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 2022, REL 295A-01: Special Topics in Religion: The Bible in America (3). This course considers the role of the Bible in American life from the early colonial period to the present day. We’ll focus on the influence of the Bible in the founding of the United States, biblical interpretation in American social and political debate (slavery, women’s suffrage, war, LGBT rights, evolution), legal questions about the Bible in the American public square, and the Bible as a material object in the US. The class will include a trip to the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. (HU) Brown and Filler.
Fall 2021, REL 295A-01: Special Topics in Religion: Religion and Toleration (3). This course considers the virtues and limitations of dialogue and toleration as ways of engaging religious diversity. What do these terms mean, and what might they require of both religious and non-religious people? When might tolerance be a problematic way of responding to religious claims or practices? How are tolerance and intolerance regulated - both within communities and by the state? This course will take up these questions, as well as a variety of theories of interfaith engagement and invitations to religious co-existence in political and cultural conflict. (HU) Filler.
Fall 2021, REL 295B-01: Special Topics in Religion: Yoga and Tantra (3). While both yoga and tantra have achieved fame and notoriety in the west, their history, philosophy, and cultural background are less well-known. This course considers these two religious technologies that cross the usual boundaries of Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, and even Muslim traditions in South Asia and beyond. We will trace the roots of yoga and tantra, their interconnection, and their modern global manifestations. We will come to see that yoga is far more than what is now used for fitness in the west. (HU) Haskett.
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