The study of religion invites you, in an academic context, into a long tradition of theological and historical questions about the nature of humanity in relation to God and to the world, and it engages you in the interreligious and intercultural encounter that is taking place today.
Majors and Minors: Students who are considering a major or minor in religious studies can select any of the courses listed on the First-Year Student website under Religious Studies. Courses at the 100 level are particularly well-suited to first-year students. A course taken in Montserrat carrying an R designation is usually counted toward the major; it might be counted toward the minor with the approval of the department chair.
Courses
RELS 103
Race and Religion
Common Area: Studies in Religion
This course explores the intersection of race and religion. Given the ambiguity in their constructions and articulations throughout history, it is a challenging yet ultimately worthwhile endeavor to trace their historical and contemporary contours in cultural, social, political, and economic spheres. Though they are often thought of as separate, this course assumes that race and religion are intimately and intricately intertwined. Thus, we will ask such questions as: What is religion? What is race? How have and do religious traditions coöpt race and racism as effective tools for their structure, organization, and propagation, and vice versa? This interdisciplinary course will ask students to form critical theoretical perspectives on race and religion and to take up the above questions as they arise in the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and American indigenous religious traditions. Spanning 15th c. Europe to modern North America, the course will also explore questions related to gender/sexuality, indigeneity, sovereignty, capitalism, nationalism, and identity.
RELS 106
Buddhism
Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies or Studies in Religion
Survey of the Buddhist tradition, from its origins in ancient India through its evolution as a pan-Asian faith. Topics include the legends of the Buddha, the early monastic community, the emergence of Theravada and Mahayana teachings, Buddhist ethics and social philosophy, meditation traditions, and the later development of distinctive Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese schools. Utilizes textual and anthropological sources.
RELS 107
Islam
Common Area: Cross-Cultural Studies or Studies in Religion
Examination of Islamic religious beliefs and practices from the origins of Islam to the present. Particular stress is placed on Islamic religious ideals, institutions and personalities. Central topics include: Islamic scripture and traditions, prophecy, law, rituals, theology and philosophy, sectarianism, mysticism, aesthetic ideals, art and architecture, pedagogy, and modern reinterpretations of the tradition. Also explores wider issues of religious identity by looking at the diversity of the Islamic tradition, tensions between elite and popular culture, and issues of gender and ethnicity.
RELS 108
Hinduism
Common Area: Cross Cultural or Studies in Religion
An examination of Hinduism and the Hindu tradition from the Vedas to the present day. Among the subject considered: the Upanishads; the Ramayana and Mahabharata; village Hinduism; Gandhi; and contemporary Hindu political thought. Evaluation will include both examinations and essays.
RELS 112
Christian Martyrdom
Common Area: Studies in Religion
"The blood of martyrs is the seed [of the Church].” By these words the second century theologian Tertullian meant that the Christian martyrs, in giving their lives for their faith during times of persecution, inspired new converts to Christianity and gave testimony to the power of the Gospel message. This course examines the phenomenon of Christian martyrdom from the ancient Church to the modern era. During the semester, students will ask such important questions regarding martyrdom as: Why does martyrdom have such power to move minds and hearts? Is martyrdom a positive force or is it simply a form of fanaticism? Why were Christians persecuted during different periods of history? How did Christians understand martyrdom theologically and spiritually? Students will read such primary sources as: the Scriptures; early accounts of the martyrs, along with early theological defenses and critiques of martyrdom; and writings from such well-known and, for some, controversial Christian martyrs as Thomas More, Theresa Benedicta of the Cross Cultural (Edith Stein), Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Secondary sources will help students to enter into the Historical and cultural contexts of the martyrs. In studying this phenomenon, students will come to a better understanding of the influence of martyrdom, the sources of ancient and modern persecutions, and the continuing controversies surrounding martyrdom in the contemporary world.
RELS 114
Introduction To Theology
Common Area: Studies in Religion
Introduction to major claims in Christian theology through a close examination of historical and contemporary Catholic and Protestant theologies. Topics include: methods in doing theology and in biblical interpretation; images of God and of Jesus; the human condition; different marks and models of the church; and religious diversity. Readings address the interplay in theological reflection between religious tradition and social location, and analyze the implications and challenges of Christian claims in light of gender, race and poverty. One unit.
RELS 116
Catholicism
Common Area: Studies in Religion
Introduction to the academic study of the beliefs and practices of Roman Catholic Christianity, and of the situation of the church in the contemporary United States. Topics include: approaches to the study of Catholicism; creeds and doctrinal foundations of the Church; structure, authority, and community; spirituality, worship, and the sacramental tradition; Catholic moral and social teaching; current issues and controversies in Catholicism.
RELS 118
New Testament
Common Area: Historical Studies or Studies in Religion
Introduction to early Christian literature and thought in light of the historical, literary, and religious milieu of the Greco-Roman world, including Judaism. Topics discussed include the diverse representations of Jesus, the emergence of the category "Christian," and the genres of New Testament and other early Christian books. Contemporary approaches are addressed, but the primary focus is the ancient texts themselves. One unit.
RELS 120
Compar Religions/World View
Common Area: Studies in Religion
Systematic exploration of similarities and differences within and among several traditions (Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam) and an examination of several key issues within the academic study of religion.
RELS 121
Saints & Sinners Around the World
Common Area: Studies in Religion
Discover the diversity of global Catholicism in the modern world through the lives of saints, many who are not canonized, and the spaces, objects, and communities that celebrate them. Learn about Catholic culture and the theologies that undergird various religious practices—a foundation for probing the ways in which popular Catholicism is entwined with the daily struggles for justice in the modern world. Various Historical Studies, socio-political, and theological perspectives will be considered.
RELS 141
Contemporary Christian Morality
Common Area: Studies in Religion
This course addresses the implications of Christian belief and identity for personal and social morality. Readings examine fundamental ethics of moral agency, human freedom, conscience, sin, suffering and virtue, as well as the method and themes of Catholic social teaching. The final part of the course explores several areas of contemporary ethical concern including the use of violence, human sexuality, healthcare, and the environment.
RELS 147
Judaism
Common Area: Studies in Religion
Introduction to the history, theology, and practices of the Jews which uses the evidence of Judaism to exemplify the interrelationship between a religious civilization and the historical and cultural framework within which it exists. How does what happens to the Jews affect their formulation of their religion, Judaism? By answering this question and by learning the details of Jewish belief and practice, students will come to comprehend both Judaism and the social construction of religion in general.
RELS 179
Intro to Global Catholicism
Common Area: Studies in Religion
This course introduces students to the culturally diverse worlds of Catholicism. Focusing on Catholicisms of the Global South (Africa, Asia, and Latin America), the course examines the rich variety of ways in which communal practices and ways of knowing can inform the reception (and even the transformation) of Catholic traditions. Special attention is given to how local, indigenous values and spirituaLiteratureies interact with the particularities of Catholicism, often resulting in a unique appropriation of the latter. The course offers students the opportunity to explore expressions of Catholic life and thought which illustrate the continuing change and plurality at the heart of a truly global Catholicism.
RELS 199-F07
Death and Eternal Life
Common Area: Studies in Religion
Is there life after death? This class explores Christian responses to this question and the relevance of those responses to our scientific age. It begins with a review of Christian anthropology, focusing on such topics as embodiment, the soul and consciousness, the contrast between life and death, and the fulfillment of humanity in the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. It then considers the Christian understanding of death in its physical and spiritual dimensions, followed by an examination of various conceptions of the afterlife. It concludes with a review of the traditional Four Last Things: death, judgment, heaven, and hell. Along the way, it also addresses such topics as grieving, accompanying the dying, “near death experiences,” and ghosts.
RELS 241
Scripture and Script
Common Area: Studies in Religion
The Bible is a foundational text for contemporary culture and political discourse, as well as a sacred text for several religious traditions. This course explores narratives from the Hebrew Bible and how these narratives have been used in literary, poetic, artistic and cinematic creations to reflect and grapple with personal, familial, societal and political concerns. We will focus on the role of biblical texts in American political discourse, social criticism, and cultural productions, while also including works from Middle Eastern writers and artists. Students will read biblical texts closely and then analyze interpretations of those texts in modern and contemporary literature, film, poetry, and the arts. By looking at old texts and new interpretations, the course aims to give students the opportunity to see their own cultural contexts anew, and to determine how the Bible might or might not be considered relevant to our time.
RELS 299-F05
Christian Critics
Common Area: Studies in Religion
This course offers an introduction to Christian social ethics through the study of its “major figures”—and several of their non-Christian and/or non-American interlocutors—in order to examine the role religion plays in social, economic, and political criticism in the United States. We will examine the lives and work of significant Christian figures including Walter Rauschenbusch, Howard Thurman, Reinhold Niebuhr, Dorothy Day, and Martin Luther King, Jr., alongside several of their Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim colleagues, such as Mohandas Gandhi, Abraham Heschel, and Malcolm X. Our study of each “critic” will include attention to the larger tradition (in the case of our non-Christian figures) and (in the case of our Christian critics) the movements/approaches they represent, including the Social Gospel movements, Christian mysticism, Christian realism, the Catholic Worker movement, and the pacifist/peace church tradition. In the second half of the course, we will challenge our prior focus on the lone moral exemplar by exploring important critiques of this approach by various feminist, black feminist, womanist, and other liberationist thinkers, most of whom point to the importance of various moral communities and their role in social, economic, and political criticism.