An examination of the ways various religious ideologies, institutions, and affiliated actors converge with socio-ecological relations, with particular attention to theories and questions of (in)justice. A globally-derived set of case studies will examine moments of conflict and convergence between diverse religious geographies and sacral imaginaries. Provides grounding for students within the growing field of religion, nature, and culture studies (aka religion and ecology), and through those conversations the broader practices of the environmental humanities.

This course introduces students to the formation and varying historic trajectories of African American religious traditions in the U.S., with some brief engagement with African-derived religions in the Caribbean. Although some studies of African American religion begin with the period of slavery and the Christianization of diasporic Africans, this course locates the origin of Black religion on the continent of Africa. From this starting point, this course will examine West African religions, religions of the enslaved, the formation of Black Christian denominations, and the origin of Black Pentecostalism. Students will also be exposed to often overlooked historical periods and religious expressions including the arrival of Black religio-racial movements during the Harlem Renaissance, and the African-derived religions of Haitian Vodou and U.S. Voodoo.

Encounter the history of Christian martyrdom and sainthood in Rome, Italy. Examines the beginnings of martyrdom in the early church, particularly in the context of the Roman Empire, and the legacies of the apostles Peter and Paul as well as the emergence of later saints, especially in the Catholic tradition. Historical study is attentive to ways in which Christian communities construct and memorialize—through literature, art, and space—martyrs and saints.

Explores Buddhist approaches to topics such as: the nature of 'self'; relationships between mind and body; theories of karma; why reality is described as 'empty'; why ethical conduct is important; mechanics and goals of different meditation practices; and, why both critical inquiry and love are essential for a good life. Can be taken in addition to RE 170 Buddhism.

Highlights the indispensable role that imagination holds for human societies in general and religions in particular. Our investigation of both religious and secular narratives from multiple traditions will reveal the power of creative imagination present in all aspects of culture that envision human flourishing.

An examination of the ways various religious ideologies, institutions, and affiliated actors converge with socio-ecological relations, with particular attention to theories and questions of (in)justice. A globally-derived set of case studies will examine moments of conflict and convergence between diverse religious geographies and sacral imaginaries. Provides grounding for students within the growing field of religion, nature, and culture studies (aka religion and ecology), and through those conversations the broader practices of the environmental humanities.

What does it mean to be “religious” in the ancient Mediterranean? How do myth and ritual operate in this context? How did Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians understand and express their relationship with the divine realm? To address these questions and others, this course explores various aspects of religious life in the ancient world through study and exploration of sites in Greece, including relevant relevant literary and material evidence. As we examine diverse beliefs and practices, we will attend to how religion intersected with political, social, and economic facets of ancient life.

While college learning focuses on the 'life of the mind,' rich scholarship in philosophy, psychology, and biology points to the inextricable relation between our mental and physical experience. Attending to our bodies and emotions supports better learning. Explore this interconnection from multiple disciplines, including religious practice, neuroscience, environmental studies, and healing modalities in medicine.

Buddhist approaches to topics such as: the nature of 'self'; relationships between mind and body; theories of karma; why reality is described as 'empty'; why ethical conduct is important; mechanics and goals of different meditation practices; and, why both critical inquiry and love are essential for a good life. Can be taken in addition to RE 170 Buddhism.

This course examines the various ways in which religious beliefs, practices, institutions, and communities have historically contested and subverted sources of social, cultural, economic, and political power. Students who enroll in this course will learn to identify the ways in which specific religious communities have been instrumental in struggles for social justice, both in the United States and around the world. In so doing, they will be introduced not only to theories supporting religiously-based social activism but also historical examples that exemplify theory-in-practice.

s How do people use sound and music to access alternate states of consciousness and otherworldly realms? This course explores the connection between music, sacred soundscapes, and spiritual perception across a range of musical practices and belief systems. Through different case studies from around the world, we will investigate the essential role of sound and melody in conjuring mystical and extrasensory states of being across social and regional contexts. Our study will include environmental-based sound explorations, where we explore techniques involving deep listening and sound painting. One manifestation of our deep listening practice will be engaging in nuanced conversations about appropriation, and systems of white supremacy, learning to clearly and respectfully navigate these topics with others. We will contextualize sacred and spiritual soundscapes within religious and cultural frameworks: exploring trance, possession, and intoxication from a musical perspective. Various sensorial exercises will heighten our awareness of sound and space – including breath, silence, and movement. By illuminating how sound moves within and across human bodies, we will explore how music enables transcendent experiences of ecstatic and otherworldly realms. 1 unit - L. Carrizo Class

Highlights the indispensable role that imagination holds for human societies in general and religions in particular. Our investigation of both religious and secular narratives from multiple traditions will reveal the power of creative imagination present in all aspects of culture that envision human flourishing.

Encounter the history of Christian martyrdom and sainthood in Rome, Italy. Examines the beginnings of martyrdom in the early church, particularly in the context of the Roman Empire, and the legacies of the apostles Peter and Paul as well as the emergence of later saints, especially in the Catholic tradition. Historical study is attentive to ways in which Christian communities construct and memorialize—through literature, art, and space—martyrs and saints.

This course examines the apparently universal human phenomenon of religion and its place in the modern world. Scholars have generally assumed that the spread of modernity would entail the gradual retreat of religion as an active political force in the world. However, today one hears of a global “resurgence of religion”—the Pentecostalization of sub-Saharan Africa, the rise of Hindu majoritarianism in South Asia, “politicized” Islam in the Middle East and Southeast Asia and the Christian right in the United States are but a few examples. This course asks: What is religion? What is the source of its apparent power? Are the various phenomena we group under the name/sign religion indeed of a piece? Is there some common essence, in other words, justifying the assumption that the diverse beliefs and practices termed “religious” are but different expressions of the same thing? And if not, why is such an assumption so widespread? The course begins by examining some of the most influential attempts to define and explain religion comparatively, both within the discipline of anthropology and in the works that have influenced it. Thus, we will engage the writings of Freud, Weber, Durkheim, as well as anthropologists such as E.B. Tylor, Bronislaw Malinowski, Mary Douglas, and Clifford Geertz. These texts are included not simply for historical value, but as lucid expressions of ideas that are sedimented as matters of common sense and as ideas that permeate academic as well as popular accounts. In the second part of the course, we will focus on ethnographic attempts to account for the power of religion in specific social and cultural contexts, including in the modern West. These ethnographic readings will enable us to explore the important issues, approaches and debates in the anthropology of religion and to address the question of religion in the modern world in relation to its constitutive other: secularism.

Explores the growing field of queer studies in religion. Students will explore how queerness is always and already present within the sacred texts of religious communities (giving special attention to the Hebrew and Christian scriptures). Students will explore ways in which queer persons queer traditional interpretations of sacred texts, disrupting and reimagining figures and teachings within varying religious faiths, and the discourse of queer theology, a field of study that brings queer studies to bear on Christian theological thought and claims. This course will introduce students to the ongoing discussion of how queer modes of being might be conceived as “religious” and spiritual in and of themselves.