Religious Studies

This course provides a historical introduction to Islam’s core beliefs, practices, and institutions as they have developed in diverse cultural and political contexts. The course considers a range of topics all approached historically, among them: Islam’s foundational texts, religious expressions, institutions and cultural forms, as well as the challenges posed by changing economic and social conditions for Muslim societies in the modern period. The objective is to provide an informed appreciation of the historical development, cultural diversity, and contemporary issues facing Muslim communities across the world.

A research project that assigns students to expert professors in their proposed research topic. The course takes the students' research capabilities to a more professional level. This can be most closely compared to what is called a supervised research project in the USA.

This course examines aspects of the cultural history of magic with a focus on the period of the witch-hunts in early modern Europe. The course explores how conceptions of magic, witchcraft, and trolldom changed over time; how they were put to use in philosophical reflections, demonological manuals, legislative texts, and oral traditions; and how these ideas became social realities. From the 1500s, combating witchcraft with legislation and judicial prosecution became an important concern for authorities all over Europe. Witchcraft trials consequently became a nexus between law, theology, and the culture of the common people. In this course, students address the cultural and social basis of this development, and review a selection of Norwegian witchcraft trials. The course also introduces later redefinitions of magic expressed in modern occultism and Neopaganism.

This course provides an introduction to the sociology of religion to shed light on current issues. After an historical review of the emergence of a sociology of religion and a presentation of the main works that structure the discipline, the course discusses various issues, including social integration and the religious phenomenon, religious identity, militancy, religion in the public sphere, individualization of beliefs, and the place of religion in the political sphere. Each theme is embodied by a topical issue (e.g. the notion of “radicalization”, church militancy in the United States), which is studied in the light of the work available to date. The theoretical dimension of the course are also supported by the presentation of empirical studies.

This course examines the impact of Zen thought and practice on Japanese culture. It covers proto-Zen from India to China; the transmission and development of Zen in Japan; and Zen’s influence on the aesthetics of everyday objects, experience, and judgments including architecture, landscaping, arts, literature, spirituality, and lifestyle.

This course looks at Buddhism in Japan through the actions of Buddhist priests and followers to confront the real life problems and suffering of people in Japan today. The course looks at issues such as human relationships in terms of dying and grieving, alienation, and suicide. It explores economic development in terms of social and economic gaps; aging society; community breakdown and depopulation of the countryside; alternatives to globalization and Buddhist economics, and alternative energy and the environment. The course also surveys politics in terms of nuclear power and peace, and Buddhist complicity with war and work for peace.

This course focuses on the early centuries of both Islam and Christianity which involved an intensive confrontation with Greek philosophy and often led to the emergence of rival sects and theological schools. The first part of this course covers the history of the emergence of these different approaches and the philosophy and theology implied by each, with a special focus on the branches of Islam. The second part of the course traces the history of these branches up to the present day, looking at them particularly in light of the advent of liberalism in the West with its separation of the public and private spheres; the cultural dynamics that emerged from colonialism, imperialism, and also decolonization; and finally, globalization and the resurgence of political theologies that seem to reject the modern idea of the nation-state.

The course examines the teachings, traditions, and history of the Hasidic movement, from its revolutionary beginnings to its current, reactionary position. The movement is examined for its original philosophical and theological teachings, and how changing assumptions affected its history and development over the last three centuries. The movement’s history can be divided into approximately four historical and ideological periods: the 18th century and the movement’s beginnings, its pioneering figures, its mystical-messianic vision, and the social controversy which surrounded it. The 19th century with the consolidation of the Hasidic movement into mainstream Judaism, the founding of Hasidic dynasties and their internecine battles, Hasidism’s relationship to modernity and the Jewish Haskala (Enlightenment), and the nascent Zionistic movement. The 20th century sees the budding of a contemporary Hasidism, in dialogue with the world, only to be cut short by the Holocaust and replaced by extreme reactionism. And the 21st century, with the current challenges facing the movement, both in Israel and America. Attention is also given to “neo-Hasidic” groups, such as the Jewish Renewal movement, Carlebach minyanim, Breslov, and Chabad. Students approach Hasidism through its primary texts (in the original Hebrew with English translation), culture, customs, and literature, in addition to more contemporary media forms such as magazines, movies for and about Hasidism, web logs, etc. Several films and television shows about Hasidim are assigned for viewing during the semester. The course also includes first-hand meetings with Hasidic Rebbes and members of the community.