2015-2016 University Catalog archived
Course Descriptions
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Psychology |
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PSYC 369 - Advanced Methods in Social Psychology Research
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: PSYC 269. Directed research on a variety of topics in social psychology. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Woodzicka. Planned Offering: Winter
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PSYC 395 - Special Topics in Psychology
Credits: 1, 2, or 3
These seminars are designed to help the advanced student integrate his or her knowledge of specific fields into a comprehensive view of psychology, both as a science and as a profession. Specific topics vary and are determined, in part, by student demand. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.
Winter 2016, PSYC 395-01: Applications of Psychological Science: An Emerging Adulthood Perspective (3). Prerequisite: PSYC 250; junior or senior standing and psychology or neuroscience majors. This course is designed to expand students’ understanding of psychology by covering development of the discipline as an applied science. Students learn about the application of psychology to consider future educational and career options, drawing on research of development during emerging adulthood to understand work, education, and family formation milestones during this developmental period. Students focus on personal professional development including preparation for graduate work, career choices at varying degree levels, and essential skills necessary to make the transition to graduate school and work. Fulcher.
Winter 2016, PSYC 395A-01: Learning and Behavior (3). This course is a survey of behavioral psychology through learning theory. We discuss the various forces (psychological and biological) which govern non-associative learning (habituation and sensitization), stimulus- and reward-processing, associative learning (both classical and operant conditioning), and mechanisms for memory formation. Course activities feature both lecture and experimental aspects to engage students in the scholarly and practical experiences of behavioral experimentation. Schreiber.
Winter 2016, PSYC 395B-01: Diseases of the Nervous System (3). Prerequisites: Instructor Consent. In this seminar course, students will use primary and secondary literature to learn about the history, clinical presentation, basic neuropathology, standards of care, and current research approaches for stroke, traumatic brain injury, selected progressive neurodegenerative diseases, and neuropsychiatric conditions. Stewart.
Winter 2016, PSYC 395C-01: Positive Psychology (3). Prerequisites: Six credits in psychology. This course examines the emerging field of positive psychology, which synthesizes empirical studies concerning the virtues, emotions, experiences, and social structures that allow human beings to thrive. Theoretical and philosophical conceptualizations of happiness are discussed, as well as basic and applied research regarding affective, cognitive, behavioral, and physiological correlates of well-being. Students engage in experiential learning to explore ideas of and pathways toward psychological flourishing. Murdock.
Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.
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PSYC 403 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Six credits in psychology, senior standing, and consent of the head of the department. This seminar involves independent reading and/or research and is taken by all majors during their senior year. Students are expected to prepare a detailed research proposal based on their independent work. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall, Winter
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PSYC 431 - Tutorials in Psychology
Credits: 1
Prerequisites: Six credits in psychology and instructor consent. Advanced reading, study, or internships directed by a member of the staff to meet the needs of the individual student. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff.
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PSYC 432 - Tutorials in Psychology
Credits: 2
Prerequisites: Six credits in psychology and instructor consent. Advanced reading, study, or internships directed by a member of the staff to meet the needs of the individual student. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff.
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PSYC 433 - Tutorials in Psychology
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Six credits in psychology and permission of the head of the department. Advanced reading, study, or internships directed by a member of the staff to meet the needs of the individual student. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff. Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and instructor consent.
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PSYC 443 - Honors Thesis Proposal
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: Honors candidacy. Conferences, directed reading, and exploratory research culminating in the preparation of a proposal for honors thesis research, which will minimally include a clear statement of the problem being studied, a comprehensive literature review, and a feasible, detailed plan for the research. Must be taken no later than spring term of the junior year. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall, Winter
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PSYC 451 - Internship
Credits: 1
Prerequisite: Permission of the department. Supervised off-campus experience in a local agency, research organization, or other venues approved by the department. Requires a research paper in addition to off-campus activities. Murdock. Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.
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PSYC 453 - Internship
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: permission of the department. Supervised off-campus experience in a local agency, research organization, or other venues approved by the department. Requires a research paper in addition to off-campus activities. Murdock. Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.
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PSYC 456 - Internship
Credits: 6
Prerequisite: permission of the department. Supervised off-campus experience in a local agency, research organization, or other venues approved by the department. Requires a research paper in addition to off-campus activities. Murdock. Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.
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PSYC 473 - Senior Thesis
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: PSYC 403, senior standing, and consent of the department head. Taken in the winter term of the senior year by all psychology majors seeking a Bachelor of Science degree. Students conduct a research project and prepare a thesis based on that research. Staff. Planned Offering: Winter
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PSYC 493 - Honors Thesis
Credits: 3-3
Prerequisites: Senior standing and PSYC 443. Laboratory research culminating in an honors thesis. Honors candidates also present a public summary of their work. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall-Winter
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Religion |
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REL 100 - Introduction to Religion
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Not open to students who have taken REL 210. Through consideration of texts in a diversity of humanistic and social scientific disciplines, this course explores the nature, function, and meaning of religion in individual and collective experience. It also explores texts, practices, and symbols from a variety of world religions. Students who have taken REL 210 are ineligible for taking REL 100. Kosky.
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REL 101 - Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An introduction to the history, literature and interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Marks.
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REL 102 - New Testament
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An introduction to the history, literature and interpretation of the New Testament. Brown. Planned Offering: Fall
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REL 103 - Introduction to Asian Religions
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A survey of the teachings, practices, and historical significance of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto. Lubin.
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REL 105 - Introduction to Islam
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course familiarizes students with the foundations of the Islamic tradition and the diverse historical and geographical manifestations of belief and practice built upon those foundations. Throughout the course, the role of Islam in shaping cultural, social, gender, and political identities is explored. Readings are drawn from the writings of both historical and contemporary Muslim thinkers. Blecher. Planned Offering: Fall 2015 and alternate years
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REL 106 - Judaism: Tradition and Modernity
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Through a variety of sources, including Talmudic debate, fiction, drama, liturgy, memoirs, film, and history, this course introduces the main concepts, literature, and practices of the classical forms of Judaism that began in the first centuries C.E., and then examines how Judaism has changed during the past two centuries, in modernist movements (Reform, Neo-Orthodoxy, Zionism) and contemporary fundamentalist movements (Ultra-Orthodoxy, messianic settler Zionism), as well as current ideas and issues. Marks. Planned Offering: Winter 2015
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REL 108 - The Qur’an
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course approaches the Qur’an from a range of modern and pre-modern perspectives: as an oral recitation; as a material object; as a historical document; as a literary text; as it relates to the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament; as a foundation for Islamic law, theology and mysticism; and as a source for ethics and social activism. Particular attention is devoted to issues of gender and politics raised by the Qur’an, supplemented by a number of film screenings. Prior knowledge of Islam is not required. Blecher. Planned Offering: Fall 2016 and alternate years
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REL 131 - Buddhism
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A survey of the historical development of the doctrines and practices of Buddhism. After a discussion of the Hindu origins of Buddhism, the course focuses on the development of the Theravada, Vajrayana and Mahayana traditions. A class trip to at least one Buddhist center is included. Hyne-Sutherland.
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REL 132 - God and Goddess in Hinduism
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course explores the many ways in which Hindus visualize and talk about the divine and its manifestations in the world through mythic stories, use of images in worship, explanations of the nature of the soul and body in relation to the divine, and the belief in human embodiments of the divine in Hindu holy men and women. Topics include: the religious meanings of masculine and feminine in the divine and human contexts; the idea of local, family, and “chosen” divinities; and differing forms of Hindu devotion for men and women. Lubin.
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REL 136 - Caste at the Intersection of Economy, Religion, and Law
(ECON 136) FDR: SS4
Credits: 4
Social stratification touches every aspect of life, and South Asia’s traditional caste structure is a special case: this highly complex, strictly-adhered-to system has been religiously legitimized and criticized over a 3,000-year history, and is nowadays seen as being at odds with the modern world. Yet it remains a crucial factor in social identity, economic roles, legal status, and religious practice. This course offers a 360-degree survey of caste both historically and in practice today in Nepal. The course addresses four themes, respectively providing for each a combination of historical background, social scientific analysis of the modern situation, and direct field experience for the students. Lubin, Silwal. Planned Offering: Spring 2015.
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REL 151 - Christianity and Culture Before 1500
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course introduces students to Christian thought and culture in the period roughly from Augustine to the high Middle Ages. Course materials include primary texts, exemplary images, and important works of modern scholarship reflecting on the significance of the Christian materials. Kosky.
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REL 152 - Christianity and Modern Culture
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A study of Christian thought and cultures in the period from the Reformation to the early 20th Century. Particular emphasis is placed on the challenges posed to the foundation of religious belief and practice in a modern context and the Christian responses to these challenges. Kosky.
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REL 153 - Jesus in Fact, Fiction, and Film
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A study of representations of Jesus in history, fiction, and film and the ways in which they both reflect and generate diverse cultural identities from antiquity to the present. The course begins with the historical Jesus and controversies about his identity in antiquity and then focuses on parallel controversies in modern and postmodern fiction and film. Readings include early Christian literature (canonical and non-canonical), several modern novels and works of short fiction, and theoretical works on the relationship of literature to religion. In addition, we study several cinematic treatments of Jesus dating from the beginnings of filmmaking to the present. Brown.
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REL 175 - Beginning Biblical Hebrew I
Credits: 1
Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. In this course, students develop an introductory knowledge of classical (biblical) Hebrew grammar and vocabulary, and of how biblical language expresses itself in selected biblical passages. Student learn to read and translate simple narrative prose from the Hebrew Bible, and gain a more nuanced understanding of the life and thought of the ancient Israelites through their own language. Marks. Planned Offering: Fall
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REL 176 - Beginning Biblical Hebrew II
Credits: 1
Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. In this course, students develop an introductory knowledge of classical (biblical) Hebrew grammar and vocabulary, and of how biblical language expresses itself in selected biblical passages. Student learn to read and translate simple narrative prose from the Hebrew Bible, and gain a more nuanced understanding of the life and thought of the ancient Israelites through their own language. Marks. Planned Offering: Winter
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REL 180 - FS: First-Year Seminar
Credits: 3-4
First-year seminar. Prerequisite: First-year standing. .
Fall 2015, REL 180-01: First-year Seminar: Travel, Mythic and Modern (3). First-Year Seminar. Prerequisite: First-year class standing. What is travel? How does travel change people? When can we call travel religious? And when we study travel, what questions should we ask? We address these issues by learning theories about what happens when we travel, and by studying some of the journeys of mythic heroes from various cultures (such as Odysseus, Moses, the Buddha, Rama of classical India, and the Chinese trickster called Monkey), of shamans and pilgrims, of modem non-religious travelers (such as Darwin, Nellie Bly, and Kurtz in Heart of Darkness), and then of “new-age seekers” and religious tourism. This discussion-based seminar raises questions about both “religion” and “travel” and challenges the usual meanings. (HU) Marks. Fall 2015 Planned Offering: Offered occasionally. Each first-year seminar topic is approved by the Dean of The College and the Committee on Courses and Degrees. Applicability to FDRs and other requirements varies.
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REL 181 - FS: First-Year Seminar
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
First-year seminar. Prerequisite: First-year standing. A seminar for first-year students.
Fall 2015, REL 181-01: FS: Perspectives on Death and Dying (3). A comparison of ways in which various religious traditions, as well as modern secular writers, describe and conceive of death and the meaning of life in the face of our human mortality. Students study scripture, poetry, memoirs, novels, essays, and film, and write a journal and essays. Includes several guest speakers and visits to a funeral home and cemetery. Note: Should not be repeated in the future as REL 213. (HU) Marks.
Planned Offering: Fall 2014. Each first-year seminar topic is approved by the Dean of The College and the Committee on Courses and Degrees. Applicability to FDRs and other requirements varies.
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REL 195 - Special Topics in Religion
FDR: HU
Credits: 3 credits in fall or winter, 4 in spring
A course offered from time to time in a selected problem or topic in religion. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.
Winter 2016, REL 195-01: Popular Religion in South Asia (3). How is religion shaped by culture? In what ways does the religion of everyday life—what is practiced “on the ground”—differ from what is described in classical texts? This course explores these questions in the context of South Asia. Through an exploration of rituals, beliefs, healing practices, pilgrimages, festivals, and death rites in Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Sikh, and Buddhist traditions, we explore South Asian religiosity on an individual level, at the level of family, and in the public sphere. (HU) Hyne-Sutherland.
Fall 2015, REL195-01: Special Topic in Religion: Introduction to Christian Thought and Culture (3). Readings in key primary texts and important secondary works introduce students to major theological issues in the history of Christian thought and important forms of life and culture in the history of Christianity. (HU) Kosky. Fall 2015
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REL 201 - The Sacred in Music: The Liberal Arts as Portal to the Sacred
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
This course offers an immersion in the sacred music of the West, viewed through the lens of the liberal-arts tradition and considers the liberal arts as a portal to the sacred. We begin with Pythagoras and his monochord in the portal of Chartres Cathedral and progress through the development of melody, harmony, and rhythm from early chant (Hebrew and Christian) to Bach choral music (The Passion According to John) and finally to the American forms of Spiritual, Sacred Harp, and American Opera. While attentive to contributions from science, philosophy. psychology and religious theory concerning the connection of music to religious experience, we also take advantage of musical performances in the area and, with the help of professional conductors and musicologists, perform music ourselves. Brown.
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REL 203 - Secularity, Disenchantment, and Religion
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A study of various attempts to define “modernity” in terms of the decline, transformation, and/or displacement of religious thought and practice in the west. Students explore depictions of the modern west from the perspective of a variety of disciplines, including some of the following: sociology, psychology, philosophy, theology, literature, art. Kosky.
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REL 205 - Self-Help and the Pursuit of Happiness
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
This course addresses the relation of the concept of ‘self-help’ and ‘the pursuit of happiness’ to religion both past and present, and it considers philosophical, psychological, and medical-scientific perspectives on these pursuits. Students examine questions including the following: To what extent do the concepts and practices of self-help share in the pursuit of a supposed dream of religion and philosophy: to realize perfection, happiness, or the good life? Are philosophies and religions reducible to or interpretable as forms of self-help? How have modern scientific discoveries, in particular advances in cognitive science and medical science, shaped the modern pursuit of happiness? What are we to make of scientific claims to teach us how to be happy? This course meets once a week with SOC289: Sociology of the Self: Self-Help and PSYC 300: The Pursuit of Happiness in a seminar where students become teachers and lead a class in which we all discuss together the work we have done separately during the week. In this way, students become part of a broad learning community that cuts across the many disciplines and divisions that make up the university. Kosky.
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REL 207 - Nature and Place
(ENV 207) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Through a consideration of work drawn from diverse disciplines including philosophy, religious studies, literature, art, and anthropology, this course explores a variety of ideas about and experiences of nature and place. Kosky
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REL 209 - Travel, Mythic and Modern
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
This course approaches the subject of “travel” through a historically and culturally diverse set of readings: Narratives in which travel was interpreted and experienced through religious concepts, such as Ramayana, Journey to the West, shamanic soul travel, and pilgrimage; narratives in which travel has been clearly detached from religious meaning, such as Darwin’s voyage on the Beagle and Nellie Bly’s trip around the world in 1889-90; and examples of traditional and new-age “spirituality” in recent travel tales. Along the way, we study a range of academic interpretations of travel: phenomenological analysis of travel experience, advice on seeing one’s surroundings, a philosophy of encountering “the Other,” and sociological analysis of “religious” and “heritage” tourism and of college students studying abroad. Class is discussion-centered. An experiential component includes brief individual and group travel experiments (including a group rafting trip on the James River led by James Dick), travel “through” film, a panel of “professors who travel,” and various journal assignments. Written assignments include the journal, individual research on a travel book, and midterm and final essays. Marks.
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REL 210 - Approaches to the Study of Religion
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A study of approaches to understanding religious life and thought as found in selected writings in anthropology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, theology, and comparative religion. Brown. Planned Offering: Fall
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REL 212 - Philosophy and Religion
(PHIL 212) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An exploration of selected issues, such as mystical and numinous experiences and doctrines, theistic arguments, faith and reason, religion and morality, and science and religion. Staff.
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REL 213 - Perspectives on Death and Dying
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: At least sophomore standing. A comparison of ways in which various religious traditions, as well as modern secular writers, describe and conceive of death and the meaning of life in the face of our human mortality. Students study memoirs, philosophy, poetry, novels, scripture, essays, and film, and write a journal and essays. Includes guest speakers and visits to a funeral home and cemetery. Note: Should not be repeated by those students who have taken this class as REL 180 or 181: First-year seminar. Marks.
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REL 214 - Religion and Existentialism
(PHIL 214) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A consideration of the accounts of human existence (faith and doubt; death and being-in-the-world; anxiety, boredom, and hope; sin and evil; etc.) elaborated by philosophers, theologians, and literary figures in the 19th and 20th centuries. The central figures considered are Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Attention is paid to their significance for future philosophers, theologians, artists, and literary figures, and consideration may also be paid to forerunners in earlier centuries. Kosky.
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REL 215 - Female and Male in Western Religious Traditions
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An investigation of views about the body, human sexuality, and gender in Western religious traditions, especially Judaism and Christianity, and of the influences of these views both on the religious traditions themselves and on the societies in which they develop. The course focuses on religion and society in antiquity and the Middle Ages, but also considers the continuing influence of religious constructions of the body and sexuality on succeeding generations to the present. Brown.
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REL 216 - Sainthood in Four Traditions
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A survey of sainthood in a variety of religious contexts: Christian, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist. The course asks: “What makes someone holy? How do saints behave? How and why are they worshipped?” Readings include sacred biographies (hagiographies), studies of particular traditions of saint worship, and interpretations of sainthood in both theological and cross-cultural perspectives. Lubin.
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REL 218 - Heidegger and Being in the World
(PHIL 218) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course explores the work of Martin Heidegger and the development of its themes in the work of select philosophical, literary, and/or film artists. A close reading of the magisterial account of being in the world in Being and Time is followed by careful study of representative essays from his later work. After our reading of Heidegger, we consider the literary, cinematic, and/or philosophical work of major 20th- and 21st-century artists who let us reflect on the possibilities and/or problems that his account of being in the world poses for ethical, religious, and existential concern. Kosky.
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REL 221 - Sociology of Religion
(SOAN 221) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Theories of the origin and functions of religion; institutionalization of religious belief, behavior, and social organization; conditions in which religion maintains social stability and/or generates social change. Eastwood. Planned Offering: Offered when interest expressed and departmental resources permit
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REL 222 - Law and Religion
(LAW 355) FDR: SS4
Credits: 3
Open to undergraduates and law students. Drawing on examples from diverse periods and legal cultures, this seminar addresses “law” and “religion” as two realms of life that have much shared history and continue to intersect in the modern world. Several important topics in comparative law and jurisprudence are covered, including authority and legitimacy, the relation between custom and statute, legal pluralism, church-state relations, and competing models of constitutional secularism. A selective survey of legal systems and practices rooted in particular religious traditions is followed by an examination of how secular legal systems conceptualize religion and balance the protection of religious freedom with their standards of equity and neutrality. Lubin.
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REL 223 - Ancient Greek Religion
(CLAS 223) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
In this course, we examine the strange and wonderful world of ancient Greek religion, beginning with stories of the gods that all Greeks knew: Homer and Hesiod. We then study religion on the ground, examining how religion functioned at a number of sanctuaries and shrines in Greece. Topics covered in this course include ancient conceptions of the cosmos; the nature of Greek deities and heroes; the distinction between myth and religion; the art and architecture of sanctuaries; ritual performances and festivals; ritual sacrifice; sacred games; oracles; the underworld; sacred mysteries; women and religion; and the socio-political role of Greek ritual practice. Laughy. Planned Offering: Winter, 2016 and every third year.
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REL 224 - American Indian Religions, Landscapes, and Identities
(SOAN 224) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Drawing on a combination of scholarly essays, native accounts, videos, guest lectures, and student presentations, this seminar examines the religious assumptions and practices that bind American Indian communities to their traditional homelands. The seminar elucidates and illustrates those principles concerning human environmental interactions common to most Indian tribes; focuses on the traditional beliefs and practices of a particular Indian community that reflected and reinforced the community understanding of the relationship to be maintained with the land and its creatures; and examines the moral and legal disputes that have arisen out of the very different presuppositions which Indians and non- Indians hold regarding the environment. Markowitz. Planned Offering: Winter 2016 and alternate years
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REL 225 - Magic, Science, and Religion
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
How do religious and scientific explanations and methods of inquiry differ? What are the roles of reason and authority in each case? This course draws together materials from antiquity to the present, from the West and from Asia, to illustrate a variety of types of “systems of knowledge.” Theoretical readings are balanced with diverse case studies from diverse contexts: religious doctrines, mystical practices, alchemy, astrology, sorcery, “traditional medicines,” and modern religious movements. Students research a system of their choice and analyze its claims and methods in comparison with those of other traditions covered in the course. Lubin.
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REL 231 - Yogis, Ascetics, and Holy People
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Yogis, ascetics, and other holy people pursue extraordinary paths that invert the normal aims and values of society. This course surveys ideas on mental and physical training; their conceptual basis; the range of techniques used; and their philosophical development. Course material is drawn from a diverse range of religions that may include Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Islamic, and Christian. The course seeks to answer such questions as: “What is the purpose of these teachings and for whom were they designed?” “What roles do yogis and ascetics play in religious life?” and “What is their ethical status in the world?” Hyne-Sutherland.
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REL 235 - Gods in Transit: The Spread of Religions in Asia
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course looks at how deities and religious ideas and practices spread from one place to another through conquest, a network of holy men, or a circuit of traders. The aim is to identify (a) the processes that occur when religions travel from one region to another, and (b) the role of these religions in creating new cultures shared across a wide area. The focus is mainly on premodern periods, but comparisons are made with religious pluralism and globalization in the modern world. Lubin.
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REL 250 - Early Christian Thought: Orthodoxy and Heresy
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An exploration of the uncertain boundaries between orthodoxy and heresy in early Christian movements. Questions addressed include, “Who decides what is orthodox and what is heretical, how are these decisions made, and what impact do they have on institutional structures? What perennial problems in Christian thought and practice emerge in the early debates about orthodoxy and heresy, and how are those problems being addressed today?” Readings include selections from the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, “Gnostic gospels” and other so-called heretical texts, writings from the Church Fathers (with special attention to St. Augustine) and recent scholarly treatments of orthodoxy and heresy. Brown. Planned Offering: Winter 2016
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REL 260 - Seminar in the Christian Tradition
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
An introduction to perduring issues in Christian theology and ethics through study of one or more of the classical Christian theologians. Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.
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REL 262 - The Bible, the Enlightenment and its Aftermath
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
A study of how the Bible influenced the thought and culture of the Enlightenment, broadly conceived, and how various Enlightenment ideas and figures influenced the reading of the Bible both in the Enlightenment Age itself and into the succeeding centuries. Brown.
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REL 270 - Biblical Job and His Modern Masks
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
This course combines study, performance, and creative writing. We study the biblical Book of Job in relation to other wisdom writings in the Hebrew Bible, and then some later Jewish and Christian interpretations. Students write about a theme in the Book of Job and perform a significant passage. Afterwards, we read several modern retellings of the book such as MacLeish’s J.B., Wiesel’s Trial of God, Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye stories, and the Danish film Adam’s Apples. The final student project is a personal and creative retelling of the book in a contemporary setting. Lastly, students perform, with another member of the class, a critical scene from their compositions. Marks. Planned Offering: Spring 2016 and alternate years.
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REL 273 - Modern Jewish Literature in Translation
(LIT 273) FDR: HL
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: Completion of FW requirements. Readings in the works of 20th-century Jewish authors, studied as literary responses to the historical and religious crises of modern Jewish life in Europe, the United States, and Israel. Marks.
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REL 275 - God and the Holocaust
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Through drama, poetry, theology, memoir, book-inspired films, and short fiction composed by Holocaust victims and later writers, this discussion-centered course explores how Jews have addressed the question, “Where was God during the Holocaust?” Their answers range from acquiescent faith to angry rejection, and to paradoxical wrestling with an absent God. We begin with the biblical books of Job and Lamentations as well as traditional Jewish writings about national catastrophes and the Messiah, to learn how they addressed the problem of undeserved suffering. We compare these ancient ideas with our main topic of study: the ideas and experiences of modern Jews confronting the theological problem of the Holocaust. Marks. Planned Offering: Winter 2105
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REL 281 - Modern Islamic Thought
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A study of Islamic religious movements and representative religious writings of the past two centuries, with focus upon “fundamentalist” or “revivalist” writings and upon recent authors responding to them. Blecher.
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REL 283 - Sufism: Islamic Mysticism
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This course explores the mystical expressions and institutions known as Sufism within the Islamic community. Topics include the elaboration of Sufism from the core tenets of Islam; Sufi practices of ecstasy and discipline; the artistic and literary products of the Sufi experience; the institutions of Sufi orders, saints, shrines, and popular practices; and the debates among Muslims over the place of Sufism within the greater tradition of Islam. Blecher.
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REL 284 - Gender, Sexuality, and Islam
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
How have issues of gender and sexuality in Medieval and Modern Islamic societies been debated across the Middle East, South Asia, and the West? Students examine scholarly and public discussions of gender and Islam, and they build a vocabulary in which to talk about women. queer, and intersex history as they concern Muslim societies and their foundational sources in their regional and historical contexts. No prior knowledge of Islam is necessary. Blecher. Planned Offering: Winter 2105 and alternate years.
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REL 285 - Introduction to American Indian Religions
(ANTH 285) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
This class introduces students to some of the dominant themes, values, beliefs, and practices found among the religions of North America’s Indian peoples. The first part of the course explores the importance of sacred power, landscape, and community in traditional Indian spiritualities and rituals. It then examines some of the changes that have occurred in these traditions as a result of western expansion and dominance from the 18th through early 20th centuries. Lastly, the course considers some of the issues and problems confronting contemporary American Indian religions. Markowitz. Planned Offering: Fall.
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REL 295 - Special Topics in Religion
FDR: HU
Credits: 3 credits in fall or winter, 4 in spring
Prerequisite varies according to the topic. A course offered from time to time in a selected problem or topic in religion. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.
Spring 2016, REL 295-01: Madness, Psychology, and Religion (4). Why are madness and religion so often associated with one another? Why do different people, sometimes even the same person, consider the same phenomenon as either madness or religion? This course addresses these questions by reading (1) theories that explain away-religion as madness; (2) biographies of gurus and saints who think the world, not themselves, mad; (3) studies in cognitive science that measure religious experience in the laboratory; and (4) works of literature in which madness and religion are associated. (HU) Hyne-Sutherland.
Winter 2016, REL 295-01: Hinduism in American Popular Culture (3). Yoga camps, Ohm tattoos, 5K color runs: all are testament to the fact that religious ideas and symbols from classical Indian culture have found new life in contemporary America. In this course, we examine this process of transmission, exchange, and appropriation. Students examine classical Indian texts in translation alongside modern re-imaginings of the concepts and practices found within them. Major topics include: the appropriation of Hindu symbols and practices for commercial or artistic purposes, the role of Indian philosophy in American literature and counter-culture, the nature of the guru-disciple relationship in American ashrams, and the development of “spiritual” tourism to South Asia. (HU) Hyne-Sutherland.
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REL 296 - Seminar in Religion, Ethics, and Law
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
A consideration of human practices in pursuit of the good and the good life with an eye toward understanding the interaction of these practices with social, cultural, and institutional powers and authorities. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff.
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REL 299 - Directed Study in Sanskrit
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: Instructor consent. Instruction in Sanskrit language and literature. For students at the elementary level, the course presents all the basic grammar of the language over the course of a year, with readings of gradually increasing difficulty from the first class. Recitation and the use of spoken Sanskrit to analyze grammatical forms will be taught. At the intermediate level, the course gives more attention to syntax, the use of compounds, and metrics. All readings are taken from original Sanskrit works, beginning with easy epic passages and fables in prose and verse. At the advanced level, the course guides students in the reading, analysis, and interpretation of important works in Sanskrit (chosen in accordance with the students’ interests), providing historical, religious, and cultural background, as well as a consideration of the relevant secondary literature. Opportunities for reading from manuscripts are offered. May be repeated for degree credit when the levels of instruction are different. Only the fifth term of study (third-year level) may be used to a meet a major requirement. Lubin. Planned Offering: Fall 2014
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REL 333 - Meditation and Self-Knowledge
FDR: HU
Credits: 4
For 2,500 years, Hindus and Buddhists have promoted meditation as a means to attain insight and liberation from suffering, a state sometimes understood in terms of divinity or Buddha-nature. Meditation has also been adopted by some in the West during the last century, often for psychological or physical benefits apart from any devotional context. What had traditionally been a practice of ordained monks was popularized in the West, a trend that then caught on in Asia as well. We look at the origins of meditative practices in Asian traditions using primary sources, social context, and personal experience of basic meditative techniques. The course concludes by noting that some contemporary neuroscientists are looking to meditation to better understand mind, brain, emotion, and cognition. Lubin.
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REL 335 - Hindu Law in Theory and Practice
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
India produced one of the oldest legal systems in the world — one that offers some surprising contrasts with modern assumptions about the nature and scope of the law. Combining ethical and ritual obligations alongside rules for criminal and civil litigation, it was intended to cover every aspect of life, from personal habits to political institutions. The course begins with the ancient codes, Indian political theory, and documents from everyday legal practice in medieval times. The second half of the course begins with colonial-era British attempts to codify Hindu law; Hindu personal law in modern India; and the controversy over religion and secularism in the courts today, including the constitutional definition of “Hindu;” attempts to legislate against disapproved religious practices; and disputes over sacred spaces. We close with comparisons with legal reasoning about religion in America, Israel, and England, based on court cases. Lubin.
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REL 340 - Seminar in Asian Religions
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: One course in Asian religions or instructor consent. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. A study of specific topics in Asian religion and society. Lubin.
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REL 350 - Seminar in Biblical Studies
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: REL 101, 102, 151 250, or course work in ancient history or classics, or instructor consent. An exploration of a topic in Biblical studies, focusing on ancient texts and their interpreters from antiquity to the present. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.
Winter 2016, REL 350-01: Seminar in Biblical Studies: The Apostle Paul: Life, Letters, Legacy (3). Prerequisite: REL 101, 102, 151, 250 or course work in ancient history or classics, or instructor consent. A study of the Apostle Paul that begins with historical and cultural contexts (Jewish and Hellenistic) in the first century of the common era, takes up his letters individually through close readings, and follows the various and divergent influences of certain of his key ideas (e.g., justification, faith, freedom, law, grace) through the course of Western religious and political thought to the present. (HU) Brown.
Planned Offering: Winter 2016
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REL 381 - Islamic Law in Society
(LAW 323) FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: Instructor consent. This seminar introduces students to the Islamic understanding of shari’a (“Path,” “law”) and its role in Muslim culture, history, and society. To be examined are: the key sources of law in the Qur’an and the model of the Prophet Muhammad, the early development of Islamic legal theories and institutions, the roles of these institutions in everyday life, and the struggle to re-imagine Islamic law and its place in contemporary Muslim communities. Case studies include the nature of political institutions, the rights and roles of women, and Islamic economics, courtroom procedure and the standing of shari’a in American courts. Blecher. Planned Offering: Winter 2016 and alternating years
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REL 395 - Advanced Seminar in Religion
FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Prerequisite will vary according to the topic. An advanced seminar offered from time to time, depending on student interest and staff availability, in a selected problem or topic in religion. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff.
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REL 399 - Senior Seminar
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: Senior religion major. This course begins with consideration of the nature of the study of religion. The remainder of the course is devoted to the writing of an independent research project. Students will continue to meet for discussion of work in progress and instruction in the craft of researching and writing a long, multi-source independent research project. Marks. Planned Offering: Fall
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REL 401 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 1
Subject to departmental approval and available departmental resources, this course provides an opportunity for individuals to pursue significant lines of independent study in the field of religion. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. Staff.
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REL 402 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 2
Subject to departmental approval and available departmental resources, this course provides an opportunity for individuals to pursue significant lines of independent study in the field of religion. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. Staff.
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REL 403 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 3
Subject to departmental approval and available departmental resources, this course provides an opportunity for individuals to pursue significant lines of independent study in the field of religion. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. Staff.
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REL 493 - Honors Thesis
Credits: 3-3
Honors Thesis. Planned Offering: Fall-Winter
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Romance Languages |
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ROML 295 - Topics in Romance Languages
Credits: 1-3
Prerequisites vary with topic. Nature and content of the course is determined by the interests of the instructor(s) and student(s). May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different.
Winter, 2016: ROML 295-01: Topic in Romance Languages: Digital Editing of Romance Texts (3). Methods and decisions that go into digitally editing a medieval text written in a hybrid French-Italian language. The student works specifically with the Huon d’Auvergne Digital Edition project and collaborates with the Washington and Lee research team. The student learns digital encoding techniques for representing medieval text and manuscripts online and develops an independent final project that explores solutions for annotating text and manuscript facsimiles in the digital reading environment. Course activities include attending the research team’s weekly planning sessions; meetings with faculty; giving a guest talk in the DH 190 course on research goals and outcomes; and presenting final results at a Digital Humanities colloquium at the end of the term. McCormick, Brooks.
Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit
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ROML 296 - Spring-Term Topics in Romance Languages
Credits: 4
Prerequisites vary with topic. Nature and content of the course is determined by the interests of the instructor(s) and student(s). May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Staff. Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit. Planned Offering: Spring
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ROML 297 - Spring Term Abroad in Romance Languages
Credits: 4
A spring-term abroad topics course in which the language of instruction is English, while students also study the language of the host country (French, Spanish, Italian or Portuguese). The course topic is an intensive cultural study related to one of the societies that speak Romance Languages, with an emphasis on experiential learning. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Planned Offering: Spring
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ROML 493 - Honors Thesis
Credits: 3-3
Prerequisites: Senior standing, honors candidacy, and instructor consent. Interested students should see a member of the Romance languages faculty by winter term of their junior year. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall-Winter
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Russian |
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RUSS 111 - Elementary Russian I
Credits: 4
A basic course in Russian which includes the spoken language, fundamental grammar and reading. Bunina. Planned Offering: Fall
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RUSS 112 - Elementary Russian II
Credits: 4
Prerequisite: RUSS 111 or its equivalent. A basic course in Russian which includes the spoken language, fundamental grammar and reading. Bunina. Planned Offering: Winter
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RUSS 113 - Elementary Conversation
Credits: 4
Prerequisite: RUSS 112 or its equivalent. An activation and enrichment of vocabulary and grammatical structures already learned. Conversation and composition themes focus on everyday life in contemporary Russia. Conducted primarily in Russian. Staff. Planned Offering: Spring
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RUSS 114 - Supervised Study Abroad: Elementary Russian
Credits: 6
Prerequisites: Instructor consent. This study abroad course includes spoken language, basic grammar, and reading and writing with an emphasis on contemporary culture. Brodsky. Planned Offering: Spring
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RUSS 261 - Intermediate Russian I
Credits: 4
Prerequisite: RUSS 112 or its equivalent. Continuation of RUSS 112 with some attention to Russian literature and culture. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall
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RUSS 262 - Intermediate Russian II
FDR: FL
Credits: 4
Prerequisite: RUSS 261 or its equivalent. Continuation of RUSS 261 with some attention to Russian literature and culture. Staff. Planned Offering: Winter
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RUSS 263 - Russian Language and Culture Study
FDR: FL
Credits: 4
Prerequisite: RUSS 262. This intensive academic program offers students a chance to immerse themselves in the Russian language and culture. The program at Daugavpils University includes daily classes tailored to W&L curriculum. Daugavpils, the second largest city in Latvia, is one of the best places to study Russian while enjoying security of the European Union. Nearly everyone in Daugavpils is a Russian speaker and Russian is the language of daily communication in town. Students will stay with Russian-speaking host families. They will experience full linguistic immersion and undergo an amazing cultural experience in the city which has a remarkable historical legacy tied to Russia. The program includes daily cultural activities, field trips to historical sites, and two weekend trips to the Latvian capital Riga and to Lithuania. Brodsky. Planned Offering: Spring
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RUSS 301 - Advanced Russian I
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: RUSS 262 or equivalent. Speaking, reading and writing of Russian with increased attention to Russian literature and advanced grammar. Brodsky. Planned Offering: Fall
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RUSS 302 - Advanced Russian II
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: RUSS 301. A continuation of RUSS 301. Brodsky. Planned Offering: Winter
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RUSS 313 - Advanced Conversation
Credits: 4
Prerequisites: RUSS 262 with a grade of B+ or better, or RUSS 302, or instructor consent. A course designed for the advanced language student with emphasis on conversation. Staff. Planned Offering: Spring
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RUSS 315 - 19th-Century Russian Literature
FDR: HL
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: RUSS 262 or equivalent. The novels, plays, poetry, and literary movements of the 19th century. Authors examined include Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, and Chekhov. Conducted in Russian. Brodsky. Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.
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RUSS 316 - 20th-Century Russian Literature
FDR: HL
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: RUSS 262 or equivalent. The novels, plays, poetry, and literary movements of the 20th century. Solzhenitsyn, Babel, Platonov, Mandelshtam, and Tsvetaeva are examples of authors examined. Conducted in Russian. Brodsky. Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and departmental resources permit.
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RUSS 363 - Supervised Study Abroad
Credits: Not yet approved for new spring term. (was 6 or 3-3)
Prerequisites: RUSS 262 or equivalent, instructor consent, and approval of the International Education Committee. A course designed to improve active oral proficiency in Russian and to introduce students to the culture and history of Russia. Classes are held at a prestigious Russian institution of higher education. Excursions are taken to major Russian cities and historic sites. Credits may be split between Russian and other disciplines with the approval of the departments involved. Staff. Planned Offering: Spring
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RUSS 395 - Topics in Russian Literature
FDR: HL
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: RUSS 262 or equivalent. A seminar on a particular author, period, or genre. The subject changes annually. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different. Conducted in Russian.
Fall 2015, RUSS 395-01: Topics in Russian Literature: The Art and The Craft of Soviet Propaganda (3). Prerequisite: RUSS 262 or equivalent. An examination of early Soviet propaganda in visual arts, poetry, and film. Students consider paintings and photography by El Lissitzky, Alexander Rodchenko, and Varvara Stepanova, poetry by Vladimir Mayakovsky, Eduard Bagritskii and Demian Bednyi, and films by Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin, and Aleksander Dovzhenko, read in Russian. (HL) Brodsky.
Winter 2016, RUSS 395-01: Topics in Russian Literature: War Stories (3). Memoirs and journalistic accounts dealing with Russian 20th-century wars, starting with World War I and ending with the ongoing war in Ukraine. The seminar looks at the facts and the myths concerning Russian military operations. Conducted in Russian. (HL) Brodsky. Planned Offering: Offered when interest is expressed and department resources permit.
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RUSS 401 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 1
Prerequisite: Instructor consent Advanced study in Russian. The nature of the course will be determined by the students’ needs and by evaluation of their previous work. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. Staff.
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RUSS 402 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 2
Prerequisite: Instructor consent. Advanced study in Russian. The nature of the course will be determined by the students’ needs and by evaluation of their previous work. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. Staff.
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RUSS 403 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: Instructor consent. Advanced study in Russian. The nature of the course will be determined by the students’ needs and by evaluation of their previous work. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different. Staff.
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Russian Area Studies |
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RAS 401 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 1
Prerequisite: Permission of the Russian Area Studies Committee. Directed Individual Study. Staff.
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RAS 402 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 2
Prerequisite: Permission of the Russian Area Studies Committee. Directed Individual Study. Staff.
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RAS 403 - Directed Individual Study
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: Permission of the Russian Area Studies Committee. Directed Individual Study. Staff.
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RAS 473 - Senior Thesis
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: Senior standing, Russian Area Studies major, and permission of the program head. Students explore specialized issues in Russian Area Studies through writing a thesis on a topic chosen in consultation with two members of the Russian Area Studies faculty committee. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall, Winter
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RAS 493 - Honors Thesis
Credits: 3-3
Prerequisites: Senior standing and honors candidacy. Honors Thesis. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall-Winter
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Sociology & Anthropology |
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SOAN 101 - Introduction to Anthropology
FDR: SS4
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: First-year or sophomore standing. Juniors and seniors with instructor consent. An examination of people and their cultures. An introduction to the techniques employed by the physical anthropologist, archaeologist, and ethnographer is provided. Specific subjects considered include: the physical prerequisites to the acquisition of culture, archaeological interpretation of cultural behavior, and the influences of culture upon the individual and society. Staff. Planned Offering: Fall, Winter
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