Program Requirements
The B.A; Minor Concentration in Religious Studies focuses on the methodological approaches to the study of religious traditions, including the languages, teachings, and history of those traditions.
Required Course (3 credits)
-
RELG 207 Introduction to the Study of Religions (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course is an introduction to classic and contemporary approaches to the academic study of religions. This includes perspectives from philosophy, theology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, phenomenology, and feminism. Students are also exposed to applications of these perspectives from visiting scholars who treat some aspect of a religious tradition in light of current-day interests and events. The primary objective is to introduce students to the principal theories and methods that have shaped our understanding of religion, its various meanings as well as its roles and functions in society.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Kanaris, Jim (Winter)
Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken RELG 255.
Winter
Complementary Courses (15 credits)
6 credits of Introductory Courses at the 200 level.
-
ANTH 209 Anthropology of Religion (3 credits)
Overview
Anthropology : Nature and function of religion in culture. Systems of belief; the interpretation of ritual. Religion and symbolism. The relation of religion to social organization. Religious change and social movements.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Lemons, Katherine (Winter)
Winter
-
CATH 200 Introduction to Catholicism (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : This course offers an exploration of the Roman Catholic tradition in its intellectual, religious, moral, and cultural dimensions. It provides an interdisciplinary study of the ways in which Catholicism has shaped Western civilization.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: A Butcher, Brian (Fall)
-
CATH 220 Selected Topics in Catholic Studies (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : A review of selected topics in Catholic studies.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Topics vary by year.
-
HIST 207 Jewish History: 400 B.C.E. to 1000 (3 credits)
Overview
History : An overview of Jewish history from the period of Ezra and Nehemiah to the death of Hai Gaon, c. 1035. Focus on the experience of the Jews in Hellenistic and Islamic civilizations. Topics include Jewish sects, rabbinic literature in its various genres, the Karaite schism, and the rise of the Gaonate.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken JWST 216
-
HIST 219 Jewish History: 1000 - 2000 (3 credits)
Overview
History : The Jewish experience from the rise of the European centres to the present.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Madej-Krupitski, Urszula (Fall)
-
ISLA 200 Islamic Civilization (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : An introduction to, and survey of, the religious, literary, artistic, legal, philosophical and scientific traditions that constituted Islamic civilization from the 7th Century until the mid-19th Century.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Abdel-Latif, Sara (Fall)
Fall
Note: All readings are in English.
-
ISLA 210 Muslim Societies (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : An introduction to the different, often disparate, ways in which Muslims live and think in the modern world (19th-21st centuries). Muslim social contexts across the globe and cyberspace.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Manoukian, Setrag (Winter)
Winter
-
JWST 201 Jewish Law (3 credits)
Overview
Jewish Studies : The nature and history of Jewish law; literary and legal sources; selections in English from the Mishnah and Talmud, as well as selected post-Talmudic Texts, on such subjects as Contracts, Torts, Public Law and Family Law.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Kaplan, Lawrence (Winter)
For detailed course content go to .
-
JWST 211 Jewish Studies 1: Biblical Period (3 credits)
Overview
Jewish Studies : The history, literature and beliefs of Judaism's formative period. Both Biblical and non-Biblical materials will be studied. The Bible in the context of cognate literatures of the Ancient Near East; non-Biblical documents will be analysed for their bearing on the Jewish tradition.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Abecassis, Deborah (Fall)
For detailed course content go to .
All texts will be read in English
-
JWST 216 Jewish Studies 2: 400 B.C.E. - 1000 (3 credits)
Overview
Jewish Studies : The history, literature and intellectual developments in Judaism during late antiquity. Special emphasis will be placed on rabbinic literature e.g. Babylonian Talmud, Palestinian Talmud, the midrashim both as literary works and for the light they shed on the events and ideologies of the period.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
For detailed course content go to .
All texts and discussions will be in English
Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken HIST 207
-
JWST 217 Jewish Studies 3: 1000 - 2000 (3 credits)
Overview
Jewish Studies : The Jewish experience from the rise of the European centres to the present.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
For detailed course content go to .
All texts will be read in English
-
JWST 245 Jewish Life in the Islamic World (3 credits)
Overview
Jewish Studies : Until the early modern period, most of the world鈥檚 Jews spoke Arabic and called the Islamic world home. This course explores the Jewish experience among Muslims from the seventh century until the present. Through close readings of primary sources and historical scholarship, students will learn how Jews under Islam shaped modern Judaism, how engagement with Arabic in Islamic Spain led to the revival of Hebrew, and how the Jewish-Muslim relationship fared in the twentieth century. The course also probes themes of history and memory in light of the departure of Jews from the Islamic world in the 1950s and 1960s.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Silver, Christopher (Fall)
For detailed course content go to .
-
JWST 254 The Jewish Holy Days (3 credits)
Overview
Jewish Studies : An exploration of the Jewish holy days. Emphasis is placed on their historical development, philosophical messages, and ritual forms.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
JWST 261 History of Jewish Philosophy and Thought (3 credits)
Overview
Jewish Studies : An introduction to Jewish philosophy and thought from the Hellenistic period (Philo) to the beginning of the modern era (Spinoza) focusing on topics such as prophecy and philosophy, God and the world; the Law as a canon of ethical rules and as a political constitution. Survey of the treatment of such issues by Jewish thinkers from Philo to Maimonides.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Fraenkel, Carlos (Fall)
For detailed course content go to .
-
RELG 201 Religions of the Ancient Near East (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Introduction to the religions of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Syria-Palestine (excluding Israelite religion) from the fourth to first millennium B.C.E. Themes that will be discussed include: gods and goddesses, divine kingship, deification of kings, temple cult, death and afterlife, magic, piety, oracles, prayer, lament, myth and epic.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Kirkpatrick, Patricia; Rosini, Amanda (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 202 Religion of Ancient Israel (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An examination of the religion of Ancient Israel by a study of selected texts (narratives, laws, prophetic sayings, wisdom traditions, and psalms) from the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament in translation.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Oegema, Gerbern (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 203 Bible and Western Culture (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : To provide students of the humanities with knowledge of the Bible as a tool for interpreting religious references in Western literature, art and music. Biblical stories (e.g. Creation, Exodus), key figures (e.g. David, Job, Mary), and common motifs (e.g. Holy City, Pilgrimage, Bride) are explored, then illustrated by later cultural forms.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Fishley, Daniel; Rosini, Amanda (Fall)
Fall and Winter
-
RELG 204 Judaism, Christianity and Islam (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the beliefs, practices, and religious institutions of these three world religions.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Cere, Daniel M; Salvatore, Armando; de Carvalho, Matheus (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 205 Death and Dying (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : How people in contemporary North America use traditional religious concepts and rituals, scientific understandings and medical procedures, or innovative combinations of both, to cope with, and make sense of, the concept of death. Exploration of how culture, politics, and other societal infrastructure interact in/through the bodily fact of death.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Kaell, Hillary Diane (Fall)
-
RELG 210 Jesus of Nazareth (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A critical study of selected ancient and modern accounts of the aims and person of Jesus. Attention will be given also to the question of the historical sources and to the relationship between faith and history.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Henderson, Ian H (Fall)
Fall, Winter and Summer
-
RELG 211 Theology through Fiction (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Fiction of Christian provenance, in a variety of subgenres, including famous works by the likes of Dostoevsky, Undset, Chesterton, Mauriac, Lewis, Tolkien, Waugh, Greene, Percy, and O鈥機onnor, is both theologically informed and theologically informative. Works selected from such literature will be read and discussed with a view to probing the notions of redemption in play.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Farrow, Douglas B (Fall)
-
RELG 252 Hinduism and Buddhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The interaction of Hinduism and Buddhism in India with special reference to the law of Karma, caste, women, ritual, death, yoga, and liberation. Determination of interpretative principles for understanding the religious psychology of Hindus and Buddhists.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Stainton, Hamsa; Braitstein, Lara E (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 253 Religions of East Asia (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course introduces East Asia's major religions comparatively by addressing the continuous exchange of ideas and practices between traditions. Rather than adopting a mere chronological approach, Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism will be discussed thematically, taking in to account topics such as gender constructs, the secular and the sacred, material culture, and the apparent contrast between doctrine and practice.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Lai, Rongdao (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 254 Introduction to Yoga Traditions (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course is an historical and thematic investigation into yoga, including its classical formulations, esoteric practices, and contemporary developments and debates. It explores early yoga traditions as well as the development of modern yoga in India and 鈥渢he West,鈥� along with themes such as the body, asceticism, secularism, and cultural exchange.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Patel, Sunny (Winter)
Fall
-
RELG 270 Religious Ethics and the Environment (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Environmental potential of various religious traditions and secular perspectives, including animal rights, ecofeminism, and deep ecology.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Chandler, Katie; Newing, Gregory (Winter)
-
RELG 271 Religion and Sexuality (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Exploration of intersections between religion, gender and sexuality in diverse cultural, historical and contemporary contexts.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Malladi, Aalekhya (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 288 Introduction to Sikhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the historical and religious contexts relevant to understanding Sikh religious traditions, including its principal doctrines, practices and institutions and its evolution from its origins in South Asia to the present, with particular attention to Sikh-Canadian transnational connections.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Farran, Andrea (Fall)
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken RELG 388.
9 credits of Advanced Courses at the 300 level or higher.
-
CATH 310 Catholic Intellectual Traditions (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : This course examines Catholic intellectual perspectives, schools of thought, and major thinkers, with focus on topics such as God, faith and reason, the human person, history, culture and community. Will also examine the interaction between Catholicism and other perspectives and traditions.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
CATH 315 Catholicism and Ethics (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : A critical examination of the evolving engagement of Catholicism with contemporary ethical issues.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: CATH 200, or permission of instructor
-
CATH 320 Catholicism and Modernity (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : An exploration of major historical developments in modern Catholicism. The course will examine broad historical trends as well as regional contexts.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: CATH 200, or permission of instructor
-
CATH 325 Mystery and the Imagination (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : An exploration of Catholic perspectives on faith, reason, meaning and mystery through literature, art, music, and film.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: A Butcher, Brian (Winter)
Restriction: Not open to those who have taken 190-370A in 2001-02 or CATH 370 in 2002-03.
-
CATH 330 Catholicism in a Global Context (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : An exploration of Catholicism as a global phenomenon through case studies of its multiple expressions in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Topics include transnational Catholic movements and interreligious engagement.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Atansi, Chukwuemeka (Fall)
-
CATH 335 Confessions of Saint Augustine (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : A close reading of Augustine's monumental Confessions- the odyssey of a restless soul seeking rest in God alone (conf. 1.1.)
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
CATH 340 Catholicism and Public Policy (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : An examination of Catholic social thought, including intellectual and institutional engagement with a wide range of key public policy issues in spheres such as politics, law, economics, diplomacy, and international development.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: CATH 200, or permission of instructor
-
CATH 370 Topics in Catholic Studies (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : A review of selected topics in Catholica studies. Topics vary by year.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Atansi, Chukwuemeka (Winter)
-
CATH 375 Topics in Catholic Theology (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : A review of selected topics in Catholic Theology.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Atansi, Chukwuemeka (Fall)
Topics vary by year.
-
CATH 460 Catholic Studies Seminar (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : A research seminar on a major theme and/or thinker. The seminar will evolve around primary source materials.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: CATH 200, or permission of instructor
-
HIST 427 The Hasidic Movement (3 credits)
Overview
History : A historical examination of the history of the Hasidic Movement from its beginnings in 18th-century Poland to the present. Although emphasis will be placed on the social history of the movement, doctrinal developments will be examined as well.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: HIST 307 or a course in East-European history or consent of instructor
-
ISLA 310 Women in Islam (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : The socio-legal status, conditions, and experiences of various groups of women in Middle Eastern societies. These features are explored within the framework of Islamic feminism and Western feminist discourses, and the tensions and conflicts between them. The dynamics of seclusion, veiling, and polygamy are explored in connection to Medieval Arab ruling elites as a background to some of the discussions and debates over the status of women in modern postcolonial Arab society. Socio-economic divisions, state policies, patriarchy, and colonialism are investigated as key factors in understanding the modern historical transformation of gendered relations and women's roles.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
JWST 334 Jews and Muslims: A Modern History (3 credits)
Overview
Jewish Studies : This course examines the modern history of Jewish-Muslim relations beyond just conflict. We will look at the experience of Jews and Muslims -- as individuals and communities -- who charted new cultural territory while navigating colonialism, nationalism, war, and decolonization, through close readings of a wide variety of primary sources (including letters, memoirs, fiction, music, film, and photography) and historical scholarship.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
For detailed course content go to .
-
JWST 382 Jews, Judaism and Social Justice (3 credits)
Overview
Jewish Studies : A study of North American Jewish activists, thinkers and organizations whose social justice work is deeply rooted in Jewish text and in the lessons of Jewish historical experience.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Caplan, Eric (Winter)
For detailed course content go to .
-
RELG 300 Second Temple Judaism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A survey of Jewish history and thought from Ezra to the Mishnah; religious developments and groups, e.g., apocalypticism, Hellenistic Judaism, Essenes, Pharisees, Early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism; and Biblical Interpretation in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, Paul, Mishnah and Midrashim.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Oegema, Gerbern (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 302 Literature of Ancient Israel 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the literature of Ancient Israel in English translation. Reading and interpreting representative selections.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Kirkpatrick, Patricia (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 303 Literature of Ancient Israel 2 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Approaches to historical-critical scholarship and to the historical background of the Old Testament. Part of the course will be an examination of methods of biblical analysis through the use of learning cells.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Oegema, Gerbern (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 307 Bible, Quran and Interpretations (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Jewish, Christian and Muslim scriptures as responses to earlier sacred texts and in the light of post-scriptural interpretations. The debates, polemics, interpretative strategies, and intellectual and spiritual sharing produced by these three religions in accepting, explaining, amplifying, modifying, and selectively rejecting their and other sacred scriptures.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Oegema, Gerbern (Fall)
Winter
-
RELG 309 World Religions and Cultures They Create (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The constitution and mutual entanglements of selected religions and cultures originating and thriving in varied regional contexts. Focus on highlighting the symbolic (visual, aural) expressivity of religions via ritual, myth, and rational speculation and its impact on high and popular cultures.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Salvatore, Armando (Fall)
-
RELG 310 Canadian Church History (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A survey of the major Christian traditions in Canada from the settlement of New France to the present. Lectures and seminars with use, where possible, of primary source materials.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Kirby, W J Torrance (Winter)
-
RELG 311 Formation of the New Testament (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the formation and interpretation of the New Testament, excluding the Gospels.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Henderson, Ian H (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 312 The Gospels (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the critical study of the Gospels.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Henderson, Ian H (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 313 Topics in Biblical Studies 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Topics in biblical studies. Topic varies by year.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter
- RELG 315 Special Topics in Religion 1 (3 credits)
-
RELG 316 New Religious Movements (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A critical analysis of the origins, character and influence of one or more religious movements of the 19th C. and beyond, with special attention to their religious principles and social function.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 317 Special Topics in Religion 2 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Topics of current interest in, or between, world religions.
Terms: Fall 2024, Winter 2025
Instructors: de Souza, Ana; Smith, Adam (Fall) Sharma, Arvind (Winter)
-
RELG 318 Special Topics in Religion 3 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Topics of current interest in, or between, world religions.
Terms: Fall 2024, Winter 2025
Instructors: Atansi, Chukwuemeka (Fall) Ogunnaike, Ayodeji (Winter)
- RELG 319 Special Topics in Religion 4 (3 credits)
-
RELG 322 Church and Empire to 1300
(3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A survey of major institutional developments in the history of Western Christianity in Church and Empire from the end of the apostolic age to 1300.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Kirby, W J Torrance (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 323 Church and State since 1300 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Significant events and persons in the history of Western Christendom from 1300 to the present.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Kirby, W J Torrance (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 325 Varieties Religious Experience in Christianity (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A survey of varieties of religious experience in Christianity.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Nelson, Samuel (Winter)
-
RELG 326 Christians in the Roman World (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A social-historical examination of Christians within the complex cultural, political, ethnic and religious contexts of later Greco-Roman antiquity, focusing on changing relations among different varieties of Christian, as well as on interactions and conflicts among Christians, Jews and polytheists. Other topics to be considered include martyrdom, orthodoxy and heresy, and Gnosticism.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 331 Religion and Globalization (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An exploration of the distinctive ways in which the world's religions are shaping and are shaped by the dynamics of globalization. It examines the multiple intersections of religion and globalization through a variety of themes and case studies in human rights, development, education, ecology, gender, and conflict
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Nelson, Samuel (Fall)
.
-
RELG 332 Conversations Across World Religions (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Exploration of various themes across the world's religions, including a range of living faith traditions.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite(s): One 200 level RELG course and permission of the instructor.
Field trips to local religious communities may be included as part of the course.
-
RELG 333 Principles of Theology (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the central questions, claims, and categories of Christian thought, considered in their narrative and credal context, with discussion of the nature of theology and the relation between faith and reason.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Farrow, Douglas B (Fall)
Winter
-
RELG 334 Theology of History (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of Christian readings of history, and especially of the present age, including apocalyptic literature and political theology.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter and Summer
Prerequisite(s): One prior course in Christianity, or permission of the instructor.
-
RELG 336 Contemporary Theological Issues (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of contemporary theological issues. Topic varies by year.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Zink, Jesse (Winter)
Winter
Prerequisite: 3 credits in Christianity or permission of instructor
-
RELG 337 Themes in Buddhist Studies (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A focused examination of major themes within a branch of Theravada, Mahayana or Vajrayana Buddhism. Emphasis will be placed on both the close study of primary texts (in translation) in historical context and the application of recent methods to fundamental Buddhist concepts, ritual practices and community institutions.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Braitstein, Lara E (Winter)
-
RELG 338 Women and the Christian Tradition (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Survey of women's involvement in the Christian tradition. Topics include feminist interpretation of scripture, ideas of virginity, marriage and motherhood, mysticism, asceticisms, European witchhunts, contemporary women's liberation theories.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Kirkpatrick, Patricia; Rosini, Amanda (Winter)
Fall
Core course for the Women's Studies Minor program
-
RELG 341 Introduction: Philosophy of Religion (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Introduction to the subject. Faith and reason, theistic arguments, values and destiny, the problem of evil, religious language.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Smith, Adam; Bossoletti, Francesco (Winter)
Fall
- RELG 344 Mahayana Buddhism (3 credits)
-
RELG 348 Classical Hinduism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Surveys classical Hinduism through Sanskrit learning traditions. Topics include: Vedic literature, fables, ethics, statecraft, erotics, liberation, and epic literature.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Sharma, Arvind (Fall)
All texts are read in English translation; no prior knowledge is assumed.
-
RELG 350 Bhakti Hinduism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Foundation of theism in the Upanisads, Epics, Gita and puranas; image worship and temple religion in the Agamas; Vaisnavism, Saivism, Saktism, and competition with Buddhism and Jainism; the relation of Bhakti and Tantra; interaction of Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Malladi, Aalekhya (Fall)
Fall
Prerequisite: RELG 252 or permission of the instructor
-
RELG 352 Japanese Religions: History and Thought (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course provides an in-depth introduction to the religious traditions of Japan from the emerging of the Japanese state to the role of religion in contemporary Japan. Kami worship, the Buddhist tradition, Yin Yang divination, Confucianism, and the modern construct of Shinto are addressed in an interdisciplinary approach, taking into account insights from the fields of History, Literature, and Art.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Bauer, Mika毛l (Fall)
Fall
Prerequisite: RELG 253 or permission of instructor
-
RELG 354 Chinese Religions (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Introduction to the diverse religiosities in the Chinese cultural sphere. Examination of the everyday practice of ancestor worship, longevity practices, morality, rituals, and the veneration of deities and spirits.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Lai, Rongdao (Fall)
Fall
Prerequisite: RELG 253
-
RELG 358 Religion and Cinema in India (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Surveys religion in India through key films, assuming no prior knowledge of South Asian cinema. Discussions will focus on issues of religion, visual culture, and representation in the study of Indian film. Thematic focus will vary from year to year, on a range of topics such as nationalism, devotion, secularism, and censorship.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken RElG 547 when topic was "Religion and Cinema in India".
This course may require additional contact hours for the screening of films.
-
RELG 366 Rivers, Religion, and Environment in South Asia (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This class explores the significance of major South Asian river systems, including Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, and Yamuna, in classical and contemporary terms. In Hindu scriptures, rivers may be incarnate, emplaced goddesses; in contemporary South Asia, rivers are central to Hindu pilgrimage while facing environmental pressures from pollution, overuse, flooding, and drought. Finally, rivers of the Indian subcontinent cross and delineate international boundaries, creating friction between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. As key lifelines shared in multi-religious South Asia, are rivers vulnerable wards of the state鈥攐r valuable 鈥榗itizens鈥� who must be recruited to do their part?
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite(s): RELG 252 or Permission of Instructor
-
RELG 368 Japanese Religions in Pop Culture (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Explores the representation of religion in today鈥檚 Japanese popular culture. Through the exploration of religious narratives, symbolism and concepts in manga, anime, film and short novels, students will study the way religion is perceived in contemporary Japan. The distinction between the secular and the sacred, and the clash between modernity and Japan鈥檚 pre-modern religious traditions will be examined from an historical, anthropological and literary point of view.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Bauer, Mika毛l (Winter)
-
RELG 369 Tibetan Buddhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Buddhism has been central to Tibetan culture and identity since the 7th century CE. This course introduces key aspects of the history and practices of Tibetan Buddhism, including: early history, political and sectarian developments, the spread of Tibetan Buddhism outside of Tibet, and the myth of "Shangri-La".
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Braitstein, Lara E (Fall)
-
RELG 370 Religion and Human Rights (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Social justice and human rights issues as key aspects of modem religious ethics. Topics include: the relationship of religion to the modem human rights movement; religious perspectives on the universality of human rights; the scope and limits of religious freedom; conflicts between religion and rights.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Cere, Daniel M (Fall)
Winter
-
RELG 371 Ethics of Violence/Non-Violence (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Forms of violence and the reaction of religious groups are assessed both for their effectiveness and for their fidelity to their professed beliefs. Different traditions, ranging from the wholesale adoption of violent methods (e.g., the Crusades) to repudiation (e.g., Gandhi; the Peace Churches).
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Summer
-
RELG 372 Hindu Goddesses (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The mythology, theology, soteriology, history, ritual, and texts of the goddess-centred (Sakta) branches of Hinduism.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 373 Christian Ethics of Love (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course will focus on the philosophical sources of love and on their uses by Christian authors. By comparing both their premises and methods, we will see how different authors in a particular tradition (Christianity) offer various answers to the themes of love, friendship and charity.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Fiasse, Gaelle (Fall)
Winter
-
RELG 375 Religion, Politics and Society (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of contemporary religious traditions in the light of debates regarding secularization, the relation of religion and politics, and the interaction of religion with major social institutions.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Nelson, Samuel (Winter)
Fall
-
RELG 376 Religious Ethics (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A discussion of ethical theory will provide the background for an analysis of the relationship between religious world views and moral reason. Attention will be given to the way in which the dominant religious traditions view the exemplars of religious virtue, and to how the virtues exemplified are related to and justified by the faith tradition in which they operate.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 378 Pilgrimage, Heritage,
and Tourism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Explores the history of pilgrimage and emergence of religious tourism in global contexts. Introduces the religious heritage of Montreal and its history as a Roman Catholic pilgrimage centre (St. Joseph鈥檚 Oratory) and adopts thematic approaches to pilgrimage and tourism in interreligious perspectives (Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish).
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Farran, Andrea; Arista, Noelani (Fall)
Class work includes a local field visit
-
RELG 379 Eastern Orthodox Christianity (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Topics in the history, theology, spiritual practices, liturgical arts, and literatures of the Greek, Slavonic, Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, and related Christian traditions.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restriction(s): For U2 students and above and not open to students who have taken RELG 232.
-
RELG 380 Religion, Philosophy, Modernity (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Through primary source readings, this class will examine the intellectual history of this change, will identify the agents of this change, both philosophical and theological, and will consider the significance and implications of inhabiting a 'modernity' that is, and understands itself as, 'secular.' Charles Taylor's recent book, A Secular Age, narrates a historical development, from a 'pre-modern' condition, in which it was 'virtually impossible not to believe in and encounter God,' to a modern and contemporary situation in which 'faith is an embattled option.' Within the 'context of our self-understanding,' 'secularism' has become a 'default option.'
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 382 Contemporary Theory of Religion
(3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The key methodological controversies fueled by the systems of certain phenomenologists of religion (e.g., Rudolf Otto, Mircea Eliade, and Wilfred Cantwell Smith). The intellectual space that emerged as a result will be explored, in particular, the convergence of method and normativity in religious studies.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Kanaris, Jim (Winter)
Pre-requisite: RELG 207 is recommended
-
RELG 384 Religion and Public Policy (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The intersections between religion and public policy in the North American context. Examination of methodological issues at the junction of religious studies and public policy. Exploration of domestic policy issues related to the religious sphere such as religious freedom, inclusion and accommodation, as well as the evolving impact of diverse religious stakeholders in other policy sectors: education, health care, Indigenous rights, immigration, and the environment. The ways in which key aspects of foreign policy鈥攄efense, diplomacy, and development鈥攔equire sustained engagement with the complexities of the religious terrain in diverse global contexts.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 398 North American Christianity (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Introduction to four centuries of Christian history in North America, covering grassroots practices and public culture. Focus on key historical moments and movements, including Puritanism, evangelical revivalism, slavery and Civil Rights, modernism and fundamentalism, Mormonism, anti-Communism, and Pentecostalism.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Restrictions: U0 students must obtain permission from instructor
-
RELG 399 Christian Spirituality (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Seminar exploring the phenomena of internal religious experience in their relation to received formularies of Christian thought and practice.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Summer
- RELG 407 The Writings (3 credits)
-
RELG 408 The Prophets (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of significant texts selected from the prophetic tradition in the Old Testament.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 419 Religious Heritage and Tourism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Introduction to heritage studies through the lens of religious studies, including spiritual, socio-economic, and political aspects of the expanding heritage phenomena, along with the contestations it can provoke. Topics include tourism, museums, intangible heritage practices, ritualization, the repatriation and destruction of heritage objects.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisites: RELG 378.
-
RELG 422 Medieval Religious Texts (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Investigation of the interaction of Neoplatonic, Peripatetic, and Aristotelian schools of thought with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the early medieval period down to the Renaissance and early stages of the western Enlightenment traditions.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 423 Reformation Thought (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An examination of issues and persons in Europe and the British Isles that contributed to ecclesiastical and social change during the 16th and early 17th centuries.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Petersen, Karen (Fall)
-
RELG 434 Advanced Theology (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Examination of the nature of theology, and particular theological loci, through readings in major theologians. The Lord鈥檚 Prayer is added to the Nicene Creed as a second lens for theological study.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Langdon, Adrian (Winter)
Fall
Prerequisite(s): RELG 333 or permission of the instructor.
-
RELG 440 Global Islam (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Western scholarship has oscillated between orientalizing Islam and co-opting it into the Western (Abrahamic) fold of religious traditions. The course will challenge both perspectives by exploring Islam鈥檚 dynamic unfolding across a variety of civilizational regions and during subsequent epochs. Its patterns of premodern globalization are nowadays retrieved, sometimes by fitting Islamic cultures into neoliberal patterns of globalization, more often by sidelining or overlaying the Westphalian system of sovereign nation-states. The course will show how Islamic traditions have, both in history and in the present, developed unique intellectual tools and practical resources to interface both with 鈥榬adical鈥� (Abrahamic) and 鈥榙ialogic鈥� (non-Abrahamic) religious traditions: from the West (also via labor-based migration), through Central and South Asia, to East and Southeast Asia.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 442 Pure Land Buddhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The concept of Buddha Countries and Pure Lands in Buddhism, the Western Pure Land of Amida (Jodokyo) and its basic scriptures, the Chinese Buddhist schools, the introduction to Japan and the foundation of the Pure Land school by Honen, the Pure Land School of Shinran and its development, and the other Pure Land related schools.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: six credits in EAST/RELG or permission of instructor
-
RELG 444 Indian Ocean Religious Networks (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This seminar class explores cultural exchanges among maritime networks of Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims in South Asia and Southeast Asia, in classical, pre-modern, and contemporary terms. Key themes to be considered include: sovereignty, society, and religion, within the context of historically evolving cultural relations around the Bay of Bengal. Taking an inter-religious approach to understanding maritime cultural interactions, class readings and discussion include: foundational theories of 鈥淚ndianization,鈥� reflection on 鈥渓ocalization,鈥� the 鈥淪anskrit cosmpolis,鈥� and emerging theoretical contributions based on current archaeological, epigraphic, and art historical discoveries in India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Deptl. approval: Nov.17, 2015.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite(s): RELG 252 or permission of instructor
-
RELG 445 Modern Buddhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Examination of how Buddhist doctrines, practices, and texts are (re)interpreted in the process of rapid modernization and globalization, and how Buddhism plays a role in shaping societies, economics, and politics.The intellectual trends and ideologies that have shaped the representation of Buddhism as a philosophical, rational, and scientific world religion. How Buddhist ethics and doctrines are transformed in facing the challenges of modernity, including the Buddhist response to environmentalism, gender and sexuality, race, social activism, and war and peace.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Lai, Rongdao (Fall)
-
RELG 449 The Religion of the Samurai (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The religious and philosophical developments within the samurai class throughout the Edo (1600-1868) and early Meiji periods (1868-1912), including: an inquiry into the rise of new Buddhist and Shinto schools, the influence of Neo-Confucianism, the development of nativism and finally the invention of the Bushido.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 450 The Way of the Kami (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A historical and phenomenological approach to the study of Shinto, a Japanese Indigenous tradition. Analysis of the tradition鈥檚 pre-modern and modern history, how Shinto changed over its long history and in what way the modern version of the tradition is different from or similar to its pre-modern counterpart. Exploration of the changing meaning and perception of the tradition. The significance of the kami for the pre-modern practitioner, and how the tradition is viewed today.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: RELG 253
-
RELG 451 Zen Buddhism: Poetry
and Art (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A general overview of Japanese Zen Buddhism through the reading of poetry, diaries, sculpture and architecture.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: six credits in EAST/RELG or permission of instructor
-
RELG 453 Vajrayana Buddhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism, approached predominantly through the genre of life writing/sacred biography.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: RELG 344.
-
RELG 454 Modern Hindu Thought (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of the developments in religious thought with special reference to such thinkers as Ram Mohan Roy, Dayananda Saraswati, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Gandhi, Tilak, Aurobindo, and Radhakrishnan.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Sharma, Arvind (Fall)
Winter
Prerequisite: RELG 252
-
RELG 455 Religion and the Performing Arts in South India (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course focuses on the place of religion in historical representations and performance practices of "classical" South Indian performing arts such as Bharatanatyam dance and Karnatak music. In particular, it lays emphasis on politics of the twentieth-century reinvention of these arts by elites in the Tamil and Telugu-speaking regions.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken RELG 363
-
RELG 470 Theological Ethics (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Examines ancient and modern sources of Christian moral thought against a backdrop of contemporary alternatives.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Prerequisites: One course in theology or Christian thought and one course in philosophy or ethics.
-
RELG 479 Christianity in Global Perspective (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Examines varied expressions of Christianity as a global religion with a particular focus on Asia, Africa and Latin America from the 18th century to the present.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter
Prerequisite: A 300 level course in Christianity or permission of the Instructor.
-
RELG 502 Greco-Roman Judaism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The religion and literature of wisdom and apocalyptic traditions, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo and Josephus, with special attention to the Jewish matrix of Early Christianity.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Oegema, Gerbern (Fall)
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
-
RELG 532 History of Christian Thought 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The development of Christian theology in the Patristic and Medieval periods. Focus on the controversial development of Christian doctrines and disciplines through intensive exposure to primary texts.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite: At least six (6) credits at the 300 level in Christianity or the Christian Bible.
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken RELG 320
-
RELG 533 History of Christian Thought 2 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The development of Christian theology in the Reformation, Post Reformation and Modern periods through intensive exposure to primary texts.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall
Prerequisite: At least six (6) credits at the 300 level in Christianity or the Christian Bible.
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken RELG 327
-
RELG 544 Ethnography as Method in Religious Studies (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Ethnography as method informs disciplines from Area Studies and anthropology to linguistics and religious studies. Students will acquire a critical perspective on emic/etic subjectivity in Religious Studies, and a framework to apply ethnography in their research. Coursework covers classic ethnographies, new interventions, and ethnographies of particular relevance for religious traditions in a given year.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisite(s): A minimum of six credits in 300 level RELG courses and/or permission of the instructor.
-
RELG 545 Ramayana: Multiple Lives (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Focus on the Rama story in South Asia. Exploration of the multiple versions of the narrative from classical Sanskrit textual versions, to rural vernacular retellings, to contemporary TV versions, and examination of the various religious, social, cultural and political significations of the narrative in these contexts.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Malladi, Aalekhya (Winter)
Winter
Prerequisite: RELG 252 Hinduism & Buddhism
-
RELG 546 Indian Philosophy (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Introduction to the orthodox systems of Hindu Philosophy leading up to Vedanta i.e., Nyaya, Vaisesika, Sankhya, Yoga and Mimamsa, which will include discussion of such topics as: grounds for belief and disbelief in God, the nature of revelation, means of knowledge, etc.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisites: 6 credits in Indian religions, philosophy of religion, philosophy, or permission of the instructor
-
RELG 547 Special Topics in Hinduism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A research-oriented seminar dealing with topics in Hindu studies.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall and Winter
Prerequisites: 6 credits in Indian religions, philosophy of religion, philosophy, or permission of the instructor
-
RELG 548 Indian Buddhist Philosophy (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The rise of buddhist schools of philosophy, especially the Theravada and Sauntrantika, as an attempt to systematize the canonical teachings and defend Buddhism against its critics.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 549 Japanese Buddhism in Historical Context (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This research-oriented seminar critically analyses key-questions from the field of pre-modern Japanese Buddhism. By engaging with recent research, students are expected to adopt an interdisciplinary approach and address questions and methodologies from both History and Buddhist Studies.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Bauer, Mika毛l (Fall)
-
RELG 551 Special Topics in Buddhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A research-oriented seminar dealing with topics in Buddhist studies.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Fall and Winter
Prerequisite: RELG 344 or Permission of instructor.
-
RELG 552 Advaita Vedanta (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The relation of Nyaya-Vaisesika and Mimamsa to Kevaladvaita with concentration on Sankara's Brahmasutrabhasya, Pada 1 and 2.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisites: 6 credits in Indian religions
-
RELG 556 Issues in Buddhist Studies (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A graduate seminar taught by the Numata Visiting Professor on critical issues in contemporary Buddhist Studies. Emphasis will be placed on the intensive application of different methods - philological, philosophical or social scientific - to some area of modern Buddhist research.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Winfield, Pamela; Lai, Rongdao (Fall)
Fall
Prerequisite: permission of instructor
-
RELG 558 Indian Tantric Traditions (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Study of esoteric Tantric culture (philosophy, ritual, pilgrimage, art, and iconography) with focus on either Hindu or Buddhist Tantric traditions.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Prerequisites: Any two 300-level courses in Hinduism or Buddhism.
-
RELG 559 Caste and Dalits: Historical and Political Perspectives (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This seminar addresses religion, caste, and the Dalit community (formerly known as "untouchables" in India through a range of historical and ritual contexts. Topics include representation in the Hindu textual tradition, colonialism, conversion, caste-based violence, caste and nationalism, non-Brahmin political assertion, and the contemporary reservation system.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Winter
Prerequisites: RELG 252 and one 300 level course or higher in South Asian Religions
-
RELG 560 Buddhist Poetry (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Since the time of Buddha, poetry has been used by Buddhist to express devotion, to compose philosophical treatises, and to communicate insight into the experience of awakening. The seminar's content will vary, treating the history, poetics, esthetics, roles and genres of Buddhist poetry in India, Tibet, China and Japan.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 570 Research in Interfaith Studies (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Exploration of the complex entanglements ofreligious and cultural traditions. The intersectinguniverses of practice and meaning originating from different inflections of the tension betweenimmanence and transcendence, combininghistorical and theoretical approaches.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Ogunnaike, Ayodeji (Winter)
Restrictions: Not open to students who have taken RELG 679.
-
RELG 571 Ethics, Medicine and Religion (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The seminar will discuss a variety of topics related to medicine and religion from the point of view of ethics, such as the pact of care between a patient and a physician, the Hippocratic oath, the notions of autonomy and vulnerability, the definitions of personhood and human dignity, the question of rights for people with cognitive disabilities, the debate about the role of religion in bioethics.
Terms: Winter 2025
Instructors: Fiasse, Gaelle (Winter)
-
RELG 572 Religion and Global Politics (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An exploration of the resurgence of global religions in geo-political and international relations in the post Cold-War era. It examines the complex roles that religious traditions play in democratization, human rights, conflict, and development.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.
-
RELG 573 Religions in Global Society (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This seminar is devoted to the study of a plurality of often intersecting religious traditions in a globalizing world, based on interdisciplinary scholarship drawing from history, sociology, anthropology and archaeology. It starts from locating religious phenomena within intersecting social, cultural and political fabrics around the world. It articulates the relation between a multi-faith appreciation of the role of religions in a variety of societies and the emergence of diverse patterns of secularity in them. It facilitates a rich understanding of a complex past to shed light on the new challenges of globalization, including the opening of horizons of postsecular understandings and arrangements.
Terms: Fall 2024
Instructors: Salvatore, Armando (Fall)
