An introduction to China's three major religions-Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism-through the reading of classic texts. Also, a look at important elements in Chinese folk religion-ancestor worship, temples, heavens and hells, and forms of divination. Special attention will be paid to the importance of government in Chinese religious thought and to continuity and change in the history of Chinese religion.
Open to all classes. Dist: TMV; WCult: NW.
16 (12) Modern Islam (Instructor: Reinhart) (Identical to AMES 15)
An introduction to developments in religious thought and practice since 1800, with special emphasis on topics of current controversy, including the status of women, the nature of government, and the place of Islamic law.
Open to all classes. Dist: TMV; WCult: NW.
20.3. (11) Reason and Religious Belief (Instructor: Frankenberry)
A study of the principal religious and philosophical arguments for and against religious belief. The first part of the course will consider the question of the justifiability of religious belief through an appeal to religious experience and mysticism, to rational theistic arguments, and to faith, showing the difficulties in each case. The second part of the course will cover alternatives to classical theism and the contemporary challenge of conceptual relativism and religious pluralism.
Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Dist: TMV.
27 (10) The Qur'an and the Prophet (Instructor: Reinhart)
The Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad are the source and center of Islam. In this course we will consider the form and content of the Qur'an and the form and content of various accounts of the Prophet's life: the hadith or anecdotes of the Prophet's life, the sirah or biography of Muhammad, and the maghazi, or accounts of the Prophet's battles and campaigns. Topics covered include the aural Qur'an, the dating of the Qur'an and the hadith, diverse images of the Prophet, and "what can we know about the life of Muhammad?" Desirable background: A College Course on Islamic history, culture, or society, including Religion 8 and Religion 16.
Dist: TMV; WCult: NW.
40 (2) Topics in the Religions of India (Instructor: Ohnuma)
In 10S, Gods, Demons, and Monkeys: The Ramayana Epic in India. The ancient Indian epic known as the Ramayana is a stirring, martial tale of gods, demons, and monkeys, family loyalty and betrayal, romance, religion, and politics. This story has served for thousands of years to create, preserve, and transmit cultural and religious values for millions of people throughout the Indian subcontinent. Far from being monolithic, however, the Ramayana epic tradition is characterized by enormous multiplicity and diversity-diversity in terms of religion, culture, language, class, gender, region, caste, and performative media. Beginning with the classical Sanskrit version of Valmiki composed perhaps as early as 200 B.C.E., India has produced hundreds of different versions of the Ramayana, in different languages and different media, with different agendas and for different audiences-including, for example, the devotional Hindu version of Tulsidas, the dramatic festival version known as Ram-lila, and a 78-episode TV miniseries that brought the entire country to a standstill every Sunday morning in 1988. We will examine this epic tradition in all of its complexity through an interdisciplinary approach and by making ample use of different forms of media, such as slides, videos, comic books, and music.
Open to all classes. Dist: TMV, WCult: NW.
41 (10) Readings in Buddhist Literature (Instructor: Ohnuma)
In 10S, Mahayana Buddhist Texts. This course offers an in-depth exploration of a wide variety of Mahayana Buddhist texts from premodern India. The Mahayana (or "Great Vehicle") was a significant movement that profoundly shaped the nature of Buddhism in its original Indian homeland, and later exerted an enormous influence upon the further development of Buddhism as it spread to China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Tibet, and the Himalayan region. The literature of the Mahayana is vast in scope and extremely rich in imagination, offering to its readers a fantastic world populated by Buddhas, advanced bodhisattvas, heavenly paradises, supernatural occurrences, profound philosophical discussions, and enigmatic words of wisdom. This course presumes no prior knowledge of the Buddhist tradition and has no prerequisites. The course will begin with a few background sessions placing the Mahayana tradition in context and then turn to an intensive reading of Mahayana Buddhist literature from India. The readings will include both Mahayana scriptures (such as the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, the Lotus Sutra, the Vimalakirtinirdesha Sutra, and the Pure Land Sutras) and Mahayana philosophical treatises (from the Madhyamaka, Yogachara, and Tathagatagarbha schools of thought). We will focus both on placing these texts within their proper historical context within the development of Indian Buddhism and engaging them creatively as modern readers, through a mixture of lectures, discussions, student presentations, and written assignments.
Open to all classes. Dist: TMV, WCult: NW.
61 (2A) Martin Luther King, Black Religion, and the Civil Rights Movement (Instructor: Balmer ) (Identical to African and African American Studies 82)
With special emphasis on the speeches and public work of Martin King, this course will consider how black religious culture, practices, and institutions helped to shape the black freedom movement of the 1950s and 60s. We will explore other figures including Fannie Lou Hamer, James Baldwin, and Malcolm X and consider how they shaped and challenged the role Afro-Protestant culture had in determining the moral language and political strategies associated with the Civil Rights Movement.
Open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and to first-year students by permission. Dist: SOC; WCult: CI.
74 (10A) Special Topics in Religion-Intermediate Level (Instructor: Balmer )
In 10S, Mormonism. An examination of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, America's largest and most influential indigenous religion, including its history, its mores, and its sacred texts. We'll trace the origins of the movement in upstate New York, various waves of persecution, and the Great Trek westward to Salt Lake City, where the Mormons have constructed an extensive empire with an international reach.
Dist: TMV.
80 (10A) Seminar: The Lotus Sutra. (Instructor: Raz)
The Lotus Sutra is among the most important of Mahayana scriptures, and its impact pervades East Asian Buddhist thought and practice. Focusing on the Lotus Sutra, this seminar will examine a variety of topics, including the history and development of Mahayana, Buddhism and art, Buddhism and medicine, and the rise of sectarian Buddhist sects in China and Japan.
Dist: TMV.
