Religious Studies

Modern Jews address contemporary issues by communicating across time and space, in words and practices, with other generations and other communities. Is this a "traditional" approach? How did Jews in early modern Europe think about "tradition"? How did they create traditions in the age of the European Enlightenment, how did they challenge them in the nineteenth century, and how do they argue about them today? We will explore these questions by looking at unity and diversity among Jews in early modern Europe; examining the implications of the European Enlightenment for their innovations; studying major movements, texts and practices that will allow us to understand Jewish perspectives on tradition and modernity in Europe, America, and the Middle East.

The course provides a basic introduction to studies of the relationship between natural science and religion with focus on the ability to reflect upon own conceptions and values. The course addresses how science and religion can contribute to answers of existential questions in human life. The course gives a general introduction to how natural science in contemporary society mediates and expresses worldviews and addresses issues how different religions relate to and are affected by theories in natural science, including physics and biology.

This course covers the history of Islam in France. It explores the great influence of Islam and Islamic nations on the French language and terminology used in France and Francophone cultures as well as the diversity among nations within the Islamic culture and religion. The general focus of this course is the impact that Islam has had in France from long ago to today and how Islamic culture in France is largely underrepresented in French history.

This lecture analyzes the three basic factors that have influenced modern Jewish identity: enlightenement, anti-Semitism, and Zionism. It examines the changes of how Jewish identity is understood. A special focus is placed on the differentiation of cultural or national and religious identity with an emphasis on feminism and queerness. Gender relations are examined within their respective religious, cultural, and social contexts. Social history and the history of the common man is discussed and a special focus is placed on the active participation of Jewish women in society as well as the intellectual and artistic life within European nation states.

This course focuses on the role of women in five of the world’s major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It examines the traditional theological principles and the practical laws that have directly impacted, for better or for worse, upon the lives of women within these religious traditions. It also explores historical and contemporary challenges to doctrines and practices that are seen to undermine women’s equality and freedom. Rather than study each religion in serial fashion, the course adopts a comparative, thematic methodology, tracing key themes across the religions concerned. Those themes include femininity and divinity, historical founders’ attitudes to women, key scriptural texts and their interpretation, life-cycle rituals, marriage and divorce, sex and procreation, clothing and social freedom, worship and purity, and leadership and authority.

This course focuses on the influence of Islam in Southeast Asia. It examines how Islam as a religion, and a political one at that, has played a role in the development of countries such as Indonesia, Birma, the Philippines, and Thailand.

This course investigates the modern field of popular beliefs and practices known as 'new spiritualities'. It describes, contextualizes, and explains key features of this field with reference to their content and structure, and to its distribution in the population at large. The course focuses on new age and holistic expressions. It has three overall goals: to explore the theoretical value of studying new spiritualities, to explain their international/transcultural appeal for practitioners, and to critically assess their social, public, and political significance in modern societies.