Religious Studies

The course covers inter-religious relations between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from a variety of thematic and interdisciplinary perspectives. The content provides an understanding of the historical roots and contemporary effects of the relations between the three religions. The basics of inter-religious relations are learned and analyzed. Themes covered include gender and sexuality, eschatology and apocalypticism, the intersection of religious and civil law in Western societies, and the challenges of maintaining individual and community identity in a shifting cultural, social, and political landscape.

The course is based on a religious studies perspective to discuss the concepts of antisemitism and islamophobia concept which refers to fears and prejudices relating to Jews, Judaism, Muslims, and Islam. By focusing on the historical, theological/ideological, political, and cultural aspects of antisemitism and islamophobia, the historical roots and the contemporary forms of these fears and prejudices are explored. The course starts by problematizing the concepts of antisemitism and islamophobia and continues by analyzing how these concepts have been used to designate "the enemy" and in processes of religious, cultural, and political "alienation". Thereafter, the historical roots and ideological contexts in which antisemitism and islamophobia arise and develop are studied. The course concludes by focusing on modern and contemporary manifestations of antisemitism and islamophobia, such as, how conspiracy theories are used to heighten hostility towards Jews and Muslims today.

This course starts from the theology of Augustine of Hippo as that which has been formative of the Christian tradition. It explores his characterization of the will, of sin, of grace, and of freedom. Drawing on these Augustinian resources, the course asks how the Christian theological imagination can shape the way that contemporary societal phenomena, such as capitalism and climate change, are diagnosed and addressed. Are these examples of "structural sin"? What sort of agency is possible within these contexts?

The Reformation, which began with Martin Luther in early sixteenth-century Germany, was one of the great turning-points of modern European history, splitting Catholic Christendom and giving rise to many different strands of Protestantism. Using primary sources extant from the period, in English translation if necessary, this course addresses this development in a mixture of lecture and seminar formats. With a broad chronological span, and a geographical scope stretching across much of Western Europe, it offers the stimulating intellectual challenge of learning how to relate key theological concepts to the experiences of the people, in all their diversity.
 

Jews and Christians in the ancient, medieval, and modern world were fascinated, scandalized, and inspired by religious difference and the challenges it posed to their intellectual, moral, and cultural projects. In this course, students focus on explorations of Jewish-Christian relations in various literary genre, and students discuss how they take up, question, and disrupt prevalent representations of "the other" and themselves.

Contemporary Jewish identity is commonly refracted through the prism of two seminal historical events: the Holocaust, and the establishment of the State of Israel. However, at the dawn of the 21st century, closer examination reveals that Jewish identity is today an increasingly diverse and ever changing entity. This unit will probe and explore the reasons for this heterogeneity, identifying and interrogating the intersections between the religious, cultural and political currents shaping today's Jewish identities in diverse communal and state settings.

This course examines the relationship between philosophy and religion from the perspective of different philosophical and religious traditions. Topics include: the nature of ultimate reality, arguments for and against the existence God or gods, competing philosophical and religious accounts of life after death, religious pluralism and God or gods, competing philosophical and religious accounts of life after death, religious pluralism and diversity.

This course covers Ancient Israel from its cradle to the beginning of the common era, ending with Qumran. It covers the theories about the origins of Israel, including the exodus from Egypt, against the socio-political background of Ancient Israel with due attention to historiography. The succession and successes of various royals are covered, as well as the activity of the prophets in a comparative perspective. Cultic practices throughout the period are discussed.

This course surveys the formation and development of Islam and its position and characteristics in the modern world. Divided into five thematic units, the course will cover:  

1) Origins of Islam and the figure of the Prophet Muḥammad;  

2) Islamic authoritative texts – the Qur’ān and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muḥammad;  

3) Various dimensions of classical Islam, including law and ritual practices;  

4) Alternative visions of Islam, in particular the Shī‘ite and the Ṣūfi interpretations of Islam, and  

5) Modern developments in Islam.