Courses

• CAS RN 200: Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Religion
  Origins and history of the academic study of religion. Different constructions of religion as an object of study and the methods that arise from them. The role of the humanities and social sciences in understanding religion's place in history and contemporary experience.
• CAS RN 201: The Hebrew Bible
  Study of the literature of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and the religious faith to which these writings bear witness within the context of the history of the ancient Israelite community. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS RN 202: From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of Christianity
  Places Jesus of Nazareth in his contemporary religious and social context of Second Temple Judaism; and accounts for the origins and growth of Christian life, belief, and spirituality up to the second century, as reflected in the writings of that period. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS RN 203: Religion and Film
  An introduction to the fundamental approaches of religion-and-film criticism as well as to the central films in the field. Explores how viewers are challenged by the film medium itself in ways that have religious and ethical implications.
• CAS RN 204: Topics in Religion and the Visual Arts
  Explores interplay between religion and art through the study of historical, contemporary examples. Topic changes each year. May be repeated for credit. Topic for Fall 2010: Buddhist Art of Asia. Study of the philosophical underpinnings, use, and social significance of select genres of Buddhist Art in India, Tibet, China, and Indonesia. Special attention to the representation of key Buddhist concepts and practices through the use of visual narrative strategies. Also offered as CAS AH 204.
• CAS RN 206: Sacred Texts in World Religions
  Introduction to world religious texts, investigating the way sacred texts express, interpret, and make possible religious experience, individual and communal. Sources may include Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. Interactive class, involving close textual reading and interpretation.
• CAS RN 210: Buddhism
  A historical introduction to the major themes of Indian Buddhist thought and practice with special attention to the development of Buddhism in Tibet.
• CAS RN 211: Chinese Religion
  A historical survey of Chinese religion. Covers ancient mythology, cosmology, shamanism, and ritual; the traditional state cult, Daoist mysticism, and immortality; Buddhist schools and Non-Confucian worldview; and sectarian movements and popular cults.
• CAS RN 212: Christianity
  Introduction to Christian thought and practice in a world context, origins to present. Topics include sin, salvation, sacramnent, sacred text, bodies and souls, community, authority and the individual, Christians and non-Christians, and the challenge of modernity.
• CAS RN 213: Hinduism
  Introduction to the Hindu tradition. Ritual and philosophy of the Vedas and Upanishads, yoga in the Bhagavad Gita, gods and goddesses in Hindu mythology, "popular" aspects of village and temple ritual, and problems of modernization and communalism in postcolonial India.
• CAS RN 214: Islam
  The rise and spread of Islam from the seventh century to the present; introduction to its central beliefs, institutions, and practices, and its impact on the religious and cultural history of Asia and Africa. Continuity and change in the modern period.
• CAS RN 215: Japanese Religion
  Introduction to Japanese religions, including Shintoism and Zen, Pure Land, and Tantric Buddhism. Focus on Zen Buddhism and its cultural expression in both geido (way of the arts) and bushdo (way of the warrior). Brief examination of the modern Japanese philosophy of religion.
• CAS RN 216: Judaism
  Systematic and historical introduction to doctrines, customs, literature, and movements of Judaism; biblical religion and literature; rabbinic life and thought; medieval mysticism and philosophy; modern movement and developments.
• CAS RN 220: Holy City: Jerusalem in Time, Space, and Imagination
  Transformation of an ordinary ancient city into the holy city of Jews, Christians, and Muslims; and development of modern Jerusalem, as shaped by British rule, Zionism, and Palestinian nationalism. Jerusalem's past, present, and meanings considered through analyses of religious and secular rhetoric.
• CAS RN 221: Moses
  From Philo to Freud, the richly varied afterlife of the biblical Moses figure, considered as an abiding preoccupation of western religions, theology, literary and visual art, and secular thought.
• CAS RN 224: Women and Religion
  Explores the roles, images, and experiences of women across a range of religious traditions. Topics key to the study of religion and gender are considered, including religious experience, the gendering of the body, and sources of religious authority.
• CAS RN 239: Religion and Science
  Examines the complex relationship between science and religion, focusing on historical episodes (e.g., the "Galileo Affair") and curent controversies (e.g., "Intelligent Design" movement's influence on school curricula, "Spirituality and Health" research, and "Ecology and Religion.")
• CAS RN 241: Topics in Religion & Evil
  Topics vary; may be repeated for credit. Topic for Fall 2011: The Devil in the World. Addresses the construction of evil beings in early Jewish and Christian literature, their manifestation in medieval and early modern experience of demons and witches, and the modern functions of demon-belief in possession and cult rumors.
• CAS RN 242: Magic, Science, and Religion
  Boundaries and relationships between magic, science, and religion from late antiquity through the European Enlightenment. Topics include transformation of pagan traditions, distinctions between learned and popular traditions, Scientific Revolution, and changing assumptions about God and Nature. Also offered as CAS HI 203.
• CAS RN 243: Shamans and Shamanism
  Shamans in global and theoretical perspectives. The origins and construction of the category of shamanism. Modern theories and debates about the category and the appropriateness of applying it cross-culturally. Also offered as CAS AN 243.

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