Religion (RELIGION)

Associate Professor Jaffe, Chair; Professor C. Meyers, Director of Undergraduate Studies; Professors Bland, Chaves, Clark, Hillerbrand, Kort, Lawrence, E. Meyers, Peters, and Van Rompay; Associate Professors Goodacre, Nickerson and Prasad; Associate Research Professor Moosa; Instructor Need; Affiliated faculty: Professors Aers (English), Beckwith (English), Ehrman (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Ewing (cultural anthropology), and Surin (literature); Associate Professor Hacohen (history); Adjunct Assistant Professor Thompson (documentary studies)

Study in the Department of Religion arises from the recognition that religion, although it takes many forms, is a constitutive element of human existence individually and collectively. The curriculum is organized so that courses at the 40 level provide an introduction to the major religious traditions, those with significant representation and influence throughout the world. Courses at the 100 level include those which focus on specific traditions, texts, and contexts and those which deal with religious data from a theoretical perspective.

All introductory courses and courses at the 100 level, with the exception of those courses specially designated, are open to all undergraduates. Courses at the 200 level are open to upperclass students with the consent of the instructor.

1. Biblical Hebrew I. FL (Divinity School course open to undergraduates with consent of instructor.) Elements of phonology, morphology, and syntax. Exercises in reading and writing Hebrew. Course credit contingent upon the successful completion of Religion 2. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 1A

2. Biblical Hebrew II. FL (Divinity School course open to undergraduates with consent of instructor.) Second half of Religion 1. Study of the weak verb; exegetical treatment of the Book of Jonah. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 2A

40. Judaism. CCI, CZ Introduction to Judaic civilization from its origins to modern times. Instructor: Bland, E. Meyers, or staff. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 40, Women's Studies

41. Christianity. CCI, CZ, EI Introduction to Christian doctrine, ritual, social organization and ethics in the past and present. Instructor: Hillerbrand, Moosa, Van Rompay, or staff. One course.

43. Hinduism. CCI, CZ, EI An exploration of the beliefs, ethics, everyday and ceremonial practices, philosophies, mythologies, and movements that are part of the aggregately-named religion of Hinduism. Instructor: Prasad or staff. One course.

45. Religions of Asia. CCI, CZ, EI Problems and methods in the study of religion, followed by a survey of the historical development, beliefs, practices, ethics, and contemporary significance of the Islamic religion and religions of south and east Asia. Instructor: Nickerson or staff. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies 90A

48. Japanese Religions: Buddhas, Kanmi, and other Deities. CCI, CZ, EI The various strands of Japanese religious life from prehistoric times until the present. Kami worship; primary denominations of Japanese Buddhism; Japanese Christianity; Confucianism; and the New Religious. The ethical, social, and political implications of these strands. Instructor: Jaffe. One course.

80. Approaches to Religion. CCI, CZ Introduction to influential methods and approaches in the academic study of religion, seeking to understand, examine, and evaluate influential conceptions of religion advanced by representatives of these methods. Instructor: Staff. One course.

85. World Religions in American Life. CCI, CZ Introduction to world religions through exploration of their manifestations in the United States, with the goal of understanding both religion and American life more accurately. Instructor: Staff. One course.

100. The Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. CCI, CZ, EI Historical, literary, ethical, and theological investigations of the ancient Near Eastern context of Israelite religion and culture. Instructor: C. Meyers, E. Meyers, or Peters. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 100, Ethics

102. The New Testament. CCI, CZ, EI Examination of the major books of the New Testament, covering their contents, ethical implications, historical and social setting, authorship, date, and theology. Instructor: Goodacre or staff. One course.

107A. Taoism and Chinese Religion. CCI, CZ, EI Introduction to Taoism, its texts, practices, and ethical implications in history and modern times in mainland China and Taiwan. Instructor: Nickerson. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies 120A, Ethics

108. The Life and Letters of Paul. CCI, CZ, EI Paul's biography and character, the social and physical circumstances of his work, his thought, and its relationship to ancient Jewish and Hellenistic ethics and beliefs. Instructor: Goodacre or staff. One course.

109. Women in the Biblical Tradition: Image and Role. CCI, CZ, EI Women in ancient Israel, early Christianity, and early Judaism in their contexts in the Near Eastern and Greco-Roman worlds, with attention to the relation between textual depictions and social reality and to the ethical issues raised by the continuing authority of biblical texts for matters of gender. Sources include the Bible, images from art, and archaeological remains. Instructor: C. Meyers or staff. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 103, Women's Studies

110. Religion in China. CCI, CZ Chinese religious traditions (for example, Taoist, Buddhist, Confucian, and popular) and their interrelationships from the Neolithic to the present. Mutual influences between religion and Chinese social, cultural, and political history. Instructor: Nickerson. One course. C-L: History 110A

111. The Historical Jesus. CCI, CZ, EI An investigation of what can be known about Jesus of Nazareth, his teaching about the kingdom of God and ethical behavior, his symbolic acts, and his cures. Principal attention given to the first three gospels, secondary attention to comparative material from the Jewish and Greco-Roman worlds. Instructor: Goodacre or staff. One course.

114. T'ai Chi and Chinese Thought. CCI, CZ The philosophy, cosmology, and other aspects of traditional Chinese thought embodied in the martial art of T'ai Chi. Course conducted through readings and lectures as well as actual movement praxis. Comparisons between Western bio-medical notions of the body and those implied by T'ai Chi and other facets of Chinese thought and practice, such as Chinese medicine. Instructor: Nickerson. One course. C-L: Dance 114

115AS. Transnational Buddhism in Asia and America. CCI, CZ An examination of Buddhism in Asia, Europe, and the United States from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Emphasis on global exchanges that resulted in the emergence of Buddhism in the United States and Europe and the transformation of Buddhism in Asia. Instructor: Jaffe or staff. One course.

115BS. Buddhist Ethics. CCI, CZ, EI, W Survey of various Buddhist understandings of ethics, both classical and contemporary. How different Buddhist communities have responded to such ethical problems as the existence of evil, war, injustice, and suffering as well as contemporary Buddhist debates over abortion, ethnic fratricide, human rights, environmental problems, economic justice, and cloning. Instructor: Jaffe or staff. One course. C-L: Ethics

116A. Gender and Morality: Indian Perspectives. ALP, CCI, CZ, EI Explores articulations of morality in literary, philosophical, and everyday contexts of India and the Indian diaspora, with focus on gender. Relationships between ideological depictions of women across varied contexts and women's social lives. Gendered visions underlying personhood, duty, sexuality, family, community, and lifestyle. Readings from Hindu ethics, epic narrative, ethnography, fiction and poetry. Instructor: Prasad. One course. C-L: Women's Studies 112

117. Mahayana Buddhism. CCI, CZ Special features of the doctrine and practice of Buddhism in Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan, with an account of their origins in the Indian subcontinent. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies 120B

120. History of the Christian Church. CCI, CZ, EI Crucial events, issues, structures, and writings that have shaped the Christian community and influenced Western civilization from the time of the early church to the present. Special attention to ethical themes such as human destiny, the "good life," reform and renewal that have been permanent elements in Christian history. Instructor: Hillerbrand. One course. C-L: History 156B

121. Roman Catholic Tradition. CZ History of the tradition from early days through the reforms of Vatican II with emphasis on the experiences of American Catholics, concluding with a discussion of current concerns about gender equality, sexuality, and the post-Vatican II crisis of authority. Instructor: Clark or staff. One course.

124. Religion in American Life. CZ, EI A historical survey, with emphasis on the ways that religious experiences, beliefs, and traditions have found expression in religious communities and institutions, and in American public life. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Ethics

125. Women and Sexuality in the Christian Tradition. CZ A historical survey of Christian attitudes and practices from New Testament times to the present. Instructor: Clark. One course. C-L: Study of Sexualities, Women's Studies, International Comparative Studies

128. Christians in Crisis. CCI, CZ, EI Christian thought and debate on, and theological analysis of, such contemporary issues as abortion, creationism, homosexuality, liberation, poverty, racism, and sexism. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Ethics

129. Religion and Science: Biology, Minds, and Souls. CCI, CZ, STS The diverse interactions of religion and science from the Renaissance to the present. The profound transformation of premodern science by seventeenth-century revolutions and nineteenth-century discoveries; in turn, the transformation of society, including religion, by modern science. Some consideration of physics and astronomy, but major focus on the impact of Darwinian anti-teleology and modern biology, especially animal studies, on ''natural theology'' and traditional arguments from design. Thinkers to be considered include Francis Bacon, Montaigne, Spinoza, Thomas Huxley, Albert Einstein, and E. O. Wilson. Topics include evolution, human consciousness, human identity, and the human-animal boundary. Instructor: Bland. One course.

131. Sacred Space in South Asia. CCI, CZ Hindu, Jaina and Buddhist traditions, about notions of "sacred space" in South Asia, particularly India, and the South Asia diaspora: temple architecture, pilgrimage, festival and daily ritual, tourism, oral and written literatures, popular media, and performance. Topics include sacredness of the human body, domestic altars, temple complexes, religious processions, festivals and historic monuments. The contested social contexts and the politics of mapping and marking sacred sites. Instructor: Prasad. One course.

133. Classical Judaism, Sectarianism, and Early Christianity. CCI, CZ The emergence of ancient Judaism from late biblical times with the christianization of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. The variety of Judaism explored through the literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament, and paganism. The impact of Greco-Roman (Hellenistic) culture on all these traditions. Instructor: E. Meyers. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 105

134. Jewish Mysticism. CZ, EI The main historical stages, personalities, texts, ethical doctrines, social teachings, and metaphysical doctrines from rabbinic to modern times. Instructor: Bland. One course. C-L: Medieval and Renaissance Studies 134C, Jewish Studies 106, International Comparative Studies 141C, Ethics

136. Contemporary Jewish Thought. CCI, CZ, EI Modern Jewish thought from Mendelssohn to the present, with particular reference to the dynamics of emancipation, antisemitism, religious reform, Zionism, the rise of natural religion with its emphasis on the supremacy of ethics, and feminism. Instructor: Bland or E. Meyers. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 107

138. Gender in Religion in the United States. CCI, CZ Women's religious experience in America, from the lives of early American 'good wives' to the work of Catholic nuns in the nineteenth century and the spirituality of Jewish feminists in modern America, concluding with a discussion of contemporary issues, for example, feminist theology, sexuality, and admission of women to pastoral leadership. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Women's Studies

140. Religions of India. CCI, CZ Major religious traditions of the subcontinent: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam. Instructor: Lawrence, Prasad, or staff. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies 170G

144. Introduction to the Civilizations of Southern Asia. CCI, CZ One course. C-L: see Asian and African Languages and Literature 160; also C-L: Cultural Anthropology 101, History 193, International Comparative Studies

146. Introduction to Islamic Civilization. CCI, CZ, EI First part of two-course sequence providing an extensive survey of Muslim peoples and institutions. The Middle Eastern origins and cultural attainments of medieval Islam. Instructor: Lawrence, Moosa or staff. One course. C-L: Cultural Anthropology 147, History 101G, Medieval and Renaissance Studies 146A, International Comparative Studies 141A, Information Science and Information Studies, Ethics

147. Introduction to Islamic Civilization. CCI, CZ, EI Continuation of Religion 146. Instructor: Lawrence, or staff. One course. C-L: Cultural Anthropology 148, History 102G, Medieval and Renaissance Studies 147A, International Comparative Studies, Ethics

148. Alternative Religion in America. CCI, CZ Focus on both the historical development of particular traditions (for example, Mormon, Adventist, New Age) and general themes in American religious life (for example, relationship between religion and health, appeal of communitarian and millenarian movements). Instructor: Staff. One course.

152B. Islamic Mysticism: Perso-Indian (Eastern) Traditions. CCI, CZ, EI Teachings, texts, and institutions of Sufism as it expanded from Iraq and Iran to India and Indonesia, from twelfth to the twenty-first century. C-L: Comparative Area Studies. Instructor: Lawrence. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies 141E, Islamic Studies, Ethics

158. The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century. CCI, CZ, EI A survey of the changes in sixteenth-century European society, with particular reference to the continent, which grew out of the movement for religious reform and socio-political renewal. Focus on new developments in theology and religion and their relationship to society in such issues as the definition of a "good society," just war, and social justice. Instructor: Hillerbrand. One course. C-L: History 156A, Medieval and Renaissance Studies 156A, International Comparative Studies 181H, Ethics

159. Ethical Issues in Early Christianity. CCI, CZ, EI Investigation of two major transitions in the early Christian movement and their impact on the formulation of Christian ethics: Christianity's transition from a sect within Judaism to a Greco-Roman religious movement whose constituency came largely from the "pagan" world, and its transition from a sect in danger of persecution to a religion favored and supported by Roman imperial authorities. How these transitions are reflected in early Christian attitudes toward, and practices concerning, poverty and wealth, war and military service, marriage and sexuality, capital punishment, slavery, and other issues. Instructor: Clark. One course.

160. Religions of the African Diaspora. CCI, CZ, SS One course. C-L: see African and African American Studies 150; also C-L: Cultural Anthropology 150, International Comparative Studies

161A. West African Rootholds in Dance. ALP, CCI One course. C-L: see Dance 110A; also C-L: African and African American Studies 110A, Asian and African Languages and Literature 110A, Cultural Anthropology 129A

161B. West African Rootholds in Dance. ALP, CCI One course. C-L: see Dance 110B; also C-L: African and African American Studies 110B, Asian and African Languages and Literature 110B, Cultural Anthropology 129B

161C. Dance and Dance Theater of Asia. ALP, CCI, CZ One course. C-L: see Dance 149; also C-L: Cultural Anthropology 149, Theater Studies 133, Asian and African Languages and Literature 149, International Comparative Studies 170C

161G. Dante's Divine Comedy: Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. ALP, CCI, CZ, EI One course. C-L: see Italian 143; also C-L: Medieval and Renaissance Studies 166, History 142, International Comparative Studies

161H. Kundalini Yoga and Sikh Dharma. ALP, CCI, CZ One course. C-L: see Dance 155; also C-L: Asian and African Languages and Literature 135, International Comparative Studies 170H

161J. History and Practice of the Dance and Dance-theatre of India. ALP, CCI, CZ One course. C-L: see Dance 147; also C-L: Cultural Anthropology 149B, Theater Studies 134, Asian and African Languages and Literature 154

161N. Dance and Religion in Asia and Africa. ALP, CCI, CZ One course. C-L: see Dance 158; also C-L: Asian and African Languages and Literature 136, Cultural Anthropology 149C, African and African American Studies 158, International Comparative Studies 102A

161V. Thinking About God: The Nature of Religious Belief at the Crossrds of Judaism, Christianity, & Islam. CCI, CZ, EI One course. C-L: see Philosophy 135; also C-L: Cultural Anthropology 120B, International Comparative Studies 102F, Turkish 136

162S. Buddhist Meditation: Cultivation Practices and Psychology. CCI, CZ, EI Buddhist paths and techniques of self-transformation in premodern and modern Buddhist cultures. Conceptions of the psychophysical person and goals of Buddhist practice assumed by these meditative techniques. Reinterpretation and modification of traditional meditation practices in contemporary Buddhist societies. Instructor: Jaffe. One course.

164S. The Anthropology of Hinduism: From Encounter to Engagement. ALP, CCI, CZ, R European colonial, North American, and Indian accounts of Hindu practices and worldviews. The limits and possibilities of "anthropological" approaches to understanding Hinduism. The intersections between Hindu "traditions," ethnography, and diasporic movements. Topics include everyday practice, pilgrimage and performance traditions, devotional literatures, and contemporary politics of Hinduism. Instructor: Prasad. One course. C-L: Cultural Anthropology 164S, Documentary Studies

167. Ethics in South Asia. ALP, CCI, CZ, EI Explores through anthropological and literary approaches, how ethics is articulated in religious texts and epics, in everyday contexts, and in the performative arts in South Asia. Examines ethical thinking reflected in conceptualization and expressions of personhood, duty, sexuality, family, and community. Explores issues such as the imagination and negotiation of moral authority; the constitution, assessment, and transmission of values; the role of colonialism; and the moral magnetism of epic traditions. Uses wide range of interdisciplinary material to help explore the practice of ethics in South Asia. Instructor: Prasad. One course.

168S. Muslim Ethics and Islamic Law: Issues and Debates. CCI, CZ, EI Premodern judicial arrangements and the contestations surrounding their modern incarnations. Topics include bioethics, gender and family law, war and peace, environmental issues, and political ethics. Instructor: Moosa. One course.

182. Medicine and Religion in American Society. CZ, EI, STS Religious, social, and cultural understandings of pain and suffering, disease, mental illness, sexuality and sexualities, abortion, and euthanasia. Close reading and interpretation of historical, scientific, and philosophical texts as well as various media and art forms. Instructor: Staff. One course. C-L: Health Policy

183. Comparative Approaches to Global Issues (B, D). CCI, CZ, SS One course. C-L: see International Comparative Studies 125; also C-L: Cultural Anthropology 125, History 137, Political Science 125, Sociology 125, Global Health, Global Health

184. Religion and Film. CCI, CZ, EI A study of the relationship between motion pictures and religion. Focus on the comparative portrayal of organized religions; expressions of religious life; and religious topics, such as God, evil and morality, in both Western and non-Western films in which contemporary artists and intellectuals explore the challenges of modernity. Instructor: Hillerbrand. One course. C-L: Documentary Studies, Film/Video/Digital

186. The Theology and Fiction of C. S. Lewis. ALP, CZ, EI A study of texts of cultural criticism, fantasy fiction, and theological and moral argument by C. S. Lewis, their dependence on the cultural situation in which they were deployed, and the reasons for their continuing force and wide appeal. Instructor: Kort. One course.

189S. Autobiography and Religious Identity. CCI A study of contemporary autobiographies by Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant writers, of theories concerning autobiography and religious identity, and of autobiography as a kind of writing. Instructor: Kort. One course.

191A. Independent Study. Individual guided readings in a field of special interest, under the supervision of a faculty member, resulting in a substantive paper or written report containing significant analysis and interpretation of a previously approved topic. For freshmen and sophomores with departmental approval. Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies required. Instructor: Staff. One course.

191B. Research Independent Study. R Individual research and readings in a field of special interest, under the supervision of a faculty member, resulting in a substantive paper or written report containing significant analysis and interpretation of a previously approved topic. For freshmen and sophomores with departmental approval. Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies required. Instructor: Staff. One course.

192A. Independent Study. See Religion 191A. For freshmen and sophomores with departmental approval. Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies required. Instructor: Staff. One course.

192B. Research Independent Study. R See Religion 191B. For freshmen and sophomores with departmental approval. Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies required. Instructor: Staff. One course.

193A. Independent Study. See Religion 191A. For juniors and seniors with departmental approval. Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies required. Instructor: Staff. One course.

193B. Research Independent Study. R See Religion 191B. For juniors and seniors with departmental approval. Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies required. Instructor: Staff. One course.

194A. Independent Study. See Religion 191A. For juniors and seniors with departmental approval. Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies required. Instructor: Staff. One course.

194B. Research Independent Study. R See Religion 191B. For juniors and seniors with departmental approval. Consent of instructor and director of undergraduate studies required. Instructor: Staff. One course.

197. Honors Research. R, W Course credit contingent upon successful completion of Religion 198. Consent of the director of undergraduate studies required. Instructor: Staff. One course.

198R. Honors Research. R, W Continuation of, and required for credit for, Religion 197. Prerequisite: Religion 197. Consent of the director of undergraduate studies required. Instructor: Staff. One course.

201. Studies in Intertestamental Literature. CCI, CZ Selected documents of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha examined exegetically and theologically in their relation to postexilic Judaism. Consent of instructor required. Instructor: Staff. One course.

204. Origen. CZ, EI The systematic and apologetic writings of an important Alexandrian thinker and exegete of the third century. Instructor: Clark. One course. C-L: Medieval and Renaissance Studies 204

207. Hebrew Prose Narrative. FL Focus on the grammar, syntax, and prose style of classical Hebrew composition; a comparative reading of modern and precritical Jewish and Christian commentary. Readings spanning the spectrum from the early Hebrew prose of Genesis and I and II Samuel to the late compositions of Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah. One year of classical Hebrew required. Consent of instructor required for undergraduates. Also taught as Old Testament 207. Instructor: Chapman, Davis, Peters, or Portier-Young. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 201

208. Classical Hebrew Poetry: An Introduction. FL The problem of defining and understanding what is "poetic" in classical Hebrew. Theories of Hebrew poetry from Lowth to Kugel and O'Connor illustrated with readings from Psalms, Isaiah, Job, and Jeremiah. One year of classical Hebrew required. Consent of instructor required. Also taught as Religion 208. Prerequisites: OLDTEST 115, 116. Instructor: Chapman, Davis, Peters, or Portier-Young. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 202

215. Biblical Interpretation in Early Christianity. CZ, EI How early Christian writers of the second-mid-fifth centuries made meaning of the Scriptures in their own, postbiblical environments. Focus on the new historical, religious, and theological situations that required new readings of scriptural texts, the role of heresy and the ascetic movement in the development of biblical interpretation and canon development, and special problems that arose around these issues. Instructor: Clark. One course.

220. Rabbinic Hebrew. FL Interpretive study of late Hebrew, with readings from the Mishnah and Jewish liturgy. Consent of instructor required for undergraduates. Instructor: E. Meyers or staff. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 203

221. Readings in Hebrew Biblical Commentaries. Selected Hebrew texts in Midrash Aggadah and other Hebrew commentaries reflecting major trends of classical Jewish exegesis. Consent of instructor required for undergraduates. Instructor: Bland. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 204

223. A-G. Exegesis of the Hebrew Old Testament. A. Pentateuch B. Historical Books C. Major Prophets D. Minor Prophets E. Writings F. Proverbs G. Genesis Consent of instructor required for undergraduates. Instructor: Staff. One course.

234. Early Christian Asceticism. CZ, EI The development of asceticism and monasticism in the first six centuries of Christianity. Instructor: Clark. One course. C-L: Medieval and Renaissance Studies 234A, Study of Sexualities, Women's Studies

244. Archaeology of Palestine in Hellenistic-Roman Times. CCI, CZ, STS The study of material and epigraphic remains as they relate to Judaism in Hellenistic-Roman times, with special emphasis on Jewish art. Instructor: E. Meyers. One course. C-L: Jewish Studies 206

254. Justice, Law, and Commerce in Islam. CZ, EI History and schools of Islamic jurisprudence; Islamic legal reasoning; approaches to ethics and procedural justice, the ethical regulation of commerce, including a detailed study of pertinent issues in Islamic law. Also taught as Law 568. Instructor: Moosa. One course. C-L: African and African American Studies 254, Medieval and Renaissance Studies 254, International Comparative Studies

265. Epics of India: Ethics, Politics, and Performance Traditions. ALP, CCI, CZ Wide variety of epics across linguistic, geographical, and community orientations. Moral discourses, literary theory relating to epic form, performance traditions and media representations of epic narrative, and connections between political ideology and epic visions. Consent of instructor required. Instructor: Prasad. One course. C-L: Asian and African Languages and Literature 210

283. Islam and Modernism. CCI Cultural, religious, and ideological forces which shape Muslim responses to modernism. Instructor: Lawrence. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies, Islamic Studies

284. The Religion and History of Islam. CCI, CZ, R Investigation of the historical study of Islam: historiography as a discipline, the historical study of Islam in the Western world, Muslim views of Islamic history. Required critical essays and major research paper. Instructor: Lawrence. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies, Islamic Studies

285. Freedom and Law. Lecture course will explore the centrality of freedom and law to doctrine of God as well as to the understanding of the human being and unfold their complex interrelationship in the traditions of theology and philosophy. Also taught as Christian Theology 285. Instructor: Huetter. One course.

287. Popular Religion/Culture. CCI, CZ An interdisciplinary, theory- and method-oriented approach to popular religion and the roles it plays in contemporary and past societies. Instructor: Nickerson. One course. C-L: History 287A

288. Buddhist Thought and Practice. CCI, EI A historical introduction to Buddhist thought and practice, with special attention to their interrelationship in the living religion. Instructor: Jaffe. One course. C-L: International Comparative Studies

Major Requirements. Ten courses, at least eight of which must be at the 100 level or above, including a small group learning experience-a junior-senior seminar, a 200-level course, Religion Department independent study, or a Religion Department departmental honors project. The student, in consultation with an assigned advisor and with the advisor's approval, will select at least one course apiece for each of three different religions and will choose a set of four courses which constitute a thematic or methodological focus on a particular aspect of religion. Only two approved study abroad courses can count towards the major. Only one Divinity School course can count towards the major, and that course cannot be equivalent to a course offered by the Department of Religion. The director of undergraduate studies will identify Divinity School courses that may count toward the religion major.

The Department of Religion has a program for Graduation with Distinction (see the bulletin under that heading). This program is intended for the outstanding religion major who has demonstrated the desire and talent to pursue independent research. The student, under supervision by an advisor, will produce a thesis of exceptional quality.

Minor Requirements. The religion minor offers students specializing in another department or program the opportunity to enrich their studies with a wider perspective in religions. The requirements consist of a minimum of five religion courses, at least four of which must be at the 100 level or above. Only one approved study abroad course can count towards the minor. Only one Divinity School course can count towards the minor, and that course cannot be equivalent to a course offered by the Department of Religion. The director of undergraduate studies will identify Divinity School courses that may count toward the religion minor.

To prepare for graduate or professional study of religion, the department recommends that students complete at least four courses in college-level study, or the equivalent, of a foreign language. Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy programs often require examination in one or two foreign languages. Students planning to attend a theological seminary should note that knowledge of biblical languages, as well as Latin, frequently is presupposed or required. Those planning to pursue studies of Asian religions should begin appropriate language study as part of their undergraduate preparation.

Undergraduate Instruction 2008-2009

Undergraduate Instruction
2008-2009