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Religious Studies
RLST 100 (3.00)
Historical Dimensions of Religion
An interdisciplinary introduction to the study of religion. Methods and insights from the humanities and the social sciences are applied to the study of such topics as myth, symbol and ritual; the nature, origins and validity of religious experience; and the concept of human destiny in Eastern, Western and African religious traditions.| Course ID: | 056683 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Attributes: | Arts and Humanities (GEP), Arts and Humanities (GFR) |
RLST 200 (3.00)
Philosophy Of Religion
A critical examination of the nature and justification of religious belief. Topics to be discussed include the existence of God, the nature of religious belief, the problem of evil, the possibility of life after death, and the relation between religion and morality.| Course ID: | 100496 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Attributes: | Arts and Humanities (GEP), Arts and Humanities (GFR) |
RLST 201 (3.00)
Israel and the Ancient Near East
A survey of the cultures of the ancient Near East including Assyria, Persia, and especially the development of ancient Judaism.| Course ID: | 050041 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | ANCS 200, JDST 200 | |
| Attributes: | Arts and Humanities (GEP), Culture (GEP), Arts and Humanities (GFR), Culture (GFR) |
RLST 202 (3.00)
Judaism in the Time of Jesus and Hillel
This course surveys the history of Judaism and the Jewish people from the onset of Hellenism through the second Jewish revolt against the occupation by the Roman Empire. This formative period in the history of Judaism, of early Christianity and of Jewish-Christian relations is interpreted in light of extant primary and secondary literary and archaeological sources.| Course ID: | 050038 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | ANCS 220, JDST 201 | |
| Attributes: | Arts and Humanities (GEP), Culture (GEP), Arts and Humanities (GFR), Culture (GFR) |
RLST 203 (3.00)
Earliest Christianity
A survey of the development of early Christianity in the Roman Empire. Topics include the status of foreign religions in the empire, the social world of early Christianity, the attitude of the Roman government toward Christians, persecution and the triumph of Christianity.| Course ID: | 050040 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | ANCS 203 | |
| Attributes: | Arts and Humanities (GFR), Culture (GFR) |
RLST 210 (3.00)
Classical Mythology
A study of the principal Greek and Roman myths.| Course ID: | 050037 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | ANCS 210 | |
| Attributes: | Arts and Humanities (GEP), Culture (GEP), Arts and Humanities (GFR), Culture (GFR) |
RLST 220 (3.00)
Introduction to Comparative Religion
The course focuses on the historical development of the great religious traditions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Shinto. The study begins with an examination of so-called primitive religions and the origins of religion.| Course ID: | 056685 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Attributes: | Arts and Humanities (GFR) |
RLST 230 (3.00)
Comparative African Religions
An introduction to indigenous religions of Africa. Religions in African traditional society, with special reference to the principal elements in the religious system - the Supreme Being, the cosmic gods, the ancestors and lesser spirits. The impact of Islam and Christianity.| Course ID: | 050025 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | AFST 230 | |
| Attributes: | Arts and Humanities (GEP), Arts and Humanities (GFR), Culture (GFR) |
RLST 235 (3.00)
African Religions
| Course ID: | 056687 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Attributes: | Arts and Humanities (GFR), Culture (GFR) |
RLST 255 (3.00)
History of Christianity from its Origins to the Reformation
Hebrew and Greco-Roman background, the life of Christ, the New Testament and development of theology, triumph of the church in the Roman Empire, the medieval church, the reformation and the end of medieval Christendom, and implications of the Reformation for the modern world.| Course ID: | 050150 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Course Equivalents: | HIST 255H | |
| Same as Offering: | HIST 255 | |
| Attributes: | Social Sciences (GEP), Social Sciences (GFR) |
RLST 273 (3.00)
History of the Jews in Modern Times, From the Middle Ages to1917
Political and socioeconomic forces at work in Europe and within the Jewish community during this period. Hassidism and enlightenment, emancipation and reform. The French and Russian revolutions. Jewish existence in Eastern Europe. Zionism and Aliyah.| Course ID: | 050160 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | HIST 273, JDST 273 | |
| Attributes: | Culture (GEP), Social Sciences (GEP), Culture (GFR), Social Sciences (GFR) |
RLST 274 (3.00)
Contemporary Jewish History: 1917 to the Present
Jewish civilization in the 20th century with attention to interwar years, the attempted destruction of European Jewry in World War II and the resistance of the Jews. Post-war issues are examined: including the Allies and the United Nations, the emergence of new centers in Europe and Israel, Jews in the former Soviet Union, Jewish identity struggle in America and post-Holocaust thought.| Course ID: | 050147 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | HIST 274, JDST 274 | |
| Attributes: | Culture (GEP), Social Sciences (GEP), Culture (GFR), Social Sciences (GFR) |
RLST 314 (3.00)
Islam in Africa
This course is presented to provide the student with an introduction and overview of the history of Islam in Africa. This requires a discussion of Islam itself, its origins, philosophical thought, praxis and expansion. We then will turn to a more detailed examination of the penetration of Islam in Africa, eventually concentrating on its sub-Saharan influences. Recommended Preparation: AFST 211 or AFST212 or HIST242 or HIST243.| Course ID: | 050013 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | AFST 314, HIST 360 | |
| Attributes: | Culture (GEP), Social Sciences (GEP), Culture (GFR), Social Sciences (GFR) |
RLST 315 (3.00)
Religious Influences in American Life
Rather than being an encyclopedic survey of individual sects and churches, this course centers on several of the formative contributions of religion to American culture, from the Puritan era to the present, including the work ethic, radical conscience, philanthropy, culture religion, and the response of particular faiths to such basic crises as revolution, slavery and industrialization. The status of Catholicism and Judaism in a Protestant-originated culture also may be considered. Recommended Preparation: Any 100-level social science course, junior/senior status or permission of instructor.| Course ID: | 056692 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture |
RLST 316 (3.00)
Anthropology of Religion
This course examines the nature of belief systems, myth, and ritual in various societies of the world through ethnographic case studies. Cases to be examined may be drawn from societies in South America, Asia, the Pacific, Africa and the United States. Using these different case studies, the course examines a range of perspectives used by anthropologists to understand religious practices and belief systems.| Course ID: | 050044 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | ANTH 316 | |
| Attributes: | Culture (GEP), Social Sciences (GEP), Culture (GFR), Social Sciences (GFR) | |
| Requirement Group: | You must complete ANTH 211 or SOCY 101 with a C or better. |
RLST 349 (3.00)
The Sociology of Religion
Analysis of religious institutions and structures and of the relations between religion and society. Special attention is given to the social sources of religious attitudes; religious roles and organizations; American religious trends; and the interplay between religion and science, religion and politics, religion and economic behavior, and religion and social class. Recommended Preparation: SOCY101 or ANTH 211 or permission of the instructor| Course ID: | 050242 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | SOCY 349 | |
| Attributes: | Social Sciences (GEP), Social Sciences (GFR) |
RLST 350 (3.00)
The Bible and Literature
A study of the relationship between the Bible and selected literary texts.| Course ID: | 050096 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | ENGL 349 | |
| Attributes: | Arts and Humanities (GEP), Arts and Humanities (GFR) | |
| Requirement Group: | You must complete a 200 level ENGL course with a C or better. |
RLST 351 (3.00)
New Testament Greek
Selections from the New Testament.| Course ID: | 050102 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | GREK 351 | |
| Attributes: | Language (GFR) | |
| Requirement Group: | You must complete GREK 201 or Equivalent |
RLST 352 (3.00)
Septuagint
Selections from the Greek version of the Old Testament.| Course ID: | 050103 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | GREK 350 | |
| Attributes: | Culture (GEP), Language (GFR) | |
| Requirement Group: | You must complete GREK 201 or Equivalent |
RLST 370 (3.00)
African Religions in Africa and the Diaspora
A comparative study of selected indigenous African religions and an examination of African religious survivals in the New World. Continuity and change in the principal forces of the religious systems: the Supreme Being, the cosmic gods, the ancestors and lesser spirits, as well as the relation-ship to other religions. Recommended Preparation: Junior/senior standing| Course ID: | 050031 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | AFST 368 | |
| Attributes: | Social Sciences (GFR) |
RLST 380 (1.00 - 3.00)
Topics in Religious Studies
A critical investigation from a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspective of selected issues in religious studies. Topics will be announced each semester.| Course ID: | 056696 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Topics: | Top: Old Testament, Top: Psyche And Spirit, The Problem Of Evil, Topic:Pillars Of Islam, Seminar In Literary Hist, Temples,Churches,Synagog, Heroes,Heretics History, Religion And Psychology, Cults Of Ancient Greece, The Problem Of Job, Hist East Asian Religion, Top: Intro To The Tanakh, Top: Hist Persp On Relig, Top: William James, Top:The Problem Of Job, Jewish Phil & Mysticism, Top:Kierkegaard Rel Thgt, Religion And Revolution, Intro To Old Testament, Jewish Mysticsm, Top In Religious Studies, Top:Philosophcaltheology, Top:Religion & Revolutn, Top:Utopian Soc/Religion, Top: Islam In Africa, Top: The Problem Of Evil, Top: Witchcraft, Hist Of East Asian Rel, Top:Rlgious Thmes In Lit, Topics:Rel & Revolution, Death/Burial - Antiquity, Top:Relig & Literature, Top:Hist Of Islam In Afr, American Relig/Culture, Arch Of Anct Egypt&Israe, Top: Religion & Science, Topic: Islam In Africa, Judaism: Jesus & Hillel, Religion and the Holocaust |
RLST 386 (3.00)
Eastern Christianity
| Course ID: | 056698 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Attributes: | Social Sciences (GFR) |
RLST 400 (1.00 - 3.00)
Special Projects in Religious Studies
You must receive permission of the instructor who will supervise the project in order to take this course.| Course ID: | 056699 | |
| Consent: | Instructor Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture |
RLST 463 (3.00)
Jews, Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages
This course examines moments of contact and conflict between the three major monotheistic faiths of the medieval period: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Topics will include an examination of the scriptural foundations of the three faiths and their influence on topics such as law, violence, conversion, ritual, and legend. The course provides an overview of how individuals and leadership within the three faiths interacted with each other. Recommended Preparation: HIST 100 or HIST 110, or HIST 111 or JDST 100 or RLST100 or 200-level course, and junior/senior standing.| Course ID: | 050151 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | HIST 463, JDST 463 |
RLST 466 (3.00)
The Reformation
The economic and political conditions, the popular movements and the theological controversies that led to the overthrow of the Catholic Church's monopoly of religious loyalties, thereby turning Europeans against one another on a national/religious basis. Attention is focused on the lives and ideas of the leading reformers. Recommended Preparation: HIST 100 or HIST 110 or HIST 111, plus junior/senior status.| Course ID: | 050157 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | HIST 466 | |
| Attributes: | Culture (GEP), Social Sciences (GEP), Culture (GFR), Social Sciences (GFR) |
RLST 473 (3.00)
Mahatma Gandhi's Political Experiments with Truth
A study of Gandhi's effort to gain national independence and to reform India by non-violent vindication of truth. A reflection on Gandhi's sexual asceticism, civil disobedience, and politicization of women. A comparison and contrast of Gandhi with Socrates, Henry Thoreau and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Intended for non-majors as well as majors. A seminar presentation, a research paper, and regular class attendance are all required. Recommended Preparation: Junior standing or a grade of C or better in POLI200 or POLI301 or a writing class beyond ENGL100| Course ID: | 050224 | |
| Consent: | No Special Consent Required | |
| Components: | Lecture | |
| Same as Offering: | POLI 473 | |
| Attributes: | Culture (GFR) |