Religious Studies (including Religion)

• 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.
• GRS RN 798: Scientific Approaches to Religion
  A seminar examining interpretations of religious beliefs, behaviors, and experiences deriving from the biological, evolutionary, psychological, cognitive, neurological, and medical sciences.

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