Courses

• CAS RN 471: Topics in Ancient Christianity
  Topic for Spring 2012: Saints and Their Cults. The cult of living and dead saints was central to the development and spread of Christianity (as also Islam and Buddhism). This seminar addresses the interpretation of saints' lives, pilgrimage and ritual action at shrines, and the saint's festival.
• CAS RN 494: Magical Texts: Literature & Practice
  An advanced course in the interpretation of ancient magical texts, emphasizing the use of theoretical models (Malinowksi, Tambiah, J.Z. Smith) for understanding a selection of ritual manuals, amulets, binding tablets, and mystical ascent texts from Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Christian antiquity. Also offered as CAS CL 406 B1.
• CAS RN 499: Topics in Judaic Studies
  Topic for Spring 2013: TBA.
• CAS RN 504: Topics in Religion and the Visual Arts
  In-depth discussion of special issues in the study of religion and art. May be repeated for credit as topics change. Also offered as CAS AH 504.
• CAS RN 524: Topics in Religion and Literature
  Topic for Fall 2013: Autobiography of Minority Experiences. Autobiographical works from multiple religious and ethnic traditions that describe self-fashioning in the face of parental disapproval, immigration, diaspora, persecution, and other displacements. Authors include Antin, Singer, Joyce, Wiesel, Spiegelman, Duras, Weil, Satrapi, Kashua, Oz. Also offered as CAS XL 560.
• CAS RN 555: Dante's Hell
  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 represents both human evil and human hope. Bi-lingual text. Lectures and discussion in English. Also offered as CAS LI 555 and CAS XL 383.
• 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 and CAS XL 385.
• CAS RN 560: The Politics of Religion, Ethnicity, and Nationalism in International Relations
  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.
• CAS RN 561: Religion and International Relations
  (Meets with CAS IR 561.) 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.
• CAS RN 563: Muslim Societies: An Interdisciplinary History
  Examines the states, empires, faiths, and ideologies of the Muslim world over a 1500-year period, including states from North and West Africa, through the Middle East, to Turkey, Iran, and then to Central and Southeast Asia. Also offered as CAS AH 539, HI 596, and RN 563.
• CAS SO 100: Principles in Sociology
  An introduction to the major theories and basic principles of sociological analysis. Subjects include methods of social research and investigation; role of individuals in groups, organizations, and society; socialization and education; stratification; race and ethnicity; science, culture, and religion; formal and informal organization; and economic and political systems. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS SO 201: Sociological Methods
  Required of concentrators and minor concentrators. Scientific method, measurement, experimentation, survey research, observational methods, projective techniques, and content analysis.
• CAS SO 203: Introduction to Sociological Theories
  Required of concentrators and minor concentrators. Theoretical problems in sociology. Historical background of theories and methods of sociology; characteristics of most significant sociological systems.
• CAS SO 205: American Families
  Nature of the American family and its ethnic and class variants. Social changes affecting courtship, mate selection, sexual behavior, reproduction, marital stability, and divorce through the life cycle. Social policies affecting family life. Interrelations of family with economy, state, religion, and other institutions. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS SO 206: Introduction to the Sociology of Globalization
  A sociological introduction to globalization. Explores the roles of technology, transnational corporations, and the state. Considers globalization's impacts on the workplace, the environment, and other institutions as well as the emergence of global social movements.
• CAS SO 207: Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
  Social definition of race and ethnicity. The adjustment of different ethnic groups and their impact upon U.S. social life. How prejudice and discrimination create class identities and how caste relations have affected patterns of integration during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS. Also offered as CAS AA 207.
• CAS SO 209: Crime and Delinquency
  Analysis of criminal and delinquent behavior. Evaluation of current theories and research into causes and sociological implications of these behavior patterns. Examination of criminal justice systems, including police, courts, and corrections. Carries social sciences divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS SO 210: Confronting Persistent Social Inequalities in American Schools: Educational and Sociological Perspectives
  Examines issues of race, culture, gender, and identity in urban elementary classrooms. Course taught at the Trotter School; transportation provided. Includes a field placement.
• CAS SO 215: Sociology of Health Care
  Social, cultural, and intercultural factors in health and illness. Training and socialization of medical professionals, roots of medical power and authority, organization and operation of health care facilities. U.S. health care system and its main problems. Comparison of health care systems in the U.S. and in other countries. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS SO 225: Law and Society
  The development of law as an institution of social regulation. Analysis of law and order as pursued in enforcement agencies and courts. The education of lawyers and the ethics of legal practice. Student observations in local criminal courts. Cannot be taken for credit in addition to CAS SO 115. Carries social science divisional credit in CAS.

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