Religious Studies (RLST)

Courses

RLST 1620 (3) Religious Dimensions of Human Experience

Surveys different approaches to the study of religion. Students will grow familiar with key thinkers, texts, and movements that shape how we understand religious phenomena. Students will also examine critiques of how religion is studied. In the end, students will have gained insight into significant aspects of religious life, belief, and practice that will empower them to navigate a world in which religion is increasingly relevant.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 1818 (3) Jewish History to 1492

Focus on Jewish history from the Biblical period to the Spanish Expulsion in 1492. Study the origins of a group of people who call themselves, and whom others call, Jews. Focus on place, movement, power/powerlessness, gender, and the question of how to define Jews over time and place. Introduces Jews as a group of people bound together by a particular set of laws; looks at their dispersion and diversity; explores Jews' interactions with surrounding cultures and societies; introduces the basic library of Jews; sees how Jews relate to political power.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 1818 and JWST 1818
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

RLST 1820 (3) Religion and Politics in Ancient Egypt

Studies the literature, politics, religions and other traditions of Ancient Egypt.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 3.00 total credit hours.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 1828 (3) Jewish History Since 1492

Surveys the major historical developments encountered by Jewish communities beginning with the Spanish Expulsion in 1492 up until the present day. Studies the various ways in which Jews across the modern world engaged with the emerging notions of nationality, equality and citizenship, as well as with new ideologies such as liberalism, socialism, nationalism, imperialism and antisemitism.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 1828 and JWST 1828
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

RLST 1830 (3) Global History of Holocaust and Genocide

Examines the interplay of politics, culture, psychology and sociology to try to understand why the great philosopher Isaiah Berlin called the 20th century, "The most terrible century in Western history." Our focus will be on the Holocaust as the event that defined the concept of genocide, but we will locate this event that has come to define the 20th century within ideas such as racism, imperialism, violence, and most important, the dehumanization of individuals in the modern world.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HIST 1830 and JWST 1830
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Historical Context
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

RLST 1850 (3) Ritual and Media

Ritual continues to play an important role in contemporary societies in both religious and secular contexts. This course examines the elements and genres of ritual activity from African rites of passage to the Beijing Olympics, paying close attention to how the media documents, appropriates and transforms aspects of ritual.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Contemporary Societies
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 1900 (3) Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

Examine the content of the Hebrew Bible and critical theories regarding its development. Explore the development of these texts, as well as their foundational role for rabbinic literature and the New Testament. Assess the enduring influence of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in world literature and culture (such as in art and music).

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: JWST 1900
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

RLST 1910 (3) Introduction to the New Testament

Examine the background, content and influence of the New Testament books. Studies the diverse perspectives contained in the various books, as well as the process of canonization. Assess the influence of the New Testament on the development of Christianity as well as world (eastern and western) culture.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: JWST 1910
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 2100 (3) American Beliefs and Values

An in-depth analysis of beliefs and values that have dominated American life in modern and postmodern eras, and of diverse belief and value systems that offer alternatives for the future. The analysis will be based on influential theories from the academic study of religion, and the course will give special attention to the influence of religious factors on secular American life.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 2200 (3) Religion and Dance

Connecting dancing to religions across the globe demonstrates the near synonymy of the two in most cultures, the remarkable potential for dancing to articulate cultural identity, and finally that dancing is strongly connected to what distinguishes being human. Provides an enriched appreciation of dancing and the introduction to dancing in many cultures.

Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 2202 (3) Islam

Introduces students to foundational Islamic concepts, texts, core practices, historical narratives and intellectual, spiritual and literary traditions. Topics covered include: the figure of Muhammad; the Quran; the emergence of distinct Muslim identities; Hadith; Sharia; Islamic theology; Islamic philosophy; science in Islamic civilization; Islamic mysticism; the impact of colonialism and modernity on the Muslim world; gender and sexuality; political Islam.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-U.S. Perspective

RLST 2320 (3) The Muslim World, 600-1250

Focusing on the history of the Muslim World in the age of the caliphates, this course takes an interdisciplinary, comparative approach to the development of Islamicate society, focusing on social structure, politics, economics and religion. Students will use primary and secondary sources to write a research paper, and make in-class presentations to cultivate critical thinking, research and writing skills.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: ARAB 2320
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 2400 (3) Religion, Ethics and Politics

Explores the role of religion in today's world, focusing on debates around religion, ethics and politics. Examining diverse voices from Christianity, Judaism and other traditions, this course considers religion's role in debates about issues such as same-sex marriage, race, climate change, war, criminal justice, torture, sexual ethics, abortion and economic justice.

Additional Information: GT Pathways: GT-SS3 -Soc Behav Sci:Hmn Behav, Cult, Soc Frame
Arts Sci Core Curr: Contemporary Societies
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 2500 (3) Religions in the United States

Explores the development of various religions within the shaping influences of American culture, including separation of church and state, the frontier experience, civil religion, and the interaction of religions of indigenous peoples, immigrants, and African Americans.

Additional Information: GT Pathways: GT-AH2 - Arts Hum: Lit Humanities
Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Core Curr: United States Context
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-U.S. Perspective

RLST 2600 (3) Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Abrahamic Religions

In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Abraham is described as a founding figure. In recent times, the label ¿Abrahamic Religions¿ has become increasingly important both as a way to describe the origins and beliefs of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and as a means for finding common ground in political and religious discourse. Yet in each religion Abraham is also used in strikingly different ways and for distinct purposes. In this course, we will look at these three religious traditions and how each one imagines Abraham. In particular, the focus will be on how each religion uses Abraham to construct foundational stories of a special relationship to God, stories that ultimately serve to promote religious identity over time.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: JWST 2600
Additional Information: GT Pathways: GT-AH3 - Arts Hum: Ways of Thinking
Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 2610 (3) Happiness and Nirvana: Enlightenment in Indian Religions

Addresses religious and spiritual practices geared towards ideals of enlightenment across various religious traditions in India, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism, in relation to different social groups historically. Examines the concept of happiness (sukh¿) and its connections to spiritual enlightenment.

Additional Information: GT Pathways: GT-AH2 - Arts Hum: Lit Humanities
Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 2612 (3) Yoga: Ancient and Modern

Addresses the history and philosophy of yoga, beginning from its earliest articulations in Vedic India 1200 BCE up to contemporary understandings of yoga. Examines yoga's historical evolution from a primarily mental practice to a bodily centered practice. Looks at the shifts yoga undergoes as it becomes popular in the modern West.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

RLST 2614 (3) Paganism to Christianity

Offers a cultural history of Greek and Roman religion. Students read ancient texts in translation and use evidence from archaeology to reconstruct the shift from paganism to Christianity in antiquity. No Greek or Latin required.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: CLAS 2610
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 2620 (3) Religions of East Asia

Introduces literature, beliefs, practices, and institutions of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shintoism in historical perspective.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 2650 (3) Meditation: Ancient and Modern

Explores the roots of today's mindfulness movement in ancient forms of Buddhist meditation. Topics covered include the array of meditation techniques in Buddhism, colonial-period origins of lay meditation in Asia, Buddhism's transmission to North America and Europe in the 20th century, the emergence of secular forms of mindfulness, and scientific studies on mindfulness and compassion.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 2700 (3) Native American and Indigenous Religious Traditions

Studies the religious lifeways of diverse Indigenous peoples in North America. The course considers how these religious lifeways facilitate healing, movements of social protest, and efforts for self-determination in response to ongoing forms of colonialism. Students will critically explore the impact of colonial structures on Native American religious traditions, such as missionization, and evaluate the meaning of decolonization as both a pathway and goal supporting Native liberation.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: ETHN 2703
Additional Information: GT Pathways: GT-AH2 - Arts Hum: Lit Humanities
Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Core Curr: Ideals and Values
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-U.S. Perspective

RLST 2800 (3) Women and Religion

Examines roles of women in a variety of religious traditions including Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and goddess traditions.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: WGST 2800
Additional Information: GT Pathways: GT-AH2 - Arts Hum: Lit Humanities
Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-U.S. Perspective

RLST 2840 (1-3) Independent Study

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 8.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.

RLST 3000 (3) Christian Traditions

Serves as an introduction to the academic study of Christianity, understood in its historical context, beginning with its most remote Mesopotamian origins and through to beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. Coverage is global, but "Western" Christian tradition are emphasized, as is the evolution of doctrine, ritual and institutions in relation to social, cultural and political factors.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Historical Context
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 3001 (3) Modern Christianity: Culture, Politics, Religion

Studies development of various aspects of global Christian traditions from the Reformation to the present day, as expressed through scripture, theology, ritual, media, politics, ethics, popular culture, and the arts. Includes topics such as colonialism, modernism and liberalism, secularism, pluralism, ecumensim, globalization, and the impact of new technologies. Recommended perquisite: RLST 3000

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 3010 (3) Religion and the Senses

Expanding the five common senses so they are grounded on a more fundamental kinesthetic sense, that is, sense of movement, this course focuses on the study of religion and culture on all those marvelous richly and sensuously textured aspects of religious behavior: movement, experience, feeling, action, sensation, gesture, art, music, dancing, architecture, costume, food, and ritual.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 3020 (3) Advanced Writing in Religious Studies

Seminar for religious studies majors that emphasizes the development of writing skills for use inside as well as outside the academy. Writing assignments are focused on one or more core topics in religious studies.

Requisites: Restricted to students with 57-180 credits (Junior or Senior) Religious Studies (RLST) majors only.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Written Communication
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Written Communication-Upper

RLST 3040 (3) The Quran

Examines how Christian constructions of religion and scripture have shaped Muslim understandings of the Quran and marginalized other views with a much longer history. Helps students appreciate how this process of marginalization is negotiated and explores the Quran from other perspectives including sound, performance, embodiment, and occultism. By highlighting marginalized approaches to the Quran, it promotes a better understanding of how social and religious differences are shaped by different political legacies. Previously offered as a special topics course.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 3050 (3) Religion and Literature in America

Studies religious dimensions of American culture through representative literature, beginning with the Puritans and focusing on diversity in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: United States Context
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 3060 (3) Fundamentalism and Islam

Explores the global rise of fundamentalism, particularly Islamic fundamentalism. Students will analyze fundamentalism as a function of modernity, and in metaphysical rather than geostrategic or cultural terms. Students will examine the arguments of Muslim fundamentalists, and the counterarguments of their critics.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 3070 (3) Islamic Mysticism: Ibn Arabi, Rumi, and the Sufi Tradition

Introduces students to the philosophical, literary, and musical traditions of Islamic Mysticism or Sufism. Figures covered include: Rumi, Hallaj, Ibn Arabi, Mulla Sadra, Ghazali, Hafez, Ibn al-Farid, Ghalib, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Students will learn how Islamic Mysticism differs across cultural contexts and how it compares to other mystical traditions.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 3100 (3) Judaism

Explores Jewish religious experience and its expression in thought, ritual, ethics, and social institutions.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: JWST 3100
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Historical Context
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 3110 (3) Of Jewish Legends, Folktales and the Supernatural

Explores Jewish traditional legends, folktales and stories of the supernatural. Starts with Aggadic Talmud tales and Midrashic texts and focuses on later rabbinic and mystical texts and folktales ca 500-1900 C.E. from around the Jewish world with subjects ranging from didactic narratives extolling the virtues of the simple pure soul, to the horrors of a blood sucking vampiric outside world.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: JWST 3110
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 3120 (3) Radical Jews

Explores major Jewish figures, and their cultural productions, who were radical in the challenges they posed and transformative in the effects they had on society. The figures we examine range from the Rabbis of the Talmud who revolutionized a sacrificial cult religion, to Western secularist Baruch Spinoza and American icons such as Allen Ginsberg, Gloria Steinem and Bob Dylan.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: JWST 3120
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 3150 (3) Jerusalem: The Holy City in History, Legend, and Religious Thought

The history of Jerusalem and the stories that have given it prominence in the religious imagination continue to shape much of the world in which we live. In this class, we will survey approximately three millennia of the history of the city. We will ask methodological question, such as: What does it mean for a place to be conceived of as holy? How does this perceived holiness come about? What happens when holy places are destroyed and rebuilt? We will examine the biblical stories about Jerusalem not only as important sources themselves, but also for how they shape later religious traditions, specifically Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As such, we will address what it means for the same place to be perceived as ¿holy¿ by differing, and often competing, groups. These contestations regarding Jerusalem will, then, allow us to engage issues of religious diversity and conflict both historically and in the present.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: JWST 3150
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 3200 (3) Yoga, Castes and Magic: Hindu Society and Spirituality

Addresses yoga, religious asceticism and practices of magic in Hinduism from ancient India up to the modern period. Gives an overview of the variety of traditions in Hinduism, focusing on how spiritual practices affect social roles. Looks at how spritual practices approach happiness and social change, from ancient India¿s secret Upanisads through medieval mystic poets like Mirabai, through Gandhi in the 20th century, focusing on figures using mystical experience to overturn social and political powers.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 3202 (3) Women, Gender & Sexuality in Jewish Texts & Traditions

Reads some of the ways Jewish texts and traditions look at women, gender and sexuality from biblical times to the present. Starts with an analysis of the positioning of the body, matter and gender in creation stories, moves on to the gendered aspects of tales of rescue and sacrifice, biblical tales of sexual subversion and power, taboo-breaking and ethnos building, to rabbinic attitudes towards women, sexuality and gender and contemporary renderings and rereadings of the earlier texts and traditions.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: WGST 3201 and JWST 3202 and HEBR 3202
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

RLST 3300 (3) Foundations of Buddhism

Introduction to Buddhist thought and practice in the variety of its historical and cultural contexts. The course begins with an exploration of narrative, cosmology, doctrine and ritual in early Buddhism and the Theravada of South and Southeast Asia. Through case studies, we then trace diverse conceptions of the Buddhist path in Tibet and East Asia where the Mahayana spread.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 3530 (3) Global Seminar: Jews and Muslims - The Multiethnic History of Istanbul

Spend two weeks in Istanbul and examine Jewish-Muslim relations in a place that was for 500 years the crossroads of civilization. The only Muslim city in the 21st century with a large, thriving Jewish community, Istanbul models how people from different social classes, ethnicities and religious backgrounds can coexist.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: IAFS 3530 and JWST 3530
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Human Diversity
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

RLST 3550 (3) Tibetan Buddhism

Explores Tibetan Buddhism through literature and film, including sacred biographies, treatises on the Buddhist path and films providing a visual window into Tibetan life worlds. We examine different kinds of Tibetan journeys: moving through the life cycle, treading the path of self-cultivation, embarking on solitary retreat, traversing from death to rebirth and traveling on pilgrimage and into exile.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 3750 (3) Women in Buddhism

Explores diverse representations of the female in Buddhist literature and the social realities of actual women in Asian historical contexts. Through case studies that traverse Buddhist Asia, we delve into monastic views of the female body, philosophical analyses of the emptiness of gender, idealized images of the feminine in Buddhist tantra, and contemporary issues such as the nun's revival moment.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: WGST 3750
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 3800 (3) Chinese Religions

Studies classical Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Neo-Confucianism within the historical context of Chinese culture.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 3801 (3) Muslims, Christians, Jews and the Mediterranean Origins of the West

Provides a historical foundation for the study of western Modernity, including the Anglo-European and Islamic worlds. It focuses on the Mediterranean region in the long Middle Ages (650-1650), emphasizing the role of Christian, Muslim and Jewish peoples and cultures, in Europe, Africa and West Asia. The approach is interdisciplinary incorporating social, economic, cultural, literary and art history, combining lectures with discussions based around readings of contemporary documents and the analysis of contemporary artifacts.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HUMN 3801
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 3820 (3) Topics in Religious Studies

Intensive study of a selected area or problem in religious studies.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors) only.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 3850 (3) The Mediterranean: Religion Before Modernity

Offers an innovative approach to the multifaceted history of Christian-Muslim-Jewish interaction in the Mediterranean. It eschews established paradigms (e.g., Europe, Islamic world) that distort our understanding of these and pushes students to reconsider the accepted paradigms of Western history. Students will reappraise assumptions regarding the nature of ethnic, religious, national and cultural identity, and their role in human history.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: HUMN 3850
Additional Information: Arts Sci Core Curr: Historical Context
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Arts Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective

RLST 4030 (3) Religions in America

Studies various religious movements in the U.S. and other parts of the Americas. Includes American religion and religions, religion and nationalism, revitalization and religion and Asian religions in America.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5030
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4050 (3) Topics in Christian Studies

Studies a particular topic in Christian theology and culture such as early Christianity, medieval Christianity, Christianity in the United States, women and Christianity, liberation theologies, Christianity and literature, and modern Christian thought.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5050
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Recommended: Prerequisite 6 hours of RLST courses at any level or instructor consent.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4170 (3) God and Politics

Explores the relationship between religion and politics. Examining traditions such as Judaism and Christianity, this course considers diverse ways in which ancient, medieval and modern sources have imagined the role of religion in civic life. Some topics include the status of religious minorities, the nature of religious freedom and contemporary debates surrounding issues such as torture, sexuality and climate change.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5170 and JWST 4170
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4180 (3) Is God Dead?

Explores debates about the following questions: does it make sense to believe in God? Should believing or not believing in God make a difference for how individuals behave? Examining ancient and modern views on the existence and nature of a higher power, this course considers topics including evil and suffering, religion and science and religion's role in politics.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5180 and JWST 4180
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4190 (3) Love and Desire

Explores debates about the following questions: what and whom should humans and gods love, and what role should passions play in religion? Examining traditions such as Judaism and Christianity, this course considers diverse views on topics including religion and sexuality, the promise and perils of loving gods and humans, and the relationship between love, politics, and violence.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5190 and JWST 4190
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4200 (3) Topics in Hinduism

Examines in depth central themes, schools of thought and movements in Hinduism, such as myth and ritual, renunciation, Vedanta, Tantra and Yoga.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5200
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors) only.
Recommended: Prerequisite 6 hours of RLST courses at any level or instructor consent.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 4250 (3) Topics in Buddhism

Examines in depth central themes, schools of thought and movements in Buddhism, such as Theravada in Southeast Asia, Mahayana and Tantrayana thought, Zen and Buddhism in America. Department enforced prerequisite: RLST 2610 or RLST 2620 or RLST 3300 or instructor consent.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5250
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to students with 27-180 credits (Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors) only.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 4260 (3) Topics in Judaism

Examines in depth central themes, schools of thought, and movements in Judaism, along with other traditions, across a range of historical periods.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5260 and JWST 4260
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4280 (3) Body and Magic in India

Addresses ideas of the body and its use and functions within magic, particularly in Tantric traditions. Uses classical Hinduism and Tantra as a point of departure, focusing on subtle bodies and Tantric bodies and will also supplement this with writing about the body and its connection to mind in contemporary Western thought addressing the mind-body problem.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5280
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4300 (3) Topics in Native American Religions

Examines a topic (varies at different offerings) focusing on religions of peoples indigenous to the Americas. May consider mythology; shamanism and medicine; trickster, clown and fool; crisis cult movements.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5300
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Requires prerequisite course of RLST 2700 (minimum grade C-).
Recommended: Prerequisite 3 additional credit hours of RLST course work or instructor consent.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4353 (3) Indigenous Traditions and Law: A Global Perspective

Explores intersections of indigenous religions and law through historical and contemporary case studies. American Indian and Hawaiian contexts will be featured, as well as the study of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and its recent implementation in places as diverse as Bolivia, Norway and Nagaland. Theoretical issues in the academic study of religion and ethnic studies will be emphasized.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5353 and ETHN 4353 and ETHN 5353
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Social Sciences

RLST 4450 (3) Religion and Nonviolence

Studies theories of nonviolence developed by major thinkers and movements, especially in the U.S., in the context of their religious commitments and beliefs and their historical circumstances.

Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4610 (3) Topics in Islam

A detailed exploration of diverse intellectual approaches to central questions in Islamic traditions. Department consent required.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5610
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4650 (3) Islam in the Modern World

Globally surveys Islam, covering religion and politics; Islam and the West; the Islamic revival and its varied forms in Iran, Indonesia, Libya and Pakistan; development and change; the status of women; media and academic stereotyping.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5650
Recommended: Prerequisite 6 credit hours of religious studies at any level or instructor consent.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 4750 (3) Daoism

Traces the development of Daoism from its origin as an organized, communal religion in the second century CE to the vibrant living religion of today, encompassing meditative monastics, martial exorcists, solemn ritual masters and lay practitioners of inner alchemy and other self-cultivation techniques. Focuses on the entensive Daoist ritual tradition and the community of believers who created and used it.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5750 and CHIN 4750 and CHIN 5750
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities
Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 4780 (3) New Religions of East Asia

Explores the new religious movements of modern China, Japan and Korea, which have arisen over the last century due to the influence of the West and in response to the pressures of modernization. Previous coursework in religious studies or Asian languages and civilizations is recommended.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5780
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4800 (3) Critical Studies in Religion

Focuses on a current issue or area of research in the study of religion. Students analyze the way theories develop and learn to develop their own critical analysis. Topics vary, e.g., comparative kingship, colonialism, ritual theories, feminist analysis.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 6.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to Religious Studies (RLST) majors only.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4810 (3) Honors Thesis

Students write an honors thesis based on independent research under the direction of a faculty member. Required for students who elect departmental honors.

Additional Information: Arts Sciences Honors Course

RLST 4820 (3) Interdisciplinary Seminar on Religion

Variable topics in religion, drawing from a variety of disciplines and methodologies as they shed light on specific traditions and issues.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5820
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Recommended: Requisite 6 credit hours of religious studies at any level or instructor consent.
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4830 (3) Senior Majors Seminar

Topics and instructors vary. Brings advanced majors together in order to focus their major experience onsignificant topics and issues of common interest.

Requisites: Restricted to students with 87-180 credits (Senior, Fifth Year Senior).
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 4840 (1-6) Senior Independent Study

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 8.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.

RLST 4850 (3) Gender in Hagiography

Explores gendered ideals of sainthood in medieval hagiographic literature. We draw primarily from the lives of female mystics in Buddhist and Christian sources and also examine the construction of mendicant masculinities. Reading from an array of primary sources, we query the category of mysticism and ask why visionary experience has so often been gendered female.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 5850 and WGST 4850
Grading Basis: Letter Grade
Additional Information: Arts Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts Humanities

RLST 5030 (3) Religions in America

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4030
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 5050 (3) Topics in Christian Studies

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4050
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Recommended: Prerequisite 6 hours of RLST courses at any level or instructor consent.

RLST 5170 (3) God and Politics

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4170 and JWST 4170
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 5180 (3) Is God Dead?

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4180 and JWST 4180
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 5190 (3) Love and Desire

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4190 and JWST 4190
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 5200 (3) Topics in Hinduism

Examines in depth central themes, schools of thought and movements in Hinduism, such as myth and ritual, renunciation, Vedanta, Tantra and Yoga.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4200
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Recommended: Prerequisite 6 hours of RLST courses at any level or instructor consent.
Additional Information: Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 5210 (3) Advanced Readings in Sanskrit

Requires at least two years of prior Sanskrit training. Students will read texts in the original. Class time is devoted to parsing out difficult grammatical structures, discussing the philosophical import of the readings and addressing the historical contexts that assist in interpreting the texts. The topic varies according to student interest.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Requires prerequisite course of SNSK 2120 (minimum grade C-). Restricted to graduate students only.
Additional Information: Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 5250 (3) Topics in Buddhism

Examines in depth central themes, schools of thought and movements in Buddhism, such as Theravada in Southeast Asia, Mahayana and Tantrayana thought, Zen and Buddhism in America.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4250
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Additional Information: Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 5260 (3) Topics in Judaism

Examines in depth central themes, schools of thought, and movements in Judaism, along with other traditions, across a range of historical periods.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4260 and JWST 4260
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 5280 (3) Body and Magic in India

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4280
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 5300 (3) Topics in Native American Religions

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4300
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Recommended: Prerequisite 3 additional credit hours of RLST course work or instructor consent.

RLST 5350 (3) Native American Religions: Regional Studies

Studies religion(s) of a single native North American tribe or geographic region within context of history and culture of the tribe.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Recommended: Prerequisite 6 additional credit hours of RLST course work or instructor consent.

RLST 5353 (3) Indigenous Traditions and Law: A Global Perspective

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4353 and ETHN 4353 and ETHN 5353
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 5610 (3) Topics in Islam

A detailed exploration of diverse intellectual approaches to central questions in Islamic traditions. Department consent required.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4610
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade

RLST 5650 (3) Islam in the Modern World

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4650
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Recommended: Prerequisite 6 credit hours of religious studies at any level or instructor consent.
Additional Information: Departmental Category: Asia Content

RLST 5750 (3) Daoism

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4750 and CHIN 4750 and CHIN 5750
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade

RLST 5780 (3) New Religions of East Asia

Explores the new religious movements of modern China, Japan, and Korea, which have arisen over the last century due to the influence of the West and in response to the pressures of modernization. Previous coursework in religious studies or Asian languages and civilizations is recommended.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4780
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade

RLST 5820 (3) Interdisciplinary Seminar on Religion

Variable topics in religion, drawing from a variety of disciplines and methodologies as they shed light on specific traditions and issues.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4820
Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 9.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 5840 (1-6) Independent Study

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 8.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 5850 (3) Gender in Hagiography

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: RLST 4850 and WGST 4850
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade

RLST 6110 (3) Adv Tpcs: Chicana/o Studies: US/Mexico Borderlands

Examines complex histories, cultural practices and liminal, 3rd spaces of the US and Mexico borderlands; racial and gender identities; community formations. Considers a range of autobiographic testimony narratives, films, social and legal studies, and theories of subjectivity that engage with the politics of representation vis a vis the criminalization of Chicana/o and ethnic youth, immigrants and those perceived to be immigrants.

Equivalent - Duplicate Degree Credit Not Granted: ETHN 6110
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.
Grading Basis: Letter Grade

RLST 6830 (3) Introduction to the Academic Study of Religion

Introduction to the graduate academic study of religion through the exploration of contemporary models and issues that demonstrate the nature and future of the field. Students prepares a profile of intended area of research.

Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 6840 (1-6) Independent Study

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 8.00 total credit hours. Allows multiple enrollment in term.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 6940 (1) Master's Candidate for Degree

Registration intended for students preparing for a thesis defense, final examination, culminating activity, or completion of degree.

Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 6945 (1-4) Portfolio: Non-Thesis Option

Course work finished or in the last semester.

Repeatable: Repeatable for up to 4.00 total credit hours.
Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.

RLST 6950 (1-4) Master's Thesis

Requisites: Restricted to graduate students only.