Religion

• CAS RN 771: Topics in Ancient Christianity
  Topic for Spring 2021: The Book of Revelation: Contexts and Meanings. Close study of the Apocalypse, its historical context, imagery, and influence through modernity. Attention given to constructions of Judaism, depictions of gender, and visionary performance, while emphasizing an historical-critical approach to this ancient text. Prior coursework in New Testament preferred.
• CAS RN 790: Topics in the Materiality of Ancient Mediterranean Religions
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: prior coursework in archaeology or ancient religions, or consent of i nstructor. - Investigates material traces and contexts of religion in the Greco-Roman world, including iconic, architectural, votive, magical, and other archaeological remains; and draws on theories of space, image, and ritual performance. Topics vary. Also offered as GRS AR 735.
• CAS RN 791: Approaches to Religion I: Classical Approaches
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Admission to the GDRS PhD program, or permission of the instructor. - Surveys in roughly chronological order classic theoretical and methodological works in religious studies. Covers the history of the field, and critically analyzes the ways religion is studied and taught in modern universities.
• CAS RN 792: Approaches to Religion II: Religion and Contemporary Theory
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: Admission to the GDRS PhD program, or permission of the instructor. - Surveys contemporary theoretical and methodological works in religious studies. Topics might include the category of experience; ritual; modernism and postmodernism; sexual, racial, and cultural difference; postcolonial theory; historicism; narrative theory; gender and sexuality studies; secularism; and the politics of interpretation.
• CAS RN 793: Professional Development Seminar for Doctoral Students in Religion
  Graduate Prerequisites: Required course for all first and second year students in the GPR - Prepares Religion doctoral students for advanced research, writing, and teaching in the field. Topics include: comprehensive exams, conference presentations, syllabus design, fellowship applications, and job markets.
• CAS RN 794: Magical Texts: Literature & Practice
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: prior coursework in theory of religion (e.g., RN 200 or 242), ancient religions, or anthropology of religion recommended. - An advanced course in the interpretation of ancient magical texts that emphasizes the use of theoretical models (Malinowski, Levi-Strauss, Tambiah, J.Z. Smith, et al.) for understanding the complementary uses of sound and symbol, myth and nonsense, and forms of verbal/scribal efficacy in magic, all with attention to social context. Texts include a selection of ritual manuals, amulets, binding tablets, and mystical ascent texts from Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Christian antiquity. Effective Spring 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry I.
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  • The Individual in Community
  • Social Inquiry I