Course Descriptions

RS 10 Introduction to Religious Studies
This is an introduction to the study of the religious achievement of humanity. It considers the meaning and end of religion, its dimensions and functions in society and the individual. Employing the principles and methods of the humanities and social sciences, the course examines religious faith, values, and experience, as evidenced in the scriptures, traditions, doctrines, and histories of various religions. The course is offered in sections that each focus on a different aspect of religious achievement. Section subtitles and descriptions follow.
3 credits

- Religion and the Critical Mind
This section of RS 10 involves a comparative analysis of several understandings of religion - its nature, function and purpose - presented in the works of well-known scholars. Through an in-class conversation with these scholars through their writings and in multimedia presentations, students develop a thoughtful, critical appreciation of religion and its role in human life.

- Religion, Culture and Community
This section of RS 10 explores the role of religion in human culture and community through three test cases: Christianity's movement from a community of believers to a religious institution, the experiences of women in the religions of the world, and the phenomenon of American civil religion.

- Asian Religions
This section examines the basic religions systems of India and China, including their fundamental differences, performative functions, and worldviews. The course evaluates Euro-American theories of religion in light of Asian Religious expressions.

- The Search for the Just Society
This section of RS 10 investigates the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by focusing on the understandings of a just society that is woven into their central beliefs.

- A Model of Religion and Religions
This section of RS 10 offers a description of the human condition, disclosing the limits and absurdity to which religions respond. The ways people come to religious faith and the consequences of their commitment are described in a model that is applicable to many religions.

- Prophecy and Mysticism
This section of RS 10 focuses on the two fundamental drives of the religious sensibility, namely, the urge toward unity with the holy and the concern to make a difference in the world.

- Religious Autobiography
This section of RS 10 considers the themes, issues and methods of religious studies through a reading of first-person narratives from several religious traditions, and engages students in the task of writing their own religious autobiographies.

- Jerusalem as a Metaphor for the Faith of the West
This section of RS 10 examines the faith traditions of Jews, Christians and Moslems in contemporary Jerusalem in order to appreciate the richness of their religious heritage and to understand the problems that continue to divide them.

- Christianity and Buddhism
This section of RS 10 examines different kinds of religious experience, doctrine and practice through a comparison of the Western tradition of Christianity and the Asian tradition of Buddhism.

- Christianity and Islam
This section of RS 10 considers major themes of religious thought and practice in Christianity and Islam. Through the study of scripture, religious texts, autobiographical writings, and film presentations, the course examines concepts and images of God, the human person, evil and human suffering, and experience of the transcendent in these two religious traditions. Drawing on these themes, the final project engages students in the writing of their own religious histories.

- Issues in Religion
This section of RS 10 examines some of the classical themes in the study of religion. Topics include religion as a search for meaning; how extensively religions differ in their beliefs; the truth in religion; strange beliefs and practices and what they might mean; critiques of religion; and the religious imagination in many expressions.

- Signs of the Sacred
This section of RS 10 engages students in the primary building blocks that make up religion in its theoretical and practical dimensions. In addition to learning about the various methods employed in the study of religion, students gather, analyze, and interpret data from a variety of sources such as interviews, attendance at rituals, reading, discussion, and group projects.

- Common Questions, Jewish Responses
This section of RS 10 explores the major questions addressed by most world religions, with special emphasis on how they are answered in Judaism. It discusses but is not limited to the following topics: the nature of the Divine and its relationship to humankind; the problem of evil and innocent suffering; social responsibility as a concomitant of religion; Sacred Time and Space and the nature and function of ritual; death and what lies beyond.

- Peoples of the Book: Christianity, Judaism and Islam
This section of RS 10 examines the relationship between sacred text and community in these three scriptural traditions. By focusing on shared narratives, such as Adam and Even in the Garden, the course illustrates the different ways that texts are interpreted and used in early Christianity, medieval Judaism and modern Islam. The course also examines the various roles that Scripture plays in these communities.

- Major Themes in Islam
This section of RS 10 examines the basic ideas within Islam by exploring its two main axes: the relationship between God and humankind; and the relationship between and among people. Topics include: the nature of God; ritual practices; ethics; and the quest for a just society.

- Sacred Writings and their Representations
This course is an introduction to the academic study of religion. During the first half of the semester, we willestablish a working vocabulary and conceptual frameworkfor the study of religion, both of which will proveuseful in our semester-long conversation about the nature of the sacred. While there will be some discussion of a number of religious traditions throughout the semester, the last month of this course will focus on the experience of sacred writings within the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Sacred Texts

RS 150 Jewish Interpretations of Scriptures
This course explores ways in which Jews have understood the Hebrew Bible from the first centuries of the Common Era through today. Focusing on specific biblical texts, the course draws interpretations from early classical, legal, and non-legal rabbinic material; medieval commentaries and codes; mystical literature; and modern literary, theological sources. Three credits.

RS 162 The Good News of the Gospels
This course examines the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John according to contemporary exegetical and literary methodologies. The course examines and compares the theological positions of early Christianity as represented by each writer and by other early Christian gospels. Three credits.

RS 251 Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures
This course investigates the religious perspectives of the major biblical units, Torah, prophets, and writings as they embody themes that define Judaism and Christianity, employing all contemporary methods of biblical criticism. This course helps students define a form of spirituality from an understanding of these classic texts. Three credits.

RS 254 Prophetic and Apocalyptic Voices
This course studies the major prophetic voices of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, concentrating on each prophet's unique vision of God and of the requirements of justice. The course blends these themes with the later apocalyptic consciousness, which demands rectification of the wrongs of hatred and injustice, and offers hope for a better future. Three credits.

RS 255 Second Temple Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls have rightly been called the greatest manuscript discovery of the twentieth century. Discovered in 1947, they have made a tremendous impact on how scholars today understand Judaism and Christianity in antiquity. Our examination of the community, texts, and archeology of the Dead Sea Scrolls will begin with a study of the Second Temple Period (520 BCE-70 CE), one of the most important in the history of Judaism. This course will examine the political, social, and theological developments of this period so that the community of the Dead Sea Scrolls and their writings may be situated within their proper context. Students will learn to read primary texts closely and secondary texts critically as they consider the influence and relationship between texts and their community. Three credits.

RS 257 From Judaism to Christianity: A Socio-Literary Study
The course explores Christianity's emergence from an evolving Judaism during a historical period when Greek influence was intense, factions struggled for ascendancy, and new forms of literature captured the prevailing moods. Study begins with the Maccabean movement (167 B.C.E.) and traces the pattern of events and thought to the year 90 C.E. by examining the culture and distinctive literature of that period. The course studies the teachings of Jesus and those who followed him, understood in this cultural context, through the gospels they produced, giving particular emphasis to the study of the gospel of Luke as reflective of a new openness to the gentiles of the contemporary Greco-Roman world. Formerly listed as RS 157. Three credits.

RS 260 The Writings of Paul
This course examines the texts and recurring themes of the writings attributed to Paul, with particular emphasis on Paul's treatment of ethical situations, community, and religious experience. Formerly listed as RS 160. Three credits.

RS 264 The Writings of John
This course examines the text of the gospel and epistles attributed to John, placing particular emphasis upon the recurring themes in these writings, the distinctive view of Christianity they represent, and the development of early Christianity to which they witness. Formerly listed as RS 164. Three credits.

RS 266 The Reinterpretation of the New Testament
This introduction to the critical study of the New Testament and its Christologies reviews the varying titles for Jesus, comparing them with the original Jewish or Greek usage. The course considers the process of reinterpretation of Jesus in the New Testament as a possible model for interpretation today. Three credits.

Theology and Ethics

RS 117 Jesus Christ Yesterday and Today
A systematic treatment of the person and work of Jesus Christ, this course examines different interpretations of the meaning of the Christ event from the scriptural sources to contemporary developments. Three credits.

RS 122 Grace and the Christian Life
This course develops a theology of the everyday life by examining the themes in the New Testament, early monasticism, the Middle Ages, and the Reformation. The course then surveys current explorations of grace, holiness, and the working life, drawing from the insights of psychology and gender studies and attending to concerns for economic and social justice. Three credits.

RS 123 The Church
A study of the development and present-day understanding of the idea of the Church in Roman Catholic theology, this course examines the roots of the concept in scripture and the earlier traditions of the Church, and presents a contemporary ecclesiology through a critical discussion of the First and Second Vatican Councils. Three credits.

RS 126 The Sacraments in Christian Life
A theological investigation of the sacraments as the source of Christian character, involvement, and witness, this course proposes an anthropological theology as a basis for understanding faith and develops a process/model view of the Christian's relationship with God. The course presents the Eucharist as the focus of Christian self-awareness; baptism, confirmation, and penance as sacraments of reconciliation; and considers special sacramental questions. Three credits.

RS 130 Last Things: The Catholic Belief in Life After Death
This course first explores the Christian understanding of life after death, affirmed in such beliefs as the resurrection of the body, the last judgment, heaven and hell, and the forgiveness of sins. It then goes on to examine the Catholic tradition's particular contributions to these beliefs in its teachings on purgatory and the communion of the saints. The course asks why these ancient beliefs continue to resonate in contemporary popular culture, and examines modern theological efforts to re-construct these hopeful beliefs for our own times. Three credits.

RS 170 Theological Ethics: The Foundations of Virtue
Ethicians have long realized that a proper understanding of moral character requires a right view of the fundamental human experiences known as the passions - hope, despair, anger, love, and hate. This course initially presents a brief historical overview of various thinkers' reflections on these human qualities, drawing on scientific and philosophical investigations of affectivity. Building on this introductory material, the course considers the moral life from a theological perspective, discovering how theology attempts to define a framework for understanding the affective life's relation to virtue, and how attention to the affective life in turn profoundly influences theological anthropology. Three credits.

RS 172 Contemporary Morality: Basic Questions
This course introduces the fundamental concepts in moral theology, drawing on major traditions in contemporary Christian thought. The course examines the moral foundations of conscience, freedom and responsibility, virtue and character, and methods of moral decision-making. To deepen the study of basic questions in Christian morality, the course concludes by examining selected applied issues in contemporary morality. Three credits.

RS 175 Contemporary Moral Problems
This theological examination of contemporary moral problems considers selected ethical issues in contemporary society and leading approaches to moral decision- making. The course investigates moral problems such as euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, the death penalty, violence and just war theory, bioethics, sexual and reproductive ethics, global poverty, environmental ethics, and issues in business and legal ethics. Three credits.

RS 197 Evil
This course explores the problem of evil from the perspectives of theology and philosophy. The course considers God and evil, classical theodicies (reasonable justifications of God before the prevalence of evil), modern philosophical accounts of evil, social evil, and the possibility of belief in the face of evil. Within the context of these subjects, the course addresses the following questions: What is evil? What are the roots of evil? What effect does one's understanding of evil have on one's understanding of the human being, of God, and of religion? What is our responsibility in the face of evil? Three credits.

RS 220 Contemporary Christian Anthropology
This course rests on the premise that religion and culture create tools for thinking about what it means to be a self. The course considers the value of process models for understanding Christian suppositions about the nature of the human person and for investigating how human work and play, love and sexuality, and suffering and death contribute toward defining a Christian view of the self. Formerly listed as RS 120. Three credits.

RS 232 Theology and the Problem of Culture
This course offers a theological examination of the relationship between Christian faith and secular culture since the late 18th century. After exploring the Enlightenment criticism of Christianity, the course pursues a historical and constructive study of two divergent directions in modern theology: cultural theology and the theology of culture. The course investigates this typology in the writings of Lessing, Schleiermacher, Barth, Bonhoeffer, and Metz; in the papal encyclicals of Pius X and John Paul II; and in the documents of Vatican I and II. Formerly listed as RS 132. Three credits.

RS 235 Liberation Theology
This course analyzes contemporary theological movements that emphasize the relationship of religious faith and praxis to the sociopolitical realm. The course treats at length the development of the Latin American theology of liberation and examines its theological principles, tracing the influence of this theological outlook on other Third World theologies and on North American and European theological reflection. The course proceeds to a constructive proposal for a contemporary political theology. This course meets the U.S. diversity requirement. Formerly listed as RS 135. Three credits.

RS 237 Christian Feminist Theology
Participants examine some of the key issues being raised in religion by contemporary feminist thinkers. After a brief examination of the history of patriarchy in the Christian tradition and earlier responses by pre-modern feminists, the course considers issues such as feminist methodology, feminist perspectives on traditional Christian doctrines of God, creation, anthropology, Christology, and eschatology. The course concludes with a discussion of the nature of authority and an examination of a feminist theology. This course meets the U.S. diversity requirement. Formerly listed as RS 137. Three credits.

RS 238 American Catholic Theologians
This lecture/reading course gives students insight into the modern development of Catholic theology in America and what makes it specifically American. Discussion/analysis covers the work of Gustav Weigel, John Courtney Murray, George Tavard, Frank Sheed, Walter Burghardt, and Robley Whitson. Formerly listed as RS 138. Three credits.

RS 276 The Morality of Marriage in Christian Perspective
This course explores marital commitments by exploring the many phases of partnership - courtship, marriage, intimacy, parenting, death - and the specialized skills or virtues these phases require. The course considers questions such as: What kinds of communities, especially faith communities, support marital commitments? What are the forces of society and culture that might threaten them? How might vices, such as physical or sexual abuse, alcoholism, and addiction, erode commitments? The course concludes by assessing how virtuous families might promote peace and justice, and developing an integrated theological account of the moral project we call marriage. Formerly listed as RS 176. Three credits.

RS 280 Morality and Law
This course examines the relationship between law and morality, of rights and justice, with illustrative reference to special topics such as racism; sexism; and political, business, and communication ethics. Formerly listed as RS 180. Three credits.

RS 340 Modern Jewish Theology
This course explores ways in which selected 19thand 20th-century Jewish theologians (Buber, Rosenzweig, Heschel, Hartman, Fackenheim, Blumenthal, Greenberg, Plaskow) attempt to meet challenges of faith and Jewish self-identity. Topics include the nature of the covenant, the role of human autonomy, liturgical images of divinity, and faith after Auschwitz. Formerly listed as RS 240. Three credits.

History and Tradition

RS 100 Introduction to Judaism
This course examines Jewish faith and community from the biblical period through the present, paying particular attention to the concepts of God, revelation, religious authority, divine election, and personhood; the celebration of holidays and observances; contemporary religious movements; and organizations and institutions that continue to support Jewish life. Three credits.

RS 101 History of the Jewish Experience
The course examines the origin and development of Judaism and the Jewish people. It begins with the Hebrew Bible as the source of Judaism and follows its development to the modern era. This overview introduces the Jewish religion, its history, and development. Formerly listed as RS 100. Three credits.

RS 112 The Problem of God
This historical and theological examination of the Christian doctrine of God pays special attention to the problematic aspects of the development of this doctrine through the ages, exploring this development in biblical sources; patristic, medieval, Reformation, and modern times. The course concludes with a consideration of the challenge of post-Enlightenment atheism and of the efforts of contemporary theologians to recast the classical conception of God. Three credits.

RS 115 Introduction to Catholicism
This introduction to the beliefs, doctrines, ideas, and practices that shape the unity and diversity of the Catholic tradition explores theological, devotional, and spiritual forms of expression in their historical and cultural contexts in order to appreciate the particularity of Catholic themes. The course also considers how these themes engage contemporary Catholic life and exercise an influence on the wider culture. Three credits.

RS 202 Finding God in All Things: The Spiritual Legacy of Ignatius of Loyola
The course aims at a deeper understanding of the origins, development, and present forms of Ignatian spirituality. Students are invited to study in an open yet critical fashion: the life and history of Ignatius of Loyola; the founding and development of the Society of Jesus; the historical context of the major themes of Jesuit spirituality and ways in which these have been worked out in history; strengths, weaknesses, and potential lacunae of this particular charism in the church; its relevance to contemporary spiritual needs, especially in the context of university life; its potential for nurturing lives characterized by love for others and justice for the world. Students are also exposed to the dynamics of the Spiritual Exercises; a variety of prayer forms developed by Ignatius; and a service learning project. The course culminates in a creative project designed by each student. Three credits.

RS 204 Voices of Medieval Women: Silent No More
As scholars work to recover the history of women in the Western Christian tradition, they are discovering that medieval women were neither as silent nor as invisible as previously thought. In this class, students read and interpret the works of select medieval women in a critical yet appreciative way. Students gain familiarity with recent discussions on women's spirituality; a mastery of methods used in the critical analysis of medieval texts (that date from approximately 200-1500); a basic understanding of the social and historical context of these texts; a grasp of the texts' religious content and meaning; and analyze how this material might be relevant to contemporary interests and concerns. Three credits.

RS 207 The Reformation Era
Participants study the religious reform of the 16th century. The course begins by probing the seeds of reform in the late scholastic tradition and in popular spirituality, and proceeds by tracing the development of the ideas and impact of the reformers: Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Munzer, and Schwenckfeld. The course concludes with an investigation of the Roman Catholic response to reform in the events of the Council of Trent and the Counterreformation. Formerly listed as RS 107. Three credits.

RS 224 The Papacy
This survey of the Roman Catholic papacy, generally focuses on a single figure, theme, or period, and places that figure, theme, or period within the larger historical, cultural, and ecclesial context. A significant part of the course treats theological issues, using as texts either papal writings, significant encyclicals, or conciliar statements and actions. The course also includes a critical assessment of the role of the papacy within the Roman Catholic Church and a consideration of the role of the papacy in interreligious dialogue and world affairs. Formerly listed as RS 124. Three credits.

RS 242 Jews and Judaism in America
What has it meant and what does it mean today to be a Jew in America? Viewing Judaism and Jewishness as inseparable from one another, Jews remain a distinct though by no means homogeneous religious and ethnic group in American society. This course explores the religious, cultural, social, economic, and political diversity among American Jews as well as distinctive beliefs, concerns, and experiences that continue to unite them. The course gives special attention to issues concerning immigration, acculturation, gender, and Black-Jewish relations. This course meets the U.S. diversity requirement. Three credits.

RS 350 The Quest for the Historical Jesus
This course examines the increasingly public debate over whether an adequate basis exists for reconstructing a description of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. It examines the evidence available from all sources, the criteria by which that evidence has been interpreted, and the resulting, often contradictory, portrayals. The course also discusses the relationship between this "historical Jesus" and the subsequent faith tradition of Christianity. Three credits.

Religion and society

RS 203 Women in Judaism
This course examines ways in which women have understood and experienced Judaism from the Biblical period through the present, drawing on historical writings, novels, theological essays, and films and giving particular attention to the traditional religious roles and status of women, the many ways in which women have understood Jewish self-identity, and recent feminist efforts to re-evaluate and transform contemporary Jewish life. Formerly listed as RS 103. Three credits.

RS 205 Selected Topics in the Catholic Tradition
This course examines particular themes, events, or individuals in the Catholic tradition, with special regard for their historical contexts and the ways in which they contribute to the self-identity of the Catholic tradition. The course includes close reading of primary sources; the subject matter changes from semester to semester. Students should consult the University registrar's listing of new courses to determine the specific material treated when the course is offered. Formerly listed as RS 105. Three credits.

RS 236 African-American Religious Strategies
This course takes a historical and theological journey through various religious strategies and practices employed by African-Americans during the last 300 years, focusing on those particular strategies that explicitly defined themselves as religious. The course traces the development of the major Black religious strategies: religious nationalism (Malcolm X, David Walker), existentialist liberationists (Nat Turner, Gabriel Prosser), prophetic Christianity (Martin Luther King Jr., Marcus Garvey), priestly Christianity (Richard Allen, Sojourner Truth), Black mysticism (Howard Thurman), and sectarianism (Daddy Grace, Father Divine). The course evaluates each, based on their starting-points, conceptions of ritual, and notions of God. Three credits.

RS 239 Lay Perspectives on Christian Spirituality
This course examines the foundations and elements of a spirituality of everyday life from a lay perspective. It considers issues related to the spirituality of university life and to one’s broader, future developmental calling on personal, spiritual, and professional levels. Themes of the course include historical overview of Christian spiritual traditions; key theological foundations such as creation, incarnation, doctrine of the Holy Spirit, grace, priesthood of all believers, action, and contemplation; exploration of the practical implications of such a spirituality; and reflection on action for justice. Three credits.

RS 241/SO 151 Sociology of Religion
For this course description, see SO 151 in sociology. Three credits.

RS 244 Faith After the Holocaust
The course examines the complexity and horror of the Holocaust and its contemporary historical, moral, theological, and political implications. Was the attempted annihilation of European Jewry an historical aberration in German politics or did it represent an eruption of psychic, social, and religious malignancies embedded in Western civilization? Was the Holocaust unique? Could it have been prevented? And, in light of the Holocaust, what does it mean to speak of faith, either in God or in humanity? Formerly listed as RS 144. Three credits.

RS 281 Religious Values and Public Policy
This course explores various understandings of religious values, the public policy process, and the interaction of these values and policies in American public life. While the course deals primarily with Catholic and Protestant religious traditions, it notes the contributions of other religious traditions to particular policy concerns. Issues pertaining to the religion clauses of the First Amendment form a central focus. To underscore the diverse connection between religious values and public policy, the course also considers wider issues of religion, personality, and culture. Formerly listed as RS 181. Three credits.

RS 282 Catholic Social Teaching
This course examines the modern teachings of the Catholic Church on peace and justice; Christian/ humanist attitudes towards war; pacifism and the just war theory; and changes in global political and economic structures that seem necessary to ensure a peaceful and just world order. Formerly listed as RS 182. Three credits.

RS 293 Non-Traditional American Churches
This course begins with a critical inquiry into the nature of religion in America and the history that led to the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. Students develop and defend criteria to evaluate nontraditional forms of "church" that have resulted from this freedom. After reviewing the origin, history, and beliefs of the major non-traditional churches established by Americans, the course explores the development of American evangelism and its impact on modern society through the "Electronic Church." Formerly listed as RS 193. Three credits.

RS 294 Religion and Psychology
This course examines topics of concern to the fields of psychology and religious studies such as the formation of a personal and communal identity, alienation and guilt, individuality and change, and dependence and freedom. The study considers how psychological understandings interact with personal religious beliefs to form patterns of meaning for the individual. Formerly listed as RS 194. Three credits.

RS 295 Non-Traditional American Religious Groups
This course develops a critical sense regarding the nature of religion as experienced in pluralistic America by investigating a number of groups that illustrate the diversity of religious experience in America such as The Mighty I Am, Jonestown, Morningland, and Theosophy. Students formulate criteria for judging the authenticity of religious movements through an analysis of these examples. Formerly listed as RS 195. Three credits.

RS 296 Saints and Sinners: Images of Holiness in Contemporary Fiction
This course examines the complexity of current understandings of what it is to be holy. It begins with a brief consideration of traditional models of holiness. It turns next to several influential theories of spiritual growth, and then, in the light of these theories, looks at a series of 20th-century novels that examine the idea of holiness. Authors vary but include Georges Bernanos, Shusaku Endo, Mary Gordon, Graham Greene, David Lodge, Flannery O'Connor, Gloria Naylor, Muriel Spark, and Jean Sullivan. Formerly listed as RS 196. Three credits.

RS 298 Religious Values in Film
This course focuses on the search for meaning in human life as experienced and depicted in 12 films by distinguished filmmakers. The first six films mirror this search in personal life, asking in various ways whether we are isolated and alone or linked and dependent on others. They also grapple with the problem of evil and the experience of salvation. The second six films concern themselves with the meaning of life in society. In different historical contexts they ask whether the universe is indifferent or friendly to our community building, and raise the problem of God and the religious significance of secular achievement. Formerly listed as RS 198. Three credits

RS 299 The Classic: Truth in Religion and the Arts
This course examines the idea of the classic as a model for establishing relationships between religious language on the one hand, and poetic discourse and artistic expression on the other. What truth do classics lay claim to and how do they embody it? The course compares secular and religious classics before investigating the value of the classic model in the process of doing theology. Formerly listed as RS 199. Three credits.

Islam and Asian Religions

RS 105 Introduction to Islam
This course introduces Islam as a global religion and civilization. After a brief historical overview, the course focuses on the foundational concepts of Islam - Quran, Prophet, Ritual and Community, and then analyzes how these concepts are interpreted in the main intellectual traditions, in the ways that Islam is practiced in different cultures and in the works of modern thinkers. Three credits.

RS 284 Buddhist Thought in India
The course investigates the basic Buddhist contributions to philosophical thought in the country of its origin - India. Through the writings of the seminal doctors of the tradition, ideas concerning metaphysics, causation, linguistic deconstruction, and psychological modeling are explored. Each direction is examined in light of the lively and dynamic theoretical environment that provided India with the intellectual sophistication it still enjoys today. This course meets the world diversity requirement. Three credits.

RS 287 Hinduism
This course introduces the seminal texts, concepts, and images of the major religious tradition of India. Topics include Vedic ritualism; Upanishadic mysticism; yoga meditation; the Bhagavad Gita; the caste system; Vedanta philosophy; the cults of Rama, Krishna, Shiva, and the Goddess; and Gandhi's philosophy of non-violent action. The course views Hinduism as a historical phenomenon, a formative influence on Indian culture and society, and a response to the human condition. Formerly listed as RS 187. This course meets the world diversity requirement. Three credits.

RS 288 Buddhism
This course explores the Indian Buddhist tradition, from its beginning in the life of Shakyamuni Buddha through the present revival of neo-Buddhism in the activism of oppressed classes. The course considers the early formative ideas of the Buddha - the Awakened One - as they unfold in the course of Indian history and society, and discusses Buddhist meditation and philosophy as procedures devised to elicit the awakened state. Using written and visual works, the course examines developments in Buddhist religious orders, lay social life, and the rise of the Great Vehicle tradition. Art and archaeology provide a context for Buddhism's compelling missionary activity throughout Central and Southeast Asia. Formerly listed as RS 188. This course meets the world diversity requirement. Three credits.

RS 289 Tantrism
The course covers the medieval formation of tantrism, a pan-Indian approach to religion that was to develop separate but related subcultures in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. With its ability to sacralize formulations of power and sexuality, it went on to become the most widely spread form of Buddhism, with premodern forms found in Tibet, China, Japan, and Eastern Europe. Recent expressions have been found all over the world. The course examines questions of tantrism's medieval origins, its espousal of antinomian conduct, its geographical spread, attempts at its domestication, and its recent developments in India and abroad. This course meets the world diversity requirement. Three credits.

RS 290 Religions of China
This course primarily investigates the indigenous religious expressions of China: Confucianism, Taosim, and Chinese popular spirit observances. It also covers those forms of Buddhism that are properly Chinese, such as Ch'an, Pure Land, and Buddhist millennialism. The course surveys sources from the earliest oracle bone inscriptions to modern communist literature including modern ethnography and the testimony of no-Han minorities of China. Sacred sites and mountain pilgrimage are important dimensions to the study. This course meets the world diversity requirement. Three credits.

RS 292 North Pacific Tribal Religion
This course investigates the varieties of religious expression found in the hunter-gatherer and semi-pastoralist societies of the Northern Pacific Rim and the steppe areas adjacent to it - Siberia and the American Great Basin/Great Plains - giving particular attention to myths, hunting rituals, tribal rites of passage, renewal rituals, and the specific functions of religious objects. The course explores shamanic structures, spirit communication, and visionary institutions in some depth, and discusses modern transformations of tribal religion in these areas. Formerly listed as RS 192. This course meets the world diversity requirement. Three credits.

RS 388 Buddhist Spirituality
The course explores the cultivation of meditation and spirituality in the Buddhist tradition, its embodiment in seminal figures in India, China, Japan, and Tibet, and their individual expressions of contemplation and spiritual experience. The association of these Buddhist saints with value systems, specific sites, and sacred activities is examined, especially as the relationships between these persons and their activity in the world reflect their religious path. Particular emphasis is placed on the questions of religious inspiration and creativity, and the manner that these are formed in the process of training in contemplation. This course meets the world diversity requirement. Three credits.

RS 389 Seminar on Tibetan Religions
An examination of the forms of religious expression found on the “Roof of the World,” the course investigates the rise and development of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the indigenous forms of religious expression found in Tibet proper and in the Tibetan cultural areas in China, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, and India. Topics include revealed scripture, village religious culture, monastic systems, the Tibetan theocracy, the institution of religious incarnation, and the sectarian divisions within Buddhism and the Bon religion. This course meets the world diversity requirement. Three credits.

Special Seminars

RS 301 Independent Study
Students, in consultation with a department director, define their course of study. Three credits.

RS 360 Religious Studies Seminar
This seminar offers an in-depth investigation of a significant figure, issue, or problem in religious studies. Enrollment requires the permission of the instructor. Formerly listed as RS 260. Three credits.

RS 390 Major Seminar
This seminar offers religious studies majors an in-depth investigation of a significant figure, issue, or problem in the discipline. Three credits.