Courses

• GRS RN 690: Archaeology in the Holy Land
  In Israel, archaeology is part of current events. We study material remains from the Israelite to the Muslim conquests (c. 1200 BCE -- 640 CE) to learn how physical evidence is created and still plays a role in a larger historical drama. Also offered as GRS AR 742.
• GRS RN 692: Religious History of Boston
  The Greater Boston area contains one of the richest historical legacies in the United States. This course examines distinctive aspects of that historical legacy, by focusing upon the religious history of Boston. Includes required visits to specific Boston area historical sites.
• GRS RN 697: Topics in Philosophy and Religion
  Topic for Fall 2017: Love and Hate. Designed to run side by side with the Institute for Philosophy and Religion's fall lecture series on the topic of "Love and Hate" in the philosophy of religion. What is the role of love in living a good life? Are there different kinds of love? What are the proper objects of love? What happens when love goes wrong? These questions, and others like them, are examined in a wide range of texts drawn from the religious, philosophical, and literary traditions of Asia and the West. Also offered as GRS PH 656.
• GRS RN 710: Religion, Community, and Culture in Medieval Spain
  Interactions between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in medieval Europe's most religiously diverse region -- from the establishment of an Islamic al-Andalus in 711 CE to the final Christian "reconquest" of the peninsula and expulsion of the Jews in 1492 CE. Also offered as GRS HI 710.
• GRS RN 723: Core Texts and Motifs of World Religions: West
  An intensive seminar in primary texts and key ideas of theology and religious philosophy as developed in representative world religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. First course in a year-long sequence. Each semester may be taken independently. Also offered as STH TT 901.
• GRS RN 724: Core Texts and Motifs of World Religions: East
  An intensive seminar in primary texts and key ideas of theology and religious philosophy as developed in representative world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism. Second course in a year-long sequence. Each semester may be taken independently. Also offered as STH TT 902.
• GRS RN 727: Topics in American Religion
  Topic for Spring 2017: Religion and Sexuality. Religion and sexuality in modern U.S. Reading queer theory alongside religious and secular cases. Topics include religious protest and AIDS activism; formation of bodies and identities; sexual regulation; camp; gay rights; visual art; pornography; and race.
• GRS RN 735: Women, Gender,and Islam
  Investigates the way Muslim religious discourse, norms, and practices create and sustain gender and hierarchy in religious, social, and familial life. Looks at historical and contemporary challenges posed to these structures.
• GRS RN 739: Jewish Bioethics
  Exploration of Jewish perspectives on life, death and dying, abortion, the new reproductive technologies, organ transplantation and genetic engineering. Examination of the impact of the Nazi doctors, racial hygiene, euthanasia, and genocide on contemporary bioethics.
• GRS RN 752: Topics in Religious Thought
  Topics vary from year to year. Topic for Fall 2016: Mysticism: East and West. What is mysticism? In this interactive seminar, we engage in close reading and analysis of texts describing direct communion with a divine or absolute reality. Texts drawn from Chinese, Indian, Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and Neoplatonic traditions.
• GRS RN 753: Topics in Religion and Sexuality
  Topic for Spring 2017: Gender, Sexuality, and Buddhism. Examines conceptions of gender, sexuality, the body, and the family in Buddhism. We look at primary sources from different Buddhist cultures from a broad range of time periods. No previous knowledge of Buddhism required.
• GRS RN 754: Sexuality and Religion in the U.S.
  Religion and sexuality in the U.S., including theoretical and historical approaches to religious and sexual desire, identity, ritual, and regulation. Possible topics include religious and sexual freedom, plural marriage, the Sexual Revolution, reproductive justice, sex and secularism, and LGBTQ rights.
• GRS RN 759: Primo Levi and Holocaust Literature
  A study of Primo Levi's writings and scientific, theological, and philosophical approaches to the Holocaust. Other theorists (Arendt, Wiesel, Muller--Hill) and other survivors' testimonies (Delbo, Borowski, Fink) are read in conjunction with Levi's works.
• GRS RN 760: Seminar on the Holocaust
  Seminar examining ethical and religious issues raised by the Holocaust, including anti-Semitism; treatment of Jewish women; nature of the perpetrators; actions of different countries; importance of ideology; the nature and degree of Jewish resistance; post-Holocaust theology.
• GRS RN 766: Religion and the Problem of Tolerance
  Explores the religious roots of tolerance as an alternative to secular, more liberal foundations for pluralism. Grapples with the challenge of tolerance to the revealed religions and the ways different societies have met or failed to meet this challenge.
• GRS RN 768: Symbol, Myth, and Rite
  Historical overview of ritual behavior, the role of symbolism in the study of culture, and the narrative quality of worldview and belief. Emphasis on verbal performance and public display events in specific cultural contexts
• GRS RN 771: Topics in Ancient Christianity
  Topic for Spring 2017: Christianity and Islam in the First Millennium. The complex relationships between Christianity and Islam as rival imperial cultures, from their origins to the emergence of the Islamic Middle East and Christian Europe by the year 1000 CE, focusing on themes such as scripture, violence, authority, and identity.
• GRS RN 795: Humanities Approaches to Religion
  Introduces major theoretical questions in the humanistic study of religion. Examines the nature and origin of religion as well as definitions and critiques of religion from comparative, historical, sociological, literary standpoints as well as postmodern and gender studies approaches.
• GRS RN 796: Social Science Approaches to Religion
  Introduces major theoretical questions in the social scientific study of religion. Examines approaches of Marx, Durkheim, and Freud among others.
• GRS RN 797: Philosophical and Theological Approaches to Religion
  An introduction to philosophical and theological approaches to the study of religion(s) as distinct from other humanities-based and social-scientific approaches. Provides a common vocabulary for students pursuing historical, constructive, or interdisciplinary projects related to religious thought.

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