Religious Studies Courses

MWF 11:00 - 11:50

An introduction to the major traditions originating in West Asia, including, but not limited to, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

MWF 9:00 - 9:50

This introductory course is designed to acquaint students with some of the Eastern Religious Traditions (including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and New Religious Movements) and to introduce them to some of the methods and theories utilized in the academic study of religion.

TR 15:30 - 16:50

Topic: Religion, Music, & the Senses

This course examines religious thought, practice, and experience through sensory engagements with focus on music and other sonic arts. In religious contexts, experiences of hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and touching serve as crucial pathways towards connection with divine and spiritual realms and the receipt of blessings and knowledge.

TR 14:00-15:20

Religious Studies 202 offers an introduction to the books of the Hebrew Bible and related textual traditions. This course will examine their historical and cultural contexts, explore issues of interpretation and translations, and consider their significance for Jews, Christians, and others today.

TR 11:00 - 11:20

This course offers a survey of the Christian traditions in historical contexts.

TR 9:30 - 10:50

With more than one billion followers, Hinduism holds the third largest religious population in the world. Popular media, however, rarely provides an accurate representation. This course traces the evolution of Hinduism(s) from its ancient roots into the present through its religious practices, beliefs, doctrines, and tests.

MWF 14:00 - 16:50

This course explores the categories of witchcraft and the occult from a socio-historical perspective. What types of ideas and human productions are associated with witchcraft, and how do these activities fit within their broader historical, social, and cultural contexts?

TR 12:30 - 13:50

Many of us living or studying in North America have common sense understanding of what “religion” means. Some have more personal senses of what it means to us, in our own lives. In keeping with many investigations in religious studies and related disciplines, this course aims as much to defamiliarize our senses or religion as to familiarize students with diverse approaches to the academic study of religion.

MWF 12:00 - 12:50

Topic: Evil, Monsters, and Religion

This course is designed to be a critical analysis of the conceptions of Evil and Monsters within the context of academic study. Throughout the course, we will look at the various perspectives on even and monsters with the purpose of examining the socio/historical/religious discourses driving them.

TR 15:30 - 16:50

This course surveys the variety of religious expressions found in the Americas, the MENA region, and Europe. It introduces the academic study of religion before exploring the ideas, practices, and key figures of indigenous traditions, religions of antiquity, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and new religious movements.

 MWF 12:00 - 12:50

This introductory course is designed to acquaint students with some of the Eastern Religious Traditions (including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and New Religious Movements) and to introduce them to some of the methods and theories utilized in the academic study of religion.

MWF 11:00-11:50

Topic: What is Religion?

This course will introduce students to the academic study of religion. It will also cover and examine various methods and theories utilized within the study of religion. Topics and themes such as definition, ritual, myth, experience, etc. will be analyzed.

TR 11:00 - 12:20

An introduction to the varied world of Judaism: its ways of life, beliefs, history and thought.

TR 12:30-13:50

This course examines the historical development of Buddhism from its origins in South Asia in the sixth to fifth century BCE, through the transmission of the teachings and practices to East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Tibet, to contemporary transformations of the tradition in the modern West.

TR 14:00 - 15:20

Topic: Muslims, Jews, and Christians

LEC B01: MWF 9:00 - 9:50

LEC B02: MWF 13:00 - 13:50

This course explores the categories of witchcraft and the occult from a socio-historical perspective. What types of ideas and human productions are associated with witchcraft, and how do these activities fit within their broader historical, social, and cultural contexts?

TR 9:30-10:50

The history and contents of the Qur;an, including a critical comparison of the Qur’an and biblical literature.

MWF 10:00 - 10:50

Even if you’ve not attended a Yoga class, you certainly know someone who has. Yoga has become a global phenomenon. How did Yoga transition from its classical South Asian iterations to become today’s most mainstream form of popular spirituality and wellness? What exactly is Yoga anyhow? This course explores such questions and more by tracing the development of modern Yoga and its complex entanglements with embodied wellness practices, New Age Spiritualities, and commodification.