Catalogue 2017-2018 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Religion Department
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Chair: Christopher White;
Professors: Marc Michael Epstein, Christopher White;
Associate Professors: E.H. Rick Jarowa, Jonathon S. Kahn, Michael Walshb;
Instructor: Kirsten Wesselhoeft;
Adjunct Instructor: Agnes Veto, Klaus Yoder.
a On leave 2017/18, first semester
b On leave 2017/18, second semester
Major
Correlate Sequence in Religion
Religion: I. Introductory
Religion: II. Intermediate
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RELI 200 - Regarding Religion Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
To study religion is to study culture and society, as well as to critically engage and participate in the humanities and social sciences. In this course we compare and critique different approaches to the study of religion and think about the category of religion in relation to other topics and social concerns. Jonathon Kahn.
Required for all majors. Encouraged for correlates.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 201 - Jewish Textuality
1 unit(s)
(Same as JWST 201 ) This course addresses characteristic forms of Jewish texts and related theoretical issues concerning transmission and interpretation. On the one hand, canonical texts–Bible, Midrash, Talmud–are considered, including some modern (and postmodern) reactivations of these classical modes. On the other hand, special attention is given to modern problems of transmission in a post-canonical world.
Prerequisite(s): JWST 101 or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 205 - Religion and Its Critics
1 unit(s)
Some say it is impossible to be both a modern and a religious person. What are the assumptions behind this claim? The course explores how religion has been understood and challenged in the context of Western intellectual thought from the Enlightenment to the present. Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, and Buber are some of the thinkers whom we study. Jonathon Kahn.
Not offered in 2017/18.
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RELI 207 - Christian Ethics and Modern Society Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This course is an introduction to Christian ideals of faith, conduct, character, and community, and to modern disputes over their interpretations and applications. Our emphasis is on how Christian thinkers have negotiated the emergence of modern values about authority, rights, equality, and freedom. In what ways have Christian beliefs and moral concepts been consonant with or antagonistic to democratic concerns about gender, race and pluralism? Some of the most prominent Christian ethicists claim a fundamental incompatibility with this democratic ethos. We examine these claims and devote special attention to how Christian thinkers have dealt with the ethics of war, sexuality and the environment. Jonathon Kahn.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 210 - Secularism and Its Discontents
1 unit(s)
Is there a distinct realm called the secular, which is free of and from the religious? As sons and daughters of the Enlightenment, we’ve come to think that there is. What sort of philosophical and historical moments have led to the public insistence on a non-religious space? What projects in ethics, politics, and identity have the insistence on the secular authorized? This class both analyzes and contests modern assumptions about secularism and the religious, and asks whether the ideals of secularism have materialized. Is it possible or even desirable to create realms scrubbed free of the religious, in our politics, in our public institutions, or in ourselves? Jonathon Kahn.
Not offered in 2017/18.
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RELI 211 - Islam in Europe and the Americas Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 211 and INTL 211 ) Various processes of migration and conversion have contributed to the development of Muslim minority communities in Europe and the Americas, dating back to the 17th century. From enslaved Muslims in the Americas, to the Nation of Islam, to colonial and post-colonial migrations, to the debates over whether and how to define “European,” “American,” and “Latin@” Islams, this course covers the history of these religious communities and movements, their relationships with European and American states, and how contemporary European and American Muslims have described and theorized the experience of being a religious minority or diaspora. Key themes include race & ethnicity, gender & sexuality, transnational media, political resistance, ethics, and spirituality. Kirsten Wesselhoeft.
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RELI 213 - The Experience of Freedom
0.5 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 213 ) This six week course looks at the four paths of freedom that have emerged from Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian thought. Concepts and practices we will consider include: karma (the yoga of action), jnana, (the yoga of knowledge), bhakti, (the yoga of love) and tantra, (the yoga of imminent awareness). The focus of this course is on practice in a contemporary context. Rick Jarow.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 152 .
Not offered in 2017/18.
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RELI 214 - Italian Folklore: Goddesses, Muses, Saints, and Black Madonnas
1 unit(s)
(Same as DRAM 214 and ITAL 214 ) This course focuses on Italian folk traditions revolving around women - saints and Madonnas. Rooted in Catholic tradition, many rituals have permeated everyday culture and social structures of belief and behavior. This course takes us on a journey through time and space, traveling through centuries and different Italian regions. The case studies vary in genre, from the literary to the visual, from the kinetic to the culinary, and include: the mysticism of Saint Catherine of Siena; Beatrice as a muse and guide in Dante’s Paradiso (The Divine Comedy); the tammuriata, a women’s drumming and dance tradition for the Black Madonna of Montevergine; the symbolism of the Virgin Mary in Siena’s Palio; women’s healing ritual of tarantismo; feminism and the Black Madonna of Trastevere in Rome. We approach the cases through the lenses of Italian Studies, Women’s Studies, Folklore, Performance Studies, and Contemplative Studies. The practical use of music, dance, drawing, journaling, and a variety of contemplative practices are part of the course. Conducted in English.
Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. May be counted towards the Italian major.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 215 - Religion, Art and Politics
1 unit(s)
An exploration of various aspects, spiritual and political, of the interdependence of art and religious culture from the dawn of human consciousness through postmodernity. May be taken more than once for credit when content changes. Marc Michael Epstein.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 216 - Israeli Media Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as JWST 216 ) This course provides students with an in-depth understanding of current political, social and religious developments in Israel by reading and analyzing Israeli media including newspapers, web sites, blogs, TV clips and more. During the first part of the course students learn the development of the Israeli media from the birth of Israel until today as well as the connection between different newspapers to different political parties and religious sectors and the role they play in contemporary political and social debates. Through the study of historical texts and current media, students gain an understanding of Israel’s complex multi-party political system, key political actors, the economic structure and the differences between the religious and political sectors in Israeli society. Tzach Yoked.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 218 - Spiritual Seekers in American History & Culture 1880-2008 Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as AMST 218 ) This course examines the last 120 years of spiritual seeking in America. It looks in particular at the rise of unchurched believers, how these believers have relocated “the religious” in different parts of culture, what it means to be “spiritual but not religious” today, and the different ways that Americans borrow from or embrace religions such as Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. We focus in particular on unexpected places of religious enchantment or “wonder” in our culture, including how science and technology are providing new metaphors for God and spirit. Christopher White.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 219 - New and Alternative Religious Movements in the United States
1 unit(s)
All religions, new and old, have a beginning, and all religions change over time. Even the most established and popular religions today, like Islam and Christianity, began as small, marginalized sects. In this class, we think carefully about how religions develop and change by examining closely religious movements in one of the most vibrant religious nations in world history, modern America. We study radical prophets, doomsday preachers, modern messiahs, social reformers and new spiritual gurus and we talk about how their new religious movements developed and interacted with more mainstream religious currents in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America. This course proceeds in a roughly chronological fashion, beginning with new and alternative religions in the nineteenth century and moving on to more recent groups. Some of the questions we consider as we proceed are: Why do new religions begin? Why do people join them? How do they both challenge and conform to wider American norms and values? How should the American legal system respond to them? How do more mainstream believers respond to them? Christopher White.
Not offered in 2017/18.
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RELI 220 - Text and Traditions
1 unit(s)
Study of selected oral and written texts and their place in various religious traditions.
May be taken more than once for credit when content changes.
Prerequisite(s): one course in Religion.
Open to all students.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 222 - Women, Gender, and Sexuality in Islamic Spaces
1 unit(s)
(Same as WMST 222 ) This course explores the relationship between Islam, gender, and sexuality through a focus on space. The course is organized through six key spaces that have formed gendered bodies in Islamic contexts and diasporas: the home, the mosque, the baths (hammam), the school, the public square, and the interior soul. As we move through each of these spaces, we explore how sexual difference, gender, sexuality, and religious practice take on different shapes in different settings, and at different life stages. We read canonical works of Muslim feminist thought, as well as the classical sources they engage with. We pay attention to gender diversity in the classical traditions and contemporary Islamic contexts, coming-of-age and other life stages, and to the role of gender and sexuality in mystical relationship with the divine. Kirsten Wesselhoeft.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 225 - Anthropology of Islam Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as ANTH 225 ) This course surveys contemporary global Islam through an anthropological lens. We read a selection of recent ethnographies of Muslim communities around the world, from countries including Indonesia, Morocco, Yemen, Lebanon, Senegal, Sudan, and India. As we move through these various worlds, we look for the shared questions and debates that connect Muslims around the globe. We investigate how anthropologists have tried to define Islam based on their observations of Muslim diversity. Through these sources, and through our own ethnographic exercises and visits to Muslim sites in the Hudson Valley, students also are introduced to the ethnography of religion as a practice, and its methodological, theoretical, and ethical challenges. Key themes include ritual and sacred text, politics and nation, gender & sexuality, legal pluralism, migration, postcolonialism, and violent conflict. Kirsten Wesselhoeft.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 231 - Hindu Traditions Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 231 ) An introduction to the history, practices, myths, ideas and core values that inform Hindu traditions. This year’s course focuses on the major systems of Indian philosophy and the spiritual disciplines that accompany them. Among topics examined are yoga, upanishadic monism and dualism, the paths of liberative action (karma), self realization (jnana), divine love (bhakti), and awakened immanence (tantra). Philosophical understandings of the worship of gods and goddesses will be discussed, along with issues of gender, caste, and ethnicity and post modern reinterpretations of the classical tradition. Rick Jarow.
Prerequisite(s): 100-level course in Religion, or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 233 - The Buddha in the World Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 233 ) An introduction to Buddhist traditions, beginning with the major themes that emerged in the first centuries after the historical Buddha and tracing the development of Buddhist thought and practice throughout Asia. The course examines how Buddhist sensibilities have expressed themselves through culturally diverse societies, and how specific Buddhist ideas about human attainment have been (and continue to be) expressed through meditation, the arts, political engagement, and social relations. Various schools of Buddhist thought and practice are examined including Theravada, Mahayana, Tantra, Tibetan, East Asian, and Zen. Michael Walsh.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 234 - Creole Religions of the Caribbean
1 unit(s)
(Same as AFRS 234 and LALS 234 ) The Africa-derived religions of the Caribbean region—Haitian Voodoo, Cuban Santeria, Jamaican Obeah, Rastafarianism, and others—are foundational elements in the cultural development of the islands of the region. This course examines their histories, systems of belief, liturgical practices, and pantheons of spirits, as well as their impact on the history, literature, and music of the region. Lisa Paravisini-Gebert.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 235 - Religion in China
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 235 ) An exploration of Chinese religiosity within historical context. We study the seen and unseen worlds of Buddhists, Daoists, and literati, and encounter ghosts, ancestors, ancient oracle bones, gods, demons, buddhas, dragons, imperial politics, the social, and more, all entwined in what became the cultures of China. Some of the questions we will try to answer include: how was the universe imagined in traditional and modern China? What did it mean to be human in China? What is the relationship between religion and culture? What do we mean by ‘Chinese religions’? How should Chinese culture be represented? Michael Walsh.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 243 - Islamic Traditions
1 unit(s)
An exploration of Islamic history, with special attention to issues of prophecy, religious leadership, mythology and sacred scriptures. Among the topics examined are Islamic law, theology and philosophy, as well as the varied expressions of Islamic religious values and ritual, especially Shi’ism, Sufism, and orthodox Sunnism. Particular attention is given to women in Islam and to Islamic architecture.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 150 , RELI 152 , or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2017/18.
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RELI 245 - Jewish Traditions
1 unit(s)
(Same as JWST 245 ) An exploration of Jewish practice and belief in all its variety. The course traces the evolution of various “Judaisms” through each one’s approaches to the text of scripture and its interpretations, Jewish law and the observance of the commandments. It analyzes the Jewish life-cycle, calendar and holidays from a phenomenological perspective, and traces the development of the conceptualization of God, Torah, and the People and Land of Israel in Jewish life, thought, and culture from antiquity through the present day. Marc Epstein.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 150 , JWST 101 , JWST 201 or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 250 - Across Religious Boundaries: Understanding Differences Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
The study of a selected topic or theme in religious studies that cuts across the boundaries of particular religions, allowing opportunities for comparison as well as contrast of religious traditions, beliefs, values and practices.
Topic for 2017/18b: Global Christianities. This course provides an introduction to the Christian tradition by examining what unites and divides contemporary Christian communities around the world. It focuses on the concrete ways in which Christians encounter divine power, construct meaning out of the vicissitudes of life, and embody holiness. We attend to the diversity of Christian experiences and practices using ethnographic, historical, and theologicalsources devoted to communities in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania. We begin with an introduction to the origins of the Christian movement in late antiquity and its global expansion in modernity through European evangelization and colonization. From there, the course divides into thematic units, each of which explores a different facet of Christian culture, such as personal and communal experiences of the divine, the role of language in spiritual revelations, the place of the body in Christian worship and ritual, and finally, Christian politics in modernity. Klaus Yoder.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 255 - Western Mystical Traditions Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as JWST 255 ) Textual, phenomenological and theological studies in the religious mysticism of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. May be taken more than once for credit when content changes.
Topic for 2017/18b: Kabbalah. A survey of the historical and phenomenological development of the theoretical/theosophical and practical/magical dimensions of the Jewish mystical tradition from its biblical origins to postmodernity. Marc Michael Epstein.
Prerequisite(s): any 100 level course in Religion or Jewish Studies or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 266 - Religion in America
1 unit(s)
What are the major cultural and intellectual forces shaping religions in America? How have religious Americans encountered people of other faiths and nationalities? Why have they seen America as both a promised land and a place of bondage, conflict or secularization? What are the main ways that religious Americans think about faith, spirituality, religious diversity and church and state? How might we understand the complexity of these and other issues in a country of so many different religious groups—Protestant, Jewish, Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim? Christopher White.
Not offered in 2017/18.
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RELI 267 - Religion, Culture and Society
1 unit(s)
The study of the interaction among religion, culture and society.
May be taken more than once when the content changes.
Prerequisite(s): one course in Religion or Asian Studies, or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2017/18.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 283 - A Hundred Gospels and the Confusing, Conflicted Life of Jesus Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as JWST 283 ) Who was Jesus? What does the Bible say about him? How did it come to say what it does? Was he a humble carpenter? A divine being? A revolutionary? A rabbi? Was he learned in ancient wisdom, or simple and charismatic and fresh in his teaching? The sources dance in, about and around the issues as they alternately confirm and confound definitions. The canonical Gospels-accounts of Jesus’ life accepted as authoritative by Christians-number four. But even these four contradict each other and require “harmonization” in the eyes of believing Christians. And they are only four out of ten completely preserved examples. In addition to these ten, there are a further six Gospels describing only the childhood of Jesus, four partially preserved Gospels (including the Gospel of Mary Magdalene), and tens of fragmentary, reconstructed, and completely lost Gospels. Once thing is certain from all of these documents: Jesus wasn’t a Christian. How, then, did he come to be regarded as the founder of a new religion, a religion that would be called Christianity? And how did he come to be understood as God, the Son of God, or both at the same time? Marc Michael Epstein.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 285 - Judaisms Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as JWST 285 ) The changing social and intellectual landscape of contemporary Jewry has made it impossible to speak of a singular or monolithic ”Judaism” in the twenty-first century. But it has also made us realize that historically there never was such a singular or monolithic Judaism. This course addresses the development of Judaisms, along with their basic texts and concepts including Torah, Talmud, midrash, legal codes, polemics, and forms of expression from autobiography to literature to poetry, in oral, written, dramatic and cinematic media. We also observe the broad range of ways in which Jewish life has been lived in the Middle East, Europe, South and East Asia, Africa and America. Emphasis is placed both upon those groups that adhered to the basic texts and concepts as well as upon those which rejected them in favor of alternate interpretations or of secularisms. We examine the relationship of Jewish religious cultures with the religious cultures of the populations among which Jews have found themselves living as demographic (and sometimes as ethnographic) minorities. Agi Veto.
Two 75-minute periods. -
RELI 290 - Field Work Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Supervised field work in the community in cooperation with the field work office. The department.
By permission, with any unit in Religion as prerequisite and work in other social sciences recommended.
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RELI 298 - Independent Work Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
The department.
Prerequisite(s): one semester of appropriate intermediate work in the field of study proposed.
Permission of instructor required.
Religion: III. Advanced
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RELI 300 - Senior Seminar Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
An exploration of critical issues in the study of religion. Christopher White.
Senior Religion majors only.
One 2-hour period. -
RELI 301 - Senior Thesis Semester Offered: Spring
0.5 unit(s)
Written under the supervision of a member of the department; taken in the Spring semester. Permission required.
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RELI 315 - Religion and American Culture
1 unit(s)
Advanced study in selected aspects of the history of religions in the United States. May be taken more than once for credit when the content changes.
Not offered in 2017/18.
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RELI 320 - Studies in Sacred Texts Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 320 ) Examination of selected themes and texts in sacred literature.
May be taken more than once when content changes.
Topic for 2017/18a: Great Understanding is Broad and Unhurried: Sage Voices from China’s Past and Rethinking the Good Life. The beginning of this course title comes from the 4th century BCE philosopher, Zhuangzi. In this class we read some of China’s greatest teachers and among other things, question their relevance in today’s world. Without domesticating their ideas we explore a range of primary text readings including Zhuangzi, Laozi, Confucius, Du Fu, Huineng, Mencius and more. Michael Walsh
Open to Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors only.
One 2-hour period.
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RELI 330 - Religion, Critical Theory and Politics Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
Advanced study in selected aspects of religion and contemporary philosophical and political theory. May be taken more than once for credit when content changes.
Topic for 2017/18a: Islam, Decolonization, and Reform. (Same as AFRS 330 and INTL 330 ) This course surveys the development of Islamic movements in French, British, and Dutch colonial territories and the subsequent post-colonial states. We focus on the various projects of religious, moral, societal, and political reform that developed during this period. We ask how political projects of revolution and resistance related to projects of theological and moral revival in Islam. Theories of sexuality are a central part of these movements, and the seminar focuses in large part on how new (normative and descriptive) accounts of gender and sexuality emerged in Islamic discourses in this period, responding to and shaping the political dynamics of decolonization. Kirsten Wesselhoeft.
Topic for 2017/18b: Race and Political Theology. (Same as AFRS 330 ) In recent years, “political theology” has emerged as a crucial notion in the humanities. Most narrowly, political theology refers to Carl Schmitt’s claim that all “significant political concepts” of the modern nation-state have theological and religious roots. Until very recently, theorists of political theology have ignored the ways in which race functions as a significant political concept of the state. This seminar explores the intersection between race and political theology. We examine multiple conceptions of political theology. And we ask most centrally: In what ways are constructions of race rooted in theological concepts and histories? We ask this question both from the perspective of the state as well as from accounts of African American experience in historical and literary texts. We consider writings by Carl Schmitt, Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison, Albert Raboteau, and Toni Morrison. Jonathon Kahn.
One 2-hour period. -
RELI 332 - Tantra Seminar
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 332 )
Prerequisite(s): one 100-level course in Asian Studies or Religion.
Not offered in 2017/18.
One 2-hour period. -
RELI 341 - The Goddess Traditions of India, China and Tibet
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 341 ) Beginning with a study of the Great Mother Goddess tradition of India and its branching out into China and Tibet, this course considers the history, myths and practices associated with the various goddess traditions in Hinduism and Buddhism. The relationship of the goddess and her worship to issues of gender, caste, and ethics, and spiritual practice are also considered. Rick Jarow.
Not offered in 2017/18.
One 2-hour period. -
RELI 345 - Violent Frontiers: Colonialism and Religion in the Nineteenth Century
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 345 ) What is the relationship between religion and colonialism and how has this relationship shaped the contemporary world? During the nineteenth century the category of religion was imagined and applied in different ways around the globe. When colonialists undertook to ‘civilize’ a people, specific understandings of religion were at the core of their undertakings. By the mid-nineteenth century, Europe’s territorial energy was focused on Asia and Africa. Themes for discussion include various nineteenth-century interpretations of religion, the relationship between empire and culture, the notion of frontier religion, and the imagination and production of society. Michael Walsh.
Not offered in 2017/18.
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RELI 346 - Studies in Jewish Thought and History
1 unit(s)
(Same as JWST 346 ) Advanced study in selected aspects of Jewish thought and history.
May be taken more than once for credit when the content changes.
Prerequisite(s): any 100-level Religion course.
Not offered in 2017/18.
One 2-hour period. -
RELI 350 - Comparative Studies in Religion Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as STS 350 ) An examination of selected themes, issues, or approaches u see in illuminating the religious dimensions and dynamics within particular cultures and societies, with attention to the benefits and limits of the comparative method. Past seminars have focused on such topics as myth, ritual, mysticisms, and iconography. May be taken more than once for credit when content changes.
Topic for 2017/18b: Science, Religion and Technology: Controversies and Problems: In this seminar we survey recent arguments and controversies between scientists and religious believers in the modern West. We investigate sources of conflict, issues that have caused tension, and different possibilities for reconciliation between the two groups. We also examine ways of talking about science, religion and technology that go beyond the “conflict” model (science versus religion) and look instead at how these different parts of culture shape and influence one another. How have new sciences and technologies challenged and altered religious beliefs and practices? How have religious people in turn shaped new scientific ideas? We examine these questions by looking at specific controversial cases such as evolution/creationism, the mind/body problem, medical ethics, human cloning, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Christopher White.
One 2-hour period. -
RELI 355 - The Politics of Sacred Space
1 unit(s)
This course examines the relationship between notions of spatial and temporal orientation and connects these to the fundamental importance of sacrality in human action and existence. Some of our questions include: what is sacred space? What is a sacred center? How are places made sacred through human action? To what extent is sacrality a matter of emplacement? What role does sacred space play in local and global environments? Michael Walsh.
Not offered in 2017/18.
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RELI 375 - The I-Ching: China’s Great Text of Divinatory Wisdom Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 375 ) One of the great texts of Classical China, The I-Ching (Fu Xi 伏羲, c. 2800 BCE), has emerged as a global phenomenon; connecting to fields of science, architecture, psychology, and to a “situational spirituality” based on the Daoist notion that all things incorporate the wisdom of the Way.
This course offers an intensive study of the text (in translation) along with its corollary subjects of Daoist cosmology, divination, ethics, and “finding the right path” through any situation. The eight archetypal trigrams, sixty-four divinatory modalities, understanding of the nature of change through the permutations of yin and yang are examined, as are the I-Ching’s prominent values of modesty and wu-wei or “effortless effort.” Every student learns how to work with the text, so that its study becomes more than a theoretical exercise. In this spirit of the I-Ching we “Approach with small steps/quantities (小過)”, and “be flexible to constant change in order to be sustainable (易窮則變,變則通,通則久). Rick Jarow.
Prerequisite(s): any 100-level Asian Studies, Chinese/Japanese, or Religion course, or permission of the instructor.
One 2-hour period. -
RELI 380 - Religion, Sex, and the Modern State
1 unit(s)
(Same as WMST 380 ) This course examines the intertwined regulation of religion and sexuality by modern states through six case studies from around the world: Nigeria, France, Norway, Iran, Uganda, and India. These cases take us through a range of political systems and both religiously homogenous and religiously diverse societies, showing how in each case the state is intimately concerned with the relationship between religion, sexuality, and sexual difference. Through our analysis of these cases, we cover topics including comparative secularisms, race and citizenship, Islamic law, postcolonial feminist and queer theory, the sociology of religious revival, and religion and global media. At the end of the course, students will have a globally-informed and nuanced understanding of the stakes of contemporary debates about religious freedom, women’s rights, and LGBTQ rights around the world. Kirsten Wesselhoeft.
Not offered in 2017/18.
One 2-hour period. -
RELI 385 - Asian Healing Traditions
1 unit(s)
(Same as ASIA 385 ) This seminar offers a comprehensive view of the traditional medical systems and healing modalities of India and China and examines the cultural values they participate in and propound. It also includes a “laboratory” in which hands-on disciplines (such as yoga and qi-gong) are practiced and understood within their traditional contexts. From a study of classical Ayur Vedic texts, Daoist alchemical manuals, shamanic processes and their diverse structural systems, the seminar explores the relationship between healing systems, religious teachings, and social realities. It looks at ways in which the value and practices of traditional medical and healing systems continue in Asia and the West. Rick Jarow.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 231 or permission of the instructor.
Not offered in 2017/18.
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RELI 399 - Senior Independent Work
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
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