Religious Studies Course Descriptions

Religious Studies

RELI 2210 Introduction to the Study of Religion (3 credits)
A comparative and historical introduction to the world's ways of being religious. (fall, spring)

RELI 3230 Asian Religious and Philosophical Traditions (3 credits)
A study of religions whose origins were in the East: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism,
Taoism, and Zen. (spring, even years)

RELI 3240 Hebrew Scriptures (3 credits)
Prerequisite(s): RELI
2210, or permission of the instructor. A historical and literary survey of the
Hebrew Bible. (fall, odd years)

RELI 3250 Greek Scriptures (3 credits)
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2210, or permission of the instructor. A historical and literary survey of the Greek/Christian Scriptures. (spring, even years)

RELI 3261-63 Religion Colloquium (1-3 credits)
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2210 or permission of the instructor. Some issue, movement, or person of importance to the study of religion will be selected for the topic.  Course may be repeated to a maximum of nine (9) credit hours. (3263 – fall, odd years)

RELI 4920 Independent Studies in Religion (1-3 credits)
Prerequisite(s): At least one (1) RELI course at the 3000 level or permission of the instructor. (fall, spring)

Department of Philosophy & Humanities

PHIL 4047 Philosophy of Religion (3 credits)
Prerequisites: At least one (1) PHIL or RELI course at the 3000 level or permission of the instructor. An examination of classical and contemporary discussions of philosophical issues about religion, including the nature of God, of human beings, and of religious truth, and contemporary discussions of religion and atheism. (spring, odd years)

PHIL 3230 Asian Religion and Philosophic Traditions (3 credits)
A study of religious and associated philosophical and textual traditions originating in south and east Asia: Hinduisms, Buddhisms, Confucianism, and Taoism, among others. (spring, even years)

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

ANTH 3800 Magic, Witchcraft and Religion (3 credits)
Conducts an anthropological study of religion and culture. Topics include myth and symbolism, ritual, healing and the afterlife.

SOCI 4440 Sociology of Religion (3 credits)
Prerequisites: SOCI 1020 or RELI 2210 or ANTH 1240 or equivalent.
Critically examines sociological theory and research used to study religion, the supernatural, and secularism in relation to broader social processes.

Department of History

HIST 3910 History of Christianity (3 credits)
A survey of the history of the Christian movement, from the early Church to the diverse expressions of Christianity in the modern world.

HIST 3920 History of Islam (3 credits)
A survey of pre-Islamic Arabia, the Prophet and his career, the Qur'an, doctrine and ritual, law, Sufism, sects in Islam, the Caliphate, and Islam in the modern world.

HIST 3880 Renaissance and Reformation Europe (3 credits) 
A survey of Europe during its transition from medieval to early modern times, with emphasis on the roots of the Renaissance culture of the fifteenth and the religious upheaval of the sixteenth centuries and their impact on institutions and behavior, including the role of women, family life, popular culture, witchcraft/the occult, and the rise of modern science.

HIST 3911  Ancient Religions (3 credits)
A study of the origins, development, and function of religion in the ancient world of the Middle east, the Indian subcontinent, Greece and Rome. The course will cover the religions of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Greece and Rome, as well as Gnosticism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism.

HIST 3914 Historical Jesus / Early Church (3 credits)
This course will deal with the scholarly question of the "historical Jesus," as versus the "Jesus of faith," and the idea of "Jesus" in the early Christian Church. In the process, we will look at the development of New Testament scholarship, the development of scholarly and historical approaches to New Testament studies, and the gradual evolution of the man Jesus of Nazareth to Jesus Christ, "the Son of God," with the attendant consequences of that change.

HIST 3912  Ancient Israel and Modern Scholarship (3 credits)
This course provides a survey and explanation of the approximately last two hundred years of research into the history of Ancient Israel.

HIST 3913  The History of Buddhism (3 credits)
This course surveys the background, origins, and development of Buddhism, from antiquity to modern times, including general religious and cultural background, the historical Buddha, the development of Buddhist schools, and the various Northern and Southern Transmissions by Buddhist teachers, and the ongoing evolution of Buddhist thought and philosophy, as it encountered various national, cultures, and ethnic groups.

HIST 4387 History of the Holocaust (3 credits)
A study of the background and origins of the Holocaust, including the legacy of anti-Semitism in Christian Europe and the emergence of racial anti- Semitism, the impact of World War I, Hitler's ideology, the racial ideas of the Nazi state. Emphasis will also be put on the decision for and implementation of the Final Solution, with emphasis on the perpetrators, victims, and bystanders, as well as how the initially limited Nazi killings expanded into the Holocaust as we know it. Finally, the meaning and possible uniqueness of the Holocaust will be explored.

Department of English

ENGL 3280 Mythology (3 credits)
Classical mythology and myths from other cultures and relation of myth to literature, psychology, and popular culture.

ENGL 3700 The Bible as Literature (3 Credits)
An introduction to the literary genres employed (e.g., narrative, lyric poetry, proverbs,
apocalyptic writing) and the Bible's unique place in English and world literary heritage.