Courses

• CAS PY 581: Advanced Laboratory
  Classical experiments in atomic and nuclear physics, development of new experiments, basic research projects. Experiments include magnetic resonance, nuclear-decay studies, Zeeman effect, holography, black-body radiation, X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer studies, and flux quantization, positron annihilation.
• CAS PY 681: Electronics for Scientists
  A survey of practical electronics for all science students who wish to gain a working knowledge of electronic instrumentation and, in particular, its construction. Two four-hour laboratory-lecture sessions per week.
• CAS RN 100: Introduction to Religion
  Religion matters. It makes meaning and provides structure to life, addressing fundamental questions about body, spirit, community, and time. But what is it? How does it work in our world? This course explores religion in ritual, philosophical, experiential, and ethical dimensions. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS RN 101: The Bible
  Introductory study of Jewish and Christian scriptures; connections between biblical and related ancient cultures; biblical genres (epic narrative, law, prophecy, poetry, historiography, gospels, letters, apocalypse) and their literary character, major classical and modern strategies of reading. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS RN 102: Sacred Journeys
  An introduction to the comparative study of religion through the theme of the sacred journey/religious quest in Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and popular literature. Topics include heroic, romantic, and/or mystical quests; voyages to the underworld; apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic journeys. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS RN 103: Religions of the World: Eastern
  Study of Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. Focus on the world view of each tradition and the historical development of that world view. Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS RN 104: Religions of the World: Western
  Islam, Christianity, and Judaism in historical and cultural context, origins to the present. Examines diversity of practices, belief systems, and social structures within these religions. Also addresses debates within and between communities as well as contemporary concerns.Carries humanities divisional credit in CAS.
• CAS RN 106: Death and Immortality
  Examines death as religious traditions have attempted to accept, defeat, deny, or transcend it. Do we have souls? Do they reincarnate? Other topics include cremation, ancestor worship, apocalypse, alchemy, AIDS, near-death experiences, otherworld cosmologies.
• CAS RN 111: Multireligious America
  Introduction to American religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, with an emphasis on developments after 1965, when new legislation opened up immigration and dramatically altered the American religious landscape. Exploration of interreligious interactions: conflict, cooperation, and creolization.
• 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
  Introduction to the study of the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) in translation, the history of the Israelites, and their religion as it develops into early Judaism. Additional topics include prophecy, sacrifice, exile, and the problem of evil. 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
  How do visual media influence spiritual sentiments, social prejudices, erotic boundaries, faith, and secularism? How does religion regulate the impact of film? This course considers religion on the Hollywood big screen and in video games, animation, and student cinema. Also offered as CAS CI 268.
• 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 as topics change. Topic for Fall 2015: Visual Piety. An exploration of the important role that vision plays in religious practices around the world. Theoretical readings and case studies from various cultures will serve as the primary material for the course. Also offered as CAS AH 204.
• CAS RN 206: Scriptures in World Religions
  Introduction to scriptures in world religions, investigating the ways sacred books express, interpret, and make possible religious experience.
• CAS RN 207: Topics in Religion and Literature
  May be taken for credit as topics vary. Topic for Fall 2015: Modern Jewish Writers. This course examines modern Jewish fiction with an emphasis on the historical and cultural trends that contributed to its formation. The richness of Jewish literary life is explored through a variety of short stories, graphic novels, films, and novels. Also offered as CAS EN 125 B1.
• CAS RN 209: Religion, Health, and Medicine
  How religious and moral narratives inform approaches to biomedicine from the nineteenth century to the present, including understandings of disease, illness, health, sexuality, and the body. Topics include medicine and prayer, alternative medicine, and boundaries between medicine and religion.
• 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.

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