2025-2026 Catalog

RLST 10100. Introduction to Religious Studies. 100 Units.

This course will serve as general introduction to the academic field of Religious Studies. In it we will focus on understanding how scholars have historically studied a thing we might call "religion." We will familiarize ourselves with various classical and contemporary theories and theorists of religion, as well other thinkers whose work considers the idea of religion in interesting or compelling ways. When studying each of these thinkers will we pay close attention to the definitions of religion they offer and the methods they used to arrive at those definitions. We will then apply what we learn to issues outside the field, where our tools may help us to understand the dynamics at work in the wider world. In doing so we will use the study of religion as a way to think more generally about how, why, and to what result people of different times, geographies, and cultures make sense of their existence. All students are welcome and no prior knowledge is required.

Instructor(s): Marshall Cunningham (winter 26); Justin Smolin (spring 26)     Terms Offered: Spring Summer Winter
Note(s): This is the required introductory course for RLST majors.
Equivalent Course(s): SOCI 20541

RLST 11004. Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. 100 Units.

The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) is a complex anthology of disparate texts and reflects a diversity of religious, political, and historical perspectives from ancient Israel and Judah. Because this collection of texts continues to play an important role in modern religions, new significances are often imposed upon this ancient literature. In this course, we will attempt to read biblical texts on their own terms and will also contextualize their ideas and goals with texts and material culture from ancient Mesopotamia, Syro-Palestine, and Egypt. In this way, we will discover that the Hebrew Bible is fully part of the cultural milieu of the ancient Near East. We will read a significant portion of the Hebrew Bible in English, along with selections from other ancient Near Eastern texts as well as secondary literature. This course will include discussion sections.

Instructor(s): Jeffrey Stackert     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course counts as a Gateway course for RLST majors/minors. This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): HIJD 31004, JWSC 20120, BIBL 31000, NEHC 30504, NEHC 20504, FNDL 11004

RLST 12000. Introduction to the New Testament: Texts and Contexts of Interpretation. 100 Units.

This class introduces students to the texts that make up the New Testament through close readings of representative examples. Through course lectures and readings, students will gain familiarity with the historical, geographical, social, religious, cultural, and political contexts of New Testament literature and the events they narrate. We will also learn about the central literary genres found within the collection of texts that came to form the canonical New Testament, including "gospels," "acts," "letters," and "apocalypses", and we will examine how awareness of genre conventions enhances our reading of these works. Students will also learn about the distinctive theological and cultural viewpoints contained within various New Testament texts. As we learn about the history of biblical scholarship, especially the goals and methods of biblical interpretation, we will practice refining our questions. Assignments and discussion will allow students to develop their skills as attuned readers of both ancient texts as well as modern biblical scholarship. PQ: No prior knowledge of biblical literature, the ancient world, or Christianity is expected. The only expectation is commitment to engaged discussion about the challenges of interpretation with classmates holding various viewpoints.

Instructor(s): Erin Walsh     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students. This course counts as a Gateway course for RLST majors/minors.
Equivalent Course(s): CLAS 32524, BIBL 32500, MDVL 12500, CLCV 22524, FNDL 28202

RLST 11040. Introduction to the Qur'an. 100 Units.

The primary goal of this course is to introduce students to the text and context of the Qurʾan. Emphasis is placed upon both the historical setting as well as the thematic and literary features, major biblical figures, and foundational narratives of the Qurʾan. Explorations of medieval exegetical literature on the Qurʾan and its reception in the early (8th - 10th century CE) and medieval periods (11th - 15th century CE) will feature in this course.

Instructor(s): Mehmetcan Akpinar     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS or SCSR Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students. This course counts as a Gateway course for RLST majors/minors.
Equivalent Course(s): MDVL 11040, NEHC 11040, ISLM 30040, FNDL 11040, NEHC 30040

RLST 13900. Introductory Biblical Hebrew I. 100 Units.

This course is the first of a two-quarter sequence designed to introduce students to the language of biblical Hebrew, with special emphasis on the fundamentals of its morphology, syntax, and vocabulary. The course follows a standard textbook supplemented by lectures, exercises, and oral drills aimed at refining the student's grasp of grammatically sound interpretation and translation. At the conclusion of the two-quarter sequence students will be prepared to take a biblical Hebrew reading course in the spring quarter.

Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): BIBL 33900

RLST 14000. Introductory Biblical Hebrew II. 100 Units.

This course is the second of a two-quarter sequence designed to introduce students to the language of biblical Hebrew, with special emphasis on the fundamentals of its morphology, syntax, and vocabulary. The course follows a standard textbook supplemented by lectures, exercises, and oral drills aimed at refining the student's grasp of grammatically sound interpretation and translation. At the conclusion of the two-quarter sequence students will be prepared to take a biblical Hebrew reading course in the spring quarter.

Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): BIBL 33900 in Autumn Quarter.
Equivalent Course(s): BIBL 34000

RLST 14100. Introductory Koine Greek I. 100 Units.

In this two-course sequence, students will learn the basic mechanics of Koine Greek and begin reading texts from the Greek New Testament and Septuagint. The autumn course and the first three-fourths or so of the winter course will introduce the vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and style of the Greek New Testament, and to a limited degree those of the Septuagint, after which point we will focus on reading and interpreting a New Testament document in Greek at length. Upon the conclusion of the sequence, students will be able to read and comprehend entire passages of Koine Greek text with the aid of a dictionary. This sequence aims to prepare students to successfully participate in a Greek exegesis course.

Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): BIBL 35100

RLST 14200. Introductory Koine Greek II. 100 Units.

In this two-course sequence, students will learn the basic mechanics of Koine Greek and begin reading texts from the Greek New Testament and Septuagint. The autumn course and the first three-fourths or so of the winter course will introduce the vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and style of the Greek New Testament, and to a limited degree those of the Septuagint, after which point we will focus on reading and interpreting a New Testament document in Greek at length. Upon the conclusion of the sequence, students will be able to read and comprehend entire passages of Koine Greek text with the aid of a dictionary. This sequence aims to prepare students to successfully participate in a Greek exegesis course in Spring quarter or thereafter.

Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Must have taken BIBL 35100 in Autumn quarter.
Equivalent Course(s): BIBL 35300

RLST 15100-15200-15300. Introductory Qur'anic Arabic I-II-III.

Introductory Qur'anic Arabic I-II-III

RLST 20201-20202-20203. Islamicate Civilization I-II-III.

Islamicate Civilization I-II-III

RLST 20250. Mormons and Armenians in the modern Middle East: Conversion, Persecution, and Immigration. 100 Units.

This course explores the contours, types, and impacts of encounters between Western Protestant Missionaries and the Armenian populations of the late Ottoman and post-Ottoman Middle East, particularly between Mormon missionaries and local Armenian populations. The status of Mormons and their Armenian converts in the late Ottoman Empire is best understood within a framework of "compounding marginalization." Mormons were extremely marginalized in the United States as a distinct religious community known for their controversial religious practice of polygamy. Mormon Missionaries were marginalized by other Western Missionaries, local Christian Clergies, and by the Ottoman administration. Armenians were a marginalized ethno-religious community in the late Ottoman Empire, and Mormon Armenians were doubly marginalized by the broader Armenian community and the Ottoman state. These intersecting degrees of compounding marginality greatly affected the LDS Armenian community, particularly in terms of increased persecution and hardship.

Instructor(s): Schull, Kent     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 30150, NEHC 20150

RLST 20350. The Beginnings of Islam. 100 Units.

This course will cover the first 150 years of Islamic history, beginning with the Prophet Muhammad's (d. 632) prophetic mission until the demise of the Umayyad dynasty in 749. Initially the focus will be on the Prophet's life as portrayed in the work of the 8th century compiler Ibn Ishaq (d. 767) as well as in modern biographies. In the second part, the focus will move to the Islamic conquests and the age of the Rashidun caliphs, who ruled for three decades (632-661) after the Prophet's death. The third and final part of the course will introduce the first Muslim dynasty, the Umayyads, under whose rule (661-750) the early Islamic community was transformed into a fully-fledged state. We will discuss several different topics, such as state formation in early Islam, ideas about religious vs. political leadership, the development of new religious identities, the emergence of a new ruling elite, formation of Muslim scholarly circles, the first examples of Islamic art and architecture, as well as inner-Muslim conflicts and rebellions.

Instructor(s): Mehmetcan Akpinar     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): No background in Islamic studies or in Arabic language is required. This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 20511, ISLM 30350, NEHC 30500

RLST 20401-20402-20403. Islamic Thought and Literature I-II-III.

This sequence meets the general education requirement in civilization studies. Taking these courses in sequence is recommended but not required.

RLST 20430. Hadith Literature: Authenticity, Authority, Reception. 100 Units.

This advanced graduate seminar explores various genres within hadith literature, a vast corpus encompassing traditions about the speeches, and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad. Beyond examining different types of hadith collections, the course will trace the development of classical hadith scholarship and the critical methodologies employed by classical and medieval scholars in evaluating hadiths. In addition, the seminar will analyze key texts that discuss the role of hadith in law, theology, and Sufism, as well as its significance in the daily religious life of Muslims. The course will also introduce the intertextualities between Twelver Shi'ite and Zaydi hadith traditions and the Sunni hadith corpus, offering a comparative perspective on hadith transmission and interpretation across different Islamic traditions.

Instructor(s): Mehmetcan Akpinar     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Minimum two years of proficiency in Arabic required.
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): ISLM 40430, NEHC 40430, NEHC 20430

RLST 20505. Pagans and Christians: Greek Background to Early Christianity. 100 Units.

This course will examine some of the ancient Greek roots of early Christianity. We will focus on affinities between Christianity and the classical tradition as well as ways in which the Christian faith may be considered radically different from it. Some of the more important issues that we will analyze are: "The spell of Homer." How the Homeric poems exerted immeasurable influence on the religious attitudes and practices of the Greeks. The theme of creation in Greek and Roman authors such as Hesiod and Ovid. The Orphic account of human origins. The early Christian theme of Christ as Creator/Savior. Greek, specifically Homeric conceptions of the afterlife. The response to the Homeric orientation in the form of the great mystery cults of Demeter, Dionysus, and Orpheus. The views of the philosophers (esp. Plato) of the immortality of the soul compared with the New Testament conception of resurrection of the body. Ancient Greek conceptions of sacrifice and the crucifixion of Christ as archetypal sacrifice. The attempted synthesis of Jewish and Greek philosophic thought by Philo of Alexandria and its importance for early Christianity.

Instructor(s): David Martinez     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): MDVL 20505, CLCV 26216

RLST 20808. Biography of the Prophet Muhammad. 100 Units.

This introductory course offers an overview of Prophet Muhammad's life as portrayed in the early and medieval Arabic narrative tradition and through the lens of modern scholarship. We will discuss a diverse range of topics, such as life in pre-Islamic Arabia, the Prophet's early life before prophethood, the first revelations, the Meccan period, his migration to Medina, his religio-political leadership and the military expeditions during the Medinan period, his reported miracles, etc. At the same time, students will gain an overview of the sira/maghazi literature, i.e., the texts devoted to the life of the Prophet Muhammad in the Muslim tradition. Modern methodological questions which concern the reliability of the narrative traditions in reconstructing the biography of the "historical Muhammad" and a wide range of approaches developed in Western academia to overcome problems related to the source material will also be addressed.

Instructor(s): Mehmetcan Akpinar     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): No background in Islamic studies or Arabic language required. This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): MDVL 20808, NEHC 30808, ISLM 30808, NEHC 20808, FNDL 20808

RLST 20904. Introduction to Jainism. 100 Units.

Jainism has long been on the margins of Religious Studies, little known beyond its otherworldly emphasis on extreme forms of asceticism, nonviolence, and vegetarianism. This course seeks to expand this popular understanding of Jainism by posing a question: What does it mean to be a Jain in the world when the Jain religion is fundamentally otherworldly in its orientation? By reading ethnographies and historical studies alongside primary sources, this course will introduce students to Jainism as an enduring lived religion whose meaning and practices have changed over time, across regions, between sectarian communities, and in conversation with Buddhism and Hinduism. By the end of the quarter, students can expect to understand Jainism as a minor religion with a major impact.

Instructor(s): Sarah Pierce Taylor     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course counts as a Gateway course for RLST majors/minors.
Equivalent Course(s): SALC 20910, GLST 20994

RLST 21303. Christianity and Slavery in America, 1619-1865. 100 Units.

We will be examining the relationship between Christian thought/practice and the institutions of slavery as they evolved historically, especially in the context of European enslavement of peoples of African descent in the colonies of British North America and in the antebellum South. The following questions will be addressed in some form through our readings and class discussions: How and why did slavery become a moral problem for abolitionists? How and why did white evangelical Christians, especially in the South, become the most prominent defenders of slavery? What role did race play in the historical development of slavery and how did Christianity sustain and perpetuate racial divisions and sanction for human bondage? How did people of African descent shape and practice Christianity in British North America and in the Southern states?

Instructor(s): Curtis Evans     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 47102, RAME 42901, HCHR 42901, KNOW 21303, KNOW 42901, AMER 21303, AMER 42901, CRES 21303

RLST 21316. Readings in Modern American Religious History. 100 Units.

Why is religion so powerful in the United States? This course will answer that question by tracing the religious history of America from the late nineteenth century to the present. Our readings will be new and classic texts on religion in the United States, and our goals will be twofold: to get a grasp of American religious historiography, and to explore the major trends which have shaped religion in the United States over the past century and a half.

Instructor(s): Will Schultz     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): AMER 21316, AMER 31316, RAME 31316, HCHR 31316

RLST 21430. Religion and American Capitalism. 100 Units.

This course will introduce students to the intersection of religion and capitalism in the United States. Through a variety of primary and secondary readings, we will explore how religious people and institutions have interacted with, affirmed, and challenged American capitalism. We will pay particularly close attention to the alternative moral economics envisioned by religious communities in the United States.

Instructor(s): William Schultz     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): AMER 21430, RAME 40200, HIST 27716, AMER 40200, HCHR 40200, HIST 37716

RLST 21440. Fundamentalism. 100 Units.

Is fundamentalism a useful term that allows us to compare anti-modern movements across a range of religious traditions? Or is it a hopelessly problematic term that lumps together vastly different phenomena? This course will use the troubled career of "fundamentalism" as a window onto the modern history of religion-and the people who study it. We will begin by focusing on the origins of fundamentalism: as a description of the political mobilization of conservative Protestants in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. From there, we will broaden our perspective, considering how the term "fundamentalist" has been applied to Islamic, Jewish, and Hindu movements, as well as to secular phenomena like Marxism and nationalism. At each step of the way we will consider not only "fundamentalism" itself but also the people who study it and those who mobilize against it. Ultimately, we will ask: is fundamentalism an idea whose time has come again, or one whose time has come and gone?

Instructor(s): William Schultz     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the HS or SCSR Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): HCHR 41440, AASR 41440, RAME 41440, HIST 28006, HIST 38006

RLST 21505. The Apostolic Fathers. 100 Units.

This course focuses on the general body of works whose authors are collectively known as the Apostolic Fathers, a remarkable group of theologians who lived and wrote during the late first and second centuries AD, immediately after the New Testament. Among the works and writers whom we will consider are the Didache, Clement of Rome (1 Clement), Ignatius of Antioch, and, as time permits, Diognetus or 2 Clement. We will carefully read the Greek text, with careful attention to the style of the Greek, how it compares to that of the New Testament, and its relationship to other important materials such as the Septuagint and the Greco-Egyptian papyri. This was a period of amazing ferment and intellectual diversity. Since no rigid standard of orthodoxy had yet been set, a wide array of ideas were put forth and examined on the theological market place. We will focus on the exegetical methods of Biblical interpretation used by the Fathers, their reflections on the person and work of Jesus, and their ideas on the structure and mission of the emerging Church as the body of Christ.

Instructor(s): David Martinez     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Two years of Greek required.
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): BIBL 47500, FNDL 21555, GREK 35700, GREK 25700

RLST 21960. Age of Aquarius: The Spiritual Revolutions of the 1960s. 100 Units.

Religion underwent significant changes in the 1960s, both in the United States and around the world. These changes could be seen and heard not only in houses of worship but also in street protests, political rallies, and even rock concerts. This course will introduce students to the momentous shifts that made "the Sixties" a watershed era in American religion. By focusing on primary sources-including films, music, and books-we will examine the major cultural, intellectual, and social trends that reshaped religion during this time. Topics will include the role of religion in the civil rights movement, the growing popularity of Buddhism, Hinduism, and other Asian religions, the transformation of the Catholic Church as a result of Vatican II, the re-emergence of a "New Age" movement and attendant fears about "cults," and the surging power of evangelical Christianity.

Instructor(s): Will Schultz and Sarah Pierce Taylor     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): AMER 21960

RLST 21968. Religious and Social Thought of Martin Luther King Jr. 100 Units.

This seminar is an intensive study of the religious life and social/religious thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. We will be reading a wide range of King's writings and speeches from his Crozer seminary years to his major speeches up to his assassination in 1968. We will also explore some of the classic and more recent scholarship that examines the influences on and sources of King's thought. Prominent themes in the course will include but will not be limited to King's ethical and social critique of American society, especially its racism, his social and moral evaluation of economic inequality, his commitment to nonviolence, his conception of the beloved community, and his evolving roles as preacher, social activist, and public intellectual.

Instructor(s): Curtis Evans     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS or CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 21968, RAME 31968, AMER 31968, AMER 21968, HCHR 31968

RLST 21995. Social Christianity in the US: Origins and Legacies. 100 Units.

This course is an intensive analysis of the origins, development, and historical significance of the Social Gospel (as it was called during its emergence) as a religious and social reform movement in America. We begin the course with one of the major works of Walter Rauschenbusch in the early 20th century. But we look at the development and influence of Social Christianity later and in the Civil Rights movement (and beyond) to grasp its enduring influence. Some attention will be devoted to the relationship between theological innovation, historical criticism of the Bible, and social reform. One of the aims of the course is to explore the impetus for social and political reform in light of a more expansive and this-worldly conception of Christian teaching on the Kingdom of God.

Instructor(s): Curtis Evans     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS or CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): AMER 21995, AMER 35050, RAME 35050, HIST 47500, HCHR 35050

RLST 22010-22011-22012. Jewish Civilization I-II-III.

Jewish Civilization is a three-quarter sequence that explores the development of Jewish culture and tradition from its ancient beginnings through its rabbinic and medieval transformations to its modern manifestations. Through investigation of primary texts—biblical, Talmudic, philosophical, mystical, historical, documentary, and literary—students will acquire a broad overview of Jews, Judaism, and Jewishness while reflecting in greater depth on major themes, ideas, and events in Jewish history. The Autumn course will deal with antiquity to the medieval period; the Winter course will begin with the early modern period and continue to the present. The Spring course will vary as to special topic; for the Spring course to count towards the general education requirement in civilization studies, the student must also take the Autumn and Winter courses. Note: Jewish Studies revised its civilization studies courses in academic year 2018–19. Students who began the requirement prior to Autumn Quarter 2018 under the previous course options, may complete it with those courses that remain available, or (with prior approval from the JWSC director of undergraduate studies) they may combine them with the new course options, provided that they fulfill the requirement to take one JWSC course in the ancient or medieval period and one in the modern period. Only students who have taken JWSC courses prior to academic year 2018–19 are eligible to complete the program under the prior system.

RLST 22060. 1 Corinthians. 100 Units.

An exegesis course on what was likely Paul's second letter to Corinth (the first, mentioned in 1 Cor 5:9, is lost), that will focus upon the literary composition and purpose of this lengthy epistolary text, and the range of issues over which the Corinthians were divided (sex and marriage, gender roles, legal battles, food, hair, forms of worship, the resurrection of the dead) and the ways Paul seeks to address them and call them to unity. We shall also explore some of what can be known of the social history of the "house churches" in Roman Corinth to whom Paul was writing, as well as the history of Paul's relationship with them and the degree to which when he writes this letter Paul can assume a position of authority ("become imitators of me, as I am of Christ" [11:1]) or must face significant doubt about his legitimacy as a self-proclaimed "apostle."

Instructor(s): Margaret M. Mitchell     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Greek skills are not required for this course, but ample opportunity will be provided for their exercise.
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): BIBL 42060, HCHR 42060, FNDL 22060

RLST 22606. Religion, Resistance, and Rebellion in Early Modern Britain. 100 Units.

Early modern Britain was a society in the grip of profound flux. From 1500 through to 1660, Henry VIII changed his country's religion with almost as little care as he changed wives; Mary I established a reputation as 'Bloody Mary' for her burning of hundreds of English Protestants at the stake; entire swathes of the country regularly erupted in rebellion and armed resistance culminating in civil war and regicide; Oliver Cromwell presided over an astonishing period of religious freedom in which radical sects sprang up in their dozens; and, amid the chaos and cacophony, thousands of puritans left Old England for New England during the Great Migration. Historians still debate the significance and causes of these events today, and they have continued resonance in contemporary British life, as illustrated by the frequent comparisons between Brexit and the Henrician Reformation made by English media outlets in 2016. This course offers an overview of early modern Britain in the period from 1500 to 1660, with an especial focus on religion, resistance, and rebellion.

Instructor(s): Kirsten Macfarlane     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): HIST 21307

RLST 22802. Black Gods of the Black Metropolis. 100 Units.

This course examines the history and significance of the shifting and emergent forms of African American religious culture in the wake of the Great Migration (c.1915-1970). Focusing, initially, on how this process unfolded in Chicago, the course will both introduce select figures, movements, institutions, and popular cultures that emerged in the period, and consider to what ends they have been represented. Together, we will read both indispensable classics and innovative new works on the subject and consider how they have approached and addressed themes of, among others, race, space, class, gender, and sexuality. In addition, this course aims to emphasize how the so-called era of the "sects and cults" has and continues to raise important questions about the archives, representation, and narration of African American religion.

Instructor(s): Matthew Harris     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RAME 33000, RDIN 33000, AASR 33001, AMER 33001, HIST 39001, AMER 22802

RLST 22906. Book of Ezekiel. 100 Units.

This course introduces the historical world around the Book of Ezekiel, the literary world portrayed within Ezekiel, the book's literary characteristics, and its meaning. The course is geared both to readers of the Bible in English and to readers of the Bible in Hebrew.

Instructor(s): Simeon Chavel     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): NEHC 22906, JWSC 22906, FNDL 22906, HIJD 32906, BIBL 32906, NEHC 32906

RLST 23003. Philosophical Commentaries on the Book of Changes (Yijing) 100 Units.

This course will consist of close readings, in Classical Chinese, of commentarial expansions on the Yijing (Zhouyi) developing its ontological, metaphysical, cosmological, epistemological and ethical implications. Readings will include some or all of the following: the "Ten Wings" (including the "Xicizhuan"), the works of Wang Bi, Han Kangbo, Wei Boyang, Dongshan Liangjie, Shao Yong, Zhang Boduan, Zhou Dunyi, Zhang Zai, Cheng Yi, Zhu Xi, Wang Fuzhi, Ouyi Zhixu, and Liu Yiming.

Instructor(s): Brook Ziporyn     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Proficiency in Classical Chinese required.
Note(s): This course meets the HS or CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity student.
Equivalent Course(s): HREL 53003, EALC 23003, EALC 33003, FNDL 23003, DVPR 53003

RLST 23013. Conversion and Redemption. 100 Units.

When we think of religious conversion, we often only consider changing religious belief as an individual experience. Sometimes this transformation is facilitated through a divine revelation, an ethical epiphany, or an existential crisis. But there is also a social and cultural aspect to conversion, as when an individual converts due to integrating into a family or as a form of assimilation when facing political and religious oppression. Exploring the relationship between the personal and communal elements in religious conversion brings us to the question of what conversion is, what religion itself is, and what roles it plays in our social existence. Investigating conversion as the site where individual belief confronts social reality raises several questions: Does religion provide criticism of the social status-quo? Or does religion facilitate integration and assimilation? Is conversion 'proven' to a community by adhering to doctrine? Or confirmed by experiential testimony? Is religious belief a matter of epistemological commitment or of social conformity? Our readings will consist of world literature on religious conversion, particularly of personal narratives and memoirs attributing social and ethical redemption to the conversion experience. From Saint Paul's Damascus to Malcolm X's Harlem, from an ancient Indian empire to feudal Japan, we will explore the phenomenon of conversion as it manifests between the believer's identity and social experience.

Instructor(s): Michaela Podolny     Terms Offered: Spring

RLST 23104. Immanuel Kant's Critique of Practical Reason. 100 Units.

Contemporary ideas about Human Rights, the relation of moral norms and the good life, the character of human freedom, conceptions of human evil, the very definition of morality and ethics, and the relation of ethics and religion have been decisively shaped by the work of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). This course is the examination of one of Immanuel Kant's magisterial works in moral philosophy, The Critique of Practical Reason. The course is a careful reading of Kant's text in order to grasp the argument and to assess its significance for current work in ethics. The course ends with one of Kant's famous political essays, "On Perpetual Peace." Engaging Kant's work will enable student to engage a wide range of thinkers from the 19th to the 21st centuries who accept, modify, and reject his work. In this way, the course is crucial for further work in philosophical and religious ethics.

Instructor(s): William Schweiker     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): Graduate students must petition to enroll.
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 23104, GRMN 23104

RLST 23595. Nietzsche: The Will to Truth. 100 Units.

The will to truth - Nietzsche first uses the phrase in a notebook entry written in late 1882: "Will to truth!" Let us stop speaking so simplistically and bombastically!" From then on, the critique of this will would preoccupy him for the rest of his career. In this seminar we will study this critique as it develops in Nietzsche's middle and later writings. We will read closely his published works as well as recently translated notebook entries. What exactly is the will to truth? Why critique it? Can philosophy and/or thinking resist it or somehow do without it? What is the status of the discourse that contests it? In asking these questions, we will examine a still underappreciated aspect of Nietzsche's post-Zarathustra writings: the gap separating his polemic against metaphysics qua Platonism from his polemic against the so-called Judeo-Christian, i.e. the inheritance of the Biblical tradition.

Instructor(s): Ryan Coyne     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): THEO 33595, DVPR 33595, FNDL 23595

RLST 23706. Calvin: Piety, Politics, and the Theater of God's Glory. 100 Units.

This seminar will engage a close reading of John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559) in English translation, examining how the masterwork moves and instructs its readers toward correlative knowledge of God and of self. We will attend to Calvin's elaboration of true religion or "piety"-especially to his picture of the repair and reorientation of the sensing, feeling, willing, and knowing self before God-and to his depiction of rightly ordered individual, corporate, and civic life over against the bondage of the will and tyrannous powers. The course will further a reading of the work as a rhetorical and pedagogical whole.

Instructor(s): Kristine Culp     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 23706, THEO 33706

RLST 23880. Villains: Evil in Philosophy, Religion, and Film. 100 Units.

You don't really understand an antagonist," screenwriter John Rogers writes, "until you understand why he's a protagonist in his own version of the world." This principle holds true of movie villains, but also raises important questions about disagreement, dehumanization, and the diabolical in the real world. Are our enemies truly malicious, or just misunderstood? How does a person become a monster, and how does a person avoid it? Why are some villains so compelling, and what does this say about the good life? Do Hollywood movies enrich or distort how we imagine and respond to real-world evil? Did Thanos do anything wrong? This course combines readings from philosophical classics and religious traditions with comparative analyses of villains in films from 101 Dalmatians (1956) and Jaws (1975) to The Dark Knight (2008) and Black Panther (2018). Students will discuss antagonists' motivations, evaluate the visions of morality filmmakers are presupposing, and develop more nuanced understandings of ethics and moral psychology. No prior experience in religious studies or film criticism is required.

Instructor(s): Russell Johnson     Terms Offered: Winter

RLST 23888. Infinity and Divinity. 100 Units.

What does it mean for something to be infinite? What philosophical and theological problems and/or paradoxes emerge when we attempt to conceptualize infinity? How do religious and theological traditions articulate the relationship between the divine and infinity? And in what ways do mathematical, philosophical, and religious notions of infinity converge or diverge? This course investigates the nature of the infinite, its conceptual challenges, and its implications for understanding God and/or the Divine. Drawing from mathematics, philosophy, and religion, we explore how different disciplines approach infinity and how these perspectives intersect. Topics include mathematical theories of infinity and continuity, philosophical debates over the infinite, as well as religious conceptions of the divine as infinite or boundless. Students will engage with texts by major historical and contemporary thinkers, including Aristotle, Cantor, Aquinas, Nāgārjuna, Kant, and Weil, fostering an integrative understanding of the infinite and the divine.

Instructor(s): Jesse Berger     Terms Offered: Spring

RLST 23907. Gandhi and His Critics. 100 Units.

The moral and political writings of M.K. Gandhi constitute one of the most influential archives of ethics in the twentieth century. For a man so devoted to periodic vows of silence and withdrawal, he nevertheless left over ninety volumes of public speeches, personal correspondence, and published essays. A modernist arrayed against the brutalities of modernity, Gandhi's thought encompassed concepts of sovereignty, the state, self and society, religion, civilization, and force. His insistence on cultivating technologies of the self as a response to both colonial and intimate violence was inspired by an eclectic range of source material. Generations of critical thinkers from around the world, including Black, feminist, Communist, and Dalit political activists, engaged with his ideas. This course explores several themes in Gandhi's ethical thought and the responses they have generated.

Instructor(s): Anand Venkatkrishnan     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 23907, RETH 33907, HREL 33907, CRES 23907

RLST 24200. Philosophy and Literature in India. 100 Units.

The philosopher and writer Iris Murdoch once argued that there was a difference between philosophy, which is "clarification," and literature, which is "mystification." What constitutes either of these seemingly disparate enterprises, formally and thematically, and what kinds of conjunctions can we imagine between them (philosophy in/of/as literature)? Can one translate these terms across cultures? Are they the sole prerogative of leisured elites, or can they harbor and cultivate voices of dissent? Above all, what does it mean to reflect on these categories outside the parochial context of the putative West? This course explores these questions by introducing some of the literary cultures, philosophical questions, and aesthetic theories of the South Asian subcontinent. Students will encounter a variety of genres including narrative ethics, scriptural commentary, courtly poetry, political philosophy, and the autobiography. Readings are all in translation.

Instructor(s): Anand Venkatkrishnan     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): SALC 20903, CMLT 24202, SIGN 26073

RLST 24276. Tiantai Buddhism and Neo-Tiantai Thinking: Recontextualizations of Recontextualizationism. 100 Units.

This course will explore the philosophical doctrines of classical Tiantai Buddhism and their extensions and reconfigurations as developed in the ideas of later thinkers, both Tiantai and non-Tiantai, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist. Readings will be drawn from the classical Tiantai thinkers Zhiyi, Zhanran and Zhili, followed by writings of early Chinese Chan Buddhism, Japanese Tendai "Original Enlightenment" thought, Kamakura Buddhist reformers including Dōgen, Nichiren and Shinran, the 20th century Confucian Mou Zongsan, and contemporary Anglophone "Neo-Tiantai" thinking.

Instructor(s): Brook Ziporyn     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): EALC 34276, HREL 44276, EALC 24276, FNDL 24276, MDVL 24276, DVPR 44276

RLST 24400. The Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. 100 Units.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) is widely admired for his part in the movement to resist Hitler and National Socialism. This course will investigate the biographical and especially the theological underpinnings of his resistance. In addition to key texts such as Discipleship, Ethics, and Letters and Papers from Prison, therefore, we will also consider Bonhoeffer's connection to larger movements as well as the importance of his time in Harlem.

Instructor(s): Kevin Hector     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 24440

RLST 24550. Major Trends in Islamic Mysticism. 100 Units.

An examination of Islamic mysticism, commonly known as Sufism, through English translations of premodern and contemporary Sufi literature originally composed in Arabic and Persian. The aim of this course is to gain firsthand exposure to a wide range of literary expressions of Islamic spirituality within their historical contexts, and to understand exactly what, how, and why Sufis say what they say. Each unit consists of lectures and close readings of selected excerpts in both the original Arabic/Persian and English translation.

Instructor(s): Yousef Casewit     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the HS or CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): ISLM 32419, NEHC 32419, NEHC 24550, MDVL 24550, GLST 24550, SIGN 26068

RLST 24980. Meditation on Time and Timelessness. 100 Units.

This course will explore contemplative practices from nontheistic thinkers and traditions that focus on the experience of timelessness, and the relationship of these practices to each system's conception of time, experience, knowledge, suffering, beauty and beatitude. Readings will be drawn from the works of Plotinus, Spinoza, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Bergson, Santayana, Tiantai Buddhism, and Dōgen.

Instructor(s): Brook Ziporyn     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the HS or CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): EALC 34980, EALC 24980, HREL 44980, DVPR 44980

RLST 25008. Theology and Cultural Studies. 100 Units.

This course will study models of cultural studies and we will put these theoretical constructs in conversation with models of theology. Indeed, all theologies arise out of human culture and the attempt of human beings to make ultimate meaning out of all that humans have created.

Instructor(s): Dwight Hopkins     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): THEO 40801

RLST 25330. The Gospel of Jesus and Money. 100 Units.

Tell me what you think about money, and I will tell you what you think about God, for these two are closely related. A man's heart is closer to his wallet than anything else" - Billy Graham For many Christians in the contemporary world globalized through capitalism, the Pentecostal gospel of prosperity's promise of a socially fulfilling and abundant life in this-worldly realm has been quite appealing. In contrast to the earlier movements of Christianity where the good life was promised as a reward in the hereafter, the prosperity message (also called the "health and wealth gospel"), combines salvation with material comfort. This "Jesus plus money" approach indicates a pragmatic understanding of secular power as inextricable from salvation if Christianity would truly expand the sphere of social possibilities for believers. In this course, we will examine the contexts and contingencies that gave rise to this conflation of Jesus with wealth and power in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, critically exploring how this this-worldly gospel has transformed Christianity in various locales where its growth has exploded. Students will study several socio-cultural and socio-political contexts where the prosperity gospel has thrived. By the end of the semester, they would have developed a coherent understanding of the allure of the prosperity gospel, adaptions of the Cross to capitalism, and what the trend portends for the Christian faith as a global practice.

Instructor(s): Abimbola Adelakun     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): RAME 35330, HCHR 35330

RLST 25501. Saints and Other Exemplars. 100 Units.

This course will consider recent work on the nature and significance of spiritual & moral exemplars, and will then use this work as a framework with which to analyze the lives of exemplars such as Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Oscar Romero.

Instructor(s): Kevin Hector     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): DVPR 35501, THEO 35501

RLST 25706. Climate Justice. 100 Units.

Climate injustice includes the disproportionate effects of climate change on people who benefit little from the activities that cause it, generally the poor, people of color, and people marginalized in other ways. Given the complex economic, physical, social, and political realities of climate change, what might climate justice entail? This course explores this complex question through an examination of various theories of justice; the gendered, colonial, and racial dimensions of climate change; and climate justice movements.

Instructor(s): Sarah Fredericks     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): Graduates may enroll with permission of the instructor and will have extra readings and longer assignments.
Equivalent Course(s): CEGU 25706, ENST 25706, PBPL 25706, KNOW 25706, RDIN 25706, HMRT 25706, GNSE 25702, GLST 25766

RLST 25707. Contested Concepts: "Indigeneity" and Ecological Thought. 100 Units.

The figure of "The Ecological Indian" has been critiqued on anti-colonial grounds as a racist inheritance of the conquest era and also affirmed and mobilized by Indigenous scholars and activists as capturing something true about pre- and post-colonial Indigenous forms of life. Despite these tensions, "indigeneity" and the idea that Indigenous peoples are uniquely attuned to nonhuman reality persist as givens in much environmental thought. In this class we will examine and evaluate this persistence, asking, Why are Western environmentalists so attracted to the idea of indigeneity and what do they mean by it? Where does the idea of "the Ecological Indian" come from? In what ways does this idea track reality and how might it obfuscate or distort distinctive Indigenous perspectives? How do different Indigenous people understand and take up this concept? In pursuit of these and related questions, our readings will span Renaissance utopias, theories of colonialism, studies of the religious roots of environmentalism, historical and contemporary environmental writing, and various Indigenous perspectives on empire, the environmental movement, and the other-than-human.

Instructor(s): Colin Weaver     Terms Offered: Winter

RLST 26103. Dreams, Visions, and Mystical Experience. 100 Units.

An exploration of primary literature and secondary scholarship on dream interpretation, luminous vision, and religious experience, with a focus on the writings of figures from the late North African Sufi tradition such as 'Ali al-Jamal and 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Dabbagh.

Instructor(s): Yousef Casewit     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the HS or CS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): ISLM 36103, ANTH 26103, ANTH 36103, NEHC 36103, AASR 36103, NEHC 26103

RLST 26180. Caring for the Earth: Nature and Ecology Before Modernity. 100 Units.

What do we mean by nature, and how do humans relate to it? A recent French translation of Virgil's "Georgics" was titled anew: "Le souci de la terre" ("care for the earth") What does it mean to care? Is care disinterested, or does it serve a purpose? What logics of dominion or obligation shape it? This course traces ideas of nature and care from Antiquity to early modernity. How did humans conceive of their place in the world? How did they understand its resources and their impact? From the commons to enclosures, from caretaking to exploitation, from interpreting nature to organizing it (aménagement), we will question linear narratives of progress (humans caring more) and degradation (humans caring less). Focusing on France and French texts while engaging classical and theological sources, we will also consider exploration and exploitation beyond France. We will examine how religious ideas, canonical texts, and philosophical concepts have shaped discourses on nature, as well as the relevance of contemporary ecological terms. Attending closely to the multiple ways in which human beings variously have articulated their relationship to nature or the environment permits us to ask, instead of assume, what might be the conditions and practices of care incumbent upon human beings today.

Instructor(s): Daisy Delogu, Pauline Goul     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): Taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): CLCV 26180, MDVL 26180, FREN 36180, GNSE 26180, CEGU 26180, ENGL 26180, FREN 26180

RLST 27304. Sacred Arts of Tibet: A Journey Through Visual Art, Calligraphy, Musical, and Culinary Traditions. 100 Units.

Experience the rich cultural heritage of Tibet through this immersive course exploring four fundamental aspects of Tibetan civilization. Students will study traditional Tibetan thangka painting, learning the techniques and symbolism behind these intricate religious artworks. Explore the profound world of Tibetan musical traditions, from the mesmerizing multiphonic chants of monastery rituals to the lively folk songs of nomadic communities. Students gain hands-on experience with traditional instruments including drums and horns while learning their ceremonial significance.  The culinary portion introduces traditional dishes like momos (dumplings), Tsampa (roasted barley flour), and butter tea, along with their cultural significance and preparation methods. In calligraphy sessions, students practice the distinctive Tibetan scripts - Uchen (block-print -Umey (cursive writing) used in Tibetan Buddhist texts, mastering the basic strokes and letter formations of this ancient writing system.

Instructor(s): K. Ngodup     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): All course readings will be available on electronic reserve via Canvas.
Equivalent Course(s): MUSI 22567, SALC 39002, ANTH 29002, HREL 39002, EALC 29002, SALC 29002

RLST 26340. Race and the Making of American Spirituality. 100 Units.

Why do efforts to enchant the world seem to so often depend on naturalizing racial categories? Is being "spiritual but not religious" a white thing? This introductory course examines these questions through a religious history of spirituality in America and its role in making, maintaining, and negotiating racial difference. We will examine and contextualize a variety of sites and sources of American spirituality, including spirit channeling, positive thinking, tarot, astrology, yoga, and the vibratory energy of music. We will do so from a variety of perspectives, exploring how turns away from established forms of religion in America have been both a mechanism for exclusion and surprising solidarities. No prerequisite knowledge is required.

Instructor(s): Matthew Harris     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): AMER 26340

RLST 26501. Renaissance Demonology. 100 Units.

In this course we analyze the complex concept of demonology according to early modern European culture from a theological, historical, philosophical, and literary point of view. The term 'demon' in the Renaissance encompasses a vast variety of meanings. Demons are hybrids. They are both the Christian devils, but also synonyms for classical deities, and Neo-platonic spiritual beings. As far as Christian theology is concerned, we read selections from Augustine's and Thomas Aquinas's treatises, some complex exorcisms written in Italy, and a recent translation of the infamous "Malleus maleficarum," the most important treatise on witch-hunt. We pay close attention to the historical evolution of the so-called witch-craze in Europe through a selection of the best secondary literature on this subject, with special emphasis on Michel de Certeau's "The Possession at Loudun." We also study how major Italian and Spanish women mystics, such as Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi and Teresa of Avila, approach the issue of demonic temptation and possession. As far as Renaissance Neoplatonic philosophy is concerned, we read selections from Marsilio Ficino's "Platonic Theology" and Girolamo Cardano's mesmerizing autobiography. We also investigate the connection between demonology and melancholy through a close reading of the initial section of Robert Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy" and Cervantes's short story "The Glass Graduate" ("El licenciado Vidriera").

Instructor(s): Armando Maggi     Terms Offered: Course not taught in 2025-26
Note(s): Course taught in English.
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 27602, HIST 22110, GNSE 26504, ITAL 26500

RLST 26635. Liberatory Violence. 100 Units.

From 18th century slave rebellions in the Americas to 20th and 21st century anticolonial revolutions, oppressed peoples' struggles for liberation have often incorporated violent tactics, even against non-combatants. This course examines anticolonial violence in light of the work of the Martiniquan revolutionary Frantz Fanon and some of his interlocutors. We study specific freedom movements: Nat Turner's slave rebellion, the Haitian and Algerian revolutions against French colonialism, Malcolm X and the Black Panthers' mobilization against white supremacy and police violence, and the ongoing Palestinian struggle against Zionist settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid. Throughout, we will pay attention to how revolutionaries evaluated the place of violence in their own movements, including religious criteria for justifiable and unjustifiable use of force.

Instructor(s): Alireza Doostdar     Terms Offered: Spring
Prerequisite(s): Graduate student enrollment by permission only. Please send one or two paragraphs explaining your interest and prior preparation.
Note(s): This course meets the SCSR Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RDIN 46635, ANTH 26636, GLST 26635, SSAD 26635, ANTH 36635, AASR 46635, HMRT 26635, RDIN 26635

RLST 27618. Religion and Politics: The Great Debate. 100 Units.

This course explores historical alternatives, precursors and challenges to secularism, and to the ideal of the division of church and state. Beginning with contemporary debates over the proper place of religion in democratic society, we will broaden our focus to explore perspectives from a wide range of thinkers and sources-Islamicate, Scholastic, modern, pre-modern, liberal, fascist, Marxist, scholarly and public-facing-as they attempt to relate, divide or conflate "religion" and "politics." Examining the contested nature of these terms, we will also pay attention to practices and events-from the toppling of the Abbasid Caliphate to the storming of the Capitol-and to ideal types, such as the sacred king. Finally, we will delve into diverse forms of media, including methods of generating political and religious authority through the internet.

Instructor(s): Justin Smolin     Terms Offered: Spring

RLST 27804. Living our Bodies with Technology. 100 Units.

We live with and in our bodies, and we cannot experience the world without them. Yet, most of the time, we remain unaware of our bodies and how they are shaped by the technological infrastructures we inhabit. This course explores the complex ways in which technologies-broadly understood-mediate and shape our experience of the body. We will engage with philosophical and anthropological perspectives on the various conditions of the human body and examine how these conditions are influenced by technology and the modern configurations of our lived environments. We will explore questions such as: How do brain scans and real-time ultrasounds shape our experience of our inner selves? Is ADHD a timeless condition, or is it a product of new ways of being and knowing the world? How are organ transplants reshaping our understanding of what makes a person whole? How do artists use virtual reality to tell stories of living with such conditions? How do fitness trackers alter our understanding of well-being? Through critical reflection on different modes of knowing our bodies and communicating lived experiences, we will examine how technologies both reinforce and challenge traditional conceptions of the body, as well as create entirely new ways of living within them. Readings will be drawn from medical anthropology, phenomenology, media theory, and the philosophy of science.

Instructor(s): D. Foerster, E. Mireshghi     Terms Offered: Winter
Prerequisite(s): Third or fourth-year standing
Equivalent Course(s): MADD 14400, BPRO 24400

RLST 27900. Gaming the Gods: Video Games and Religion. 100 Units.

What can Freud's theory of religion tell us about the appeal of Grand Theft Auto? How might critical religious studies help explain who the good guys and bad guys can be in a game? Is it kosher that there's a game where we can play as Jesus Christ (and punch Satan in the face)? In this course we will investigate the relationship between religion and video games. We will look at how religious narratives, symbolism, and ritual practice have influenced the worlds created by designers and developers. We will explore the communities and artistic expressions produced through the shared experience of gaming, including how the study of religion can help us understand the rules and boundaries that define them. Finally, we will think about how traditional religious communities have responded to video games, embracing their potential for new forms of imagination or rejecting them as dangerous or heretical. Though this course requires no previous knowledge of video games and gaming, interested students will have the option to design a video game as part of the final project.

Instructor(s): Marshall Cunningham     Terms Offered: Spring

RLST 28008. African Magic. 100 Units.

This course borrows the term "African magic" from a digital satellite service devoted to showing films that preponderantly project African beliefs in the supernatural. Throughout the semester, we will examine the African belief in the supernatural, its representation in films, and consequent engagement with the enfolded magic of mystical reality and the technology that visualizes, enhances, and even disrupts it. We will be studying the ideas of Gods, mythology, deities, witchcraft and the occult, as expressed in indigenous religions, Christianity, and Islam. By also exploring different visual materials that illustrate how Africans use their religious performances to formulate and navigate their conceptions of the sacred and supernatural power, we will analyze the social practices of their religious beliefs and determine the dimensions of the inventiveness that underline African religious practices.

Instructor(s): Abimbola Adelakun     Terms Offered: Autumn

RLST 28017. Black Americans and MAGA. 100 Units.

In November 2024, over 77 million American citizens voted for Donald J. Trump, Make America Great Again, and Put America First policies. Millions of black American citizens voted this way. This class will look at some of the political and theoretical books written by black conservatives. Conversations throughout the term will be purely academic research to understand and highlight the intellectual contributions of Black MAGA thought.

Instructor(s): Dwight Hopkins     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): AMER 28017

RLST 28101. Iblis: Muslim Perspectives on the Devil. 100 Units.

This course examines a range of Muslim perspectives on the Devil. Is Iblis a personification of evil, an archetype of arrogant rebellion against divine command, a perfect monotheist and tragic lover of God, or an ally of humankind and teacher of freedom and creativity? Our readings will include selections from the Qur'an and hadith, Sufi poetry, modern political and theological writing, and others.

Instructor(s): Alireza Doostdar     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course meets the HS or SCSR Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): ANTH 38101, NEHC 38101, AASR 38101, FNDL 28101, ISLM 38101, ANTH 28102, NEHC 28101

RLST 28145. Greetings from Tralfamadore: Scientific and Religious Satire in the Fiction of Kurt Vonnegut. 100 Units.

This course will consist of the reading and discussion of the novels of Kurt Vonnegut, with special attention to the role of the unconstrained imaginary powers of science fiction in the rethinking the nature of science and of religion, or more broadly of knowledge and meaning, and of the possible relations between them. Works to be read will include some or all of the following: The Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions, Slapstick, Galapagos, Timequake.

Instructor(s): Brook Ziporyn     Terms Offered: Autumn
Equivalent Course(s): FNDL 28145

RLST 28319. Iconophobia: The Prohibition and Destruction of Religious Images. 100 Units.

This course examines concepts of art that reflect iconophobia, "fear of images," in the Abrahamic religions-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Since antiquity, iconophobia has led to theological debates that resulted in the prohibition of images in sacred spaces, rituals, and other forms of religious practice. In extreme cases, iconophobia has caused acts of iconoclasm, the violent destruction of art. In all three religions, fear of idolatry ("idol worship") has been the main cause of iconophobia. We will examine what exactly constitutes an idol and how the definitions of idols differ from iconophile ("image-loving") assessments of religious art. Both iconophobic and iconophile arguments shed light on the various functions and effects of religious images and illustrate their power. Furthermore, they reveal attitudes towards artistic creation, materiality, aesthetics, sensory perception, and truth in art. In order to understand the causes and manifestations of iconophobia, we will examine a range of primary sources, both textual and visual, and engage with the relevant scholarship. We will take a comparative approach, but also pay attention to phenomena and developments that are unique to each religion. Most of the topics and readings will focus on the premodern period from antiquity to the 16th century. However, we will also look at some of the effects of iconophobia in our own time.

Instructor(s): Karin Krause     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): HCHR 38319, CLAS 38325, ARTH 28319, MDVL 28319, CLCV 28325, RLVC 38319, ARTH 38319

RLST 28335. Art as Biblical Interpretation. 100 Units.

Long before the Christian Bible was established as we know it, biblical figures and stories were being visually depicted and developed for Christian purposes. The Christian biblical imagination encompasses a rich tradition-spanning time periods (ancient and medieval, Renaissance, and beyond), regions, denominations, and artistic media-important not only for the field of art history, but also for the fields of biblical interpretation and the history of Western civilization and culture. In this course we will be studying art as a unique mode of biblical interpretation, with its own purposes, challenges, and strengths. How are texts "translated" into images? With what strategies do images represent abstract concepts, inner thoughts or experiences, or narrative time? What does God look like, and why? What are the possible functions of biblical images? We will cover topics including incarnation, iconoclasm, beauty, evangelization and education, the depiction of violence, book and material culture, liturgy and devotion, and typology, all while familiarizing ourselves with some of the most commonly depicted biblical figures and stories. No prior knowledge is required.

Instructor(s): Lauren Beversluis     Terms Offered: Autumn

RLST 28777. Black and Brown in Babylon. 100 Units.

In The Souls of Black Folk (1903), W.E.B. Du Bois proclaimed that "the problem of the color line [is] the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea." Du Bois imagined one solution to this problem in his novel Dark Princess (1928) through the romance of an African American man with an Indian princess. What other relationships have Black and South Asian people imagined and concretized in their struggles for freedom? This course explores the braided histories of Black and South Asian peoples in their various diasporas in order to interrogate the world-systems of race, caste, and colonialism. We study how the connections between Blacks and South Asians have generated new modes of critical analysis, knowledge production, and artistic creation to imagine possible worlds beyond the conditions imposed by racial capitalism.

Instructor(s): Anand Venkatkrishnan and Matthew Harris     Terms Offered: Autumn
Note(s): This course meets the HS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): AASR 38777, HREL 38777, RAME 38777

RLST 28883. Occult powers: divinatory and magical sciences in the Indian and Islamicate worlds. 100 Units.

This course offers a historical survey of occult sciences and practices in regions spanning from the Arab world to South Asia and focuses on the medieval and early modern periods. Far from being marginal, practices pertaining to what is now seen as the supernatural realm, such as magic and divination, were classified as sciences by reputable scholars, were sponsored by rulers, and had their specific written corpus and techniques. The practice of the occult also involved vernacular disciplines practiced by healers and fortune tellers for any client seeking help or advice. This course will look at a vast range of written and visual sources on subjects ranging from astrology, alchemy and magical cures, subjugation of planets and spirits, yogic superpowers, bibliomancy (book divination), oneiromancy (dream divination), physiognomy, letterism, charm making. It will look at the dynamics of cultural transfers as occult sciences were borrowed and adapted from the Greek to the Arab world and back to Latin Europe, and from Sanskrit to Persian in the Indian subcontinent.

Instructor(s): Jean Arzoumanov     Terms Offered: Spring
Equivalent Course(s): HIPS 25610, SALC 25600, SALC 35600

RLST 28901. Religion, Science, Naturalism: Is There a Problem? 100 Units.

The idea that "religion" and "science" are basically at odds with one another - that they involve, indeed, essentially different kinds of rationality - is surely foremost among the ideas that arguably distinguish modernity. This class will consider some of the various ways in which that conclusion has been resisted by some twentieth- and twenty-first-century thinkers, drawing on a range of philosophical and religious perspectives - those, for example, of the Anglo-Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (who would complicate our understanding of what it means to "believe" anything); the German theologian Rudolf Bultmann (whose method precisely distinguished existential questions from scientific ones); and the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet (who thinks it imperative that the limits of scientific understanding be acknowledged in light of a Buddhist critique). Particular attention will be given to early writings from American pragmatist philosopher-scientists (William James, C. S. Peirce, and John Dewey), who argued that it is a mistake in the first place to think religion necessarily concerns anything "supernatural"; religion, for these thinkers, can therefore be understood as wholly consistent with naturalism.

Instructor(s): Daniel A. Arnold     Terms Offered: Winter
Equivalent Course(s): SIGN 26072, KNOW 28901, HIPS 27901

RLST 29003. Islam Beyond the Human: Spirits, Demons, Devils, and Ghosts. 100 Units.

This seminar explores the diverse spiritual and sentient lifeforms within Islamic cosmology that exist beyond the human-from jinn, angels, and ghosts to demons and devils. We will focus on theological, scientific, philosophical, anthropological, and historical accounts of these creatures across a variety of texts, as well as their literary and filmic afterlives in contemporary cultural representations. In so doing, we consider the various religious, social, and cultural inflections that shape local cosmological imaginaries. We ask how reflecting on the nonhuman world puts the human itself in question, including such concerns as sexuality and sexual difference, the boundaries of the body, reason and madness, as well as the limits of knowledge.

Instructor(s): Alireza Doostdar and Hoda El Shakry     Terms Offered: Autumn
Prerequisite(s): Enrollment by Consent Only (for both grads and undergrads). Students should send the instructors a paragraph explaining their interest and prior preparation or familiarity with the themes in the course.
Note(s): This course meets the LMCS or SCSR Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): CMLT 29003, GNSE 29003, NEHC 49003, CMLT 49003, NEHC 29003, GNSE 49003, ISLM 49003, ANTH 29003, ANTH 49003, AASR 49003, KNOW 49003

RLST 29004. Ekphrasis: Art, Description and Religion. 100 Units.

This course explores the rich traditions of description - ekphrasis - from Greco-Roman antiquity into the middle ages. It tackles texts (both prose and verse) in order to establish the ramifications of a genre in the European tradition, and its applications in particular to visual culture and religion. There will be opportunity in the final paper to range beyond these into questions of comparative literature, art (history) writing, religious imagination and ekphrasis in all periods or contexts, as well as into the use of images or films as themselves forms of descriptive response. The course is intended for graduates but interested undergraduates are very welcome. It will be examined on the basis of a paper, due on a subject to be agreed and on a date to be agreed at the end of the Spring quarter.

Instructor(s): Jaś Elsner     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course will be taught virtually for the last two weeks of the quarter. This course meets the HS or LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): BIBL 40400, ARTH 21702, CLCV 29600, RLVC 40400, ARTH 40400, CLAS 42600, MDVL 29004

RLST 29005. From Vienna to Hamburg: Theories of Art in the 20th Century--Historiography, Religion, and Crisis. 100 Units.

This course lays out the background to the historiographic complexities of studying visual culture and art history now in relation to the ways the dominant theories and methods of the discipline involved in the context of 20th-century history and ideologies. It is impossible in 9 sessions to cover the entire historiography of an ancient discipline. The course will therefore take a selective approach by focusing on the foundations of the art historical approaches in Germany in the Twentieth century that have proved most formative for the development of the discipline in Anglo-American contexts after the Second World War. This may be seen as a narrowing of focus, but it has the benefit of offering a coherent if highly complex and conflictive story to uncover: effectively the most philosophically intense moment in art history from 1900 to the 1950's, the relation of the discipline and its exiles to the rise, triumph and demise of the Third Reich, and the beginnings of its development in the post-War period.

Instructor(s): Jas Elsner     Terms Offered: Spring
Note(s): This course will be taught virtually for the last two weeks of the quarter. This course meets the LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): ARTH 41305, RLVC 41205

RLST 29020. Reproductive Futures. 100 Units.

Course description to come.

Instructor(s): Emily D. Crews     Terms Offered: Spring

RLST 29030. Islam, Race and Decoloniality. 100 Units.

This course explores western perspectives, attitudes and representations of Muslims and Islam from medieval European thought, through liberal colonial encounters to contemporary media and political discourses. Students will examine the intersection of race and religion as it applies to the construction of Muslim identity and alterity in the Western imagination. We will explore the remarkable consistency across centuries of the threatening, menacing, barbaric and uncivilized Muslim "Other". The course centers around these Orientalist constructions and will explore the power structures, colonial modalities, epistemological frameworks, and ideological assumptions that perpetuate the racialization of Islam and Muslims within the United States and abroad. This course ultimately aims to uncover potentials for resistance, recovery and renewal through the politics and praxis of decoloniality. Students will gain familiarity with decolonial theory and practices, as well as the important project of 'epistemic delinking' as it is framed by contemporary scholars intent on challenging, possibly undoing and remapping the Muslim experience within global liberal political modernity.

Instructor(s): Maliha Chishti     Terms Offered: Winter
Note(s): This course meets the LMCS Committee distribution requirement for Divinity students.
Equivalent Course(s): RDIN 39030, ISLM 39030, INRE 29030, NEHC 29030, NEHC 39030, ANTH 39030, RDIN 29030, AASR 39030, ANTH 29030, KNOW 39030, INRE 39030

RLST 29700. Reading and Research Course. 100 Units.

This is the Reading and Research independent study that RLST majors/minors can petition to take, in conjunction with a faculty supervisor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Divinity School.

Terms Offered: Autumn Spring Winter
Prerequisite(s): Consent of faculty supervisor and Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

RLST 29800. BA Research Seminar I. 100 Units.

This class meets weekly to provide guidance for planning, researching, and writing the BA research paper. The two-quarter senior sequence will assist students in the Research Track with the preparation of the required BA paper. During May of their third year, students will work with the preceptor to choose a faculty adviser and a topic for research, and to plan a course of study for the following year. These must be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students will take part in the BA Research Seminar convened by a preceptor during Autumn and Winter Quarters of their senior year. This seminar will allow students to prepare their bibliographies, hone their writing, and present their research.

Instructor(s): Pieter Hoekstra     Terms Offered: Autumn. Pieter Hoekstra will be both instructor of this course and BA Preceptor.
Prerequisite(s): Consent of faculty supervisor and Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.

RLST 29900. BA Research Seminar II. 100 Units.

This class meets weekly to assist students in the preparation of drafts of their BA paper, which are formally presented and critiqued. The two-quarter senior sequence will assist students in the Research Track with the preparation of the required BA paper. During May of their third year, students will work with the preceptor to choose a faculty adviser and a topic for research, and to plan a course of study for the following year. These must be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students will take part in the BA Paper Seminar convened by a preceptor during Autumn and Winter Quarters of their senior year. This seminar will allow students to prepare their bibliographies, hone their writing, and present their research.

Instructor(s): Mendel Kranz     Terms Offered: Winter. Mendel Kranz will be both instructor of this course and BA Preceptor.
Note(s): Students are required to submit the College Reading and Research Course Form.