RELIG-ST 100      Introduction To Comparative Religion
An introduction to the major religious traditions of the world and small group or tribal religions. Emphasis on the comparative study of selected myths, rituals, types of religious specialists, and types of religious communities.
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 306      History of Christianity to the Middle Ages
This course examines the historical and theological development of Christianity from its orgins to the High Middle Ages. The main themes follow the mechanisms and conditions shaping Christianity's expansion into a major social, institutional, and intellectual force with a focus on patterns of crisis and reform. This course is based on the study of primary sources (both texts and objects) and modern scholarship. cross-listed as History 306A
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 307      History of Christianity from Middle Ages to Present
This course examines the historical and theological development of Christianity from the High Middle Ages to the present. The main themes follow the mechanisms and conditions shaping Christianity's expansion into a major social, institutional, and intellectual force with a focus on patterns of crisis and reform. This course is based on the study of primary sources (both texts and objects) and modern scholarship. cross-listed as History 307A
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 400      Special Topics In Religious Studies
Special topics in religious studies which are not offered regularly. The focus of the course varies by semester and instructor.
Credits: 1-3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 400A      Special Topics In Religious Studies
Credits: 1-3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 400B      Special Topics In Religious Studies
Credits: 1-3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 400C      Special Topics In Religious Studies
Credits: 1-3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 400D      Special Topics In Religious Studies
Credits: 1-3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 400E      Special Topics In Religious Studies
Credits: 1-3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 400F      Special Topics in Religious Studies
Credits: 1-3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 401      Religion in America
An in-depth examination of selected aspects of the history of religions in America from the colonial periods to the present. Special emphasis will be given to methodological issues in the study of American religious history.Offered: On Demand
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 402      Religion and Colonialism in Latin America
The study of selected aspects of the history of religions in the Americas. Primary focus is on the complex ways that European, Native American African religions helped to structure and negotiate the experiences and the significance of cultural contact and colonialism through lived worlds of meaning.
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 403      Vision, Dreams and Prophesies as Religious Phenomena
This course explores the ways visions, dreams, and prophesies have acquired religious significance in Western and non-Western contexts from the ancient period to the present.
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 404      Gender and Religion
Cross-cultural and comparative study of how religious groups create and transmit gender roles and expectations.
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 467      Myth And Ritual
Myth and ""ritual"" have long been fundamental categories in the study of religion. This course will briefly survey some of the major theories and approaches to the study of myth and ritual from the Enlightenment to the present. The course will not only trace the shifting meanings of ""myth"" and ""ritual"", but will critically evaluate the utility of diverse approaches to the study of religious phenomena designated by these terms. Reading will include theoretical works, as well as selected case studies.
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 484      Sacred Narratives and Texts
This course addresses the ""social lives"" of sacred narratives and texts in selected religions of the world. Areas of study include methods of exegesis in different religious traditions, orality and literacy (including the reoralization of written text), the canonization process, text as amulets, reading and meditative practices and techniques, and narratives and the arts. The course is comparative, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary in nature.
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 487      Contemporary Approaches to the Study of Religion
This course which is the second installment in a two course series, charts the historical development of religious studies as an academic discipline, paying particular attention to the models, methods and assumptions that have informed it past and present. In this course, particular emphasis will be placed upon the ways the objects and aims of religious studies have shifted from the Second World War to the present.
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 493      Sex & Religion: The Erotic & The Anti-Erotic In Comparative Persp
This course is designed to highlight issues related to the various ways in which religions of the world have integrated, embraced, or repressed one of the most basic human experiences sexual expression. NOTE: This course will be offered with RELIG-ST 5593; requirements for undergraduates will be less than for graduate students in terms of length and sophistication of the research paper. Offered: On demand
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 494RS      Death In The History Of Religions
As a biological ""fact,"" death would appear to be a human universal. Yet, human beings have imagined--and, thus experienced--the meaning of death in many diverse ways in different cultures and over time. This course explores the conceptualization and representation of death and dying, as well as the ritual activities surrounding death, found in selected religious communities. The goal is to gain insight into how people have sought to (re) create a world of meaning in the face of death and to gain a critical perspective on our own contemporary situation.
Credits: 3 hours
back to top

RELIG-ST 495RS      Time And Space In The History Of Religions
Time and space are essential components of the lived worlds of human beings, yet the cultural and historical constructions of these are remarkably diverse and, moreover, are subject to change. This course is a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, and comparative exploration of the constructions and experiences of time and space found in selected religious communities and historical periods. In addition, it investigates the pivotal role the categories of ""sacred and profane time and space"" have played in theorizing religion and in the study of religious myths and rituals in the modern period.
Credits: 3 hours
back to top