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2017-2018 Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Course Descriptions
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Religion |
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REL 224 - The Psalms and the Self Instructor
Plank
A study of selected biblical psalms and their exploration of the fabric of human selfhood. Particular attention will be given to the psalms’ poetic construction of what it means to be a self and how they, in turn, offer transformative means for the self’s expression. Study will involve a close analysis of psalms as literary texts and intertexts as well as analysis of their function in given liturgical contexts.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
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REL 230 - Jesus before the Halo Instructor
Snyder
This course explores Jesus in the midst of his historical, religious, and political context: how did Jesus encounter and resist the political and religious structures of his day? Can we construct an historically adequate picture of Jesus based on the different gospels that narrate his life and teachings? Is he best understood as an apocalyptic prophet, an ethereal sage, or a political revolutionary? The course also attends to Jesus’ ethical teachings on subjects such as wealth and poverty, non-violence, and love of enemies.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
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REL 231 - Paul: his Communities and Conflicts Instructor
Snyder
Paul is now enshrined in Christian history and dogma, yet few people realize how controversial his original message was. Many of Jesus’s first followers were suspicious of Paul and there were fierce debates over his preaching. By a careful inspection of his letters we’ll explore these debates and seek to understand the nature of the groups he founded in cities around the Mediterranean. Some of these groups survived, and some disappeared: what held them together - or broke them apart? Why would someone be drawn to Paul and his preaching? What was appealing about the life of these groups? The goal is to understand Paul and his theological ideas in their first-century context.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
This course may be applied towards a Classics major.
Prerequisites & Notes
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REL 233 - The Other Gospels: Lost Literature of Early Christianity Instructor
Snyder
Examines the gospel literature that did not make it into the New Testament: the Gospel According to Thomas, Gnostic gospels such as the Gospel According to Phillip, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and the Gospel of Judas, infancy gospels, and lost Jewish-Christian gospels. It also considers the development of the categories “heresy” and “orthodoxy,” as well as the process of canonization.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes Students at all levels welcome.
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REL 243 - The Spiritual Imagination in Contemporary Poetry Instructor
Plank
A study of how contemporary poets have imagined religious and spiritual experience, as well as a consideration of the relationship of poetry and religious language. Poets to be discussed may include Christian Wiman, Spencer Reece, Franz Wright, Mark Wunderlich, Mary Szybist, Katie Ford, Mary Karr, and Jean Valentine. The course has no prerequisites and is open to all students.
Satisfies a requirement in Religious Studies major and minor.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement
Prerequisites & Notes No pre-requisite and open to all students
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REL 246 - God (=PHI 170) Instructor
Ottati/Studtmann
This course focuses on what is said about God in Christian tradition and in philosophy. It explores representations, symbols, and inklings of the divine in biblical and religious texts, developed conceptions of God put forward by philosophers and theologians, and traditional arguments about God, as well as contemporary statements and debates.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
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REL 250 - Issues in Theological Ethics Instructor
Ottati
A focused study of a given ethical issue and its theological significance. Topics to be studied may include medical ethics, justice and poverty, war and peace, the meaning of virtue and civil rights.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
ENV credit varies year by year, so please check with the ENV Chair if you have a question. For students enrolled in 2016-2017, satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Humanities track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.
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REL 252 - Prophetic Christianity in America Instructor
Ottati
A study of the theological ethics that contributed to the Social Gospel, Christian Realism, and the Civil Rights Movement in America. Resources include works by Walter Rauschenbusch, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as some secondary texts, recordings, and films.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
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REL 253 - Reformed Theology and Ethics Instructor
Ottati
A study of the dynamic ideas, themes, and issues of the Reformed tradition in Protestant theology and ethics from the sixteenth century to the present, with emphasis on the sovereignty of God, sin, grace, moral law, political participation, and calling and vocation.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes Students at all levels welcome.
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REL 261 - African American Religious Traditions Instructor
Wills
The varied religious experiences of African Americans from pre-slavery through the Civil Rights movement.
Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
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REL 262 - Imagining American Religion Instructor
Wills
A study of how people have portrayed the religious dimension of life through works of narrative fiction. Examines the various motives - religious, political, aesthetic, or otherwise - that guide American imaginings about religion.
Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
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REL 266 - The Bible in America Instructor
Snyder
The course begins with a brief history of the Bible; we then examine the role the Bible has played in American cultural and religious life, with specific reference to gender, race, sexual identity, and creationism.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
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REL 274 - Women and Gender in Islam Instructor
Mubarak
The course will trace the development of gender issues in Muslim societies, ranging from the early Islamic period (7th century) to the modern period. Topics include marriage, divorce, veiling, segregation, polygyny, adultery, slavery and sex. The rise of secular and religious feminism and women’s initiatives to reform patriarchal practices in contemporary Muslim societies will also be addressed.
Satisfies a distribution requirement in Religious and Philosophical Perspectives.
Satisfies a major credit in Religion.
Satisfies a cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies a major/minor credit in Gender and Sexuality Studies.
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REL 276 - The Shi’ite Tradition Instructor
Zamir
Introduction to the Shi’ite tradition that also highlights commonalities and differences between Sunni and Shi’ite interpretations of islam. Topics include: the origins of Shi’ism and the Sunni-Shi’ite split; Shi’ite theology; religious and ritual life, piety and spirituality; development of the tradition over time; major institutions; Shi’ite Messianism; major themes in polemics between Sunnis and Shi’ites; ecumenical efforts; mediatory role of Sufism; and political thought and political ramifications of the Sunni-Shi’ite divide.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies Middle Eastern Studies requirement.
Satisfies South Asian Studies requirement.
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REL 277 - Islamic Mysticism Instructor
Zamir
Islamic spirituality and its diverse varieties, doctrinal formulations, practices, history and contemporary significance.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the South Asian Studies interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Arab Studies minor.
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REL 278 - Islamic City Instructor
Zamir
Engaging a wide variety of sources, and through an exploration of ‘spaces’ (e.g., house, mosque, palace, bazaar, madrasa, garden) within traditional Islamic cities, students will discover for themselves various aspects of Muslim societies, cultures and institutions. The course involves collaborative projects, creative research, and introduces digital design.
Satisfies a requirement for Religion major and minor.
Satisfies the Religious and Philosophical Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies a cultural diversity requirement.
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REL 283 - Buddhism in America Instructor
Pang
The history and development of Buddhism in America. Topics include the American Transcendentalists and “Eastern” thought, Buddhism and the
Theosophists, the World Parliament of Religions of 1893, the “Zen boom” of the Beat generation, the varieties of Buddhism imported by Asian immigrants beginning in the 1960s, and modern “American Buddhist” communities and practices.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
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REL 288 - The Religious Question in Modern China Instructor
Pang
This course explores religion in Chinese societies during the tumultuous period between the late nineteenth and early twenty-first centuries. We will analyze the historical and cultural foundations of Chinese religion; the role of the state, intellectual, and political groups in shaping official religiosity; and the bewildering variety of religious traditions in contemporary Chinese societies.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies East Asian Studies major and interdisciplinary minor requirement.
Satisfies Chinese Studies Minor.
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REL 301 - Perspectives in the Study of Religion Instructor
Poland
Required of all majors. Critical examination of various methods, disciplines, and theories employed in the academic study of religion, focusing particularly on those approaches that locate religion in its social, cultural, and political contexts. Generally taught in spring semester. Required of all Religion majors by the end of the junior year.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes Pre/Corequisites: Any two Religion courses or permission of the instructor.
Students intending to go abroad in their junior year should take this course in their sophomore year, if possible.
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REL 341 - Religions of the Roman Empire Instructor
Snyder
An examination of public cult under the Roman Empire: sacrifices, divination, priesthoods and holidays, as well as the religious groups devoted to Isis, Mithras, Moses and Christ.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes Students at all levels welcome.
This course is also cross-listed with Classics and could be applied towards a Classics major.
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REL 345 - Early Christian Texts on Poverty Instructor
Foley
This course examines early Christian discussions about the poor, the role of almsgiving in Christian life and the problems-as well as the possibilities-of wealth. Texts to be studied include relevant selections from the Christian Bible, The Shepherd of Hermas, 2 Clement, Cyprian On Works and Alms, Augustine’s Enchiridion, John Chrysostom’s sermons and other relevant Christian texts written before the modern period. This course will also attempt to put these early Christian texts in dialogue with modern debates on poverty and economic inequality.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes This course is also cross-listed with Classics and could be applied towards a Classics major.
Students at all levels welcome.
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REL 347 - Christian Latin Writers Instructor
Foley
Readings and research on selected Christian Latin authors from 200-600, including Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Gregory the Great.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes LAT 201 or equivalent
(not offered 2015-16.)
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REL 353 - Theological Perspectives on Christian Faith Instructor
Ottati
Christian beliefs and moral norms as they are expressed by the Apostles’ Creed, The Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer. In addition to critical studies of the history and composition of these texts, this course also includes classical and contemporary interpretations of what they mean from Augustine, Martin Luther, and Thomas Aquinas to Rosemary Radford Ruether and Leonardo Boff.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes Students at all levels welcome.
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REL 354 - Major Figures in Theology and Ethics Instructor
Ottati
Each time it is offered, this course explores the theology and ethics of a major figure. For the Fall 2014 semester, the focus will be on H. Richard Niebuhr.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes Students at all levels welcome.
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REL 357 - The Bible and Modern Moral Issues Instructor
Snyder
This course examines how the Bible is being used in contemporary moral, political, and cultural debates: homosexuality, creationism, environmentalism, race, Middle-Eastern politics, end-of-the-world predictions, among others. The range of topics is flexible, and can adapt to current conditions, e.g., the elections of 2016. Students will be encouraged to investigate issues of particular interest through individual research.
For purposes of comparison, REL 266 The Bible in America emphasizes the role the Bible “has” played in American life; REL 357 emphasizes the role the Bible “is playing” in American life. The former course is more historical; the latter, more ethical and theological.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
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REL 366 - Mormonism Instructor
Wills
Examines an indigenous American religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, exploring its historical origins, beliefs, related theological and political controversies, and cultural heritage.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes Students at all levels welcome.
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REL 370 - Asian Meditation Texts Instructor
Mahony
A study of the religious significance, ideals, and practice of meditation in selected Buddhist and Hindu traditions. Readings center on translations of primary texts but also include pertinent indigenous commentaries and modern interpretive works.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies South Asian Studies requirement.
Satisfies East Asian Studies requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes Students at all levels welcome.
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REL 371 - Varieties of Hindu Mysticism Instructor
Mahony
Interpretive and comparative study of Hindu sacerdotal, philosophical, contemplative, and devotional mystical sensibilities as presented in various textual genres.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies South Asian Studies requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes Students at all levels welcome.
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REL 375 - Islamic Visions of the End Instructor
Zamir
Survey of Muslim perspectives on death, afterlife and the apocalypse. Examines eschatological and messianic movement in Islamic history and contemporary times and the cultural and ethical implications of Islamic eschatological ideas.
Satisfies a major requirement.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies Middle Eastern Studies requirement.
Satisfies South Asian Studies requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes Students at all levels welcome.
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REL 376 - Islamic Ethics Instructor
Zamir
Study of seminal texts and various modes of ethical life and thought in Islam with some attention given also to the applications of Islamic thought to contemporary ethical issues.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies Middle Eastern Studies requirement.
Satisfies South Asian Studies requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes Students at all levels welcome.
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REL 395 - Independent Study Instructor
Staff
Admission by consent of the instructor; use 396 for second Independent Study. Independent study under the direction and supervision of a faculty member who reviews and approves the topics of study and determines the means of evaluation.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives distribution requirement.
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REL 401 - Senior Colloquium Instructor
Staff
Required of all senior majors. Explores issues within the study of religion and discusses strategies for research. Each student will complete a thesis directed by an appropriate department member.
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REL 405 - US Religions, US Revolutions Instructor
Wills
How have religious commitments moved people to work for (or retrench in opposition to) societal change? This seminar will address this question by examining several episodes in which religious affiliation shaped action: the movements for American independence in the eighteenth century, abolition in the nineteenth century, women’s rights in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and civil rights in the twentieth and twenty-first.
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REL 413 - Sacrifice Instructor
Snyder
A comparative and cross-cultural look at the phenomenon of sacrifice in different religious traditions. We’ll examine concrete instances of the practice, read narratives about it, and draw upon theoretical models for understanding it.
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REL 419 - Science and Religion Instructor
Lustig
Religion and science are often described as different paths toward truth. Many scholars interpret the claims of religion and science as referring to different spheres of meaning, with each realm characterized by distinctive methods, aims, and forms of discourse. Such distinctions, despite their cogency, are also problematic. Christianity, for example, appeals to both Revelation and nature, to both transcendence and immanence. And Western science raises important theoretical and empirical issues for religious beliefs about creation and redemption, as well as the meanings of, and relations between, nature and human nature.
This course will examine various models of the relations between religion and science developed in the recent scholarly literature. It will first focus on several historical points of conflict between science and religion - the shifts in worldview associated with Newton, Darwin, Freud, Einstein, and Heisenberg. Then, in light of participants’ interests, it will assess elements of recent physical and biological science that pose challenges to the cogency of Western theism and traditional theological understandings of divine design and providential action.
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REL 433 - Art, Media, Technology and Religion Instructor
Zamir
The seminar will explore how art, media, and technology inform, perform, and transform religious life and its various expressions. We will be drawing on theories of art, media and technology and discuss examples from several major religious traditions.
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REL 440 - Seminar: Religion and Racism Instructor
T.Foley
This seminar will examine the ways religion and racist dogma have helped to shape each other. In particular, it hopes to explore what religion, specifically post-medieval Christianity, has contributed to origin and development of the dogma of white supremacy and, in turn, how the dogma of white supremacy has in turn shaped myth, ritual and practice in both white and non-white religious communities.
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REL 443 - The Question of the Animal Instructor
Poland
An interdisciplinary seminar in a growing subfield, Critical Animal Studies. Readings include ancient and recent reflections on human nature and on human and non-human animal relations by novelists, theologians, philosophers and scholars of religion.
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REL 444 - Black and Womanist Theology Instructor
T. Foley
A study of African American theological writings written since the Black Power movement of the 1960s. Black theology refers typically to works written or inspired by theologian James H. Cone. Womanist theology describes a theology written specifically by and for African American women.
Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: North America).
Satisfies a requirement in the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
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REL 449 - The Spiritual Imagination in Contemporary Literature Instructor
Plank
A study of how selected American writers have imagined transcendence and the life of the spirit, as well as a consideration of the relationship of poetic and religious language. Authors to be studied include: Christian Wiman, Fanny Howe, Franz Wright, Mary Szybist, Anne Carson and others.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives Distribution Requirement.
Counts for the LIT minor.
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REL 451 - Religion and Law Instructor
Plank
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REL 453 - Seminar: Love and Justice Instructor
Lustig
This seminar will analyze classical and current theological perspectives on love and justice in order to understand areas of conceptual overlap and tensions between these norms. We will read selections from Augustine, Aquinas, Kierkegaard, C.S. Lewis, Anders Nygren, H. Richard and Reinhold Niebuhr, as well as recent discussions by Nicholas Wolterstorff (Reformed) and David Hollenbach (Catholic). In light of that theoretical discussion, the seminar will then focus on several concrete ethical issues that pose challenges of application for love and justice as useful norms.
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REL 454 - A Social Gospel Instructor
Ottati
This seminar explores socially engaged theological ethics from Christian Socialists and Christian Realists to Liberation theologians. We will read and discuss works by writers such as Walter Rauschenbusch, John A. Ryan, Vida Dutton Scudder, Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gustavo Gutierrez, James Cone, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Cornel West. We will also pay special attention to biblical and traditional bases for the positions they advocate.
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REL 458 - Calvin’s “Institutes” Instructor
Ottati
Close reading and discussion of John Calvin’s 16th century Institutes of the Christian Religion; reference to the historical context of the work with the emphasis on engagement with the theological arguments and images Calvin presents.
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REL 459 - History and Literature of Non-Violence Instructor
Snyder
In this course, we’ll examine the history and literature of non-violent resistance in both monotheistic and non-monotheistic religious traditions, seeking to understand points of commonality and difference. The theory of non-violence held by Martin Luther King, for example, owed a great debt to that of Mohandas Gandhi. We will pay significant attention to contemporary figures and issues.
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REL 460 - Religion and Racism Instructor
Foley
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REL 470 - Vedas and Upanishads Instructor
Mahony
A study of canonical texts from ancient India known as the Vedas and Upanishads that in many ways have served as the foundations of religious sensibilities in India throughout the generations. Attention will be given to visionary poetry, sacred narrative, sacerdotal literature, philosophical musings, theological reflections, contemplative teachings and mystical intuitions.
Satisfies cultural diversity requirement.
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REL 474 - The Daodejing Instructor
Pang
This course examines the Daodejing and its diverse body of commentarial literature throughout the centuries. We will consider both ancient and modern interpretations of the text, as well as their historical, political, social, and religious contexts.
Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement
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REL 498 - Honors Project Instructor
Staff
Research project on some aspect of religious studies.
Prerequisites & Notes For senior majors approved by the department. See thesis instruction sheet for details.
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Russian |
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RUS 101 - Elementary Russian I Instructor
Ewington
For beginners. No previous knowledge of Russian required or expected. This course develops students’ basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing Russian. We begin with the Cyrillic alphabet and fundamental sounds and structures of Russian. As the semester progresses, students learn to communicate about culture, geography, and daily life. Thanks to a “flipped classroom” model (with the professor’s grammar lectures online), RUS 101 devotes class time to engaging interactive activities. The course requires work with audio, video, and computer exercises as well as participation in twice weekly AT sessions with a native speaker assistant.
Prerequisites & Notes (Fall)
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RUS 102 - Elementary Russian II Instructor
Ewington
This semester students complete the introduction to the Russian case system, while continuing to develop basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing about everyday Russian culture, including hobbies, shopping, restaurants, university life, holidays, and vacations. Thanks to a “flipped classroom” model (with the professor’s grammar lectures online), RUS 102 devotes class time to engaging interactive activities. The course requires work with audio, video, and computer exercises as well as participation in twice weekly AT sessions with a native speaker assistant.
Prerequisites & Notes RUS 101 or placement. (Spring)
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RUS 201 - Intermediate Russian I Instructor
Utkin
Continuing work in development of basic skills of Russian, with an emphasis on engaging authentic materials.
Satisfies the foreign language requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes RUS 102 or placement. (Fall)
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RUS 260 - Duels, Death, & Desire: The 19th-Century Russian Novel (in English) Instructor
Ewington
This course explores the great 19th-century Russian literary tradition, including works by Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy. We will consider the “ritualized violence” of dueling, rapidly shifting attitudes toward sexuality and love, questions of social justice around serfdom, Russia’s complicated relationship with the West, religion vs. scientific progress, and the Russian writer’s role as prophet of truth in a land of autocracy. No knowledge of Russian required or expected.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes (Not offered 2016-2017.)
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RUS 270 - Nobel Laureates: The Politics of Literature - The 20th-Century Russian Novel (in English) Instructor
Utkin
In this course we will examine key cultural and socio-historical moments in the development of twentieth-century Russian literature by focusing on the prose and poetry of authors awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature - Ivan Bunin, Boris Pasternak, Mikhail Sholokhov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and Joseph Brodsky. Additionally, we will read Lev Tolstoy, who vehemently rejected being nominated for the prize, as well as Vladimir Nabokov and Anna Akhmatova, who arguably merited the award but never received it.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes (Not offered 2016-2017.)
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RUS 280 - Russia & the West (in English) Instructor
Ewington
Have we truly entered a new Cold War with Russia? How and why have relations with the West deteriorated so quickly in recent years? And who counts as the “West” anyway? How far and deep do the political and cultural fissures run and what can they tell us about Russian society and our own? In this course we’ll get to the bottom of things by exploring everything from Peter the Great’s unprecedented westernization of Russia to Cold War propaganda, the Space Race, the famous Slavophiles & Westernizer debates, waves of emigration and exile that began with the Bolshevik Revolution, depictions of Russians in Hollywood, and recent efforts to define a post-Soviet identity in Putin’s Russia. No knowledge of Russian language or culture required or expected.
All readings and discussion in English.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Liberal Studies requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes (Fall)
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RUS 290 - Russian Theater (in English) Instructor
Staff
This course introduces the rich heritage of Russian theater from the nineteenth century to the present day. We begin with Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, and Chekhov and continue with early twentieth-century theatrical experiments, Soviet plays, and post-Perestroika works. No knowledge of Russian required or expected.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes (Not offered 2016-2017.)
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RUS 292 - Queer Russia (=GSS 292) Instructor
Utkin
Russia is accustomed to playing the role of the “evil empire.” The current ongoing war in Ukraine has resurrected the Cold War-era narratives about Russia as a dark, aggressive, and ruthless military power. The notorious legislation of recent years-whose functions range from barring Americans from adopting Russian orphans to criminalizing the so-called “gay propaganda”-have further solidified Russia’s reputation as a country with little regard for human rights. Yet generations of Russian poets, artists, and writers have transformed the country’s systematic oppression and violence into spectacular forms of protest and self-expression. This course focuses on gender and sexuality in exploring an alternative cultural history of Russia, which highlights its queer legacy from the nineteenth century to the present. We will examine poetry, fiction, art, memoirs, plays, films, performances, and discursive texts that showcase uniquely Russian conceptions of marriage, gender relations, gender expression, and sexual identity. Attention will be paid to the ways in which Russian and Western narratives of queerness align and diverge. In English. No knowledge of Russian is required or expected.
Satisfies major and minor requirements in Russian Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
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RUS 293 - The Soviet Century (Topics in Russian Culture) Instructor
Utkin
One hundred years after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, which changed the course of the twentieth century, we will explore the cultural history of the Soviet Union, the world’s first socialist country. While the dates 1922-1991 circumscribe the lifespan of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the ramifications of the Soviet experience shape not only contemporary Russia but fourteen other countries: the former Soviet Republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. In this course, we will look at the art and ideology that held these fifteen nations together. Moving beyond the clichéd view of the USSR as the Evil Empire, we will focus on the most pivotal moments in the emergence of the “country of workers and peasants” and trace its evolution from pariah nation in the 1920s into nuclear superpower following WWII. We will consider the theoretical writings of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Leon Trotsky, avant-garde experimentation in the arts, and the doctrine of Socialist realism in an effort to understand the contradictions of Soviet life leading up to and during the Cold War. A particular attention will be paid to underground cultures that arose in response to the repression of free speech, to ethnic discrimination, and to the Gulag penal system.
All readings and discussion in English. No knowledge of Russian or Eastern European history is expected.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Liberal Studies distribution requirement.
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RUS 294 - Russia & Ukraine - War & Peace (Topics in Russian Literature in English) Instructor
Ewington
In 2008 Putin quipped to the U.S. president, “you must understand, George, Ukraine is not even a country.” That denial of sovereignty later took an ominous turn, with the annexation of Crimea and the ongoing violence in Eastern Ukraine. Most Westerners are perplexed by all this. Aren’t they one Slavic people? In fact, their common cultural and political heritage notwithstanding, many Ukrainians bristle at the linguistic, political, and cultural dominance of their Russian “brothers and sisters,” while many Russians view Ukrainians as part of their own “nation.” But what is meant by “nation?” Looking beyond political structures, status as a great nation was traditionally affirmed by the production of a national literary epic. In this course we will develop a nuanced appreciation for the current conflict through careful attention to each nation’s canonical war epic: Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol, a Ukrainian who wrote in Russian and is claimed by both nations as their own - and Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace - perhaps the most famous novel of all time, which is set in the years leading up to and during the Napoleonic invasion of Russia in 1812 and the patriotic fervor that ensued. Along the way, we will discuss a few shorter “Ukrainian tales” by Gogol, as well as Tolstoy’s early military tales, “The Sevastopol Sketches,” which were inspired by his experiences in the Crimean War
All readings and discussion in English.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes (Spring)
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RUS 295 - Independent Study Instructor
Staff
A topic chosen by the student and researched under the direction of the faculty member, who reviews and approves the topic and determines the means of evaluation of the student’s work.
295 (Fall)/296 (Spring)
Prerequisites & Notes Permission of the instructor.
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RUS 297 - Russian Women Writers (in English)
Instructor
Ewington
This course offers an introduction to Russian women writers from the age of Enlightenment to the present day. Texts include memoirs, novels, poems, and plays, as well as readings on Russian Gender Studies. No knowledge of Russian required or expected.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes (Not offered 2016-2017.)
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RUS 301 - Advanced Intermediate Russian Instructor
Staff
Further development of proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Prerequisites & Notes RUS 202 or placement. (Not offered 2016-2017.)
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RUS 319 - The Russian Internet Instructor
Utkin
The course will be focused on online blogs, computer games, and social networks in Russia and the post-Soviet space as a unique cultural phenomenon with its own history, conventions, and impact on society. We will begin by considering the Soviet Union’s own project to create a nation-wide Internet-like computer network during the Cold War and then explore Russian-speaking online mediascape as an alternative platform for community formation and political expression. The students will learn about the ways in which Russians approach questions of public and private space, censorship, and intellectual property. We will also consider the question of Russian internet “troll farms” and their international impact.
Most readings and discussion in Russian.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes RUS 202 or equivalent.
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RUS 320 - Masterpieces of Russian Literature Instructor
Staff
Advanced reading and discussion of canonical works by Russian writers, such as Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Mayakovsky, Bulgakov, Pasternak, Akhmatova, and Tolstaya. This course is conducted in Russian.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Prerequisites & Notes RUS 202 or equivalent. (Not offered 2016-2017.)
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RUS 370 - Twentieth-Century Russian Literature Instructor
Staff
This class is conducted entirely in Russian. It combines the study of Russian literature with the development of vocabulary and grammar skills for advanced speaking and writing. We will read, discuss, and analyze short works by masters of 20th century Russian literature in the original. In the course of our readings, we will also learn about major events in 20th-century Russian history that form the important context for these works.
Prerequisites & Notes RUS 202 or equivalent. (Not offered 2016-2017.)
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RUS 372 - Nabokov & Global Literature (in English) Instructor
Utkin
Vladimir Nabokov–brilliant writer, outrageous literary gamesman, and cosmopolitan exile–is a towering figure of twentieth-century literature. His most famous novel, Lolita, propelled him to international stardom and changed the transnational literary landscape. Child of a turbulent century, Nabokov wrote exquisite and at times disturbing prose in Russian and English, balancing between imaginary worlds and harsh realities. This seminar offers a sustained exploration of Nabokov’s major Russian and American writings as well as film adaptations of his Despair (Rainer Werner Fassbinder) and Lolita (Stanley Kubrick). In the second half of the seminar we turn to novels Nabokov haunts: Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran, J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace, and W.G. Sebald’s The Emigrants. We will consider memory, exile, trauma, nostalgia, and identity as we read Nabokov, who saw existence as a “series of footnotes to a vast, obscure, unfinished masterpiece.”
All readings and discussion in English.
Cross-listed with LIT 372.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing, and Rhetoric distribution requirement.
Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Global Literary Theory
Satisfies a minor requirement in Russian Studies
Satisfies major requirements for CIS majors in Russian Studies, Russian Language & Literature, and Global Literary Theory
Prerequisites & Notes (Fall)
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RUS 373 - Nabokov & Global Literature (= LIT 372) Instructor
Utkin
Vladimir Nabokov–brilliant writer, outrageous literary gamesman, and cosmopolitan exile–is a towering figure of twentieth-century literature. His most famous novel, Lolita, propelled him to international stardom and changed the transnational literary landscape. Child of a turbulent century, Nabokov wrote exquisite and at times disturbing prose in Russian and English, balancing between imaginary worlds and harsh realities. This seminar offers a sustained exploration of Nabokov’s major Russian and American writings as well as film adaptations of his Despair (Rainer Werner Fassbinder) and Lolita (Stanley Kubrick). In the second half of the seminar we turn to novels Nabokov haunts: Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran, J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace, Orhan Pamuk’s The Museum of Innocence, and W.G. Sebald’s The Emigrants. We will consider memory, exile, trauma, nostalgia, and identity as we read Nabokov, who saw existence as a “series of footnotes to a vast, obscure, unfinished masterpiece.” All readings and discussion in English.
Satisfies a major requirement in CIS Russian Studies
Satisfies a major requirement in CIS Russian Language and Literature
Satisfies a major requirement in CIS Global Literary Theory
Satisfies a minor requirement in Russian Studies
Satisfies an interdisciplinary minor requirement in Global Literary Theory
Satisfies the Literary Studies, Creative Writing & Rhetoric distribution requirement
Satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement
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RUS 394 - Special Topics Instructor
Staff
This course combines the study of Russian history and culture with the development and reinforcement of vocabulary and grammar skills for advanced speaking and writing. Selected historical topics will be used to deepen students’ understanding of Russian language and culture. The class is conducted entirely in Russian.
Prerequisites & Notes RUS 202 or equivalent. (Not offered 2016-17.)
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RUS 395 - Independent Study for Advanced Students Instructor
Staff
Advanced study under the direction of the faculty member, who reviews and approves the topic and determines the means of evaluation of the student’s work.
395 (Fall)/396 (Spring)
Prerequisites & Notes (Permission of the instructor.)
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