MW 11-12NOON, plus 1-hour recitation
Instructor: McDaniel
History & Tradition Sector (All Classes)
This course is an introduction to the wide variety of religious beliefs, practices, and ritual technologies in Asia. These religious traditions will not be investigated in isolation. In fact, as Bernard Faure states: “We need to take seriously into account the tradition’s attempt to structure its own multiplicity.” We will see each tradition has constituted by and constituting others. Each tradition, like each Western religion, is syncretic and multiple, full of internal contradictions and presenting diverse definitions of the sacred and good. While we will look at traditions such as Jainism, Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism, Zen, and Shinto, we will constantly question their boundaries. Week by week the panoply (or perhaps cacophony) of types and perceptions of religious experience, ritual, knowledge, directives, motives, and aspirations as displayed in these traditions will be touched upon. This course seeks to generate questions, promote critical inquiry and elaborate on ways the sacred has been made and continues to be made tangible and the vicissitudes of life made meaningful in Asia.
Religious Studies 002-601
(JWST 122)
T 6-9PM
Instructor: Treat (LPS)
Hist. & Tradition Sector (All Classes)
This course introduces students to the study of religion through consideration of three important religious traditions of the Western world. The course will first examine religious expressions of the ancient world, focusing on Zoroastrianism. This will set the context for the intertwined cultural systems of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The course will proved a basic familiarity with these traditions and will explore the origin, history, major developments, and variety within each of these monotheistic traditions, with particular attention to modern expressions. The course will conclude with a brief look at several more recent developments in Western religions. This course has no prerequisites. It aims to improve students’ critical thinking and writing skills. In the College of Arts and Sciences, successful completion fulfills a distribution requirement for the Sector Requirement in History and Tradition.
Religious Studies 005-601
M 4:30-7:30PM
Instructor: Ferrario (LPS)
Hum. & Social Sci. Sector (New Curr Only)
This course will look at issues of gender in five major world religious traditions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. By using historical and anthropological analytical tools, we will explore the various ways in which religion shapes gender roles and vice-versa. Aspects considered will include the representation of the divine, creation myths, the role of women in religious institutions, and rules regarding the human body, marriage and sexuality. We will examine these issues by looking at both traditional and feminist interpretations of relevant scriptural passages and also discuss how contemporary ideas on gender relations have influenced women’s religious practices and their participation in leadership roles.
Religious Studies 068-401
(SAST 008)
TR 12-1:30PM
Instructor: Viswanath
What makes India INDIA? Religion and Philosophy? Architectural splendor? Kingdoms? Caste? The position of women? This course will introduce students to India by studying a range of social and cultural institutions that have historically assumed to be definitive of India. Through primary texts, novels and historical sociological analysis, we will ask how these institutions have been reproduced and transformed, and assess as well their significance for contemporary Indian society.
Religious Studies 102-301
M 2-5 PM
Instructor: Newberg
Andrew.Newberg@uphs.upenn.edu
Dist CRS Society - Cl of 09 & prior
Freshman Seminar
This course is designed to present students with an introduction to the relationship between the body and spirit in an attempt to break down the traditional dualism between them. Information in the course will be derived from research articles and books that encompass the scientific, medical, psychological, pastoral and rellgious disciplines. Students will explore the many aspects relating the body and the spirit. They will learn how to critically review research reports on topics related to body functions and spiritual experience. Thus, they will learn what scientific modalities are currently available to study the relationship between the body and the spirit. They will also learn the limitations of these modalities and consider ways in which to improve them. The course will explore the relationship between the brain, the mind, and spiritual experience and will consider the most up-to-date theories on their relationship. The course will challenge students to devvelop new approches to their own interests so that they may utilize such knowledge in their future endeavors. Lectures will explore the many aspects of the relationship between the body's functioning and spiritual experience. Class interaction and interpretaiton will be encouraged. Further, students will present journal articles that they have critically analyzed in order to consider the data in more detail and also to interpret the findings more accurately. Students will work on preparing a research proposal of their own choosing throughout the course on this topic.
(FOLK 101, NELC 181, COML 101)
TR 1:30-3 PM
Instructor: Ben-Amos
dbamos@sas.upenn.edu
Hum. & Social Sci. Sector (All Classes)
The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the subjects of the discipline of Folklore, their occurrence in social life and the scholarly analysis of their use in culture. As a discipline folklore explores the manifestations of expressive forms in both traditional and modern societies, in small-scale groups where people interact with each other face-to-face, and in large-scale, often industrial societies, in which the themes, symbols, and forms that permeate traditional life, occupy new positions, or occur in different occasions in everyday life. For some of you the distinction between low and high culture, or artistic and popular art will be helpful in placing folklore in forms in modern societies. For others, these distinctions will not be helpful. In traditional societies, and within social groups that heterogeneous societies, and traditional societies in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe, and Australia, folklore plays a more prominent role in society than it appears to play in literary cultures on the same continents. Consequently, the study of folklore and that analysis of it forms are appropriate in traditional as well as
modern societies and any society that is in a transitional phase.
Religious Studies 117-401
(AFRC 117
TR 9-10:30AM
Instructor: Butler
anthea.butler@rochester.edu
An introductory course covering the diverse religions, beliefs, and practices of the African American Religious experience from a historical perspective. Topics in this course will cover a broad spectrum ranging from religion and slavery, black nationalism, development of religious institutions, denominations, and social movements. Special attention will be paid to the role of race, gender, sexuality and popular culture in the Africna American religious experience. To close, the civil rights movement and the changing nature of the African American Religious experience in the late twentieth century. Students will be expected to read both primary and secondary resources in the field, and prepare a final project.
(NELC 150, NELC 450
Instructor: Kraut
TR 4:30-6PM
Fulfills Cross Cultural Analysis
Cl of '10 and after
Humanities & Social Science Sector (new curriculum only)
This course will introduce students to the Hebrew Bible (the "Old Testament"), its major themes and ideas, and the methods, discoveries and theories of modern Biblical Scholarship. Special attention will be paid to the historical background of the Bible, archaeology, ancient Near Eastern parallels to the Bible, and Biblical
criticism; the narratives and civil and religious laws of the Torah; the historical books; prophecy; the Psalms; wisdom literature, including Job; Biblical religion; postbiblical Jewish and Christian interpretaiton of the Bible; and the Bible in Western civilizaiton. The course is truly introductory: no prior knowledge of the subject matter, nor of Hebrew, is presupposed.
(JWST 126, NELC 186)
TR 10:30-12NOON
Instructor: Fishman
Dist Crs Arts & Letters-CL of 09 & Prior
Benjamin Franklin Seminar
Survey of expressions of Jewish mysticism from Hebrew Scripture through Madonna. Topics include rabbinic concerns about mystical speculation, the ascent through the celestial chambers (heikhalot), the Book of Creation, the relationship of Jewish philosophy and mysticism, techniques of letter permutation, schematization of the Divine Body, the prominence of gender in kabbalistic thought, the relationship of kabbalah to the practice of the commandments, Lurianic kabbalah, Hasidism. All primary source readings will be in English translation.
Religious Studies 145-401
(NELC 185, SAST 145)
Instructor: Elias
Cross Cultural Analysis-CL of ’10 & After
Hist & Trad Sector (All Classes)
This course focuses on the history of Islam from its original 7th century Arabia to its status as a global religion. We will focus on specific key moments in Islamic history and important religious and cultural works in order to understand the scope of Islamic civilization as it has developed over the last fourteen centuries. Important issues addressed in the course include the transformation of Islam from an ethnically identified religious movement to a transnational civilization; the relationship between religion and state; the development and canonization of religious beliefs, rituals and schools; the development of aesthetic and intellectual traditions, the place of minorities within Islamic civilization; and challenges facing Islam and Muslims in the modern world.
Religious Studies 155-401
(SAST 150)
TR 10:30-12NOON
Instructor: Patel
The fundamentals of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, the main patterns of Western response to it, and some basic questions of “comparative philosophy.” Selected readings from classical Indian texts in English translation.
Religious Studies 163-601
(SAST 140)
W 4:30-7:30PM
Instructor: Fleming (LPS)
Dist Cr. Hist. & Trad. (Cl of 09 & Prior)
We will examine formative traditions from which Hinduism emerged including the various institutions, beliefs, artistic and ritual practices, and foundational mytho-poetic traditions informing contemporary expression. Attention will be paid to relationships between mythology, theology, and sacred geographies, and will coincide with an examination of devotional movements and the spread of Hinduism within the Indian sub-continent. Finally, we will consider a number of theme-related issues augmenting focus on historical development. Themes like “sacrifice,” “ritual,” “gift-giving,” “sacred space,” and “plurality of the divine” will be employed to consider primary sources. Original sources in translation along with a selection of secondary articles will form the basis of the readings. This reflects one of the main aims of the course – to help students develop skills of interpreting and contextualizing pre-modern literature of a non-Western culture, practicing skills of literary analysis, and learning to grasp the structure and design of such narrative traditions.
Religious Studies 218-401
(RUSS 213, COML 213)
MW 3:30-5PM
Instructor:Verkholantsev
This course is about Russian literature, which is populated with saints and devils, believers and religious rebels, holy men and sinners. In Russian, where people’s frame of mind had been formed by a mix of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and earlier pagan beliefs, the quest for faith, spirituality and the meaning of life has invariably been connected with religious matters. How can one find the right path in life? Is humility the way to salvation? Should one life for God or for the people? Does God even exist? In Saints and Devils, we will examine Russian literature concerning the holy and the demonic as representations of good and evil, and we will learn about the historic trends that have filled Russia’s national character with religious and supernatural spirit.
Religious Studies 222-401
(HIST 202, JWST 202, RUSS212)
M 3-6 PM
Instructor: Ury
Gen Req III: Arts & Let-Cl of 09 & Prior
From the mid-seventeenth till the middle of the twentieth century, the Jewish community in Eastern Europe was the largest Jewish community in the world. Despite its size and centrality, scholars know surprisingly little about many key aspects of Jewish history and culture in Eastern Europe. Other observers know even less as hundreds of years of Jewish society and culture are often overshadowed by and reduced to the tragic events of the Second World War. This seminar will attempt to overcome the seemingly inescapable influence of the more recent past by delving deep into a myriad of social, religious, intellectual and political questions regarding the lives of Jewish women and men in Eastern Europe. Through critical readings of some classic works as well as more recent studies we will attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the lives of many Jews (and their non-Jewish neighbors) in Eastern Europe over the course of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. Particular attention will be paid to the place of Jews in the larger political and social context, new intellectual and religious movements, relations between Jews and non-Jews, the development of modern political ideologies and movements, and the connection between East European Jewish history and that of other Jewish communities. Although most of the readings will be historical, we will also look at memoirs, fiction, and other cultural artifacts in an attempt to go beyond the common truisms of martyrdom that often envelope, romanticize, and reduce the multi-faceted history of East European Jewry to a banal myth of suffering and victimhood.
Religious Studies 225-401
(JWST 225, NELC 251, NELC 651)
TR 4:30-6PM
Instructor: Reed
Dist Cr Hist/Trad-CL of 09 & Prior
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has revolutionized our understanding of ancient Judaism. This course will explore the significance of these texts for our understanding of the early transmission and interpretation of biblical literature; the development of Jewish liturgy, law, and “magic”; the flowering of Jewish apocalypticism and messianism in Second Temple times; and the Jewish background of early Christianity.
Religious Studies 226-401
(HEBR 257, JWST 257)
TR 3-4:30PM
Instructor: Stern
Gen Req III: Arts & Let-CL of 09 & Prior
An introduction to the modern study of Rabbinic literature. Topics range from Midrash to Talmud. No previous background in Rabbinic literature is required but students must be able to
read unpointed Hebrew texts.
Religious Studies 238-401
(GRMN 248)
MW 2-3:30 PM
Instructor: Jarosinski
“God is dead.” This famous, all too famous death sentence, issued by the 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, also signaled the genesis of a radical challenge to traditional notions of morality, cultural life, and the structure of society as a whole. In this course, we will examine both the “modernity” of Nietzsche’s thought and the ways in which his ideas have helped to define the very concept of Modernity (and, arguably, Postmodernity). In exploring the origin and evolution of Nietzsche’s key concepts, we will trace the ways in which his work has been variously revered or refuted, championed or co-opted, for more than a century. We will survey his broad influence on everything from philosophy and literature to music and art, theater and psychology, history and cultural theory, politics and popular culture. Further, we will ask how his ideas continue to challenge us today, though perhaps in unexpected ways. As we will see, Nietzsche wanted to teach us “how to philosophize with a hammer.” This will be our task throughout the course as we take his work into hand as a potentially powerful tool for thought. Ultimately, we will ask not only if it can still deliver formidable blows, but how we might wield it most skillfully, guided by a spirit of challenge, sedulous reading, and critical precision. Readings will draw on the work of several key cultural and historical figures, including Rainer Maria Rilke, Hermann Hesse, and Thomas Mann; Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung; Jean-Paul Sartre, Hannah Arendt, and Martin Heidegger; Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini; Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault; Richard Nixon and Jerry Seinfeld.
Religious Studies 310-401
(Folk 310)
T 4:30-7:30PM
Instructor: Butler
anthea.butler@rochester.edu
Religion's role in American history is a complex yet compelling story of diversity, tension, democracy, and upheaval. This course covers the multiple layers of the American religious experience, from Native American religions, to Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and other ethic and religious groups. Special attention will be given to persistent themes in American Religion such as the tensions between church and state, individualism, community, reform, liberalism, and fundamentalisms. Relying on mainly primary sources and major articles in the field, students will also be introduced to historigraphic themes in American Religious History.
Religious Studies 399-000
Permission Needed From Department
Time and topic arranged
Instructor: Staff
Please obtain section numbers from the department office or from the faculty member with whom you will be working.
Religious Studies 418-401
(COML 556, JWST 356, JWST 555, NELC 356)
TR 10:30-12NOON
Instructor: Stern
Dist Cr Arts & Letters-CL of 09 & Prior
Christianity and Judaism are often called “Biblical religions” because they are believed to be founded upon the Bible. But the truth of the matter is that it was less the Bible itself than the particular ways in which the Bible was read and interpreted by Christians and Jews that shaped the development of these two religions and that also marked the difference between them. So, too, ancient Biblical interpretation – Jewish and Christian – laid the groundwork for and developed virtually all the techniques and methods that have dominated literary criticism and hermeneutics (the science of interpretation) since then.
Religious Studies 433-301
TR 9-10:30AM
Instructor: Matter
Dist Cr Hist/Trad-CL of 09 & Prior
This is the first half of a survey of Christian thought from the third century to the edge of modernity. This class will start with Origen of Alexandria, and will end with Anselm of Canterbury. Although not primarily an institutional history course, we will trace the development of Christian institutions such as monasticism, the papacy, and cathedral schools, up to the edge of universities. Students will become acquainted with major figures in patristic and medieval Christian history and will have an opportunity to read some of the masterpieces of theology and spiritual literature. Tuesdays will be devoted to overview lecture-discussions, while on Thursday we will focus on one or more original texts. All readings will be in English, but there will be opportunities for those who can to read texts in the original languages.
Religious Studies 507-401
(FOLK 510, HSSC 589)
T 1:30-4:30PM
Instructor: Hufford
This course will examine traditional systems of supernatural belief with an emphasis on the role of personal experience in their development and maintenance. The course will focus on subjects of belief generally conceived of as being “folk” in some sense (e.g., beliefs in ghosts), but will not exclude a consideration of popular and academic beliefs where appropriate (e.g., popular beliefs about UFO’s and theological doctrines of the immortality of the soul). The course will be multidisciplinary in scope.
Religious Studies 523-401
(HIST 523, JWST 523, HEBR 583)
M 2-5PM
Instructor: Fishman
Undergraduates Need Permission
Through close reading of non-kabbalistic texts, the course will explore medieval Jewish interpretations of nature’s marvels, and its techniques for manipulation nature in order to improve living conditions, to maintain health, and to stimulate changes in the realm of the supernatural. Primary source readings will be in Hebrew and Aramaic. Undergraduates require instructor’s permission.
Religious Studies 539-401
(COML 509)
W 2-5PM
Instructor: Dunning
Kierkegaard wrote about faith throughout his short literary career. He examined faith as a paradox in Fear and Trembling and Philosophical Fragments. He explored the power of doubt in Johannes Climacus. He pondered what it means to live in faith in Purity of Heart, and how someone in despair could ever embrace faith in The Sickness unto Death. Finally, just a few years before his notorious series of essays attacking the Danish church and his death in 1855 at the age of forty-two, he published what may have been his most radical statement of all, For Self-Examination, in which he presents faith as a form of dying. This semester the Kierkegaard Seminar will tackle these relatively short but challenging works. The course will require two ten-page papers and weekly one-paragraph questions for discussion. There are no formal prerequisites, but experience in textual analysis is assumed. Open to all graduate students and advanced undergraduates. All students must use the assigned editions.
(SAST 701)
M 2-5PM
Instructor: McDaniel
Undergraduates Need Permission
Graduate seminar which looks closely at the textual communities and interpretative virtuosi in different religious cultures. The course will look at the ways religious scripture is composed, transmitted, translated, illuminated, performed and preserved in Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. It will introduce students to the methodologies and approaches of textual anthropology, intertextuality, homiletics, liturgical studies, performance theory, and philology.
(CLST 735, JWST 735)
M 10-1PM
Instructor: Reed
Undergraduates Need Permission
This course will explore ancient Jewish, Christian, and “pagan” views of primeval history. We will consider ancient Jewish and Christian interpretations and “retrellings” of Genesis 1-9 (from Creation to the Flood), alongside discussions of the origins of civilization in Greco-Roman literature. Themes to be explored include the origins of evil, the aetiology of false worship, and the appeal to primeval history for religious polemic and self-definition. Knowledge of Hebrew and/or Greek is recommended.
(NELC 731)
W 2-5PM
Instructor: Elias
Undergraduates Need Permission
This course explores Islamic metaphysics by focusing on important topics in the Islamic philosophical and mystical traditions of Falsafa, Tasawwuf, Ishraq (Illuminationism) and Shi’i thought (‘Irfan and Isma’ili philosophy). The course will focus on questions concerning the nature of the physical universe and God’s relationship to it and to human beings. The course combines an expansive exposure to important strains of metaphysical thinking in the Islamic world with a focused, in depth exploration of a particular tradition. For 2009, we will focus on Sufi thought in the 12th to 15th centuries CE, in particular on the writings of Ibn ‘Arabi and commentaries on him by later thinkers. Reading knowledge of Arabic is required.
Permission Needed from Department
Time and topic arranged
Instructor: Staff
Please obtain section numbers from the department office or from the faculty member with whom you will be working.