DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Having begun in India some 2500 years ago, Buddhism now exists in almost all parts of the world. The Buddhist religion has shaped the thought and culture of Asia and has also influenced Western thought and culture in significant ways. To comprehend this diverse religion, this course approaches it from several perspectives: the historical, cultural, philosophical and religious. In the short time that we have in this quarter, our primary emphasis will be on investigating the philosophical and religious systems in the teachings of the Buddha in India as well as the thought of the later Buddhists in other parts of Asia. In looking at both the history and the philosophy, we see Buddhism as a religion that established a system of values, an interpretation of existence and a pattern of cultural practices and rituals that the Buddhists have interpreted in various ways to find meaning in life. (Spring 2018, Professor George Bond)

We will explore the development of Western varieties of Christianity by investigating key figures in their contexts:  Jesus, Paul the Apostle, the Emperor Constantine, medieval visionary Hildegard of Bingen, theologian John Calvin, early twentieth-century founders of Pentecostalism William J. Seymour and Aimee Semple McPherson, and Salvadoran martyr Oscar Romero.  In these contexts, we’ll discuss how race, the state, gender, migration, and other cultural forces shaped and were shaped by the movement that became Christianity.  We’ll also explore the imprints of this history in contemporary Christian worship and architecture. (Spring 2018, Professor Traina)

Love seems central to human existence: parents’ sacrificial love for children, erotic love between romantic partners, the love of friendship. Love is also central to the intersection between Christian theology and Christian ethics. Christian theology studies concepts related to God and God’s relation to persons. Ancient Christians described God’s being as a relation of love between Father, Son, and Spirit. God’s enduring presence with God’s people, they then said, comes by way of a gift of love (i.e. the Holy Spirit) into the human heart. This way of understanding God and God’s manner of being with people has circumscribed love into the core of the Christian tradition. The concept of love must be defined by identifying and describing its predicates in order to more fully understand the intersubjective reality that is God and the human person in relation.

Christian ethics is a branch of Christian theology. It zeroes in on the intersubjective reality created between the individual person and the world, but does so on the basis of the individual’s relation to God. Christian ethics begins with the position that God is just. Then, this discipline assesses and prescribes ways in which the self-world relation can be moved closer to God’s justice by promoting human virtue or happiness. Love functions in Christian ethics as a mode and manner of action towards this ideal. ‘God is Love’ may be the nominal predication of theology, but ‘love God and neighbor’ is the active exhortation of Christian ethics. The goal of this seminar is twofold: first, to give predication to the Christian theological concept of love by examining the historical development of this idea in terms of God and God’s relation to human beings; second, to then examine the ethical ramifications of this concept on social life. We seek to understand the theological concept of love on its own terms and as it is used to promote a more just society. (Spring 2018, Professor Candace Kohli)

Some say America is currently undergoing a process of “Buddhification,” meaning that Buddhism is cropping up everywhere, even in places one would least expect. Tech industry billionaires tout Buddhist mindfulness techniques at the annual Wisdom 2.0 conference, and Google offers mindfulness training courses taught by a Zen abbot. Mindfulness is also being presented as a panacea for those suffering from physical and mental pain, readily available in American hospital settings and psychological counseling services. Buddha images too can be found far from Buddhist temples—at the hip restaurant Buddha-Bar located in many cities around the world one can sip cocktails and dine before a massive Buddha statue while listening to lounge music. And in the Chicago area, one encounters Buddha head sculptures positioned on the ground in parks, by roads, and even in public school playgrounds as part of the Ten Thousand Ripples art project.

How, and why, did aspects of Buddhism enter all of these different social locations? 

Why does Buddhism receive a pass more often than other religions by the “spiritual but not religious” crowd? Can Buddhism be secular? In what ways is Buddhism compatible with science, and can Buddhist practices be proven effective using scientific methods? Can paying better attention by means of Buddhist meditation practices liberate us from suffering caused by digital distraction? In what ways can Buddhist articulations of interdependence, no self, and compassion be resources for addressing racial and structural injustice, even as sexual abuse, racism, and trans/homophobia continue to traumatize members of some Buddhist communities? These are some of the many questions we will consider through readings by some of the most creative Buddhist leaders, critics, and consumers of our time. (Spring 2018, Professor Sarah Jacoby)

This class discusses the Israeli “Settlement Movement” in the West Bank and its relationship to the “National Religious” (or “Religious Zionist”) Camp in Israel. We will explore the political, ideological, economic and social underpinnings, implications, and political effects of Religious Zionism, National Religious politics, and the Settlement Movement – underpinnings that, though currently related and overlapping, are distinct and often in tension with one another and reflect the heterogeneous nature of both the settlement movement and the National Religious camp. Counts towards (RLP) Religion, Law and Politics. (Spring 2018, Professor Joseph Ringel)

Islamic law, the sacred law of Islam grounded in the Qur’an, the practice of the Prophet Muhammad, and the writings of Muslim scholars and jurists, stretches back nearly 1400 years. After critically examining the concept of ‘law’, we will explore the emergence legal discourses in the Qur’an and prophetic model (sunna). We will trace the development of Islamic legal methodologies and schools in the classical era by way of key primary and secondary sources. We then examine case studies from both classical and contemporary angles, covering family, ritual purity, gender, jihad and just war, commerce, and criminal law. Finally, we seek to understand the dual impacts of colonialism and the attempt to implement Islamic law through the apparatus of the modern nation-state. We conclude with reflections on new trends in Islamic legal hermeneutics. Prerequisite: 250 or consent of instructor. Counts towards (RLP) Religion, Law and Politics. (Spring 2018, Professor Brannon Ingram)

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