Spring 2023 Class Schedule: Department of Religious Studies

Spring 2023 Class Schedule

Spring 2024 Course Posters

Course	Title	Instructor	Day/Time
REL 101-6-23	First Year Seminar: Afterlives and Living After: Envisioning Other Worlds	Stewart	MW 2-3:20pm
REL 101-6-23 First Year Seminar: Afterlives and Living After: Envisioning Other Worlds (Spring 2023, Dr. Lily Stewart) Afterlives and Living After: Envisioning Other Worlds: Humans for thousands of years have documented their visions of other worlds and afterlives. Whether informed by religious revelation, collective trauma, or individual creativity, these visions provide important vantage points for assessing cultural values and experiences. In this class we will explore religious models of “The Afterlife” while also analyzing afterlives constructed in fiction, film, art, and other forms of popular media. We will ask how envisioning other worlds can help us to alternately articulate and blur the boundaries between life and death, trauma and healing, past and present, and reality and fiction. We will also explore what it means to “live after” major ruptures in individual and collective experience. For instance, how do we envision life after pandemic? After climate change? Revolution? Immigration? Utopia? Through speculative fiction, how to we envision the afterlives of humanity as we assess the potential for a post-human world? Sources will include ghost stories from around the world, medieval visions of hell, purgatory, and heaven, videos of dead celebrities resurrected as holograms, episodes of Upload, The Good Place, and Star Trek, contemporary news releases, and short speculative fiction. Students will develop skills in analytical writing, creative thinking, and classroom collaboration.
REL 172-21	Introduction to Religion, Media, and Culture	Taylor	TTH 2-3:20pm
REL 172-21 Introduction to Religion, Media, and Culture (Spring 2023, Professor Sarah Taylor) Dive into one of today’s most exciting and rapidly growing areas of scholarship – the intriguing entanglements of religion and media in society and culture. This course draws from an array of sources, such as television, film, and radio, digital gaming worlds, billboards, advertisements and media campaigns, popular music, streaming video, social media, and even tattoos, body art, and graffiti. Study media while getting to make your own media for course projects!
REL 220-20	Introduction to Hebrew Bible	Wimpfheimer	TTH 9:30-10:50am
REL 220-20 Introduction to Hebrew Bible (Spring 2023, Professor Barry Wimpfheimer) There is no understating the significance of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in Western Culture. The Bible is a text that has been repeatedly turned to for spiritual guidance, for explanations of mankind's origins and as the basis of both classical art and contemporary cinema. English idiom is peppered with phrases that originate in the Hebrew Bible and many a modern political clash can be understood as a conflict over what the Bible's messages and their implications. This course introduces students to the Hebrew Bible by reading sections of most of the Bible's books. But reading is itself a complicated enterprise. The Bible has been put to many different uses; even within the world of academic scholarship, the Bible is sometimes a source of history, sometimes a religious manual, sometimes a primitive legal code and sometimes a work of classical literature. This course will introduce students to the various challenges that present themselves within the study of the Hebrew Bible and the varied approaches scholars take when reading the Hebrew Bible. This course is a critical introduction to the Hebrew Bible.
REL 221-20	Introduction to New Testament	Stewart	MW 9:30-10:50am
REL 221-20 Introduction to New Testament (Spring 2023, Dr. Lily Stewart) The New Testament has influenced the lives and experiences of individuals and communities across the globe for thousands of years. It has served as a source of structure, meaning, and hope for many while also influencing ideologies and practices of bigotry and violence. But what do we really know about the world in which the New Testament was produced? What was the project of Jesus and his followers and why was it so polarizing? What authors composed the New Testament’s texts and what can we glean about their audiences and motivations? Why were some texts chosen for the canon of the New Testament and others left out? This course will consider the New Testament from a range of vantage points. We will use historical methodologies to explore the complex networks of religious practices, cultural ideologies, and political actors that influenced its production. We will also consider how the New Testament has been read and reproduced in the past 2000 years. We will discuss a range of theological perspectives, analyze the impact of the New Testament on art and literature, and assess its role in global politics. Students will be exposed to interpretations of the New Testament from the perspectives of eco criticism, queer theory, disability theory, and liberation theology, among other critical lenses.
REL 265-20 / HIS 200-25 / AMER_ST 310-50	American Religious History from WWII to Present (RLP)	Orsi	MW 12:30-1:50pm
REL 265-20 / HIS 200-25 / AMER_ST 310-50 American Religious History from WWII to Present (RLP) (Spring 2023, Professor Robert Orsi) This course examines major developments, movements, controversies and figures in American religious history from the 1920s, the era of excess and disillusionment, to the 1980s, which saw the revival of conservative Christianity in a nation becoming increasingly religiously diverse. Topics include the liberalism/fundamentalism controversy of the 1920s; the rise of Christian realism in the wake of the carnage of World War I; the making of the "tri-faith nation" (Protestant/Catholic/Jew); the supernatural Cold War; the Civil Rights Movement; the revolution in American Catholicism following the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the rise of Catholic political radicalism in the 1960s; religion and the post-1965 immigration act; the religious politics of abortion; and the realignment of American religion and politics in the 1970s and 1980s. Counts towards Religion, Law and Politics (RLP) major concentration.
REL 305-2-20	NEW COURSE: Introduction to Textual Languages: Sanskrit 2	McClish	TTH 3:30-4:50pm
REL 305-2-20 NEW COURSE: Introduction to Textual Languages: Sanskrit 2 (Spring 2023, Prof. Mark McClish) This course is the second of a two quarter sequence that provides instruction in the Sanskrit language for beginners. Students continue a comprehensive introduction to the Sanskrit language through the study of its forms and through translation. Prerequisite: RELIGION 305-1.
REL 318-22 / ASIAN_LC 390-20	Martial Arts, Religion, and Philosophy in East Asia	Terrone	MW 2-3:20pm
REL 318-22 / ASIAN_LC 390-20 Martial Arts, Religion, and Philosophy in East Asia (Spring 2023, Professor Antonio Terrone) This course offers the opportunity to investigate martial art culture in Japanese society in the centuries between the Tokugawa shogunate takeover in the sixteenth century until the aftermath of WWII. Students will learn how samurai military culture and the Japanese art of sword fighting (kenjutsu) evolved conceptually from a system of fighting to cut down an adversary to one aimed at personal spiritual growth and cultivation of the mind. Course readings include treatises, essays, and poetry (waka, haiku) by several expert Japanese swordsmen including feudal lords, samurai, Buddhist monks, and philosophers who highlight not just actual combat techniques, but also the inward aspects that can lead to psycho-spiritual realization. Grounded in Confucian virtues, Buddhist doctrine, and the Shinto worldview, these figures discuss martial arts not only as mere external techniques of death, but also as inner techniques of life. In this course students will read works in English translation by and about several authors including Yagyu Munenori (1571-1646), Soho Takuan (1573-1645), Miyamoto Musashi (1582-1645), Kaibara Ekiken (1630-1714), Yamamoto Tsenetomo (1659-1719), Daidoji Yuzan (1639-1730), Yamaoka Tesshu (1836-1888), Takahashi Deishu (1835-1903), Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966), Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969), Taisen Deshimaru (1914-1982), and Omori Sogen Roshi (1904-1994). Some of the probing questions we will address are: what instigated the separation between traditional martial systems (bujustu) and modern martial arts (budo)? Where do the spiritual and the physical intersect in martial arts? What is the relationship between Buddhist doctrine and violence in the art of the sword? What does it mean for Aikido to be promoted as an "art of peace"? What kind of values can modern martial arts instill in their practitioners?
REL 319-22 / ASIAN_LC 390-21	Buddhist Literature in Translation	Terrone	MW 11-12:20pm
REL 319-22 / ASIAN_LC 390-21 Buddhist Literature in Translation (Spring 2023, Professor Antonio Terrone) In this course, students will read writings from Buddhist canonical and non-canonical literature on a variety of subjects to gain an introduction to the variety of literary genres used in Buddhist works, as well as to consider the central tenets of the Buddhist literary tradition these works convey. Who was the Buddha? What did he preach? Why do we suffer and how do we realize enlightenment? How should one follow the Buddhist path? What metaphors and parables have Buddhists used to convey these insights over the centuries? Students will be able to explore these and other questions through a selection of English translations of original texts in Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, and Tibetan including the life of the Buddha, his sayings, Buddhist sutras, and Buddhist autobiographies. As this course is an introduction to Buddhist literature, there are no prerequisites, and students will gain familiarity with Buddhist teachings through engaging directly with primary sources in translation.
REL 339-20	From Jacob’s Tents to Katz’s Deli: American Judaism and “Sacred Space”	Ariel Schwartz	TTH 11:00-12:20pm
REL 339-20 From Jacob’s Tents to Katz’s Deli: American Judaism and “Sacred Space” (Spring 2023, Dr. Ariel Schwartz) This course offers an in-depth study of the concept of “sacred space,” engaging American Judaism for its case study repertoire. Rather than thinking broadly and linearly about the history of American Judaism, we will consider: What is sacred space? What makes or unmakes sacred space? How have sacred spaces shaped American Judaism, and how has American Judaism contributed to the formation of American sacred space? We will map the topography of American Jewish sacred spaces, both literal and conceptual, and we will consider the effects of American laws, practices, and norms on Jewish communities. As a central component of the course, students will craft their own “site biography,” acquiring first-hand experience conducting ethnographic and historical research. Students will gain a critical understanding of “sacred space” as an academic construct and learn how Judaism uniquely germinated in American soil.
REL 354-20 / MENA 390-5-1	Sufism	Ingram	TTH 9:30-10:50am
REL 354-20 / MENA 390-5-1 Sufism (Spring 2023, Professor Brannon Ingram) This course introduces Sufism, the ‘mystical’ tradition of Islam. After critically examining the concept of ‘mysticism’ within Religious Studies, we will examine the historical origins of Sufism, its emergence from and relationship to foundational discourses within Islam, its engagement with the Qur’an, and the figure of the Prophet Muhammad in Sufi devotions. We will then investigate notions of ‘sainthood’ in Islam, the roles of Sufism in popular Muslim piety, the centrality of the body and bodily disciplines in Sufi practice, and the critique and defense of Sufism in the context of colonialism. The course will offer a broad introduction to the historical and geographic range of Sufism in Islam, but will give special attention to Sufi traditions in the Indian subcontinent. We will conclude with critical reflections on the place of Sufism in contemporary Islam.
REL 359-23 / MENA 301-3-23	Islam and Colonialism	Ingram	T 2-4:30pm
REL 359-23 / MENA 301-3-23 Islam and Colonialism (Spring 2023, Professor Brannon Ingram) This course examines the effects of colonialism on Islam and the effects of Islam on colonialism. It is designed to acquaint students with the broad history of European colonialism and imperialism from the 17th to the 20th century, and the roles of that history in shaping modern Muslim societies. It begins with the concept of “Orientalism” and how Orientalist representations of Islam fueled Europe’s “civilizing mission.” It then considers colonialism’s impact on multiple dimensions of Islam and Muslim societies, including (but not limited to) Islamic law, Muslim worship and ritual life, forms and systems of knowledge, and the status of women. It ends with the rise of anticolonial resistance and the formation of proto-Islamist movements in the early twentieth century.
REL 369-24 / ENVR_POL 390	Media, Earth, and Making a Difference (RLP)	Sarah Taylor	F 2-4:30pm
REL 369-24 / ENVR_POL 390 Media, Earth, and Making a Difference (RLP) (Spring 2023, Professor Sarah Taylor) When motivating public moral engagement in climate crisis, are the solutions being offered those that the planet will actually “register” or “notice” on a global scale? If not, what kinds of “media interventions” do we need to be making and how? Course content will include discussion of media interventions as moral interventions, media activism for social change, eco-media responses by religious communities and organizations, participatory digital culture, and the challenges of addressing environmental crisis in the distraction economy and what has been called the “post-truth era.” Students will have the opportunity to learn by doing, proposing and crafting their own environmental media interventions as the course’s final project. Counts towards Religion, Law, and Politics (RLP) major concentration.
REL 482-20 / ANTHRO 490-27	Graduate Seminar: Anthropology of Religion: Colonial Contexts	Molina	T 3:00-5:30pm
REL 482-20 / ANTHRO 490-27 Graduate Seminar: Anthropology of Religion: Colonial Contexts (Spring 2023, Prof. Michelle Molina) Sovereignty and Space in Colonial and Migratory Contexts: In this seminar, our readings will first delve into “religion” as key to colonial place-making, referring simultaneously to top-down imposition and quotidian habituation. This historical-ethnographic frame becomes crucial to how we will approach readings about competing modes of sovereignty in colonial contexts. In the second part of the course, attention to sovereignty, space, place, and temporality shifts when we “unroot” and follow migrants and refugees. How, then, are we to think about time, temporary place-making, and the relatively unstudied way that “religion” is itself stabilizing and destabilizing for migrants/refugees?”