Current Courses
Course Offerings (Fall 2023)
View a full list of religious studies courses, including those not offered this semester.
General education courses are marked with an asterisk (*).
*REL1000: Religions of the World (Asynchronous and Web-Based)
Students should know that the first section is 100% online and asynchronous. If you would rather have an in-person experience, please enroll in second, third, or fourth section of REL 1000. This course provides a general introduction to the world's religions, including major traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, along with smaller indigenous traditions. The approach of the course is objective and academic, it is not designed to advocate any particular religious perspective or ideology. This is an Integrative Learning Core (ILC) course that awards general education credit; it is also one of the basic requirements for the Religious Studies major.
Section | Date & Time | Instructor | Location |
---|---|---|---|
001 | 100% Web-Based and Asynchronous | Kenneth Smith | |
002 | TTh 7:30 - 8:50 | Kenneth Smith | 228 Tureaud Hall |
003 | MWF 9:30 - 10:20 | Madhuri Yadlapati | 209 Coates |
004 | MWF 10:30 - 11:20 | Madhuri Yadlapati | 209 Coates |
*REL 1005: New Testament
This course will introduce you to the history, literature, and religion of the earliest period of Christianity (from about 30 to 150 CE). We will see how Christianity arose out of the Jewish religion and how it spread in the Greco-Roman world. We will examine a variety of writings from this period, including the collection of early Christian literature known as the New Testament. You will learn the historical, critical methods by which scholars study these writings as sources for our knowledge of the origins of Christianity. This is an Integrative Learning Core (ILC) course that awards general education credit.
Section | Date & Time | Instructor | Location |
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001 | TTH 12:00-1:20 | Bradley Storin | E137 Howe Russell Kniffen |
*REL 2000: Introduction to the Study of Religion
What is a "religion," how do you study it, and who gets to decide? We will explore these fundamental questions by reading three very different textbooks commonly used in introductory courses like this. We will think about how these types of books, the approaches of their authors, and even this type of course shape the concept of "religion" among the general public. While we will touch on the doctrinal and ritual dimensions of several global traditions, our task will be to figure out and articulate the assumptions, values, and goals that shape our thinking about "religions" (and other stuff!). In this course, I assume that we are all curious--curious about how we think, curious about what we normalize or take for granted, curious about how we use words to describe and navigate the world around us This is an Integrative Learning Core (ILC) course that awards general education credit.
Section | Date & Time | Instructor | Location |
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001 | TTH 9:00-10:20 | Lauren Horn Griffin | 209 Coates |
REL 2029: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
This course introduces students to the histories, teachings, beliefs, and practices of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to engage with guest speakers, take field trips to synagogues, churches, and mosques, and watch a number of videos pertaining to contemporary issues (e.g., women's roles, waging war) within these religions. This is an Integrative Learning Core (ILC) course that awards general education credit; it is also one of the basic requirements for the Religious Studies major.
Section | Date & Time | Instructor | Location |
---|---|---|---|
001 | TTH 12:00 - 1:20 | Maria Rethelyi | 209 Coates |
*REL 2033: American Religions
This course is a chronological and thematic survey of American religious history, with special consideration for both religious diversity and the impact of religious ideologies on American culture. Each student will be obliged to think critically about definitions of religion and approaches to the academic study of religion. Beginning with the colonization of the Americas by the Spanish, French, and English people, we move to the Great Awakenings, slave religions, Mormonism, Native American religions, Fundamentalism, Roman Catholicism, and Judaism, as well as new immigrant religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. We'll be interested in asking how religious groups influenced, and were influenced by, American culture. This is an Integrative Learning Core (ILC) course that awards general education credit.
Section | Date & Time | Instructor | Location |
---|---|---|---|
001 | MWF 7:30 - 8:20 | Kenneth Smith | 152 Coates |
REL 2112: Religion and Magic
This course examines historical, sociological, anthropological, theological, and psychological studies of magical beliefs and practices from a variety of cultural settings, including early modern England (before and after the Reformation), colonial America, slave culture on Antebellum plantations in the American South, "positive thinking" and"prosperity" spiritualities, and in contemporary forms of popular entertainments, such as the Harry Potter films.
Section | Date & Time | Instructor | Location |
---|---|---|---|
001 | MWF 10:30- 11:20 | Kenneth Smith | 220 Coates |
REL 3010: Digital Religion and Popular Culture
Section | Date & Time | Instructor | Location |
---|---|---|---|
001 | TTH 12:00-1:20pm | Lauren Horn Griffin | 27 Allen |
REL 4301: Theories of Religion
Section | Date & Time | Instructor | Location |
---|---|---|---|
001 | TTH 1:30 - 2:50 | Bradley K. Storin |
240 Lockett |
REL/AAAS 4400: Religious Thought of MLK and Malcolm X
This course explores the religious thought of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X through a close examination of their most significant writings and speeches and dispels many myths and popular conceptions of their life and thought.
Section | Date & Time | Instructor | Location |
---|---|---|---|
001 | MW 3:30 - 4:50 | Finley | 31 Allen |