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Jewish History Since 1492

RLST/JWST/HIST 1828-001| 3.0
Hilary Kalisman, �Ѱ¹���9:05–9:55, KETCH 1B87��

Surveys the major historical developments encountered by Jewish communities beginning with the Spanish Expulsion in 1492 up until the present day. Studies the various ways in which Jews across the modern world engaged with the emerging notions of nationality, equality and citizenship, as well as with new ideologies such as liberalism, socialism, nationalism, imperialism and antisemitism.

Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective

Global History of Holocaust and Genocide

RLST/JWST/HIST��1830-001��| 3.0
Thomas Pegelow Kaplan,��TTH 12:30–1:45, ATLAS 100

Examines the interplay of politics, culture, psychology and sociology to try to understand why the great philosopher Isaiah Berlin called the 20th century, "The most terrible century in Western history." Our focus will be on the Holocaust as the event that defined the concept of genocide, but we will locate this event that has come to define the 20th century within ideas such as racism, imperialism, violence, and most important, the dehumanization of individuals in the modern world.

A&S Core: Historical Context
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity–Global Perspective��

Introduction to the New Testament

RLST/JWST 1910-001 | 3.0
Celene Lillie, MWF 10:10-11:00,��LBB 155

We often think of the history of the New Testament as the history of Christianity, but it is really a history that lies at the crossroads of ancient Israel and the Roman Empire. In this class, we will explore the earliest scriptures of what eventually became Christianity in the context of their Jewish and Roman imperial roots through close readings and comparative readings of primary texts as well as secondary readings from a variety of interpretational viewpoints. Emphasis will be placed on New Testament themes, textual diversity, and interpretational questions and issues that are relevant for the engagement with and interpretation of the New Testament in the 21st century.

Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities

Religion, Ethics and Politics

RLST 2400-001 | 3.0
Elias Sacks, TTH��12:30-1:45, HUMN 135

What role does religion play in contemporary society?����What do religious traditions have to say about contemporary ethical, social, and political issues, and how have these traditions themselves been transformed in light of changing circumstances?����What place does religion have in a diverse society, and how should religious and secular voices interact in discussions about ethics and public policy?����This course will explore such questions, focusing on the contemporary United States.����We will examine a wide range of voices drawn from Christianity, Judaism, and other traditions, considering diverse roles played by religion in ongoing debates about issues such as same-sex marriage, climate change, war, criminal justice, torture, race, sexual ethics, abortion, immigration, and economic justice.����We will devote special attention to the relationship between religious and secular perspectives, as well as to ways in which communities reimagine, debate, and struggle with the meaning of ancient sources and rituals in the modern world.

A&S Core: Contemporary Societies
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities��

Religions in the United States

RLST 2500-001 | 3.0
Deborah Whitehead, MW 1:25–2:15 (*Note you must also sign up for a recitation section.) LBB 220

This course will introduce students to the historical and contemporary study of religions in the United States.�� Along the way we will encounter many of the key religious traditions, movements, and figures that have shaped American religious belief and practice. In addition, the course will consider such questions as:�� What major cultural forces shape and have shaped religions in America?�� How have Americans of different faiths and nationalities encountered, interacted, argued, clashed and cooperated with one another? Have they seen America as a promised land or place of refuge—or as a place of conflict and suffering? What are some ways that religious Americans think about faith, spirituality, religious diversity and church and state? Ultimately, how does the academic study of religion shed light on what it means to be an “American” or a religious American?

A&S Core: United States Context
A&S Core: Ideals & Values
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Arts & Hum: Lit & Humanities

Native American and Indigenous Religious Traditions

RLST 2700-010 / ETHN 2703-010 | 3.0��
Natalie Avalos, MW 10:10–11:00 (*Note you must also sign up for a recitation section.) EKEL E1B20

Studies the religious lifeways of diverse Indigenous peoples in North America. The course considers how these religious lifeways facilitate healing, movements of social protest, and efforts for self-determination in response to ongoing forms of colonialism. Students will critically explore the impact of colonial structures on Native American religious traditions, such as missionization, and evaluate the meaning of decolonization as both a pathway and goal supporting Native liberation.

A&S Core: Human Diversity
A&S Core: Ideals & Values
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Arts & Hum: Lit & Humanities

Women and Religion

RLST/WGST 2800-001 | 3.0��
Celene Lillie, MWF 11:15–12:05, RAM N1B23

What is a woman? What is religion? How does the answer to one inform the answer to the other? In this course, we will begin by exploring theoretical texts as well as a range of literature from ancient Greek and Roman mythology to first and second century Jewish and Christian writings to think about modern Western notions of woman/gender and religion. We will then look at contemporary writings in a number of religious traditions, and engage with traditions including Islam, Judaism, Indigenous traditions, Chicana spirituality, African American traditions, Buddhism, and Hinduism to think about a range of questions at the intersection of women and religion.

A&S Core: Human Diversity
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Arts & Hum: Lit & Humanities

The Quran

RLST 3040-001��| 3.0��
Aun Hasan Ali, MWF��10:10-11:00, HUMN 1B90

What is the Quran? Muslims and non-Muslims alike often think of the Quran as a book, one that people can read, in Arabic or in translation, to understand Islam. While there is certainly some truth to that, this course will introduce students to other, arguably more important, aspects of the Quran. To be sure, students will also read the Quran, learn about its history, and see how it is connected to modern debates. At another level, this course introduces students to different modes of inquiry that underlie the field of Religious Studies. The idea is for students to get a taste for what is involved in the academic study of religion and to learn how to evaluate different kinds of evidence. At a third level, this course gives you an opportunity to apply what you learn to address topical issues.

Asia Content
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity–Global Perspective��

Jerusalem: The Holy City in History, Legend, and Religious Thought

RLST/JWST 3150-001 | 3.0
Sam Boyd, MWF 9:05–9:55, LBB 155

The history of Jerusalem and the stories that have given it prominence in the religious imagination continue to shape much of the world in which we live. In this class, we will survey approximately three millennia of the history of the city. We will ask methodological questions, such as: What does it mean for a place to be conceived of as holy? How does this perceived holiness come about? What happens when holy places are destroyed and rebuilt? We will examine the biblical stories about Jerusalem not only as important sources themselves, but also for how they shape later religious traditions, specifically Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As such, we will address what it means for the same place to be perceived as “holy” by differing, and often competing, groups. These contestations regarding Jerusalem will, then, allow us to engage issues of religious diversity and conflict both historically and in the present.

Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities

Yoga, Castes and Magic: Hindu Society and Spirituality

RLST 3200-001 | 3.0
Loriliai Biernacki, TTH 2:00–3:15, HUMN 1B90

This course addresses the practices of magic and yoga and religious asceticism in the context of spirituality and power in Hinduism in India from ancient times through the modern period. How do spiritual practices in India change social roles and expectations? And how do religion, magic and mysticism talk about the attainment of both happiness and enlightenment? This course will examine this in the context of the ways that spiritual practices in the quest for happiness have contributed to subverting dominant orders of power. This course will also probe the ideas and practices contributing to yoga and mysticism, particularly as they reference practices for strengthening the mind and body through different forms of yoga.

Asia Content
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities

Tibetan Buddhism

RLST 3550-001��| 3.0
Dan Hirshberg TTH��9:30-10:45, LBB 155

This course explores Tibetan Buddhist theories and practices of dying and death to survey its diverse contemplative techniques, philosophical principles, and ultimate objective of total liberation from suffering. With its elaborate descriptions of the experience of death, the so-called Tibetan Book of the Dead has been an object of Western fascination for a century––but we will survey its complete form, not only as a manual for dying but for living, while placing it within its historical, textual, and literary contexts as a religious scripture and ritual liturgy. Assigned readings will include primary texts in translation, commentaries by classical and contemporary lineage holders, and secondary analyses.
We will also investigate the range of death rites, signs of accomplishment, and rebirth options in Tibetan Buddhism, from “sky burial” to mummification, rainbows to relics, heavens to hells, and ghosts to zombies, as well as the Tibetan reincarnation system of tulku, who are considered the “magical emanation bodies” of buddhas.

Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities��

Topics in Religious Studies: Dreams: Divination, Healing, and Prophecy

RLST/JWST 3820-001��| 3.0
Celene Lillie, MWF��12:20–1:10, LBB 155

What is a dream? What work do dreams do? In this course we will explore the role of dreams in a variety of ancient contexts—​from Greek to Roman, Jewish to Christian—to investigate the intersections between dreaming, divination, healing, prophecy, and the divine.

Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities

Senior Seminar

RLST 4830-001��| 3.0
Deborah Whitehead, M��3:35-6:05, HUMN 270

Does it make sense to believe in God, and should believing or not believing in God make a difference for how individuals lead their lives?����This course will explore diverse responses to these questions, examining debates surrounding the existence and nature of a higher power in ancient, medieval, and modern sources.����We will devote special attention to topics such as the problem of evil and undeserved suffering, the nature of revelation and religious experience, and the ethical and political significance of religious convictions, considering issues such as the possibility of belief in God in the wake of events such as the Holocaust, the relationship between scientific knowledge and diverse types of religious commitments, and the implications of belief in God for debates surrounding topics such as torture, sexuality, and poverty.����

Seminar: Topics in Hinduism: Gandhi and Meditation

RLST 4200/5200-001��| 3.0
Loriliai Biernacki, T��3:30-6:00, HUMN 270

Gandhi accomplished something in the 20th century that had never been done before. He overthrew the greatest, most expansive empire the world had ever seen with a “bloodless revolution.” His method of social,��political engagement, what he termed “satyagraha,” –��“hanging on to truth” has forever changed��the way we think about how ordinary citizens can change the course of a nation. His methods offered a way for marginalized groups of people, those without power, on the outside, to help shape the life of a nation.�� Many others have followed in his path, using his methods,��including Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, the student activists protesting the Parkland shooting. This course looks at how Gandhi himself understood his method of “hanging on to truth.” We will look at how Gandhi connected his belief system to his social activism, and especially we will look at how Gandhi articulated his social goals in light of spiritual concerns, the use of spiritual techniques like meditation, and his idea of religion.

Asia Content
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities

Seminar: Is God Dead?

RLST/JWST 4180/5180��| 3.0
Elias Sacks, Th��3:30-6:00, HUMN 270

Explores debates about the following questions: does it make sense to believe in God? Should believing or not believing in God make a difference for how individuals behave? Examining ancient and modern views on the existence and nature of a higher power, this course considers topics including evil and suffering, religion and science and religion's role in politics.

Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities

Seminar: Topics in Islam: Sufism/Mysticism

RLST 4610/5610-001��| 3.0
Aun Hasan Ali, W��3:35-6:05, HUMN 270

In this course, students will explore the major themes of Islamic Mysticism or Sufism. The instructor will lead students in a close reading of a modern guide to “enlightenment” as it is understood in Islamic spiritual traditions. Additionally, students will learn about the historical development of Sufi ideas, institutions, and practices. Finally, students will analyze the expression of Sufi themes in poetry and music. The course does not presume any background in Sufism or Islam.

Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities