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The Religion program offers an expanded curriculum in the study of religion through its arrangement with New College of the University of Edinburgh. Also available is the opportunity to study with international eminent scholars who teach in this major Scottish university. The program of study in Edinburgh consists of three courses: two to three courses chosen by each student from among those offered by the New College faculty. These courses are given the Dartmouth designations Religion 70, 71, and 72. Religion 74 is taught by the accompanying Dartmouth faculty member and available to (and sometimes required of) all participants. All three courses are graded. Religion 70, 71, 72, and 74 count as intermediate courses when fulfilling the requirements for the major. It is hoped that, beyond their own courses, students will attend a wide variety of public lectures offered at the University of Edinburgh and elsewhere in this historic capital of Scotland, one of the well-known centers for learning in the world. Pre-Requisites: At least two courses in Religion Enrollment: Limited to 15 students Applications available on-line at the Off-Campus Programs office. Application Deadline: February 1, 2102 Accommodations: Students live in residence facilities at the University of Edinburgh. Faculty Contact for Fall 2012: Gil Raz Religion 74: Sacred Time What is time? Was there a beginning to the world? If so, when did the world begin? Will it end? How will it end? Can we control time? Does anything exist beyond life and death? All cultures have struggled with these perennial questions, and we continue to do so today. Religious traditions have offered us many different answers. This course examines various understandings of time in several religious cultures: Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Daoism. We will investigate different ideas of how the world came to exist and various views of the end of time; discuss different ways of organizing time (calendars); and compare different notions of salvation by which these religious cultures, and the variants within them, tried to assuage fears of individual death or the end of the world. Using expectations for messianic redemption or visions of power, these imaginings of catastrophic "end-of-times" and ideas of salvation served as the basis for missionary work and conversion, as well as the impetus for rebellions, wars, and imperial programs. Dist: TMV. |
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Students at the stone marker in Gilleleje, Denmark. (photo courtesy of Ronald M. Green) |
