Current Courses
INTD 308: Inventing Antiquity
Instructor: Dr. Gutierrez and Dr. Casey
MW 2:30-3:45 PM
We will examine religious and cultural forms from Greece, Rome, and Egypt and how they are envisioned and enacted in American history. The transmission of such phenomena as oracles, divination, religious initiations, and uses of secrecy will be studied. Historical pairings will include the Pythia and Spiritualism, Egyptian religion and the Mormons, and ancient mystery cults and their American imitators. May be counted toward the majors or minors in classics or religion.
RELG 178: Intro to World Religions
Instructor: Dr. Gutierrez
MWF 1:30-2:20 PM
A comparative survey of the world's major religious traditions from the time of their foundation to the present. Emphasis will be placed on understanding how religious traditions both reflect and are formative in the cultures and societies in which they appear.
RELG 222: Buddhism
Instructor: Dr. Goulde
MWF 9:30-10:20 AM
A broad historical study of the development of Buddhism in India and its adoption and adaptation in Tibet, China and Japan. This course will examine the Buddhist world view, Busshist forms of spirituality (Mahayana, Hinayana and Tantrayana), Buddhist rituals, philosophy, literature, arts, organizations and Buddhism's relation to political and economic systems.
RELG 235: Latin American Religion
Instructor: Dr. Schuyler
TR 10:30-11:45 AM
The study of religion in Latin America includes the diverse cultures of indigenous, African-American and Hispanic peoples from South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. The course may consider: indigenous religions from geographically distinct regions (from the Yahgan of Tierra del Fuego to the Pueblos and Yaquis of Mexico); Catholicism in its many cultural forms; African cultures from Brazilian condomble to Afro-Caribbean ritual; and contemporary religious movements. Critical approaches include precontact, colonial and post-colonial issues; cosmovisiones, conflict and mestizaje, religion and society and modernity in Latin American perspectives.
RELG 248: Religions of Africa
Instructor: Dr. Schuyler
TR 1:15-2:30 PM
Students will examine religions of Africa, both in their indigenous expressions and in the Diaspora, Methodological issues such as what constitutes a "traditional" religion will be examined, as will questions of ritual, cosmology, myth-making and the place of women. The effects of colonialism and the situation of post-colonialism will be discussed in-depth in the context of both continental and diaspora religious experience. The relationship of colonialism to syncretism will be explored in the examination of diaspora religions in the Caribbean and American settings. Movements such as Voodoun and Rastafarianism will be studied with a view to understanding how new religions are created as a process of intercultural contact and adaptation to historical events.
RELG 261: Directed Study
Instructor: Dr. Schuyler
Special topics pursued by individual students under supervision.
RELG 263: Asian Philosophies
Instructor: Dr. Goulde
MWF 10:30-11:20 AM
A survey of the major philosophers in North and South Asia. This course will look at the philosophical contributions made to world philosophy by such philosophers as Confucius, Laozi, Zhuxi, Nagarjuna, Candrakirti, Shankara, and Ramanuja. The course will focus on the basic questions of human existence and nature, notions of truth and ultimate meaning, ethical obligations, and the nature of society.
RELG 350: Religion and U.S. Law
Instructor: Dr. Goulde
MWF 12:30-1:20 PM
An examination of the issues produced by religious and state interests in the United States from the colonial period to the present. The course will focus on understanding the history of colonial and post-colonial views of religion and government, the process that led to the constitutional separation of religion and government, and the history of interpretations of this constitutional doctrine by the U.S. Supreme Court.
RELG 452: Senior Seminar
Instructor: Dr. Gutierrez
Fundamental problems of religion, ethics and theology, such as religious authority and experience, understandings of the world, humanity and history, doctrines of salvation, the study of sacred scriptures, phenomenology of religion and the methodologies of religious studies.