R.S. 101. Section 1—INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN RELIGIONS
Instructor: Dr. R. MOURAD
M W F 11:10-12:00 —Vulgamore 201
1 unit—CRN #1177
Humanities Core Credit under the old core; Historical & Cultural Analysis Mode Credit for new core; Required for Religious Studies Major
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Contemporary Americans must contend with an unprecedented plurality of religious viewpoints. In this course, we will seek to address this situation responsibly by examining three prominent
"Western" religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We will analyze the characteristic beliefs and practices of these three traditions so as to understand and appreciate their similarities and differences. While we will survey the distinctive origins and histories of these religions, we will also study their contact with one another and explore the conditions necessary for dialogue between them. Our approach will be academic rather than confessional or apologetic.TEXTS:
Willard G. Oxtoby, World Religions: Western Traditions.
Handouts
REQUIREMENTS:
1. Attend all classes
2. Read all assigned material and participate actively in class discussions and activities
3. Four exams
4. Occasional written assignments
5. Field Report
EVALUATION:
Participation/Assignments: 15%
Each Exam: 15%
Field Report: 25%
R.S. 101:Section 2 INTRODUCTION TO WESTERN RELIGIONS
Instructor: Dr. S. METSO
TR 3:10-4:30 pm Vulgamore 304
1 Unit-CRN# 1491
Humanities Core Credit under the old core; Historical & Cultural Analysis Mode Credit for new core; Required for Religious Studies Major
DESCRIPTION:
This course will explore the religious dimension of human nature and activity by studying the three great western religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—that all claim Abraham as their ancestor. The primary focus will be on the sacred traditions and principal beliefs and practices of these three religions. The main approach will be historical, tracing the evolutions of the religions, their ideas and forms of religious expression from their beginnings until recent times, noting both common and distinctive features. In addition to the historical approach, students will be introduced to a number of other methodological perspectives: theological, philosophical, anthropological, psychological, and sociological. There is a difference between learning religion and learning about religion. This course will focus on the latter.
GOALS:
1) To gain a basic understanding of the general nature of religion and of the three major western religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
2) To obtain an appreciation of the richness and diversity as well as the similarities of religious experience and expression in various cultures and historical periods.
3) To try to understand the ways that communities construct their religious worlds through myth, ritual, symbolism, beliefs, ethics, etc., and the reason why they do so.
4) To become aware of the need for religious dialogue in our contemporary world.
TEXTBOOKS:
1. Nielsen, Niels C., Norvin Hein, et al., Religions of the World (3rd edition; New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1993).
2. Eastman, Roger (ed.), The Ways of Religion: An Introduction to the Major Traditions (3rd edition; New York: Oxford University Press, 1999).
[3. Additional material will be provided in the class]
EVALUATION:
1. Attendance and participation 20%
2. Four unit exams (incl. final exam) 50%
3. Term paper 30%
R.S. 121 HISTORY, LITERATURE AND RELIGION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
Instructor: Dr. S. METSO
TR 9:10-10:30 Vulgamore 201
1 unit--CRN # 1178
Humanities core credit under the old core; Textual Analysis credit under the
new core; Fulfills
Biblical Studies Requirement For Religious Studies Majors
DESCRIPTION:
The Hebrew Bible (i.e. the Old Testament) is not a single book, but an anthology reflecting different authors, historical circumstances, literary genres, and theological agendas. This course is designed as an introduction to the critical study of this and related literature, and of the ancient Near Eastern cultural environment that formed its background. We will give particular attention to the social, political and religious history of ancient Israel, the development of its theological traditions, the basic forms of Hebrew literature and the principal methods to interpret it. Our main task is to understand what the writings of the Hebrew Bible may have meant in their original, historical context, but we will also consider these writings as a contemporary resource for questions of religion and values. By the end of this course, we will have read and discussed a major portion of the Hebrew Bible in English translation.
GOALS:
1. To become acquainted with the religious traditions of ancient Israel, as they are reflected in the Hebrew Bible.
2. To acquire a basic understanding of the ancient Near Eastern cultures that constitute the environment in which the Hebrew Bible developed.
3. To acquire a general understanding of the methods and results of modern biblical scholarship.
4. To practice using the techniques of linguistic and literary criticism (close reading) to interpret Hebrew Bible literature.
TEXTBOOKS:
1. Frank S. Frick, A Journey Through the Hebrew Scriptures (Fort Worth: Harcort Brace, 1995).
2. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).
EVALUATION:
1. Attendance and participation 20%
2. Midterm exam 20%
3. Term paper 30%
4. Final exam 30%
R.S. 131.01—INTRODUCTION TO CHRISTIAN THOUGHT
Instructor: Dr. R. MOURAD
M W F 10:10-11:00 —Vulgamore 201
1 unit-- CRN # 1278
Humanities core credit under the old core; Textual Analysis credit under the new core; Fulfills theology requirement for Religious Studies Majors.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
In this course we will examine some important literary and theological works of the Christian tradition. We will seek to understand how the authors of these works understand the divine, the world, human persons, sin, and salvation. There have been many different understandings of the nature of Christianity. We will examine some texts that have been very popular and influential and some that present unorthodox or minority views. Since this course focuses on Christian thought, rather than Christian practice, we will emphasize the skills necessary both to interpret and to evaluate the arguments and rhetoric of the authors. Our primary methods will accordingly be critical, theological, and philosophical.
TEXTS:
Augustine. Confessions.
John Bunyan. The Pilgrim's Progress.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The Brothers Karamozov (handout).
C. S. Lewis. The Screwtape Letters.
Friedrich Nietzsche. On the Genealogy of Morality (handout).
Rosemary Radford Ruether. Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology, "The Kenosis
of the Father: A Feminist Midrash on the Gospel in Three Acts" (handout).
Film: "The Last Temptation of Christ."
The Creed of Nicaea (handout).
REQUIREMENTS:
1. Attend all classes
2. Read all assigned material and participate actively in class discussions
3. Three exams
EVALUATION:
Exam 1: 25%
Exam 2: 25%
Exam 3: 30%
Attendance and participation: 20%
R.S. 215 JEWISH LIFE AND THOUGHT
Instructor: Dr. S. METSO
M W 2:10-3:30 pm, Vulgamore 301
1 Unit CRN# 1714
DESCRIPTION:
In response to the question, Why should we study religion in general and Judaism in particular, Jacob Neusner, one of today’s leading Jewish scholars, offers three perspectives: 1. Religion explains particularly well the progress of humanity through the cycle of life, from birth to death. 2. Religion serves particularly well to help a defeated society endure defeat. 3. Religion, while historical, invariably thrives in and has meaning for the acutely contemporary world.
This course studies Jewish religious thought and activity in both ancient and modern times through selected biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern Jewish writings. It covers areas such as the cycle of the year, including the Jewish calendar, the Sabbath, and the festivals; the cycle of life, including the Jewish home and synagogue community; basic Jewish beliefs regarding God, Torah, Israel and Messiah; Jewish philosophy and mysticism; and contemporary Jewish movements. The course explores the roots of Jewish religion, and how Jewish traditions have been transformed throughout history in response to major political and religious crises.
TEXTBOOKS:
1. Norman Solomon, Judaism : A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).
2. Barry W. Holtz (ed.), Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1986).
3. Elie Wiesel, Night (25th anniversary ed.; Toronto: Bantam Books, c1986).
4. Chaim Potok, Chosen (New York: Fawcett Book Group, 1976).
5. Yehuda Amichai, The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai (edited and transl. from Hebrew by Chana Bloch and Stephen Mitchell; newly rev. and expanded ed.; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996).
EVALUATION:
Quizzes and participation 25%
Midterm exam 25%
Two papers (25% each) 50%
R.S. 289 LIBERATION THEOLOGY
Instructor: Dr. R. MOURAD
TR 1:10-2:30 Rob 406
1 Unit CRN # 1713
COURSE DESCRIPTION
:Proponents of liberation theology argue that authentic Christian faith requires more than abstract belief; Christians must also act in a way that contributes to universal social and economic justice. Liberation theologians therefore seek to interpret their social situations according to the radical, revolutionary ethic that they consider central to the Gospel. We will examine the origins of this movement in 1960s Latin America and analyze one of the most influential statements of its key themes from Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutierrez. Liberation theology has subsequently flourished in many parts of the world where Christian communities struggle with poverty and injustice, including America. We will study two American theologians, Rosemary Radford Ruether and James Cone, who offer prominent responses to social injustices related to gender and race. Marx
’s influence on liberation theology will be an underlying theme of the course.TEXTS:
James H. Cone, God of the Oppressed
Gustavo Gutierrez, A Theology of Liberation
Karl Marx,
"Theses on Feuerbach"Karl Marx, Contribution to the Critique of Hegel
’s "Philosophy of Right": IntroductionRosemary Radford Ruether, Sexism and God-Talk
REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION:
Midterm Exam: 25%
Final Exam: 25%
1 Paper (6-7 pages): 25%
2 Presentations: 15%
Attendance and Participation: 10%
R.S./AS 313.01—DEATH AND DYING IN WORLD RELIGIONS
Instructor: Dr. S. RAJ
MW 12:10-1:30—Vulgamore 202
1 unit--CRN # 1399
Fulfills Global Studies Category Requirement; Fulfills Comparative Religion Requirement for Religious Studies Majors; Counts toward Anthropology/Sociology Major.
DESCRIPTION:
Human longing for a meaningful explanation of the mystery of death and dying is deep and universal. Through a critical analysis of textual and non-textual sources, this comparative course will examine a wide array of beliefs and rituals related to death and dying in a select number of world religions.
In addition to intellectual familiarity with cross-cultural beliefs and practices, students will be encouraged in the creative and critical enterprise of analyzing familiar religious and cultural practices surrounding death and dying.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
—Huntington, R. & Metcalf, P. (eds) Celebrations of Death: The Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual —Kubler-Ross, E. On Death and Dying
—Obayashi, H. Death & Afterlife in World Religions: Perspectives of World Religions
—Selected readings, handouts, videos, and field trip
EVALUATION:
Class attendance, participation, presentation, three chapter summaries, three creative projects, and a final exam.