Fall 2007 Graduate Courses

RELS 5000. Religious Change: Narrative Studies and Social Theories. This course combines a selection of first-person accounts and academic theories to explore the subject of religious change. What does it mean to “convert” to a religion?  What are a few of the myriad ways one might understand personal religious narratives?   How have social theorists tried to account for both religious change and stasis? In the first half of the class we examine first-person stories of religious change, scholarship analyzing personal narratives, and conversion theories.  The second section of the course considers religious change and stasis from cultural/social perspectives.  The goal of this course is more than broadening your knowledge about the subject, it is to develop your critical thinking, speaking, reading, and writing skills.  The class format entails seminar-style discussions, frequent writing assignments, and a thesis-driven final paper. (Tuesday, 3:30-6:15, Sean McCloud).

RELS 5000. Religion and the Body in Late Antiquity. (Thursday, 6:30-9:15, Jeremy Schott)

RELS 5000. Religions of the African Diaspora. This course is designed to introduce students to the cultural formations and religious traditions within the African Diaspora. ‘Religions of the African Diaspora’ is comparative in nature, and will present to students basic paradigms within the historiography of African Diasporic studies. Another major component of the course will be the study of the African religious traditions of the Yoruba of Nigeria and the Bakongo of Central Africa. Therefore, students will analyze the subsequent development and transformation of such African based religions as Candomble, Santeria, Voodoo/Vodun, Shango, Palo Mayombe, Umbanda, as well as Islam and Christianity. Race, resistance, and agency will be the major themes emphasized throughout this course. (Tuesday-Thursday, 3:30-4:45, Julia Robinson-Harmon)

RELS 5010. Major Figures: Spinoza. Benedict Spinoza (1632-1677) is recognized as the founder of modern biblical criticism, and thus one might even say that he is the founder of the academic study of religion, and hence of our own Department of Religious Studies.  He has been hailed as “the first modern.”  In this course we will read and critically assess his two major works, The Theological-Political Treatise and The Ethics, as well as his minor works and letters.  Thus we will examine and attempt to understand the intellectual and spiritual meaning and origins of “modernity” and the meaning and role of religion in the modern world. (Tuesday, 6:30-9:15, Richard Cohen)

RELS 6101. Approaches to the Study of Religion. This course provides students with critical tools for research, analytical thinking, and writing in the academic study of religion. The topics and individuals this course covers represent several major currents of thought in the field of religious studies. (Monday, 6:30-9:15, Ann Burlein)

RELS 6612. Seminar in Christian Origins: Rethinking the “Map” of Christian Origins. An evaluation of the preliminary results of the Society of Biblical Literature Seminar on Ancient Myths and Modern Theories of Christian Origins with special attention to the theoretical work of Jonathan Z. Smith and Burton Mack as well as the general proposal outlined in the publication of Cameron & Miller (eds), Redescribing Christian Origins (SBLSS 28). The critical task of the course as a result of secondary reading will be to evaluate aspects of the underlying assumptions of the “standard” story of Christian Origins as presented in the New Testament Book of Acts and in Eusebius’s Church History. (Tuesday, 6:30-9:15, James Tabor)

RELS 6800. Directed Studies. (TBA, John C. Reeves)

RELS 6999. Thesis. (TBA, John C. Reeves)

RELS 7999. Master’s Degree Residence. (TBA, John C. Reeves)

Language courses: The university offers undergraduate language courses relevant to graduate study in religion and religions.  For the fall 2007 offerings, consult the schedule listings under CHNS, FORL, FREN, GERM, GREK, JAPN, and LATN for courses in Chinese, Arabic, biblical Hebrew, French, German, Greek, Japanese, and Latin. Introductory and/or advanced instruction in Arabic, Aramaic, Chinese, Coptic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Sanskrit, and Syriac language sources is sometimes available as a Topics or Directed Studies course, subject to the instructor’s consent and student demand.