Spring 2009 Undergraduate Courses
Department of Religious Studies
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte

www.religiousstudies.uncc.edu

RELS 2101. Introduction to Western Religions (LV). An introduction to Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other selected religions. Emphasis on the myths, stories, symbols, rituals, ideas, and ethical practices of these religions in their classical formulations and in their contemporary practices. (WF 12:30-1:45 Tina Katsanos) [required of all majors] 

RELS 2102. Introduction to Asian Religions. An introduction to the study of three Asian traditions--Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Through selected textual and visual primary sources, we shall explore major doctrinal themes and modes of practice featured in Hindu devotional poetry, Buddhist funerary ritual, and Daoist self-cultivation techniques. Students will practice using select concepts developed in anthropology and in the academic study of religion to interpret primary materials. (MW 11-12:15 David Mozina) [required of all majors]

RELS 2104. Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament. The Hebrew religious tradition from the perspective of its development in the culture of the ancient Near East. (001 TR 12:30-1:45        002 TR 2-3:15 Barbara Thiede) 

RELS 2105. New Testament and Christian Origins. A historical introduction to the texts of the New Testament and the world of early Christianity. Students will examine early Christian writings within the contexts of ancient Judaism and the Greco-Roman world.  Students will also become familiar with the tools and methods used in the fields of New Testament and Early Christian studies. (001 MW 9:30-10:45 Loy Witherspoon  002 MW 12:30-1:45 James Tabor) 

RELS 2110. Judaism. The development of Jewish religious thought from antiquity to the present. [Western tradition] (TR 9:30-10:45 Barbara Thiede)

RELS 2120. Christianity. The world-wide development of the thought and practices of diverse Christian traditions from antiquity to the present. [Western tradition] (TR 12:30-1:45 Jeremy Schott)

RELS 2131. Islam. The development of the traditions in Islam with emphasis on Islamic culture, literature, and mysticism. [Western tradition] (MW 12:30-1:45 Kathryn Johnson)

RELS 2166. Taoism. Designed to explore major Daoist traditions of practice and thought through the lens of a Daoist ritual practiced today in south China.Using a documentary film of living Daoism as our general orientation, we shall examine early texts such as the Daode jing and the Zhuangzi, which provide much of the foundational cosmology and religious aspiration that inform later Daoist practice. We shall explore several traditions of medieval and late imperial Daoism the Way of the Celestial Master, the Upper Clarity tradition, the Numinous Gem tradition, and Thunder Rites which developed many of the modes of practice and religious assertions that continue to be drawn on by Daoist priests today. Finally, we shall foray into contemporary Daoist life, which is currently undergoing a renaissance after more than 30 years of political suppression. [Asian tradition] (MW 9:30-10:45 David Mozina)

RELS 2216.The Modern Middle East.  An introduction to the history of this important and dynamic region. The course focuses on the issues that have defined the Middle East in the recent past and provides students with the historical context needed to understand the region, its peoples, and its conflicts in greater depth.
(Crosslisted with HIST 2216) (MW 2-3:15 Kathryn Johnson)

RELS 2600. Approaches to the Study of Religion (W). Required of all majors as early in their program as possible. Examines basic concepts, theories, and approaches that are involved in the critical, academic study of religion. Attention given to basic research materials and to standard writing practices in the discipline. Majors only. (Wednesday 3:30-6:15 Judith Fagan and Sean McCloud) [required of all majors]

RELS 3000.001. Christianity and Buddhism. A study of  similar aspects in the material dimension of these two religions: icons, art & architecture, pilgrimage, relics and other visual and tactile expressions of religion. (MW 2-3:15 Jeff Meyer)

RELS 3000.004. Women in the Hebrew Bible. A survey of the roles and activities in Jewish women throughout Jewish history, as it is portrayed in a diverse sampling of Jewish religious literature and practice. (Crosslisted with WMST 3050.004) (T 3:30-6:15 Barbara Thiede) .

RELS 3000.006. Women and Gender in Islam.This course introduces religious and societal approaches to gender in the Islamic tradition and in relation to scriptural origin, interpretations and historical transformations. It focuses on the experiences, ideas, and struggles of contemporary Muslim women and emphasizes their agency in assessing, challenging and/or preserving gender roles and interpretations in Muslim societies, while also relating women and gender in Islam to the larger fields of women in religious studies and women’s studies. (TR 2-3:15 Juliane Hammer)

RELS 3050.002. The Modern Self: Rethinking Body and Soul. This course reconsiders the body and soul dichotomy that has shaped much of the way we think about what it is to be a person in the modern world. Thinking about the self as body and soul typically multiplies into a number of other dualistic assumptions about a difference between the mind and the body and between an outer self and an inner self. This inner self is often represented in both religious and popular culture as the “true” self and shapes the way we all think about ourselves. In this course we investigate alternative ways of thinking about the self.  Is the body the self-contained entity presumed by modern liberal society? (M 3:30-6:15 Judith Fagan) [Religion and modern culture]

RELS 3050.003. Race Religion and Murder. Race, Religion and Murder is designed to introduce students to the intersection of race, religion, and violence in American culture. Specifically, this course addresses how Judeo-Christian, Islamic, and even Asian traditions have been used to justify and even condone acts of violence against women, children and peoples of color.  Key components of this course require students to critically analyze racial identity formations, sacred texts, and historical occurrences of rape, murder, lynching, and genocide through the lens of such theorist as Frantz Fanon, Rene Girard, and Friedrich Nietzsche. (TR 2-3:15 Julia Robinson-Harmon) (Crosslisted with AFRS 3000.003 & HIST 3000.003) [Religion and modern culture]

RELS 3050.004. Globalization and African Religions in the US. An examination of religious beliefs and practices of recent African immigrants in the United States with emphasis on the dialectic relationship between the impact of globalization and African immigration on the US religious landscape, and the impacts of American values/cultures on African religious expressions. Emphasis will be placed on African Christian institutions, especially Pentecostalism and indigenous African Churches. The goal is to understand the social messages of these African religious traditions from their local/national origins in Africa to their transnational and global spaces in the United States. (F 11-1:45 Moses Taiwo) (Cross listed with AFRS 3050.004) [Religion and modern culture]

RELS 3150.006. The African-American Church/Civil Rights Movement. This course is designed to introduce students to the historical foundations of the struggle for civil rights in America in South Africa. At the center of this investigation is the evolution of the African American and the Black South African Protestant Church during the periods of the Modern Civil Rights Movement, and South African Apartheid. (TR 12:30-1:45 Julia Robinson-Harmon) (Crosslisted with AFRS 3050.006 & HIST 3000.006) [Religion and modern culture]

RELS 3163. The Religious Art and Architecture of India.The visual arts of Hindus, Buddhists, Jainas, and Muslims in the architecture, paintings, and sculptures of India. (MW 11-12:15 Dan White)

RELS 4000.001. Advanced Biblical Hebrew II.  A critical reading and translation of biblical, non-biblical, and Post-biblical Hebrew prose and poetic texts. Prerequisite: This course requires as its minimum prerequisite: (1) the successful completion at UNC Charlotte of FORL 1201 and 1202; i.e., Introduction to Biblical Hebrew I and II; or (2) an equivalent sequence of introductory biblical Hebrew courses at another institution of higher learning; i.e., amounting to two semesters, three quarters, or one year or (3) permission of the instructor. (R 3:30-6:15 John C. Reeves)

 RELS 4050.002. Sacrifice and the Political. Examination of "sacrifice," a topic of perennial interest in the discipline of religious studies.  Consideration of "classical" understandings (Hubert and Mauss, Durkheim, Freud, Robertson Smith) and contemporary voices (Girard, Jay, Derrida) with sustained attention to the work of Georges Bataille.  Emphasis on the usefulness of sacrifice as a tool of cultural and political analysis. (R 3:30-6:15 Kent Brintnall) [Religion and modern culture]

RELS 4600. Senior Seminar. (WO) Required of majors in final year of studies. Majors only. (Wednesday 3:30-6:15 Ed St.Clair)