Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies

Students on Summer 2021, Fall 2021, or Spring 2022 requirements RELBA

The Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies offers students an opportunity to explore and understand the religious traditions of the world, as well as to study expressions of religious life and thought that may not fall within traditional patterns. The program teaches a variety of approaches to the academic study of religion and religion's intersections with other aspects of human society and culture. Students majoring in Religious Studies will not only be better equipped to understand people of different backgrounds, but will also learn about themselves: how their ideas and values were formed, how they differ from others, and the significance of these differences. The skills, knowledge, and attributes gained in the study of religion remain relevant throughout one's professional and private life.

View Degree MapA semester-by-semester path to completing degree and major requirements

Requirements

The major requires at least 30 credit hours, including the requirements listed below.

Area A (Africa, Europe, and West Asia). One (1) course:
- REL-A 202 Issues in African, European, and West Asian Religions
- REL-A 210 Introduction to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
- REL-A 220 Introduction to the New Testament
- REL-A 230 Introduction to Judaism
- REL-A 235 Sacred Books of the Jews
- REL-A 250 Introduction to Christianity
- REL-A 270 Introduction to Islam
- REL-A 275 Sex and Gender in Islam
- REL-A 300 Studies in African, European, and West Asian Religions
- REL-A 305 Ancient Mediterranean Religions
- REL-A 314 Gender and Power in the Hebrew Bible
- REL-A 315 Prophecy in Ancient Israel
- REL-A 316 Jews, Christians, and Others in Late Antiquity
- REL-A 317 Judaism in the Making
- REL-A 318 Rabbinic Judaism: Literature and Beliefs
- REL-A 319 Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient World
- REL-A 320 Jesus
- REL-A 321 Paul and His Influence in Early Christianity
- REL-A 325 Christianity: Christ to Constantine
- REL-A 326 Early Christian Monasticism
- REL-A 335 Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
- REL-A 350 Christianity, 400--1500
- REL-A 351 Christianity and Modernity
- REL-A 355 The Right Belief: History of Orthodox Christianity
- REL-A 375 Women in the Bible
- REL-A 380 Knowing the Will of God in Islam I: Law
- REL-A 415 Topics in Ancient Israelite Religion
- REL-A 426 Gnostic Religion and Literature
- REL-A 430 Topics in the History of Judaism
- REL-A 435 Catholic Controversies
- REL-A 440 Judaism and Gender: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
- REL-A 450 Topics in the History of Christianity
- REL-A 470 Topics in Islamic Studies
- REL-A 480 Knowing the Will of God in Islam II: Theology
- REL-A 485 The Life and Legacy of Muhammad
REL-A 202 Issues in African, European, and West Asian Religions
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected issues and movements in African, European, and West Asian religions.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 210 Introduction to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Development of the beliefs, practices, and institutions of ancient Israel from the patriarchs to the Maccabean period. Introduction to the biblical literature and other ancient Near East documents.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 210 or REL-R 210.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-A 220 Introduction to the New Testament
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
What is the "New Testament"? This introductory course considers both literary and historical approaches to the literature of the New Testament, with particular emphasis on the Gospels and Pauline literature. Topics include the concept of "canon," the history of reception and interpretation, gender and sexuality in early Christian literatures, the Apocryphal Gospels, and relationships between early Judaism and early Christianity.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 220 or REL-R 220.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-A 230 Introduction to Judaism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The development of post-biblical Judaism; major themes, movements, practices, and values.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 230, REL-A 230, or REL-R 245.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 235 Sacred Books of the Jews
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Explores the sacred texts of Judaism after the Bible. Considers how tradition works; how people created new religious knowledge after the Bible was canonized; why some texts are considered sacred, while others are not. Includes a variety of sacred texts, including Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, and Kabbalah.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 220 or REL-A 235.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-A 250 Introduction to Christianity
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduces an array of Christian ideas, practices, and texts ranging from the first century to the present day in order to foster an appreciation of Christianity\'s important but complicated role in shaping culture, society, and politics.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 250 or REL-R 247.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-A 270 Introduction to Islam
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduction to the religious world of Islam: the Arabian milieu before Muhammad's prophetic call, the career of the Prophet. Qur'an and hadith, ritual and the pillars of Muslim praxis, legal, and theological traditions; mysticism and devotional piety, reform and revivalist movements.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 270 or REL-R 257.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-A 275 Sex and Gender in Islam
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
No prior knowledge of Islam required. Explores the role of sex and gender in shaping the lives of Muslims. Focuses on the experiences of Muslim women, men, as well as people who inhabit non-normative genders and sexualities. Investigates the ways in which Muslims negotiate and respond to the sexual politics of the times in which they live.
- Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
REL-A 300 Studies in African, European, and West Asian Religions
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected topics and movements in African, European, and West Asian religions.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 305 Ancient Mediterranean Religions
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
A survey of the various religions in the ancient Near East (Egypt, Babylon, Persia) and the Greco-Roman worlds. Attention will be paid to ritual, philosophy, and community formation.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 305 or REL-R 318.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 314 Gender and Power in the Hebrew Bible

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Traces the relationships among gender, sexuality, and political power in Jewish antiquity, primarily through the Hebrew Bible. Examines how fertility, virginity, sexuality, and foreignness intersect with gender-constructions in these texts. Demonstrates the diverse ways in which gender is depicted, attuned to differences in context and genre.
REL-A 315 Prophecy in Ancient Israel
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The prophetic movement and its relationship to religious, social, and political traditions and institutions in the ancient Near East. The thought of major prophetic figures in Israel, such as Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 315 or REL-R 310.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 316 Jews, Christians, and Others in Late Antiquity
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Explores the interactions and so-called parting of the ways between Jews, Christians, and other religious groups in Roman Palestine and Sasanian Persia from the first through seventh centuries C.E. Pays special attention to the portrayals of Christians in Jewish literature such as the Mishnah and Talmud.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 316 or REL-A 316.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-A 317 Judaism in the Making
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The development of Jewish traditions from circa 400 BCE to 200 CE in their linguistic, geographical, and cultural diversity. Discusses emergence of scripture, apocalyptic traditions, place in Hellenistic and Roman cultures, relationship with early Christianity, and emergence of Judaism as a religion.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 317 or REL-A 317.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 318 Rabbinic Judaism: Literature and Beliefs
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The rabbis of late antiquity were masters of the Bible who produced a corpus of writings in which they interpret holy scriptures. These writings, known as rabbinic literature, remain to this day the foundation of normative Jewish behavior and traditions. This course explores what these rabbis believed and how they interpreted the Bible.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 320 or REL-A 318.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-A 319 Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient World

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Focuses on magic and witchcraft in the ancient world, emphasizing Mesopotamian, Greco-Roman, Jewish, and early Christian contexts. Explores common theoretical models for researching magic in antiquity and introduces some inherent problems in the field. Includes close readings of literary and archaeological sources, such as cuneiform tablets, spell books, incantation bowls, amulets, and legal literature.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 319 or JSTU-J 319.
REL-A 320 Jesus
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Comparative and analytical study of traditions about Jesus: their development and function in various historical periods, social contexts, and intellectual traditions.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 321 Paul and His Influence in Early Christianity
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Life and thought of Paul in the context of first-century Christian and non-Christian movements. Development of radical Paulinism and anti-Paulinism in the second century; their influence on the formation of Christianity.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 321 or REL-R 325.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 325 Christianity: Christ to Constantine
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
History and literature of Christianity from Paul and Jesus to the rise of Constantine. Topics include Christianity and the state, gender and sexuality, asceticism, persecution and martyrdom, heresy.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 325 or REL-R 327.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 326 Early Christian Monasticism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The origins and development of varieties of the monastic life in ancient and early medieval Christianity; social forms of monastic groups, ascetic practices, types of spirituality.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 326 or REL-R 323.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 335 Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The development of Jewish mystical practice and thought from the Middle Ages to the present, thirteenth-century Spanish Kabbalah, sixteenth-century Safed, Sabbatianism, Hasidism, contemporary manifestations of mysticism.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 335 or REL-R 341.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 350 Christianity, 400--1500
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The history and literature of western Christianity during the Middle Ages.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 350 or REL-R 330.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 351 Christianity and Modernity
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The history and literature of western Christianity from the Reformation to the present.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 351 or REL-R 331.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 355 The Right Belief: History of Orthodox Christianity
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduction to the doctrines, spirituality, and practice of Orthodox Christianity as expressed in various cultural and national contexts. Particular attention is paid to Orthodox asceticism, monasticism, parish life, theology, and religious rivalry within the confession.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 375 Women in the Bible
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Considers representations of women and the feminine in the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and literature of early Judaism and Christianity. Explores how these texts have been interpreted in the history of Western culture, and how they continue to shape attitudes about women, gender, and sexuality in the contemporary world.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 375 or REL-A 375.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 380 Knowing the Will of God in Islam I: Law
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Students gain understanding of how Muslims have traditionally interpreted the texts of revelation (Qur\'an and Hadith) through the development of practical \"hands-on\" methods. Designed to resemble classes in theology, jurisprudence, and law in a medieval Islamic college.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 380 or REL-R 378.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-A 415 Topics in Ancient Israelite Religion
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected problems in ancient Israelite religion, such as pre-Yahwistic religion, Israel\'s cultic life, royal theology and messianism, the wisdom movement, sectarian apocalyptic.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 426 Gnostic Religion and Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
The myth, ritual, and beliefs of the ancient Gnostics and related Christian and non-Christian movements of the late Roman empire: classic Gnostic scripture, Valentinus and his followers, the School of St. Thomas, Basilides, the Corpus Hermeticum, and the possibility of Gnosticism in the New Testament.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 426 or REL-R 425.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 430 Topics in the History of Judaism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Special topics such as problems in Jewish mystical tradition, the nature of religious community, charismatic leadership, religious biography.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 430 and REL-R 445.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 435 Catholic Controversies
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Controversial issues in the history of Catholicism from Martin Luther's critique of the church's corruption to recent court cases indicting the church's response to sex abuse cases. Examines the place of Catholicism in the modern imagination as well as key historical figures and events.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 440 Judaism and Gender: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Studies the concepts of sex and gender in modern Judaism through categories including law, ritual, and theology. Uses gender theory to explore historical and contemporary struggles over interpretations of traditional Jewish texts. Discusses Jewish ideas about masculinity, femininity, human bodies, and their places in religious life.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 440 or REL-R 421.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 450 Topics in the History of Christianity
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Significant figures, issues, and movements in the history of Christianity examined in their social and religious contexts, with attention to their continuing religious and cultural impact.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 450 and REL-R 430.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 470 Topics in Islamic Studies
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected topics on Islamic law, philosophy, theology, and mysticism.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 470 and REL-R 456.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-A 480 Knowing the Will of God in Islam II: Theology
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Develops students\' understanding of the central theological issues in Muslim thought as they were developed by various groups and individuals over the last 1,300 years.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 480 or REL-R 468.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-A 485 The Life and Legacy of Muhammad
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Explores the ways in which sacred biography is used in various contexts to develop theories of authority and history. Applies theories and methods of textual interpretation to the earliest known biography of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632 C.E.).
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-A 485 or REL-R 467.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
Area B (South and East Asia). One (1) course:
- REL-B 202 Issues in South and East Asian Religions
- REL-B 210 Introduction to Buddhism
- REL-B 220 Introduction to Hinduism
- REL-B 230 Introduction to Chinese Religion
- REL-B 300 Studies in South and East Asian Religions
- REL-B 310 East Asian Buddhism
- REL-B 312 Mythologies of Martial Arts
- REL-B 315 Tantric Buddhism
- REL-B 320 Hindu Goddesses
- REL-B 330 Women in South Asian Religious Traditions
- REL-B 333 Seeing the Buddha: Buddhist Art of India and Tibet
- REL-B 335 Bollywood and Beyond: Religion in South Asian Film
- REL-B 360 Religions in Japan
- REL-B 374 Classical Chinese Thought
- REL-B 410 Topics in the Buddhist Tradition
- REL-B 412 Buddhism and Popular Culture
- REL-B 414 Buddhist Philosophy in India
- REL-B 420 Topics in Hindu Religious Traditions
- REL-B 433 Embodying Nirvana
- REL-B 440 Topics in Daoism and Chinese Religion
- REL-B 460 Topics in East Asian Religions
REL-B 202 Issues in South and East Asian Religions
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected issues and movements in South and East Asian religions.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-B 210 Introduction to Buddhism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduction to the basic beliefs and practices of Buddhism from its beginnings to the present. Special attention to the life and teachings of the founder, significant developments in India, and the diffusion of the tradition to East Asia, Central Asia, and the West.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-B 210 or REL-R 250.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 220 Introduction to Hinduism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Beliefs, rites, and institutions of Hinduism from the Vedic (c. 1200 B.C.) to modern times: religion of the Vedas and the Upanishads, epics and the rise of devotional religion, philosophical systems (Yoga and Vedanta), sectarian theism, monasticism, socioreligious institutions, popular religion (temples and pilgrimages), modern Hindu syncretism.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-B 220 or REL-R 255.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 230 Introduction to Chinese Religion
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduction to religion in premodern and contemporary China. Examines the concept of religion, the notion of religious identity, and various debates that have shaped religious traditions (Confucians, Daoists, Mohists, Chinese Buddhists, Confucian-Muslims) in China.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 300 Studies in South and East Asian Religions
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected topics and movements in South and East Asian religions.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-B 310 East Asian Buddhism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Adaptation and assimilation of Buddhism in East Asia, early philosophical and ritual schools, social issues, Tiantai synthesis of Mahayana Buddhism, devotional Buddhism, Ch\'an/Zen school of meditation, impact of Buddhism on East Asian cultures and arts.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-B 310 or REL-R 350.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 312 Mythologies of Martial Arts

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Covers the development of ideologies and mythologies connected to martial arts in Chinese and Japanese thought. Looks at a diverse range of texts, including philosophical and medical literature, novels, and martial arts manuals.
REL-B 315 Tantric Buddhism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
This class explores the rise and circulation of tantric practices, ideas, and texts among Indian and Tibetan Buddhists. The class also considers the advantages and limitations of various approaches that modern scholars have taken in their attempts to make sense of these practices, ideas, and texts.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 320 Hindu Goddesses
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Introduction to the goddesses in Hindu traditions, including Lakshmi, Saraswati, Sita, Radha, Parvati, Durga, Kali, Ganga, and Sitala. Focus on the mythology, iconography, cultic practices, embodied forms, and theology associated with these goddesses.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-B 320 or REL-R 348.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-B 330 Women in South Asian Religious Traditions
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Historical view of the officially sanctioned roles for women in several religious traditions in South Asia, and women\'s efforts to become agents and participants in the religious expressions of their own lives.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of INST-I 380, REL-B 330, or REL-R 382.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 333 Seeing the Buddha: Buddhist Art of India and Tibet
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
An exploration of Buddhist art and its multiple social and ritual contexts, with particular attention given to works produced in India and Tibet. Designed to provoke reflection on the roles played by images in the religious life of Buddhist communities and in other religions over time.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 335 Bollywood and Beyond: Religion in South Asian Film
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
A consideration of the nature and meaning of religion in South Asia using film as the lens to explore the South Asian continuum running from the sacred to the secular.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-B 335 or REL-R 388.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-B 360 Religions in Japan
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Religious movements in Japan, with emphasis on the development of Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, and the rise of the \"new religions.\"
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-B 360 or REL-R 357.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 374 Classical Chinese Thought
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
An introduction to the early development of Chinese thought, from ancient divination to the religious, ethical, and political theories of classical Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism. Focuses on debates over human nature and self-cultivation, the nature of the cosmos, and the proper ordering of society. Readings are in English translation.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of EALC-E 374, REL-B 374, REL-R 368, or PHIL-P 374.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 410 Topics in the Buddhist Tradition
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected topics such as Mahayana Sutra literature, Buddhist cult practice, Indian Buddhist inscriptions, PrajÃ±Ã¥pÃ¥ramitÃ¥ thought, or Zen in Korea and Japan.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 410 and REL-R 450.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-B 412 Buddhism and Popular Culture
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Seminar examines several major questions on Buddhism in a global context. How do popular media such as manga, film, and fiction, shape and change our understandings of Buddhism? What does it mean for a human being, a given practice, or a particular object to be "Buddhist"? What do Buddhist doctrine and practice have to say about how we perceive and participate in popular culture?
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 414 Buddhist Philosophy in India
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines ideas, methods, and practices of seminal importance for Buddhist philosophical traditions in and beyond the Indian subcontinent. Explores how certain Buddhist thinkers have asked and attempted to answer questions regarding the self, reality, knowledge, conduct, and liberation.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 420 Topics in Hindu Religious Traditions
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected topics such as Upanishadic thought, the Bhagavad Gita, Advaita Vedanta, Hindu ethics, monastic traditions, Hindu soteriology.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 420 and REL-R 458.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-B 433 Embodying Nirvana
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Addresses the divergent ways in which Buddhists have understood the figure of the Buddha and the nature of Buddhahood. Draws from a number of primary texts in translation, concentrating principally (although not exclusively) on Indian Buddhist materials.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-B 440 Topics in Daoism and Chinese Religion
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected topics within the Chinese religious traditions.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 440 and REL-R 469.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-B 460 Topics in East Asian Religions
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examination of a selected theme, movement, or period in the religious history of China, Japan, or Korea. Topics might include interactions of traditions, new religions in Japan, or religious change in Sung China.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 460 and REL-R 452.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
Area C (The Americas). One (1) course:
- REL-C 202 Issues in Religion in the Americas
- REL-C 220 American Religion and Politics
- REL-C 230 American Jewish History
- REL-C 300 Studies in Religion in the Americas
- REL-C 303 Superheroes and Religion in American Culture
- REL-C 320 African American Religions
- REL-C 323 Jews and Race in the United States
- REL-C 325 Race, Religion, and Ethnicity in the Americas
- REL-C 330 Evangelical America
- REL-C 335 New Religious Movements in the Americas
- REL-C 345 Disaster in American Religion and Culture
- REL-C 355 Religion and Sex in America
- REL-C 401 Topics in American Religious History
- REL-C 402 Religion, Illness, and Healing
- REL-C 420 Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in American Religion
REL-C 202 Issues in Religion in the Americas
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected topics, issues, and movements in American religions.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-C 220 American Religion and Politics
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
American religious institutions and public policy. Religious liberty. Religious communities as political forces on selected issues, e.g., war, poverty, racism.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-C 220 or REL-R 271.
- Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
REL-C 230 American Jewish History
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Explores American Jewish history from its beginnings to the present through primary source readings, documentary films, and historical readings.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of HIST-H 259, JSTU-J 259, or REL-C 230.
- Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
REL-C 300 Studies in Religion in the Americas
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected topics and movements in American religions.
Repeatability
May be repeated with different topics for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-C 303 Superheroes and Religion in American Culture
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Through reading, watching, and creating superhero stories, course explores what such stories may have to say about religion, spirituality, science, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, class and age in American culture.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
REL-C 320 African American Religions
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines the varieties of African American religions, especially Christianity, Islam, Yoruba, Vodun, and Humanism, from the colonial era to the present. Methodologies will also be critically examined.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-C 320 or REL-R 321.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
REL-C 323 Jews and Race in the United States
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Explores the spectrum of Jewish thought on race and ethnicity from historical and regional perspectives. Addresses the questions "Are Jews white?" and "Are Jews a race?" looking at both contemporary and historical sources to see how the answers differ in relation to the specific racial landscapes of particular times and places.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 310 or REL-C 323.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-C 325 Race, Religion, and Ethnicity in the Americas
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
A comparative study of the role religious narratives and beliefs have played in the shaping of racial and ethnic boundaries.
- Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
- Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
REL-C 330 Evangelical America
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Assesses the causes, nature, and implications of evangelical influence from the Great Awakening to the present.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-C 330 or REL-R 337.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
REL-C 335 New Religious Movements in the Americas
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Offers a theoretical and comparative survey of the emergence of religious traditions. Groups may include early Christianity, early Islam, Nichirin Shoshu, Mormonism, Tenrikyo, the Nation of Islam, Scientology, Falun Gong, and the Branch Davidians.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-C 335 or REL-R 334.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-C 345 Disaster in American Religion and Culture
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines selected American disasters (e.g., 9/11, the sinking of the Titanic) to consider how diverse populations at different historical moments in American history have sought to understand disaster. Considers events in their historical, social, and political contexts and interprets them to understand more fully the religious ideas, beliefs, practices, and disputes in play among representative groups.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
REL-C 355 Religion and Sex in America
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines the relationship between American religion and sex from the early 1600s to the 21st century. Readings include culture theory, contemporary literature, missionary documents, theological tracts, and legal documents from early and contemporary periods. Students are encouraged to draw upon the resources of the Kinsey Institute archives.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-C 355 or REL-R 391.
- Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
REL-C 401 Topics in American Religious History
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
A selected topic such as American Catholicism in the twentieth century, religion and nationalism in America, or the problem of race and the American churches.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-C 401 and REL-R 434.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-C 402 Religion, Illness, and Healing
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
What is the meaning of illness and healing? Is religion good or bad for health? How should healthcare providers respond to patients' religious beliefs? What is the relationship between complementary and alternative medicine or prayer and religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, or Christianity? This course is ideal for pre-med, pre-law, business/management, and other interested students.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
REL-C 420 Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in American Religion
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
An examination of the religious thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in the context of American religious cultures.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-C 420 or REL-R 438.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
Area D (Theory, Ethics, Comparison). One (1) course:
- REL-D 201 Shamans, Spirit Mediums and Prophets
- REL-D 202 Issues in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
- REL-D 250 Religion, Ecology, and the Self
- REL-D 300 Studies in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
- REL-D 301 Religion and Its Critics
- REL-D 310 Contemporary Religious Thought
- REL-D 315 Religion and Personality
- REL-D 325 Religions in Practice: Social Theories of Religion
- REL-D 330 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism I
- REL-D 331 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism II
- REL-D 339 Pilgrimage and Sacred Landscapes
- REL-D 340 Religion and Bioethics
- REL-D 349 Religion, Science Fiction, and Fantasy
- REL-D 350 Religion, Ethics, and the Environment
- REL-D 362 Religious Issues in Contemporary Judaism
- REL-D 365 Friendship, Benevolence, and Love
- REL-D 369 Religion and the Arts
- REL-D 370 Topics in Gender and Western Religions
- REL-D 375 Religion and Literature
- REL-D 380 Comparative Study of Religious Phenomena
- REL-D 385 Messianism and Messiahs in Comparative Perspective
- REL-D 399 Gender, Sex, Bodies, and Religion
- REL-D 410 Topics in Religious Thought
- REL-D 430 Problems in Social Ethics
- REL-D 485 Religion and Media
REL-D 201 Shamans, Spirit Mediums and Prophets
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Study of spirits and their interaction with human beings in the material world. Exploration of shamanism, spirit mediumship and prophecy--not simply as oddities on the margins of what is properly religious, but as central to how religion and modernity are defined.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 202 Issues in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected issues and movements in theory, ethics, and comparison.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 250 Religion, Ecology, and the Self
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Deep ecology seeks fundamental transformations in views of world and self. It claims that there is no ontological divide in the forms of life and aims for an environmentally sustainable and spiritually rich way of life. This course is an introductory examination of Deep Ecology from a religious studies perspective.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-D 250 or REL-R 236.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 300 Studies in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected topics and movements in theory, ethics, and comparison.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 301 Religion and Its Critics
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines major critics of religion, including Spinoza, Hume, Marx, and Freud.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-D 301 or REL-R 333.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
- Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
REL-D 310 Contemporary Religious Thought
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Interpretation of the human condition and destiny in contemporary religious and antireligious thought. Topics can include study of a major figure (e.g., Kierkegaard) or movement (e.g., peace studies).
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 310 and REL-R 340.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 315 Religion and Personality
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Different ways of relating psychological concepts and data from personality theory to the study of religion and theology. Topics include psychoanalytic interpretation, existential psychology, and psychohistorical study of religious leaders.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 315 and REL-R 365.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 325 Religions in Practice: Social Theories of Religion
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Acquaints students with different theoretical and analytical approaches through which religious beliefs, experiences, feelings, and practices have conventionally been studied by anthropologists. Readings cover key domains and concepts such as totemism, myth, esoteric knowledge/power (\"magic\"), ancestor/ spirit cult, shamanism, possession and healing, ritual (performance), and notions of purity/impurity.
- Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
REL-D 330 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism I
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Christian ethics from the New Testament through the early modern period. Readings include first- and second-century authors, patristic fathers, Augustine, Bernard, Abelard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Anabaptists, Vitoria, Locke, among others. First of a two-semester sequence.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-D 330 or REL-R 374.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 331 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism II
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Christian ethics from the New Testament through the early modern period. Readings include first- and second-century authors, patristic fathers, Augustine, Bernard, Abelard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Anabaptists, Vitoria, Locke, among others. Second of a two-semester sequence.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-D 331 or REL-R 375.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 339 Pilgrimage and Sacred Landscapes
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Studies sacred spaces, landscapes, heritage, and tourism in an attempt to answer such questions as: What is a sacred place? What is the difference between pilgrimage and tourism? How are sacred places made, unmade, and transformed? Resources include pilgrimage diaries, travel literature, music, and film. Incorporates visits to local sacred sites.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 340 Religion and Bioethics
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines questions about human nature, finitude, the meaning of suffering, and appropriate uses of medical technology in the face of natural limitations, such as disease and death, that humans encounter. Issues include prenatal/genetic testing, transhumanism, enhancement technologies, cloning, euthanasia, and organ transplantation. Judeo-Christian and cross-cultural perspectives on illness are considered.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 349 Religion, Science Fiction, and Fantasy

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Explores how speculation and religion intersect. Themes studied may include: post-apocalyptic narratives and prophecy, religion as a form of fantasy, and religious dimensions of fandom. Course focuses on in-class discussion and written projects.
REL-D 350 Religion, Ethics, and the Environment
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Exploration of relationships between religious worldviews and environmental ethics. Considers environmental critiques and defenses of monotheistic traditions, selected non-Western traditions, the impact of secular \"mythologies,\" philosophical questions, and lifestyle issues.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-D 350 or REL-R 371.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 362 Religious Issues in Contemporary Judaism
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Religious problems confronting Jews and Judaism in our own time: women and Judaism, the impact of the Holocaust on Judaism, contemporary views of Zionism, religious trends in American Judaism.
Repeatability
May be repeated with different topics for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 365 Friendship, Benevolence, and Love
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
By closely reading relevant classic works from Western and East Asian cultures, students examine ideas of friendship, benevolence, and love. Questions include: What are the varieties of love and friendship? Is romantic love uniquely Western? Is compassion for others natural to human beings? Could true benevolence require actions that appear cruel?
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-D 365 or REL-R 377.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 369 Religion and the Arts
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Explores how religious traditions interact with literary and visual artifacts. Focuses on one or more regions and artistic forms. Examines such issues as representation, presence, visibility, gender, genre, syncretism, etc. in religious and artistic contexts.
Repeatability
May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits in CMLT-C 345 and REL-D 369.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 370 Topics in Gender and Western Religions
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Specific topics regarding gender in Western religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; studies of specific historical periods; or feminist critiques in theology and ethics.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 375 Religion and Literature
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines how literature furthers and also critiques religious agendas. Studies specific genres (e.g., poetry, fiction, epic, diaries) with an eye to the interplay between religious realities and literary expressions in specific cultural contexts (e.g., medieval Hindu devotion or twentieth-century North American counter-culture).
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 380 Comparative Study of Religious Phenomena
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Eastern and Western religions on a selected subject such as time and the sacred, sacrifice, initiation.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 380 and REL-R 360.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 385 Messianism and Messiahs in Comparative Perspective
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Examines the messianic phenomenon as central to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Focuses on Jewish messianism. Christianity and Islam will be employed to compare and contrast how this idea developed in two competing religions. Studies the history of the idea, its relationship to orthodoxy and heresy, and its political implications.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-D 385 or REL-R 307.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 399 Gender, Sex, Bodies, and Religion

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Considers discourses on the body, sexuality, and the construction of gender in a number of religious/intellectual traditions. The precise religions/traditions considered vary and may include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and various philosophical traditions. Studies the import of these discourses and our analyses of them for contemporary thinking about the body, gender, and sexuality.
REL-D 410 Topics in Religious Thought
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Selected focus on major movements and issues in religious thought.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 410 and REL-R 462.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 430 Problems in Social Ethics
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
Intensive study of a selected problem in religion and society such as religion and American politics, war and conscience, medical ethics.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
- Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
REL-D 485 Religion and Media
Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Description
An introduction to recent debates on the nexus between religious experience and communities, and various forms and technologies of mediation. Combines perspectives on religion and ritual with scholarship on media, media consumption, and critical theory. Readings also include an array of ethnographic studies of religiously-inspired movements in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.
Repeatability
Credit given for only one of REL-D 485 or REL-R 411.
- Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
Majors Seminar in Religion. One (1) course:
- REL-R 389 Majors Seminar in Religion
REL-R 389 Majors Seminar in Religion

Credits
3
Prerequisites
None
Notes
Limited to majors
Description
Investigation of a theme or topic in the study of religion, with close attention to method, theory, and history of the discipline.
Repeatability
May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
Electives.
1. Advanced Electives. Three (3) additional credit hours:
  - REL-A 415 Topics in Ancient Israelite Religion
  - REL-A 426 Gnostic Religion and Literature
  - REL-A 430 Topics in the History of Judaism
  - REL-A 435 Catholic Controversies
  - REL-A 440 Judaism and Gender: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
  - REL-A 450 Topics in the History of Christianity
  - REL-A 470 Topics in Islamic Studies
  - REL-A 480 Knowing the Will of God in Islam II: Theology
  - REL-A 485 The Life and Legacy of Muhammad
  - REL-B 410 Topics in the Buddhist Tradition
  - REL-B 412 Buddhism and Popular Culture
  - REL-B 414 Buddhist Philosophy in India
  - REL-B 420 Topics in Hindu Religious Traditions
  - REL-B 433 Embodying Nirvana
  - REL-B 440 Topics in Daoism and Chinese Religion
  - REL-B 460 Topics in East Asian Religions
  - REL-C 401 Topics in American Religious History
  - REL-C 402 Religion, Illness, and Healing
  - REL-C 420 Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in American Religion
  - REL-D 410 Topics in Religious Thought
  - REL-D 430 Problems in Social Ethics
  - REL-D 485 Religion and Media
  - REL-R 497 Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  - REL-R 498 Advanced Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  - REL-R 499 Senior Honors Essay
  REL-A 415 Topics in Ancient Israelite Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected problems in ancient Israelite religion, such as pre-Yahwistic religion, Israel\'s cultic life, royal theology and messianism, the wisdom movement, sectarian apocalyptic.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 426 Gnostic Religion and Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The myth, ritual, and beliefs of the ancient Gnostics and related Christian and non-Christian movements of the late Roman empire: classic Gnostic scripture, Valentinus and his followers, the School of St. Thomas, Basilides, the Corpus Hermeticum, and the possibility of Gnosticism in the New Testament.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 426 or REL-R 425.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 430 Topics in the History of Judaism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Special topics such as problems in Jewish mystical tradition, the nature of religious community, charismatic leadership, religious biography.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 430 and REL-R 445.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 435 Catholic Controversies
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Controversial issues in the history of Catholicism from Martin Luther's critique of the church's corruption to recent court cases indicting the church's response to sex abuse cases. Examines the place of Catholicism in the modern imagination as well as key historical figures and events.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 440 Judaism and Gender: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Studies the concepts of sex and gender in modern Judaism through categories including law, ritual, and theology. Uses gender theory to explore historical and contemporary struggles over interpretations of traditional Jewish texts. Discusses Jewish ideas about masculinity, femininity, human bodies, and their places in religious life.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 440 or REL-R 421.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 450 Topics in the History of Christianity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Significant figures, issues, and movements in the history of Christianity examined in their social and religious contexts, with attention to their continuing religious and cultural impact.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 450 and REL-R 430.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 470 Topics in Islamic Studies
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics on Islamic law, philosophy, theology, and mysticism.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 470 and REL-R 456.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 480 Knowing the Will of God in Islam II: Theology
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Develops students\' understanding of the central theological issues in Muslim thought as they were developed by various groups and individuals over the last 1,300 years.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 480 or REL-R 468.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 485 The Life and Legacy of Muhammad
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores the ways in which sacred biography is used in various contexts to develop theories of authority and history. Applies theories and methods of textual interpretation to the earliest known biography of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632 C.E.).
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 485 or REL-R 467.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 410 Topics in the Buddhist Tradition
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics such as Mahayana Sutra literature, Buddhist cult practice, Indian Buddhist inscriptions, PrajÃ±Ã¥pÃ¥ramitÃ¥ thought, or Zen in Korea and Japan.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 410 and REL-R 450.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 412 Buddhism and Popular Culture
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Seminar examines several major questions on Buddhism in a global context. How do popular media such as manga, film, and fiction, shape and change our understandings of Buddhism? What does it mean for a human being, a given practice, or a particular object to be "Buddhist"? What do Buddhist doctrine and practice have to say about how we perceive and participate in popular culture?
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 414 Buddhist Philosophy in India
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines ideas, methods, and practices of seminal importance for Buddhist philosophical traditions in and beyond the Indian subcontinent. Explores how certain Buddhist thinkers have asked and attempted to answer questions regarding the self, reality, knowledge, conduct, and liberation.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 420 Topics in Hindu Religious Traditions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics such as Upanishadic thought, the Bhagavad Gita, Advaita Vedanta, Hindu ethics, monastic traditions, Hindu soteriology.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 420 and REL-R 458.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 433 Embodying Nirvana
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Addresses the divergent ways in which Buddhists have understood the figure of the Buddha and the nature of Buddhahood. Draws from a number of primary texts in translation, concentrating principally (although not exclusively) on Indian Buddhist materials.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 440 Topics in Daoism and Chinese Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics within the Chinese religious traditions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 440 and REL-R 469.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 460 Topics in East Asian Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examination of a selected theme, movement, or period in the religious history of China, Japan, or Korea. Topics might include interactions of traditions, new religions in Japan, or religious change in Sung China.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 460 and REL-R 452.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 401 Topics in American Religious History
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  A selected topic such as American Catholicism in the twentieth century, religion and nationalism in America, or the problem of race and the American churches.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-C 401 and REL-R 434.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 402 Religion, Illness, and Healing
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  What is the meaning of illness and healing? Is religion good or bad for health? How should healthcare providers respond to patients' religious beliefs? What is the relationship between complementary and alternative medicine or prayer and religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, or Christianity? This course is ideal for pre-med, pre-law, business/management, and other interested students.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-C 420 Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in American Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  An examination of the religious thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in the context of American religious cultures.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 420 or REL-R 438.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 410 Topics in Religious Thought
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected focus on major movements and issues in religious thought.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 410 and REL-R 462.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 430 Problems in Social Ethics
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Intensive study of a selected problem in religion and society such as religion and American politics, war and conscience, medical ethics.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 485 Religion and Media
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  An introduction to recent debates on the nexus between religious experience and communities, and various forms and technologies of mediation. Combines perspectives on religion and ritual with scholarship on media, media consumption, and critical theory. Readings also include an array of ethnographic studies of religiously-inspired movements in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 485 or REL-R 411.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-R 497 Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  
  Credits
  1–6 credit hours
  Prerequisites
  Consent of instructor
  Description
  Elementary language training in preparation for the reading of sacred or scriptural texts. Language to be announced.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
  
  REL-R 498 Advanced Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  
  Credits
  1–6 credit hours
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Advanced language training in preparation for the reading of sacred or scriptural texts. Language to be announced.
  Repeatability
  May be taken for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  
  REL-R 499 Senior Honors Essay
  
  Credits
  1–6 credit hours
  Prerequisites
  Consent of departmental honors advisor
  Description
  Guided research culminating in essay(s).
  Repeatability
  May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
2. Religious Studies 200–499 Electives. Six (6) additional credit hours:
  - REL-A 202 Issues in African, European, and West Asian Religions
  - REL-A 210 Introduction to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
  - REL-A 220 Introduction to the New Testament
  - REL-A 230 Introduction to Judaism
  - REL-A 235 Sacred Books of the Jews
  - REL-A 250 Introduction to Christianity
  - REL-A 270 Introduction to Islam
  - REL-A 275 Sex and Gender in Islam
  - REL-A 300 Studies in African, European, and West Asian Religions
  - REL-A 305 Ancient Mediterranean Religions
  - REL-A 314 Gender and Power in the Hebrew Bible
  - REL-A 315 Prophecy in Ancient Israel
  - REL-A 316 Jews, Christians, and Others in Late Antiquity
  - REL-A 317 Judaism in the Making
  - REL-A 318 Rabbinic Judaism: Literature and Beliefs
  - REL-A 319 Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient World
  - REL-A 320 Jesus
  - REL-A 321 Paul and His Influence in Early Christianity
  - REL-A 325 Christianity: Christ to Constantine
  - REL-A 326 Early Christian Monasticism
  - REL-A 335 Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
  - REL-A 350 Christianity, 400--1500
  - REL-A 351 Christianity and Modernity
  - REL-A 355 The Right Belief: History of Orthodox Christianity
  - REL-A 375 Women in the Bible
  - REL-A 380 Knowing the Will of God in Islam I: Law
  - REL-A 415 Topics in Ancient Israelite Religion
  - REL-A 426 Gnostic Religion and Literature
  - REL-A 430 Topics in the History of Judaism
  - REL-A 435 Catholic Controversies
  - REL-A 440 Judaism and Gender: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
  - REL-A 450 Topics in the History of Christianity
  - REL-A 470 Topics in Islamic Studies
  - REL-A 480 Knowing the Will of God in Islam II: Theology
  - REL-A 485 The Life and Legacy of Muhammad
  - REL-B 202 Issues in South and East Asian Religions
  - REL-B 210 Introduction to Buddhism
  - REL-B 220 Introduction to Hinduism
  - REL-B 230 Introduction to Chinese Religion
  - REL-B 300 Studies in South and East Asian Religions
  - REL-B 310 East Asian Buddhism
  - REL-B 312 Mythologies of Martial Arts
  - REL-B 315 Tantric Buddhism
  - REL-B 320 Hindu Goddesses
  - REL-B 330 Women in South Asian Religious Traditions
  - REL-B 333 Seeing the Buddha: Buddhist Art of India and Tibet
  - REL-B 335 Bollywood and Beyond: Religion in South Asian Film
  - REL-B 360 Religions in Japan
  - REL-B 374 Classical Chinese Thought
  - REL-B 410 Topics in the Buddhist Tradition
  - REL-B 412 Buddhism and Popular Culture
  - REL-B 414 Buddhist Philosophy in India
  - REL-B 420 Topics in Hindu Religious Traditions
  - REL-B 433 Embodying Nirvana
  - REL-B 440 Topics in Daoism and Chinese Religion
  - REL-B 460 Topics in East Asian Religions
  - REL-C 202 Issues in Religion in the Americas
  - REL-C 220 American Religion and Politics
  - REL-C 230 American Jewish History
  - REL-C 300 Studies in Religion in the Americas
  - REL-C 303 Superheroes and Religion in American Culture
  - REL-C 320 African American Religions
  - REL-C 323 Jews and Race in the United States
  - REL-C 325 Race, Religion, and Ethnicity in the Americas
  - REL-C 330 Evangelical America
  - REL-C 335 New Religious Movements in the Americas
  - REL-C 345 Disaster in American Religion and Culture
  - REL-C 355 Religion and Sex in America
  - REL-C 401 Topics in American Religious History
  - REL-C 402 Religion, Illness, and Healing
  - REL-C 420 Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in American Religion
  - REL-D 201 Shamans, Spirit Mediums and Prophets
  - REL-D 202 Issues in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
  - REL-D 250 Religion, Ecology, and the Self
  - REL-D 300 Studies in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
  - REL-D 301 Religion and Its Critics
  - REL-D 310 Contemporary Religious Thought
  - REL-D 315 Religion and Personality
  - REL-D 325 Religions in Practice: Social Theories of Religion
  - REL-D 330 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism I
  - REL-D 331 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism II
  - REL-D 339 Pilgrimage and Sacred Landscapes
  - REL-D 340 Religion and Bioethics
  - REL-D 349 Religion, Science Fiction, and Fantasy
  - REL-D 350 Religion, Ethics, and the Environment
  - REL-D 362 Religious Issues in Contemporary Judaism
  - REL-D 365 Friendship, Benevolence, and Love
  - REL-D 369 Religion and the Arts
  - REL-D 370 Topics in Gender and Western Religions
  - REL-D 375 Religion and Literature
  - REL-D 380 Comparative Study of Religious Phenomena
  - REL-D 385 Messianism and Messiahs in Comparative Perspective
  - REL-D 399 Gender, Sex, Bodies, and Religion
  - REL-D 410 Topics in Religious Thought
  - REL-D 430 Problems in Social Ethics
  - REL-D 485 Religion and Media
  - REL-R 202 Topics in Religious Studies
  - REL-R 213 Literary Classics of Religion
  - REL-R 300 Studies in Religion
  - REL-R 389 Majors Seminar in Religion
  - REL-R 399 Reading for Honors
  - REL-R 497 Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  - REL-R 498 Advanced Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  - REL-R 499 Senior Honors Essay
  REL-A 202 Issues in African, European, and West Asian Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected issues and movements in African, European, and West Asian religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 210 Introduction to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Development of the beliefs, practices, and institutions of ancient Israel from the patriarchs to the Maccabean period. Introduction to the biblical literature and other ancient Near East documents.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 210 or REL-R 210.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 220 Introduction to the New Testament
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  What is the "New Testament"? This introductory course considers both literary and historical approaches to the literature of the New Testament, with particular emphasis on the Gospels and Pauline literature. Topics include the concept of "canon," the history of reception and interpretation, gender and sexuality in early Christian literatures, the Apocryphal Gospels, and relationships between early Judaism and early Christianity.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 220 or REL-R 220.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 230 Introduction to Judaism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The development of post-biblical Judaism; major themes, movements, practices, and values.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 230, REL-A 230, or REL-R 245.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 235 Sacred Books of the Jews
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores the sacred texts of Judaism after the Bible. Considers how tradition works; how people created new religious knowledge after the Bible was canonized; why some texts are considered sacred, while others are not. Includes a variety of sacred texts, including Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, and Kabbalah.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 220 or REL-A 235.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 250 Introduction to Christianity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduces an array of Christian ideas, practices, and texts ranging from the first century to the present day in order to foster an appreciation of Christianity\'s important but complicated role in shaping culture, society, and politics.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 250 or REL-R 247.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 270 Introduction to Islam
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to the religious world of Islam: the Arabian milieu before Muhammad's prophetic call, the career of the Prophet. Qur'an and hadith, ritual and the pillars of Muslim praxis, legal, and theological traditions; mysticism and devotional piety, reform and revivalist movements.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 270 or REL-R 257.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 275 Sex and Gender in Islam
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  No prior knowledge of Islam required. Explores the role of sex and gender in shaping the lives of Muslims. Focuses on the experiences of Muslim women, men, as well as people who inhabit non-normative genders and sexualities. Investigates the ways in which Muslims negotiate and respond to the sexual politics of the times in which they live.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-A 300 Studies in African, European, and West Asian Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics and movements in African, European, and West Asian religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 305 Ancient Mediterranean Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  A survey of the various religions in the ancient Near East (Egypt, Babylon, Persia) and the Greco-Roman worlds. Attention will be paid to ritual, philosophy, and community formation.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 305 or REL-R 318.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 314 Gender and Power in the Hebrew Bible
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Traces the relationships among gender, sexuality, and political power in Jewish antiquity, primarily through the Hebrew Bible. Examines how fertility, virginity, sexuality, and foreignness intersect with gender-constructions in these texts. Demonstrates the diverse ways in which gender is depicted, attuned to differences in context and genre.
  REL-A 315 Prophecy in Ancient Israel
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The prophetic movement and its relationship to religious, social, and political traditions and institutions in the ancient Near East. The thought of major prophetic figures in Israel, such as Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 315 or REL-R 310.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 316 Jews, Christians, and Others in Late Antiquity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores the interactions and so-called parting of the ways between Jews, Christians, and other religious groups in Roman Palestine and Sasanian Persia from the first through seventh centuries C.E. Pays special attention to the portrayals of Christians in Jewish literature such as the Mishnah and Talmud.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 316 or REL-A 316.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 317 Judaism in the Making
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The development of Jewish traditions from circa 400 BCE to 200 CE in their linguistic, geographical, and cultural diversity. Discusses emergence of scripture, apocalyptic traditions, place in Hellenistic and Roman cultures, relationship with early Christianity, and emergence of Judaism as a religion.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 317 or REL-A 317.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 318 Rabbinic Judaism: Literature and Beliefs
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The rabbis of late antiquity were masters of the Bible who produced a corpus of writings in which they interpret holy scriptures. These writings, known as rabbinic literature, remain to this day the foundation of normative Jewish behavior and traditions. This course explores what these rabbis believed and how they interpreted the Bible.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 320 or REL-A 318.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 319 Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient World
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Focuses on magic and witchcraft in the ancient world, emphasizing Mesopotamian, Greco-Roman, Jewish, and early Christian contexts. Explores common theoretical models for researching magic in antiquity and introduces some inherent problems in the field. Includes close readings of literary and archaeological sources, such as cuneiform tablets, spell books, incantation bowls, amulets, and legal literature.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 319 or JSTU-J 319.
  REL-A 320 Jesus
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Comparative and analytical study of traditions about Jesus: their development and function in various historical periods, social contexts, and intellectual traditions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 321 Paul and His Influence in Early Christianity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Life and thought of Paul in the context of first-century Christian and non-Christian movements. Development of radical Paulinism and anti-Paulinism in the second century; their influence on the formation of Christianity.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 321 or REL-R 325.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 325 Christianity: Christ to Constantine
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  History and literature of Christianity from Paul and Jesus to the rise of Constantine. Topics include Christianity and the state, gender and sexuality, asceticism, persecution and martyrdom, heresy.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 325 or REL-R 327.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 326 Early Christian Monasticism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The origins and development of varieties of the monastic life in ancient and early medieval Christianity; social forms of monastic groups, ascetic practices, types of spirituality.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 326 or REL-R 323.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 335 Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The development of Jewish mystical practice and thought from the Middle Ages to the present, thirteenth-century Spanish Kabbalah, sixteenth-century Safed, Sabbatianism, Hasidism, contemporary manifestations of mysticism.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 335 or REL-R 341.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 350 Christianity, 400--1500
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The history and literature of western Christianity during the Middle Ages.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 350 or REL-R 330.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 351 Christianity and Modernity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The history and literature of western Christianity from the Reformation to the present.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 351 or REL-R 331.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 355 The Right Belief: History of Orthodox Christianity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to the doctrines, spirituality, and practice of Orthodox Christianity as expressed in various cultural and national contexts. Particular attention is paid to Orthodox asceticism, monasticism, parish life, theology, and religious rivalry within the confession.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 375 Women in the Bible
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Considers representations of women and the feminine in the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and literature of early Judaism and Christianity. Explores how these texts have been interpreted in the history of Western culture, and how they continue to shape attitudes about women, gender, and sexuality in the contemporary world.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 375 or REL-A 375.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 380 Knowing the Will of God in Islam I: Law
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Students gain understanding of how Muslims have traditionally interpreted the texts of revelation (Qur\'an and Hadith) through the development of practical \"hands-on\" methods. Designed to resemble classes in theology, jurisprudence, and law in a medieval Islamic college.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 380 or REL-R 378.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 415 Topics in Ancient Israelite Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected problems in ancient Israelite religion, such as pre-Yahwistic religion, Israel\'s cultic life, royal theology and messianism, the wisdom movement, sectarian apocalyptic.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 426 Gnostic Religion and Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The myth, ritual, and beliefs of the ancient Gnostics and related Christian and non-Christian movements of the late Roman empire: classic Gnostic scripture, Valentinus and his followers, the School of St. Thomas, Basilides, the Corpus Hermeticum, and the possibility of Gnosticism in the New Testament.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 426 or REL-R 425.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 430 Topics in the History of Judaism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Special topics such as problems in Jewish mystical tradition, the nature of religious community, charismatic leadership, religious biography.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 430 and REL-R 445.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 435 Catholic Controversies
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Controversial issues in the history of Catholicism from Martin Luther's critique of the church's corruption to recent court cases indicting the church's response to sex abuse cases. Examines the place of Catholicism in the modern imagination as well as key historical figures and events.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 440 Judaism and Gender: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Studies the concepts of sex and gender in modern Judaism through categories including law, ritual, and theology. Uses gender theory to explore historical and contemporary struggles over interpretations of traditional Jewish texts. Discusses Jewish ideas about masculinity, femininity, human bodies, and their places in religious life.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 440 or REL-R 421.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 450 Topics in the History of Christianity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Significant figures, issues, and movements in the history of Christianity examined in their social and religious contexts, with attention to their continuing religious and cultural impact.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 450 and REL-R 430.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 470 Topics in Islamic Studies
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics on Islamic law, philosophy, theology, and mysticism.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 470 and REL-R 456.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 480 Knowing the Will of God in Islam II: Theology
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Develops students\' understanding of the central theological issues in Muslim thought as they were developed by various groups and individuals over the last 1,300 years.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 480 or REL-R 468.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 485 The Life and Legacy of Muhammad
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores the ways in which sacred biography is used in various contexts to develop theories of authority and history. Applies theories and methods of textual interpretation to the earliest known biography of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632 C.E.).
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 485 or REL-R 467.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 202 Issues in South and East Asian Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected issues and movements in South and East Asian religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 210 Introduction to Buddhism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to the basic beliefs and practices of Buddhism from its beginnings to the present. Special attention to the life and teachings of the founder, significant developments in India, and the diffusion of the tradition to East Asia, Central Asia, and the West.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 210 or REL-R 250.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 220 Introduction to Hinduism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Beliefs, rites, and institutions of Hinduism from the Vedic (c. 1200 B.C.) to modern times: religion of the Vedas and the Upanishads, epics and the rise of devotional religion, philosophical systems (Yoga and Vedanta), sectarian theism, monasticism, socioreligious institutions, popular religion (temples and pilgrimages), modern Hindu syncretism.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 220 or REL-R 255.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 230 Introduction to Chinese Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to religion in premodern and contemporary China. Examines the concept of religion, the notion of religious identity, and various debates that have shaped religious traditions (Confucians, Daoists, Mohists, Chinese Buddhists, Confucian-Muslims) in China.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 300 Studies in South and East Asian Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics and movements in South and East Asian religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 310 East Asian Buddhism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Adaptation and assimilation of Buddhism in East Asia, early philosophical and ritual schools, social issues, Tiantai synthesis of Mahayana Buddhism, devotional Buddhism, Ch\'an/Zen school of meditation, impact of Buddhism on East Asian cultures and arts.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 310 or REL-R 350.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 312 Mythologies of Martial Arts
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Covers the development of ideologies and mythologies connected to martial arts in Chinese and Japanese thought. Looks at a diverse range of texts, including philosophical and medical literature, novels, and martial arts manuals.
  REL-B 315 Tantric Buddhism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  This class explores the rise and circulation of tantric practices, ideas, and texts among Indian and Tibetan Buddhists. The class also considers the advantages and limitations of various approaches that modern scholars have taken in their attempts to make sense of these practices, ideas, and texts.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 320 Hindu Goddesses
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to the goddesses in Hindu traditions, including Lakshmi, Saraswati, Sita, Radha, Parvati, Durga, Kali, Ganga, and Sitala. Focus on the mythology, iconography, cultic practices, embodied forms, and theology associated with these goddesses.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 320 or REL-R 348.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 330 Women in South Asian Religious Traditions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Historical view of the officially sanctioned roles for women in several religious traditions in South Asia, and women\'s efforts to become agents and participants in the religious expressions of their own lives.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of INST-I 380, REL-B 330, or REL-R 382.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 333 Seeing the Buddha: Buddhist Art of India and Tibet
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  An exploration of Buddhist art and its multiple social and ritual contexts, with particular attention given to works produced in India and Tibet. Designed to provoke reflection on the roles played by images in the religious life of Buddhist communities and in other religions over time.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 335 Bollywood and Beyond: Religion in South Asian Film
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  A consideration of the nature and meaning of religion in South Asia using film as the lens to explore the South Asian continuum running from the sacred to the secular.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 335 or REL-R 388.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 360 Religions in Japan
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Religious movements in Japan, with emphasis on the development of Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, and the rise of the \"new religions.\"
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 360 or REL-R 357.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 374 Classical Chinese Thought
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  An introduction to the early development of Chinese thought, from ancient divination to the religious, ethical, and political theories of classical Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism. Focuses on debates over human nature and self-cultivation, the nature of the cosmos, and the proper ordering of society. Readings are in English translation.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of EALC-E 374, REL-B 374, REL-R 368, or PHIL-P 374.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 410 Topics in the Buddhist Tradition
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics such as Mahayana Sutra literature, Buddhist cult practice, Indian Buddhist inscriptions, PrajÃ±Ã¥pÃ¥ramitÃ¥ thought, or Zen in Korea and Japan.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 410 and REL-R 450.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 412 Buddhism and Popular Culture
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Seminar examines several major questions on Buddhism in a global context. How do popular media such as manga, film, and fiction, shape and change our understandings of Buddhism? What does it mean for a human being, a given practice, or a particular object to be "Buddhist"? What do Buddhist doctrine and practice have to say about how we perceive and participate in popular culture?
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 414 Buddhist Philosophy in India
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines ideas, methods, and practices of seminal importance for Buddhist philosophical traditions in and beyond the Indian subcontinent. Explores how certain Buddhist thinkers have asked and attempted to answer questions regarding the self, reality, knowledge, conduct, and liberation.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 420 Topics in Hindu Religious Traditions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics such as Upanishadic thought, the Bhagavad Gita, Advaita Vedanta, Hindu ethics, monastic traditions, Hindu soteriology.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 420 and REL-R 458.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 433 Embodying Nirvana
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Addresses the divergent ways in which Buddhists have understood the figure of the Buddha and the nature of Buddhahood. Draws from a number of primary texts in translation, concentrating principally (although not exclusively) on Indian Buddhist materials.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 440 Topics in Daoism and Chinese Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics within the Chinese religious traditions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 440 and REL-R 469.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 460 Topics in East Asian Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examination of a selected theme, movement, or period in the religious history of China, Japan, or Korea. Topics might include interactions of traditions, new religions in Japan, or religious change in Sung China.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 460 and REL-R 452.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 202 Issues in Religion in the Americas
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics, issues, and movements in American religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 220 American Religion and Politics
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  American religious institutions and public policy. Religious liberty. Religious communities as political forces on selected issues, e.g., war, poverty, racism.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 220 or REL-R 271.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-C 230 American Jewish History
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores American Jewish history from its beginnings to the present through primary source readings, documentary films, and historical readings.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of HIST-H 259, JSTU-J 259, or REL-C 230.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-C 300 Studies in Religion in the Americas
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics and movements in American religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with different topics for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 303 Superheroes and Religion in American Culture
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Through reading, watching, and creating superhero stories, course explores what such stories may have to say about religion, spirituality, science, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, class and age in American culture.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-C 320 African American Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines the varieties of African American religions, especially Christianity, Islam, Yoruba, Vodun, and Humanism, from the colonial era to the present. Methodologies will also be critically examined.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 320 or REL-R 321.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-C 323 Jews and Race in the United States
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores the spectrum of Jewish thought on race and ethnicity from historical and regional perspectives. Addresses the questions "Are Jews white?" and "Are Jews a race?" looking at both contemporary and historical sources to see how the answers differ in relation to the specific racial landscapes of particular times and places.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 310 or REL-C 323.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 325 Race, Religion, and Ethnicity in the Americas
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  A comparative study of the role religious narratives and beliefs have played in the shaping of racial and ethnic boundaries.
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-C 330 Evangelical America
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Assesses the causes, nature, and implications of evangelical influence from the Great Awakening to the present.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 330 or REL-R 337.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-C 335 New Religious Movements in the Americas
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Offers a theoretical and comparative survey of the emergence of religious traditions. Groups may include early Christianity, early Islam, Nichirin Shoshu, Mormonism, Tenrikyo, the Nation of Islam, Scientology, Falun Gong, and the Branch Davidians.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 335 or REL-R 334.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 345 Disaster in American Religion and Culture
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines selected American disasters (e.g., 9/11, the sinking of the Titanic) to consider how diverse populations at different historical moments in American history have sought to understand disaster. Considers events in their historical, social, and political contexts and interprets them to understand more fully the religious ideas, beliefs, practices, and disputes in play among representative groups.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-C 355 Religion and Sex in America
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines the relationship between American religion and sex from the early 1600s to the 21st century. Readings include culture theory, contemporary literature, missionary documents, theological tracts, and legal documents from early and contemporary periods. Students are encouraged to draw upon the resources of the Kinsey Institute archives.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 355 or REL-R 391.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-C 401 Topics in American Religious History
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  A selected topic such as American Catholicism in the twentieth century, religion and nationalism in America, or the problem of race and the American churches.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-C 401 and REL-R 434.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 402 Religion, Illness, and Healing
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  What is the meaning of illness and healing? Is religion good or bad for health? How should healthcare providers respond to patients' religious beliefs? What is the relationship between complementary and alternative medicine or prayer and religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, or Christianity? This course is ideal for pre-med, pre-law, business/management, and other interested students.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-C 420 Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in American Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  An examination of the religious thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in the context of American religious cultures.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 420 or REL-R 438.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 201 Shamans, Spirit Mediums and Prophets
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Study of spirits and their interaction with human beings in the material world. Exploration of shamanism, spirit mediumship and prophecy--not simply as oddities on the margins of what is properly religious, but as central to how religion and modernity are defined.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 202 Issues in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected issues and movements in theory, ethics, and comparison.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 250 Religion, Ecology, and the Self
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Deep ecology seeks fundamental transformations in views of world and self. It claims that there is no ontological divide in the forms of life and aims for an environmentally sustainable and spiritually rich way of life. This course is an introductory examination of Deep Ecology from a religious studies perspective.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 250 or REL-R 236.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 300 Studies in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics and movements in theory, ethics, and comparison.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 301 Religion and Its Critics
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines major critics of religion, including Spinoza, Hume, Marx, and Freud.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 301 or REL-R 333.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-D 310 Contemporary Religious Thought
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Interpretation of the human condition and destiny in contemporary religious and antireligious thought. Topics can include study of a major figure (e.g., Kierkegaard) or movement (e.g., peace studies).
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 310 and REL-R 340.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 315 Religion and Personality
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Different ways of relating psychological concepts and data from personality theory to the study of religion and theology. Topics include psychoanalytic interpretation, existential psychology, and psychohistorical study of religious leaders.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 315 and REL-R 365.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 325 Religions in Practice: Social Theories of Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Acquaints students with different theoretical and analytical approaches through which religious beliefs, experiences, feelings, and practices have conventionally been studied by anthropologists. Readings cover key domains and concepts such as totemism, myth, esoteric knowledge/power (\"magic\"), ancestor/ spirit cult, shamanism, possession and healing, ritual (performance), and notions of purity/impurity.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-D 330 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism I
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Christian ethics from the New Testament through the early modern period. Readings include first- and second-century authors, patristic fathers, Augustine, Bernard, Abelard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Anabaptists, Vitoria, Locke, among others. First of a two-semester sequence.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 330 or REL-R 374.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 331 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism II
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Christian ethics from the New Testament through the early modern period. Readings include first- and second-century authors, patristic fathers, Augustine, Bernard, Abelard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Anabaptists, Vitoria, Locke, among others. Second of a two-semester sequence.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 331 or REL-R 375.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 339 Pilgrimage and Sacred Landscapes
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Studies sacred spaces, landscapes, heritage, and tourism in an attempt to answer such questions as: What is a sacred place? What is the difference between pilgrimage and tourism? How are sacred places made, unmade, and transformed? Resources include pilgrimage diaries, travel literature, music, and film. Incorporates visits to local sacred sites.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 340 Religion and Bioethics
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines questions about human nature, finitude, the meaning of suffering, and appropriate uses of medical technology in the face of natural limitations, such as disease and death, that humans encounter. Issues include prenatal/genetic testing, transhumanism, enhancement technologies, cloning, euthanasia, and organ transplantation. Judeo-Christian and cross-cultural perspectives on illness are considered.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 349 Religion, Science Fiction, and Fantasy
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores how speculation and religion intersect. Themes studied may include: post-apocalyptic narratives and prophecy, religion as a form of fantasy, and religious dimensions of fandom. Course focuses on in-class discussion and written projects.
  REL-D 350 Religion, Ethics, and the Environment
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Exploration of relationships between religious worldviews and environmental ethics. Considers environmental critiques and defenses of monotheistic traditions, selected non-Western traditions, the impact of secular \"mythologies,\" philosophical questions, and lifestyle issues.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 350 or REL-R 371.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 362 Religious Issues in Contemporary Judaism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Religious problems confronting Jews and Judaism in our own time: women and Judaism, the impact of the Holocaust on Judaism, contemporary views of Zionism, religious trends in American Judaism.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with different topics for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 365 Friendship, Benevolence, and Love
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  By closely reading relevant classic works from Western and East Asian cultures, students examine ideas of friendship, benevolence, and love. Questions include: What are the varieties of love and friendship? Is romantic love uniquely Western? Is compassion for others natural to human beings? Could true benevolence require actions that appear cruel?
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 365 or REL-R 377.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 369 Religion and the Arts
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores how religious traditions interact with literary and visual artifacts. Focuses on one or more regions and artistic forms. Examines such issues as representation, presence, visibility, gender, genre, syncretism, etc. in religious and artistic contexts.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits in CMLT-C 345 and REL-D 369.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 370 Topics in Gender and Western Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Specific topics regarding gender in Western religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; studies of specific historical periods; or feminist critiques in theology and ethics.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 375 Religion and Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines how literature furthers and also critiques religious agendas. Studies specific genres (e.g., poetry, fiction, epic, diaries) with an eye to the interplay between religious realities and literary expressions in specific cultural contexts (e.g., medieval Hindu devotion or twentieth-century North American counter-culture).
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 380 Comparative Study of Religious Phenomena
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Eastern and Western religions on a selected subject such as time and the sacred, sacrifice, initiation.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 380 and REL-R 360.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 385 Messianism and Messiahs in Comparative Perspective
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines the messianic phenomenon as central to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Focuses on Jewish messianism. Christianity and Islam will be employed to compare and contrast how this idea developed in two competing religions. Studies the history of the idea, its relationship to orthodoxy and heresy, and its political implications.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 385 or REL-R 307.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 399 Gender, Sex, Bodies, and Religion
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Considers discourses on the body, sexuality, and the construction of gender in a number of religious/intellectual traditions. The precise religions/traditions considered vary and may include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and various philosophical traditions. Studies the import of these discourses and our analyses of them for contemporary thinking about the body, gender, and sexuality.
  REL-D 410 Topics in Religious Thought
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected focus on major movements and issues in religious thought.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 410 and REL-R 462.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 430 Problems in Social Ethics
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Intensive study of a selected problem in religion and society such as religion and American politics, war and conscience, medical ethics.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 485 Religion and Media
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  An introduction to recent debates on the nexus between religious experience and communities, and various forms and technologies of mediation. Combines perspectives on religion and ritual with scholarship on media, media consumption, and critical theory. Readings also include an array of ethnographic studies of religiously-inspired movements in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 485 or REL-R 411.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-R 202 Topics in Religious Studies
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics, issues, and movements in religion.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated once with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-R 213 Literary Classics of Religion
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Studies in examples of world literature whose origins and forms of vision emerged from, or have their major significance in relation to, a specific religious tradition. Titles vary but will draw on such works as The Bhagavad-Gita, Agamemnon, The Odyssey, Monkey, Beowulf, The Divine Comedy, Pilgrim's Progress.
  REL-R 300 Studies in Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics and movements in religion.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with different topics for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-R 389 Majors Seminar in Religion
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  Limited to majors
  Description
  Investigation of a theme or topic in the study of religion, with close attention to method, theory, and history of the discipline.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  
  REL-R 399 Reading for Honors
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  Consent of instructor and departmental honors advisor
  Description
  Independent guided reading.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated once for credit with a different topic.
  
  REL-R 497 Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  
  Credits
  1–6 credit hours
  Prerequisites
  Consent of instructor
  Description
  Elementary language training in preparation for the reading of sacred or scriptural texts. Language to be announced.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
  
  REL-R 498 Advanced Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  
  Credits
  1–6 credit hours
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Advanced language training in preparation for the reading of sacred or scriptural texts. Language to be announced.
  Repeatability
  May be taken for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  
  REL-R 499 Senior Honors Essay
  
  Credits
  1–6 credit hours
  Prerequisites
  Consent of departmental honors advisor
  Description
  Guided research culminating in essay(s).
  Repeatability
  May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
3. Free Electives. Six (6) additional credit hours:
  - REL-A 202 Issues in African, European, and West Asian Religions
  - REL-A 210 Introduction to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
  - REL-A 220 Introduction to the New Testament
  - REL-A 230 Introduction to Judaism
  - REL-A 235 Sacred Books of the Jews
  - REL-A 250 Introduction to Christianity
  - REL-A 270 Introduction to Islam
  - REL-A 275 Sex and Gender in Islam
  - REL-A 300 Studies in African, European, and West Asian Religions
  - REL-A 305 Ancient Mediterranean Religions
  - REL-A 314 Gender and Power in the Hebrew Bible
  - REL-A 315 Prophecy in Ancient Israel
  - REL-A 316 Jews, Christians, and Others in Late Antiquity
  - REL-A 317 Judaism in the Making
  - REL-A 318 Rabbinic Judaism: Literature and Beliefs
  - REL-A 319 Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient World
  - REL-A 320 Jesus
  - REL-A 321 Paul and His Influence in Early Christianity
  - REL-A 325 Christianity: Christ to Constantine
  - REL-A 326 Early Christian Monasticism
  - REL-A 335 Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
  - REL-A 350 Christianity, 400--1500
  - REL-A 351 Christianity and Modernity
  - REL-A 355 The Right Belief: History of Orthodox Christianity
  - REL-A 375 Women in the Bible
  - REL-A 380 Knowing the Will of God in Islam I: Law
  - REL-A 415 Topics in Ancient Israelite Religion
  - REL-A 426 Gnostic Religion and Literature
  - REL-A 430 Topics in the History of Judaism
  - REL-A 435 Catholic Controversies
  - REL-A 440 Judaism and Gender: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
  - REL-A 450 Topics in the History of Christianity
  - REL-A 470 Topics in Islamic Studies
  - REL-A 480 Knowing the Will of God in Islam II: Theology
  - REL-A 485 The Life and Legacy of Muhammad
  - REL-B 202 Issues in South and East Asian Religions
  - REL-B 210 Introduction to Buddhism
  - REL-B 220 Introduction to Hinduism
  - REL-B 230 Introduction to Chinese Religion
  - REL-B 300 Studies in South and East Asian Religions
  - REL-B 310 East Asian Buddhism
  - REL-B 312 Mythologies of Martial Arts
  - REL-B 315 Tantric Buddhism
  - REL-B 320 Hindu Goddesses
  - REL-B 330 Women in South Asian Religious Traditions
  - REL-B 333 Seeing the Buddha: Buddhist Art of India and Tibet
  - REL-B 335 Bollywood and Beyond: Religion in South Asian Film
  - REL-B 360 Religions in Japan
  - REL-B 374 Classical Chinese Thought
  - REL-B 410 Topics in the Buddhist Tradition
  - REL-B 412 Buddhism and Popular Culture
  - REL-B 414 Buddhist Philosophy in India
  - REL-B 420 Topics in Hindu Religious Traditions
  - REL-B 433 Embodying Nirvana
  - REL-B 440 Topics in Daoism and Chinese Religion
  - REL-B 460 Topics in East Asian Religions
  - REL-C 202 Issues in Religion in the Americas
  - REL-C 220 American Religion and Politics
  - REL-C 230 American Jewish History
  - REL-C 300 Studies in Religion in the Americas
  - REL-C 303 Superheroes and Religion in American Culture
  - REL-C 320 African American Religions
  - REL-C 323 Jews and Race in the United States
  - REL-C 325 Race, Religion, and Ethnicity in the Americas
  - REL-C 330 Evangelical America
  - REL-C 335 New Religious Movements in the Americas
  - REL-C 345 Disaster in American Religion and Culture
  - REL-C 355 Religion and Sex in America
  - REL-C 401 Topics in American Religious History
  - REL-C 402 Religion, Illness, and Healing
  - REL-C 420 Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in American Religion
  - REL-D 201 Shamans, Spirit Mediums and Prophets
  - REL-D 202 Issues in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
  - REL-D 250 Religion, Ecology, and the Self
  - REL-D 300 Studies in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
  - REL-D 301 Religion and Its Critics
  - REL-D 310 Contemporary Religious Thought
  - REL-D 315 Religion and Personality
  - REL-D 325 Religions in Practice: Social Theories of Religion
  - REL-D 330 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism I
  - REL-D 331 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism II
  - REL-D 339 Pilgrimage and Sacred Landscapes
  - REL-D 340 Religion and Bioethics
  - REL-D 349 Religion, Science Fiction, and Fantasy
  - REL-D 350 Religion, Ethics, and the Environment
  - REL-D 362 Religious Issues in Contemporary Judaism
  - REL-D 365 Friendship, Benevolence, and Love
  - REL-D 369 Religion and the Arts
  - REL-D 370 Topics in Gender and Western Religions
  - REL-D 375 Religion and Literature
  - REL-D 380 Comparative Study of Religious Phenomena
  - REL-D 385 Messianism and Messiahs in Comparative Perspective
  - REL-D 399 Gender, Sex, Bodies, and Religion
  - REL-D 410 Topics in Religious Thought
  - REL-D 430 Problems in Social Ethics
  - REL-D 485 Religion and Media
  - REL-R 102 Religion and Popular Culture
  - REL-R 133 Introduction to Religion
  - REL-R 152 Jews, Christians, Muslims
  - REL-R 153 Religions of Asia
  - REL-R 160 Introduction to Religion in America
  - REL-R 170 Religion, Ethics, and Public Life
  - REL-R 175 Religion and Sports
  - REL-R 202 Topics in Religious Studies
  - REL-R 213 Literary Classics of Religion
  - REL-R 300 Studies in Religion
  - REL-R 389 Majors Seminar in Religion
  - REL-R 399 Reading for Honors
  - REL-R 497 Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  - REL-R 498 Advanced Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  - REL-R 499 Senior Honors Essay
  - One course from the following:
    - COLL-C 103 Critical Approaches to the Arts and Humanities
    - COLL-C 104 Critical Approaches to the Social and Historical Studies
  REL-A 202 Issues in African, European, and West Asian Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected issues and movements in African, European, and West Asian religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 210 Introduction to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Development of the beliefs, practices, and institutions of ancient Israel from the patriarchs to the Maccabean period. Introduction to the biblical literature and other ancient Near East documents.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 210 or REL-R 210.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 220 Introduction to the New Testament
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  What is the "New Testament"? This introductory course considers both literary and historical approaches to the literature of the New Testament, with particular emphasis on the Gospels and Pauline literature. Topics include the concept of "canon," the history of reception and interpretation, gender and sexuality in early Christian literatures, the Apocryphal Gospels, and relationships between early Judaism and early Christianity.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 220 or REL-R 220.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 230 Introduction to Judaism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The development of post-biblical Judaism; major themes, movements, practices, and values.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 230, REL-A 230, or REL-R 245.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 235 Sacred Books of the Jews
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores the sacred texts of Judaism after the Bible. Considers how tradition works; how people created new religious knowledge after the Bible was canonized; why some texts are considered sacred, while others are not. Includes a variety of sacred texts, including Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, and Kabbalah.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 220 or REL-A 235.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 250 Introduction to Christianity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduces an array of Christian ideas, practices, and texts ranging from the first century to the present day in order to foster an appreciation of Christianity\'s important but complicated role in shaping culture, society, and politics.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 250 or REL-R 247.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 270 Introduction to Islam
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to the religious world of Islam: the Arabian milieu before Muhammad's prophetic call, the career of the Prophet. Qur'an and hadith, ritual and the pillars of Muslim praxis, legal, and theological traditions; mysticism and devotional piety, reform and revivalist movements.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 270 or REL-R 257.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 275 Sex and Gender in Islam
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  No prior knowledge of Islam required. Explores the role of sex and gender in shaping the lives of Muslims. Focuses on the experiences of Muslim women, men, as well as people who inhabit non-normative genders and sexualities. Investigates the ways in which Muslims negotiate and respond to the sexual politics of the times in which they live.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-A 300 Studies in African, European, and West Asian Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics and movements in African, European, and West Asian religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 305 Ancient Mediterranean Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  A survey of the various religions in the ancient Near East (Egypt, Babylon, Persia) and the Greco-Roman worlds. Attention will be paid to ritual, philosophy, and community formation.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 305 or REL-R 318.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 314 Gender and Power in the Hebrew Bible
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Traces the relationships among gender, sexuality, and political power in Jewish antiquity, primarily through the Hebrew Bible. Examines how fertility, virginity, sexuality, and foreignness intersect with gender-constructions in these texts. Demonstrates the diverse ways in which gender is depicted, attuned to differences in context and genre.
  REL-A 315 Prophecy in Ancient Israel
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The prophetic movement and its relationship to religious, social, and political traditions and institutions in the ancient Near East. The thought of major prophetic figures in Israel, such as Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 315 or REL-R 310.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 316 Jews, Christians, and Others in Late Antiquity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores the interactions and so-called parting of the ways between Jews, Christians, and other religious groups in Roman Palestine and Sasanian Persia from the first through seventh centuries C.E. Pays special attention to the portrayals of Christians in Jewish literature such as the Mishnah and Talmud.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 316 or REL-A 316.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 317 Judaism in the Making
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The development of Jewish traditions from circa 400 BCE to 200 CE in their linguistic, geographical, and cultural diversity. Discusses emergence of scripture, apocalyptic traditions, place in Hellenistic and Roman cultures, relationship with early Christianity, and emergence of Judaism as a religion.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 317 or REL-A 317.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 318 Rabbinic Judaism: Literature and Beliefs
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The rabbis of late antiquity were masters of the Bible who produced a corpus of writings in which they interpret holy scriptures. These writings, known as rabbinic literature, remain to this day the foundation of normative Jewish behavior and traditions. This course explores what these rabbis believed and how they interpreted the Bible.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 320 or REL-A 318.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 319 Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient World
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Focuses on magic and witchcraft in the ancient world, emphasizing Mesopotamian, Greco-Roman, Jewish, and early Christian contexts. Explores common theoretical models for researching magic in antiquity and introduces some inherent problems in the field. Includes close readings of literary and archaeological sources, such as cuneiform tablets, spell books, incantation bowls, amulets, and legal literature.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 319 or JSTU-J 319.
  REL-A 320 Jesus
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Comparative and analytical study of traditions about Jesus: their development and function in various historical periods, social contexts, and intellectual traditions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 321 Paul and His Influence in Early Christianity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Life and thought of Paul in the context of first-century Christian and non-Christian movements. Development of radical Paulinism and anti-Paulinism in the second century; their influence on the formation of Christianity.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 321 or REL-R 325.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 325 Christianity: Christ to Constantine
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  History and literature of Christianity from Paul and Jesus to the rise of Constantine. Topics include Christianity and the state, gender and sexuality, asceticism, persecution and martyrdom, heresy.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 325 or REL-R 327.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 326 Early Christian Monasticism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The origins and development of varieties of the monastic life in ancient and early medieval Christianity; social forms of monastic groups, ascetic practices, types of spirituality.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 326 or REL-R 323.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 335 Introduction to Jewish Mysticism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The development of Jewish mystical practice and thought from the Middle Ages to the present, thirteenth-century Spanish Kabbalah, sixteenth-century Safed, Sabbatianism, Hasidism, contemporary manifestations of mysticism.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 335 or REL-R 341.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 350 Christianity, 400--1500
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The history and literature of western Christianity during the Middle Ages.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 350 or REL-R 330.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 351 Christianity and Modernity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The history and literature of western Christianity from the Reformation to the present.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 351 or REL-R 331.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 355 The Right Belief: History of Orthodox Christianity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to the doctrines, spirituality, and practice of Orthodox Christianity as expressed in various cultural and national contexts. Particular attention is paid to Orthodox asceticism, monasticism, parish life, theology, and religious rivalry within the confession.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 375 Women in the Bible
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Considers representations of women and the feminine in the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and literature of early Judaism and Christianity. Explores how these texts have been interpreted in the history of Western culture, and how they continue to shape attitudes about women, gender, and sexuality in the contemporary world.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 375 or REL-A 375.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 380 Knowing the Will of God in Islam I: Law
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Students gain understanding of how Muslims have traditionally interpreted the texts of revelation (Qur\'an and Hadith) through the development of practical \"hands-on\" methods. Designed to resemble classes in theology, jurisprudence, and law in a medieval Islamic college.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 380 or REL-R 378.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 415 Topics in Ancient Israelite Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected problems in ancient Israelite religion, such as pre-Yahwistic religion, Israel\'s cultic life, royal theology and messianism, the wisdom movement, sectarian apocalyptic.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 426 Gnostic Religion and Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  The myth, ritual, and beliefs of the ancient Gnostics and related Christian and non-Christian movements of the late Roman empire: classic Gnostic scripture, Valentinus and his followers, the School of St. Thomas, Basilides, the Corpus Hermeticum, and the possibility of Gnosticism in the New Testament.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 426 or REL-R 425.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 430 Topics in the History of Judaism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Special topics such as problems in Jewish mystical tradition, the nature of religious community, charismatic leadership, religious biography.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 430 and REL-R 445.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 435 Catholic Controversies
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Controversial issues in the history of Catholicism from Martin Luther's critique of the church's corruption to recent court cases indicting the church's response to sex abuse cases. Examines the place of Catholicism in the modern imagination as well as key historical figures and events.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 440 Judaism and Gender: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Studies the concepts of sex and gender in modern Judaism through categories including law, ritual, and theology. Uses gender theory to explore historical and contemporary struggles over interpretations of traditional Jewish texts. Discusses Jewish ideas about masculinity, femininity, human bodies, and their places in religious life.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 440 or REL-R 421.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 450 Topics in the History of Christianity
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Significant figures, issues, and movements in the history of Christianity examined in their social and religious contexts, with attention to their continuing religious and cultural impact.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 450 and REL-R 430.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 470 Topics in Islamic Studies
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics on Islamic law, philosophy, theology, and mysticism.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-A 470 and REL-R 456.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-A 480 Knowing the Will of God in Islam II: Theology
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Develops students\' understanding of the central theological issues in Muslim thought as they were developed by various groups and individuals over the last 1,300 years.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 480 or REL-R 468.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-A 485 The Life and Legacy of Muhammad
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores the ways in which sacred biography is used in various contexts to develop theories of authority and history. Applies theories and methods of textual interpretation to the earliest known biography of the Prophet Muhammad (d. 632 C.E.).
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-A 485 or REL-R 467.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 202 Issues in South and East Asian Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected issues and movements in South and East Asian religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 210 Introduction to Buddhism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to the basic beliefs and practices of Buddhism from its beginnings to the present. Special attention to the life and teachings of the founder, significant developments in India, and the diffusion of the tradition to East Asia, Central Asia, and the West.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 210 or REL-R 250.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 220 Introduction to Hinduism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Beliefs, rites, and institutions of Hinduism from the Vedic (c. 1200 B.C.) to modern times: religion of the Vedas and the Upanishads, epics and the rise of devotional religion, philosophical systems (Yoga and Vedanta), sectarian theism, monasticism, socioreligious institutions, popular religion (temples and pilgrimages), modern Hindu syncretism.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 220 or REL-R 255.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 230 Introduction to Chinese Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to religion in premodern and contemporary China. Examines the concept of religion, the notion of religious identity, and various debates that have shaped religious traditions (Confucians, Daoists, Mohists, Chinese Buddhists, Confucian-Muslims) in China.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 300 Studies in South and East Asian Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics and movements in South and East Asian religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 310 East Asian Buddhism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Adaptation and assimilation of Buddhism in East Asia, early philosophical and ritual schools, social issues, Tiantai synthesis of Mahayana Buddhism, devotional Buddhism, Ch\'an/Zen school of meditation, impact of Buddhism on East Asian cultures and arts.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 310 or REL-R 350.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 312 Mythologies of Martial Arts
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Covers the development of ideologies and mythologies connected to martial arts in Chinese and Japanese thought. Looks at a diverse range of texts, including philosophical and medical literature, novels, and martial arts manuals.
  REL-B 315 Tantric Buddhism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  This class explores the rise and circulation of tantric practices, ideas, and texts among Indian and Tibetan Buddhists. The class also considers the advantages and limitations of various approaches that modern scholars have taken in their attempts to make sense of these practices, ideas, and texts.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 320 Hindu Goddesses
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to the goddesses in Hindu traditions, including Lakshmi, Saraswati, Sita, Radha, Parvati, Durga, Kali, Ganga, and Sitala. Focus on the mythology, iconography, cultic practices, embodied forms, and theology associated with these goddesses.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 320 or REL-R 348.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 330 Women in South Asian Religious Traditions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Historical view of the officially sanctioned roles for women in several religious traditions in South Asia, and women\'s efforts to become agents and participants in the religious expressions of their own lives.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of INST-I 380, REL-B 330, or REL-R 382.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 333 Seeing the Buddha: Buddhist Art of India and Tibet
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  An exploration of Buddhist art and its multiple social and ritual contexts, with particular attention given to works produced in India and Tibet. Designed to provoke reflection on the roles played by images in the religious life of Buddhist communities and in other religions over time.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 335 Bollywood and Beyond: Religion in South Asian Film
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  A consideration of the nature and meaning of religion in South Asia using film as the lens to explore the South Asian continuum running from the sacred to the secular.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 335 or REL-R 388.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 360 Religions in Japan
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Religious movements in Japan, with emphasis on the development of Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, and the rise of the \"new religions.\"
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-B 360 or REL-R 357.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 374 Classical Chinese Thought
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  An introduction to the early development of Chinese thought, from ancient divination to the religious, ethical, and political theories of classical Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism. Focuses on debates over human nature and self-cultivation, the nature of the cosmos, and the proper ordering of society. Readings are in English translation.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of EALC-E 374, REL-B 374, REL-R 368, or PHIL-P 374.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 410 Topics in the Buddhist Tradition
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics such as Mahayana Sutra literature, Buddhist cult practice, Indian Buddhist inscriptions, PrajÃ±Ã¥pÃ¥ramitÃ¥ thought, or Zen in Korea and Japan.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 410 and REL-R 450.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 412 Buddhism and Popular Culture
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Seminar examines several major questions on Buddhism in a global context. How do popular media such as manga, film, and fiction, shape and change our understandings of Buddhism? What does it mean for a human being, a given practice, or a particular object to be "Buddhist"? What do Buddhist doctrine and practice have to say about how we perceive and participate in popular culture?
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 414 Buddhist Philosophy in India
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines ideas, methods, and practices of seminal importance for Buddhist philosophical traditions in and beyond the Indian subcontinent. Explores how certain Buddhist thinkers have asked and attempted to answer questions regarding the self, reality, knowledge, conduct, and liberation.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 420 Topics in Hindu Religious Traditions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics such as Upanishadic thought, the Bhagavad Gita, Advaita Vedanta, Hindu ethics, monastic traditions, Hindu soteriology.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 420 and REL-R 458.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 433 Embodying Nirvana
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Addresses the divergent ways in which Buddhists have understood the figure of the Buddha and the nature of Buddhahood. Draws from a number of primary texts in translation, concentrating principally (although not exclusively) on Indian Buddhist materials.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-B 440 Topics in Daoism and Chinese Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics within the Chinese religious traditions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 440 and REL-R 469.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-B 460 Topics in East Asian Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examination of a selected theme, movement, or period in the religious history of China, Japan, or Korea. Topics might include interactions of traditions, new religions in Japan, or religious change in Sung China.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-B 460 and REL-R 452.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 202 Issues in Religion in the Americas
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics, issues, and movements in American religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 220 American Religion and Politics
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  American religious institutions and public policy. Religious liberty. Religious communities as political forces on selected issues, e.g., war, poverty, racism.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 220 or REL-R 271.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-C 230 American Jewish History
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores American Jewish history from its beginnings to the present through primary source readings, documentary films, and historical readings.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of HIST-H 259, JSTU-J 259, or REL-C 230.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-C 300 Studies in Religion in the Americas
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics and movements in American religions.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with different topics for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 303 Superheroes and Religion in American Culture
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Through reading, watching, and creating superhero stories, course explores what such stories may have to say about religion, spirituality, science, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, class and age in American culture.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-C 320 African American Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines the varieties of African American religions, especially Christianity, Islam, Yoruba, Vodun, and Humanism, from the colonial era to the present. Methodologies will also be critically examined.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 320 or REL-R 321.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-C 323 Jews and Race in the United States
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores the spectrum of Jewish thought on race and ethnicity from historical and regional perspectives. Addresses the questions "Are Jews white?" and "Are Jews a race?" looking at both contemporary and historical sources to see how the answers differ in relation to the specific racial landscapes of particular times and places.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of JSTU-J 310 or REL-C 323.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 325 Race, Religion, and Ethnicity in the Americas
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  A comparative study of the role religious narratives and beliefs have played in the shaping of racial and ethnic boundaries.
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-C 330 Evangelical America
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Assesses the causes, nature, and implications of evangelical influence from the Great Awakening to the present.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 330 or REL-R 337.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-C 335 New Religious Movements in the Americas
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Offers a theoretical and comparative survey of the emergence of religious traditions. Groups may include early Christianity, early Islam, Nichirin Shoshu, Mormonism, Tenrikyo, the Nation of Islam, Scientology, Falun Gong, and the Branch Davidians.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 335 or REL-R 334.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 345 Disaster in American Religion and Culture
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines selected American disasters (e.g., 9/11, the sinking of the Titanic) to consider how diverse populations at different historical moments in American history have sought to understand disaster. Considers events in their historical, social, and political contexts and interprets them to understand more fully the religious ideas, beliefs, practices, and disputes in play among representative groups.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-C 355 Religion and Sex in America
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines the relationship between American religion and sex from the early 1600s to the 21st century. Readings include culture theory, contemporary literature, missionary documents, theological tracts, and legal documents from early and contemporary periods. Students are encouraged to draw upon the resources of the Kinsey Institute archives.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 355 or REL-R 391.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-C 401 Topics in American Religious History
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  A selected topic such as American Catholicism in the twentieth century, religion and nationalism in America, or the problem of race and the American churches.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-C 401 and REL-R 434.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-C 402 Religion, Illness, and Healing
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  What is the meaning of illness and healing? Is religion good or bad for health? How should healthcare providers respond to patients' religious beliefs? What is the relationship between complementary and alternative medicine or prayer and religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, or Christianity? This course is ideal for pre-med, pre-law, business/management, and other interested students.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-C 420 Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in American Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  An examination of the religious thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in the context of American religious cultures.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-C 420 or REL-R 438.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 201 Shamans, Spirit Mediums and Prophets
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Study of spirits and their interaction with human beings in the material world. Exploration of shamanism, spirit mediumship and prophecy--not simply as oddities on the margins of what is properly religious, but as central to how religion and modernity are defined.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 202 Issues in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected issues and movements in theory, ethics, and comparison.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 250 Religion, Ecology, and the Self
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Deep ecology seeks fundamental transformations in views of world and self. It claims that there is no ontological divide in the forms of life and aims for an environmentally sustainable and spiritually rich way of life. This course is an introductory examination of Deep Ecology from a religious studies perspective.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 250 or REL-R 236.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 300 Studies in Theory, Ethics, and Comparison
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics and movements in theory, ethics, and comparison.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 301 Religion and Its Critics
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines major critics of religion, including Spinoza, Hume, Marx, and Freud.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 301 or REL-R 333.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-D 310 Contemporary Religious Thought
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Interpretation of the human condition and destiny in contemporary religious and antireligious thought. Topics can include study of a major figure (e.g., Kierkegaard) or movement (e.g., peace studies).
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 310 and REL-R 340.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 315 Religion and Personality
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Different ways of relating psychological concepts and data from personality theory to the study of religion and theology. Topics include psychoanalytic interpretation, existential psychology, and psychohistorical study of religious leaders.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 315 and REL-R 365.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 325 Religions in Practice: Social Theories of Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Acquaints students with different theoretical and analytical approaches through which religious beliefs, experiences, feelings, and practices have conventionally been studied by anthropologists. Readings cover key domains and concepts such as totemism, myth, esoteric knowledge/power (\"magic\"), ancestor/ spirit cult, shamanism, possession and healing, ritual (performance), and notions of purity/impurity.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-D 330 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism I
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Christian ethics from the New Testament through the early modern period. Readings include first- and second-century authors, patristic fathers, Augustine, Bernard, Abelard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Anabaptists, Vitoria, Locke, among others. First of a two-semester sequence.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 330 or REL-R 374.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 331 From Christian Ethics to Social Criticism II
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Christian ethics from the New Testament through the early modern period. Readings include first- and second-century authors, patristic fathers, Augustine, Bernard, Abelard, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Anabaptists, Vitoria, Locke, among others. Second of a two-semester sequence.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 331 or REL-R 375.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 339 Pilgrimage and Sacred Landscapes
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Studies sacred spaces, landscapes, heritage, and tourism in an attempt to answer such questions as: What is a sacred place? What is the difference between pilgrimage and tourism? How are sacred places made, unmade, and transformed? Resources include pilgrimage diaries, travel literature, music, and film. Incorporates visits to local sacred sites.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 340 Religion and Bioethics
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines questions about human nature, finitude, the meaning of suffering, and appropriate uses of medical technology in the face of natural limitations, such as disease and death, that humans encounter. Issues include prenatal/genetic testing, transhumanism, enhancement technologies, cloning, euthanasia, and organ transplantation. Judeo-Christian and cross-cultural perspectives on illness are considered.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 349 Religion, Science Fiction, and Fantasy
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores how speculation and religion intersect. Themes studied may include: post-apocalyptic narratives and prophecy, religion as a form of fantasy, and religious dimensions of fandom. Course focuses on in-class discussion and written projects.
  REL-D 350 Religion, Ethics, and the Environment
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Exploration of relationships between religious worldviews and environmental ethics. Considers environmental critiques and defenses of monotheistic traditions, selected non-Western traditions, the impact of secular \"mythologies,\" philosophical questions, and lifestyle issues.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 350 or REL-R 371.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 362 Religious Issues in Contemporary Judaism
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Religious problems confronting Jews and Judaism in our own time: women and Judaism, the impact of the Holocaust on Judaism, contemporary views of Zionism, religious trends in American Judaism.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with different topics for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 365 Friendship, Benevolence, and Love
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  By closely reading relevant classic works from Western and East Asian cultures, students examine ideas of friendship, benevolence, and love. Questions include: What are the varieties of love and friendship? Is romantic love uniquely Western? Is compassion for others natural to human beings? Could true benevolence require actions that appear cruel?
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 365 or REL-R 377.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 369 Religion and the Arts
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores how religious traditions interact with literary and visual artifacts. Focuses on one or more regions and artistic forms. Examines such issues as representation, presence, visibility, gender, genre, syncretism, etc. in religious and artistic contexts.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credits in CMLT-C 345 and REL-D 369.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 370 Topics in Gender and Western Religions
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Specific topics regarding gender in Western religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; studies of specific historical periods; or feminist critiques in theology and ethics.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 375 Religion and Literature
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines how literature furthers and also critiques religious agendas. Studies specific genres (e.g., poetry, fiction, epic, diaries) with an eye to the interplay between religious realities and literary expressions in specific cultural contexts (e.g., medieval Hindu devotion or twentieth-century North American counter-culture).
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 380 Comparative Study of Religious Phenomena
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Eastern and Western religions on a selected subject such as time and the sacred, sacrifice, initiation.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 380 and REL-R 360.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 385 Messianism and Messiahs in Comparative Perspective
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Examines the messianic phenomenon as central to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Focuses on Jewish messianism. Christianity and Islam will be employed to compare and contrast how this idea developed in two competing religions. Studies the history of the idea, its relationship to orthodoxy and heresy, and its political implications.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 385 or REL-R 307.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 399 Gender, Sex, Bodies, and Religion
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Considers discourses on the body, sexuality, and the construction of gender in a number of religious/intellectual traditions. The precise religions/traditions considered vary and may include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and various philosophical traditions. Studies the import of these discourses and our analyses of them for contemporary thinking about the body, gender, and sexuality.
  REL-D 410 Topics in Religious Thought
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected focus on major movements and issues in religious thought.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours in REL-D 410 and REL-R 462.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 430 Problems in Social Ethics
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Intensive study of a selected problem in religion and society such as religion and American politics, war and conscience, medical ethics.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-D 485 Religion and Media
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  An introduction to recent debates on the nexus between religious experience and communities, and various forms and technologies of mediation. Combines perspectives on religion and ritual with scholarship on media, media consumption, and critical theory. Readings also include an array of ethnographic studies of religiously-inspired movements in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of REL-D 485 or REL-R 411.
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
  REL-R 102 Religion and Popular Culture
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  How do religion and popular culture interact? Study of ordinary people making sense of their worlds through diverse media.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-R 133 Introduction to Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to the study of religion through analysis and reconsideration of the core question "What is religion?" Major theories of religion are assessed and applied to recent case studies.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-R 152 Jews, Christians, Muslims
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Patterns of religious life and thought in the West: continuities, changes, and contemporary issues.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-R 153 Religions of Asia
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to the religious traditions of Asia as integral to culture and society. Examines sacred stories, beliefs, values, and practices from multiple Asian religions in historical and comparative perspectives. Reveals how concepts of how the world works and what it means to be human vary across time and place, influencing domains not conventionally deemed religious in the U.S.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE GCCcourse
  REL-R 160 Introduction to Religion in America
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Introduction to religious traditions and practices that influenced American history and culture.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE DUScourse
  REL-R 170 Religion, Ethics, and Public Life
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Explores religious convictions and their consequences for judgments about personal and social morality, including such issues as sexual morality, medical ethics, questions of socio-economic organization, and moral judgments about warfare.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-R 175 Religion and Sports
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Considers relationships between religion and sports--including sporting events as sacred rites, "fanaticism," civil religion and the Super Bowl, sport (such as surfing) as religion, sacred space, holy violence, sacred memory, religious freedom, bodies, and the forging of communities.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-R 202 Topics in Religious Studies
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics, issues, and movements in religion.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated once with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-R 213 Literary Classics of Religion
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Studies in examples of world literature whose origins and forms of vision emerged from, or have their major significance in relation to, a specific religious tradition. Titles vary but will draw on such works as The Bhagavad-Gita, Agamemnon, The Odyssey, Monkey, Beowulf, The Divine Comedy, Pilgrim's Progress.
  REL-R 300 Studies in Religion
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Selected topics and movements in religion.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with different topics for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  REL-R 389 Majors Seminar in Religion
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Notes
  Limited to majors
  Description
  Investigation of a theme or topic in the study of religion, with close attention to method, theory, and history of the discipline.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  
  REL-R 399 Reading for Honors
  
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  Consent of instructor and departmental honors advisor
  Description
  Independent guided reading.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated once for credit with a different topic.
  
  REL-R 497 Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  
  Credits
  1–6 credit hours
  Prerequisites
  Consent of instructor
  Description
  Elementary language training in preparation for the reading of sacred or scriptural texts. Language to be announced.
  Repeatability
  May be repeated for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
  
  REL-R 498 Advanced Language Instruction for Religious Texts
  
  Credits
  1–6 credit hours
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Advanced language training in preparation for the reading of sacred or scriptural texts. Language to be announced.
  Repeatability
  May be taken for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  
  REL-R 499 Senior Honors Essay
  
  Credits
  1–6 credit hours
  Prerequisites
  Consent of departmental honors advisor
  Description
  Guided research culminating in essay(s).
  Repeatability
  May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  COLL-C 103 Critical Approaches to the Arts and Humanities
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Specific topics will vary by section and over time, but all versions of COLL-C 103 will meet the objectives of the College of Arts and Sciences Critical Approaches curriculum. The curriculum is intended for freshmen and sophomores, who will learn how scholars from the arts and humanities Breadth of Inquiry area frame questions, propose answers, and assess the validity of competing approaches. Writing and related skills are stressed.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of COLL-C 103 or COLL-S 103.
  Fall 2023CASE AHcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE CAPPcourse
  COLL-C 104 Critical Approaches to the Social and Historical Studies
  Credits
  3
  Prerequisites
  None
  Description
  Specific topics will vary by section and over time, but all versions of COLL-C 104 will meet the objectives of the College of Arts and Sciences Critical Approaches curriculum. The curriculum is intended for freshmen and sophomores, who will learn how scholars from the social and historical studies Breadth of Inquiry area frame questions, propose answers, and assess the validity of competing approaches. Writing and related skills are stressed.
  Repeatability
  Credit given for only one of COLL-C 104 or COLL-S 104.
  Fall 2023CASE CAPPcourse
  
  Fall 2023CASE SHcourse
Major GPA, Hours, and Minimum Grade Requirements.
1. Major GPA. A GPA of at least 2.000 for all courses taken in the major—including those where a grade lower than C- is earned—is required.
2. Major Minimum Grade. Except for the GPA requirement, a grade of C- or higher is required for a course to count toward a requirement in the major.
3. Major Upper Division Credit Hours. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed at the 300–499 level.
4. Major Residency. At least 18 credit hours in the major must be completed in courses taken through the Indiana University Bloomington campus or an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program.
5. College Breadth. At least 58 credit hours must be completed in courses from College of Arts and Sciences disciplines outside of the major area.

Major Area Courses

Unless otherwise noted in the requirements above, courses that may apply toward the Credit Hours and GPA requirements in this academic program include all courses with the REL prefix.

The above courses cannot be applied toward the College Breadth requirement in the major.

This program of study cannot be combined with the following:

Bachelor of Arts in African American and African Diaspora Studies and Religious Studies (AAADRELBA)
Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religious Studies (PHILRELBA)
Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies and African American and African Diaspora Studies (RELAAADBA)
Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies and Philosophy (RELPHILBA)
Minor in Religious Studies (RELMIN)

Exceptions to and substitutions for major requirements may be made with the approval of the unit's Director of Undergraduate Studies, subject to final approval by the College of Arts and Sciences.