Religious Studies

Employing literary sources as well as inscriptions, funerary art and ancient iconography, and other archaeological finds, this course investigates the religious beliefs and practice of the various peoples and civilizations of the ancient Mediterranean from ancient Egypt to Imperial Rome, focusing on the study of ancient rituals (e.g., burial customs, animal and human sacrifice) and on Mediterranean myths and mythologies (e.g., dying-and-rising deities in Egypt, Syria and ancient Greece). Students reflect on the methodological challenges of studying ancient religions, focusing on the problem of interpreting fragmentary evidence, understanding ancient definitions of religion and magic, and distinguishing between private and public devotion in ancient societies. The course provides an opportunity to think about such questions as: "Did people in antiquity believe in their myths?",  "Why did the Egyptians mummify their dead?", "What is the significance of the ancient myths of Osiris, Gilgamesh and Baal?", and "Did the ancient Phoenicians and Carthaginians practice human sacrifice?"

This course surveys the topic of gods’ minds: how (we think) they think, what (we think) they want and know, and why they might matter for human relationships. Drawing from many fields including theology, philosophy, cognitive science, cultural anthropology, behavioral economics, and evolutionary biology, this course examines human fascination with the gods from a variety of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives.

This course examines both traditional and exoteric religious practices from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period. 

The course explores the historic and contemporary links between religion and terror and helps students understand the complexity of religious violence in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, especially in relation to terrorism and the so-called “war against terror.” The course addresses the re-emergence of religious nationalism and the threats it presents to modern states. The course investigates legal and other definitions of terrorism and the development of modern doctrines of terror. It examines topics such as religious motivation, and the justification and legitimization of the use violence in a number of major religious belief systems. It identifies the differences between mainstream and extremist teachings. It analyzes significant acts of religiously motivated violence, and explores background issues such as secularization, modernism and globalization, as well as more personal ones, such as the nature of religious conviction and its influence on behavior.

This course provides an an overview of the most influential philosophical traditions that originated in China and India and spread through Asia: Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

This course introduces students to the languages of the Bible. It provides students with a basic orientation to the biblical languages: Hebrew and Koine Greek. It enables students to read and translate simple Hebrew and Greek phrases and constructions. Students are able to read and translate, with assistance, selected biblical passages.

This course follows a historical and comparative perspective to help understand the global human activity of religion. It addresses questions such as: What sort of a thing is religion? What patterns are common to all religions? What interpretive tools are most appropriate to explore this subject matter? The course takes individual religions as distinctive “religious worlds". The course explores these religious worlds through their common structures and cultural expressions such as myths, rituals, sacred space, pilgrimage, holy beings and holy communities, and their variations. It explores and appreciates the role of religion as a historical and contemporary force that has shaped our societies and institutions across geographies and histories.

This course explores issues related to ideologies of gender and sexuality in the history of religious traditions, with particular attention to the role of women in religion. Special attention is given to how gender is symbolized in religious myth and ritual practices, exploring how this relates to women's experiences. Connections between sexuality, embodiment and spirituality are addressed through case studies in African, Abrahamic, and Asian religions. Drawing on examples from the beliefs and practices of different religious traditions, the course aims to engage with cross-cultural and interdisciplinary scholarship in religious studies, gender studies, women's studies and feminist theory. Theoretical reflections on gender in religious traditions are addressed throughout the course.  Continuous assessment (essays, projects, tests, etc.) counts 100%.

This course explores a nuanced understanding of The Pensées of Blaise Pascal while deepening one's knowledge of French Thought and Religion. The course also covers its Reception History, exploring various themes related to Life, Humanity, and Religion, while encouraging students to express their own existential reflections.

Religious traditions represent significant expressions of cultural values: understanding the past and present states of the world is not possible without some knowledge of these traditions. This course introduces the history, ideas and practices of the three religious traditions whose history is connected, and which together have informed the religious understanding of Europe and the West, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. With reference to matters of ethics, thought, politics and law, the course considers how the diverse ways these religions answer questions about the world and the place of human beings within it have shaped and continue to inform the way people, both individually and collectively, live their lives and seek to find meaning and purpose.