ENROLL

Adeeb Khalid

Through readings in primary sources in translation, we will discuss the major intellectual and cultural movements that have influenced Muslim thinkers from the nineteenth century on. Topics include modernism, nationalism, socialism, and fundamentalism.

Prerequisite: At least one prior course in the history of the Middle East or Central Asia or Islam

Not open to first year students. First year students should register in HIST 267.

Stacy N Beckwith

Judaism emphasizes transmitting memory from one generation to the next. How have pivotal events and experiences in Jewish history lived on in Jewish collective memory? How do they continue to speak through artistic/literary composition and museum/memorial design? How does Jewish collective memory compare with recorded Jewish history? We will study turning points in Jewish history including the Exodus from Egypt, Jewish expulsion from medieval Spain, the Holocaust, and Israeli independence, as Jews in different times and places have interpreted them with lasting influence. Research includes work with print, film, and other visual/ performative media.

Sonja G Anderson

How can we best understand the role of religion in the world today, and how should we interpret the meaning of religious traditions--their texts and practices--in history and culture? This class takes an exciting tour through selected themes and puzzles related to the fascinating and diverse expressions of religion throughout the world. From politics and pop culture, to religious philosophies and spiritual practices, to rituals, scriptures, gender, religious authority, and more, students will explore how these issues emerge in a variety of religions, places, and historical moments in the U.S. and across the globe.

Michael D McNally

Jonathan H Dickstein

Sonja G Anderson

How do religion and medicine approach the healing of disease and distress? Are religion and medicine complementary or do they conflict? Is medicine a more evolved form of religion, shorn of superstition and pseudoscience? This course explores religious and cultural models of health and techniques for achieving it, from ancient Greece to Christian monasteries to modern mindfulness and self-care programs. We will consider ethical quandaries about death, bodily suffering, mental illness, miraculous cures, and individual agency, all the while seeking to avoid simplistic narratives of rationality and irrationality.

Lori K Pearson

Michael D McNally

Kristin C Bloomer

Prerequisite: Religion 300 and acceptance of proposal for senior integrative exercise and instructor permission.

Wes D Markofski

This course focuses on special topics in the public sociology of religion.  We will look at the intersection of race, religion, and politics in the U.S.; the intersection of science and religion in Indigenous-led environmental movements; and varieties of public religion around the world—including Islamic feminism and democracy in Egypt and Indonesia, Coptic Christianity and the Muslim Brotherhood, orthodox Jewish movements in Israel, American evangelicals in the U.S., and Black church mobilization in the U.S. civil rights movement.  As we do so, we will examine core theoretical perspectives and empirical developments in the contemporary sociology of religion.     

Prerequisite: The department recommends that Sociology/Anthropology 110 or 111 be taken prior to enrolling in courses number 200 or above