ode	Name	Description
RELG 103	Introduction to Islam	Introductory course on Islam that examines its development as a religious and social movement from its inception to the contemporary period. Focuses on understanding the historical processes that contributed to the development of Islam over time and...
RELG 105	Ninety-nine Names of God	A historical approach to the foundational concepts, events, and texts in the Islamic tradition, paying particular attention to the Quran and hadith. The Quran is the Muslim scripture and the hadith are accounts of what the prophet Muhammad said or di...
RELG 200	Symbols, Myth and Ritual	Introduction to study of religion including, but not limited to, social scientific approaches, focusing on symbols, myths, and rituals as constitutive features of individual and communal religious thought and practice.
RELG 201	The Bible As Literature	A non-confessional study of the diverse genres of Biblical literature, viewing passages in historical context to understand the multiple layers of the intended message: period about which written, the time of the writer, and the time of the recipient...
relg 203	Islam and Film	Explore how Islam and Muslims have been depicted and represented in documentaries and films, focusing on three primary themes: ritual, gender, and race.
RELG 205	Religion and Literature	Religious beliefs, practices, and institutions as expressed in literature of various traditions. May be repeated when topics change.
RELG 210	Religion and History	Investigation of the nature and limits of historical inquiry through selected historical topics, periods, and religious traditions. May be repeated when topics change.
RELG 215	Religion and the Arts	Interactions of religious beliefs and practices with the visual and performing arts in selected traditions. May be repeated when topics change.
RELG 230	The History of Israel	Israel's historical development through collaborative study of Israel's ideas and institutions within context of Ancient Near East.
RELG 240	Lost Christianities	Explores the varieties of Christianity that co-existed from Jesus' death in the middle of the first century through the end of the second century. Included in these are Jewish-Christians, Marcionites, Montanists, and Gnostics. A variety of primary te...
RELG 241	Introduction to New Testament	Survey of history of early Christianity, from Jesus and his religious background to the third century C.E. Focus on primary texts: New Testament and other early Christian literature.
RELG 242	Jesus in History and Tradition	Investigates diversity of historical sources for Jesus. Detailed attention to selected ancient documents and modern interpretations.
RELG 244	Sex and Family in the Greek and Roman Worlds	Explores intersections of gender, ethnicity, and class in selected religions, with emphasis on theoretical and empirical approaches.
RELG 250	Introduction to World Religions	Survey of major beliefs, practices, symbols, and sacred texts in selected religious traditions.
RELG 251	Sacred Arts of India	Introduction to Indian religions focusing on artistic expressions, roles of yoga and meditation in creativity, and use of images to experience the divine.
RELG 253	Body/Sex in World Religious Literature	Exploration of theoretical ideas about body and sexuality in world religious literature focusing on connection between sexuality and construction of identity in various religious perspectives.
RELG 255	Queers in Religion	Introduces the intersections of queerness and religion ranging from religious homophobia to queer religiosity in several global religions. Emphasis on fundamental questions of textual interpretation.
RELG 257	Native American Religions	Survey of selected themes in Native American religious history from prehistory through the new millennium. Will investigate development of complex religious traditions among the mound builder cultures of the southeast; rituals of trade, healing, and...
RELG 258	Medieval Religious Thought	Introduces ideas and institutions of the Latin west, from Augustine of Hippo (d. 430) to Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274). Topics may include faith and reason, the sacraments, pilgrimage, and the ethics of sex, war, and death..
RELG 262	Sacred Arts of Native America	Introduction to a variety of sacred arts of Native America and religious roles that visual and performing arts serve in Amerindian settings. Students will gain conversance with a range of artistic techniques, materials, and objects and their cultural...
RELG 267	Varieties of Christian Ethics	Historical and contemporary approaches to ethics in the Christian traditions. Authors discussed may include Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and contemporary thinkers on war, abortion, and sexuality.
RELG 269	Ethics, Religion, and the Environment	Moral and religious issues that attend our life in and interaction with the environment. Through the detailed analysis of text and argument the course seeks to provide an overview of on-going issues and to foster the ability to read and assess argume...
RELG 273	Witchcraft and Its Interpreters	Interdisciplinary exploration of witchcraft, popular magic, and demonic possession in early modern England and British North America based on original legal records and other primary sources. Special attention given to the Salem Witch-hunt and the hi...
RELG 288	Saints and Sinners in Muslim Literature	Explores the twin concepts of sainthood and sinfulness in Islamic thought and society from their early iterations to their later developments. Discusses how, when, and why the categories of Sunni, Shi'a, and Sufi developed in the Islamic tradition wh...
RELG 293	Selected Topics	Special course offered at introductory level when sufficient faculty or student interest exists in subject matter not covered in other religion courses. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
RELG 294	Selected Topics	Special course offered at introductory level when sufficient faculty or student interest exists in subject matter not covered in other religion courses. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
RELG 303	Women, Gender, Sexuality, and Islam	Explores Islam and Muslim traditions through the prisms of women, gender, and sexuality, exploring how authority and power interact with these phenomena.
RELG 305	Queer Bible	This course brings together queer theory, sexuality, and the Bible in order to explore what it means to “queer” the Bible and biblical interpretations. Readings include both biblical texts and queer and trans scholarship on the Bible. Topics may include questions of sexuality, gender identity, and queer hermeneutics, queer time, queer affect, and queer pleasure in the Bible.
RELG 307	Islam in America	Explore the history and life of Muslims and Islam in the United States. Examine the origins of Islam in America, including slavery and different waves immigration and conversion over five centuries, special attention to the 19th – 21st centuries. Our attunement of the racialization of Islam and Muslims will ground our approach to the events, concepts, institutions, and ideas that we study in this course.
RELG 331	The Hebrew Prophets	Study of prophecy which sets this phenomenon within its ancient near eastern context. Focuses on nature of prophecy and the individual prophets of pre-exilic, exilic, and post-exilic derivation, giving emphasis to the distinctive message of each era....
RELG 332	Hebrew and Christian Wisdom Literature	Development of biblical wisdom literature. Pre-biblical, Hebrew, and Christian wisdom selections.
RELG 342	Whores, Dragons, and the Anti-Christ: Revelation and the Apocalyptic Imagination	Literary analysis of a text ascribed to John of Patmos, the Book of Revelation. The apocalyptic revelation that is said to have been received by John describes Christian expectations of the end of the world as we know it, but John's is not the only a...
RELG 345	Christianity and Slavery, Ancient and Modern	Considers the impact of slaveholding culture on Christian thought and practice both in antiquity and in the Americas; also analyzes the circumstances under which individual Christians and church communities accommodated, reformed, resisted, and rejec...
RELG 347	Women in Early Christianity	Examines the representations of women in early Christianity, focusing primarily on the first four centuries of Christian history, with particular attention given to the problems of using ancient sources to determine social practice. Introduction to c...
RELG 350	The Dao of Sex	For over two thousand years, Chinese culture has developed the "art of the bedchamber" -- techniques for fostering health, longevity, and fulfillment through sexual intercourse. This course explores that tradition with a focus on the period of its or...
RELG 352	Buddhism in India & Tibet	Survey of major historical movements, philosophical developments, and cultural expressions in India and Tibet.
RELG 355	Selected Asian Religions	Intensive study of one of the following religious traditions: Daoism, Confucianism, or Zen.
RELG 358	Topics in American Religious Traditions	Focused study of a selected topic in American religious history such as the Great Awakening, Indians and missionaries, religious autobiography, or the frontier. Seminar format emphasizing the analysis of primary sources and related methodological iss...
RELG 359	American Judaism	Emphasis on role of Jewish people beginning with their entrance into New Amsterdam in 1654; major immigration periods and precipitating factors; emergence of anti-Jewish reactions; and some contributions of Jews.
RELG 366	Buddhist Philosophy	Major Buddhist philosophical developments, beginning in India and culminating in contemporary Zen philosophy.
RELG 367	Topics in Western Religious Thought	Selected issues and figures in Western Religious Thought, such as Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, 12th Century Renaissance, Religion and the Sciences, and Medieval Religious Orders. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
RELG 369	Problems in Social Ethics	Selected issues of social concern as addressed by various religious traditions in contemporary context. Such topics as sexuality, war, abortion, euthanasia, and environmentalism. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
RELG 370	Leadership and Religious Values	(See Leadership 387.)
RELG 374	Religion and the American Environment	Advanced seminar course exploring representations of the natural world in American cultural history from the era of contact through the nineteenth century. Readings consist of primary sources--landscape paintings, novels, philosophical treatises, poe...
RELG 375	Cults, Communes, and Utopias in Early America	Advanced study of early American sectarian movements, including the 'immortalists' of New England, the Ephrata Cloister, the Mormons, the Shakers, and the Oneida Community, based on their original writings, literature, music, art, and architecture. P...
RELG 385	Sufism: Introduction to Islamic Mysticism	Explores the origins and development of mystical thought within Islamic religious and intellectual history and places these developments in their appropriate historical and social contexts.
RELG 388	Individual Internship	Application of academic skills and theories in placement supervised by religious studies department faculty member. Application must be presented to and approved by the department prior to internship. No more than 1.5 units of internship in any one d...
RELG 393	Selected Topics	Special course offered when sufficient student interest exists in subject matter not covered in other religious studies courses. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
RELG 394	Selected Topics	Special course offered when sufficient student interest exists in subject matter not covered in other religious studies courses. May be repeated for credit when topics vary.
RELG 395	Independent Study	Specialized study to provide maximum freedom in research and investigation.
RELG 396	Independent Study	Specialized study to provide maximum freedom in research and investigation.
RELG 403	Honors Course	Guided, in-depth research, usually beginning in the fall of the senior year and culminating in the oral defense of the honors thesis in the spring, for those accepted in the department honors program. The honors thesis constitutes the senior paper. T...
RELG 404	Honors Course	Guided, in-depth research, usually beginning in the fall of the senior year and culminating in the oral defense of the honors thesis in the spring, for those accepted in the department honors program. The honors thesis constitutes the senior paper. T...
RELG 406	Summer Undergraduate Research	Documentation of the work of students who receive summer fellowships to conduct research [or produce a creative arts project] in the summer. The work must take place over a minimum of 6 weeks, the student must engage in the project full-time (at leas...

Religious Studies