Course Descriptions

POL 384 - Psychology of Political Leadership

This course is interdisciplinary and uses concepts, theories and methodological approaches from psychology to explore political leadership and its many facets. It has three overarching goals. First, it will explore the factors that influence who becomes a political leader. Here the focus will be on how political leaders are chosen and socialized and what their motivations for seeking political office are. Second, this course will seek to understand how contextual factors and character traits affect leadership and decision making with a particular focus on how leaders’ personalities and experiences interact with their environment and affect their ability to govern accountably and effectively. Third, it will investigate how leaders relate to the public with a focus on the cognitive basis of this relationship and the role of persuasion.

POL 385 - Independent Study

POL 385: Independent Study

POL 389 - Tutorial

POL 398 - Global Environmental Politics

Through in-depth case studies and research projects, this course introduces students to comparative and international perspectives on three major environmental challenges - climate change, biodiversity loss, and access to clean water.  Students will learn about the strengths and limitations of efforts by both governmental and non-governmental actors across a range of different countries and scales to tackle these challenges. 

Satisfies a major requirement in Political Science

Satisfies a major requirement in Environmental Studies

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
Offered every other year, in rotation with POL 228.

POL 399 - Legislatures

Comparative analysis of the legislative process in presidential and parliamentary systems.  Considers elections, law-making and executive-legislative elections.

Sub-field = Comparative and American

POL 400 - Seminars in Political Theory, POL 400-419

A list of available seminars will be posted on the department webpage prior to each semester’s registration.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor. Individual courses may have additional prerequisites. At least one seminar is offered in each sub-field every year.

POL 401 - Thucydides on Justice and War

This course investigates arguments for and against both political realism and political idealism through a study of the founder of classical realism, Thucydides.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 402 - Kant, Liberalism, and Rights

A focused examination of Kant’s principal moral and political writings.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

POL 403 - Against Liberalism

An examination of influential 19th and 20th century critiques of liberal democracy.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

POL 404 - Politics and Heroism

This course explores the relation between heroism and political life through an examination of such thinkers as Homer, Plato, and Nietzsche.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 405 - Justice and the City

An examination of contemporary urban design and regional planning practices in light of normative debates about property rights, democracy, and federalism.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

POL 406 - Religion, Politics, and Law

This course explores the perennial issue of the relation between religion, politics, and law (both human and divine), through a study of such thinkers as Plato and Montesquieu.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 407 - Liberalism, Feminism, and Manliness

An examination of the tensions between liberalism and feminism in the works of Wollstonecraft, Rousseau, Mill, Tocqueville, Mansfield, and de Beauvoir.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

POL 408 - Special Topics in Political Theory

Given China’s current prominence in global affairs, there has been a recent revival of interest in what China might teach us about the nature of political life.  While many earlier interpreters regarded traditional Chinese political theories, most notably Confucianism, as an obstacle to economic and political modernization, some more recent political theorists have suggested that Chinese political thought offers a powerful alternative to modern Western thought.  In this course, we will seek to examine these debates through the careful study of both the central Chinese texts (in translation) and contemporary works in the field.  

In the first part of the course, we will examine the major schools of ancient Chinese political thought– Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, and Mohism.  We will consider the ways in which each one responds to questions such as the following: what is the best way of life for human beings?  How does can particular policies or approaches to government help or hinder human wellbeing?  What forms of education support a flourishing community?  What is the place of the family in political life?  In the second part of the course, we will bring these theories, particularly Confucianism, into dialogue with contemporary Western political thought.  Here we will discuss, for example, the ways in which concepts such as democracy and human rights might be understood within a Confucian framework.  

POL 409 - Seminar: Modern Conservative Political Philosophy

Seminar: Modern Conservative Political Philosophy

POL 420 - Seminars in American Politics, POL 420-439

A list of available seminars will be posted on the department webpage prior to each semester’s registration.

POL 421 - Judicial Politics

This seminar provides an introduction to the study of the law and courts in American politics.   This includes examination of courts as policy-shaping institutions, the motivation and behavior of judges, and the political contexts of courts and judging.  The readings draw on current and classic work in political science and law and represents a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives.  Courts and judges sit at the intersection of law and politics in the U.S.  This seminar is particularly suited for students interested in understanding and studying this connection.      

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 422 - Political Communication

This seminar examines the use and effectiveness of different rhetorical and communication strategies in contemporary politics, from campaigns and elections and policy debates to crisis management and new media.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Methods & Statistics in Political Science (POL 201) and permission of the instructor required.

POL 423 - Politics of Reproduction

This seminar examines political and policy questions regarding reproductive politics such as contraception, access to abortion, eugenics, artificial reproductive technology, egg donation, sperm banking, stem cell technology, sex education and surrogacy.  The politics of reproduction touches on nearly all avenues of politics: policymaking, public opinion, framing, activism, legislation, constitutional questions, and elections.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor (Society & Politics Track).

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 424 - Women in American Politics

This seminar explores the role of gender in American politics, specifically how gender affects the political activities of American residents, political candidates, and elected officeholders. Students analyze differences in men’s and women’s political participation, party affiliations, political attitudes, and campaign strategies and styles. Students also investigate why women remain substantially underrepresented in positions of political power and consider the implications of gender inequality in political officeholding.

Counts toward the major in Political Science.
Satisfies a requirement in the Society and Politics track of the Gender and Sexuality Studies major and minor.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

POL 425 - (In)Justice in America

This seminar is an exploration of the concept of justice in the United States.  The course has three primary components:  Theory, practice, and challenges.  We begin by examining notions of justice, their origins, and development over time.  We will also look at the mechanics of the justice system in the United States and how the justice system attempts to live up to ideals of justice and fairness.  Finally, we address issues that arise when people and institutions fail to live up to those ideals. 

Satisfies a requirement in the Political Science major.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

POL 428 - Public Opinion/Survey Research

This course examines how to conduct survey/public opinion research and explores how public opinion informs American Politics. Topics will include how to conceptualize and measure public opinion, the origins of public opinions, the nature of mass opinion for specific policy areas, and how public opinion informs the policy making process.  Students will also learn the fundaments of survey research.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 434 - Political Psychology

The goal of political science is to explain why citizens engage in certain types of political behavior, and how citizens think about politics. Psychology offers a way to explain how and why individuals behave the way they do. This course considers the role of personality, emotions, stereotypes, and group dynamics in politics, campaigns, and voting. We will learn about key psychology concepts, apply these concepts to politics, and investigate how experimental methods can identify the psychology behind politics.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 435 - Seminar: (In)Justice in America

Seminar: (In)Justice in America

POL 440 - European Integration

The European Union (EU) is one of the world’s most ambitious experiments in governance. Consequently, it is both one of the most complex and intriguing international organizations to study and understand. In this course, we will review the history of European integration and we will investigate in detail the main institutions of the EU and how they relate to one another. We will also explore some of the most important current debates revolving around the EU, including the role of public opinion and identity politics for European integration, the ‘democratic deficit’ and the most recent global financial crisis.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 441 - The Rise of China

This course offers advanced students an opportunity to explore contemporary Chinese politics, economics, and society in detail.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 442 - Social Movements and Revolutions

Why do groups of people who have been quiescent for decades, all of a sudden take to the streets to oppose their regimes, often risking their lives to do so? Why do regimes that had survived wars and remained stable, suddenly collapse under popular pressure? Why do some movements last and succeed in their goals, while other fizzle and fail? In this seminar we will provide answers to these questions, by analyzing the causes and changing meanings of revolutions, social movements, contentious politics, and activism.

We will start by looking at how the French Revolution in the 18th century defined the meaning of revolution in the modern world and how it was transformed by the revolutionary events in 1968 and then 1989.  We will then continue with alternative trajectories and neglected histories such as the Haitian Revolution and contentious politics in 18^th century China, as well as more contemporary revolutions in post-Soviet states and the Middle East. Given that today we are living in another age of world-wide political activism, ultimately the goal of this course is to develop informed theoretical analyses of the meanings and practices of revolutions and social movements both in the past and in our own times.

Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 443 - Political Islam

This course examines how modern Islam, from the middle of the nineteenth century to today, “became” political. It explores the role of theology and domestic and international politics in the development of Islamic movements, political parties, Islamic jihad, and Islamic rule in various countries. It also focuses on contemporary issues - the relationship between Islam and democracy, the rise of violent non-state groups, and global responses to them.

Satisfies a major requirement in Political Science

Satisfies a minor requirement in Arab Studies

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Middle East Studies

Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in International Studies

Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 444 - Nationalism

How is the nation constructed? How is nationalism used by different groups and for what purposes? What role does nationalism play in creating political rights or basis for exclusion? This seminar examines the complex relationship between the nation and the state by studying examples from different parts of the world and across time. Using theories of nationalism, identity formation, and state-building we will explore the role that nationalism plays in the creation and fragmentation of states as well as the delineation of political communities. On the one hand, nationalism has the power to crystallize collective identities and provide the overriding basis for self-determination of groups, which can strengthen the state. On the other hand, when national identity is disputed domestically or various groups do not identify with the state, nationalism becomes a source of state disintegration and conflict, oftentimes leading to ethnically motivated political strife and even civil war. 

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of instructor required.

POL 448 - Special Topics in Comparative Politics

POL 460 - State-building and Peacebuilding

Failed and fragile states have been identified as a major threat to both development and security.  This seminar explores the enterprise of peacebuilding and state-building in post-conflict settings, and the many challenges faced by the international community as it attempts to support the revival of states and good governance in countries emerging from war.

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 461 - American Grand Strategy

This course considers the historical and conceptual evolution of American grand stratgey from the Colonial era to the present day.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 462 - Humanitarian Intervention

An exploration of the politics, policies, debates, and controversies surrounding humanitarian interventionism, including emergency relief operations, refugee politics, UN peace operations, and emerging global norms and enforcement mechanisms on war crimes, war economies, and human rights violations.  Case studies of interventions in the name of humanitarian principles in countries such as Bosnia, Somalia, South Sudan, Haiti, and East Timor will be explored to complement thematic readings.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 468 - Special Topics in International Politics

POL 470 - Forecasting and Political Risk Analysis

Governments, private sector firms, international organizations, and non-profits all engage in political risk analysis and forecasting.  This type of analysis draws heavily on the theories and methods of political science to evaluate conflict vulnerability, political stability, corruption, rule of law, crime and security threats, regime change, and a host of other factors that can create unwanted risks.  This seminar explores the many facets of political risk analysis and forecasting, and requires students to take on the role of risk analyst to produce a country or regional risk assessment.

Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 471 - Leaders vs. Entrepreneurs

This course examines the characteristics of great leaders and successful entrepreneurs, and the roles they play in politics and society.  Building on insights from political science, economics, and psychology, students use different theories and concepts, such as social entrepreneurship and transformative leadership, to analyze individuals as diverse as Jane Goodall, Steve Jobs, and Teddy Roosevelt.

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Offered every other year, in rotation with POL 472.
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 472 - Citizens vs. Consumers

Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in Social Science track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Offered every other year, in rotation with POL 471.
Permission of the instructor required.

POL 485 - Advanced Independent Study

POL 488 - Honors Thesis

EDU 234 - Child Psychopathology (=HHV 244 and PSY 234)

An overview of the psychological disorders of childhood, including their description, classification, etiology, assessment and treatment.  Emphasis will be placed on the theoretical and empirical bases of these disorders, focusing on relevant research methods and findings as well as case history material. 

Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Educational Studies minor credit.
Health and Human Values interdisciplinary minor credit.
Psychology Major credit (Clinical column)

Prerequisites & Notes
PSY 101

PSY 101 - General Psychology

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
(Fall and Spring)

PSY 195 - Independent Study

PSY 220 - Health Psychology (=HHV 220)

Health Psychology uses the biopsychosocial approach to examine how psychological factors influence health and how they can be used to change health behaviors.   Specific emphasis will be placed on pain, chronic illness, nicotine use, and obesity.  This class also includes a community-based learning experience.

Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Health and Human Values interdisciplinary minor credit

Prerequisites & Notes
PSY 101 or permission of the instructor.

PSY 231 - Abnormal Psychology

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 232 - Social Psychology

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 233 - Theory and Practice of Career Development

An overview of the field of Career Planning and Development, including major theories and research on career choice, self-assessment, career transition, and career management across the lifespan.  Emphasis will be on critical evaluation and application to students’ own processes of career development.

Fulfills a requirement in the Social/Industrial-Organizational area of the Psychology major.

Prerequisites & Notes
PSY 101

PSY 234 - Child Psychopathology (=HHV 244 and EDU 234)

An overview of the psychological disorders of childhood, including their description, classification, etiology, assessment and treatment.  Emphasis will be placed on the theoretical and empirical bases of these disorders, focusing on relevant research methods and findings as well as case history material. 

Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.
Educational Studies minor credit.
Health and Human Values interdisciplinary minor credit.
Psychology Major credit (Clinical column)

Prerequisites & Notes
PSY 101

PSY 241 - Child Development (=EDU 241)

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 242 - Educational Psychology (= EDU 242)

Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 243 - Adolescent Development (= EDU 243)

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 245 - Psychology of Aging

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 254 - Industrial and Organizational Psychology

PSY 260 - Organization Development

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101 required; Psychology 254 recommended but not required.

PSY 276 - Cognitive Psychology

Satisfies the Social- Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 280 - Human Neuropsychology

Neuropsychology is most simply defined as the study of brain-behavior relationships and provides the perfect intersection of neuroscience and psychology.  Over the past century, neuropsychology has emerged as an important sub-discipline of psychology for the purposes of identifying organic brain syndromes and informing rehabilitation and treatment planning.  Previously used as a primary method of localizing brain function, the field has grown in conjunction with advances in neuro-imaging, pathology, and neuroscience.  The purpose of this course will be to provide a foundational understanding of human neuropsychology, including the most commonly studied neurobehavioral relationships and conditions.  Students will have the opportunity to review neuropsychological test data, relate patterns in data to brain structure and function, and estimate recovery and rehabilitation patterns.

Satisfies a major requirement in Psychology.
Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Neuroscience.

Prerequisites & Notes
PSY 101

PSY 282 - Learning

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 284 - Drugs and Behavior

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 290 - Practicum in Psychology

PSY 301 - Psychological Research-Perception and Attention

PSY 302 - Psychological Research-Behavioral Pharmacology

PSY 303 - Psychological Research-Behavioral Neuroscience (= BIO 331)

PSY 304 - Psychological Research-Memory

PSY 305 - Psychological Research-Learning

PSY 310 - Psychological Research-Design and Analysis

PSY 314 - Psychological Research-Clinical

Overview of the research methods and statistical techniques used in research in clinical and positive psychology through lecture, laboratory, and independent research projects. Students gain knowledge and experience evaluating psychological research and applying these techniques and methods to complete individual research projects. Ethical and practical considerations in research in clinical and positive psychology discussed. Course requirements include participation in research as investigators. Recommended completion by Fall of senior year for majors.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 310 required; Psychology 231 and/or Psychology 234 recommended but not required.

PSY 315 - Psychological Research-Child Development

PSY 316 - Psychological Research-Industrial/Organizational

Counts as an elective in the Data Science interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 310 or permission of instructor required.

PSY 318 - Psychological Research-Social

PSY 319 - Psychological Research-Adult Development

PSY 323 - Animal Behavior (= BIO 223)

(Cross-listed as Biology 223.)

An evolutionary approach to the study of animal behavior.  Laboratories include rsearch projects on the behavior of animals in captivity and in the natural environment.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
BIO 112/114.  One laboratory meeting per week.  Counts towards the Psychology major as a Research Methods course in the Cognitive/Neuroscience column.

PSY 324 - Functional Neuroanatomy (= BIO 332)

For Psychology majors this meets the major’s seminar requirement. 
For Interdisciplinary Minors in Neuroscience, this course satisfies the interdisciplinary minor requirement as stated in Interdisciplinary Minor in Neuroscience (Requirements, section 1b).

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 303 (=Biology 331)  or Psychology 289 and permission of the instructor.

PSY 330 - Psychology Tutorial (PSY 330-332)

PSY 350 - Advanced Seminars in Psychology (PSY 350-380)

Fulfills the seminar requirement in Psychology.

Prerequisites & Notes
Consent of instructor usually required.

PSY 352 Gender Identity: Psychological Theories and Literary Representations count for the Gender and Sexuality Studies major.

PSY 351 - Advanced Seminar in Clinical Psychology: Gender & Psychopathology

This course will address a range of topics related to the intersection of gender and psychopathology.  We will begin the class by discussing the meaning of “gender” and the various mechanisms by which biological sex, gender identity, gender roles and sexual orientation may relate to the development, presentation and treatment of psychological disorders.  We will also discuss historical and current controversies regarding the classification of psychological disorders related to gender identity.  The rest of the course will address gender differences in specific psychological disorders and the biological, psychological and social mechanisms contributing to these differences.

Satisfies a requirement of the Psychology major.

Prerequisites & Notes
PSY 231 or PSY 234 or (typically) permission of the instructor.  Please note that, in some semesters, this course may be listed as “Permission Only,” regardless of prerequisite fulfillment, and all students who wish to register for this course must seek permission from the instructor; this will be indicated by a “PRM” notation in the notes column of the available course list.

PSY 352 - Advanced Seminar: Counseling Psychology, “Facilitating Personal Well-Being” (Spring 2018)

This course delves into the field of Counseling Psychology, which seeks to empower all individuals to overcome challenges and achieve optimal functioning.  Reading and discussions will center on the history, ethics, outcomes research, and prominent theories of counseling, as well as issues typically addressed by counseling psychologists such as stress, loss, self-esteem, contextual identity, motivation, personal growth, and social justice.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101

PSY 354 - Medical Rehabilitation & Disability (=HHV 354)

This course addresses the conceptualization, assessment, and treatment of chronic health conditions, traumatic injuries, and disabilities.  The readings will include an evidenced-based handbook on psychosocial adjustment to illness; peer-reviewed articles; and memoirs from the vantage point of the patient, caregiver, and healthcare provider.  This course is community-based; therefore, it will also include a field experience at a local rehabilitation hospital. 

Fulfills a credit in the Psychology major.
Fulfills a credit in the Health and Human Values interdisciplinary minor.

Prerequisites & Notes
PSY 101 (Fall)

PSY 358 - Advanced Seminar: Psychology of Teamwork

This seminar will examine in depth the psychology of teamwork both in the context of business organizations and in the context of team sports.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor is required to register for this course.

PSY 400 - Senior Thesis

PSY 401 - Issues in Psychology

PSY 402 - History and Systems in Psychology

REL 110 - Aliens, Strangers, & Zombies

An exploration of how voices in various religious traditions have - or have not - expressed the self’s problem of alienation as it is experience in relation to body, family, community, social location, “strangers”, one’s own self and one’s higher purpose (e.g., God, spirit, one’s true self, Buddha nature, etc.)  The course will draw from modern and contemporary sources of popular culture as well as historical sources from several major religious traditions, including Christianity, Buddhism and Islam.  The course will pay special attention to how the forces of modernity (e.g., democracy, imperialism, instrumentalism, capitalism) have either introduced or intensified individual alienation, thus forcing religious traditions to adapt.

Fulfills a requirement in the Religious Studies major and minor.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.

REL 127 - Female Resistance in the Old Testament

This course will introduce a number of Old Testament narratives that show women using a variety of creative means in order to resist the violence of war, rape, patriarchy, and poverty. By means of this narrative portrayal of female resistance we will contemplate the nature and the extent of the challenges that cause women in particular to be vulnerable in our world today, in addition to thinking together of ways in which we may help change this reality.

Satisfies a major requirement in Religion

Satisfies a minor requirement in Religion

Satisfies the Philosophical & Religious Perspectives distribution requirement

REL 130 - Introduction to the New Testament

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
 

 

Prerequisites & Notes
 

Not open to juniors or seniors until Drop/Add or to students who have taken Religion 230 or 231.

This course may be applied towards a Classics major.

REL 140 - Sin and Redemption in Christian Thought

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.

 

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to juniors or seniors until Drop/Add.

REL 141 - Introduction to Theology

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to juniors or seniors until Drop/Add.

REL 142 - Autobiography and Religion

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to juniors or seniors until Drop/Add.

REL 143 - Being Human

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to juniors or seniors until Drop/Add.

REL 144 - The Christian Faith

Thematic exploration of basic Christian beliefs focusing on the affirmations of the Apostles’ Creed and the ways in which different communities and theologians have understood them.

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to juniors or seniors until Drop/Add.

REL 150 - Introduction to Christian Ethics

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
 

REL 155 - Issues in Religion and Science

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to juniors or seniors until Drop/Add.

REL 162 - Contemporary Seekers in the U.S.

Examines religious memoirs of twenty and twenty-first century U.S. writers who have forcefully described their own experiences of exile and their various visions of “home”–as justice, family, vocation, health, tradition, or place.
 
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
 

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to juniors or seniors until Drop/Add.

REL 163 - Imagining Race and Religion

Wills

This course explores intersections of race and religion in both literary and popular fiction from the mid-nineteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first. We will examine novelists’ personal experiences and their historical contexts. We will also analyze the religious, social, and political motives in the stories authors tell and the narrative forms they use. Not open to students who have taken Rel 262.

Meets the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

Representative texts (not all required):

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)

Nella Larsen, Quicksand (1928)

Zora Neale Hurston, Jonah’s Gourd Vine (1934)

James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1952)

Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon (1977)

Paule Marshall, Praisesong for the Widow (1983)

William P. Young, The Shack (2007)

Jacqueline Woodson, Another Brooklyn (2016)

REL 165 - Muslim-Americans

Explores historical origins and major events/figures, intellectual currents, cultural practices, and theological and political controversies related to Muslim communities in the U.S.
 

Satisfies a major and minor requirement in Religion.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
 

REL 170 - The Sacred Quest in Comparative Perspective

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Not open to juniors or seniors until Drop/Add. 

REL 175 - The Qurʾan and Its Interpreters

This course will introduce students to the Qurʾanic scripture, its history, themes, characteristic styles, and the way in which it has functioned as an authority for Muslims throughout Islamic history. The course will explore two genres that have emerged from the direct study of the Qurʾan, most specifically Qurʾanic exegesis (tafsīr) and the art of its recitation (tajwīd). We will examine competing modes of interpretation and the most significant exegetes in the pre-modern and modern periods, paying specific attention to the role of modernity in creating new approaches to Qurʾanic interpretation. Lastly, this course surveys a wide range of exegetical interpretations on 1) women and sexuality, 2) violence and jihād, and 3) religious pluralism. 

Satisfies a requirement for the Religious Studies major and minor.
Satisfies a requirement for the Middle East Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Studies distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
 

REL 176 - Literature of the Muslim World

A thematic and genre-based study of seminal literary texts from around the Muslim world that takes a literary approach to the study of religion.

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies Middle Eastern Studies requirement.
Satisfies South Asian Studies requirement.

REL 180 - Introduction to East Asian Religions

An introduction to the religious and philosophical traditions that played fundamental roles in shaping traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese culture: Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and popular religion.

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies East Asian Studies major and interdisciplinary minor requirement.

REL 190 - Welcoming the Stranger: Christian Hospitality in a Global Context

In light of the so-called “refugee crisis” and the fact that migration has become a trans-national phenomenon, this course explores the promise of the notion of hospitality (as welcoming the stranger), and its relation to the Christian faith.  Through the engagement with a variety of biblical, philosophical and theological texts, as well as examples from literature and film, the course aims at deepening our understanding of the challenges and opportunities involved in living in multi-cultural and multi-religious societies in our global world today.

Satisfies a major requirement in Religion

Satisfies a minor requirement in Religion

Satisfies the Philosophical & Religious Perspectives distribution requirement

REL 222 - Tragedy and Comedy in Biblical Narrative

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.

REL 223 - Wisdom Literature: From Job to David Foster Wallace

A study of Israelite, Jewish, and early Christian wisdom writings in conversation with modern and post-modern authors such as Camus, Wendell Berry, and David Foster Wallace.  Topics to be pursued include: what constitutes a meaningful or blessed life, the challenges of absurdity and unjust suffering, the dignity of work and vocation, distraction and boredom, happiness, and learning.

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.