Religious Studies

This course offers a practical and theoretical overview of the main meditation techniques. It focuses primarily on classical India, while also discussing contemporary forms of meditation and modern approaches to self-care. Topics include: the Yoga of Patanjali; Upanishads and the Samkhya philosophical school; Bhagavad Gita; Buddhist meditation-- Theravada, Mahayana, and Zen; modern meditation-- Nisargadatta Maharaj; meditation and the psychedelic experience.

The course introduces the concepts of textuality and method, studying classical definitions of theology from Gregory of Nyssa, Anselm and Aquinas through to, and concentrating on, more recent formulations of theology’s task from modern theologians such as Jurgen Moltmann, Elizabeth Johnson, and Willie James Jennings. The different methodological approaches to the study of religion and the different ways of conducting the task of theology are introduced. The course draws attention to patterns of continuity or discontinuity, agreement and conflict in the texts studied. The course trains students to integrate critical, conceptual and historical skills in the reading of theological texts.

This course offers an introduction to the history of women in medieval Islamic societies (600 - 1500 AD), through their experiences and representations in art and literature. The course aims at finding the boundaries that divided the worlds of women and men in the economic, legal, and spiritual spheres. It does so by looking at a variety of texts, including the Qur'an, Prophetic traditions, marriage contracts, travelers' accounts, and the tales of the Arabian Nights. By comparing sources from diverse cultural perspectives, students consider the development of a cultural, economic, legal, and spiritual female identity in the Middle Ages, and critically examine medieval and modern discourses on women and Islam.