Religious Studies Minor - Undergraduate - 2009 University Catalog

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RELIGIOUS STUDIES MINOR

Complete 18 semester hours, from the following:

Complete 1 course from the following:

RELG 100 Religions of the World 3

RELG 101 Introduction to Religion 3
Complete 1 course from the following:

RELG 460 Seminar in World Religions 3

RELG 462 Seminar in Religious Texts 3

RELG 465 Seminar in Religion and Culture 3

RELG 467 Seminar in Religious Issues 3

Complete 12 semester hours from the following:

RELG	100	Religions of the World	3
RELG	101	Introduction to Religion	3
RELG	103	Religion and Moral Issues	3
RELG	104	Feminist Theology and Spirituality	3
RELG	106	African Religious Traditions	3
RELG	108	African-American Religious Experience	3
RELG	200	Old Testament: Genesis to Joshua	3
RELG	202	Old Testament: Joshua to Daniel	3
RELG	204	New Testament: Jesus and the Gospels	3
RELG	206	New Testament: Paul and the Early Church	3
RELG	207	Religious Texts in America: Women	3
RELG	210	Native American Religions	3
RELG	212	Asian Religions	3
RELG	213	Buddhism	3
RELG	214	Classical Texts of Asian Religions	3
RELG	215	Hinduism	3
RELG	216	Islamic Religious Traditions	3
RELG	217	Taoism	3
RELG	218	Death, Dying and Afterlife	3
RELG	221	Religion and Culture	3
RELG	223	Religion in North America	3
RELG	225	Religion and Social Change	3
RELG	256	Religion in Latin America	3
RELG	258	Christian History and Thought	3
RELG	262	Philosophy of Religion	3
RELG	263	Religion and Psychology	3
RELG	267	Women and Religion	3
RELG	273	The Holocaust: Religious Perspectives	3
RELG	300	Classics of Western Religious Thought	3
RELG	301	Contemporary Jewish Thought. Start Fall 2009: Jewish Spirituality and Mysticism	3
RELG	326	Theology	3
RELG	332	Myth, Meaning and Self	3
RELG	350	Selected Study in World Religions	3
RELG	352	Selected Study in Religious Texts	3
RELG	355	Selected Study in Religion and Culture	3
RELG	357	Selected Study in Religious Issues	3
RELG	460	Seminar in World Religions	3
RELG	462	Seminar in Religious Texts	3
RELG	465	Seminar in Religion and Culture	3
RELG	467	Seminar in Religious Issues	3

Course Descriptions:

RELG100: Religions of the World

The major religious traditions, with emphasis on basic beliefs and on the nature and diversity of religious awareness. Meets Gen Ed 2002 - Humanities, Philosophy or Religion. Meets the 1983 General Education Requirement (GER) - Humanities, Philosophy/Religion. 3 sh.

RELG101: Introduction to Religion

An inquiry into man's religious questions and expressions, their implications, and their critical appreciation and assessment. Meets Gen Ed 2002 - Humanities, Philosophy or Religion. Meets the 1983 General Education Requirement (GER) - Humanities, Philosophy/Religion. 3 sh.

RELG103: Religion and Moral Issues

Ethical issues as currently discussed by representative thinkers of the major Western religious traditions. Meets the 1983 General Education Requirement (GER) - Humanities, Philosophy/Religion. 3 sh.

RELG104: Feminist Theology and Spirituality

This course will examine primary religious documents, their traditional interpretations, and recent feminist interpretations of these documents. It will examine the feminist claim that the traditional mind/body dualism of Western thought serves as a basis for the subjugation of women in traditional patriarchal religions. 3 sh.

RELG106: African Religious Traditions

An introduction to the indigenous cosmological concepts, ritual practices, and value systems of the peoples of sub-Sahara Africa. The retentions of African religious beliefs and practices in the cultures of the "New World" as encountered in Voodoo in Haiti, Santeria in Cuba, and Candomble in Brazil will also be examined. Meets the World Languages and Cultures Requirement - World Cultures. 3 sh.

RELG108: African-American Religious Experience

The course will aim at engaging students in an active examination of the role of religion in the life of African-Americans from the period of slavery to the present. Students will be expected to read extensively from a list of recommended texts and to write critical analyses on assigned topics. The style of instruction will combine lecture with discussion, thereby encouraging students to develop skills in critical thinking as well as the art of verbal expression. Meets the World Languages and Cultures Requirement - World Cultures. 3 sh.

RELG200: Old Testament: Genesis to Joshua

The evolution of the ancient Hebrew world view as developed in the biblical books covering the early period of Israelite history. The course includes a close reading of the books of Genesis, Exodus and numbers, comparison with contemporary Middle Eastern religious texts and study of the biblical story from the creation through the career of Moses (circa 1250 B.C.E.). 3 sh.

RELG202: Old Testament: Joshua to Daniel

The history and theology of Israelite religion as seen in the biblical books covering the middle and late periods (1150-165 B.C.E.). 3 sh.

RELG204: New Testament: Jesus and the Gospels

The story of Jesus of Nazareth as told in the gospels of Mark and Matthew. The course explores Old Testament backgrounds, Jesus' place in the Jewish religious context of first century Israel, the question of the historical Jesus and the origins of and relationships between the various gospel traditions. 3 sh.

RELG206: New Testament: Paul and the Early Church

A close study of Luke-Acts, John, selected letters of Paul and other later epistles. The course explores the development of the theology and institutions of the early church as revealed in New Testament documents of the first and early second centuries. 3 sh.

RELG207: Religious Texts in America: Women

Course will examine original texts by women written during the religious growth and development of such movements as Evangelicalism, Mormonism, the Westward missionary expansion, African-American slave narratives, hymns, sermons, and exhortations. Emphasis will be on the ways religion served as an acceptable locus of expression for women. 3 sh.

RELG210: Native American Religions

An introduction to the religious traditions and spirituality of the Native American peoples. Meets the 1983 General Education Requirement (GER) - Social Science, Non-Western Cultural Perspectives. Meets the World Languages and Cultures Requirement - World Cultures. 3 sh.

RELG212: Asian Religions

The cultural and theological bases for the faith and practice of major Eastern religions--Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Taoism. Meets the World Languages and Cultures Requirement - World Cultures. 3 sh.

RELG213: Buddhism

The exploration of Buddhist teachings, practices, history, and religious art in various Asian countries, notably India, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Tibet (may vary). No prerequisites, but RELG 100, Religions of the World, is suggested. Meets the World Languages and Cultures Requirement - World Cultures. 3 sh.

RELG214: Classical Texts of Asian Religions

This course emphasizes critical analysis and interpretation of primary textual sources. Students will read and examine primary documents from each of the Asian religions, their traditional interpretations and recent understandings and applications of these texts. 3 sh.

RELG215: Hinduism

An introduction to Hindu religious traditions, including philosophy, yoga practice, ritual workship, and sacred art. No prerequisites, but RELG 100 Religions of the World is suggested. 3 sh.

RELG216: Islamic Religious Traditions

The historical origins of Islam, the emergence and development of various strands of religious tradition, and their impact on the modern world. 3 sh.

RELG217: Taoism

An introduction to Taoist religious texts and traditions, including Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tzu; Taoist connections with traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts; Taoist ritual traditions; and sacred art. No prerequisites, but RELG 100 Religions of the World is recommended. 3 sh.

RELG218: Death, Dying and Afterlife

This course is designed to give students the opportunity to study cross-cultural religious practices and attitudes toward death, dying and the afterlife. The course will cover the grieving process, rituals of death, and various cultural attitudes toward death, including symbolic "deaths" (initiations), and belief in limbo states, soul-survival, ghosts, heaven, hell, and karma and reincarnation. Meets the 1983 General Education Requirement (GER) - Humanities, Philosphy/Religion. 3 sh.

RELG221: Religion and Culture

The interrelation of religion and culture in the formulation of human values and views, life-styles and institutions. Meets Gen Ed 2002 - Humanities, Philosophy or Religion. Meets the 1983 General Education Requirement (GER) - Humanities, Philosophy/Religion. 3 sh.

RELG223: Religion in North America

The growth and development of various religious movements-- Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and sectarian minorities-- from colonial times to the present. 3 sh.

RELG225: Religion and Social Change

The impact of economic, social and political movements on religious belief and the ways in which religion has both furthered and impeded social development. Meets the 1983 General Education Requirement (GER) - Contemporary Issues. 3 sh.

RELG256: Religion in Latin America

A survey of the variety of ways religion, both indigenous and Western, has interacted with culture and society in Latin America. Particular emphasis is given to the pluralism of religious expressions, including popular religion, syncretic religions such as Voodoo and Santeria, different forms of Protestantism, and liberation theology. 3 sh.

RELG258: Christian History and Thought

A survey of the history of the development of the Christian world-view, the evolution of Christian institutions and doctrines, and the triumphs and failures of Christianity through the period of the Reformation. 3 sh.

RELG262: Philosophy of Religion

A philosophical examination of religion. It includes the nature and shape of religious experience: criteria for meaning within religious thought and language, metaphysical and epistemological implications of such questions as the nature and existence of God, and the possibility of life after death. 3 sh.

RELG263: Religion and Psychology

The views of faith and the religious person reached by such major psychological approaches as the Freudian, neo-Freudian, analytic-ego, existential and Jungian. The implications of such psychology for Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant believers and religious thinkers. 3 sh.

RELG267: Women and Religion

Focuses on women's own experience in religions and the various perspectives of women held by both Eastern and Western religious traditions. The course deals with questions such as the nature of women, patriarchy and religion, and roles of women in religions. Meets the University Writing Requirement for RELS majors. Meets the World Languages and Cultures Requirement - World Cultures. 3 sh.

RELG273: The Holocaust: Religious Perspectives

A study of Nazi extermination of 6,000,000 Jews during World War II and the moral and religious issues raised by this event. 3 sh.

RELG300: Classics of Western Religious Thought

Selected works of significant theologians of the Western tradition on issues such as the nature of God, christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, theodicy, etc. 3 sh.