Courses

• CAS RN 332: Foundations of Jewish Politics
  A foundational course for the study of Jewish political history. Students gain a broad understanding of central aspects of the "Jewish political tradition" from biblical times until today -- in Europe, the Americas, and the modern Middle East. Also offered as CAS HI 388.
• CAS RN 334: 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.
• CAS RN 336: The Heretical Jew
  Explores heresy in the Jewish context, both in the classic sense and as a category evolving in the secular world. Topics include biblical and rabbinic heretics, early modern and Enlightenment philosophy, post- Holocaust theology, and feminist and gay/lesbian challenges to normative Judaism. Also offered as CAS XL 356.
• CAS RN 337: Gender and Judaism
  Jewish monotheism examined from the perspectives of gender theory, feminism, and homoeroticism. Themes include religion and gender, women and homosexuals as "other" in Jewish and Christian thought, difficult traditional texts and their reappropriation, issues in contemporary spirituality.
• CAS RN 338: Mysticism and Philosophy: Medieval Jewish Perspectives
  Thematic introduction to mysticism and philosophy, with a focus on dynamics of religious experience. Readings from medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, Biblical interpretation, Sufi-inspired mysticism, poetry from the Golden Age of Muslim Spain. Attention to interactions with Islamic philosophy and mysticism.
• CAS RN 339: The Modern Jew
  Explores Jewish modernity through attitudes toward place (migration, diaspora, land of Israel) and history (utopian, pragmatic, secular, religious), as well as individual and collective modes of Jewish self- expression, including literature, art, music, and film. Credit toward minor in Jewish Studies and major/minor in Religion.
• CAS RN 340: The Quran
  The emergence of the Quran as a major religious text, its structure and literary features, and its principal themes and places within the religious and intellectual life of the Muslim community.
• CAS RN 341: 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 postclassical Islam.
• CAS RN 345: Islamic Law
  A survey of major trends in Islamic jurisprudence from the seventh century to the present; the structure of Islamic law, its regulative principles, its place in Islamic society, and the mechanisms by which it is elaborated and applied.
• CAS RN 348: Rumi and Persian Sufi Poetry
  Introduction to the Persian Sufi poet Rumi's narrative and lyric writings. Beginning with an introduction to Islamic mysticism, studies the innovative aspects of Rumi's poetry and the problem of profane vs. sacred love. All readings in English translation. Also offered as CAS LZ 281.
• 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 361: Confucian Religion
  Religious aspects of Confucianism, with attention to the Analects. Topics include ceremony, song and poetry, morality and sagehood, ancestral sacrifice; establishment of Confucianism as state religion; role of women; and modernity. Also offered as CAS LC 280.
• 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 368: American Evangelicalism
  Major trends in American Evangelicalism, from the colonial awakenings and religious reform to the contemporary Christian Right. Focus on how evangelicals have negotiated and shaped central tenets of American culture, including understandings of gender, race, performance, nation, sexuality, and economics. Also offered as CAS HI 294.
• 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 382: History of Religion in Pre-Colonial Africa
  The study of the development of religious traditions in Africa during the period prior to European colonialism. An emphasis on both indigenous religions and the growth and spread of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the continent as a whole. Also offered as CAS AA 382 and CAS HI 349.
• 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 385: Representations of the Holocaust in Literature and Film
  Questions of representation in literature and film about the Holocaust, including testimonial and fictive works by Wiesel and Levi, Ozick, and others; films include documentaries and feature films. Discussions of the Holocaust as historical reality, metaphor, and generative force in literature. Also offered as CAS XL 281.
• 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 390: Archaeology in the Holy Land
  In Israel, archaeology is part of current events. The study of remains from the Israelite to the Muslim conquests (c. 1200 BCE -- 640 CE) to learn how material evidence created and still plays a role in a larger historical drama. Also offered as CAS AR 342.

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