Religious Studies

This course examines religion in contemporary Chinese society, emphasizing its presence and influence in everyday life. It goes beyond religious texts to immerse students in the richness of Chinese spiritual life, demonstrating how religious traditions in China are not merely philosophical concepts, but living practices that shape the everyday experiences of individuals and communities. A special feature of this course is that we will take students on visits to a variety of religious sites in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area to experience firsthand the diversity and vibrancy of religious life in China. This includes participating in meditation sessions, attending religious festivals, and learning the intricacies of the tea ceremony in a Buddhist setting. In addition to these immersive activities, the course will discuss the broader role of religion in shaping contemporary Chinese society. We will explore how religious beliefs and practices intersect with important social issues such as economics, the environment, gender, sexuality, and politics. 

Using literary sources as well as material evidence (archaeological finds, artwork, inscriptions), this course explores customs, beliefs, institutions, and identities of the early Christians within the social, political, religious, and cultural context of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity. The course helps students to think about central questions in the study of early Christianity such as: who were the early Christians? How did they articulate their identities across different languages and in different areas of the late antique world? How and where did they eat, pray, and live? How did they understand their beliefs and interact with the cultures around them? What did their Roman, Greek, or Syrian neighbors think about them? Students reflect on different models of cross-fertilization between emerging early Christian identities and the cultures and religious phenomena which characterized the later stages of the life of the Roman Empire.

This course examines the constitution and mutual entanglements of selected religions and cultures originating and thriving in varied regional contexts. It focuses on highlighting the symbolic (visual, aural) expressivity of religions via ritual, myth, and rational speculation and its impact on high and popular cultures.

This course offers a comprehensive examination of the dynamic interplay between religious freedom and secularism in the diverse cultural landscape of the Americas. From the early colonial encounters to the contemporary socio-political debates, it explores the complex interactions between religion, state, and society in shaping the religious and secular identities of the Americas. Competing understandings of religious freedom and secularism in human rights (what they are, what they should be, and how they operate) are examined. The course is organized into two sections each with a distinctive set of themes: the first section focuses on the conceptual approaches to religious freedom and secularism in the Americas, including historical context. The second section focuses on the circulation of ideas among the continent and beyond, by exploring the transnational impact of politics of religious freedom and secularism in the world.

This course examines some of the main themes and issues of Korean history and cultures since the late 1980s. We often use literature and media, including short stories, feature films, documentaries, TV, and popular music, as a vehicle for understanding contemporary Korean history, culture, and society. Among the major issues we are exploring are democratization, the legacy of national division, new generation, culture industries and hallyu, cinematic re-writing of history, IMF crisis and neoliberal culture, family and gender, narratives of women, multiculturalism, and hallyu in the digital, multi-platform era. Topics include Postwar Development of South Korea, Democratization, Minjung and Democratization Movement and New Wave Cinema, New Generation and Individualism, Sunshine Policy, The Development of Culture Industries and the Korean Wave, Discourses on the Korean Wave, Asian Financial Crisis and Its Impact on Korean Society Family and Gender Relations, Gender and Sexuality in Popular Culture, Narratives of Women, Re-writing Colonial History in Film, Multiculturalism, and Hallyu 2.0 and the Korean Wave in a Digital, Multiplatform Era.

The course gives an introduction to the archaeology of the southern Levant between the second millennium BCE and the first century CE, which often is called "biblical archaeology", and its relationship to the biblical texts. Through an overview of the historical and cultural context in which the biblical narratives was written down, the course gives an in-depth critical review of a selection of controversial narratives described in the literary sources and how they relate to archaeological findings and relics. The course also covers the importance of biblical archaeology both for exegesis, and the understanding of ancient Israel's history and how this influences politics and religion today.

This course introduces students to the history of Hindu Mythology from 1000BCE to 1000 CE through Sanskrit sources in English translation. The course surveys the history of Hindu Mythology from its inception in the Vedic period (1000 BCE) to its height in epics and Purāṇas (1000 CE). Students explore how premodern Hindu writers used mythology to navigate key religious questions regarding the problem of evil; the ontology of God; gender and salvation; and the creation of the universe.

This course introduces key social, cultural, and religious aspects of Jewish thought and practice from antiquity to our own time. This course focuses on Judaism as a major world religion that has shaped Western Civilization. Rabbinic textual traditions that underpin Jewish religious thought—especially the Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrashim—are explored. Calendar, festivals (esp. Day of Atonement, New Year, Festival of Booths, Passover, Hanukkah), and rites of passage (e.g., birth, circumcision, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, marriage, divorce, death) are studied both within the classroom as well as, when appropriate, in visits to local Jewish synagogues and museums. Contemporary Jewish movements and the history of their traditions come into view along with their different beliefs and practices (e.g., kashrut, Sabbath, worship, prayer).

This course examines major religious traditions in the world from a phenomenological and historical point of view. Topics include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism and local religions. 

This course discusses the evidence for the deepening crisis of the gap between Islamic countries and the rest of the world and how it has continuously widened since the 1970’s. Students explore potential causes, the Arab Spring, including Western colonialism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the relation between state and religion in Muslim countries, political and economic effects, effects on immigration, and the rise of religious fundamentalism.