Fall 2025 Courses

Religious Dimensions of Human Experience

*Required course for all RLST majors
RLST��1620-010��| 3.0
Aun Hasan Ali,���Ѱ��1:25–2:15��(*Note you must also sign up for a recitation section.) HALE 230

Surveys different approaches to the study of religion. Students will grow familiar with key thinkers, texts, and movements that shape how we understand religious phenomena. Students will also examine critiques of how religion is studied. In the end, students will have gained insight into significant aspects of religious life, belief, and practice that will empower them to navigate a world in which religion is increasingly relevant.

A&S Core: Ideals and Values
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Lower
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities

Jewish History to 1492

RLST/JWST/HIST��1818-001��| 3.0
Jamie Meyers,��TTH 2:00–3:15,��HUMN 250

Focus on Jewish history from the Biblical period to the Spanish Expulsion in 1492. Study the origins of a group of people who call themselves, and whom others call, Jews. Focus on place, movement, power/powerlessness, gender, and the question of how to define Jews over time and place. Introduces Jews as a group of people bound together by a particular set of laws; looks at their dispersion and diversity; explores Jews' interactions with surrounding cultures and societies; introduces the basic library of Jews; sees how Jews relate to political power.

Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
CMCI Core: Diversity & Global Cult-NonCMCI
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Lower
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities
Music General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective

Global History of Holocaust and Genocide

RLST/JWST/HIST��1830-001��| 3.0
Thomas Pegelow Kaplan,��TTH 11:00–12:15,��Duane Physics G2B47

Examines the interplay of politics, culture, psychology and sociology to try to understand why the great philosopher Isaiah Berlin called the 20th century, "The most terrible century in Western history." Our focus will be on the Holocaust as the event that defined the concept of genocide, but we will locate this event that has come to define the 20th century within ideas such as racism, imperialism, violence, and most important, the dehumanization of individuals in the modern world.

A&S Core: Historical Context
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
CMCI Core: Diversity & Global Cult-NonCMCI
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Lower
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities
Music General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective

Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

RLST/JWST 1900-001 | 3.0
Samuel Boyd,��MWF 11:15-12:05,��HUMN 135

Examine the content of the Hebrew Bible and critical theories regarding its development. Explore the development of these texts, as well as their foundational role for rabbinic literature and the New Testament. Assess the enduring influence of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in world literature and culture (such as in art and music).

Islam

RLST 2202-001 | 3.0
Aun Hasan Ali,��Ѱ¹��10:10-11:00,��HALE 230

Introduces students to foundational Islamic concepts, texts, core practices, historical narratives and intellectual, spiritual and literary traditions. Topics covered include: the figure of Muhammad; the Quran; the emergence of distinct Muslim identities; Hadith; Sharia; Islamic theology; Islamic philosophy; science in Islamic civilization; Islamic mysticism; the impact of colonialism and modernity on the Muslim world; gender and sexuality; and political Islam.

A&S Core: Ideals & Values
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Business General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
CMCI Core: Diversity & Global Cult-NonCMCI
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Education General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Lower
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities
Music General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Music General Education: Diversity-US Perspective

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

RLST/JWST 2600-001 | 3.0
Samuel Boyd,��MWF 12:20–1:10,��HUMN 1B80

In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Abraham is described as a founding figure. In recent times, the label “Abrahamic Religions” has become increasingly important both as a way to describe the origins and beliefs of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and as a means for finding common ground in political and religious discourse. Yet in each religion Abraham is also used in strikingly different ways and for distinct purposes. In this course, we will look at these three religious traditions and how each one imagines Abraham. In particular, the focus will be on how each religion uses Abraham to construct foundational stories of a special relationship to God, stories that ultimately serve to promote religious identity over time.��

Asia Content
A&S Core: Ideals & Values
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Lower
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities
Arts & Hum: Ways of Thinking

Yoga: Ancient and Modern

RLST 2612-001 | 3.0��
Loriliai Biernacki,��TTH 2:00–3:15,��HUMN 150

Addresses the history and philosophy of yoga, beginning from its earliest articulations in Vedic India 1200 BCE up to contemporary understandings of yoga. Examines yoga's historical evolution from a primarily mental practice to a bodily centered practice. Looks at the shifts yoga undergoes as it becomes popular in the modern West.

A&S Core: Human Diversity
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
CMCI Core: Diversity & Global Cult-NonCMCI
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Lower
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities
Music General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective

Paganism to Christianity

RLST 2614 / CLAS 2610-001 | 3.0��
Celene Lillie,��MWF 11:15-12:05,��HUMN 1B90

Offers a cultural history of Greek and Roman religion. Students read ancient texts in translation and use evidence from archaeology to reconstruct the shift from paganism to Christianity in antiquity. No Greek or Latin required.

A&S Core: Ideals & Values
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Lower
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities

Religion, Psychedelics, and Shamanism

RLST 2619-001 | 3.0��
Loriliai Biernacki,��TTH 12:30–1:45,��HUMN 1B90

From ancient India’s tradition of using the hallucinogenic plant Soma to Patañjali’s early yoga tradition proposing herbs (oṣadhi) as a means to enlightenment to 21st century mestizo shamans in Peru offering ayahuasca medicine retreats—the use of mind-altering hallucinogenic substances has played an expansive role in the generation of religious and mystical experience and the subsequent structure of religious praxis. This class focuses on tracing out the religious elements of this history.

Women and Religion

RLST/WGST 2800-001��| 3.0��
Celene Lillie,��Ѱ¹��10:10-11:00,��HUMN 1B80

What is a woman? ��What is religion? ��How does the answer to one inform the answer to the other? ��In this course, we will explore a range of literature from ancient Greek and Roman mythology to first and second century Jewish and Christian writings alongside contemporary readings from Buddhist, Muslim, Indigenous, and Christian traditions. ��To frame these explorations, we will engage theories of gender and religion, particularly the ways in which they intersect with race, class, and violence.

A&S Core: Human Diversity
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Education General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Lower
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities
Music General Education: Diversity-US Perspective
Arts & Hum: Lit & Humanities

Women, Gender, Sexuality in Jewish Texts and Traditions

RLST/HEBR 3202/WGST 3201-001 | 3.0
Celene Lillie,��MWF 12:30–1:10,��Muenzinger Psyc E431

Reads some of the ways Jewish texts and traditions look at women, gender and sexuality from biblical times to the present. Starts with an analysis of the positioning of the body, matter and gender in creation stories, moves on to the gendered aspects of tales of rescue and sacrifice, biblical tales of sexual subversion and power, taboo-breaking and ethnos building, to rabbinic attitudes towards women, sexuality and gender and contemporary renderings and rereadings of the earlier texts and traditions.

A&S Core: Human Diversity
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
CMCI Core: Diversity & Global Cult-NonCMCI
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Upper
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities
Music General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective

Foundations of Buddhism

RLST 3300-001��| 3.0
Dan Hirshberg TTH��9:30-10:45,��Old Main 150

This course provides an introduction to Buddhist thought and practice in the variety of its historical and cultural contexts. We begin with the story of the Buddha, his teachings, and the early Buddhist community in India. We then trace the expansion of the Theravada to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia with a focus on the role of images and relics in Buddhist ritual and kingship. Next, we consider the rise of Mahayana in India including the bodhisattva ideal, key doctrinal concepts of emptiness and buddha nature, the cosmology of buddha lands, and the Buddhist path in Mahayana contexts.

Asia Content
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Upper
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities

Seminar: Contemporary Issues in the Study of American Religions

RLST 4030/5030-001��| 3.0
Deborah Whitehead,��M��3:35–6:05,��HUMN 270

This seminar for advanced undergraduate and graduate students will explore contemporary theoretical and methodological issues in the study of religion in the United States.�� Engaging a combination of classic and contemporary texts in the subfield of U.S. religions, along with current research on changing demographics, we’ll explore topics including history, narrative and myth; nationalism; race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality; settler colonialism; land, space and place; religious practice and the concept of lived religion; spirituality and alternative religions; secularisms and identity.�� The seminar will also employ a substantive independent research component, culminating in a final paper of 15 pages for undergraduates and 20-25 pages for graduate students.�� Because this is an intensive seminar that presumes some background in the academic study of religion, 6 hours of previous RLST coursework is strongly recommended.

Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Upper
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities

Topics in Buddhism: Buddhist Philosophy

RLST 4250/5250-001��| 3.0
Jules Levinson,��T��3:30-6:00,��HUMN 270

Examines in depth central themes, schools of thought and movements in Buddhism, such as Theravada in Southeast Asia, Mahayana and Tantrayana thought, Zen and Buddhism in America.

Introduction to the Academic Study of Religion

RLST 6830-001 | 3.0
Elias Sacks,��T��3:30–6:00,��HUMN 270

What is the academic study of religion? What do we mean when we talk about “religion,” and what does it mean to adopt an “academic” approach to this subject? This course will explore diverse approaches to these questions, providing an introduction to a wide range of methodological options and theoretical perspectives in the field of religious studies. We will devote attention to topics such as the relationship between practice and belief, the promise and perils of comparing different religious traditions, and the role of the body and materiality in religious life. We will also examine the complicated history and political stakes of the field of religious studies itself, wrestling with issues including the role of colonialism in forging a comparative approach to religion, the development of concepts such as “religious” and “secular,” and the role of political advocacy in scholarly work.

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