Religious Studies

Course Offerings - Fall 2008

RELI 1000-01 RELI 1000-41 RELI 1000-44 RELI 1000-45	Introduction to Religion - C1/G1, CH/G (Meets non-Western certification for A&S)	Fall Garrett Keller Staff
Section 01 – TR, 1:20-2:35 Section 41, 44, 45 online	Religion is central in shaping culture. While cultural differences stem from religion, many similarities find their expression in religion. Learn about several world religions and the way each understands the world and influences its adherents.
RELI 2175-01	Life & Teaching of Jesus — C1	Wood
TR 11:00-12:15	As the Christian Messiah, Jesus played an important role in western history. Nations and people took Jesus’ teachings and applied them to their own situations. Go to the earliest evidence and investigate Jesus’ life and thoughts; study how he expressed ideas; and how the earliest church recorded the stories.
RELI 2450-41	Traditional African Religion — CH, G	Keller
Online only	Just as Africa is a continent of many peoples, it is also a continent of many religions. These religions divide as well as unite the peoples. Focus on the traditional religions that originate in Africa while studying the importation and exploitation of outside religions-especially Christianity and Islam.
RELI 3200-01	Religion & American Culture	Newell
TR 9:35-10:50	Explore the role of religion in the history of American culture. Consider how developments in American religious history reflect larger trends, and how those developments have helped shape American society and culture.
RELI 4000-01	Theory of Religion	Newell
T 2:45-5:15	Is religion an "illusion" or a "neurosis," as Freud wrote? Is it anthropology’s "cultural system," or society's representation of itself, or…? Examine what some of the world's most influential thinkers have said about what religion is and how it should be studied. Warning: this capstone course is not for the intellectually faint of heart.
RELI 4260-01	Modern Judaism	Ward
TR 1:20-2:35	Learn how an ancient tradition adapts to modernity! Modern Judaism starts with Columbus, and is shaped by the Spanish Inquisition and Expulsion; the spread of Kabbalah and the thought of Spinoza; emancipation and anti-Semitism. Learn about dramatic shifts in belief, practice, language and demography, and especially the rise of American Judaism and the State of Israel.
RELI 4400-01	Internship	Newell
Instructor approval for Enrollment	Put your religious studies knowledge to work in the “real world” in a paid or volunteer internship. Contact the Religious Studies advisor to learn about available internship opportunities.
RELI 4500-01	Topics: Early Christian Gospels	Walker/Garrett
M 6:00-8:45	Early Christians wrote many texts about Jesus and often rewrote them, adding, removing, or changing material as fit their perspectives. This course will examine two dozen of these early Christian texts and seek to understand what made a gospel a gospel and why so many different ones were written.
RELI 4500-02 RELI 4500-41	Topics: Moses, Jesus, Muhammad	Ward
Section 02, TR, 11:00-12:15 Section 41 Online	As "founders" of the religious communities of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, these remarkable leaders left a broad mark on the history and philosophy of humankind. Examine each one's biography within historical context, in sacred literature and "sacred histories," in scholarly debate and popular culture. Explore several perspectives to illuminate how the narratives about each have shaped our world.