This course introduces and guides students in the practical use of the basic concepts of deductive logic as a dimension of critical reasoning. Using these concepts, students will discuss, analyze and critique statements that appear in the media (in the United States and elsewhere) that have been expressed by religious people and by the media itself.

From its inception the academic study of religion has drawn from and spawned a broad spectrum of social scientific disciplines, methodologies, and tools for exploring, dissecting, and interpreting a vast array of World Religions and related phenomena. This course is aimed at assembling state-of-the-art perspectives, modes, theories, and methods for a cross-disciplinary, state-of-scholarship approach to religious inquiry, exploration, and explanation/appreciation past, present, and future.

UPPER DIVISION

What are “cults” and why do people join them? Are you curious about movements like the New Age, Witchcraft, Spiritualism, Freemasonry, and the history of the occult in the United States? This course will survey marginal religious groups in America, both contemporary and historical. We’ll also think critically about terms like “church,”  “sect,” “cult,” and “new religious movement,” and examine both the facts and the stereotypes about these groups.

This course will focus upon literature as evidence of the persistence and pervasiveness of religion in contemporary culture. The range of our considerations will include everything from primary religious models to contemporary fiction and cinema as a way of doing "cultural archeology" to unearth various strata of religious themes, dimensions, insights and/or phenomena.  Such themes as the identity and purpose of humanity, the problems of suffering, ethics, the quests for ultimate meaning, significance, power, and transcendence; critiques of religious and social dynamics and/or aberrations; horror and the holy and the wisdom of the monster tale will be among our objects of focus. We will cover a variety of literary genres such as mystery, horror, science fiction, myth, poetry, and fairytales with a view to their overt and covert themes and implications.  This class will be conducted entirely online.

This course seeks to examine the following problem: does visual art take us on a journey that bypasses the cerebral cognition processes and impacts emotively on the visceral brain? If this is indeed the case; does that then begin to account for the power of art to move and transport us into spiritual worlds, even when the full cultural and religious contexts are unknown? We will investigate this problem by focusing on journeys into spiritual space in the context of religion and art

This particular section of RS 356 focuses on contemporary religious perspectives on the natural environment and the ecologic crisis, on religious teachings about humans’ responsibility to reproduce or to restrict reproduction; and the ideal relations between human beings and the physical environment, vegetation, and animals.  These topics will be examined primarily as they appear in contemporary Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 

The Purpose of this course is to introduce students to the diversity and complexity of religious theories in the 20th and 21st centuries.
We will focus on the theological response to some major social challenges of our time, such as secularism, atheism, sexism, the global market, war, poverty, democracy and multiculturalism. In so doing we will reflect on the paradigm of “Clash of civilizations/religions” by focusing on the following topics:
1.    Faith and Reason and the challenges of fundamentalism
2.    Atheism and the Proofs of the existence of God
3.    Religion and Violence
4.    Religious pluralism, multiculturalism and interreligious dialogue
5.    Human Rights and God’s Rights

This course examines native religious traditions of Asia, namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Daoism, Confucianism and Shintoism, taking into account societies and the creative forces of humankind that have given rise to artistic, cultural and religious expressions.  The materials presented in the course cover over four thousand years of human civilization and a vast geographic area.  In order to supplement the course, the instructor will introduce various components of Asian culture by showing slides of images, films, and videos and playing music and sharing his own personal anecdotes. The class meetings will consist of regular lectures, field trip, and active participation of students in discussing the topic at hand. 

We will explore contemporary LGBT issues, marriage equality movement, and emergent queer communities of faith through readings, films, and speakers.

"Religion, Violence, and Pop Culture"
Prior to the collapse of the former Soviet Union and 9-11, not even the experts expected religion would be playing a major role in the world--especially in politics. This Spring's RS Tutorial (RS 498C) will explore the volatile connections between religion and politics through the lens of myth, pop culture, and the writings of the always provocative Rene Girard.  It's time to take religion seriously