Courses

Courses

Spring 2007 Courses

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101. Introduction to the Study of Religion
Elizabeth Pritchard T 11:30 - 12:55, TH 11:30 - 12:55 Kanbar Hall - 107
Basic concepts, methods, and issues in the study of religion, with special reference to examples comparing and contrasting Eastern and Western religions. Lectures, films, discussions, and readings in a variety of texts such as scriptures, novels, and autobiographies, along with modern interpretations of religion in ancient and contemporary, Asian and Western contexts.
125. Entering Modernity: European Jewry
Susan Tananbaum T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25 Searles-313
Explores Jewish life through the lenses of history, religion, and ethnicity and examines the processes by which governments and sections of the Jewish community attempted to incorporate Jews and Judaism into European society. Surveys social and economic transformations of Jews, cultural challenges of modernity, varieties of modern Jewish religious expression, political ideologies, the Holocaust, establishment of Israel, and American Jewry through primary and secondary sources, lectures, films, and class discussions.
209. Gender in Islam
Jorunn Buckley M 2:30 - 3:55, W 2:30 - 3:55 Adams-301
Explores categories for interpreting, first, female symbolism in Islamic thought and practice and, second, women's religious, legal, and political status in Islam. Attention is given to statements on women in the Qur'an, as well as other traditional and current Islamic texts. Emphasis on analysis of gender in public versus private spheres, individual vs. society, Islamization vs. modernization/Westernization, and the placement/displacement of women in the traditionally male-dominated Islamic power structures. Religion 208 is helpful, though not a prerequisite.
225. Religion and Political Violence in South Asia
Sunil Goonasekera T 8:30 - 9:55, TH 8:30 - 9:55 Adams-301
Religion is a universal phenomenon that touches, if not dominates, daily life and is a force that can compel people to be both perpetrators and victims of violence. Sociological and anthropological studies point to social, political, economic, cultural, legal and psychological facts that propel individuals and groups to use violence and justify its use by bringing violence into a religious context. Seeks to understand the relationship between religion and violence and the causes and effects of that relationship. Specifically addresses these issues in South Asian cultural systems.
231. Anthropology of Pilgrimage
Sunil Goonasekera T 1:00 - 2:25, TH 1:00 - 2:25 Sills-205
Today, there is a consensus among some educated people that pilgrimages are irrational and performed by the unenlightened. Another perspective balances this consensus with the view that pilgrimages are profoundly meaningful and enlightening. The latter view is held not only by traditional people but also by many sociologists and anthropologists. Develops a discussion about this controversy and explores the second perspective with special reference to theories of pilgrimage, and how these theories relate to the experiences of the pilgrims. Several ethnographies of pilgrimages to Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, and Islamic holy places are discussed in light of sociological and anthropological theories.
250. Western Religious Thought in the Modern and Postmodern Contexts
Elizabeth Pritchard T 2:30 - 3:55, TH 2:30 - 3:55 Ashby House-Conference Room
Perhaps nothing characterizes the philosophical and political thought of the modern West so much as the array of critiques and reconstructions of religion. Unpacks the complexities and varieties of critical views, as well as rehabilitations, of Western religious ideas and practices. Of particular interest are the critiques of religious knowledge claims, subjectivity, and patriarchy. Authors include Hume, Kant, Schleiermacher, Kierkegaard, Feuerbach, Daly, and Taylor.
275. Comparative Mystical Traditions
Jorunn Buckley M 11:30 - 12:55, W 11:30 - 12:55 Adams-301
Taking a clue from the Greek verb behind the term “mysticism”: “to see inwardly” (muein), this course studies primary texts — some “classical,” others less well known — with a specific focus on Jewish, Hellenistic, Christian, and Islamic materials. Avoiding “universal” ideas about mystical traditions, places mystical aspects within their specific religious traditions. Focuses on the language(s) of mysticism: how are mystical techniques, training regimens, and experiences expressed in their respective religious-cultural frameworks? Mysticism is seen as separate from modern ”self-help” therapies and other ego-enhancing systems. Religious-political aspects of mysticism are treated, especially with respect to certain types of medieval European Christian mysticism.
360. Religion and Popular Politics in African History
David Gordon W 1:00 - 3:55 CT-16 Whiteside Room
Religion in African history since the colonial period, with a focus on Islam in Saharan Africa and Christian movements in south and central Africa. Examines popular anti-colonial religious movements and the relationship between religious movements and post-colonial political parties and states. Includes missionary influences and independent African Christianity in south and central Africa; Sufi Brotherhoods in Senegal; and Islamic rebellion and fundamentalism in Nigeria, Algeria, and Sudan.

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