RE 201H: Introduction to Religious Studies
Religious experience and ideas as they are expressed in such cultural forms as community, ritual, myth, doctrine, ethics, scripture and art; synthesizing personal religious ideas and values.

RE 206H: The Bible, Gender, and Sexual Politics
Relations between biblical literature and issues of sexual difference, gender socialization, misogyny, and the question of origins of patriarchy.

RE 212H: Reading for the Rapture
Examination of the "apocalypse" as represented in ancient literature and modern media. This course explores predictions and visions of global destruction and transformation in religious traditions, public debates, and popular culture.

RE 220H: The Bible in American Culture
The biblical books have served as myths for segments of the population, as material for laws, as forces behind social movements, and as background for art. Explore the Bible's place as an American icon and influence.

RE 221H: Religion in America
(Directed Study Available) The beliefs, behavior and institutions of Judaism and Christianity in American life. The uniqueness of the American religious experience and its impact on American institutional patterns.

RE 230G: Yogis, Mystics, Shamans
Texts on sacred power, the specific technique by which it is developed, and contemporary practices that are based on archaic models. RE 240G recommended but not required.

RE 234H: Goddess in Eastern Tradition
Regional goddesses in India, China, and Japan. The relationship between women and the divine feminine principle within the context of Asian cultures compared with contemporary western expressions of Goddess culture. RE 240G recommended but not required.

RE 240G: Non-Western Religions
The founders of non-Western religions, their life experiences, religious views and the emergence of their teachings as coherent systems, with comparisons to the Judaeo-Christian tradition.

RE 241H: History of Christianity
Beliefs, practices and institutions of the Christian Church through the past nineteen centuries. The great theological debates, significant issues, and formative thinkers.

RE 242H: Engaging the Bible
Emphasis on literary craft of biblical literature, and relations between it and the arts throughout history, especially in contemporary culture.

RE 244H: Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Major religions of Middle East, Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Historical development, literature and contributions to the West.

RE 291H: Apostle Paul - Religion and Politics
Critically appraise Paul of Tarsus's life, letters, and legacy. Encounter Paul's Jewish, Greek, and Roman imperial worlds in ancient literature, art, and architecture. Examine contemporary literary-critical, postcolonial, and liberationist approaches to Pauline studies.

RE 319G: The Hindu Tradition
Yoga, meditation, karma, reincarnation, major devotional and ceremonial traditions that have developed around Shiva, Vishnu, and the Goddess. The dynamic between popular worship and the contemplative traditions of Hindu culture. RE 240G recommended but not required.

RE 320H: The Buddhist Tradition
Gautama's enlightenment, the Noble Eight-fold Path, development of Buddhist ideas and practices as they spread from India to South and East Asia, contrasting Western religious views with those of another world religion.

RE 321H: Indigenous Religions
Religious traditions of native peoples, with focus on sacred power, deity, tutelary spirits, shamanic states of consciousness, ceremony, and sacred narrative; Attention also given to native concerns about lineage and authenticity in contemporary practices.

RE 323: Christianity, Canon, & Controversy
Investigation of ancient "Gnostic" writings and communities. Discussion of orthodoxy and heresy, canon formation, and women's role(s) in earliest Christian assemblies. Contemporary fascination with extra-canonical literature (The Da Vinci Code) will be considered. Prerequisite: RE 201H or any course in Biblical studies.

RE 329H: Liberation Theology
The growth of Latin American, black, and feminist liberation theologies from earlier forms of theology, their development and contribution to theology, and responses to them.

RE 330H: Human Being and Becoming
Exploration of Christian understandings of human existence in comparison with other perspectives. Topics include: what it means to be and become human; relationships between individual, society, and nature; and meaning in human existence.

RE 343H: Prophets & Justice, Then & Now
Explore the proclamation of "release of the captives," from Moses to John of Patmos. Examine ancient prophecy as religious criticism. Attention to appropriation of prophetic trditions in social justice movements (civil rights, feminism, pacifism, anti-poverty). RE 242H recommended but not required.

RE 345H: Jesus in Ancient and Modern Media
Investigation of the figure of Jesus according to a variety of ancient gospels, coupled with exploration of modern representations of Jesus in art, scholarship, fiction, and film.

RE 350E: Ecology, Chaos, and Sacred
Examine the struggle of ecological order against the inbreaking of chaos. How is the one maintained against the other? Is "reality" chaos or order? How does one's world-view affect one's understanding of ecology, chaos, or "reality?"

RE 351E: A Culture of Science and Faith
This interdisciplinary course will examine the two seemingly different approaches to the environment that religion and science developed. The significance of the disparity will be examined by analyzing the writings of prominent theologians and scientists.

RE 361H: Contemporary Christian Thought
Examination of some major theologians and movements since 1900, including Neo-Orthodoxy, Liberation Theology, and Postmodern theologies.

RE 371H: Religions of China and Japan
Taoism and Confucianism in China, Shinto in Japan and the imported tradition of Buddhism and its regional developments in various schools; the syncretistic character of East Asian religiosity. RE 240G recommended but not required.

RE 373H: Women and Religion
Investigate the roles that women play in various world religions. Study issues of power and expression in public vs. private worship; priesthood; the relationship between the divine feminine and female practitioners; and the possibilities for change within tradition.

RE 381E: Ecotheology
The major dimensions of the current ecological crisis and its roots in Western tradition, how Judaeo-Christian thought has traditionally regarded nature and its relationship to God and humans, and implications for action.

RE 382H: Asian Religions and Ecology
Examine the ways in which religions shape human understandings and treatment of the natural environment, with an emphasis on non-Western religions.

RE 383H: Hindu Mystical Poetry
Representative works from the classical, medieval and contemporary periods, different genres and regional philosophies represented by various poets.

RE 401: Internship in Religious Education
Supervised, field-based experience in church work, with a minimum of 150 hours on-site experience. Permission of instructor required.

RE 440: Seminar: Bible, Theory, Method
Focuses on emergent theories and questions about biblical texts, contexts, and modes of interpretation. Special attention given to biblical studies as a form of cultural and public discourse. Survey past thinking, explore more modern directions.

RE 443: Seminar on Hindu Tantra
Meditative techniques and visualizations, mantra recitations, mystic diagrams, yogic practice, worship of the Goddess. The sacred origin of sound and language, the nature of supreme consciousness. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

RE 449: Religion and Imagination
Philosophical and theological treatments of imagination in religion and in all of life, their implications for religion, faith and the role of intellectual reflection in religion. Focus on Christianity, but principles have broader implications. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

RE 498: Comprehensive Examination


RE 499: Senior Thesis