Note: This is the 2022–2023 eCalendar. Update the year in your browser's URL bar for the most recent version of this page, or .
Program Requirements
The B.A.; Joint Honours - Religious Studies Component focuses on the methodological approaches to the study of religious traditions, including the teachings, and history of those traditions.
Students wishing to study at the Honours level in two disciplines can combine Joint Honours program components in any two Arts disciplines. For a list of available Joint Honours programs, see "Overview of Programs Offered" and "Joint Honours Programs".
Joint Honours students should consult an adviser in each department to discuss their course selection and their interdisciplinary research project (if applicable).
Students in Joint Honours must maintain a program GPA and a CGPA of 3.00 (3.50 for First Class Honours) and attain a B- or higher in each program course. No overlap is allowed between the courses forming each segment of the Joint Honours program.
Required Courses (9 credits)
-
RELG 207 Introduction to the Study of Religions (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course is an introduction to classic and contemporary approaches to the academic study of religions. This includes perspectives from philosophy, theology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, phenomenology, and feminism. Students are also exposed to applications of these perspectives from visiting scholars who treat some aspect of a religious tradition in light of current-day interests and events. The primary objective is to introduce students to the principal theories and methods that have shaped our understanding of religion, its various meanings as well as its roles and functions in society.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Kanaris, Jim (Winter)
Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken RELG 255.
Winter
-
RELG 456 Theories of Religion (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The history of the academic study of religion from its beginnings in the 19th century until the present. Key texts by figures such as Max Muller, Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Mircea Eliade, Claude Levi-Strauss and Clifford Geertz will be studied.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Kanaris, Jim (Fall)
Fall and Winter
Restriction: For Religious Studies Majors and Honours students or with permission of the Instructor.
-
RELG 555 Honours Seminar (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Current trends in the study of religion, including the approaches of critical theory, feminism, post-modernism, and post-colonialism.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Kanaris, Jim; Kirkpatrick, Patricia (Winter)
Winter
Restriction: For Religious Studies Honours students or with permission of the Chair of the Religious Studies B.A. Committee
Complementary Courses (27 credits)
6 credits from Core courses:
-
CATH 220 Selected Topics in Catholic Studies (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : A review of selected topics in Catholic studies.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: A Butcher, Brian (Winter)
Topics vary by year.
-
RELG 201 Religions of the Ancient Near East (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Introduction to the religions of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Syria-Palestine (excluding Israelite religion) from the fourth to first millennium B.C.E. Themes that will be discussed include: gods and goddesses, divine kingship, deification of kings, temple cult, death and afterlife, magic, piety, oracles, prayer, lament, myth and epic.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Kirkpatrick, Patricia (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 202 Religion of Ancient Israel (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An examination of the religion of Ancient Israel by a study of selected texts (narratives, laws, prophetic sayings, wisdom traditions, and psalms) from the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament in translation.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Brockman, Andrew (Fall)
Winter
-
RELG 203 Bible and Western Culture (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : To provide students of the humanities with knowledge of the Bible as a tool for interpreting religious references in Western literature, art and music. Biblical stories (e.g. Creation, Exodus), key figures (e.g. David, Job, Mary), and common motifs (e.g. Holy City, Pilgrimage, Bride) are explored, then illustrated by later cultural forms.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Rosini, Amanda; Fishley, Daniel (Fall)
Fall and Winter
-
RELG 204 Judaism, Christianity and Islam (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the beliefs, practices, and religious institutions of these three world religions.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Cere, Daniel M; de Carvalho, Matheus; Abdul Salam, Fawaz (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 210 Jesus of Nazareth (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A critical study of selected ancient and modern accounts of the aims and person of Jesus. Attention will be given also to the question of the historical sources and to the relationship between faith and history.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Fall, Winter and Summer
-
RELG 252 Hinduism and Buddhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The interaction of Hinduism and Buddhism in India with special reference to the law of Karma, caste, women, ritual, death, yoga, and liberation. Determination of interpretative principles for understanding the religious psychology of Hindus and Buddhists.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Braitstein, Lara E; Sharma, Shital (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 253 Religions of East Asia (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course introduces East Asia's major religions comparatively by addressing the continuous exchange of ideas and practices between traditions. Rather than adopting a mere chronological approach, Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism will be discussed thematically, taking in to account topics such as gender constructs, the secular and the sacred, material culture, and the apparent contrast between doctrine and practice.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Lai, Rongdao (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 254 Introduction to Yoga Traditions (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course is an historical and thematic investigation into yoga, including its classical formulations, esoteric practices, and contemporary developments and debates. It explores early yoga traditions as well as the development of modern yoga in India and “the West,†along with themes such as the body, asceticism, secularism, and cultural exchange.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Stainton, Hamsa (Winter)
Fall
-
RELG 270 Religious Ethics and the Environment (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Environmental potential of various religious traditions and secular perspectives, including animal rights, ecofeminism, and deep ecology.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Farran, Andrea (Winter)
Fall: Macdonald Campus (Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue). Winter: Downtown Campus.
-
RELG 271 Religion and Sexuality (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Exploration of intersections between religion, gender and sexuality in diverse cultural, historical and contemporary contexts.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Robathan, Lucie (Winter)
Winter
21 credits from Advanced courses at the 300 level or higher:
-
CATH 335 Confessions of Saint Augustine (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : A close reading of Augustine's monumental Confessions- the odyssey of a restless soul seeking rest in God alone (conf. 1.1.)
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Irizar Carrillo, Pablo (Fall)
-
CATH 375 Topics in Catholic Theology (3 credits)
Overview
Catholic Studies : A review of selected topics in Catholic Theology.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Irizar Carrillo, Pablo (Fall)
Topics vary by year.
-
RELG 300 Second Temple Judaism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A survey of Jewish history and thought from Ezra to the Mishnah; religious developments and groups, e.g., apocalypticism, Hellenistic Judaism, Essenes, Pharisees, Early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism; and Biblical Interpretation in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, Paul, Mishnah and Midrashim.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Oegema, Gerbern (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 302 Literature of Ancient Israel 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the literature of Ancient Israel in English translation. Reading and interpreting representative selections.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Kirkpatrick, Patricia (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 303 Literature of Ancient Israel 2 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Approaches to historical-critical scholarship and to the historical background of the Old Testament. Part of the course will be an examination of methods of biblical analysis through the use of learning cells.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Oegema, Gerbern (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 307 Bible, Quran and Interpretations (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Jewish, Christian and Muslim scriptures as responses to earlier sacred texts and in the light of post-scriptural interpretations. The debates, polemics, interpretative strategies, and intellectual and spiritual sharing produced by these three religions in accepting, explaining, amplifying, modifying, and selectively rejecting their and other sacred scriptures.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Oegema, Gerbern (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 309 World Religions and Cultures They Create (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The constitution and mutual entanglements of selected religions and cultures originating and thriving in varied regional contexts. Focus on highlighting the symbolic (visual, aural) expressivity of religions via ritual, myth, and rational speculation and its impact on high and popular cultures.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Salvatore, Armando (Winter)
-
RELG 311 Formation of the New Testament (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the formation and interpretation of the New Testament, excluding the Gospels.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Wendt, Heidi (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 312 The Gospels (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the critical study of the Gospels.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Henderson, Ian H (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 313 Topics in Biblical Studies 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Topics in biblical studies. Topic varies by year.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Winter
-
RELG 315 Special Topics in Religion 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Topics of current interest in or between world religions.
Terms: Winter 2023, Summer 2023
Instructors: Atansi, Chukwuemeka (Winter) Gurung, Chulthim (Summer)
-
RELG 316 New Religious Movements (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A critical analysis of the origins, character and influence of one or more religious movements of the 19th C. and beyond, with special attention to their religious principles and social function.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
- RELG 317 Special Topics in Religion 2 (3 credits)
- RELG 318 Special Topics in Religion 3 (3 credits)
- RELG 319 Special Topics in Religion 4 (3 credits)
-
RELG 322 Church and Empire to 1300
(3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A survey of major institutional developments in the history of Western Christianity in Church and Empire from the end of the apostolic age to 1300.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Kirby, W J Torrance (Fall)
Fall
-
RELG 323 Church and State since 1300 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Significant events and persons in the history of Western Christendom from 1300 to the present.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Griffin, Steven (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 325 Varieties Religious Experience in Christianity (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A survey of varieties of religious experience in Christianity.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Nelson, Samuel (Winter)
-
RELG 326 Christians in the Roman World (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A social-historical examination of Christians within the complex cultural, political, ethnic and religious contexts of later Greco-Roman antiquity, focusing on changing relations among different varieties of Christian, as well as on interactions and conflicts among Christians, Jews and polytheists. Other topics to be considered include martyrdom, orthodoxy and heresy, and Gnosticism.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Henderson, Ian H (Winter)
-
RELG 331 Religion and Globalization (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An exploration of the distinctive ways in which the world's religions are shaping and are shaped by the dynamics of globalization. It examines the multiple intersections of religion and globalization through a variety of themes and case studies in human rights, development, education, ecology, gender, and conflict
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Nelson, Samuel (Fall)
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken RELG 319 when topic was "Religion and Globalization"
-
RELG 332 Conversations Across World Religions (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Exploration of various themes across the world's religions, including a range of living faith traditions.
Terms: Summer 2023
Instructors: Abdul Salam, Fawaz; MacLeod, Elyse (Summer)
Prerequisite(s): One 200 level RELG course and permission of the instructor.
Field trips to local religious communities may be included as part of the course.
-
RELG 333 Principles of Theology (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the central questions, claims, and categories of Christian thought, considered in their narrative and credal context, with discussion of the nature of theology and the relation between faith and reason.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Retallick, Shaun (Winter)
Winter
-
RELG 334 Theology of History (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of Christian readings of history, and especially of the present age, including apocalyptic literature and political theology.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Winter and Summer
Prerequisite(s): One prior course in Christianity, or permission of the instructor.
-
RELG 336 Contemporary Theological Issues (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of contemporary theological issues. Topic varies by year.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Winter
Prerequisite: 3 credits in Christianity or permission of instructor
-
RELG 337 Themes in Buddhist Studies (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A focused examination of major themes within a branch of Theravada, Mahayana or Vajrayana Buddhism. Emphasis will be placed on both the close study of primary texts (in translation) in historical context and the application of recent methods to fundamental Buddhist concepts, ritual practices and community institutions.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
-
RELG 338 Women and the Christian Tradition (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Survey of women's involvement in the Christian tradition. Topics include feminist interpretation of scripture, ideas of virginity, marriage and motherhood, mysticism, asceticisms, European witchhunts, contemporary women's liberation theories.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Kirkpatrick, Patricia (Winter)
Fall
Core course for the Women's Studies Minor program
-
RELG 341 Introduction: Philosophy of Religion (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Introduction to the subject. Faith and reason, theistic arguments, values and destiny, the problem of evil, religious language.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: McGrath, Sean Joseph (Fall)
Fall
- RELG 344 Mahayana Buddhism (3 credits)
-
RELG 348 Classical Hinduism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Surveys classical Hinduism through Sanskrit learning traditions. Topics include: Vedic literature, fables, ethics, statecraft, erotics, liberation, and epic literature.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Sharma, Arvind (Winter)
All texts are read in English translation; no prior knowledge is assumed.
-
RELG 350 Bhakti Hinduism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Foundation of theism in the Upanisads, Epics, Gita and puranas; image worship and temple religion in the Agamas; Vaisnavism, Saivism, Saktism, and competition with Buddhism and Jainism; the relation of Bhakti and Tantra; interaction of Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Fall
Prerequisite: RELG 252 or permission of the instructor
-
RELG 352 Japanese Religions: History and Thought (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course provides an in-depth introduction to the religious traditions of Japan from the emerging of the Japanese state to the role of religion in contemporary Japan. Kami worship, the Buddhist tradition, Yin Yang divination, Confucianism, and the modern construct of Shinto are addressed in an interdisciplinary approach, taking into account insights from the fields of History, Literature, and Art.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Fall
Prerequisite: RELG 253 or permission of instructor
-
RELG 353 Gandhi: His Life and Thought (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of the life and thought of Gandhi.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Sharma, Arvind (Fall)
Winter
-
RELG 354 Chinese Religions (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Introduction to the diverse religiosities in the Chinese cultural sphere. Examination of the everyday practice of ancestor worship, longevity practices, morality, rituals, and the veneration of deities and spirits.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Lai, Rongdao (Fall)
Fall
Prerequisite: RELG 253
-
RELG 358 Religion and Cinema in India (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Surveys religion in India through key films, assuming no prior knowledge of South Asian cinema. Discussions will focus on issues of religion, visual culture, and representation in the study of Indian film. Thematic focus will vary from year to year, on a range of topics such as nationalism, devotion, secularism, and censorship.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Farran, Andrea (Fall)
Restriction(s): Not open to students who have taken RElG 547 when topic was "Religion and Cinema in India".
This course may require additional contact hours for the screening of films.
-
RELG 366 Rivers, Religion, and Environment in South Asia (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This class explores the significance of major South Asian river systems, including Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, and Yamuna, in classical and contemporary terms. In Hindu scriptures, rivers may be incarnate, emplaced goddesses; in contemporary South Asia, rivers are central to Hindu pilgrimage while facing environmental pressures from pollution, overuse, flooding, and drought. Finally, rivers of the Indian subcontinent cross and delineate international boundaries, creating friction between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. As key lifelines shared in multi-religious South Asia, are rivers vulnerable wards of the state—or valuable ‘citizens’ who must be recruited to do their part?
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisite(s): RELG 252 or Permission of Instructor
-
RELG 368 Japanese Religions in Pop Culture (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Explores the representation of religion in today’s Japanese popular culture. Through the exploration of religious narratives, symbolism and concepts in manga, anime, film and short novels, students will study the way religion is perceived in contemporary Japan. The distinction between the secular and the sacred, and the clash between modernity and Japan’s pre-modern religious traditions will be examined from an historical, anthropological and literary point of view.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
-
RELG 369 Tibetan Buddhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Buddhism has been central to Tibetan culture and identity since the 7th century CE. This course introduces key aspects of the history and practices of Tibetan Buddhism, including: early history, political and sectarian developments, the spread of Tibetan Buddhism outside of Tibet, and the myth of "Shangri-La".
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Braitstein, Lara E (Fall)
-
RELG 370 Religion and Human Rights (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Social justice and human rights issues as key aspects of modem religious ethics. Topics include: the relationship of religion to the modem human rights movement; religious perspectives on the universality of human rights; the scope and limits of religious freedom; conflicts between religion and rights.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Cere, Daniel M (Fall)
Winter
-
RELG 371 Ethics of Violence/Non-Violence (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Forms of violence and the reaction of religious groups are assessed both for their effectiveness and for their fidelity to their professed beliefs. Different traditions, ranging from the wholesale adoption of violent methods (e.g., the Crusades) to repudiation (e.g., Gandhi; the Peace Churches).
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Summer
-
RELG 372 Hindu Goddesses (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The mythology, theology, soteriology, history, ritual, and texts of the goddess-centred (Sakta) branches of Hinduism.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
-
RELG 373 Christian Ethics of Love (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course will focus on the philosophical sources of love and on their uses by Christian authors. By comparing both their premises and methods, we will see how different authors in a particular tradition (Christianity) offer various answers to the themes of love, friendship and charity.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Winter
-
RELG 375 Religion, Politics and Society (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of contemporary religious traditions in the light of debates regarding secularization, the relation of religion and politics, and the interaction of religion with major social institutions.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Nelson, Samuel (Winter)
Fall
Restriction: U2 and U3 students
-
RELG 376 Religious Ethics (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A discussion of ethical theory will provide the background for an analysis of the relationship between religious world views and moral reason. Attention will be given to the way in which the dominant religious traditions view the exemplars of religious virtue, and to how the virtues exemplified are related to and justified by the faith tradition in which they operate.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
-
RELG 378 Pilgrimage, Heritage,
and Tourism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Explores the history of pilgrimage and emergence of religious tourism in global contexts. Introduces the religious heritage of Montreal and its history as a Roman Catholic pilgrimage centre (St. Joseph’s Oratory) and adopts thematic approaches to pilgrimage and tourism in interreligious perspectives (Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish).
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Class work includes a local field visit
-
RELG 380 Religion, Philosophy, Modernity (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Through primary source readings, this class will examine the intellectual history of this change, will identify the agents of this change, both philosophical and theological, and will consider the significance and implications of inhabiting a 'modernity' that is, and understands itself as, 'secular.' Charles Taylor's recent book, A Secular Age, narrates a historical development, from a 'pre-modern' condition, in which it was 'virtually impossible not to believe in and encounter God,' to a modern and contemporary situation in which 'faith is an embattled option.' Within the 'context of our self-understanding,' 'secularism' has become a 'default option.'
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
-
RELG 387 Introduction to Jainism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course provides an introduction to Jaina religious culture, including elements of its history, philosophy, cosmology, and monastic and lay practices. It also focuses on constructions of Jainismâ•Žs precept of universal non-violence (ahimsa), and addresses Jaina responses to contemporary social and ethical issues.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisite(s): RELG 252
-
RELG 388 Introduction to Sikhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An introduction to the historical and religious context in which the Sikh religion developed, its principal doctrines, practices and institutions and its evolution from its origins to the present, both inside and outside India.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
-
RELG 399 Christian Spirituality (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Seminar exploring the phenomena of internal religious experience in their relation to received formularies of Christian thought and practice.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Summer
-
RELG 407 The Writings (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of Job with some attention to Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (in English translation).
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
- RELG 408 The Prophets (3 credits)
-
RELG 419 Religious Heritage and Tourism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Introduction to heritage studies through the lens of religious studies, including spiritual, socio-economic, and political aspects of the expanding heritage phenomena, along with the contestations it can provoke. Topics include tourism, museums, intangible heritage practices, ritualization, the repatriation and destruction of heritage objects.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisites: RELG 378.
-
RELG 423 Reformation Thought (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An examination of issues and persons in Europe and the British Isles that contributed to ecclesiastical and social change during the 16th and early 17th centuries.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Finch, Karen (Fall)
-
RELG 434 Advanced Theology (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Examination of the nature of theology, and particular theological loci, through readings in major theologians. The Lord’s Prayer is added to the Nicene Creed as a second lens for theological study.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Farrow, Douglas B (Fall)
Fall
Prerequisite(s): RELG 333 or permission of the instructor.
-
RELG 440 Global Islam (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Western scholarship has oscillated between orientalizing Islam and co-opting it into the Western (Abrahamic) fold of religious traditions. The course will challenge both perspectives by exploring Islam’s dynamic unfolding across a variety of civilizational regions and during subsequent epochs. Its patterns of premodern globalization are nowadays retrieved, sometimes by fitting Islamic cultures into neoliberal patterns of globalization, more often by sidelining or overlaying the Westphalian system of sovereign nation-states. The course will show how Islamic traditions have, both in history and in the present, developed unique intellectual tools and practical resources to interface both with ‘radical’ (Abrahamic) and ‘dialogic’ (non-Abrahamic) religious traditions: from the West (also via labor-based migration), through Central and South Asia, to East and Southeast Asia.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Salvatore, Armando (Fall)
-
RELG 442 Pure Land Buddhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The concept of Buddha Countries and Pure Lands in Buddhism, the Western Pure Land of Amida (Jodokyo) and its basic scriptures, the Chinese Buddhist schools, the introduction to Japan and the foundation of the Pure Land school by Honen, the Pure Land School of Shinran and its development, and the other Pure Land related schools.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisite: six credits in EAST/RELG or permission of instructor
-
RELG 444 Indian Ocean Religious Networks (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This seminar class explores cultural exchanges among maritime networks of Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims in South Asia and Southeast Asia, in classical, pre-modern, and contemporary terms. Key themes to be considered include: sovereignty, society, and religion, within the context of historically evolving cultural relations around the Bay of Bengal. Taking an inter-religious approach to understanding maritime cultural interactions, class readings and discussion include: foundational theories of “Indianization,†reflection on “localization,†the “Sanskrit cosmpolis,†and emerging theoretical contributions based on current archaeological, epigraphic, and art historical discoveries in India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Deptl. approval: Nov.17, 2015.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisite(s): RELG 252 or permission of instructor
-
RELG 451 Zen Buddhism: Poetry
and Art (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A general overview of Japanese Zen Buddhism through the reading of poetry, diaries, sculpture and architecture.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisite: six credits in EAST/RELG or permission of instructor
-
RELG 453 Vajrayana Buddhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhism, approached predominantly through the genre of life writing/sacred biography.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Braitstein, Lara E (Winter)
Prerequisite: RELG 344.
-
RELG 454 Modern Hindu Thought (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A study of the developments in religious thought with special reference to such thinkers as Ram Mohan Roy, Dayananda Saraswati, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Gandhi, Tilak, Aurobindo, and Radhakrishnan.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Winter
Prerequisite: RELG 252
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RELG 455 Religion and the Performing Arts in South India (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This course focuses on the place of religion in historical representations and performance practices of "classical" South Indian performing arts such as Bharatanatyam dance and Karnatak music. In particular, it lays emphasis on politics of the twentieth-century reinvention of these arts by elites in the Tamil and Telugu-speaking regions.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Fall
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken RELG 363
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RELG 459 Bhagavadgita and Mahabharata
(3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Investigation of the history, diversity, and influence of the MahÄbhÄrata tradition, including the many lives of the BhagavadgÄ«, the Sanskrit epic itself as well as retellings from different religious and performative contexts. Topics explored include religious perspectives on death; debates about morality, violence, and political power; classical Indian aesthetics; devotional (bhakti) traditions; colonial and post-colonial constructions of religion; and contemporary reflections on caste and gender.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Stainton, Hamsa (Winter)
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RELG 470 Theological Ethics (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Examines ancient and modern sources of Christian moral thought against a backdrop of contemporary alternatives.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Farrow, Douglas B (Winter)
Fall
Prerequisites: One course in theology or Christian thought and one course in philosophy or ethics.
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RELG 479 Christianity in Global Perspective (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Examines varied expressions of Christianity as a global religion with a particular focus on Asia, Africa and Latin America from the 18th century to the present.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Winter
Prerequisite: A 300 level course in Christianity or permission of the Instructor.
-
RELG 502 Greco-Roman Judaism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The religion and literature of wisdom and apocalyptic traditions, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo and Josephus, with special attention to the Jewish matrix of Early Christianity.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
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RELG 532 History of Christian Thought 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The development of Christian theology in the Patristic and Medieval periods. Focus on the controversial development of Christian doctrines and disciplines through intensive exposure to primary texts.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisite: At least six (6) credits at the 300 level in Christianity or the Christian Bible.
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken RELG 320
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RELG 533 History of Christian Thought 2 (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The development of Christian theology in the Reformation, Post Reformation and Modern periods through intensive exposure to primary texts.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Fall
Prerequisite: At least six (6) credits at the 300 level in Christianity or the Christian Bible.
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken RELG 327
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RELG 544 Ethnography as Method in Religious Studies (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Ethnography as method informs disciplines from Area Studies and anthropology to linguistics and religious studies. Students will acquire a critical perspective on emic/etic subjectivity in Religious Studies, and a framework to apply ethnography in their research. Coursework covers classic ethnographies, new interventions, and ethnographies of particular relevance for religious traditions in a given year.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Farran, Andrea (Winter)
Prerequisite(s): A minimum of six credits in 300 level RELG courses and/or permission of the instructor.
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RELG 545 Ramayana: Multiple Lives (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Focus on the Rama story in South Asia. Exploration of the multiple versions of the narrative from classical Sanskrit textual versions, to rural vernacular retellings, to contemporary TV versions, and examination of the various religious, social, cultural and political significations of the narrative in these contexts.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Stainton, Hamsa (Fall)
Winter
Prerequisite: RELG 252 Hinduism & Buddhism
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RELG 546 Indian Philosophy (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Introduction to the orthodox systems of Hindu Philosophy leading up to Vedanta i.e., Nyaya, Vaisesika, Sankhya, Yoga and Mimamsa, which will include discussion of such topics as: grounds for belief and disbelief in God, the nature of revelation, means of knowledge, etc.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisites: 6 credits in Indian religions, philosophy of religion, philosophy, or permission of the instructor
-
RELG 547 Special Topics in Hinduism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A research-oriented seminar dealing with topics in Hindu studies.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Fall and Winter
Prerequisites: 6 credits in Indian religions, philosophy of religion, philosophy, or permission of the instructor
-
RELG 548 Indian Buddhist Philosophy (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The rise of buddhist schools of philosophy, especially the Theravada and Sauntrantika, as an attempt to systematize the canonical teachings and defend Buddhism against its critics.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
-
RELG 549 Japanese Buddhism in Historical Context (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This research-oriented seminar critically analyses key-questions from the field of pre-modern Japanese Buddhism. By engaging with recent research, students are expected to adopt an interdisciplinary approach and address questions and methodologies from both History and Buddhist Studies.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
-
RELG 551 Special Topics in Buddhism (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A research-oriented seminar dealing with topics in Buddhist studies.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Fall and Winter
Prerequisite: RELG 344 or Permission of instructor.
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RELG 552 Advaita Vedanta (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The relation of Nyaya-Vaisesika and Mimamsa to Kevaladvaita with concentration on Sankara's Brahmasutrabhasya, Pada 1 and 2.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Prerequisites: 6 credits in Indian religions
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RELG 556 Issues in Buddhist Studies (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : A graduate seminar taught by the Numata Visiting Professor on critical issues in contemporary Buddhist Studies. Emphasis will be placed on the intensive application of different methods - philological, philosophical or social scientific - to some area of modern Buddhist research.
Terms: Fall 2022
Instructors: Draszczyk, Martina (Fall)
Fall
Prerequisite: permission of instructor
-
RELG 558 Indian Tantric Traditions (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Study of esoteric Tantric culture (philosophy, ritual, pilgrimage, art, and iconography) with focus on either Hindu or Buddhist Tantric traditions.
Terms: Winter 2023
Instructors: Braitstein, Lara E (Winter)
Prerequisites: Any two 300-level courses in Hinduism or Buddhism.
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RELG 559 Caste and Dalits: Historical and Political Perspectives (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This seminar addresses religion, caste, and the Dalit community (formerly known as "untouchables" in India through a range of historical and ritual contexts. Topics include representation in the Hindu textual tradition, colonialism, conversion, caste-based violence, caste and nationalism, non-Brahmin political assertion, and the contemporary reservation system.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Winter
Prerequisites: RELG 252 and one 300 level course or higher in South Asian Religions
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RELG 560 Buddhist Poetry (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : Since the time of Buddha, poetry has been used by Buddhist to express devotion, to compose philosophical treatises, and to communicate insight into the experience of awakening. The seminar's content will vary, treating the history, poetics, esthetics, roles and genres of Buddhist poetry in India, Tibet, China and Japan.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
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RELG 571 Ethics, Medicine and Religion (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : The seminar will discuss a variety of topics related to medicine and religion from the point of view of ethics, such as the pact of care between a patient and a physician, the Hippocratic oath, the notions of autonomy and vulnerability, the definitions of personhood and human dignity, the question of rights for people with cognitive disabilities, the debate about the role of religion in bioethics.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
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RELG 572 Religion and Global Politics (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : An exploration of the resurgence of global religions in geo-political and international relations in the post Cold-War era. It examines the complex roles that religious traditions play in democratization, human rights, conflict, and development.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
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RELG 573 Religions in Global Society (3 credits)
Overview
Religious Studies : This seminar is devoted to the study of a plurality of often intersecting religious traditions in a globalizing world, based on interdisciplinary scholarship drawing from history, sociology, anthropology and archaeology. It starts from locating religious phenomena within intersecting social, cultural and political fabrics around the world. It articulates the relation between a multi-faith appreciation of the role of religions in a variety of societies and the emergence of diverse patterns of secularity in them. It facilitates a rich understanding of a complex past to shed light on the new challenges of globalization, including the opening of horizons of postsecular understandings and arrangements.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Faculty of Arts—2022-2023 (last updated Aug. 25, 2022) (disclaimer)
