FALL 2011
RELG 1641 (3CR) - Religious Perspectives on the Body & Sexuality
Instructor: F. Black
Format: Lecture 3 Hours
This course examines cross-cultural reflections on the human body and sexuality. The course will begin by situating these topics within the larger worldview of each tradition. In addition, it will examine issues of bodily functions, gender roles, sexual orientation, and related topics.
RELG 1991 (3CR) - Death and Afterlife in Asian Religions: Special Topics in Religious Studies
Instructor: S. Andrews
Format: Lecture 3 Hours
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RELG 2411 (3CR) - Mother Earth, Father Sky
Instructor: B. Clayton
Format: Lecture 3 Hours
Prereq: Three credits from any RELG 1600 course; or permission of the Department
This course investigates religious moral thought through the lens of nature and environmental issues. It explores various religious perspectives, both Asian and Western, on topics such as the meaning of nature and the place of humans in it, the value of landscapes and ecosystems, whether animals have moral standing and how they should be treated, and how current environmental problems should be understood and approached.
RELG 2821 (3CR) - Introduction to the Bible I:- New Testament
Instructor: J. Perkin
Format: Lecture 3 hours
This course discusses the literature of the New Testament, in English translation, in light of the historical and cultural conditions from which it emerged. The New Testament is analyzed both as a witness to Jesus and to Christian origins, and as a text which has exerted enormous creative power within human culture and history.
RELG 2831 (3CR) - Faith and Doubt
Instructor: D. Miller
Format: Lecture 3 hours
Prereq: RELG 2501
Consideration of western theism in terms of possibilities and forms of religious knowledge, rationality of belief in God, the challenge of the problem of evil, and the nature and significance of religion.
RELG 3001 (3CR) - Hinduism
Instructor: B. Clayton
Format: Lecture 3 hours
Prereq: RELG 2401; or permission of the Department. Exclusion: RELG 3261
A study of Hinduism, examining its origins, history, philosophy, and culture. The course will treat ancient, classical, medieval and modern periods, and conclude with a discussion of the challenges facing contemporary Hinduism.
RELG 3311 (3CR) - Religions of China
Instructor: S. Andrews
Format: Lecture 3 Hours
Prereq: RELG 2401; or permission of the Department
This course will study the religious traditions of China, examining the basic ideas and concepts underlying Chinese religion and the ways in which these ideas were implemented. The course will look in detail at both Confucianism and Daoism, at Chinese folk religion, and at the adaptation of Buddhism to China. It will conclude with an evaluation of the current state of religion in China.
RELG 3811 (3CR) - Gender Issues in Western Religions
Instructor: F. Black
Format: Seminar 2 Hours
Prereq: RELG 2801; or permission of the Department. Exclusion: RELG 3900, 4280
This course examines the role that gender plays in the context of myths, scriptural texts, rituals and doctrine, in the major religious traditions of the West. Attention will be paid to such matters as sexuality and sexual orientation, the body, feminism and other critical approaches, political rights and responsibilities, access to religious experience, and spiritual leadership.
RELG 3901 (3CR) - Approaching the Ultimate
Instructor: D. Miller
Format: Lecture 3 Hours
Prereq: RELG 2401, 2801; or, permission of the Department. This is a required course for all Majors and Honours students in Religious Studies, and is recommended for those taking a Minor.
This course examines various kinds of religious phenomena, including mystical experience, sacred texts, religious ethics, and ritual, and explores the different ways they are understood in the discipline of Religious Studies. Major theoretical approaches, including text-historical, phenomenological, gender-critical, philosophical, cultural-critical, are explored and critically assessed for their value in the study of religion.
RELG 4401 (3CR) - Ascetics, Saints, Scoundrels
Instructor: B. Clayton
Format: Seminar 3 Hours
Prereq: Six credits from RELG 3001, 3101, 3301, 3311, 3811, 3981, 3921; or permission of the Department. Exclusion: Any version of RELG 4401 previously offered with a different title.
This course examines several genres such as those found in Hindu and Buddhist literature. The course begins with a study of selected classical texts and concludes with a discussion of selected Asian and Western contemporary literary works.
WINTER 2012
RELG 1661 (3CR) - Religion and Popular Culture
Instructor: D. Miller
Format: Lecture 3 Hours
This course examines various points at which religion and culture collide. Various media will be utilized (film, music, fashion, literature) in order to interpret some of the complex relationships that form and maintain contemporary Western identity. Topics covered will include cultural uses of religious symbolism and story, the power of popular piety, and the Western tendency towards consumption and commodification of religious traditions.
RELG 1681 (3CR) - The Quest for Enlightenment: The Search for Perfection in Asian Religions
Instructor: B. Clayton
Format: Lecture 3 Hours
This course treats the theme of the spiritual quest in Asian religions. Surveying some of the major Asian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto) it explores the nature of the highest state thought to be achievable by humans and how that state is realized. Topics may include the role of morality, love, and human relationships in that quest, the place of rituals and institutions, and the vision for society. This course looks at both classical and contemporary views on these issues and situates them within their relevant socio-historical context.
RELG 2841 (3CR) - The Apocalyptic Consciousness
Instructor: John Perkin
Format: Lecture 3 Hours
Exclusion: RELG 2031
A study of the apocalyptic consciousness in ancient documents and in modern though, particularly with reference to ideas about the Day of Judgment and Second Coming. In addition to biblical and non-biblical texts, students will reflect on contemporary portrayals of the apocalyptic image in art, literature and film. Modern manifestations of the apocalyptic cult will be explored, with specific reference to cults of expectation.
RELG 2991 (3CR) - Feasts & Fasts
Instructor: S. Andrews
Format: Lecture 3 Hours
RELG 3311 (3CR) - Religions of Japan
Instructor: S. Andrews
Format: Lecture 3 Hours
Prereq: RELG 2401; or permission of the Department
This course will study the religious traditions of Japan, examining the underlying ideas and concepts of Shinto, including its relation to Shamanism, the nature and role of Kami, the role of purity and aesthetics, and its political functions. The introduction and adaptation of Buddhism and its relation to Shinto will be discussed, as will the modern day "new religions" which form such a vital part of contemporary Japanese religious practice. The influence and roles ofConfucianism and Daoism will also be briefly covered.
RELG 3601 (3CR) - Christianity
Instructor: D. Miller
Format: Lecture 2 Hours
Prereq: RELG 2801 or 2831; or permission of the Department
Exclusion: RELG 2511
A consideration of the central beliefs and forms of the Christian tradition in terms of their origin and relevance for today.
RELG 3821 (3CR) - The Word Made Text: Intermediate Topics in Biblical Studies
Instructor: F. Black
Format: Lecture 3 hours
Prereq: Three credits from any RELG 1600 course and either RELG 2811 or 2821; or permission of the Department.
This course considers what the Bible means and how we should interpret it. It builds upon knowledge of the basic content of the Bible (Hebrew Bible and New Testament), as well as some of the methods or mechanics of biblical interpretation discussed in RELG 2811 and 2821. The course offers the opportunity for close and critical readings of a variety of biblical texts, allowing for the investigation of numerous interpretive approaches such as historical, poetic, narrative, and ideological. Overall the goal is for students to become competent and self-aware readers of the Bible.
RELG 3981 (3CR) - Religious Ethics and the Environment
Instructor: B. Clayton
Format: Lecture 3 hours
Prereq: Three credits from any RELG 1600 course and either RELG 2831 or 3601; or permission of the Department.
What role does religion play in our interaction with the environment? This course examines various religious perspectives on nature and environmental ethics. Focusing primarily on Eastern traditions, the course begins by reviewing the concept and place of nature in various religions, and then critically examines scholarship which applies religious perspectives to issues in environmental ethics. We will also consider the religious basis of certain environmental thinkers and movements.
RELG 4411 (3CR) - Advanced Studies in Eastern Thought
Instructor: S. Andrews
Format: Seminar 2 hours
Prereq: RELG 3001 or 3101; or permission of the Department.
A seminar-style course on Estern philosophies, focusing on the traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The course will examine both classical systems of thought and their modern interpretations.
RELG 4811 (3CR) - The Divine Light of Reason: Advanced Topics in Western Thought
Instructor: D. Miller
Format: Seminar 2 hours
Prereq: RELG 3601, 3651 and 3901; or permission of the Department.
This course examines the theology and philosophy of religion as they bear on Western religious traditions. It explores the strengths and limitations of theological perceptions and philosophical concepts as these apply to traditional religious issues such as the power of death, the possibility of hope and the ineffabiity of religious experience. Topics may include reformulating sacramental theology; comparing theological anthropology and phenomenology; reconciling biblical language and post-structuralism; and examining the incommensurate parameters of divine presence.
RELG 4821 (3CR) - Authority of the Text
Instructor: F. Black
Format: Lecture 3 Hours
Prereq: RELG 3901; and one of RELG 3811, 3931, 3941 or 3971; or permission of the Department
Exclusion: Any version of RELG 4821 previously offered with a different title.
This course examines the nature of scripture and what (or who) gives it authority. Through study of the related phenomena of interpretation, sacredness and canonicity in biblical traditions, this course addresses questions of the origins of sacred texts and how such texts establish and sustain the religious, cultural, and social lives of communities. It explores how and with what results culturally and historically diverse interpretive communities have made fresh appropriations of scriptural traditions through various strategies of interpretation. It also asks what is at stake in these deliberations, who benefits, and how power operates or shifts via the various ideological mechanisms that serve to authorize scripture.