*Religion 97 (formerly *Religion 97a and 97b). Tutorial - Sophomore Year
Catalog Number: 2313
Tamsin Jones
Half course (spring term). Th., 2–4.
Note: Required of concentrators.
*Religion 98a. Tutorial — Junior Year
Catalog Number: 2832
Tamsin Jones
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Note: Required of concentrators.
*Religion 98b. Tutorial — Junior Year
Catalog Number: 2922
Tamsin Jones
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Note: Required of concentrators.
*Religion 99. Tutorial — Senior Year
Catalog Number: 6498
Tamsin Jones
Full course. Spring: Tu., 4–5:30.
A required component of the senior year tutorial is a monthly seminar, led by the Assistant Head Tutor. Covers research methods and strategies in thesis writing in the fall, becoming an intensive review for general examinations in the spring.
Note: Required of concentrators.
Religion 17. Myth in History: An Introduction to Religion and to the Study of Religion - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 5462
Charles Hallisey (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13
W. C. Smith said, "the mythical can be seen as what has made human history human." Taking up this idea, this course considers myth as a basic religious phenomena; introduces four religious complexes (Ancient Greek, Christian, Islamic, and Hindu) by looking at the place of myth in each; traces the role that the category of myth has played in the academic study of religion; explores the place of myth in modern critical thinking.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3841.
Religion 19. Religious Belief and Moral Action
Catalog Number: 0069
Donald K. Swearer (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 10–11:30 and a 60 minute discussion section: tba. EXAM GROUP: 12, 13
An exploration of the relationship between religion and morality. Basic ethical concepts in Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism will be studied in relationship to their cosmological, epistemological, and theological frameworks. The course will explore the concepts of virtue, love, justice, nonviolence, and the moral exemplar through the life and writing of Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Mahatma Gandhi, Abd al-Ghaffar Khan,and Thich Nhat Hanh.
Note: Offered jointly with Divinity School as 3571.
Religion 42. The Christian Bible and Its Interpretations
Catalog Number: 5870
Peter J. Gomes (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). W., F., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
Introduction to the Christian conception of scripture from the closing of the Canon to the Fundamentalist/Modernist controversy. Topics considered include the relationship of scripture to tradition, appropriation of Hebrew scripture, exegetical and hermeneutical theories, and scripture and culture. Particular attention paid to the development of theories of scriptural authority and their social consequences within the Western Christian experience and American Protestantism.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1210.
Religion 43. The Making of Christianity
Catalog Number: 3257
Nicola F. Denzey
Half course (spring term). M., W., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
What is “Christianity”? Where did it come from? How did religious leaders from Paul to Patrick and Augustine navigate the diverse teachings, rituals, and social practices of Jesus and his followers, or else create their own arguably equally authentic Christianity? How did a single “Christianity” emerge from a welter of alternatives and possibilities? Or did it? Special emphasis will be given to the careful study of primary sources, questions of historiography, and Christianity across cultures.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2324.
Religion 45. Introduction to Christian Thought - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9030
Tamsin Jones
Half course (fall term). M., W., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
An introductory survey of Christian thought from its origins to the present. Attention given to tracking the intellectual trajectories of Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant thought. Topics covered include theories of redemption and salvation, the identity and function of Jesus Christ, understandings of the self in relation to God, and different notions of community. Primary readings include Origen, Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Palamas, Julian of Norwich, Luther, Barth, Lossky, Balthasar, Gutierrez, Daly and Cone.
Religion 55. The "Death of God"? Modern and Postmodern Responses to Religion - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 5407
Tamsin Jones
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 1, and an hour to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 6
What is the significance of Nietzche’s announcement of the "death of God"? Upon what modern critiques of religion does it rest? In later postmodern thought, how have the emphases on the "other", "hospitality to the stranger", and "alterity" been construed as a "re-turn" to religion? This course examines the changing understandings of religion and of God in Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment thought. Readings include Kant, Locke, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Buber, Levinas, Derrida and Irigaray.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School.
Religion 70. Introduction to Buddhism - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 1316
Janet Gyatso (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 11:30–1. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14
A critical introduction to key ideas, values, people and institutions in Buddhist tradition. It will offer a chance to explore Buddhism’s distinctive doctrines about human experience, to appreciate the richness of its disciplinary and meditative practices in varying historical contexts, and to read its best literary gems. It will seek to understand Buddhism’s special modes of adaption as it spread across Asia, and its new profile in the modern world.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3830. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for Culture and Belief and the Core area requirement for Foreign Cultures.
[*Religion 1003. Comparative Religion: History, Challenges, Potential ]
Catalog Number: 1694 Enrollment: Limited to 15. Limited to fifteen students, by written application at the first class meeting.
Kimberley C. Patton (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Th., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
This seminar will offer an encounter with the comparative study of religion as a method, including contemporary discussions of its problems, value, and potential. Starting with a brief historical survey of important comparative approaches, we will read current theoretical works as well as representative works of application. The individual research project will feature the creation of a comparative course syllabus and accompanying rationale.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3828.
Religion 1005. World Religions in Boston: Seminar
Catalog Number: 2655 Enrollment: Limited. Application online.
Diana L. Eck
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
Investigates religious traditions of the world in the dynamic context of the US, focusing on the presence of these traditions in the increasingly complex and diverse religious life of the Boston area today. Visits to a Hindu temple, a Sikh gurdwara, an Islamic Center, and a Buddhist temple or meditation center. Consideration of encounters, connections, and tensions with Christian and Jewish communities. Each student undertakes research on a particular community or issue in the Boston cosmopolis.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2009-10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3901.
Religion 1007. Religion in Multicultural America: Case Studies in Religious Pluralism
Catalog Number: 8833 Enrollment: Limited. Application online.
Diana L. Eck
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
An exploration and analysis of the dynamic multi-religious landscape of the US with special focus on Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh traditions. In what contexts do minority religious communities encounter long-dominant Christian and Jewish communities? How is America changing as religious communities struggle with civic, constitutional, and theological issues, especially in the post-9/11 period? Reading, discussion, and class projects will focus on particular cases and controversies.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3847.
Religion 1009. Religion, Gender, and Politics in Transnational Perspective
Catalog Number: 9774
Leila N. Ahmed (Divinity School) and Ann D. Braude (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). W., 1–4. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7, 8
The use of gender as a category of analysis has transformed the study of religion. This course will explore a range of topics in women’s studies across a range of religious contexts. Members of the faculty will introduce issues of women and gender from their specific disciplinary and theoretical perspectives.
Note: Offered jointly with Divinity school as 3223.
Religion 1011. The Tree at the Center of the World
Catalog Number: 9064 Enrollment: Limited to 25. Application at the first meeting.
Kimberley C. Patton (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). W., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7
This comparative conference course will examine historical and contemporary traditions of primordial, cosmic, and sacred trees in religion, folklore, mythology, and ritual, including the ways in which the special natural characteristics of trees have been interpreted metaphorically and metaphysically. We will consider primary iconographic and textual evidence as well as secondary sources. Individual research projects in particular traditions will be featured.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3823.
Religion 1029. Jewish-Christian Interaction and Conflict, ca. 200-1789 - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 0386
Kevin J. Madigan (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
This course will examine the religious, social and economic relations that prevailed between Jews and Christians over 1500 years. Attention will be given to: Jesus of Nazareth in his context; Jews and Christians in antiquity; Jews before the First Crusade (1096); Crusade and Martyrdom; Shifts in Jewish-Christian relations in the 12th and 13th centuries; the Black Death and its consequences; Hasidism and Mysticism; the Spanish Inquisition and the Conversos; the Expulsion from Spain and select modern events.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity school as HDS 2212.
[*Religion 1030. Texts, Writers, and Readers]
Catalog Number: 2033 Enrollment: Limited to 20.
David D. Hall (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
A reading and research colloquium focusing on the production and transmission of texts in vernacular languages, be these literary, historical, religious, etc. The social practices of authorship and reading in the west as these have persisted or been transformed, from the Renaissance and Reformation through the 19th century. The course draws on methods in the history of the book as well as in literary and cultural studies.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity school as 2389.
Religion 1035. Introduction to Comparative Religious Ethics: Character and a Good Life - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 6712
Jonathan Schofer (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12, 13
What does it mean to be a good person and live a good life? This course approaches such questions comparatively. Readings include primary sources from diverse cultures and also a range of methods and genres. The first half of the semester examines philosophical and religious responses from ancient Greece and China, and early Judaism. The later part of the course addresses modern cases through ethnography, psychology, political theory, and poetry.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3729.
Religion 1037. Methods in Comparative Religious Ethics and History of the Field - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 4466
Jonathan Schofer (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Th., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
Examines the project and methods of comparative religious ethics: foundational works in the 1970s (Little and Twiss, R. Green), alternative proposals by historians of religion (Lovin and Reynolds, Reynolds and Tracy), and developments in the study of the self, virtue, and practices of ethical formation (Yearley, Carr and Ivanhoe, Stalnaker). The final weeks address current scholarship in the field.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3730.
[Religion 1039. Topics in Comparative Religious Ethics: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 2323
Jonathan Schofer (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Th., 3–5. EXAM GROUP: 17, 18
The specific themes of the seminar will vary from year to year, but the course will be organized around three or four key problems in the comparative study of religious ethics. Examples include: the foundations of normative claims; the significance of the body; the nature of reason or rationality; the dynamics of emotions, desires, and instincts; the relevance of categories such as the unconscious and the archaic; and various options for comparative scope and method.
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3797.
Religion 1040. Introduction to Comparative Theology and Theology of Religions
Catalog Number: 3278
Francis X. Clooney (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 10–11:30. EXAM GROUP: 12, 13
This course examines the processes by which theologians study other religions’ theologies and bring this learning into dialogue with their own traditions through careful comparison, dialogical reflection and a subsequent, informed theology of religions. Readings include (by way of example) Hindu primary texts and texts from the Roman Catholic magisterial and theological traditions; students are encouraged to bring their knowledge of and interest in other traditions to the course. Prior knowledge of either tradition, though desirable, not required.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3101.
Prerequisite: Prior knowledge of either tradition, though desirable, is not required.
*Religion 1050. Democratizing Biblical Studies - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 1722 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). W., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7
The seminar discusses the multicultural character of biblical texts and intercultural analysis as a new interpretive approach in biblical studies. African, Asian, indigenous, Latin American, aboriginal, American Indian, Latina/o-Hispanic studies, as well as, ethnicity, feminist, womanist, black, queer, liberation theological, postcolonial, and third world studies, have begun to de-center the hegemonic paradigm of biblical studies. This emerging radical democratic paradigm of biblical criticism is interdisciplinary, multi-vocal, ideology critical, and radical democratic.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1514.
Religion 1059. God, Hindu and Christian - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 7091
Francis X. Clooney (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 10–11:30. EXAM GROUP: 12, 13
This course reflects on God in historical, theological, and spiritual terms, attending to classical Christian and Hindu traditions. Issues include: the definition of "God;" proof’s for God’s existence; God’s relationship to the world, humans; divine embodiment; grace, revelation, way of knowing God. Treated also is the reflexive question: how might comparative study change our understanding of God? Paired with Hindu Goddesses and the Virgin Mary, this course does not specifically treat gender-related issues.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3751.
[Religion 1063. South Asian Religious Aesthetics: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 8607 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Anne E. Monius (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
An examination of South Asian theories of aesthetics and their relevance for understanding Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain discourses of ethics, literature, and theology.
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3925.
Prerequisite: Previous coursework in the religious history of South Asia.
[Religion 1064. Interreligious Dialogue: The Hindu-Christian Example]
Catalog Number: 6752
Francis X. Clooney (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 10–11:30.
This course examines the purpose, history, challenges of interreligious dialogue, by select historical and current examples from the Hindu-Christian encounter: e.g., Jesuit missionary encounters with Hindu intellectuals, Protestant-Hindu dialogues and debates, 19th-20th century reconsiderations of Hindu/Christian identity, more contemporary debates involving figures like Swami Abhishiktananda, Bede Griffiths, Ram Swarup, Sita Ram Goel. Generalizations regarding other dialogues will occur regularly. Throughout, the theological significance of dialogue is the focus of attention.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3102.
Religion 1076. Religion and Politics in Current “Fundamentalist” Movements
Catalog Number: 8243
Harvey G. Cox, Jr. (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Th., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
Why have so-called "fundamentalist" movements emerged in Judaism, Christianity and Islam in recent years? Why have they attracted so many people? How are they changing, and what future do they have? Is the term "fundamentalist" useful or misleading? We put these questions to such phenomena as TV evangelism, Christian Zionism, mega-churches and Opus Dei (Christian); the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas (Islamic); Chabad Lubavitch and West Bank Settler Messianic Zionism (Jewish).
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2511.
Religion 1077. Islam Through Western Christian Eyes
Catalog Number: 7552 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Harvey G. Cox, Jr. (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 3–5.
From the time of the Prophet until today Christians have interpreted Islam in a variety of ways in literature, poetry, art, theology, and films. Many images are constantly re-circulated. Beginning with early and classical medieval and Reformation Christian depictions, we will then consider contemporary western images of Muslims and Islam and how these depictions influence western political and religious attitudes.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2544.
Prerequisite: Some previous study of Islam required.
*Religion 2002. Contemporary Conversations in the Study of Religion: Seminar
Catalog Number: 0803
Anne E. Monius (Divinity School) and Jonathan Schofer (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 3–5.
An engagement with the theoretical and methodological issues that scholars of religion deem to be the most urgent and compelling in the discipline today, across the various research areas.
Note: For all second-year doctoral students in the Study of Religion.
Religion 2030. Thinking About History in South Asia: Seminar
Catalog Number: 0070 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Anne E. Monius (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1–3.
This seminar offers an intensive examination of Euro-American and South Asian approaches to time and history and considers their importance for the study of South Asian religions.
Note: Limited to doctoral students and advanced masters-level students. Offered jointly with Divinity School as 3930.
Religion 1212b. Judaism: The Liturgical Year
Catalog Number: 8074
Jon D. Levenson (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). M., W., 10–11:30. EXAM GROUP: 99
A continuation of Religion 1212a.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1667b/3667b.
Prerequisite: Religion 1212a.
[Religion 1240. Time and Space in Rabbinic Judaism]
Catalog Number: 1200
Jonathan Schofer (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
This course will examine the ways that spatiality and temporality were understood and made meaningful by the rabbis of Late Antiquity, whose thought and practice have shaped the religious life of Jews to the present day. Topics will include accounts of creation and the cosmos; memory and forgetting; the Temple, synagogues, and everyday spaces; and weekly, monthly, and annual ritual cycles. Readings will be in English translation.
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3641.
Religion 1241. Classical Rabbinic Literature in Translation - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9876
Jonathan Schofer (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 10–11:30. EXAM GROUP: 12, 13
Examines the texts of late ancient Rabbinic Judaism with emphasis on literary features. The primary focus is aggadah (non-legal material), including biblical interpretation concerning the Exodus and the revelation at Sinai, and passages from the Babylonian Talmud concerning mysticism, magic, miracles, martyrdom, myth, and dream interpretation. Readings in English translation.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3646.
[Religion 1260. Midrash: Jewish Biblical Interpretation in the Rabbinic Period]
Catalog Number: 2424
Jon D. Levenson (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). M., W., 10–11:30.
An introduction to the way the rabbis of the Talmudic period interpreted their Bible. Close reading in English of a range of midrashic literature, halakhic and aggadic, exegetical and homiletical, Tannaitic and Amoraic. Emphasis on literary assumptions and theological affirmations. Some consideration of the affinities and contrasts of midrash with early Christian biblical interpretation and with contemporary literary theory.
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3669.
Religion 1401. Early Christian Thought I: The Greek Authors - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 4950
Charles Stang (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 11:30–1. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14
This introductory course will focus on the major Greek authors of the late antique Christian East (third through eighth centuries). Authors will include Origen, Athanasius, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, Evagrius of Pontus, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, John Climacus, Maximus the Confessor, and John of Damascus.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1749.
Religion 1402. Early Christian Thought II: The Latin Authors - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 2577
Charles Stang (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 11:30–1. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14
This introductory course will focus on the major Latin authors of the late antique Christian West (second through ninth centuries). Authors will include Tertullian, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Cassian, Gregory the Great, Boethius, and John Scottus Eriugena.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1750.
Religion 1403. The Mystical Theology of Dionysius the Areopagite - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 4823
Charles Stang (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). W., 3–5. EXAM GROUP: 8, 9
A close reading of the complete works of "Pseudo"-Dionysius the Areopagite, the late fifth or early sixth century theologian who wrote under the name of Paul’s famous convert (Acts 17:34), and who is widely regarded as the foremost spokesman of the "apophatic" or "negative" mystical tradition. This course will devote most of its attention to the corpus itself, its sources and setting, but will also consider its influence on the East and the West, as well as its recent appropriation by postmodern philosophers and theologians.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1748.
Religion 1404. Early Christianity in the Roman Empire - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9800
Laura S. Nasrallah
Half course (fall term). W., 10–12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 3, 4
We shall read New Testament and early Christian literature to explore topics such as Paul and empire, early Christian apologetics, and martyrdom. These will in turn be explored in relation to the literature and especially the art and archaeology of the Roman Empire. Special focus will be given to materials of the first and second centuries CE. Key themes will include gender, colonialism, violence, spectacle, the body, justice, and ancient definitions of religion and piety.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1518.
Religion 1405. Classics of Syriac Christian Literature - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 1786
Charles Stang (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Th., 3–5. EXAM GROUP: 17, 18
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the classic literature of Syriac Christianity, an ancient Christian community that stretched from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, a community diverse in its beliefs and practices, prolific and accomplished in its literary output, and bound by a common language (Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic).
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1755.
[Religion 1408. Ancient Christian Martyrdom] - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9871
Karen L. King (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). W., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7
This course will consider newly discovered works, as well as engage critical re-readings of well-known sources, around such topics as the politics of martyrdom, performance and ritual, gender, and intra-Christian controversies.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1501.
[Religion 1409. The New Testament, Biblical Studies, and Empire: Seminar ]
Catalog Number: 3075 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Laura S. Nasrallah
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
Focuses on the intersection of the New Testament and postcolonial criticisms. Addresses both the Roman imperial context of early Christian texts and nineteenth- and twentieth-century approaches to the Bible, asking how Orientalism may be connected to the formation of biblical studies. Special attention paid to biblical archaeology, art history and renditions of the "Holy Land", and quests for the historical Jesus.
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1887.
Religion 1410. Women, Sex, and Gender in Ancient Christianity - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9539
Karen L. King (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Th., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
The course will examine early Christian practices and controversies around sex and gender, including women’s leadership roles, sexual differentiation, and gender performance.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity school as 1505.
[Religion 1413. Paul’s Letters and Their Interpreters: Ethnicity, Empire, the Body, and the End of the World]
Catalog Number: 8015
Laura S. Nasrallah
Half course (fall term). M., W., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
This introductory course focuses on 1) the Pauline epistles in their first-century context, and their earliest interpretations; 2) recent trends in Pauline studies, including feminist and postcolonial interpretation, the "New Perspective," and European philosophical treatments (Badiou, Zizek). Attention will be given to ideas of the gendered/enslaved body and its potential for transformation and pollution, ethnicity in the Roman world, the relations of communities to Roman imperial power, and views of time and the impending eschaton.
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1544.
Religion 1416. Feminist Biblical Interpretation
Catalog Number: 3002
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–3, and a weekly section Tu at 12. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
A basic introduction to the emerging field of feminist biblical studies. We discuss different hermeneutical approaches, methods of interpretation, and theoretical perspectives. Special attention is given to historical interpretation and the significance of feminist hermeneutics for contemporary theological reflection and education for ministry. Lectures, group discussions, and presentations seek to foster a participatory style of learning.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1504/2558.
Religion 1418. The Apostle Paul: His Letters, His Cities, and His Legacy
Catalog Number: 7092
Helmut H. Koester (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Th., 3–5 with an additional hour to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 99
Addresses the entire Pauline Corpus. Beginning with the genuine letters of Paul in the New Testament it will demonstrate the developments attested in canonical and apocryphal writings that assumed the mantle of Paul’s authority after his death. Archaeological materials will elucidate the cultural and religious world of Paul’s cities.
Note: Offered jointly by the Divinity School as 1525.
[Religion 1423. First Images of Christ—Earliest Christologies of the New Testament]
Catalog Number: 8983
François Bovon (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Th., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
Will discuss the earliest forms of christology and their history. Starting from the Jewish messianic expectations of the first century CE., it will investigate the prophetic perspective of Jesus and christological concepts of the first Christian congregations.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1479.
Prerequisite: Introduction to the New Testament or equivalent.
Religion 1424. The First Epistle to the Corinthians
Catalog Number: 1514
François Bovon (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). F., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7
This course will focus on Paul’s historical and theological argument through a careful reading of the Greek text. An attempt will be made to reconstruct the social setting of the first Christian community in Corinth. Course may be elected as the equivalent of the fourth term of Greek.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1521.
Prerequisite: Three semesters of Greek.
Religion 1426. The Apocryphal Jesus and the Noncanonical Apostles: Introduction to Ancient Christian Apocryphal Literature
Catalog Number: 8930
François Bovon (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Th., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 99
Begins by exploring the field of non-canonical gospels, particularly Greek fragments of lost Gospels, then devotes a longer time to the apocryphal acts of the apostles, particularly to the Acts of Philip, and concludes by reading the Apocalypse of Peter and the Apocalypse of Paul.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1270/2130.
[Religion 1427. Orthodoxy and Heresy in Ancient Christianity]
Catalog Number: 3574
Karen L. King (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1–3, and a weekly section to be arranged.
An examination of the dynamics of early Christian identity formation, including the development of discourses of orthodoxy and heresy, practices of interpreting Scripture, categories of religious identity, and notions of the body. Focuses on reading the primary literature, with special attention to those types of early Christianity later deemed heretical (for example, Marcion, Valentinian Christianity, and Sethian Gnosticism, as well as The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary, and Secret Revelation of John).
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 1700.
Prerequisite: Introduction to the New Testament or History of Ancient Christianity, or the equivalent.
Religion 1428. History of the Exegesis and Reception of the Gospel of Genesis - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9337 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Kevin J. Madigan (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
A study of the exegesis and reception of the Gospel of Genesis in history, stressing the interpretation of the Gospel in the period ca. 200-1600. After studying Genesis in its original context, the seminar will turn to commentaries, sermons and artistic representations of all or parts of the Gospel, as well to the hermeneutical theory from the ancient world.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2210.
Prerequisite: One major research language (Latin, Greek, or Syriac) would be helpful but is not required.
[Religion 1434. History of Western Christianity, 150-1100 ]
Catalog Number: 5783
Kevin J. Madigan (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 9. EXAM GROUP: 11
Church and society in western Europe from the fourth through the twelfth century. Early and high medieval Christianity in social and cultural context, with attention to popular religious belief and behavior as well as to the institutional church and its leaders.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2230.
[Religion 1437. History of Western Christianity: 1100–1500]
Catalog Number: 5997
Kevin J. Madigan (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 9.
Church and society in western Europe during the high and late Middle Ages. Particular attention will be paid to theological and institutional change and continuity and to popular religious movements.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2250.
[Religion 1443. Reformation Europe] - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 2414
Kevin J. Madigan (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
A study of the major reform movements during the sixteenth century. Although this course will be conducted in seminar format, the course is intended for those without prior background in the Reformation. Focus will be on a close, critical reading of a single masterpiece, Diarmaid MacCullock, The Reformation: A History. The book will be supplemented by primary readings.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2211.
Religion 1450. History of Christian Thought: The Medieval West - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 8878
Amy Hollywood (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). M., 10–12.
The course will survey the main features of Christian theology from the 11th through the 15th centuries. We will focus on the particular genres, modes of argumentation, questions, and goals attendant on theology as it emerges in multiple contexts within the medieval West.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2629.
Religion 1472. The Ethical and Religious Thought of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Catalog Number: 8761
Preston N. Williams (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). M., 3–5. EXAM GROUP: 8, 9
A study of the life, thought, and actions of Martin Luther King, Jr. An ethical analysis of his primary concepts, ideas, and strategies based upon a reading and discussion of his writings and their sources.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2721.
[Religion 1493. Contemporary Roman Catholic Theology]
Catalog Number: 6926
Francis Fiorenza (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). W., 1–3, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7
A survey of contemporary Roman Catholic theology that discusses issues in the interpretations of God, Jesus, and the church with reference to theological method. The broad spectrum of present-day Roman Catholic theology will be covered through an analysis of diverse theologians and approaches: existential, transcendental, liberationist, feminist, analytical, and hermeneutical.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2479.
Religion 1495. Introduction to Theological Thinking
Catalog Number: 5154
David Lamberth (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 11:30–1. EXAM GROUP: 99
A basic survey of a variety of approaches to theology through selected major figures. We will consider: What is the nature of theology? How are theological questions posed and answered? What is distinctive about each author’s view? We will also be concerned with what theological thinking is today, and its relation to other fields of inquiry. Authors are drawn from the early medieval and contemporary periods, and are mostly Christian.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2402.
*Religion 3425hf. New Testament Seminar for Doctoral Dissertations - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 8507
Laura S. Nasrallah 4834
Half course (throughout the year). W., 3–5 biweekly.
Biweekly presentation of research projects.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School.
[Religion 1517. American Liberal Religious Thought: Formations of a Tradition]
Catalog Number: 7116
David Lamberth (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Surveys important authors in the formative development of liberal religious thought in America into the early 20th century, such as Channing, Emerson, Thoreau, James, Royce, Matthews, DuBois, Wieman, Dewey.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Some prior work in theology or philosophy is suggested. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2551.
[Religion 1520. Introduction to Hermeneutics and Theology]
Catalog Number: 6184
Francis Fiorenza (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). M., W., at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 3
General introduction to hermeneutical theory. A survey of the development from classical to modern and contemporary hermeneutics. Examines the influence of contemporary hermeneutical theory upon the interpretation of biblical texts, the diverse conceptions of theology, and the explication of key theological categories such as revelation, experience, method, foundations, classics, community, and practice.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2410.
Religion 1529. The Holocaust and the Churches, 1933-45 - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 8653
Kevin J. Madigan (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Th., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
This course will be an historical study of the systematic, bureaucratic annihilation of European Jewry by the Nazi regime during the Second World War. It will also be an historical study of what the Protestant and Catholic churches and individual Christians did and did not do - how they stood by, collaborated with or resisted the Nazis - during the emigration, expropriation, persecution, ghettoization, deportation and annihilation of their Jewish neighbors. It will close with a brief study of some of the philosophical and religious implications of the Holocaust and with the possibility of its artistic representation.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School.
Religion 1534. Feminist Theologies: Contexts and Methods
Catalog Number: 3081
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1–3, and a weekly section Tu., at 12:00. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
In the past decades many different feminist religious voices have emerged around the globe. The course will study key feminist thea/ological directions and explore how their theoretical frameworks and methods are shaped by their different socio-cultural-religious locations and struggles. Lectures, group sessions, and projects.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2688.
[Religion 1543. 19th-Century Religious Thought: Theology and the Critique of Religion]
Catalog Number: 5065
David Lamberth (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 11:30–1. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14
The 19th-century formulated many of the questions and frameworks that continue to dominate theology and religious reflection in the West. We consider the developing interplay between modern Christian theology (primarily continental) and the principal philosophical and social critiques of religion in the 19th-century. Topics include human nature, religion, the divine-human relationship, religious knowledge, the social, and historicity. Readings from Kant, Schleiermacher, Hegel, Marx, Feuerbach, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Harnack, and Troeltsch.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2431.
Religion 1545. Approaching Evil - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 7456
Members of the Department
Half course (spring term). Th., 4–6.
An examination of evil in western thought, with focus on
conceptions of human freedom and divine will, the distinction between
natural and moral evil, and responses to the challenge of theodicy. The
final project asks students to apply tools of analysis developed in the
course to a situation or topic of their choosing. Readings include
philosophical, theological and literary texts.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2623.
[Religion 1546. Religion and the American Pragmatic Tradition]
Catalog Number: 3565
David Lamberth (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 11:30–1.
Surveys the American pragmatic tradition, attending to views of the nature and place of religion. The first part takes up the classical pragmatists, beginning with Emerson as precursor, then focusing on Peirce, James, and Dewey. Topics include belief, experience, truth, action, ethics, rationality, and the nature and role, socially and individually, of religion. The latter part considers contemporary neo-pragmatists, including Rorty, Putnam, Chopp, and Stout. Prior work in theology or philosophy is recommended.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2671.
[Religion 1548. Psychoanalysis and Character Ethics]
Catalog Number: 0741
Jonathan Schofer (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
How does the human psyche operate? In what ways can people transform their emotions and desires to become, in some sense, better? These two questions are shared by both the psychoanalytic tradition and scholars of virtue ethics, though they have arguably conflicting responses concerning the nature of psychological dynamics and the possibilities for change. This course will address readings from Aristotle, Freud, and recent thinkers who engage the relationship between these two approaches.
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3639.
[Religion 1549. Media, Religion, and Social Meaning]
Catalog Number: 3414
Marla F. Frederick
Half course (fall term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Looks at the historic development of radio and television ministries and their influence on contemporary American Christendom. In some cases, televised church has blurred religious denominationalism and disrupted simple social binaries of black/white, rich/poor, male/female. What are the new and/or normalized categories of religious particularity? And how might new articulations of religious unity disrupt politicized notions of race, class, and gender solidarity in different local/national as well as transnational settings?
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2517.
Religion 1567. Religion and the Public Intellectual
Catalog Number: 2548
Ronald Thiemann (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). W., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7
An inquiry into the role of the public intellectual in contemporary culture. The course will review the critical literature on the public intellectual focusing on the question of religion. Special attention will be given to the social and cultural conditions that enable religiously based social criticism and to the various genres (poetry, the essay, the novel) through which that criticism is communicated. Readings in Bender, Camus, Day, Hughes, Jacoby, Niebuhr, Nussbaum, Orwell, West, and others.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2528.
Religion 1568. Religion, Ethics and Human Rights - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 7428
Ronald Thiemann (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
The course will look at the ethical and religious bases of human rights discourse and examine the challenges to the universal claims inherent in that discourse. The course will explore a series of case studies on human rights issues worldwide in order to relate philosophical and religious concepts to actual human rights struggles.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2805.
Religion 1569. Theology and the Literary Arts - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 1559
Ronald Thiemann (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
An exploration of literature (primarily poetry and the novel) as vehicles for the expression of public theology. We will look at literary theory as well as literature in order to assess the efficacy of the literary arts as a vehicle of religious sentiments.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2546.
Religion 1572. Sex, Gender and Sexuality - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 6407
Amy Hollywood (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). M., 10–12. EXAM GROUP: 3, 4
The course will explore the theoretical articulation of sex, gender, and sexuality in twentieth-century medicine, social science, psychoanalysis, philosophy, and feminist and queer theory. Attention will be given to the ramifications of these concepts for the study of religion. Readings will include texts by Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, Jacques Lacan, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Julia Kristeva, Monique Wittig, Judith Butler, Moira Gatens and others.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2692.
Religion 1573. Seminar in Contemporary Theory: Freud and Derrida - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 0206
Amy Hollywood (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., 5–7 p.m. EXAM GROUP: 18
The course will explore the relationship between philosophy and psychoanalysis through reading selected texts by Sigmund Freud and Jacques Derrida.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2622.
[Religion 2542 (formerly Religion 1541). Kant: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 5295
David Lamberth (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). W., 1–3.
A close reading of major works of Kant relevant to theology and philosophy of religion. The seminar focuses on issues such as the nature and limits of reason, the concepts of freedom, morality and faith, and the idea of God.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2674.
Prerequisite: Advanced work in theology or philosophy of religion.
Religion 2543. Circumscribing a Discipline: Theology and the Philosophy of Religion - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 4293
David Lamberth (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 3–5. EXAM GROUP: 17, 18
Under what conditions did philosophy of religion emerge in Western thought? How is it separate from theology? Participants conduct research and present in the second half of the term.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2672.
Prerequisite: Advanced work in the field.
Religion 2545. Religion and Social Theory: Seminar
Catalog Number: 2728
David Little (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Th., 10–12. EXAM GROUP: 12, 13
Our focus is the writings of Max Weber together with the reactions of his critics and defenders. Relevance to topics such as “secularization,” “religious nationalism,” and “cultural relativism.”
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2813.
Religion 1615. The Bhagavad Gita and Its Commentators - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 2171
Francis X. Clooney (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., 3–5:30. EXAM GROUP: 17, 18
Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu classic of devotion and theology, has received extensive classical and contemporary commentary. The seminar explores selectively the interpretations of classical commentators (Sankara, Ramanuja, and Madhusudana Sarasvati), and 20th century interpreters (B. G. Tilak, Mohandas Gandhi, Bede Griffiths). Part of the series, Reading Hindu Texts Interreligiously, meant for students interested in closely reading Indian/Hindu texts, with attention to textual analogues from other religions.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3750.
Prerequisite: No Sanskrit required.
[Religion 1627. Hindu Ethics: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 9638 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Anne E. Monius (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
An intensive exploration of the place of ethics and moral reasoning in Hindu thought and practice. Materials to be examined will be drawn from a wide range of sources, from classical Sanskrit dharmashastra to epic narrative, devotional poetry, and modern ethnography, but emphasis will be placed throughout upon the particularity of different Hindu visions of the ideal human life.
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3923.
Religion 1631. Hindu Traditions of Devotion
Catalog Number: 9423
Anne E. Monius (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). M., W., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 99
An examination of Hindu bhakti (devotional traditions), focusing on three specific geographic/cultural regions within the Indian subcontinent. Keeping in mind both continuities and differences in the bhakti traditions of these three distinct cultural areas, this course explores a variety of devotional literature in English translation and considers the enduring significance and use of that deeply emotional poetry in the lives of Hindus today.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3406.
[Religion 1636. Hinduism Through the Modern Novel]
Catalog Number: 5069
Anne E. Monius (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). M., W., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
Although not a literary genre indigenous to India, the novel has rapidly emerged as one of the most creative and powerful means of modern Hindu literary expression in India and abroad. This course will explore what it means to be "Hindu" in the colonial and post-colonial age through the lens of contemporary fiction.
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3411.
Religion 1663. A Summation of Hindu Theology: the Vedartha Samgraha of Ramanuja - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 1380
Francis X. Clooney (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 3–5:30. EXAM GROUP: 17, 18
A seminar on Ramanuja’s (10th - 11th c.) Vedartha Samgraha, dedicated to a theistic reading of the Upanisads and Vedanta, defending devotion, synthesizing an integral view of God, world, and self, while criticizing alternative Vedanta readings of the Upanisads.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School.
Prerequisite: Part of the series, Reading Hindu Texts Interreligiously, meant for students interested in closely reading Indian/Hindu texts, with attention to textual analogues from other religions. No Sanskrit required.
Religion 1707. Introduction to Buddhist Commentaries and their Critical Interpretations - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9290
Charles Hallisey (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 9, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 11
An introduction to the study of Buddhist commentaries, their textual and hermeneutic services, as well as their history and their places in Buddhist scholastic cultures. Examples of Buddhist commentaries will be drawn from across the Buddhist world.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3779.
Religion 1725. Buddhism and Social Change: Seminar
Catalog Number: 4517 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Christopher S. Queen
Half course (fall term). Th., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16
This survey of Buddhist social teachings examines the evolution of central concepts (impermanence, selflessness, suffering), ethical styles (discipline, virtue, altruism, engagement), and themes (peace, justice, gender, ecology) in Asia and the West. We consider representative figures and movements in the rise of socially engaged Buddhism since the 19th century.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3853.
Prerequisite: Previous study of Buddhism.
[Religion 1726. Buddhism in America: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 4292 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Christopher S. Queen
Half course (fall term). W., 1–3.
The transmission of Buddhist teachings and institutions to the West. A survey of Buddhist thinkers and movements since the 19th century, with primary attention to America: immigrant Buddhist communities, Transcendentalists and Theosophists, Pragmatist and Process philosophers, the “beat” generation, and recent Zen, Tibetan, and Theravada developments. Topics for discussion and research include tradition and transformation, socially engaged Buddhism and environmentalism, feminism, peace activism, and the dialogue with other faiths.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Separate requirements for undergraduate and graduate students. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3851.
Prerequisite: Knowledge of Asian Buddhism.
Religion 1730. Buddhist Women and Representations of the Female
Catalog Number: 4463
Janet Gyatso (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 10-11:30, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12, 13
This course explores two interrelated subjects: Buddhist conceptions and practices relating to sex and gender; and the lives and subjectivities of historical women across the Buddhist world. It studies writings on monastic discipline, tantric sexual practices, and gender, as well as premodern and modern autobiographies of celibate and lay women. These Buddhist materials are considered in conjunction with the writings of Western feminist thinkers, including Judith Butler and Joan Scott.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3559.
Religion 1740. Buddhism and Literature - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 8499 Enrollment: Limited to 25.
Charles Hallisey (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). W., 3–5:30. EXAM GROUP: 8, 9
A consideration of the place of Buddhist practices and values in Asian literary cultures and the place of literary culture in Buddhist life. The literary cultures considered will include examples from India, Sri Lanka, China, and Japan.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3778.
Religion 1745. Buddhism and Society in Southeast Asia - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 4544 Enrollment: Limited to 25.
Donald K. Swearer (Divinity School) and Charles Hallisey (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). W., 3–5:30. EXAM GROUP: 8, 9
A multidisciplinary study of the relationship between Theravada Buddhism and society in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia. The seminar is structured around three areas of investigation that take up different aspects of its general theme: Buddhism and the state; the nature of Buddhist life in village societies; and Buddhist responses to the social formations and processes of modern urban life.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3566.
[Religion 1752. Buddhist Logic and Epistemology: In the Wake of Dignaga]
Catalog Number: 2905 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Parimal G. Patil
Half course (fall term). F., 3–5. EXAM GROUP: 8, 9
This course is an opinionated introduction to the roughly 800 year history of the Buddhist epistemological tradition in India. 2007-2008 academic year focuses on this text-traditions approach to inferential reasoning and religious language, and explore its impact on the intellectual history of religion in Southern Asia. A secondary objective is to develop a trans-disciplinary methodological approach to this material that is equally responsible to its historical, philosophical, and religious contexts.
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11.
[Religion 1753. Buddhism Against Itself]
Catalog Number: 9746
Parimal G. Patil
Half course (spring term). F., 2:30–5.
This course is an advanced introduction to the history of Madhyamaka Buddhism in India. Its focus will be on understanding the Madhyamaka text-tradition’s impact on the philosophy and intellectual history of Buddhism in Southern Asia, through an analysis of specifically intra-Buddhist debates. A secondary objective will be to inquire into the possibility (and desirability) of working towards an intellectual history of religion in Southern Asia.
Note: Expected to be given in 2010–11. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3872.
Prerequisite: Previous course work in Buddhist Studies or South Asian religions wil be helpful, but not required.
[Religion 2760. Buddhism and Its Critics]
Catalog Number: 7232
Parimal G. Patil
Half course (fall term). Tu., 5–7 p.m. EXAM GROUP: 18
Focuses on the Buddhist theory of momentariness. After discussing its intellectual history in India, we will read, in translation, a Buddhist "proof" of the theory, and discuss a number of non-Buddhist criticisms of it.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3867.
[Religion 2765. Re-envisioning the Philosophy of Religions]
Catalog Number: 7054
Parimal G. Patil
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
For too long the philosophy of religions has been defined by primarily Christian texts and philosophical/theological concerns. This course resists this history by asking what the philosophy of religions would look like if we began in India. Our goal this semester will be to bring new questions, concerns, and philosophical resources to the field by paying careful attention to the work of selected Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain philosophers and religious intellectuals.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Religion 1806. The Vocabulary of Islam
Catalog Number: 1701
M. Shahab Ahmed
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 11:30–1 with an additional hour to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14
Provides students with knowledge of a broad range of key concepts, technical terms, seminal questions, and cultural motifs internal to the Islamic tradition. These constitute a vocabulary related to Quran and exegesis, Hadith, law, theology, political thought, philosophy, Sufism, ritual, literature, art, and architecture, that has permeated Islamic discourses, practices, and identities down to the modern period, and that is central to an informed understanding and further study of Islam as religion and civilizational complex.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3978. Not open to auditors.
[*Religion 1820 (formerly *Religion 1585). Islam in South Asia: Religion, Culture, and Identity in South Asian Muslim Societies]
Catalog Number: 2741 Enrollment: Limited to 20.
Ali S. Asani
Half course (fall term). W., 3–5.
A survey of the development of Muslim communities in the Indian subcontinent focusing on an exploration of religious identity. Issues and themes salient to Islamic identity considered within religious and political contexts, as well as the broader context of South Asian culture as expressed in language, literature, and the arts. Also examines the uses of the term “Islamic” and the lived experience of being Muslim in various pre-modern and modern discourses in South Asia.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3625.
Prerequisite: Introductory course in Islam or equivalent.
[Religion 1825 (formerly Religion 1590). Themes in Feminism and Islam: A Historical Overview]
Catalog Number: 9891
Leila N. Ahmed (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Th., 3–6.
This course follows out the history of feminist debates and developments in Islam from beginnings in 19th century Egypt to contemporary and ongoing discussions of women, gender and Islam in the United States.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3604.
Religion 1842. Religion, Gender, Identity: Readings in Arab and Muslim Autobiography: Seminar
Catalog Number: 4518
Leila N. Ahmed (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 3–5.
We will read autobiographical works mainly by contemporary Arab and/or Muslim writers, paying particular attention to issues of identity, religion, and gender, and exploring how these are at play in the text and in authorial constructions of self.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3616.
[Religion 1851. The Female Body and Islam: Religious Doctrines in Changing Societies]
Catalog Number: 9688
Baber Johansen (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 11:30–1. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14
The Koran has developed rules of the gaze on men’s and women’s bodies. The ethical and legal rules of the Muslim fiqh
have developed a very different protocol of the gaze. Muslim debates of the last thirty years attribute to the female body a fundamental role for the survival of a strongly gendered religious society and try to reinterpret the Islamic heritage in the light of new social reqirements.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3629.
*Religion 3001. Reading and Research
Catalog Number: 7954
Ryuichi Abe 4974, M. Shahab Ahmed 5273, Ali S. Asani 7739, Wallace D. Best (Divinity School) 5092, François Bovon (Divinity School) 3551, Davíd L. Carrasco (FAS, Divinity School) 4213 (on leave 2008-09), Francis X. Clooney (Divinity School) 1785, Harvey G. Cox, Jr. (Divinity School) 3479, Arthur J. Dyck (Public Health, Divinity School) 1670, Diana L. Eck 4514, Francis Fiorenza (Divinity School) 2735, Marla F. Frederick 4728 (on leave 2008-09), William A. Graham, Jr. (Divinity School) 4156, Janet Gyatso (Divinity School) 4243, David D. Hall (Divinity School) 2510, Helen Hardacre 3191, Jay M. Harris 2266, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham 3517, Amy Hollywood (Divinity School) 5547, Beverly M. Kienzle (Divinity School) 2452, Karen L. King (Divinity School) 4217, Arthur Kleinman 7473, James T. Kloppenberg 3157 (on leave 2008-09), Helmut H. Koester (Divinity School) 3477, Smita Lahiri 4465, David Lamberth (Divinity School) 3714, Jon D. Levenson (Divinity School) 2264, David Little (Divinity School) 2793, Peter Machinist 2812 (on leave 2008-09), Kevin J. Madigan (Divinity School) 4287, Everett I. Mendelsohn 2700, David G. Mitten 1290 (on leave spring term), Anne E. Monius (Divinity School) 4489, Roy Mottahedeh 1454, Laura S. Nasrallah 4834, Parimal G. Patil 4478 (on leave 2008-09), Kimberley C. Patton (Divinity School) 3306, Stephanie A. Paulsell (Divinity School) 5382, Jonathan Schofer (Divinity School) 5384, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza (Divinity School) 3193, Charles Stang (Divinity School) 6204, Ronald Thiemann (Divinity School) 3395, Wei-Ming Tu 7233 (on leave fall term), and Leonard W. J. van der Kuijp 1556
Note: May also be taken with other instructors, when authorized by the Chair.
*Religion 3002. Foreign Language Certification
Catalog Number: 4791
Members of the Committee
Reading and research conducted in a specific foreign language, normally French or German, to satisfy the modern language reading proficiency requirement for PhD students in the Study of Religion.
Note: Limited to PhD candidates who receive written permission from the Committee’s Director of PhD Studies.
*Religion 3015. Asia in the Making of the Modern World (Graduate Seminar in General Education) - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 3540
Shigehisa Kuriyama 5269, Ian J. Miller 5880 (on leave fall term), and Parimal G. Patil 4478 (on leave 2008-09)
Half course (spring term). M., 2–5. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8, 9
This seminar will spotlight familiar aspects of life in contemporary America, and show how a deeper understanding of them requires study of peoples and events in distant places and times. Using a variety of sources and methods, the course will explore how Asia and its past are in fact woven into the intimate fabric of life here and now. The seminar will design and develop a General Education course on these themes for undergraduates.