Courses

• CAS RN 347: Islamic Theology and Philosophy
  An introduction to the most important philosophers and theologians in Islamic intellectual history, with a focus on the concepts they articulated and the movements they engendered.
• CAS RN 360: Daoist Religion
  A historical survey of the Daoist traditions in China. The philosophy of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu and Han dynasty religion. Early Daoist movements, as well as the heyday of the religion in the Six Dynasties and the Tang. Modern Daoism as it was first formed in the Tang dynasty is also discussed.
• CAS RN 362: Chinese Medicine
  A wide range of traditional Chinese health and religious practices, interpreted in light of ancient concepts of body and mind, illness and health, and the like. Techniques are discussed, as well as magical, ritual, and popular healing.
• CAS RN 363: 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.
• CAS RN 364: 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.
• CAS RN 372: Indian Philosophies of Religion
  (Meets with CAS PH 246.) Studies the co-existence of religious communities in India, with emphasis on recent history of inter-communal relations. Introduction to the philosophical and religious culture of India; examination of some of the classical Six Systems of Indian Philosophy; exploration of the development of modern ("Neo-Hindu") philosophy, with emphasis on Ghandi.
• CAS RN 375: Culture, Society, and Religion in South Asia
  Ethnographic and historical introduction to the Indian subcontinent with a focus on the impact of religion on cultural practices and social institutions.
• CAS RN 384: 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 nonresponse, literature of the Holocaust, and religious implications.
• CAS RN 387: 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.
• CAS RN 388: Oral Tradition as Verbal Art
  Exploration of religious and secular poetry worldwide with emphasis on the ethnography of communication. A focus on performance in oral tradition and its consequences for literary form, as well as the impact of mass media and literacy on orality.
• CAS RN 397: Topics in Philosophy and Religion
  Topic for Fall 2010: God, Politics, and Philosophy. From head scarves to school prayer, the intersection of religion and politics raises important philosophical questions. Course parallels Institute for Philosophy and Religion's lecture series. Also offered as CAS PH 456.
• CAS RN 401: Senior Independent Work
  
• CAS RN 402: Senior Independent Work
  
• CAS RN 412: Theology of Christian Mysticism
  A concentrated venture in philosophical theology. Lectures, reading, and discussion center on the thought, not the praxis, of selected major mystics in the Christian tradition. Overviews Greek philosophical backgrounds; closely examines Eckhart, Nicholas of Cusa, Boehme, and William Blake.
• CAS RN 413: Gender in Medieval Christian Mysticism
  Study of the Christian mystical traditions of medieval Europe, both orthodox and heretical, with particular emphasis on the role of gender and authority in mystical writing, practice, and teaching. Also offered as CAS HI 413.
• CAS RN 415: Traditional African Religions in the 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.
• CAS RN 420: 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. Also offered as CAS PH 409.
• CAS RN 425: 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. Fall 2009: Religion and Politics in South Asia. Explores the relationship between religion and politics in colonial and post-colonial South Asia through readings of primary texts as well as debates on religious reform/revival, nationalism, caste, and partition. Spring 2010: Visual Piety in South Asia. A focus on the Indic concept of darshan (auspicious sight) as a way of understanding the everyday religious lives of South Asians. An exploration of the way people in the region "see" religion, with an emphasis on Hinduism.
• CAS RN 427: Topics in American Religion
  Topic for Fall 2010: Wandering as Practice and Play. Is wandering punishment or opportunity? Virtue or vice? Might this playful practice serve as an antidote to American obsessions with efficiency, productivity, and the purpose-driven life? Possible authors: Thoreau, Twain, Kerouac, Crace, Dillard, Berry.
• CAS RN 429: Religion and Politics in South Asia
  Explores the relationship between religion and politics in pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial South Asia through readings of primary texts as well as debates on religious reform/revival, nationalism, caste, and partition.

Note that this information may change at any time.

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