Department of Religion Courses

Linked course titles have extended descriptions. Syllabi provided where available.

Course	Title	Day	Time	Instructor	Room	Syllabus	Description
REL 100 M100	Religion,Race,&Social Justice	TuTh	09:30 AM - 10:50 AM	Gray,Biko M
REL 101 M001	Religions of the World	MW	10:35 AM - 11:30 AM	Waghorne,Joanne Punzo			Unlike many courses in the religions of the world, this course will not move week-by-week through the “major religions”–Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, etc. Rather, I argue that “Religion” does not exist apart from the lives of human beings and remains grounded in history and culture. Organized into case studies in three key geographic areas during a specific historical period, 1890-1930, when the development of new interconnections through British imperialism and easier travel compelled encounters between peoples of different religious traditions. Everywhere peoples were obliged to define themselves—what does it mean to be a Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist? In each case, you will encounter leaders and who helped to form the religious worlds we now inhabit. You will meet Swami Vivekananda who introduced yoga to Americans in 1892, and the great Egyptian Nobel Laurette whose controversial novels openly depicted the conflicted religious lives, especially involving gender and authority in a Muslim family in Egypt, and returning to Boston, a rich widow patronized Okakura, a Japanese scholar who introduced Japanese Zen and art as a conduit for spirituality. Keep in mind that these changes flowed in both directions also transforming the Anglo-American and Europeans worlds.
REL 114 M001	Bible in History/Culture/Religion	TuTh	03:30 PM - 04:25 PM	Watts,James W			The Bible contains some of the world’s most widely read literature. It has influenced music, art, literature, films, law, and politics, as well as religious traditions. This survey of Jewish and Christian scriptures pays particular attention to the function of the Torah, the Gospels, and the Bible as ancient and modern scriptures, as well as to their literary contents, their composition, and their role in the development of Western religions and cultures. We will discuss questions such as: What is a scripture? How are scriptures ritualized? What is the Torah? What is a Gospel? How does the Bible describe God? Who are its intended readers? How were biblical books written? When did biblical books become scripture? When did the Bible begin to be translated? What effects have translations had on religious communities? How do Jewish and Christian interpretations of biblical law differ? How has history raised questions about the Bible? Why have Genesis and science come into conflict? How has the Bible shaped ideas about women? How has the Bible shaped racial ideas? Where have social reform movements found support in the Bible?
REL 131 M001	Great Jewish Writers	TuTh	11:00 AM - 12:20 PM	Frieden,Kenneth B			A panorama of memorable texts written by Jewish authors—from Kohelet (Ecclesiastes, sometimes attributed to King Solomon), to Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye and beyond, including stories by Peretz, Kafka, Agnon, Wiesel, Yezierska, Paley, and Keret. Topics include narrative techniques and figurative language, shtetl life in E. Europe, modernization, love, marriage, humor, the Nazi genocide, and post-war trauma. The main focus is on European and American prose authors. In preparation for class discussions, on the evening before each session, students submit short posts on Blackboard. With about 26 assignments, this writing intensive course is a writing marathon. Immersion in texts, a particular tendency in traditional Jewish circles, may have sometimes been an escape from Jews’ experience of powerlessness in the outside world. The strategy had limitations. Zionism attempted a pragmatic solution by rejecting the Diaspora and asserting power—but creating new problems. Texts: Franz Kafka, The Complete Stories; Classic Yiddish Stories of S. Y. Abramovitsh, Sholem Aleichem, and I. L. Peretz; Elie Wiesel, Night; Aharon Appelfeld, Badenheim 1939 (short story version); Found Treasures: Stories by Yiddish Women Writers; Etgar Keret, Four Stories.
REL 135 M001	Judaism	MW	03:45 PM - 05:05 PM	Braiterman,Zachary J			Broad but selective survey of Jewish religious thought and practice from the biblical period through the modern/contemporary. Readings focus on the figure of “God,” the interpretation of “Torah,” the structure of “community” as they all morph in relation to historical change at the intersection of culture, society, and politics
REL 165 M001	Discovering Islam	MW	11:40 AM - 12:35 PM	Jouili,Jeanette S
REL 200 M001	Scriptures	MW	03:45 PM - 05:05 PM	Watts,James W			Many religious communities claim particular books as sacred texts or scriptures (though many do not). This course compares some famous scriptures, including from Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist traditions. We will read their contents and compare how religious communities use scriptures in rituals and personal devotions. This course therefore covers some of the literary contents and forms of scriptures, and also their cultural performances and social impacts. We will discuss questions such as: What are scriptures? What kinds of subjects do they address? What functions do they serve? How do communities ritualize scriptures? Why are there disagreements over translating scriptures? Can oral traditions be scriptures? How does singing change scriptures? How did printing change scriptures? How do movies change scriptures? How have digital texts changed scriptures?
REL 200 M002	Religion and White Supremacy	TuTh	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Arnold,Philip P			Religion is implicated in the origins of “white supremacy.” This class examines how religion was deployed to justify the Western conquest and colonization of Indigenous peoples. The “Doctrine of Christian Discovery” is an idea of religious superiority over all other peoples and traditions. Continuously for over 500 years it has been the persistent justification for the taking of land, enslavement, and resource extraction. (63 words)
REL 200 M003	Selected Topics	TuTh	09:30 AM - 10:50 AM	Fisher,Gareth
REL 200 M004	Indigenous Food Cosmologies	MW	12:45 PM - 02:05 PM	Huambachano,Mariaelena
REL 244 M001	Indigenous Religions	TuTh	08:00 AM - 09:20 AM	Arnold,Philip P			Indigenous Peoples have existed for millennia and yet their ceremonial traditions are largely unappreciated, particularly when it comes to their “religious” traditions. Why is that the case? Oriented by the Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) traditions, this class looks thematically at the core values of Indigenous Peoples and the religion-historical reasons they struggle to survive.
REL 283 M001	India's Religious Worlds	MW	05:15 PM - 06:35 PM	Brahmbhatt,Arun J
REL 300 M001	Love, Dialogue, and Community in Modern Jewish Thought	TuTh	03:30 PM - 04:50 PM	Braiterman,Zachary J			Critical exploration of explore core philosophical concepts and dynamics in writings of Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig, two of the most important Jewish philosophers/philosophers of Judaism of the 20th century. Key concepts include personal experience (sex, death, relation, dialogue), social identity (community, society, politics), and religious experience (the encounter with God, the performance of ritual, textual interpretation).
REL 301 M001	Ancient Near Eastern Religions & Cultures	TuTh	12:30 PM - 01:50 PM	Watts,James W			The ancient Near/Middle East produced the oldest surviving written texts in the world, along with much art and other artifacts. They provide a window into the ways of life, rituals, beliefs, hopes, and fears of people living 2,500 to 5,000 years ago and illustrate the interplay between religion and human culture in all its various forms. This course will explore this interaction by examining the social contexts of ancient religious ideas and practices through close readings of texts from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and Israel, and through close examination of textual artifacts. We will discuss questions such as: What is humanity's place in the universe, according to these ancient texts? Why were gods described as kings and queens? Why do religions use art and music? Why does the Bible restrict art? Why did worship involve valuable offerings? What roles did women play in religion? Did goddesses conform to typical female roles? Have women's family roles changed or stayed the same? Have love songs changed in 4,000 years? Does modern politics shape how museums ancient artifacts? What distinguished good magic from bad magic? How did afterlife beliefs differ in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Israel?
REL 335 M001	Israeli Literature & Culture	MW	05:15 PM - 06:35 PM	Brown, Erella
REL 381 M001	Ghosts and Ghostbusters	MW	02:15 PM - 03:35 PM	Fisher,Gareth			Societies around the globe and throughout history have told stories about invisible things sleeping in their beds, possessing their loved ones, and terrorizing their communities, causing nightmares, illnesses, and even death. Confronted with these largely malevolent entities, certain people – from shamans and mediums to Abby Yates and Scooby-Doo – have claimed the ability to communicate with, manipulate, exorcise, or otherwise “bust” these beings away. Analyzing ethnographic studies of encounters with ghosts in societies worldwide, we will explore both key differences and striking similarities in the ways that ghosts are understood and dealt with. Among the questions we will consider in our discussions are: What do ghosts represent – social outcasts, repressed fears, or longings for an afterlife? Who are the people we call on to deal with ghosts – those with religious insights, hidden scientific understandings, the mentally ill, or charlatans adept at relieving people from their money? Why do so many cultures tell stories of ghosts, especially to their children? Why do even people in highly secular societies thirst to prove the reality of ghosts? Can ghosts be explained away – whether by physicists, psychologists, or anthropologists – or are ghosts, as most people believe, actually real?
REL 103 U800	Religion and Sports		ONLINE	Arnold,Philip P			We will explore the religious/ceremonial dimensions of sports in human culture; issues of sacred space, athletic “gifts,” civic and ethical values connected with sports, and how identity, gender, race, ethnicity are amplified through sports. Special emphasis is on Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) origins of lacrosse. (43 words)
REL 103 U801	Religion and Sports		ONLINE	Arnold,Philip P			We will explore the religious/ceremonial dimensions of sports in human culture; issues of sacred space, athletic “gifts,” civic and ethical values connected with sports, and how identity, gender, race, ethnicity are amplified through sports. Special emphasis is on Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) origins of lacrosse. (43 words)
REL 320 U700	Religion in Science Fiction	M	08:00 PM - 09:30 PM	Brett,Adam DJ
REL 600 M001	Philosophy Religion in Black	Tu	02:00 PM - 04:45 PM	Gray,Biko M
REL 600 M002	Boundaries/Thresholds in Rel	Th	12:30 PM - 03:15 PM	Brahmbhatt,Arun J
REL 601 M001	Theory/Methods in Study of Rel	W	02:15 PM - 05:00 PM	Jouili,Jeanette S
REL 621 M001	Teaching World Religions	M	02:15 PM - 05:00 PM	Waghorne,Joanne Punzo			The last time I offered this seminar was the semester of Donald Trump’s election—he was inaugurated in January. Now his policies by tweet remains laden with assumptions and attitudes that directly affect the study of religion as a field for two reasons: the changing attitudes of our students and the effects on the administration of University as they are bought more firmly into the business model—as postliberal and not a Marxist, I nevertheless can see these trends as very troubling. The biggest issue is how much did/does his election actually reflect changing dynamics of attitudes in the US. I have never known a time of such rapid swings both in the academy and in the world.