCE to the Muslim conquest of Palestine (640 CE).

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 106.  
RELI 107.  Introduction to Modern Judaism.  3 Credits.  

The course offers a comprehensive understanding of the development of Judaism from the late Middle Ages to contemporary times.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 107.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 108.  Classic Jewish Texts: From Bible and Dead Sea Scrolls to Kabbalah and Hassidism.  3 Credits.  

This course will explore Jewish literary works that are considered "fundamental," "classic," "traditional" (often, all of the above), including the Hebrew Bible, the Mishnah, the Babylonian Talmud, midrashic collections, works by Maimonides, major codes of Jewish law, major kabbalistic, philosophic, poetic, and ethical works, hassidic compositions, and more.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 109.  History and Culture of Ancient Israel.  3 Credits.  

An examination extending from Hebrew origins to the Babylonian exile and including political history as well as social and religious institutions. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 110.  The Archaeology of Palestine in the New Testament Period.  3 Credits.  

This course surveys the archaeology of Palestine (modern Israel and Jordan) from the Persian period (ca. 586 BCE) to the Muslim conquest (640 CE).

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: CLAR 110, JWST 110.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 114.  Early Christian Worship, Ritual, and Bodies.  3 Credits.  

What did the earliest Christian churches look like? How did Christians worship, and what behaviors and gestures set them apart from other ancient communities? This course probes these questions, illustrating how different Christian groups developed different ways of regulating the body, food, space, and gender, and how this diversity still impacts contemporary global Christian cultures. Topics include the evolution of baptism, exorcism, marriage, speaking in tongues, and burial rites. Previously offered as RELI 214.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 117.  Culture of the Ancient Near East.  3 Credits.  

An overview of the history and culture of the ancient Near East, from the birth of writing through the first millennium BCE, covering the regions of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia, and Syria-Palestine.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 121.  Introduction to Religion and Culture.  3 Credits.  

An introductory course that explores relations between religion and culture through the examination of social theory and the analysis of case studies. The case studies focus on such issues as visual culture, ritual, media, gender, and politics. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 122.  Introduction to Philosophical Approaches to Religion.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to philosophical approaches to the study of religion, exploring such topics as religious language and experience, the problem of evil, the relation between religious belief and practice, and issues of religious diversity. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 123.  Introduction to Jewish Studies.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the broad scope of Jewish history, culture, and identity, from biblical times to the 21st century and from the Middle East to the New World.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 100.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 125.  Heaven and Hell.  3 Credits.  

This course will explore cultural development and significance of religious notions of an afterlife. Are they coherent? What alternative notions of life after death can we imagine?

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 126.  Reason, Faith, and God: Philosophy of Western Religion.  3 Credits.  

A philosophical inquiry into the problems of religious experience and belief, as expressed in philosophic, religious, and literary documents from traditional and contemporary sources. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: PHIL 134.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 127.  The Claims of Science and Religion.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the sometimes competing, sometimes compatible claims of science and religion, including conflicting views about creation, miracles, rituals, revelation, and human nature. Global and historical case studies will enable students to consider claims to authority (religious, philosophical, medical, and scientific), types of proof, and ethical implications.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 130.  Religion and Popular Culture.  3 Credits.  

Examines representations of religion in mass media, as well as the interplay of religious ideas and popular cultures.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 132.  Religion and Global Justice.  3 Credits.  

In this course, students review the intersections of religious thought and social justice around the globe. We will review how liberation theologies emerge, for example, as pathways for addressing various social issues related to food insecurity, reproductive health, migration and citizenship, race, poverty, and religious freedom. Students will explore various debates related to ethics and social justice in relation to the study of religion in multiple geographic contexts.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 134.  Introduction to Religious Ethics.  3 Credits.  

A study of the nature, methods, and aims of ethics as seen in exemplary persons and actions with emphasis on religious and social context and contemporary problems. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 135.  Religion, Ethics, and Technology.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the ethical quandaries that emerge as new technologies are mobilized in religious cultures. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 138.  Religious Freedom.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the development of religious liberty and freedom of conscience in Western culture by examining both the historical emergence of these concepts and important contemporary controversies.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 140.  Religion in America.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the history, themes, and issues in American religion from the precolonial period to the present. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 141.  African American Religions.  3 Credits.  

Survey of the historical development of various African American religious traditions, with emphasis on folk spirituality, gender issues, black nationalism, and the role of the church in the black community. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 142.  Catholicism in America.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to Roman Catholicism in the United States.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 143.  Judaism in Our Time.  3 Credits.  

An examination of Judaism in its two major centers, demonstrating how different social and cultural environments shape very different interpretations and practices of the Jewish tradition.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 143.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 151.  Religion in Latin America.  3 Credits.  

This course surveys the history of Latin American religious traditions from precontact to the present. It explores the contributions of African, indigenous, and European traditions as well as the extraordinary combinations that resulted from their interaction.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 161.  Introduction to the History of Christian Traditions.  3 Credits.  

Analysis of continuities and innovations in the history of Christian traditions in the West and globally. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 162.  Catholicism Today: An Introduction to the Contemporary Catholic Church.  3 Credits.  

This course provides students with a first glimpse and insight into the Catholic tradition, past, present, and future: its beliefs, structure, aims, successes, and failures.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 163.  Critical Issues in Western Religious Thought.  3 Credits.  

A consideration of major questions concerning religion in modern culture.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-VALUES.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 164.  Heresy and Inquisition: Religion, Ethics, Marginalization.  3 Credits.  

During the Middle Ages and the early modern era, various inquisitions used legal inquiry and torture to determine the boundaries of heresy. This course surveys the influence of these regimes on the doctrine, practices, and morality of heretics, mystics, witches, Jews, and Muslims, in the interest of delimiting "orthodox" Catholicism.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 165.  Mysticism.  3 Credits.  

Comparative study of mysticism in several religious traditions, Eastern and Western. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 166.  Ideals, Cultures, and Rituals of the University.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. A religious studies approach to the rituals, cultures, and disciplines of the university, assessing the ways in which explanatory ideals are embedded, changed, and promoted. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 167.  Global Christianity.  3 Credits.  

Christianity began in Asia and Africa, followed by expansion into Europe and eventually the Americas. Now, the Global South again has the highest population of Christians. This course examines the geographical expansion of Christianity in its early history, then turns to modern and current processes of enculturation and globalization as well as inter-religious dynamics.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 180.  Introduction to Islamic Civilization.  3 Credits.  

A broad, comprehensive, and interdisciplinary introduction to the traditional civilization of the Muslim world. Students may not receive credit for both RELI 180/ASIA 180 and ASIA 138/HIST 138.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 180.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 181.  Modern Muslim Societies.  3 Credits.  

This course surveys important developments in modern Muslim societies since the 16th century and up to the present. Topics covered include Muslim experiences with colonialism and nationalism, modernist reform movements, fundamentalism, women's activism and changes in Qur'an interpretation, Islamic law, and religious practice. Students may not receive credit for both RELI 181/ASIA 181 and ASIA 139/HIST 139.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 181.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 183.  Asian Religions.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to major religions of South Asia and East Asia, such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 183.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 184.  East Asian Religions.  3 Credits.  

This course surveys East Asian religions and their relationship with the natural world. It provides an East Asian religious perspective on environmental thought and an environmental perspective on East Asian religions. We will explore parallels and divergences, and how each can enrich and critique the other.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 185.  Women/Gender/Islam.  3 Credits.  

A survey of gender roles in Muslim societies from the advent of Islam to the present. It explores how Muslims have interpreted the Qur'an to determine discourses on gender and sexuality and emphasizes the role of religious authority as well as historical/geographical contexts for Muslim women's lives. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 196.  Independent Study.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. Subject matter will vary with instructor but will always be focused on a particular problem or issue.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 201.  Ancient Biblical Interpretation.  3 Credits.  

The course looks at the origins of biblical interpretation, how the Hebrew Bible was interpreted around the turn of the Common Era, the key formative period for early Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. We consider the nature of interpretation as an endeavor, as well as how the Bible came to be viewed as Scripture. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 205.  Sacrifice in the Ancient World.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the religious phenomenon of sacrifice with a focus on examples from the ancient Mediterranean world (including Greece, ancient Israel, and the Near East). Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 206.  Prophecy and Divination in Ancient Israel and Judah.  3 Credits.  

An examination of prophecy and divination in the Israelite-Jewish traditions and in their environments, including an analysis of the major biblical prophets. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 206.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 207.  Jesus in the Early Christian Gospels.  3 Credits.  

An analysis of the variety of traditions used in the first two centuries to portray Jesus, focusing on the reasons for this variety and the historical and literary problems it presents.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 208.  The Birth of Christianity.  3 Credits.  

An analysis of the origin of the Christian church and its early expansion, with particular emphasis on the problems evident in the shift from a Jewish to a Gentile framework. Paul's role in defining and resolving the issues is considered in detail and evaluated in the light of subsequent events.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 209.  Varieties of Early Christianity.  3 Credits.  

A study of various forms of Christianity in the second and third centuries (e.g., Gnosticism, Marcionism, Montanism), focusing on their polemical relationship to orthodox Christianity. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 211.  Classical Hebrew I: A Linguistic Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the culture and history of ancient Israel through an exploration of the language of the Hebrew Bible. Students will learn the essentials for basic engagement with biblical Hebrew, then consider what this linguistic evidence reveals about the historical and cultural background of the Hebrew Bible.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 211.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 212.  Classical Hebrew II: A Linguistic Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the linguistic background of the Hebrew Bible, giving special attention to the literary aspect of biblical interpretation. Specific topics include the forms of the Hebrew verb, prose and poetic genres in the Hebrew Bible, wordplay and repetition, narration and dialogue.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, RELI 211.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 212.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 215.  Eastern Christian Cultures: Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe.  3 Credits.  

Although Christianity is characteristically identified with "the West", the Middle East, Asia, and Africa have been home to native Christian populations for 2,000 years. This course surveys the diversity of these 300 million "Eastern" and/or "Orthodox" Christians, often marginalized in surveys of global Christianity. It highlights how these communities articulate their identities around particular linguistic, ritual, and cultural markers, and the struggle they face preserving these identities in the West following refugee and migrant experiences.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 217.  Gnosticism.  3 Credits.  

A comprehensive survey of ancient Christian Gnosticism, one of the earliest and most long-lived branches of early Christianity, with principal readings drawn from the famous "Nag Hammadi Library." Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 218.  Christianity and Islam in the Middle Ages.  3 Credits.  

This course draws on a variety of cultural documents to explore both the conflict and cross fertilization between the Christian and Islamic cultures of the Middle Ages. Readings and discussions in English. Previously offered as GERM 218.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GSLL 218.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 220.  Religion and Medicine.  3 Credits.  

This course will deal with global interactions of religion, health care, medical ethics, disability, and the body in the past and present. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, CI, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 222.  Modern Western Religious Thought.  3 Credits.  

Representative themes and approaches in the work of modern Western religious thinkers.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 224.  Modern Jewish Thought.  3 Credits.  

This course examines how contemporary thinkers have considered philosophy, ethics, and theology from a Jewish perspective. Methodological points of inquiry include: the role of interpretation in Judaism, revelation and redemption, authority and tradition, pluralism and inclusion, suffering and evil, gender and Jewish philosophy, and 20th-century approaches to God. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 224.  
RELI 225.  Christian Cultures.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the range of cultural manifestations of Christianity in the contemporary world, focusing particularly on differences of race, ethnicity, gender, geography, and class.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 226.  Human Animals in Religion and Ethics.  3 Credits.  

This course investigates the figure of the human animal in religion and philosophy. What kind of animal is the human, and what separates humans from animals? We will consider how attending to distinctions between humans and animals can highlight varying ideological and religious viewpoints.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 227.  Luther and the Bible.  3 Credits.  

The Reformation was seminal for the development of the modern world. This course will investigate Reformation literature written in the period from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 17th century, and will investigate how Reformation ideas resonate through today. Readings and discussions in English.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GERM 227.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 230.  Judaism and Popular Culture.  3 Credits.  

This course explores connections and interactions between Judaism and popular culture in the American context. We will consider what counts as religion by examining and interpreting a series of contemporary case studies drawn from film, television, radio, consumer culture, literature, stand-up comedy, and other media.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 230.  
RELI 232.  Shrines and Pilgrimages.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the study of shrines and pilgrimage in multiple cultural contexts.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 233.  Religion and Violence.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the problematic interplay between religion and violence. It engages and tests accusations that religion is inherently violent through the reading of sacred texts, historical cases, and critical theories.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 235.  Place, Space, and Religion.  3 Credits.  

A consideration of the attitudes toward place and space as they are expressed in religious ritual and artifact.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 236.  Religious Things.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to religion and visual culture in the United States. The course focuses on painting, ritual objects, and architecture.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-CREATE.
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 239.  German Culture and the Jewish Question.  3 Credits.  

A study of the role of Jews and the "Jewish question" in German culture from 1750 to the Holocaust and beyond. Discussions and texts (literary, political, theological) in English. Previously offered as GERM 270.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GSLL 270, CMPL 270, JWST 239.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 240.  Religion, Literature, and the Arts in America.  3 Credits.  

Engages literary, performing, and visual arts to explore religion in American culture. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 241.  Messianic Movements in American History.  3 Credits.  

The course examines messianic movements in American history raising the questions, What has been the impact of such movements on the nation? What makes America particularly conducive to such movements?

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 242.  New Religious Movements in America.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to new religious movements in the United States, with emphasis on the nature of conversion and the role of founders.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 243.  Introduction to American Judaism.  3 Credits.  

Course provides a comprehensive introduction to American Judaism, its various movements, institutions, theological, and liturgical characteristics, as well as its standing within the larger framework of religious life in America.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 243.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 244.  Gender and Sexuality in Western Christianity.  3 Credits.  

An examination of the development of teachings on issues of gender and sexuality through the history of Western Christianity, with particular focus on contemporary controversies. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: WGST 244.  
RELI 245.  Latina/o Religions in the United States-Mexico Borderlands.  3 Credits.  

The goal of this course is to orient students in the great diversity of Latina and Latino religious formations in the United States today. Focusing on Indigenous, African, and Catholic Creole "inspirations," this course will focus students to the emergence of a distinctly U.S. Latina/o religious experience. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 246.  Supernatural Encounters: Zombies, Vampires, Demons, and the Occult in the Americas.  3 Credits.  

This course examines accounts of supernatural beings such as zombies and vampires and aims to understand them as popular ways of making sense of the world in the context of uneven and frequently unsettling processes of modernization, neoliberalism, and globalization. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 247.  Uncertain Truths: Conspiracy Theories, Aliens, and Secret Societies in America.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the social dynamics of power, secrecy, paranoia, and suspicion, in order to explore the multiple relations between conspiracism, religious/magical thinking, and the social construction of truth. In addition to investigating the social and historical contexts that give rise to conspiracy thinking and the various shapes conspiracism takes in the modern world, students will consider conspiratorial lore as an important mode of political participation and contestation.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 248.  Introduction to American Islam.  3 Credits.  

This course surveys Muslim communities in North America in their religious, historical, political, social, and cultural dimensions. Discussion frames include methods for the study of American Muslims, the role of public and media representations of Islam and Muslims, and the place of American Muslims within the larger American religious landscape. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 263.  Gender and Religion in Premodern Europe.  3 Credits.  

This course examines gender in the religious lives of premodern Europeans from 500-1700, both in daily life (marriage, sexuality, devotions) and among the religious elite (clergy, monks and nuns, mystics). Feminist history, masculinity studies, and sexuality studies will all be taught as historical methods, paired with primary source documents from medieval Christians. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 263.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 266.  Medieval and Renaissance Christian Cultures.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the cultural manifestations of Christianity in the medieval and Renaissance worlds, focusing particularly on interactions with other religions and on differences of gender, geography, and class.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 270.  Religion in Western Europe.  3 Credits.  

In this course, we will explore various topics related to the past and present status of religion in general, and of certain religions in particular, within three Western European countries: the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: EURO 270.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 279.  Islamic Law, Ethics, and Practice.  3 Credits.  

This course provides an introduction to Islamic law in its connection to religious ethics and diverse ritual practices, both in the premodern and modern periods, and through an analysis of local contexts and global flows of ideas and practices that determine what is considered "Islamic" about laws, ethics, and practices.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 279.  
RELI 280.  Hindu Gods and Goddesses.  3 Credits.  

This courses focuses on the ways Hindu gods and goddesses are experienced in South Asia through analysis of literary works, including texts, film, comic books, performance, and ethnography. We will also examine key Hindu concepts (dharma, karma, and caste) in Hindu religious narratives. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 280.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 283.  The Buddhist Tradition: India, Nepal, and Tibet.  3 Credits.  

Examines the diverse beliefs, practices, and cultures associated with Buddhism in the Himalayan regions of India, Nepal, and Tibet. Topics include Buddhism's development and spread, the cultural dynamics of Himalayan societies, monasticism, folk religion, revivalism, tourism, gender, globalization, and the role of the state in shaping Buddhist life and culture.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 300.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 284.  The Buddhist Tradition: East Asia.  3 Credits.  

An examination of the development of Buddhism after its importation to East Asia.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 284.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 285.  The Buddhist Tradition: Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the Theravada school of Buddhism and themes in the social, cultural, and political lives of the Theravada Buddhist countries of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 285.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 286.  Premodern Japanese Religions.  3 Credits.  

Historical survey of the major premodern religious traditions in Japan: Shinto, Buddhism, Shugendo, and Christianity.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 301.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 287.  Modern Japanese Religions.  3 Credits.  

Survey of the major religious traditions in modern and contemporary Japan: Shinto, Buddhism, and the New Religions.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 302.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 288.  Chinese Religions.  3 Credits.  

Historical introduction to Chinese religions: Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and folk religion.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 303.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 289.  Muhammad and the Qur'an.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the life and significance of the Prophet Muhammad and the sacred scripture of Islam, the Qur'an. It offers discussion of textual sources for Muhammad's biography; his emulation and veneration in Muslim societies; and the nature, compilation, reception history, and range of interpretations of the Qur'an.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 314.  Memory and the Historical Jesus.  3 Credits.  

Who was Jesus? What did he teach? Can we interpret Jesus apart from religious frames or is our conception of Jesus always shaped by the religious texts preserving his memory? What modes of analysis and interpretation do contemporary historians apply to these texts, and what assumptions or biases can color their work? Comparing ancient and modern constructions of Jesus, this course probes the differences between cultural memory and historical writing as practices of knowing. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 315.  Religious Frauds: Lies, Forgeries, and Fake News.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the problem of religious fraud-and more specifically, "pious fraud"-drawing case studies from Christian history. Although Christianity espouses a high moral code, some Christians have used deception to advance their beliefs and agendas: forging documents, inventing stories, and fabricating artifacts. Others have been suspected of these same activities. Throughout the semester, students wade through the thorny moral/ethical issues presented by the practice of pious fraud and debate possible cases. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 322.  Theories of Religion.  3 Credits.  

This course addresses terms such as "the sacred," "sacrifice," "the dead," "divinity," and "possession" to explore the limitations and new potentials of religious studies for describing human experience. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 323.  Social Theory and Cultural Diversity.  3 Credits.  

Introduction to basic thinking about cultural difference (race, gender, nationality, religion, etc.). The course encourages students to examine the ways paradigms shape how we act, think, and imagine as members of diverse cultures in the United States.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 324.  Religion and the Human: Interrogating Individuality.  3 Credits.  

Notions of what a human being is--and what this means for how one should live--lie at the root of all religious traditions and also of secular ideologies. This course explores the ways that different religious and cultural communities have conceptualized human nature and how those understandings are reflected in personal identity and ways of organizing public life. Readings include historic and contemporary texts and case studies engaging Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES, RESEARCH.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 325.  Religion, Magic, and Science.  3 Credits.  

Critical exploration of the ways in which religion, magic, and science have been constructed as distinct domains of knowledge in the West since the late 19th century.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 332.  The Protestant Tradition.  3 Credits.  

The course comes to provide students with historical and theological knowledge and conceptual tools that will enable them to understand the very rich and diverse Protestant tradition. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 338.  Religion in American Law.  3 Credits.  

An exploration of the position of religion in American legal and social theory, with particular focus on jurisprudence under the First Amendment.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 340.  Liberal Tradition in American Religion.  3 Credits.  

An examination of the growth of liberal theological expressions, such as rationalism, romanticism, and modernism, from the early 18th century to the present.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 342.  African-American Religious Experience.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. An introduction to the diversity of African American beliefs, experiences, and expressions from the colonial era to the present. Exploration will be both historical and thematic.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ANTH 342, FOLK 342.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 343.  Religion in Modern Israel.  3 Credits.  

The relation between religious communities, their hopes and their agendas to the culture, politics, and law of the country has been a central feature of the Israeli state from its inception. Religious faiths, agendas, and affiliations have affected the character of the country, as well as its relationships with groups and governments around the globe.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 343.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 345.  Black Atlantic Religions.  3 Credits.  

This course is an introduction to Black Atlantic discourses from ethnographic and religious studies perspectives. Readings will privilege African-inspired performance and aesthetic forms as these are produced in religious practice. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 350.  Islamic and Jewish Legal Systems.  3 Credits.  

In this course, on both Jewish and Islamic law, we will explore the nature, structure, development, and significance of the legal system of each of these two religions. Topics discussed include rituals, purity laws, commerce, warfare, and gender relations. There is no need to have any background in Hebrew or Arabic: all texts are provided in English, and no previous knowledge on Islam or Judaism is assumed.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 352.  Anthropology of Christianity.  3 Credits.  

This course introduces students to the anthropology of Christianity. Students will explore major themes of interest in the field. This course aims to familiarize students with the diversity of Christian religious experience and expression globally and to explore the mechanisms through which that diversity takes shape in various cultural contexts.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 362.  Mary in the Christian Tradition.  3 Credits.  

In certain eras, Mary has been more central to Catholic devotion than Christ. This course explores doctrine, liturgy, and popular devotion centering on the Virgin in medieval European Christianity, her impact on colonial religion in the New World, and her roles in Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Islam. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: WGST 362.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 365.  Studies in Christian Theologies and Theologians.  3 Credits.  

An investigation of one writer or school in the history of Christian theology as an example of typical methods, positions, and problems within the tradition.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 366.  Medieval Religious Texts.  3 Credits.  

In this course students will read major medieval religious texts (Christian, Jewish, and/or Muslim), that permit close study of religious life, culture, and thought during the Middle Ages (broadly defined). The works will be in English translation, but students with appropriate linguistic knowledge may read the texts in their original language.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 367.  The Art of Devotion in Medieval and Early Modern Europe.  3 Credits.  

This course examines creative expression at the service of religious belief from 1000 to 1700. Poetry, drama, art, architecture, and music will be the texts to understand the religious cultures of this rich period.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 368.  Race, Sexuality, and Disability in the History of Western Christianity.  3 Credits.  

Over time, Christian institutions and traditions have helped constitute contemporary narratives of race, sexuality, and disability in society. This course examines shifting definitions and specific case studies from the premodern era through to contemporary discourses and polemics in America. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: WGST 370.  
RELI 371.  Women Mystics.  3 Credits.  

An investigation of the forms, characteristics, and variety of the mystical experiences of women in medieval and modern Christianity, with comparative consideration of women mystics and spiritual leaders in at least two other religious traditions.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: WGST 371.  
RELI 375.  Archaeology of Cult.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the archaeological context of Greek religion, cults, and associated rituals from the Bronze Age until the Hellenistic period with emphasis on urban, rural, and panhellenic sanctuaries, and methods of approaching ancient religion and analyzing cult practices.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: CLAR 375.  
RELI 381.  Religions of South Asia.  3 Credits.  

Exploration of the major religious traditions of South Asia. Focuses on the beliefs and practices associated with different traditions, and the ways that these relate to one another and to broader political, historical, and cultural formations. Also addresses questions of modernization, reform, communal violence, and other transformations of religious life.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 381.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 382.  The Story of Rama in Indian Culture--Experiential.  3 Credits.  

Explores Valmiki's Ramayana (story of the Hindu god Rama), alternate versions of the story, its performance in theater, and its role in politics. Students work outside of class to stage scenes from the Ramayana, open to the public. Students may not receive credit for both ASIA 332 and ASIA 382.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-KNOWING, HI-PERFORM.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN, EE- Performing Arts.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 382.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 383.  The Mahabharata: Remembered and Reimagined--Experiential.  3 Credits.  

Introduction to the classical Mahabharata as well as modern retellings of the epic in contemporary literature, film, and theater of India. Students work outside class to stage one or more scenes from the Mahabharata, open to the public. Students may not receive credit for both ASIA 333 and ASIA 383.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN, EE- Performing Arts.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 383.  
RELI 384.  Religion and Globalization in Southeast Asia.  3 Credits.  

How does globalization affect religious life? How do historical, cultural, and religious traditions mediate the experience of globalization in particular locales? This course analyzes the forces and practices associated with political-economic and cultural globalization in Southeast Asia and explores the religious transformations and innovations that these processes have inspired.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 384.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 385.  Modern Muslims and the Qur'an.  3 Credits.  

This course introduces students to the multifaceted ways in which Muslims in the modern and contemporary periods have approached, experienced, and interpreted the Qur'an, including discussions of accessibility, hermeneutical methods, and exegetical themes.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 386.  Dance and Embodied Knowledge in the Indian Context.  3 Credits.  

In this theory-practice course focusing on religion, performance, and South Asian studies we will analyze the nature of embodied knowledge, aesthetic theory, and the creative power of dance performance in the Indian context. The course also includes a practical component involving embodied experience with Indian classical dance forms.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 386, COMM 386.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 387.  Disciplining the Body and Mind: The Martial Arts of East Asia in Religion, History, and Culture.  3 Credits.  

This course offers an introduction to the history and practice of East Asian martial arts. We will explore the social, political, and cultural contexts of the martial arts, from the classical period to the present. Integral to this course is a practical component involving embodied experience with martial arts training.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-KNOWING, HI-PERFORM.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, EE- Performing Arts.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 387, COMM 387.  
RELI 390.  Topics in the Study of Religion.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. Subject matter will vary with instructor but will always be focused on a particular problem or issue.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit; may be repeated in the same term for different topics; 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 395.  Guided Undergraduate Research.  1-3 Credits.  

This course is used for guided undergraduate research under the direction of a faculty member in the Department of Religious Studies. Permission of the instructor is required.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Mentored Research.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 9 total credits. 9 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  

Advanced Undergraduate and Graduate-level Courses

RELI 401.  Introductory Biblical Hebrew I.  3 Credits.  

The first part of a two-semester introduction to the grammar of biblical Hebrew.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Global Language: Level 1.  
RELI 402.  Introductory Biblical Hebrew II.  3 Credits.  

The second part of a two-semester introduction to the grammar of biblical Hebrew.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, RELI 401; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Global Language: Level 2.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 403.  Intermediate Classical Hebrew I.  3 Credits.  

A consolidation of the fundamentals of classical Hebrew grammar via readings of biblical texts of various genres (including both prose and poetry).

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: GLBL-LANG.
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, RELI 402; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Global Language: Level 3.  
RELI 404.  Intermediate Classical Hebrew II.  3 Credits.  

Further readings of classical Hebrew texts, focusing on biblical poetry as well as early postbiblical material (e.g., nonbiblical texts from Qumran, Mishnah/Tosefta).

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, RELI 403; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Global Language: Level 4.  
RELI 409.  Greek New Testament.  3 Credits.  
Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, GREK 222; Permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GREK 409.  
Global Language: Level 6.  
RELI 410.  Aramaic/Rabbinic Hebrew.  3 Credits.  

Reading texts in rabbinic Hebrew or in biblical and/or talmudic Aramaic, with appropriate grammatical instruction.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisites, RELI 403 and 404; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisites.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 411.  Advanced Akkadian.  3 Credits.  

Readings in literary, epistolary, and juridical texts.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisites, RELI 403 and 404.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 412.  Ugaritic.  3 Credits.  

Readings in the alphabetic texts of Ras Shamra and a study of the elements of Ugaritic grammar.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisites, RELI 403 and 404.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 413.  Biblical Coptic and Early Egyptian Monasticism.  3 Credits.  

Coptic, the last stage of Egyptian, a living language in the Roman and Byzantine period. Thorough grounding in the grammar of the Sahidic dialect as a basis for reading biblical monastic and Gnostic texts.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 414.  Syriac.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the grammar of Classical Syriac for the purpose of reading Syriac Christian texts from late antiquity. Knowledge of another Semitic language (e.g., Hebrew, Arabic) would be an asset but is not required.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 415.  Teaching the Bible in Public Education.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the challenges, ethical questions, and opportunities inherent in teaching biblical literature within public educational settings--both secondary and higher-ed. It also equips students to make informed decisions on how to communicate critical academic ideas about the Bible in ways sensitive to students of different positionalities.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES, COMMBEYOND.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 420.  Post-Holocaust Ethics and Theology.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the challenges posed to ethics and theology by the Holocaust. We will address philosophical and moral issues such as the problem of evil, divine omniscience, omnipotence, suffering, theodicy, representation, testimony, and an ethics of memory. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 420.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 421.  Religion and Science.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the complex relation between religion and science in the modern world. Public disputes over teaching evolution in American schools serve as a central case study of this.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 423.  Ethnicity, Race, and Religion in America.  3 Credits.  

A theoretical inquiry into ethnicity, race, and religion as constituents of personal and communal identity. Emphasis on global migrations, colonial and postcolonial relations, diasporic communities, and issues of religious pluralism.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 424.  Gender Theory and the Study of Religion.  3 Credits.  

An examination of contemporary gender theory, with particular focus on its application to the study of religion.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: WGST 424.  
RELI 425.  Psychology of Religion.  3 Credits.  

A critical exploration of the concept of religious experience as defined by such authors as William James and Sigmund Freud. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 426.  The Sacrifice of Abraham.  3 Credits.  

This course examines philosophical interpretations of the attempted sacrifice by Abraham of his beloved son, offering a comparative approach. The incident in Genesis is remarkably succinct for its controversial subject matter. We will compare this event with representations in Greek drama, the New Testament, and the Qur'an. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 427.  Spirit Possession and Mediumship.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the phenomenon of spirit possession and introduces students to various theoretical and methodological approaches to its academic study. In addition to critically engaging with accounts of spirit possession from around the world, students will explore various related themes of gender, power, and religious and cultural change.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 428.  Religion and Anthropology.  3 Credits.  

Religion studied anthropologically as a cultural, social, and psychological phenomenon in the works of classical and contemporary social thought. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ANTH 428, FOLK 428.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 429.  Religion and Society.  3 Credits.  

Sociological analysis of group beliefs and practices, both traditionally religious and secular, through which fundamental life experiences are given coherence and meaning. This course is a special version of SOCI 129 for juniors and seniors that explores the meanings and experiences of religion, as well as religion's role in communities, institutions, and societies through hands-on intensive research experience. Students may not receive credit for both SOCI 129 and SOCI/RELI 429.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: SOCI 429.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 430.  Dimensions of Evil.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the meaning of evil. By investigating the moral dimensions of evil, its social uses, its figuration in cross-cultural religious texts, theology, folklore, and political imaginaries, this course develops a critical framework for understanding the diverse manifestations and varied cultural renderings of evil in the modern world. Previously offered as RELI 526.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 438.  Religion, Nature, and Environment.  3 Credits.  

A seminar on concepts of nature within religions and a variety of world-wide spiritual traditions. Emphasis on sacred space, place, and ritual as a vital intersection of religion and nature. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 441.  Religion in Early America.  3 Credits.  

This course examines religion in America from precontact to the Civil War. We will chart the development of religious life, thought, and practice in North America, concentrating on areas later incorporated into the United States, but maintaining broad interest in other Americas. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 442.  History of Religion in America since 1865.  3 Credits.  

An examination of primary sources in the history of American religion since the Civil War.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 443.  Evangelicalism in Contemporary America.  3 Credits.  

Juniors or seniors only. Examination of evangelicalism and its role in American society, politics, and culture. Exploration of its various subdivisions and its relation to such movements as fundamentalism, pentecostalism, revivalism, and premillennialism. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 444.  Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Judaism.  3 Credits.  

The seminar examines the developments in gender roles and in sexuality in contemporary Judaism.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: CI, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 444, WGST 448.  
RELI 445.  Asian Religions in America.  3 Credits.  

A study of intercultural interaction and interreligious encounter focusing on Asian religions in America, 1784 to the present.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: GL, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 445.  
RELI 446.  Christian-Jewish Relations throughout the Ages.  3 Credits.  

An exploration of the varied and complex relationships which have developed between Christianity and Judaism, from the first century to the 21st century.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 448.  Native and Christian: Indigenous Engagements with Christianity.  3 Credits.  

This course examines diverse indigenous engagements with Christianity from earliest contacts to the present. Topics range from missionary contestations in colonial Mexico to the fight for religious freedom in 20th-century United States, from historical revitalization movements like the Ghost Dance to contemporary indigenous theologies in North and South America.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 450.  Sexuality in Jewish Tradition and History.  3 Credits.  

This course deals with various topics related to sexuality and marriage in Jewish tradition and history: sex outside of marriage, wedding ceremonies, regulations of marital sex, menstruation, homosexuality, and more.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: WGST 450.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 452.  Documenting Religion.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the politics of representing religious difference. What happens when journalists, pollsters, filmmakers, or pundits attempt to describe, explain or decode religious communities they do not belong to? How do these efforts constitute cultural centers and margins? We examine the political and ethical problems inherent to representing religion. Topics might include documentary film, photojournalism, reality television, opinion polling, news media, and more.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 454.  The Reformation.  3 Credits.  

Examines a movement of religious reform that shattered Latin Christendom and contributed many of the conditions of early modern Europe. Emphases: religious, political, social.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 454.  
RELI 465.  Monotheistic Mysticism.  3 Credits.  

In medieval Jewish Kabbalah, Christian mysticism, and Islamic Sufism, devotees attempt to express direct experiences of an infinite God. This course examines theories of mystical language, particularly the negation of language, the turn to the visual and the body, and the tension between communal and individual expressions of the divine.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 474.  Buddhist Meditation, Mindfulness, and Modernity.  3 Credits.  

This course introduces students to a variety of ancient and modern approaches to Buddhist meditation, to their philosophical underpinnings, and to the various claims and purposes associated with mindfulness practices in the past and today. Students will be expected to practice the different types of meditation discussed.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, EE- Field Work.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 480.  Modern Muslim Literatures.  3 Credits.  

Stresses the diversity of modern Islamic experience by examining the works of various Muslim authors. Genres may include travelogues, memoirs, novels, sermons, and treatises, among others.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 481.  Religion, Fundamentalism, and Nationalism.  3 Credits.  

An exploration of explosive combinations of religion and politics in the Iranian revolution, the Palestinian movement, Hindu nationalism in India, and Christian fundamentalism in America.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: PWAD 481.  
RELI 482.  Sex, Gender, and Religion in South Asia.  3 Credits.  

This seminar draws on feminist and philosophical theory, including the works of Plato, Butler, and Foucualt, as well as postcolonial theory, to explore the categories of sex and gender in South Asian religions. We also analyze the moral cultivation of the self in relation to gender identity in South Asia.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 482, WGST 482.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 485.  Gender and Sexuality in Islam.  3 Credits.  

This course approaches constructions of gender and sexuality in Muslim societies in diverse historical and geographical contexts. It focuses on changing interpretations of gender roles and sexual norms. Themes include gender in Islamic law, sexual ethics, masculinity, homosexuality, marriage, and dress.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 485.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 486.  Islam and Feminism/Islamic Feminism.  3 Credits.  

This course explores Muslim women scholars, activists, and movements that have, over the course of the past 150 years, participated in the debate about the compatibility and relationship of Islam and feminism. It offers an introduction to feminist debates about religion and patriarchy focusing on Islam as 'other' and juxtaposes it critical analysis of contextual expressions of Muslim and Islamic feminist activists, thinkers, and movements that challenge and change gender norms and practices.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 486.  
RELI 487.  Mountains, Pilgrimage, and Sacred Places in Japan.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the role that mountains and pilgrimage have played in Japanese cosmology and how they relate to methodology of studying place and space.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 487.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 488.  Shinto in Japanese History.  3 Credits.  

This course discusses the development of Shinto in Japanese history and covers themes such as myths, syncretism, sacred sites, iconography, nativism, religion and the state, and historiography.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, CI, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 488.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 489.  Animals in Japanese Religion.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. This course examines the cultural construction of animals in Japanese myth, folklore, and religion.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 489.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 501.  The History of the Bible in Modern Study.  3 Credits.  

This course will examine how the modern historical-critical enterprise of biblical scholarship arose, out of what historical circumstances, for what purposes, and to what effect. What are its major aspects? How does it relate to other forms of academic and theological inquiry? How has this enterprise fared in recent times?

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 502.  Myths and Epics of the Ancient Near East.  3 Credits.  

An examination of Babylonian, Canaanite, Egyptian, Hittite, and Sumerian texts from the prebiblical era, focusing on representative myths, epics, sagas, songs, proverbs, prophecies, and hymns. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: FOLK 502.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 503.  Exploring the Dead Sea Scrolls.  3 Credits.  

A comprehensive introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the different Jewish groups connected with them. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES, RESEARCH.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 503.  
RELI 504.  Readings in Hebrew Bible.  3 Credits.  

This course will examine a major corpus of the Hebrew Bible with attention to the full range of historical-critical issues. Attention will be paid as well to early forms of biblical interpretation and their use in the religious life of subsequent communities.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 512.  Ancient Synagogues.  3 Credits.  

This is a course on ancient synagogues in Palestine and the Diaspora from the Second Temple period to the seventh century CE.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: CLAR 512, JWST 512.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 514.  Judaism and the Search for Christian Origins.  3 Credits.  

Although the origins of Christianity clearly lie in Judaism--the religious framework inherited by Jesus and his disciples--scholars disagree over how and when the two traditions diverged. This course explores critical issues in the conceptualization of this parting, including the theoretical difficulty of distinguishing religion from ethnicity in a premodern context, competing ways of analyzing intermediate groups ("Jewish Christianities"), and the methodological and ethical problems of 19th-20th century scholarship in this area (e.g., Protestant bias, antisemitism).

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 515.  Cultural Histories of the New Testament.  3 Credits.  

This course traces the "lives" of individual New Testament texts to illuminate the shifting interests of Christians through different periods. Topics include the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of John, the letters of Paul and his imitators, and the book of Revelation. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, WB.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 522.  19th-Century Critiques of Religion.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. An exploration of influential 19th-century critiques of religion, including texts by such thinkers as Feuerbach, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Stanton, Douglass, and Freud.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 524.  Ethnographic Approaches to Contemporary Religion.  3 Credits.  

Critical exploration of exemplary contemporary ethnographies of religion focusing on the ways that ethnographic methods and writing styles shape knowledge of religious and cultural life in various traditions and parts of the world. Topics considered include field work, culture, ethics, and the challenges of interpreting and representing religious experience.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 525.  Seminar in Religion and Literature.  3 Credits.  

Seminar topic varies.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 527.  Religious Metaphor and Symbol.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the myriad and complex issues related to the function of metaphor and symbol in religious language.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 528.  Rituals and Rhetorics of Religion.  3 Credits.  

An examination of ritual, allegory, and symbol as modes of religious expression in cultic and literary contexts.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 530.  Genealogies of Religion.  3 Credits.  

This seminar explores the historical development of "religion" as a concept and object of academic scholarship through the critical study of key texts and foundational debates about religion in Western thought.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 533.  Women, Gender, and Judaism.  3 Credits.  

This course examines historical developments in the study of women and gender in Judaism. We will discuss efforts to challenge and revitalize Jewish tradition through the lens of gender theory and other critical interpretive approaches. Topics to be addressed include biblical interpretation, Jewish law, feminist Jewish theology and liturgy, the renewal of ritual, the rabbinic ordination of women, gender identity, race, sexuality, queer, trans, and non-binary approaches, and representations of these themes in various media.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 533, WGST 533.  
RELI 540.  Mormonism and the American Experience.  3 Credits.  

Exploration of the history, beliefs, and practices of Mormons. Will include visits to Latter-Day Saints services, guest speakers, and discussion of race and gender in the contemporary church.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisite, RELI 140; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 541.  Evangelicalism from a Global Perspective.  3 Credits.  

The course will examine the evangelical tradition from a global perspective, exploring the tradition from its early rise in Europe to its impact on the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 542.  Religion and the Counterculture.  3 Credits.  

The course examines the interaction between the values and messages of the counterculture and religious groups, ideas, and practices during the Vietnam War era. It also investigates the impact of countercultural norms and styles on the current American religious scene. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 564.  Religion, Race, and Inquisition in the Spanish Empire.  3 Credits.  

This course on the "Atlantic World" studies Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the medieval Iberian kingdoms, then the religious "other" in the colonial expansion to Latin America, by deploying theories concerning race, gender, sexuality, and postcoloniality.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: GL, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 564.  
RELI 565.  Medieval Jews and the Bible.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the Jewish interpretation of the Bible, focusing on important commentaries from influential medieval Ashkenazi and Sephardic thinkers.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 566.  Islamic and Jewish Legal Literature.  3 Credits.  

This course explores many aspects of the Halakhah, the Jewish traditional legal system, focusing on issues such as rituals, holidays, religious obligations and prohibitions, and laws regulating sexual activity.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 569.  Interfaith Marriages and Intimacy in World Religions.  3 Credits.  

This seminar explores the topic of intimate relations between people who consider themselves, or are considered by others, to be part of different religious groups. We will explore cases in which such relations achieve the social sanction of marriage and cases in which the relations are of a more temporary nature.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 574.  Chinese World Views.  3 Credits.  

Explores the indigenous Chinese sciences and the cosmological ideas that informed them. Topics include astronomy, divination, medicine, fengshui, and political and literary theory. Chinese sources in translation are emphasized.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ANTH 574, ASIA 574.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 580.  African American Islam.  3 Credits.  

An historical examination of African American Islam in the United States. Explores the intellectual, cultural, social, and political roots of black Islam in addition to its diverse doctrinal, ritual, and institutional manifestations.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 581.  Sufism.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. A survey of Islamic mysticism, its sources in the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad, and its literary, cultural, and social deployment in Arab, Persian, Indic, and Turkish regions.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 581.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 582.  Islam and Islamic Art in South Asia.  3 Credits.  

A survey of the formation of Islamic traditions in the subcontinent from the eighth century to the present, with emphasis on religion and politics, the role of Sufism, types of popular religion, and questions of Islamic identity.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 582.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 583.  Religion and Culture in Iran, 1500-Present.  3 Credits.  

Iran from the rise of the Safavid empire to the Islamic Republic. Topics include Shi'ism, politics, intellectual and sectarian movements, encounters with colonialism, art and architecture, music, literature.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 583.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 584.  The Qur'an as Literature.  3 Credits.  

A nontheological approach to the Qur'an as a literary text, emphasizing its history, form, style, and interpretation.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 584.  
RELI 585.  Religion and Culture of Turkey.  3 Credits.  

This course will cover the history of Turkey from the Byzantine period until contemporary times. Key aspects of Turkish culture (architecture, music, poetry to arts) will be covered.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 586.  Women and Gender in Japanese Religions.  3 Credits.  

This seminar explores the roles of women in the religions of Japan (including Buddhism, Shinto, folk religions, pilgrimage, new religions movements, and new spirituality culture) from goddesses, shamans, nuns, and pilgrims to demons, temptresses, and lesser human beings. The course traces these themes across Japanese socioeconomic and religious history.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, BN, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 587.  Islam and Sexual Diversity.  3 Credits.  

This course explores sexual norms and practices in Muslim contexts in the premodern and modern periods. It considers theories from sexuality, gender, and queer studies, and focuses on the contextual production of sexual norms, going beyond the sex and gender binary, and reflecting on a diverse range of sexual practices in Muslim communities and societies, analyzing concepts such as power, pleasure, control, as they are mapped onto and lived in diverse Muslim bodies.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 587.  
RELI 590.  Topics in the Study of Religion.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. Subject matter will vary with instructor but will always be focused on a particular problem or issue.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit; may be repeated in the same term for different topics; 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 592.  Religious Conflict and Literature in India.  3 Credits.  

Historical causes of violence between Hindus and Muslims in modern India. Short stories, poetry, and novels in translation are used to explore how conflicts over religious sites, religious conversion, image worship, and language contributed to a sense of conflicting religious identity.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HNUR 592.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 602.  What Is Scripture? Formations of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Canon.  3 Credits.  

The course traces the past and continued canonical processes that define what the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament has been and is today, with a focus on the history of biblical interpretation.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: JWST 602.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 603.  The Bible and Its Translation.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the translation of the Hebrew Bible in the West, with a view toward identifying religious and ideological trends.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 607.  Problems in Early Christian Literature and History.  3 Credits.  

Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: NA, WB.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, RELI 104, 207, 208, 209, 217 or 413; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 608.  The Messiah and the Apocalypse.  3 Credits.  

Ideas concerning the Messiah and the end of the world held by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Emphasis on the beginning of the Christian era.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 609.  Christianity and Greco-Roman Culture.  3 Credits.  

The seminar surveys the development of Christianity in the Roman empire and examines a variety of attitudes adopted by early Christians toward Greco-Roman philosophy, religion, education, and literature.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, WB.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, RELI 104, 209, or 217; permission of the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 610.  Readings in the Apostolic Fathers.  3 Credits.  

Reading of the Apostolic Fathers. Students must have completed two courses in New Testament/Early Christianity and two years of Greek.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 614.  The Cult of Saints: Narratives, Materialities, Practices.  3 Credits.  

By late antiquity, the cult of martyrs and other saints had become "so popular among all levels of Christians, rich and poor, cleric and layperson, rustic and urban dweller, monastic and spouse," that it represented a "rudimentary framework for Christianity" (Limberis 2011). This course traces the origins and development of the cult, conceptualizing it as a network of discourses, practices, and representations. It also explores the cult's impact on neighboring, non-Christian cultures.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 617.  Death and Afterlife in the Ancient World.  3 Credits.  

Examinations of practices and discourses pertaining to death and the afterlife in the ancient civilizations of Near East, Greece, and Rome. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 620.  Feminism and Religion.  3 Credits.  

This course introduces students to the rich and multi-faceted debates within and about feminism and religion. Through the cultivation of careful and critical reading practice of primary texts by religious feminists and their secular critics, the course enables students to recognize the patterns and arguments of historical and contemporary debates within and across religious traditions and communities, while continuously tracing the ethical commitments and underlying values of feminist scholars and activists.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 662.  Advanced Seminar in Contemporary Catholicism.  3 Credits.  

This advanced seminar is for undergraduate and graduate students who have at least a basic knowledge about Catholicism. The range of topics to be discussed is open and will depend on students' interests and suggestions.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 665.  Body and Suffering in Christian Mysticism.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor for nonmajors. Medieval Christians consistently focused on the suffering body as a means of reflecting on Christ's sacrifice. This course considers how medical theories of cognition, gender, and pain influenced the potential role of the body in medieval mystical experience.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: WGST 664.  
RELI 681.  Readings in Islamicate Literatures.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. Study of selected religious, literary, and historical texts in Arabic, Persian, or Urdu.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ARAB 681, ASIA 681.  
RELI 688.  Observation and Interpretation of Religious Action.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. Exercises (including field work) in learning to read the primary modes of public action in religious traditions, e.g., sermons, testimonies, rituals, and prayers.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, EE- Mentored Research.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ANTH 688, FOLK 688.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 691H.  Honors in Religious Studies.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the director of undergraduate studies. Required of all students reading for honors in religious studies.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Mentored Research.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoRELI 692H.  Honors in Religious Studies.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the director of undergraduate studies. Required of all students reading for honors in religious studies.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Mentored Research.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 696.  Independent Study.  3 Credits.  

Advanced undergraduate or graduate standing and permission of the instructor. Subject matter should be arranged with a specific instructor.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit; may be repeated in the same term for different topics; 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
RELI 697.  Capstone: Undergraduate Seminar.  3 Credits.  

Majors only. Concentrating on a different theme each year, this departmental seminar introduces the different areas and approaches in religious studies.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: CI.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit; may be repeated in the same term for different topics; 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  

JWST–Jewish Studies

Undergraduate-level Courses

IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 56.  First-Year Seminar: Germans, Jews, and the History of Anti-Semitism.  3 Credits.  

This course seeks to explore the historically difficult position of minorities in the modern world, using the situation of Jews in Germany from the 18th century to the Holocaust as a case study. Previously offered as GERM 56.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-PAST or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, CI, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GSLL 56.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 60.  First-Year Seminar: Israeli Culture and Society: Collective Memories and Fragmented Identities.  3 Credits.  

The course explores selected themes and case studies pertinent to culture and society in modern Israel, with emphasis on debates about "Israeliness" in various cultural and social arenas.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 60.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 70.  First-Year Seminar: Jewish Spain: History and Culture Across the Hispanic World.  3 Credits.  

This seminar explores the history and culture of medieval Spanish Jewry and how modern Hispanic societies have reimagined this past. We will interrogate how a fascination with Sephardic Jews overlaps with a variety of topics: national identity, anti-Semitism, liberal democracy, colonialism, exile, Holocaust memory, among others. We will think about the relevance of Jewish Spain to our present by working with a diverse group of cultural products from Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR, FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ROML 70.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 89.  First-Year Seminar: Special Topics.  3 Credits.  

Special topics course. Content will vary by each semester.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 100.  Introduction to Jewish Studies.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the broad scope of Jewish history, culture, and identity, from biblical times to the 21st century and from the Middle East to the New World.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 123.  
JWST 101.  Elementary Modern Hebrew I.  3 Credits.  

Introduces the essential elements of modern Hebrew structure and vocabulary and aspects of modern Israeli culture. Aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing are stressed.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HEBR 101.  
Global Language: Level 1.  
JWST 102.  Elementary Modern Hebrew II.  3 Credits.  

Continued instruction in the essential elements of modern Hebrew structure and vocabulary and aspects of modern Israeli culture. Aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing are stressed.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, HEBR 101.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HEBR 102.  
Global Language: Level 2.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 103.  Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Literature.  3 Credits.  

This course introduces students to the various books of the Hebrew Bible and to the history and culture of ancient Israel, focusing on the formation of national identity, ancient conceptualizations of divinity, ritual practice, and modes of social regulation, all of which are set against the background of the ancient Near East. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 103.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 106.  Judaism in the Time of Jesus.  3 Credits.  

This course surveys Jewish history and religion during the Second Temple and Rabbinic periods, from the destruction of the First Jewish Temple (Solomon's Temple) in 586 BCE to the Muslim conquest of Palestine (640 CE).

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 106.  
JWST 107.  Introduction to Modern Judaism.  3 Credits.  

The course offers a comprehensive understanding of the development of Judaism from the late Middle Ages to contemporary times.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 107.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 110.  The Archaeology of Palestine in the New Testament Period.  3 Credits.  

This course surveys the archaeology of Palestine (modern Israel and Jordan) from the Persian period (ca. 586 BCE) to the Muslim conquest (640 CE).

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 110, CLAR 110.  
JWST 143.  Judaism in Our Time.  3 Credits.  

An examination of Judaism in its two major centers, demonstrating how different social and cultural environments shape very different interpretations and practices of the Jewish tradition.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 143.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 153.  From the Bible to Broadway: Jewish History to Modern Times.  3 Credits.  

This class surveys the history of the Jews from ancient to modern times. It focuses on the development of Jewish religion, culture identity, and politics in Jewish communities in the Western, Atlantic and Middle Eastern Worlds. It also explores the development of antisemitism and anti-Jewish violence.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 153.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 203.  Intermediate Modern Hebrew I.  3 Credits.  

Second-year instruction in the essential elements of modern Hebrew structure and vocabulary and aspects of modern Israeli culture. Aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing are stressed. An introduction to representative literary works is included.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: GLBL-LANG.
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, HEBR 102.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HEBR 203.  
Global Language: Level 3.  
JWST 204.  Intermediate Modern Hebrew II.  3 Credits.  

Continued instruction in the essential elements of modern Hebrew structure and vocabulary and aspects of modern Israeli culture. Aural comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing are stressed. An introduction to representative literary works is included.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: FL.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, HEBR 203.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HEBR 204.  
Global Language: Level 4.  
JWST 206.  Prophecy and Divination in Ancient Israel and Judah.  3 Credits.  

An examination of prophecy and divination in the Israelite-Jewish traditions and in their environments, including an analysis of the major biblical prophets. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 206.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 211.  Classical Hebrew I: A Linguistic Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.  3 Credits.  

An introduction to the culture and history of ancient Israel through an exploration of the language of the Hebrew Bible. Students will learn the essentials for basic engagement with biblical Hebrew, then consider what this linguistic evidence reveals about the historical and cultural background of the Hebrew Bible.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 211.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 212.  Classical Hebrew II: A Linguistic Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the linguistic background of the Hebrew Bible, giving special attention to the literary aspect of biblical interpretation. Specific topics include the forms of the Hebrew verb, prose and poetic genres in the Hebrew Bible, wordplay and repetition, narration and dialogue.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, RELI 211.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 212.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 224.  Modern Jewish Thought.  3 Credits.  

This course examines how contemporary thinkers have considered philosophy, ethics, and theology from a Jewish perspective. Methodological points of inquiry include: the role of interpretation in Judaism, revelation and redemption, authority and tradition, pluralism and inclusion, suffering and evil, gender and Jewish philosophy, and 20th-century approaches to God. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 224.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 225.  Popular and Pious: Early Modern Jewish Literature.  3 Credits.  

This seminar covers popular and pious literature written by and for Jews in the 15th to 18th century in German-speaking countries. Originally written in Old Yiddish, this literature preserved the popular European genres and nonfiction accounts of Jewish community and family life. Previously offered as GERM 225.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, NA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GSLL 225.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 230.  Judaism and Popular Culture.  3 Credits.  

This course explores connections and interactions between Judaism and popular culture in the American context. We will consider what counts as religion by examining and interpreting a series of contemporary case studies drawn from film, television, radio, consumer culture, literature, stand-up comedy, and other media.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 230.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 235.  Israeli Cinema: Gender, Nation, and Ethnicity.  3 Credits.  

The course explores major periods and trends in Israeli cinema. Focus is given to issues pertaining to gender, ethnicity, and the construction of national identity. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 235, PWAD 235.  
JWST 239.  German Culture and the Jewish Question.  3 Credits.  

A study of the role of Jews and the "Jewish question" in German culture from 1750 to the Holocaust and beyond. Discussions and texts (literary, political, theological) in English. Previously offered as GERM 270.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GSLL 270, CMPL 270, RELI 239.  
JWST 243.  Introduction to American Judaism.  3 Credits.  

Course provides a comprehensive introduction to American Judaism, its various movements, institutions, theological, and liturgical characteristics, as well as its standing within the larger framework of religious life in America.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 243.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 251.  The Jewish American Experience.  3 Credits.  

A survey of the Jewish experience in the United States from colonial times to the present, that examines connections and disjunctures with the experiences of Jews in the Americas more broadly. Topics include the social patterns and communal constructs of the various Jewish immigrations; modes of political engagement; and the diverse cultural practices through which American Jews have shaped their identities.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: AMST 251.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 253.  A Social History of Jewish Women in America.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the history and culture of Jewish women in America from their arrival in New Amsterdam in 1654 to the present and explores how gender shaped this journey.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: AMST 253, WGST 253.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 262.  History of the Holocaust: The Destruction of the European Jews.  3 Credits.  

Anti-Semitism; the Jews of Europe; the Hitler dictatorship; evolution of Nazi Jewish policy from persecution to the Final Solution; Jewish response; collaborators, bystanders, and rescuers; aftermath.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 262, PWAD 262.  
JWST 268.  Cultural Trends in Post-Communist Central Europe: Search for Identity, Importance of Jewish Voices.  3 Credits.  

We will study how contemporary literary and cinematic works of Central European intellectuals serve as reflections on the everyday life of this region. Readings and class discussions in English. Films with English subtitles.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GSLL 268.  
JWST 269.  Springtime for Hitler: Jews on Stage from Shakespeare to Mel Brooks.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the roles and representations of Jews in the world of the theater from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice to the present, considering dramas, operas, musicals, film adaptations, and films. Readings and discussions in English.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, CI, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GSLL 269, CMPL 269.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 274.  Representing the Holocaust: Mediating Trauma in Art and Theory.  3 Credits.  

This course will explore artistic mediations of the Holocaust in literature, film, and beyond. It focuses on questions of representation, authenticity, appropriateness and uniqueness, the role of memory, the problems and limits of language in articulating the Shoah, and issues of trauma and justice. Readings and class discussions in English. Previously offered as GSLL 274.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-KNOWING.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GERM 274.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 289.  Jewish American Literature and Culture.  3 Credits.  

This course examines Jewish American literary works in various genres from the nineteenth century to the present day. Together, we will interpret and critique the aesthetic and moral "worldview" of each work while simultaneously situating these works in the historical and cultural contexts in which they were created.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: AMST 289, ENGL 289.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 305.  Advanced Composition and Conversation: Immigration, Ethnicities, and Religious Traditions.  3 Credits.  

Third year of instruction in modern Hebrew with an emphasis on Israeli culture, literature, and media. Students will immerse themselves in language communication while exploring authentic materials that showcase the experience of immigration to Israel.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Requisites: Prerequisite, HEBR 204.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HEBR 305.  
Global Language: Level 5.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 306.  Advanced Composition and Conversation: Zionism and the Hebrew Language.  3 Credits.  

Third year of instruction in modern Hebrew with an emphasis on Israeli culture, literature, and media. Students will engage in language communication while exploring authentic materials that showcase the history of Zionism, the Hebrew language, and immigration.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING.
Requisites: Prerequisite, HEBR 204.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HEBR 306.  
Global Language: Level 6.  
JWST 308.  The Renaissance and the Jews.  3 Credits.  

The Renaissance (1300-1600) is known as a time of great artistic, scientific, and political renewal. But did Jews, the only religious minority in Europe, get an opportunity to benefit from and participate in that progress? This class studies the history of the Jews at a time of great cultural change.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 308.  
JWST 311.  Ghettos and Shtetls? Urban Life in East European Jewish History.  3 Credits.  

The migration of Jewish populations from small towns to large cities in Eastern Europe altered notions of Jewish community, space, cultures, and identities. This course will explore the roles of ghetto and shtetl in both history and memory of the Jewish past, drawing on memoirs, literature, film, and photography. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 311.  
JWST 330.  Jesus and the Jews: From the Bible to the Big Screen.  3 Credits.  

This class will study the history of the claim that the Jews are responsible for Christ's death. Students will examine the power of this idea to travel through time and space and discuss how it is portrayed differently and with different purposes throughout history. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 330.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 343.  Religion in Modern Israel.  3 Credits.  

The relation between religious communities, their hopes and their agendas to the culture, politics, and law of the country has been a central feature of the Israeli state from its inception. Religious faiths, agendas, and affiliations have affected the character of the country, as well as its relationships with groups and governments around the globe.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 343.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 358.  Religion and Tradition in Israeli Cinema, TV, and Literature.  3 Credits.  

This research-intensive course focuses on the ways religion and religious practices are represented in Israeli literature and media. The greater part of the semester will explore the variety of religious traditions in Israel within the framework of Zionist thought, gender and sexuality issues, and ethnic differences.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 358.  
JWST 360.  The Jewish Writer in American Life.  3 Credits.  

This course will investigate, through literature, film, and song, the encounter of Eastern European Jews and their descendants with Anglo-Protestant America over four generations.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, NA, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
JWST 390.  Special Topics in Jewish Studies.  1 Credits.  

Subject matter will vary with instructor but will always be focused on a particular problem or issue. Course description is available from the departmental office.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit; may be repeated in the same term for different topics; 4 total credits. 4 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  

Advanced Undergraduate and Graduate-level Courses

JWST 412.  From Communism to Capitalism: 20th- and 21st-Century Polish Literature and Culture.  3 Credits.  

An overview of the literary and cultural movements in 20th and 21st century Poland as they relate to major historical changes of the century (World War I and World War II, Communism, Post-communism, accession to the European Union). All readings and discussions in English; readings available in Polish for qualified students.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: PLSH 412.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 420.  Post-Holocaust Ethics and Theology.  3 Credits.  

This course examines the challenges posed to ethics and theology by the Holocaust. We will address philosophical and moral issues such as the problem of evil, divine omniscience, omnipotence, suffering, theodicy, representation, testimony, and an ethics of memory. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER or FC-VALUES.
Making Connections Gen Ed: PH, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 420.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 425.  Beyond Hostilities: Israeli-Palestinian Exchanges and Partnerships in Film, Literature, and Music.  3 Credits.  

Focuses on the various collaborations, exchanges, and mutual enrichment between Israelis and Palestinians in the realm of culture, particularly literature and cinema. These connections include language (Israeli Jewish authors writing in Arabic and Palestinian writers who choose Hebrew as their language of expression), collaborating in filmmaking, and joint educational initiatives.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 425, PWAD 425.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 436.  Language, Exile, and Homeland in Zionist Thought and Practice.  3 Credits.  

Employing Zionist and post- and anti-Zionist documents, treatises, and mostly literary and cinematic texts, this class will focus on the relations between language, Jewish-Israeli identity, and the notion of homeland. Previously offered as HEBR 436.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 436.  
JWST 444.  Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Judaism.  3 Credits.  

The seminar examines the developments in gender roles and in sexuality in contemporary Judaism.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: CI, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 444, WGST 448.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 462.  The Arab-Jews: Culture, Community, and Coexistence.  3 Credits.  

This course is designed to examine Jewish life in Arab lands in the last century by examining culture, language, and the communal life that the Arab-Jews shared with their neighbors.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: ASIA 462, PWAD 462.  
JWST 464.  Imagined Jews: Jewish Themes in Polish and Russian Literature.  3 Credits.  

Explores the fictional representation of Jewish life in Russia and Poland by Russian, Polish, and Jewish authors from the 19th century to the present. Taught in English; some foreign language readings for qualified students.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: SLAV 464.  
JWST 465.  Literature of Atrocity: The Gulag and the Holocaust in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.  3 Credits.  

Historical contexts and connections through artistic representation of the Holocaust and Soviet terror in Eastern Europe and the USSR. Taught in English; some foreign language readings for qualified students.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GSLL 465, PWAD 465.  
JWST 469.  Coming to America: The Slavic Immigrant Experience in Literature.  3 Credits.  

Fictional and autobiographical expressions of the Slavic and East European immigrant experience in the 20th century. Readings include Russian, Polish, Jewish, and Czech authors from early 1900s to present. Taught in English; some foreign language readings for qualified students.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: SLAV 469.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 472.  Traditions in Transition: Jewish Folklore and Ethnography.  3 Credits.  

This seminar examines Jewish stories, humor, ritual, custom, belief, architecture, dress, and food as forms of creative expression that have complex relationships to Jewish experience, representation, identity, memory, and tradition. What makes these forms of folklore Jewish, how do source communities interpret them, and how do ethnographers document them? Previously offered as FOLK 380/FOLK 505/JWST 380/JWST 505.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-KNOWING, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, EE- Field Work, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: FOLK 472.  
JWST 476.  Religion and Ethnicity.  3 Credits.  

The history of modern Eastern, East Central, and southeastern Europe has been shaped by the ethnic and religious diversity of the regions. This course examines experiences in the Russian, Habsburg, and Ottoman Empires and their successor states from the 19th century to the present day.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 476.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 480.  Russian-Soviet Jewish Culture: Lofty Dreams and Stark Realities.  3 Credits.  

This course delves into the scintillating literary, visual, musical, and cinematic culture created by Jewish universalists seeking to build their new secular identity under the aegis of the Soviet Communist experiment in the aftermath of the 1917 Bolshevik coup. Surveys the works of Isaac Babel, Eduard Bagritsky, Marc Chagall, Sergey Eisenstein, Ilya Ehrenburg, Masha Gessen, Vasily Grossman, Osip Mandelshtam, and others. Taught in English; some readings in Russian for qualified students; films with English subtitles. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RUSS 480.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 481.  Jewish Belonging/s: The Material Culture of Jewish Experience.  3 Credits.  

What makes an object "Jewish"? This seminar examines how we think about, animate, repurpose, and display "Jewish" objects in the public realm, cultural institutions, religious spaces, and the home. We consider how makers and users negotiate objects' various meanings within the domains of prayer, performance, entertainment, and exhibition. The class curates a final group exhibition of Jewish material culture based on original fieldwork.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-CREATE, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, EE- Field Work, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: FOLK 481.  
JWST 485.  From Fiddler on the Roof to the Holocaust: East European and Soviet Jewish History.  3 Credits.  

Eastern Europe was one of the largest centers of Jewish civilization from premodern times to the Second World War, giving rise to important religious, cultural, and political developments in Jewish modernity. This course examines main developments of Jewish society from the late 18th century until the aftermath of the Holocaust.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: HIST 485.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 486.  The Jewish South: Race, Region, and Religion.  3 Credits.  

This course explores ethnicity in the South and focuses on the history and culture of Jewish Southerners from their arrival in the Carolinas in the 17th century to the present day.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, CI, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: AMST 486.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 503.  Exploring the Dead Sea Scrolls.  3 Credits.  

A comprehensive introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the different Jewish groups connected with them. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-PAST or FC-VALUES, RESEARCH.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 503.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 512.  Ancient Synagogues.  3 Credits.  

This is a course on ancient synagogues in Palestine and the Diaspora from the Second Temple period to the seventh century CE.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-PAST, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP, BN, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 512, CLAR 512.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 533.  Women, Gender, and Judaism.  3 Credits.  

This course examines historical developments in the study of women and gender in Judaism. We will discuss efforts to challenge and revitalize Jewish tradition through the lens of gender theory and other critical interpretive approaches. Topics to be addressed include biblical interpretation, Jewish law, feminist Jewish theology and liturgy, the renewal of ritual, the rabbinic ordination of women, gender identity, race, sexuality, queer, trans, and non-binary approaches, and representations of these themes in various media.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER, RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, CI.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 533, WGST 533.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 556.  Language Remains: Exploring the German-Jewish Dialogue.  3 Credits.  

This course explores German-Jewish writing before and after the Holocaust, focusing on the social and political position of Jews as a minority in German-speaking countries and how those are manifest in their writing and relation to the German language. Previously offered as GERM 466/JWST 466.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, NA.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: GERM 556.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoJWST 602.  What Is Scripture? Formations of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Canon.  3 Credits.  

The course traces the past and continued canonical processes that define what the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament has been and is today, with a focus on the history of biblical interpretation.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-AESTH or FC-PAST.
Making Connections Gen Ed: LA, WB.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: RELI 602.  
JWST 640.  Topics in Hispanic Jewish Studies.  3 Credits.  

This seminar examines selected topics in modern Hispanic Jewish culture, focusing on literature and film. Possible thematic approaches include identity, diaspora, migration, memory, statehood, life writing, and interreligious relations.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Prerequisites, SPAN 371 and 373; permission from the instructor for students lacking the prerequisite.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit; may be repeated in the same term for different topics; 9 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: SPAN 640.  
JWST 697.  Capstone Course: Themes and Methodologies in Jewish Studies.  3 Credits.  

Required of majors and minors in religious studies with a concentration in Jewish studies; interested non-majors and graduate students may also enroll. Concentrating on a different theme each year, and taught by instructors affiliated with the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, the course offers intensive grounding in key areas of and approaches to Jewish studies. Combines exploration of broad topics with scholarly rigor and specificity.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: CI.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 2 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  

Department of Religious Studies

Visit Program Website

125 Carolina Hall, CB# 3225

(919) 962-5666

Chair

Barbara Ambros

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Brandon Bayne

bayne@unc.edu

Student Services Manager, Registrar

Myra Quick

quick@unc.edu