SPRING 2026
CASRN 100 Introduction to Religion | James Howard Hill, Jr.
MWF 11:15am-12:05pm
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.
HUB Units: Creativity/Innovation, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings
CASRN 102 Encountering Religion: Topics in Religious Studies | Kecia Ali
TR 12:30-1:45pm
Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or WR 120) or equivalent.
Introduces the ways religious ideas, beliefs, themes, practices, and histories shape our world in arenas as varied as popular culture and politics. Through exploration of a specific topic, students learn to think, write, and speak about religion and its effects.
HUB Units: Oral and/or Signed Communication, Writing-Intensive Course
CASRN 103 Religions of Asia | Daigengna Duoer
MWF 11:15am-12:05pm
Study of Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. Focus on the world view of each tradition and the historical development of that world view.
HUB Units: Aesthetic Exploration, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Teamwork/Collaboration
CASRN 104/CASJS 121 Judaism, Christianity, and Islam | Jonathan Klawans
MWF 12:20-1:10pm
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 controversies and concerns.
HUB Units: Aesthetic Exploration, Creativity/Innovation, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
CASRN 105 Introduction to the World’s Religions | David Frankfurter
TR 11:00am-12:15pm
Explores the symbols, beliefs, stories, and practices of the world’s religions with attention to both historical development and contemporary practices. Possible traditions include Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and African/African diaspora religions.
HUB Units: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness
CASRN 106 Death and Immortality | Michael Zank
TR 11:00am-12:15pm
Examines death as religious traditions have attempted to accept, defeat, deny, or transcend it. Do we have souls? Do they reincarnate? What to do with a corpse? Other topics include mourning, burial, cremation, martyrdom, resurrection, near-death experiences.
HUB Units: Creativity/Innovation, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings
CASRN 206 Scriptures in World Religions | Diana Lobel
MWF 1:25-2:15pm
Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120)
Introduction to scriptures in world religions, investigating the ways sacred books express, interpret, and make possible religious experience and ethical reflection.
HUB Units: Ethical Reasoning, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course
CASRN 209 Religion, Health, and Medicine | Lance Laird
TR 3:30-4:45pm
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.
HUB Units: Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, Social Inquiry I
CAS RN 239 Religion and Science | Yair Lior
MWF 1:25-2:15pm
Examines the complex relationship between science and religion, focusing on historical episodes (e.g., the “Galileo Affair”) and current controversies (e.g., “Intelligent Design” movement’s influence on school curricula, “Spirituality and Health” research, and “Ecology and Religion.”)
HUB Units: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Ethical Reasoning, Teamwork/Collaboration
CASRN 249/CASJS 379 Islamophobia and Antisemitism | Adam Seligman
MWF 10:10-11:00am
Explores historical and contemporary manifestations of Islamophobia and antisemitism. Students are exposed to wide range of relevant written and visual texts as well as theoretical approaches. Includes active learning component and collaborative presentations by students.
HUB Units: Ethical Reasoning, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration
CASRN 322/CASJS 252/CASRS 622 History of Judaism | Steven Katz
TR 12:30-1:45pm
This class surveys Jewish history from the classical period to modern times. It covers: the destruction of the 1st Temple; the encounter with Hellenism; the Roman period; the destruction of the 2nd Temple; the rise and influence of rabbinic Judaism; the medieval era under Muslim and Christian rule; medieval antisemitism; Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah); and philosophy (Maimonides). For the modern era we will discuss: the Renaissance; the Reformation; the complex issue of Emancipation; coming to America; the growth of American Judaism; religious reform; modern antisemitism; and Zionism.
HUB Units: Critical Thinking, Historical Consciousness
CASRN 326/CASJS 246/CASRN 626 Jewish Mysticism | Yair Lior
MWF 11:15am-12:05pm
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (CAS WR 120 or equivalent)
This course explores the rich world of Jewish Mysticism from its earliest roots to its contemporary expressions in the 21st century. We look at the interaction between Jewish mystics and major western schools of thought such as Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, and Sufism. The course also introduces students to the Kabbalistic tradition and its various historical manifestations. No prior knowledge of Hebrew or other themes in Jewish studies required.
HUB Units: Aesthetic Exploration, Teamwork/Collaboration, Writing-Intensive Course
CASRN 350 Comparative Religious Ethics | Catherine Klancer
MWF 10:10-11:00am
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120).
This course invites students to consider what organized religion has to offer those seeking to live a good life by looking at the ethical teachings of two Western (Judaism and Christianity) and two Eastern (Confucianism and Buddhism) traditions.
HUB Units: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Ethical Reasoning, Writing-Intensive Course
CASRN 351/STHTX 825 Health and Medicine in Asian Religions | A.D. Hughes
TR 11:00am-12:15pm
Investigates how religious and moral narratives in Asian religions have informed understandings of the body in premodern and modern times. Topics include understanding illness, sexuality, and the body with particular attention to East Asia.
HUB Units: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Ethical Reasoning, Research and Information Literacy.
CASRN 356/CASAA 356/GRSAA 656/CASRN 656 Religion in the Digital Age | Margarita Guillory
TR 11:00am-12:15pm
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (CAS WR 120 or equivalent)
How has technology impacted religion’ This hands-on course explores how digital technologies like the Internet, social media, gaming, and artificial intelligence have changed the way that people think about religion.
HUB Units: Creativity/Innovation, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Writing-Intensive Course
CASRN 365/CASRN 665 Art, Media, and Buddhism | A.D. Hughes
TR 2:00-3:15pm
Examines how textual, visual, and material forms of religious expressions have been conceptualized by Buddhists as well as how Buddhist objects are understood and re- contextualized in the West. Topics include: self- immolation; museums; war propaganda, and pop culture.
HUB Units: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Teamwork/Collaboration
CASRN 382/CASHI 349/CAS AA382/CASRN 682 History of Religion in Pre-Colonial Africa | John Thornton
TR 9:30am-10:45am
The study of the development of religious traditions in Africa during the period prior to European colonialism. An emphasis on both indigenous religions and the growth and spread of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the continent as a whole.
HUB Units: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness
CASRN 384/CASJS 260/CASRN 684/STHTX 884 The Holocaust | Steven Katz
TR 3:30-4:45pm
Rise of German (and European) antisemitism; rise of Nazism; 1935 Nuremberg Laws; the initial Jewish reaction; racial theory; organizing mass murder including ghettos, concentration camps, killing squads, and gas chambers; bystanders and collaborators (countries, organizations, and individuals); Jewish resistance; post-Holocaust religious responses; moral and ethical issues.
HUB Units: Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, Historical Consciousness
CASRN 403/CASRN 703/STHTX 855 Zen Buddhism | Daigengna Duor
M 2:30-5:15pm
Undergraduate prerequisite: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g.,CAS WR 100 or 120).
Explores Zen thought and practice across various Asian and global Buddhist traditions through texts and material culture, focusing on debates on metaphysics, the mind, and knowledge as applied to meditation, ethics, aesthetics, militarism, environmentalism, and aspects of daily life. Effective Spring 2026, this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following
HUB Units: Creativity/Innovation, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Writing-Intensive Course
CASRN 435/CASWS 445/CASWGS 656/CASRN 735/STHTX 836 Women, Gender, and Islam | Kecia Ali
T 3:30-6:15pm
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or 120).
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.
HUB Units: Writing-Intensive Course, Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy.
CASRN 452/CASPH496/ GRS RN752/STHTT 838 Topics in Religious Thought | Diana Lobel
TR 2:00-3:15pm
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASWR 120 or equivalent and one course from among the following: Religion, Philosophy, Core Curriculum (CASCC 101 and/or CC 102).
Topic for Spring 2026: Happiness, East and West. What is happiness? How can we achieve a balanced, healthy, fulfilling life? Classical thinkers such as Aristotle, Plato, Chuang Tzu; Stoic, Confucian, Buddhist paths; comparison with contemporary studies on happiness and mindfulness.
HUB Units: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Writing-Intensive Course
CASRN 466/CASRN 766/STHTH 854 Religion and the Problem of Tolerance | Adam Seligman
M 2:30-5:15pm
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. Presents multiple case-studies and contemporary connections, explores relevance to students’ own experiences.
HUB Units: Ethical Reasoning, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration
CAS RN 494/CASCL 501/CASRN 794/STH TX800 Magical Texts: Literature & Practice | David Frankfurter
T 3:30-6:15pm
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.
Hub Units: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry 1.
CASRN 622/CASJS 252/CASRN 322/ History of Judaism | Steven Katz
TR 12:30-1:45pm
This class surveys Jewish history from the classical period to modern times. It covers: the destruction of the 1st Temple; the encounter with Hellenism; the Roman period; the destruction of the 2nd Temple; the rise and influence of rabbinic Judaism; the medieval era under Muslim and Christian rule; medieval antisemitism; Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah); and philosophy (Maimonides). For the modern era we will discuss: the Renaissance; the Reformation; the complex issue of Emancipation; coming to America; the growth of American Judaism; religious reform; modern antisemitism; and Zionism.
HUB Units: Critical Thinking, Historical Consciousness
CASRN 626/ CASJS 246/CASRN 326 Jewish Mysticism | Yair Lior
MWF 11:15am-12:05pm
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (CAS WR 120 or equivalent)
This course explores the rich world of Jewish Mysticism from its earliest roots to its contemporary expressions in the 21st century. We look at the interaction between Jewish mystics and major western schools of thought such as Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, and Sufism. The course also introduces students to the Kabbalistic tradition and its various historical manifestations. No prior knowledge of Hebrew or other themes in Jewish studies required.
HUB Units: Writing-Intensive Course, Aesthetic Exploration, Teamwork/Collaboration.
CASRN 665/CASRN 365 Art, Media, and Buddhism | A.D. Hughes
TR 2:00-3:15pm
Examines how textual, visual, and material forms of religious expressions have been conceptualized by Buddhists as well as how Buddhist objects are understood and re- contextualized in the West. Topics include: self- immolation; museums; war propaganda, and pop culture.
HUB Units: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Teamwork/Collaboration
CASRN 656/CASRN 356/CASAA 356/CASAA 656/ Religion in the Digital Age | Margarita Guillory
TR 11:00am-12:15pm
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR120)
How has technology impacted religion’ This hands-on course explores how digital technologies like the Internet, social media, gaming, and artificial intelligence have changed the way that people think about religion.
HUB Units: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation
CASRN 682/CASHI 349/CASRN 382/CAS AA382 History of Religion in Pre-Colonial Africa | John Thornton
TR 9:30am-10:45am
The study of the development of religious traditions in Africa during the period prior to European colonialism. An emphasis on both indigenous religions and the growth and spread of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the continent as a whole.
HUB Units: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Historical Consciousness
CASRN 684/CASJS 260/CASRN 384/STHTX 884 The Holocaust | Steven Katz |
TR 3:30-4:45pm
Rise of German (and European) antisemitism; rise of Nazism; 1935 Nuremberg Laws; the initial Jewish reaction; racial theory; organizing mass murder including ghettos, concentration camps, killing squads, and gas chambers; bystanders and collaborators (countries, organizations, and individuals); Jewish resistance; post-Holocaust religious responses; moral and ethical issues.
HUB Units: Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, Historical Consciousness
CASRN 703/CASRN 403/STHTX 855 Zen Buddhism | Daigengna Duor
M 2:30-5:15pm
Undergraduate prerequisite: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g.,CAS WR 100 or 120).
Explores Zen thought and practice across various Asian and global Buddhist traditions through texts and material culture, focusing on debates on metaphysics, the mind, and knowledge as applied to meditation, ethics, aesthetics, militarism, environmentalism, and aspects of daily life. Effective Spring 2026, this course fulfills a single requirement in each of the following
HUB Units: Creativity/Innovation, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Writing-Intensive Course
CASRN 735/CASRN 434/CASWS 445/CASWS 656/STHTX 836 Women, Gender, and Islam | Kecia Ali
T 3:30-6:15pm
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First-Year Writing Seminar (e.g., CASWR 100 or 120).
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.
HUB Units: Writing-Intensive Course, Individual in Community, Research and Information Literacy.
CASRN 752/CASRN 452/CASPH496/GRS RN752/STHTT 838 Topics in Religious Thought | Diana Lobel
TR 2:00-3:15pm
Undergraduate Prerequisites: CASWR 120 or equivalent and one course from among the following: Religion, Philosophy, Core Curriculum (CASCC 101 and/or CC 102).
Topic for Spring 2026: Happiness, East and West. What is happiness? How can we achieve a balanced, healthy, fulfilling life? Classical thinkers such as Aristotle, Plato, Chuang Tzu; Stoic, Confucian, Buddhist paths; comparison with contemporary studies on happiness and mindfulness.
HUB Units: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Philosophical Inquiry and Life’s Meanings, Writing-Intensive Course
CASRN 766/CASRN 466/STHTH 854 Religion and the Problem of Tolerance | Adam Seligman
M 2:30-5:15pm
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. Presents multiple case-studies and contemporary connections, explores relevance to students own experiences.
HUB Units: Ethical Reasoning, The Individual in Community, Teamwork/Collaboration
CASRN 791 Approaches to Religion I: Classical Approaches | James Howard Hill, Jr.
M 2:30-5:15pm
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.
CASRN 794/CASRN 494/CASCL 501/STH TX800 Magical Texts: Literature & Practice
T 3:30-6:15pm
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.
Hub Units: The Individual in Community, Social Inquiry 1.
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