Spring 2025 Courses
Jewish History Since 1492
RLST/JWST/HIST 1828-001| 3.0
Hilary Kalisman, Ѱ¹9:05–9:55, KETCH 1B87
Surveys the major historical developments encountered by Jewish communities beginning with the Spanish Expulsion in 1492 up until the present day. Studies the various ways in which Jews across the modern world engaged with the emerging notions of nationality, equality and citizenship, as well as with new ideologies such as liberalism, socialism, nationalism, imperialism and antisemitism.
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Global History of Holocaust and Genocide
RLST/JWST/HIST1830-001| 3.0
Thomas Pegelow Kaplan,TTH 12:30–1:45, ATLAS 100
Examines the interplay of politics, culture, psychology and sociology to try to understand why the great philosopher Isaiah Berlin called the 20th century, "The most terrible century in Western history." Our focus will be on the Holocaust as the event that defined the concept of genocide, but we will locate this event that has come to define the 20th century within ideas such as racism, imperialism, violence, and most important, the dehumanization of individuals in the modern world.
A&S Core: Historical Context
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity–Global Perspective
Introduction to the New Testament
RLST/JWST 1910-001 | 3.0
Celene Lillie, MWF 10:10-11:00,LBB 155
Examine the background, content and influence of the New Testament books. Studies the diverse perspectives contained in the various books, as well as the process of canonization. Assess the influence of the New Testament on the development of Christianity as well as world (eastern and western) culture.
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities
Religion, Ethics and Politics
RLST 2400-001 | 3.0
Elias Sacks, TTH12:30-1:45, HUMN 135
Explores the role of religion in today's world, focusing on debates around religion, ethics and politics. Examining diverse voices from Christianity, Judaism and other traditions, this course considers religion's role in debates about issues such as same-sex marriage, race, climate change, war, criminal justice, torture, sexual ethics, abortion and economic justice.
A&S Core: Contemporary Societies
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Religions in the United States
RLST 2500-001 | 3.0
Deborah Whitehead, MW 1:25–2:15 (*Note you must also sign up for a recitation section.) LBB 220
This course will introduce students to the historical and contemporary study of religions in the United States. Along the way we will encounter many of the key religious traditions, movements, and figures that have shaped American religious belief and practice. In addition, the course will consider such questions as: What major cultural forces shape and have shaped religions in America? How have Americans of different faiths and nationalities encountered, interacted, argued, clashed and cooperated with one another? Have they seen America as a promised land or place of refuge—or as a place of conflict and suffering? What are some ways that religious Americans think about faith, spirituality, religious diversity and church and state? Ultimately, how does the academic study of religion shed light on what it means to be an “American” or a religious American?
A&S Core: United States Context
A&S Core: Ideals & Values
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Arts & Hum: Lit & Humanities
Native American and Indigenous Religious Traditions
RLST 2700-010 / ETHN 2703-010 | 3.0
Natalie Avalos, MW 10:10–11:00 (*Note you must also sign up for a recitation section.) EKEL E1B20
Studies the religious lifeways of diverse Indigenous peoples in North America. The course considers how these religious lifeways facilitate healing, movements of social protest, and efforts for self-determination in response to ongoing forms of colonialism. 鶹Ժ will critically explore the impact of colonial structures on Native American religious traditions, such as missionization, and evaluate the meaning of decolonization as both a pathway and goal supporting Native liberation.
A&S Core: Human Diversity
A&S Core: Ideals & Values
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Arts & Hum: Lit & Humanities
Women and Religion
RLST/WGST 2800-001 | 3.0
Celene Lillie, MWF 11:15–12:05, RAM N1B23
What is a woman? What is religion? How does the answer to one inform the answer to the other? In this course, we will explore a range of literature from ancient Greek and Roman mythology to first and second century Jewish and Christian writings alongside contemporary readings from Buddhist, Muslim, Indigenous, and Christian traditions. To frame these explorations, we will engage theories of gender and religion, particularly the ways in which they intersect with race, class, and violence.
A&S Core: Human Diversity
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Arts & Hum: Lit & Humanities
The Quran
RLST 3040-001| 3.0
Aun Hasan Ali, MWF10:10-11:00, HUMN 1B90
Examines how Christian constructions of religion and scripture have shaped Muslim understandings of the Quran and marginalized other views with a much longer history. Helps students appreciate how this process of marginalization is negotiated and explores the Quran from other perspectives including sound, performance, embodiment, and occultism. By highlighting marginalized approaches to the Quran, it promotes a better understanding of how social and religious differences are shaped by different political legacies.
Asia Content
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity–Global Perspective
Jerusalem: The Holy City in History, Legend, and Religious Thought
RLST/JWST 3150-001 | 3.0
Sam Boyd, MWF 9:05–9:55, LBB 155
The history of Jerusalem and the stories that have given it prominence in the religious imagination continue to shape much of the world in which we live. In this class, we will survey approximately three millennia of the history of the city. We will ask methodological questions, such as: What does it mean for a place to be conceived of as holy? How does this perceived holiness come about? What happens when holy places are destroyed and rebuilt? We will examine the biblical stories about Jerusalem not only as important sources themselves, but also for how they shape later religious traditions, specifically Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As such, we will address what it means for the same place to be perceived as “holy” by differing, and often competing, groups. These contestations regarding Jerusalem will, then, allow us to engage issues of religious diversity and conflict both historically and in the present.
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities
Yoga, Castes and Magic: Hindu Society and Spirituality
RLST 3200-001 | 3.0
Loriliai Biernacki, TTH 2:00–3:15, HUMN 1B90
Addresses yoga, religious asceticism and practices of magic in Hinduism from ancient India up to the modern period. Gives an overview of the variety of traditions in Hinduism, focusing on how spiritual practices affect social roles. Looks at how spiritual practices approach happiness and social change, from ancient India’s secret Upanisads through medieval mystic poets like Mirabai, through Gandhi in the 20th century, focusing on figures using mystical experience to overturn social and political powers.
Asia Content
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities
Tibetan Buddhism
RLST 3550-001| 3.0
Dan Hirshberg TTH9:30-10:45, LBB 155
Explores Tibetan Buddhism through literature and film, including sacred biographies, treatises on the Buddhist path and films providing a visual window into Tibetan life worlds. We examine different kinds of Tibetan journeys: moving through the life cycle, treading the path of self-cultivation, embarking on solitary retreat, traversing from death to rebirth and traveling on pilgrimage and into exile.
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Topics in Religious Studies: Dreams: Divination, Healing, and Prophecy
RLST/JWST 3820-001| 3.0
Celene Lillie, MWF12:20–1:10, LBB 155
What is a dream? What work do dreams do? In this course we will explore the role of dreams in a variety of ancient contexts—from Greek to Roman, Jewish to Christian—to investigate the intersections between dreaming, divination, healing, prophecy, and the divine.
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Senior Seminar
RLST 4830-001| 3.0
Deborah Whitehead, M3:35-6:05, HUMN 270
This seminar is designed to serve as the capstone course for senior majors in Religious Studies and is required for all graduating seniors. The primary objective of the seminar is for each of you to produce a capstone project over the course of the semester. To achieve this, we will employ a combination of weekly in-person meetings and individual check-ins, as well as structured deadlines during the semester as you work toward the completion of your projects piece by piece. A secondary objective of the seminar is to deepen our knowledge of the discipline through exploring different theoretical and methodological approaches to the academic study of religion, contemporary challenges to and critiques of the field, and the public implications of our work. Throughout the semester, we will be in conversation with ongoing debates in the discipline.
Seminar: Topics in Hinduism: Gandhi and Meditation
RLST 4200/5200-001| 3.0
Loriliai Biernacki, T3:30-6:00, HUMN 270
Gandhi accomplished something in the 20th century that had never been done before. He overthrew the greatest, most expansive empire the world had ever seen with a “bloodless revolution.” His method of social,political engagement, what he termed “satyagraha,” –“hanging on to truth” has forever changedthe way we think about how ordinary citizens can change the course of a nation. His methods offered a way for marginalized groups of people, those without power, on the outside, to help shape the life of a nation. Many others have followed in his path, using his methods,including Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, the student activists protesting the Parkland shooting. This course looks at how Gandhi himself understood his method of “hanging on to truth.” We will look at how Gandhi connected his belief system to his social activism, and especially we will look at how Gandhi articulated his social goals in light of spiritual concerns, the use of spiritual techniques like meditation, and his idea of religion.
Asia Content
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Seminar: Is God Dead?
RLST/JWST 4180/5180| 3.0
Elias Sacks, Th3:30-6:00, HUMN 270
Explores debates about the following questions: does it make sense to believe in God? Should believing or not believing in God make a difference for how individuals behave? Examining ancient and modern views on the existence and nature of a higher power, this course considers topics including evil and suffering, religion and science and religion's role in politics.
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Seminar: Topics in Islam: Sufism/Mysticism
RLST 4610/5610-001| 3.0
Aun Hasan Ali, W3:35-6:05, HUMN 270
In this course, students will explore the major themes of Islamic Mysticism or Sufism. The instructor will lead students in a close reading of a modern guide to “enlightenment” as it is understood in Islamic spiritual traditions. Additionally, students will learn about the historical development of Sufi ideas, institutions, and practices. Finally, students will analyze the expression of Sufi themes in poetry and music. The course does not presume any background in Sufism or Islam.
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities