Religion Department Course Offerings 2011-12
Fall Semester
RELI 110 The World's Religions: An Introduction (VA)
Instructors: Harris, McDaniel
This course introduces students to the teachings, practices, spiritualities, and histories of many world religions. The religions include to be covered include Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, Jainism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and indigenous traditions. Since this course introduces Asian religions in an abbreviated way, students who take this course may also wish to take Introduction to Asian Religions.
RELI 112 Exodus (LS)
Instructor: Sanders
This course examines the content and significance of this influential book in the Bible. It offers a focused way of beginning to learn about biblical literature by examining one book that has shaped countless generations of Jewish and Christian thinkers and that has deeply influenced Western literature. Attention is given to the various genres contained in the book and how its message can be relevant to today. The course aims to provide some basic hermeneutical skills as well as promote a positive attitude towards Torah.
RELI 124 Introduction to the New Testament (HP, LS)
Instructor: Williamson
This course is an introduction to the texts of the New Testament in their historical contexts, using methodologies of modern biblical scholarship (primarily literary, historical, form and redaction criticisms and other methods). The course examines the New Testament canon and associated non-canonical Gnostic texts in light of Hellenistic Jewish and Greco-Roman texts, history, culture and material remains of the first centuries C. E.
RELI 223 Introduction to Hinduism (VA)
Instructor: Gorvine
This course is designed as an introduction to the myriad forms of South Asian religious expression designated as “Hinduism.” The course will survey Hinduism’s historical roots and developments, philosophical and ritual innovations, social and ethical ideals, and influential works of literature, relying on both primary and secondary sources. The latter part of the course will center on issues of ongoing relevance to modern day tradition, analyzing, for example, Hindu understandings of religious art and worship, influential works of modern Indian fiction, and current scholarship on contemporary issues and communities.
RELI 230 History of Christianity to 1500
Instructor: Sanders
The development of Christian thought and institutions from 100-1500 CE. Questions surrounding the formation of orthodoxy, the interplay between religion and politics and the variety of ways in which Christians practiced their faith will be discussed.
RELI 280 Examined Lives (VA)
Instructor: Harris
This course engages students in understanding the complexity of religion through acquaintance with a topic chosen from among the areas of world religions, biblical studies, Christianity, religion and culture, and philosophy of religion and theology.
RELI 314 Globalization and Religion (VA, CW)
Instructor: McDaniel
This course focuses on the dynamics of globalization (economic, cultural, educational, and electronic) as they affect people’s religious and spiritual self-understandings in the modern world. Particular but not exclusive focus is on modernization in Latin America and China. With regard to China, emphasis is placed on an intellectual movement in China. With regard to China, emphasis is placed on an intellectual movement in China called “Constructive Postmodernism” which seeks to integrate Western and Chinese ways of thinking into a single whole. Emphasis is also placed on the rise of Christianity and Buddhism, and on the orientations of people who think of themselves as “spiritually interested but not religiously affiliated.” For the Latin American focus, discussion will center on the concept of syncretism, both in an historical context and in contemporary society, and on the ways in which religious affiliation connects to other aspects of an individual’s social identity.
RELI 328 The Bible and/as History (HP)
Instructor: Williamson
This course approaches the Bible from an historical perspective, considering the sources and methods used by scholars to reconstruct the histories of ancient Israel, early Judaism, and nascent Christianity. The course examines the sources for reconstructing biblical history (biblical texts, archaeology, and ancient Near Eastern epigraphy, among others) as well as the issues involved in producing a coherent historical narrative from those sources. Attention will be given to contemporary scholarly debates over the history of Israel, particularly regarding the extent to which the Bible may be considered a reliable historical witness. Prerequisite: RELI 123 or RELI 124 recommended.
RELI 334 Buddhist Saints (LS)
Instructor: Gorvine
What makes a saintly life from a Buddhist perspective? How do literary works portray the lives of highly accomplished Buddhists? Beginning with the Buddha, this course explores the life-narratives of ideal monks, masters and meditators, examining the religious values, literary practices and cultural dynamics evident in religious biographies over the centuries and across Asian traditions. We will also consider the veneration of living Buddhist "saints" both historically and in the contemporary world.
RELI 339 Contemporary Islamic Thought (CW, VA)
Instructor: McDaniel
In the twenty-first century Muslims are developing ways of thinking and approaches to life that are intended to be relevant to contemporary Muslims and the wider world. Some build upon the mystical traditions of the Muslim past, especially Sufism; some build upon what they call "liberal' or "progressive" currents of more recent Muslim history, seeking to show how Islam can promote freedom of thought, democracy, respect for the rights of women, appreciation of science. In a different vein, other strands of contemporary thinking emphasize that Islam provides a constructive alternative to western ways of thinking. This course is intended to introduce students to a wide array of contemporary Islamic thinking: mystical, militant, liberal, feminist, and conservative.
RELI 395 Theories and Research in Religion
Instructor: Tettlebaum
This course, a prerequisite to RELI 497 Senior Thesis, prepares students to conduct advanced research and undertake critical thinking in the academic study of religion. Students will examine several major theorists who have historically defined "religion" as a field of academic inquiry, and who represent a variety of methodologies for understanding it -- including psychological, sociological, phenomenological and anthropological approaches. The course also considers issues of theoretical importance in the present-day study of religion, considers the relationships of religious studies to philosophy and theology, and introduces students to several major areas of current scholarly research within the field.
Spring Semester
RELI 110 The World's Religions: An Introduction
Instructors: McDaniel, Sanders
This course introduces students to the teachings, practices, spiritualities, and histories of many world religions. The religions include to be covered include Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, Jainism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and indigenous traditions. Since this course introduces Asian religions in an abbreviated way, students who take this course may also wish to take Introduction to Asian Religions.
RELI 111 Asian Religions: An Introduction
Instructor: Gorvine
This course introduces students to religious traditions rooted in Asia. It examines a wide variety of primary and secondary sources to help students recognize and understand the many different ways in which Asian religious communities have attempted to understand the nature of the world (both this world and beyond), human society, and the individual person’s place therein. It includes attention to narrative and philosophical texts, ritual practices, religious experiences, social relationships and historical developments. Since this course, while survey in nature, does not include Abrahamic religions, students who take this course may also take the introduction course The World’s Religions.
RELI 123 Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
Instructor: Williamson
An introduction to the major texts, themes, and history of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament that employs tools of modern biblical scholarship (including literary, historical, source, form and redaction criticisms, as well as reader-response theory). The course examines biblical texts in light of the texts, history, culture and material remains of ancient Israel and the Ancient Near East. In addition, some attention is paid to hermeneutics and the reception of the Bible in contemporary culture.
RELI 211 African American Religions
Instructor: Harris
An analysis of the role of religion in the African American community, along with a survey of key themes in the religious though of African Americans from the antebellum period to the present, with special attention to figures such as Marin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and theologians such as James Cone and Delores Williams.
RELI 222 Chinese Religions
Instructor: Harris
A survey of the major religious traditions that have shaped Chinese culture: Confucianism, Taoism/Daoism, and Buddhism with some consideration of the minority traditions that constitute elements of contemporary religious life in China, including Islam, Christianity, and selected ethnic beliefs and practices. Themes such as ancestor worship, sacrifice and divination, ethics, meditation, and longevity techniques will enrich an understanding of some characteristics of Chinese ways of experiencing the self, society, and the world.
RELI 228 Synoptic Gospels: The Jesus(es) of Matthew, Mark, and Luke (LS)
Instructor: Williamson
Students in this course will engage in a close reading of the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), considering both their historical contexts and their significance for contemporary life. The course equips students with basic methods of interpretation and encourages thoughtful, critical engagement with the biblical text. Students examine the portrayal of Jesus in each of the Gospels, grappling with each writer’s understanding of the significance of Jesus as Messiah, Christ, and Son of God. Finally, the course addresses the question of the correlation between the literary portrayals of Jesus in these gospels and the historical figure of Jesus himself, including recent scholarly debates about the historical Jesus.
RELI 231 Modern Christianity since Reform
Instructor: Sanders
A survey of Christian thought and institutions from 1500 to the present. Special attention is given to the Protestant Reformation and the ongoing impact of cultural trends on Christian beliefs and practices.
RELI 243 Contemporary Currents in American Religions
Instructor: Harris
An attempt to understand and to analyze what contemporary social institutions, the arts, politics, and ideas reveal about American's religious perceptions regarding such questions as the means of human fulfillment, the state of the world, and the nature of religious or spiritual experience.
RELI 270 Ecotheology: Religion, Animals and the Earth
Instructor: Harris
In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries an important form of religious thinking is emerging called ecotheology. It involves exploring how spirituality is connected with an appreciation of the earth and its many forms of life and how the earth needs to be protected from excessive exploitation. There are Christian versions of ecotheology, Jewish versions, Buddhist versions, and many others, including feminist versions called ecofeminism. In this course we look at a wide variety of forms of ecotheology. A special component of the course focuses on human relations to animals, with attention to the animal rights movement and constructive religious responses to it.
RELI 280 Issues: Rel & Challenges of Development
Instructor: Gorvine
This course engages students in understanding the complexity of religion through acquaintance with a topic chosen from among the areas of world religions, biblical studies, Christianity, religion and culture, and philosophy of religion and theology.
RELI 336 Wesley and Methodism
Instructor: Sanders
A study of the life and thought of John Wesley followed by a survey of the leading people, organizations, ideas and practices of the Wesleyan tradition in America.
RELI 337 Contemporary Buddhist Thought
Instructor: McDaniel
Religions evolve over time. In the twenty-first century Buddhists are developing ways of thinking and approaches to life that are explicitly intended to be relevant to people throughout the world. Some forms of contemporary Buddhist thought engage in dialogue with the natural sciences; others stress the relevance of Buddhism to environmental concerns; still others emphasize the role that Buddhism can play in enabling people to live spiritually in an age of consumerism. Special focus is on contemporary Zen and Tibetan writing. The course includes an engaged component that invovles undertaking a regular practice of breathing meditation or doing a creative art project at the end.
RELI 338 Tibetan Buddhist Culture
Instructor: Gorvine
Centering on the vibrant religious culture of Tibet, this course begins with an examination of how Tibet and Tibetan religion have been conceived and depicted in scholarship and in contemporary culture, and it proceeds by exploring key elements of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, cultural history, and socio-religious diversity. The early part of the course addresses the assimilation of Indian Buddhist thought and the development of sects, and the historical rise of monasticism. The latter part of the course assesses vital ongoing traditions of 'popular' or 'folk' religion and the religious specialists and communities associated with them, and it concludes by considering contemporary issues of religious revival and identity among modern Tibetans.
RELI 497 Senior Thesis
Instructor: Williamson
Building upon the theoretical and methodological principles explored in previous coursework in religion, a program of research will be developed in consultation with a departmental thesis advisor. Individual projects will be subject to peer-review prior to final presentation before the department faculty.
* * * For up-to-date meeting times, places, and courses open for enrollment, check the college's Course Offerings. For a full listing of courses offered by the department, see the Hendrix Catalog.