Schedule of Classes

Survey of human values and religious experiences found in major religions of the world.

Analysis of religious faith, worship, and practice in an age of transition. Emphasis on challenges that confront a person's faith. Survey of major American religious denominations.

An overview of both theory and method in the psychological study of religion. Emphasis will be on understanding the biological and psychological underpinnings of religious belief, behavior, and experience. Cross listed as PSY 280.

Human values in the early Christian experience as reflected in its scriptures.

Academic study of Christian asceticism from the fourth to the seventh centuries. This course analyzes the earliest literature of the Christian monastic movements, primarily located in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean lands. The course gives particular attention to understanding moral values developed in monasticism that influenced Western civilization.

The course introduces students to the writings that comprise rabbinic literature, particularly the Talmud, the single most influential document in the history of Judaism. Rabbinic texts are set within a broader cultural, historical, and religious context as the values, beliefs, and practices of the first rabbis are analyzed and appreciated.

Historical and theoretical analysis of relationships between Muslims and Christians, including a careful examination of the Middle Eastern Christian communities at the time of Muhammad, and after. Explores the ways Muslims and Christians have developed theological and social categories for characterizing each other.

Multidisciplinary examination of the limits and possibilities of human nature. Evolutionary biology, developmental psychology, philosophical ethics, and contemporary religious thought.

Historical and cultural study of the religions of India, Southeast Asia, and China.

Historical and cultural survey of religion in Japan, primarily Buddhism and Shinto. Folk religion, Chinese influences, and the New Religions.

Topics of special interest which may vary each time course is offered. Topic stated in current Schedule of Classes.

Primarily for undergraduate RLS majors: comprehensive and integrated survey of the discipline at an advanced level; projects in special areas.