Religious Studies

This course demonstrates how religious culture is related to contemporary Korean society, focusing on their doctrines, social attitudes, growth, and decline. In addition, the course addresses different sociological perspectives on Korean religious culture and applies them to Korean religious market theoretically and empirically.

The course examines key aspects of popular religious culture during the early modern period in Europe which witnessed the transformation of religious life associated with the Protestant and Catholic Reformations. It deals specifically with religious ideas and devotional practices at a popular level and the changes introduced by both Protestant and Catholic reformers. As part of the spectrum of belief it examines ideas concerning magic and witchcraft and it includes a study of the witch hunting which swept through Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Attention is given to the role of women in churches and society, and how they were affected by the religious upheavals of the period. 

This course analyzes articulated hatred toward Jews as a historical force. After treating precursors in the pagan world of antiquity, classical and medieval Christian doctrine, iconographic anti-semitism, and Shakespeare's Shylock, the course focuses on the modern phenomenon crystallizing in 19th century Europe and reaching its lethal extreme in Nazi ideology, propaganda, and policy. The course explores expressions in the U.S. and in the Arab world, as well as Jewish reactions to anti-semitism.

This course covers the first half of Islamic history from 600 to 1300 C.E. At the beginning of this period, Arab Muslims established a new religion and a new empire. These developments took place at the intersections of religions (Jewish, Christian, and Zoroastrian faiths) and at the crossroads of empires (Roman and Sasanian states) in the Middle East. Within this context, we will study the construction of Muslim empires and the dynamics of life in Islamic societies during the classical and medieval periods. The course concludes in the 1300s, a pivotal moment when Islamic societies had to respond to invasions by Turks, Crusaders, and Mongols that contributed to the fragmentation of Islamic civilization. By studying the early years of Islamic history, we can witness the construction of a major civilization from its very beginnings.

This course explores some of the major themes in the history of nonwestern Christianity by giving special emphasis on the role played by nonwestern missionaries, indigenous Christian leaders, and European missionaries. It focuses on the history of Christianity in the nonwestern world by exploring Christianity that evolved from the first century in Jerusalem and how it has developed and functions in the contemporary world. The course also examines Christianity that has its roots in western Christianity and looks at how it has translated itself into nonwestern world by exploring how the transition has taken place, informed by specific local contexts, cultures and specific experiences of people.