Course Descriptions

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 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 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 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 requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 232 - Social Psychology

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought 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.
Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

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 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 requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 242 - Educational Psychology (= EDU 242)

Satisfies Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 243 - Adolescent Development (= EDU 243)

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 245 - Psychology of Aging

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 254 - Industrial and Organizational Psychology

PSY 260 - Organization Development

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

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

PSY 276 - Cognitive Psychology

Satisfies the Social- Scientific Thought 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 requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 284 - Drugs and Behavior

Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Psychology 101.

PSY 290 - Practicum in Psychology

PSY 292 - Collective Memory (= CIS 292)

Instructor
Multhaup

Remembering is a social as well as cognitive experience.  For example, we reminisce with others, select which details we share and don’t share based on who those others are, and which portions of memories we rehearse and silence affects what we later remember. Students in this course will explore current theory and research regarding collective memory, primarily from a psychological perspective. We will explore questions raised by Boyer and Wertsch’s (2009) influential book (e.g., How do we build shared collective memories? How does memory shape history?  How does memory shape culture?) and related issues (e.g., silencing of memories, borrowing others’ memories, how culture influences memory).  Our study will be grounded in cognitive psychology and draw upon additional subfields (e.g., social psychology, cross-cultural psychology) and intersections with related fields (e.g., sociology, cultural studies, museum studies).

Provides elective credit toward the Psychology major.
​Satisfies the Social-Scientific Thought requirement.

*Interlinked Memory Studies Courses
Five different courses that engage with phenomena of memory will link up once a week for common readings and discussions. Students will meet one day a week with their course instructor to engage in the discipline-specific study of memory. On the other day each week, students and faculty members in all five courses will meet together to compare and share different disciplinary and personal ideas about the study of memory; the creation and effects of memory; the representation of memory; and the social, cultural, and personal creative processes that make memory.  Participating courses are:

AFR 320 / EDU 320 / SOC 320 (Kelly) Growing Up Jim Crow
CIS 292 / PSY 292 (Multhaup) Collective Memory
ENG 204 (Parker) Introduction to Writing Fiction
GER 433 / HIS 433 (Denham) The Holocaust and Representation
​HIS 287 (Mortensen) Memory and Identity in the People’s Republic of China

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
Permission of the instructor is required to register for this course.  PSY 231 or PSY 234 are recommended but not required.

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 353 - Advanced Seminar: Psychology of Prejudice

Advanced Seminar: Psychology of Prejudice

Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Permission of the instructor.

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 365 - Clinical Neuroscience

Clinical Neuroscience

PSY 379 - Advanced Seminar: Cognition & The Arts

Cognition & The Arts

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 requirement.

REL 122 - Tragedy and Comedy in Biblical Narrative

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives 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 requirement

REL 130 - Introduction to the New Testament

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives 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 requirement.

 

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

REL 141 - Introduction to Theology

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

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

REL 142 - Autobiography and Religion

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

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

REL 143 - Being Human

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives 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 requirement.

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

REL 150 - Introduction to Christian Ethics

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
 

REL 155 - Issues in Religion and Science

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

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

REL 161 - GodLoveSex

Exploration of several U.S. movements, past and present, expressing religious commitment through rejection of received understandings of gender and/or reorganization of sexual practices. Specific movements change but may include groups such as Shakers, Mormons, Oneida, Nation of Islam, and Quiverfull.

Satisfies a requirement in the Gender & Sexuality Studies major and minor.
Satisfies a requirement in the Religious Studies major and minor.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Satifies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

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 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 requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
 

REL 170 - The Sacred Quest in Comparative Perspective

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

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

REL 174 - THE END.

How does the Islamic tradition deal with the end of human life, death of an individual and that of humanity at large? Is there another life after this one? Is there another World-to-Come? We will explore Islamic perspectives on these questions, learn about Muslim death rituals and burial practices, teachings regarding meaning of death and preparation for it, prophecies about the apocalyptic End and the mission of the Messianic Mahdi, and visions of the World-to-Come. Various messianic movements in Islamic history and contemporary times and ethical, aesthetic and mystical expressions of these eschatological ideas will also be considered.

Satisfies a major requirement.

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

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome.

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 requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
 

REL 176 - Nostalgic Islam

Why remember the past? Why do we have nostalgia for a certain past? Why do we imagine and fantasize another world? What distinguishes nostalgia from memory? And what is imagination? 

On these questions, we will hear classical and contemporary Islamic and Muslim literary, visual, and religious voices. Our study explores Muslims’ relationships to “the past” and their perspectives on memory, myth, nostalgia, and imagination.  
 

Satisfies a requirement in the Global Literary Theory major and interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies a Middle Eastern Studies interdisciplinary minor requirement.
Satisfies a South Asian Studies interdisciplinary minor requirement.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity 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 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 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 requirement.

REL 224 - The Psalms and the Self

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 requirement.

REL 230 - Jesus and His Interpreters

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 requirement.

REL 231 - Paul: his Communities and Conflicts

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 requirement.

This course may be applied towards a Classics major.

Prerequisites & Notes
 

REL 232 - Parables in the Jewish and Christian Traditions

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

REL 233 - The Other Gospels: Lost Literature of Early Christianity

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 requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
Students at all levels welcome.

REL 234 - Hell Breaks Loose

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

REL 242 - The Rise of Christianity

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

Prerequisites & Notes
This course may be applied towards a Classics major.

REL 243 - The Spiritual Imagination in Contemporary Poetry

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 requirement

 

Prerequisites & Notes
No pre-requisite and open to all students

REL 244 - Modern Jewish Literature

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Fulfills the Diversity requirement in the English major.
Satisfies a requirement of the Global Literary Theory interdisciplinary minor.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.

REL 245 - Modern Christian Thought

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

REL 246 - God (=PHI 170)

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 requirement.

REL 247 - Food in Religious Perspective

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Humanities track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.

REL 248 - Christianity and Nature

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Satisfies depth and breadth course requirement in the Humanities track of the Environmental Studies major or interdisciplinary minor.

REL 250 - Issues in Theological Ethics

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives 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.

REL 252 - Prophetic Christianity in America

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 requirement.

REL 253 - Reformed Theology and Ethics

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.

REL 255 - Woman and the Body in the Christian Tradition

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

REL 256 - Religion, Ethics and Medicine

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

REL 257 - Death, Dying and the Afterlife

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

REL 258 - Vocation of Citizen and Soldier

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
 

REL 260 - Religion in America

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.

REL 261 - African American Religious Traditions

REL 262 - Imagining American Religion

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 requirement.

REL 265 - US Religions, US Revolutions

This course examines several episodes in the American context during which religious affiliation shaped revolutionary social movements. Topics may include the Revolutionary war, anti-slavery agitation and abolitionism, women’s rights in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and civil rights for African Americans in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Satisfies a major requirement in Religious Studies.
Satisfies a minor requirement in Religious Studies.
Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Satisfies the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.

REL 266 - The Bible in America

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 requirement.
 

REL 270 - Classical Hinduism

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

REL 271 - Classical Buddhism

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies East Asian Studies requirement.
Satisfies South Asian Studies requirement.

REL 272 - Classical Islam

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

REL 274 - Women and Gender in Islam

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 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.

REL 275 - Jewish Religious Life

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

REL 276 - The Shi’ite Tradition

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 requirement.

Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies Middle Eastern Studies requirement.
Satisfies South Asian Studies requirement.

REL 277 - Islamic Mysticism

Islamic spirituality and its diverse varieties, doctrinal formulations, practices, history and contemporary significance.

Satisfies the Philosophical and Religious Perspectives requirement.
Satisfies the cultural diversity requirement.
Satisfies a requirement in the South Asian Studies interdisciplinary minor. 
Satisfies a requirement in the Arab Studies minor.