Religious Studies

This course addresses major issues in the history of anti-Semitism in the last seventy years. Topics include: origins of modern anti-Semitism and its difference from older theological forms of anti-Judaism; variations in anti-Semitic patterns in eastern, central, and western Europe; anti-Zionism and the delegitimization of the State of Israel; anti-Semitism in music, literature, and cinema; Jewish self-hatred and the internalization of anti-Semitic stereotypes by Jews; patterns of post-Holocaust anti-Semitism in America; Holocaust denial; the ambiguous religious connection between evangelical Christian pro-Zionism and anti-Semitism; anti-Semitism on the Internet; and contemporary debates on the persistence and new forms of anti-Semitism. A strong emphasis is placed on the Jews’ political, social, and ideological responses to this hatred. 

This course offers an introductory survey of major religious traditions of the world, with specific focus on Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Topics examine the historical development of each tradition, along with its sacred texts, basic philosophical ideas, patterns of ritual and worship, and specialized institutions The goal is to provide an objective understanding of each faith tradition on its own terms, and secondarily, to explore how religion is relevant to contemporary social, political and cultural issues. 

This course provides an introduction to Buddhism. It explores the commonalities within the Buddhist tradition as well as the wide variety of practices across Buddhist communities. The course also provides a basis for further study of Buddhism and different approaches in the study of religion. 

This course provides the tools to understand the intersection between religion, media, entertainment, and popular culture in the context of processes generally described as globalization. The course focuses on the formations of contemporary religious communities in various parts of the world, so as to highlight the differences between several religious traditions, the socio-political contexts in which they thrive, and the various means through which these religions are channeled to their audiences and adherents. The focus on media and popular culture includes anthropological understandings of religion, such as the effects that film, music, radio, and social media have in the shaping of power relations between groups of people. 

The course engages the study of ethics in sport as field of academic enquiry in a cross-curricular way with a variety of methodological approaches. It seeks to recognize and critically examine the varieties of ethical traditions, and appreciates the internal diversity within those traditions, in their historical and contemporary manifestations. The course engages with the various methods required for assessment of the media including historical, philosophical, social, and cultural analyses.  Sport in contemporary society has been described both as an expression of the highest human and social values, and as a legally secured parallel world of the elite pursuit of victories and medals. On the one hand, as a sphere of physical self-realization, social formation, and of moral training in fairness, it is seen as an area with standards of excellence that can be closely aligned to ethics. On the other hand, individual sport stars and the institutions of organized sport have been subject to multiple inquiries and critiques: for example, on doping, corruption, sponsorship, and the power of mentors and child protection. The concluding element deals with some of the most pressing ethical issues in the media today.