- Department of Religion Graduate-Level offerings
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Stretch Your Dollars and save.
----> Beyond Coursework but Continuing Study...click here for STH Directed
Study Numbers for Spring 2010.
- Boston Theological Institute (BTI) Courses
Through the BTI, DRTS students may also register for courses at Andover-Newton Theological School, Boston College, Harvard Divinity School, Gordon-Conwell School of Theology, St. John's Seminary, and Weston School of Theology. All DRTS PhD students have access to member libraries.
---->BTI Registration Instructions for BU DRTS Students, click here.
- Religion related courses through BU School of Medicine's Medical Anthropology & Cross Cultural Practices MA Program.
(Upper-Level only, click here to for Undergraduate course listings)
CAS RN 524/STH TX 826 Topics in Religion and Literature
Two topics are offered Spring 2010. Students may take one or both for credit. Topic for Section A1: Epic and Empire. Investigates the relationship between politics, religion, and ideology in the epic traditions of Gilgamesh, the Ramayana, and the Mahabharata. Attends not only to the formation of these epics but also to their contemporary significance. Topic for Section B1: What defines Jewish literature? Study, attentive to social contexts, of works written in Hebrew, English, Yiddish, and German from the seventeenth century to today. Various genres: autobiography, novel, short fiction, and parable. Writers include Glückel, Peretz, Agnon, Kafka, Bellow, Oz. (Readings in English translation; original languages optional.) Also offered as CAS XL 560.
Hudson, Gillman. 4 cr.
CAS RN 556 Dante: The Divine Comedy II: Purgatorio and Paradiso
Focus on the literary, philosophical, and theological ideas Dante uses to represent his experience of himself and of human nature. Bi-lingual texts. Lectures and discussions in English. Also offered as CAS LI 556.
Costa. 4 cr.
GRS RN601/ STH TT817 Varieties of Early Christianity
Surveys the many different and often competing forms of Christianity that arose and flourished in the second to the seventh century, from the "apostolic period" to the Arab conquest in the Middle East.
Lenk. 4 cr.
GRS RN622/STH TX822 History of Judaism
Major trends in postbiblical Judaism; academy and synagogue; Mishna and Talmud; Babylonian diaspora; medieval poetry, philosophy, and mysticism; codes of law; organization of the Jewish community "in exile"; land of Israel; Judaism and Islamic and Christian civilization.
Levine. 4 cr.
GRS RN623/STH TX823/STH TT854 Classical Jewish Thought
Basic human and religious issues as they have been understood within the classical Jewish framework of God, the people of Israel, and Torah: good and evil, creation, the relationship of human beings to God and to one another.
Lobel. 4 cr.
GRS RN 634/STH TX834 Dead Sea Scrolls
Examination of the ancient Hebrew documents discovered in the Judean desert. Their authorship; the theological significance of the Scrolls; their relations to Ancient Judaism and early Christianity; the controversy over their release and publication.
Klawans. 4 cr.
GRS RN663/STH TT854 Zen Buddhism
A study of Zen teachings and practices as a sect of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, as a philosophic system, and as a pattern of culture.
Michael. 4 cr.
GRS RN684/STH TX884 The Holocaust
Background of German (and European) anti-Semitism. Rise of Nazism and early oppression, initial Jewish reaction, mechanics of destruction, ghettos, camps, world response and non response, literature of the Holocaust, and religious implications.
Levine. 4 cr.
GRS RN687/STH TX887 Anthropology of Religion
Myth, ritual, and religious experience across cultures. Special attention to the problem of religious symbolism and meaning, religious conversion and revitalization, contrasts between traditional and world religions, and the relation of religious knowledge to science, magic, and ideology.
Korom. 4 cr.
GRS RN 715 Traditional African Religions in Diaspora
Chronicles the religions of the African Diaspora in transatlantic communities of African descent from the pre-colonial period to the present and examines the multiple dimensions of religion in the diverse cultural contexts influenced and transformed by African peoples.
Offley Woodbine. 4 cr.
GRS RN725/STH TX825 Topics in South Asian Religions
Specific aspects of South Asian religions within a historical or comparative/ phenomenological framework. Two topics are offered 2009/2010. Students may take one or both for credit. Spring 2010: South Asian Religions and Diaspora Studies. A survey of the diffusion of South Asian religions out of the Indian subcontinent from the nineteenth century to the present.
Korom. 4 cr.
GRS RN735/STH TX836 Women, Gender, and Islam
Investigates the way Muslim religious discourse, norms, and practices create and sustain gender and hierarchy in religious, social, and familial life. Looks at historical and contemporary challenges posed to these structures.
Ali. 4 cr.
GRS RN739/STH TX859 Jewish Bioethics
Exploration of Jewish perspectives on life, death and dying, abortion, the new reproductive technologies, organ transplantation and genetic engineering. Examination of the impact of the Nazi doctors, racial hygiene, euthanasia, and genocide on contemporary bioethics.
Grodin. 4 cr.
GRS RN 768/STH TX868 Symbol, Myth, and Rite
Historical overview of ritual behavior, the role of symbolism in the study of culture, and the narrative quality of worldview and belief. Emphasis on verbal performance and public display events in specific cultural contexts.
Seligman. 4 cr.
GRS RN 795 Humanities Approaches to Religion
Introduces major theoretical questions in the humanistic study of religion. Examines the nature and origin of religion as well as definitions and critiques of religion from comparative, historical, sociological, literary standpoints as well as postmodern and gender studies approaches.
Lehrich. 4 cr.
(Upper-Level only, click here to for Undergraduate course listings)
CAS RN504 Topics in Religion and the Visual Arts
In depth discussion of special issues in the study of religion and art. Topic changes each year. May be repeated for credit. Topic for Fall 2009: TBA.
Fetvaci. 4 cr.
CAS RN555 Dante I
A close reading of one text, Dante Aligheri's Inferno,with attention to its medieval contexts: philosophical, theological, and historical. Analysis of the poetic means by which Dante respresents both human evil and human hope. Bi-lingual text. Lectures and discussion in English.
Costa. 4 cr.
CAS RN560 The Politics of Religion, Ethnicity, and Nationalism in IR
Explores causes, consequences, and patterns of resurgent religion, ethnicity, and nationalism in post-Cold War international relations, using interdisciplinary scholarship, policy literatures, and case studies.
Rosenberger. 4 cr.
CAS RN 561 Religion & International Relations
Prereq: junior standing and consent of instructor. Explores the role of religion in contemporary international relations in the context of questions about the common core of modernity. Reviews scholarly and policy literature, and case studies, in order to elucidate religion’s intellectual and operational diversity in international relations. Prodromou. 4 cr.
CAS RN583/STH TS872 Literature & Memory V: Faith and Destruction
Prereq: junior, senior, or graduate standing. Examines the role of faith – as question, outcry, and absurdity – during and after the Holocaust. The role of faith in catalyzing resistance or causing resignation to evil, the varieties of faith, and the faith and doubt of survivors are examined. Is faith after devastation possible? How were survivors’ beliefs transformed? Is absurd faith still faith?
Wiesel. 4 cr.
GRS RN584/STH TS874 Literature & Memory VI:Biblical Choices
Prereq: junior, senior, or graduate standing. Examines some of the fateful decisions faced by biblical characters, from Adam and Eve through David. Is there a biblical theology of decision-making? What is the nature of choice and human agency in the biblical economy? Morality, narrative, and theology serve as guiding issues. Close reading of biblical and secondary texts.
Wiesel. 4 cr.
GRS RN602/STH TX864 Early Christian Women
An examination of the lives, concerns, and roles of women during the first four Christian centuries. Engages texts that present women as disciples, missionaries, ascetics, and church leaders, with attention to ancient gender constructions.
Lenk. 4 cr.
GRS RN607/STH TX811 Medieval Christianity
Explores Christian beliefs and practices in medieval Europe within and outside formal church structures. Topics include accommodation of pagan culture, constructing identity, clerical and lay piety, heterodox practice and institutional response, and encounter with non-Christian traditions.
Klepper. 4 cr.
GRS RN612/STH TX802 Buddhism in America
The transplantation and transformation of Buddhism in the United States. Time period ranges from the 18th century to the present, but the emphasis is on contemporary developments, including the new Asian immigration, Jewish Buddhism, feminization, and engaged Buddhism.
Cogan. 4 cr.
GRS RN619/STHTX876
Midrash: Classical Rabbinic Biblical Interpretation
Explores rabbinic biblical interpretation in its literary, cultural, and historical context (second to seventh centuries CE). Examines how the rabbis read the Bible, and what these interpretations tell us about Jews and Judaism in the ancient world.
Lenk. 4 cr.
GRS RN625/STH TX818 Jewish Mysticism
Analysis of the development of Jewish mysticism from the biblical to the early medieval era. Emphasis on the forms of mysticism--and the texts in which they are embedded--
from the rabbinic era. No knowledge of Hebrew is required.
Katz. 4 cr.
GRS RN641/STH TX844 Islamic Mysticism: Sufism
Rise and development of the mystical movement in early Islam; analysis of the thought of leading Sufi brotherhoods, their organization, liturgy, and religious life; the impact of Sufism on classical and post classical Islam.
Purohit. 4 cr.
GRS RN644/STH TX814 Islam & the West
Examination of religious and intellectual interaction of Islam and the West during the Middle Ages: philosophy, theology, jurisprudence, mystical thought, and ethical theory. Literary and scientific influences also considered.
Ali. 4 cr.
GRS RN664/STH TX878 Buddhist Literature
Focuses on Buddhist sutras and other literature to explore key issues of doctrine, philosophy, and praxis in the Theravada and Mahayana traditions of Buddhism. Topics include the Buddha's life, practicing the path, emptiness, and interdependence.
Michael. 4 cr.
GRS RN669/ STH TX869 Science & Christianity
Examines the relationship between science and the Christian tradition in Europe and North America since 1500. Considers the epistemological and metaphysical foundations of both science and Christian thought as they have evolved over time.
Robert. 4 cr.
GRS RN675/STH TX875 Culture, Society, & Religion in South Asia
Culture, society, and religion of South Asia. An ethnographic and historical introduction to the Indian subcontinent with a focus on the impact of religion on cultural practices and social institutions. Topics to be covered include kinship, gender, geography, linguistic diversity, ethnicity, ritual, agriculture, economics and politics, expressive tradition, colonialism and nationalism and communal violence.
Korom. 4 cr.
GRS RN684/STH TX884 The Holocaust
Background of German (and European) anti-Semitism. Rise of Nazism and early oppression, initial Jewish reaction, mechanics of destruction, ghettos, camps, world response and non response, literature of the Holocaust, and religious implications.
Katz, Levine. 4 cr.
GRS RN697 /STH TT819 Topics in Philosophy and Religion
Topic and instructor varies by semester.
Topic for Fall 2009: Religion, Science, and the Occult in the Early Modern Age.
Speight. 4 cr.
GRS RN720/STH TX879 Maimonides
A study of major aspects of the thought of Maimonides. Primary focus on the Guide of the Perplexed, with attention to its modern reception in works by Baruch Spinoza, Hermann Cohen, Leo Strauss, and others.
Zank. 4 cr.
GRS RN724/STH TT 901/STH TX 894 Core Texts and Motifs of World Religions: East
Core Texts and Motifs of WorldAn intensive seminar in primary texts and key ideas of theology and religious philosophy as developed in representative world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism. Second course in a year-long sequence. Each semester may be taken independently.
Lobel. 4 cr.
GRS RN725/STH TX825 Topics in South Asian Religions
Specific Aspects of South Asian Religions within a historical or comparative /phenomenological framework: Topic for Fall 2009: TBA.
Purohit. 4 cr.
GRS RN741/STH TX841 Hermeneutics
Analysis of literary works, ancient and modern, informed by hermeneutical theories of Heidegger, Gadamer, and Ricouer. Attention to structure and meaning of symbol, myth, narrative; religious, philosophical, and poetic discourse; problems of self, world, and the divine.
Olson. 4 cr.
GRS RN753/STH TX893 Topics in Religion and Sexuality
Topic for Fall 2009: The Body and Sexuality in Classical Religious Texts. Treats foundational primary sources in translation on sex and the body in several world religions. Consideration of differences in sources: genre, gender, modern/classical. Traditions include Greek, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Daoist.
Michael. 4 cr.
GRS RN796/STH TX877 Social Science Approaches to Religion
Introduces major theoretical questions in the social scientific study of religion. Examines approaches of Marx, Durkheim, and Freud among others.
Seligman. 4 cr.
GRS RN 798/
STH TH830 Topics in Ancient Christianity
Topic and instructor varies by semester. Topic for Fall 2009: Augustine on Sacred Violence. How did the church, within four centuries, shift from persecuted to persecutor? Consideration of this question beginning with representations of violence in the New Testament, and ending with Augustine's principled advocacy of religious coercion.
Fredriksen. 4 cr.
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