Religion Courses

The roots of contemporary anti-Semitism and Islamophobia within the US extend beyond the colonial era. Both ideologies have been expressed malignantly at times, but it's the seemingly benign satirical cartoons that have perhaps had the most insidious effects by firmly entrenching and perpetuating stereotypes of Jews and Muslims on a personal and social level which have, in turn, given rise to prejudicial and violent racist behavior. This biting satire targeting Jews and Muslims has left deep sores that have never completely healed due to the constant 'picking at.' This course will closely examine samplings of this graphic satire as it traces the in/decrease of anti-Semitic and Islamophobic expressions throughout US history and critically addresses any underlying religious, economic, racial, and political dimensions.

Since there is no separation between state and church in Islam, no study of politics in the Muslim World is complete without analyzing the pervasive role of Islam in cultural and political life. The course, however, does not concentrate on Islamic theology; rather, the focus is on politics of Islam and how it molds political discourse and agenda. After the study of origins and historical development of Islamic political theory, the focus would shift to explaining the use of post-World War II Islamic revival. In this connection, the rise of Islamic militancy, the discourse of the Jihadi movement, the challenges before US foreign policy and global community, and the problematics of democratization in the Muslim world and the prospects for Islamic governments are discussed.

Luther Standing Bear declares, The Indian, by the very sense of duty, should become his own historian, giving his account of the race - fairer and fewer accounts of the wars and more of statecraft, legends, languages, oratory, and philosophical conceptions. This course is a survey of the legends and myths and the cultural-agricultural practices of the North American Indian tribes and nations with a focus on the nature of the self (person; tribe), the world (nature; cosmos), and their interrelationship(s). These concepts are discussed and comparisons with Western philosophy are made when appropriate.

This course explores the highly ambiguous relationship between religion and violence. It provides an overview of situations in the world today that are examples of this ambiguous relationship. Ethical teachings regarding violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are examined. Students are exposed to authors who seek to comprehend violent behavior using explanatory theories. Responses to 9/ll/2001 written by a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim are encountered. The goal is to allow students in the course to develop an understanding of various dimensions (ethical, social, psychological, political, and theological) of the relationship between religion and violence.

This course provides cross-cultural perspectives on the rise, growth, decline, and societal impacts of a variety of historical and modern religious movements. Class discussions, readings, and audiovisuals focus on selected cases of religious movement in various regions of the world. Topics include the roles of movement prophets, movements' processes of resocialization, and how cults and sects relate to broader struggles over meaning and social identity. The student will gain critical insights into five major areas of inquiry into religious movements: 1) Conditions that lead to the rise of new religions, 2) how beliefs in end-of-the-world (millennialist) scenarios evolve, 3) dynamics of recruitment and conversion, 4) daily life inside religious movements, and 5) problems of doing research in the absolutist sectarian setting.

This course will introduce students to the field of comparative religious ethics, which compares and contrasts the ethical teachings of the major world religions. The central textbook engages this field, with a focus on the subject of peace and war. Traditions covered include ancient Greek thought, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and modern feminism. Further readings will focus on the relevance of the Ten Commandments for contemporary society, and secularist critiques of religion. Each student will choose one additional book to review at the end of the course, on a subject of interest to them, from a bibliography prepared by the instructor.

This course examines the many and varied interpretations of Jesus of Nazareth in American history, from the colonial period up to the present. Attention is given to conservative and liberal forms of Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism, feminism, the black religious experience, and others. Theological and philosophical perspectives are considered, along with popular culture treatments such as paintings, literature, and films.

After an overview of the major world religions and the historical process of secularization in the modern West, this course will address certain key topics, such as: How have religious thinkers responded to the modern critiques of religion? What is the relationship between religion and science? . . . religion and morality? . . . religion and violence? . . . religion and human rights?

The English Roman Catholic novelist Graham Greene (1904-1991) was an intensely theological thinker, despite his struggle with traditional forms of Christian doctrine, and such themes as good and evil, sin and judgment, grace and mercy, as well as the problem of suffering and humanity’s yearning to reach God, pervade his literary art. Moreover, his challenging ideas are of special interest to theological efforts at rethinking faith’s meaning in the twenty-first century. The class will meet as a seminar once a week to read and discuss several of Greene’s novels. Attention will be given to identifying the theological theme(s) in the work, situating such ideas in the wider context of Christian life and thought and, where possible, appraising Greene’s theology in light of the readers’ own faith perspectives. Some focus on the filmic adaptations of such works will occur.