Religious Studies

Course Offerings – Spring 2006

RELI 1000-41	Introduction to Religion - G1/CH	Keller
Online UW	Religion is central in shaping culture. While cultural differences stem from religion, many similarities find their expression in religion. Learn about six world religions and the way each understands the world and influences its adherents.
RELI 2040-01	Religions of the Middle East – CH,G	Ward
TR 11:00-12:15 2040-41 online	Since 9-11, the conflicts of our world have taken on a religious character, pitting members of Judaism, Islam and Christianity against each other. This is just the latest chapter in a history of alternatively working together and struggling against each other. Discover how these religions began and matured, and how they have been shaped by the modern world.
RELI 2110-41	Introduction to the Old Testament – C1, G1/CH	Pettis
online	The Old Testament is sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  What did its theology & stories mean to the people who wrote it & those who first read it? Use biblical text & archaeological research to learn about ancient Israel—its people, beliefs, history, and politics.
RELI 2150-41	New Testament Survey	Wood
online	Introduces academic study of the New Testament. Focuses on questions of history, religious and cultural context, occasion and purpose for writing the different books and theological development of early Christianity.
RELI 2225-01	History of Christianity – C1	Myrick
MW 6:10-7:40	In modern America, we associate Christianity with ethical behavior, family virtues, and kindness. Christianity is a religion of love and peace. Throughout its history, however, Christianity has often been anything but peaceful. From early battles over doctrine, the Bible, and heresy to the Inquisition, Reformation, and Counter-Reformation, the Church has been a source of upheaval. Study conflict and peace in the history of Christianity, from the church’s beginnings up to the modern period.
RELI 2255-01	Introduction to Judaism	Ward
TR 1:20-2:45	Judaism is the oldest religion in the western world. Although never very large in numbers, it has seen numerous stronger religions come and go. Discover the features that enabled this religion to survive and which its members hold as comforting, strengthening, and fulfilling.
RELI 2450-41	Traditional African Religion – CH, G	Keller
Online	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 3270-01	Jesus in America	Newell
TR 1:20-2:35	What does it mean when a presidential candidate identifies Jesus as his favorite political philosopher–and then gets elected? Some have argued that the United States is a "Jesus nation": sooner or later, every group in America, Christian or not, must articulate its position on Jesus. From Thomas Jefferson to "what would Jesus do?" to The Passion of the Christ, examine how Jesus has been depicted, invoked, laughed about and sung about, and what all that says about religion in America.
RELI 3400-01	Religion in the American West	Newell
TR 9:35-10:50	People have conceived of the American West as exile and Promised Land, as New Babylon and New Jerusalem. This course examines the religious history of the complicated place that has been not only the west, but also the north (to Hispanics coming from New Spain and then Mexico); the south (to Russians moving down the coast from Alaska), the east (to Asian immigrants crossing the Pacific), and, of course, the center (to Native Americans who had lived in the region for centuries).
RELI 4000-01	Theories of Religion	Newell
W 2:45-5:15	Is religion an "illusion" or a "neurosis," as Freud wrote? Is it anthopology’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 4100-41	Steal Away: African/American Religious Culture	Keller
online	This mid-level writing-intensive seminar compares African American religious celebration, primarily in the context of Afro-Christianity, but touching on Islam, Candomble, "Voodoo," Santeria, and Rastafarianism.
RELI 4150-01	Christians, Jews and Muslims in Iberia - C1, G1	Larsen
T 6:30-9:00	This course focuses on how, from the Middle Ages to the 21st century, these three religions and peoples have interacted with and influenced each other and Iberian culture in general, while spreading their spheres of influence throughout the Old World and into the New. Readings in English from El Cid to Eça de Queirós, from ibn Gabirol to Galdós, from Maimonides to Miró, along with numerous films, as well as units on music and painting.
RELI 4500-01	Roots of Religious Fantasy	Aronstein
TR 9:35 – 10:50	Modern High Fantasy is a genre informed by religious longings and debates. The course begins by reading the major works of the Inklings (C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams) alongside of the literary texts that inspired them. It then moves to more recent authors (Phillip Pullman, Guy Gavriel Kay, Ian Hearn, Susan Cooper) who build upon–and sometimes contradict–the religious and moral fantasy visions of these men.
RELI 4500-04	East Meets West: Religious Dimensions of Global Ecology	Palmer
TR 4:10-5:30	Examine the beliefs, behaviors, and practices of various religions to identify their influence on global ecology. Measure Western against Eastern religions. Compare them to see how each addresses our dependence upon the environment.
RELI 4500-05	Folk Religions of Mexico/Latin America	Bantjes
W 2:10-4:00	Examine the “folk Catholicism” of Mexico and Latin America. This past & present hybrid is a product of complex interaction of Indian & European cultures. Study Indian and Spanish popular religion, shamanism and witchcraft, saints’ cults, and the history of the Virgin of Guadalupe.