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RELIGST 4: What Didn't Make the Bible (CLASSICS 9N, HISTORY 112C, JEWISHST 4)

Over two billion people alive today consider the Bible to be sacred scripture. But how did the books that made it into the bible get there in the first place? Who decided what was to be part of the bible and what wasn't? How would history look differently if a given book didn't make the final cut and another one did? Hundreds of ancient Jewish and Christian texts are not included in the Bible. "What Didn't Make It in the Bible" focuses on these excluded writings. We will explore the Dead Sea Scrolls, Gnostic gospels, hear of a five-year-old Jesus throwing temper tantrums while killing (and later resurrecting) his classmates, peruse ancient romance novels, explore the adventures of fallen angels who sired giants (and taught humans about cosmetics), tour heaven and hell, encounter the garden of Eden story told from the perspective of the snake, and learn how the world will end. The course assumes no prior knowledge of Judaism, Christianity, the bible, or ancient history. It is designed for students who are part of faith traditions that consider the bible to be sacred, as well as those who are not. The only prerequisite is an interest in exploring books, groups, and ideas that eventually lost the battles of history and to keep asking the question "why." In critically examining these ancient narratives and the communities that wrote them, you will investigate how religions canonize a scriptural tradition, better appreciate the diversity of early Judaism and Christianity, understand the historical context of these religions, and explore the politics behind what did and did not make it into the bible.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Penn, M. (PI); Persad, S. (GP)

RELIGST 10N: The Good Death

We often discuss what makes a 'good life' - that is a life worth living, a life exemplary of one's values and ideals, a life full of meaning. But what makes a 'good death'? Far from being a topic to avoid, ideas of death - what it means, its variations, how it relates to the preceding life, how it should unfold - are rich topics in religion. For religious people, the question of how life is lived in preparation, anticipation, or ignorance of death is often quite central. So, how do religious people imagine what death is and what lies beyond? What guidance exists for the time of death and its aftermath? How is the body understood in relation to death and beyond - and how is it managed? How do the living coexist with the dead in various forms? How do changing ecological and technological concerns shape death practices in the USA and elsewhere? In this class we will explore conceptions of the good death through a variety of religious traditions and perspectives, looking at issues such as the after/next life, death rituals, burial practices, corpses, the holy dead, martyrs, ghosts and spirit guides, and others.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Bigelow, A. (PI)

RELIGST 35X: Introduction to African American Studies: Black Religion, Culture, and Experience to the Civil War

Beginning in 16th century West Africa and ending in the 19th century United States, this course will survey the religious, cultural, and experiential histories of African-descended people in the Atlantic world. From the early histories of the slave trade to the violence of American racial hierarchies, we will delve into the cosmologies, practices, rituals, aesthetics, and other cultural expressions of free and enslaved Africans and their descendants in the Americas, with a particular emphasis on the United States. What did Africa mean to those displaced from their ancestral homelands? How did African descended people perceive, navigate, and resist their racialization? How did they reshape the Americas through their intellect, creativity, and culture? Prioritizing the voices, thought, and sensory registers of the persons involved in these historical processes, this course will explore African Americans¿ experiences - from the spectacular to the quotidian - as windows into the human experience. This course has no prerequisites.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Wells-Oghoghomeh, A. (PI)

RELIGST 56: Exploring Chinese Religions

An overview of major themes and historical developments in 5000 years of Chinese religion. In this course, we will try as much as possible to appreciate Chinese religion from the Chinese perspective, paying particular attention to original texts in translation, artifacts and videos, all in an attempt to discern the logic of Chinese religion and the role it has played in the course of Chinese history. To a greater extent perhaps than any other civilization, Chinese have left behind a continuous body of written documents and other artifacts relating to religion stretching over thousands of years, providing a wealth of material for studying the place of religion in history and society.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP

RELIGST 103: Buddhism and Medicine

How did ancient Buddhist practices like mindfulness come to be promoted today as essential for our mental and physical wellbeing? How have Buddhists responded to the global COVID-19 health crisis? If Buddhist practice can indeed heal and keep us healthy, how does it claim to heal, and from what? This class explores these and other related questions by studying how Buddhism has throughout its history been intertwined with the theory and practice of medicine. No prior knowledge of Buddhism or medicine is required.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Gentry, J. (PI)

RELIGST 158: Spiritualism and the Occult

This course will examine the popular mystical practices of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when millions of people in Europe and America described themselves as spiritualists and shared a recognizable set of practices. These served as a platform for spiritual immediacy guided by the central questions: What is the relationship between seen and unseen? How can the living communicate with the dead? What technologies apply to our inner lives? This course considers the historical emergence of spiritualism, spiritualism and art, spiritualism and technology, and mysticism and women to explore how the invisible became a central metaphor for the ambition to expand and remake the real.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
Instructors: ; Willburn, S. (PI)

RELIGST 168: Philosophy of Religion: An Historical Introduction

Most attitudes toward religion found on college campuses today trace their origins back to the European Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Calls for social justice, a political order free of ecclesiastical domination, and the recognition of legitimate religious pluralism; the rejection of the authoritarianism, obscurantism, and fanaticism associated with the monotheistic faiths; skepticism about the rationality of belief in God, miracles, and otherworldly salvation-these and other familiar themes were fiercely debated by philosophers in early modern Europe, often at great personal risk. What's more, central branches of philosophy such as epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and political theory were transformed in the modern period amidst debates over the credibility of religious belief - primarily Christian theism - in a world come of age. After a brief look at some "natural theology" in the Middle Ages, we will study and discuss what Descartes and Pascal; Spinoza and Rousseau; Hume and Kant; and Schleiermacher and Kierkegaard had to say about matters religious.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Sockness, B. (PI)

RELIGST 199: Individual Work

Prerequisite: consent of instructor and department. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit (up to 99 units total)

RELIGST 204: The Buddhist Body: Exorcism, Self-Immolation, and Tattoo Art (RELIGST 340)

In Buddhist practices, devotees have long used their bodies to express religious devotion. This can be seen through asceticism, exorcism, hallucination, mummification, immolation, and even tattoo art. This course examines such themes through textual readings, material culture, and visual imagery. In regards to asceticism, ascetic practices can be used to alter one's physical form, through starvation, fire, practices in the mountains, or other such means. Examples of this include the mountain practitioners who mummified in Japan, immolation practices in China and Tibet, and the "marathon monks" of Mount Hiei. Subthemes of this course include gender and the body, and the body and violence. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Cross, J. (PI)

RELIGST 262: Sex and the Early Church (CLASSICS 262, FEMGEN 262, FEMGEN 362R, RELIGST 362)

Sex and the Early Church examines the ways first- through sixth-century Christians addressed questions regarding human sexuality. We will pay particular attention to the relationship between sexuality and issues of gender, culture, power, and resistance. We will read a Roman gynecological manual, an ancient dating guide, the world's first harlequin romance novels, ancient pornography, early Christian martyrdom accounts, stories of female and male saints, instructions for how to best battle demons, visionary accounts, and monastic rules. These will be supplemented by modern scholarship in classics, early Christian studies, gender studies, queer studies, and the history of sexuality. The purpose of our exploration is not simply to better understand ancient views of gender and sexuality. Rather, this investigation of a society whose sexual system often seems so surprising aims to denaturalize many of our own assumptions concerning gender and sexuality. In the process, we will also examine the ways these first centuries of what eventually became the world's largest religious tradition has profoundly affected the sexual norms of our own time. The seminar assumes no prior knowledge of Judaism, Christianity, the bible, or ancient history. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Penn, M. (PI); Amin, A. (TA)

RELIGST 263: The Religions and Cultures of Enslaved People in America (AMSTUD 263, RELIGST 363)

More than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slavery--its histories and legacies--remains the subject of heated debate among the institution's descendants and the millions of others who live in its wake. As a global institution predicated upon the exchange of human bodies, slavery helped to forge political and economic empires, divided nations, and crystallized racialized caste hierarchies that persist into the present. Yet, the politically and emotionally charged nature of conversations about slavery has obscured the lives of the women, men, and children who bore the legal status of "slave." In this course, we will explore the meanings of enslavement from the perspectives of those who experienced it, and in doing so, interrogate broader questions of the relationship between slavery and the construction of racialized group identities. Using autobiographical narratives, eyewitness accounts, slaveholder diaries, images, and archeological evidence from the United States, we will examine the religious, philosophical, and experiential orientations that grounded the enslaved psyche and found expression in bondspeople's music, movement, foodways, dress, and institutions. Although the United States South will be our primary region for interrogation, we will analyze the thought and culture formations of U.S. bondspeople in light of the discursive and aesthetic productions of African-descended peoples throughout the diaspora. In this way, we will endeavor to know the people who helped birth American culture. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-5 | UG Reqs: WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Wells-Oghoghomeh, A. (PI)

RELIGST 297: Senior Essay/Honors Thesis Research

Guided by faculty adviser. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor and department.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 3-5 | Repeatable for credit

RELIGST 304B: Theories and Methods

Required of graduate students in Religious Studies. Approaches to the study of religion. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | Repeatable 2 times (up to 8 units total)
Instructors: ; Bigelow, A. (PI)

RELIGST 340: The Buddhist Body: Exorcism, Self-Immolation, and Tattoo Art (RELIGST 204)

In Buddhist practices, devotees have long used their bodies to express religious devotion. This can be seen through asceticism, exorcism, hallucination, mummification, immolation, and even tattoo art. This course examines such themes through textual readings, material culture, and visual imagery. In regards to asceticism, ascetic practices can be used to alter one's physical form, through starvation, fire, practices in the mountains, or other such means. Examples of this include the mountain practitioners who mummified in Japan, immolation practices in China and Tibet, and the "marathon monks" of Mount Hiei. Subthemes of this course include gender and the body, and the body and violence. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Cross, J. (PI)

RELIGST 354: Recent Contributions to Buddhist Studies

The goal of this course is to familiarize graduate students with themes, debates and methodologies in Buddhist Studies. Works covered are not all recent (though most are), but rather works that raise issues that scholars continue to address in recent works. Some weeks will focus on topics (e.g. Indian monasticism, defining meditative experience), and others on bodies of evidence (e.g. hagiography, material culture). "Buddhist Studies" encompasses a range of discrete disciplines (philosophy, history, anthropology etc.). This course is an opportunity for you to familiarize yourself with some of the most common approaches to Buddhist studies and the specific challenges they pose.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Kieschnick, J. (PI)

RELIGST 359A: American Religions in a Global Context: Proseminar

This 1-unit proseminar is open to graduate students interested in American Religions in a Global Context. We will meet once a month to discuss student and faculty work-in-progress and important books in the field. Enrollment in the proseminar is required for students pursuing the Graduate Certificate in American Religions.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1 | Repeatable 10 times (up to 10 units total)
Instructors: ; Lum, K. (PI)

RELIGST 362: Sex and the Early Church (CLASSICS 262, FEMGEN 262, FEMGEN 362R, RELIGST 262)

Sex and the Early Church examines the ways first- through sixth-century Christians addressed questions regarding human sexuality. We will pay particular attention to the relationship between sexuality and issues of gender, culture, power, and resistance. We will read a Roman gynecological manual, an ancient dating guide, the world's first harlequin romance novels, ancient pornography, early Christian martyrdom accounts, stories of female and male saints, instructions for how to best battle demons, visionary accounts, and monastic rules. These will be supplemented by modern scholarship in classics, early Christian studies, gender studies, queer studies, and the history of sexuality. The purpose of our exploration is not simply to better understand ancient views of gender and sexuality. Rather, this investigation of a society whose sexual system often seems so surprising aims to denaturalize many of our own assumptions concerning gender and sexuality. In the process, we will also examine the ways these first centuries of what eventually became the world's largest religious tradition has profoundly affected the sexual norms of our own time. The seminar assumes no prior knowledge of Judaism, Christianity, the bible, or ancient history. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Penn, M. (PI); Amin, A. (TA)

RELIGST 363: The Religions and Cultures of Enslaved People in America (AMSTUD 263, RELIGST 263)

More than 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, slavery--its histories and legacies--remains the subject of heated debate among the institution's descendants and the millions of others who live in its wake. As a global institution predicated upon the exchange of human bodies, slavery helped to forge political and economic empires, divided nations, and crystallized racialized caste hierarchies that persist into the present. Yet, the politically and emotionally charged nature of conversations about slavery has obscured the lives of the women, men, and children who bore the legal status of "slave." In this course, we will explore the meanings of enslavement from the perspectives of those who experienced it, and in doing so, interrogate broader questions of the relationship between slavery and the construction of racialized group identities. Using autobiographical narratives, eyewitness accounts, slaveholder diaries, images, and archeological evidence from the United States, we will examine the religious, philosophical, and experiential orientations that grounded the enslaved psyche and found expression in bondspeople's music, movement, foodways, dress, and institutions. Although the United States South will be our primary region for interrogation, we will analyze the thought and culture formations of U.S. bondspeople in light of the discursive and aesthetic productions of African-descended peoples throughout the diaspora. In this way, we will endeavor to know the people who helped birth American culture. Undergraduates register for 200-level for 5 units. Graduate students register for 300-level for 3-5 units.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-5
Instructors: ; Wells-Oghoghomeh, A. (PI)

RELIGST 382: Research in American Religions

Graduate independent study in American Religions. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit

RELIGST 384: Research in Christian Studies

Graduate independent study in Christianity. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit

RELIGST 385: Research in Buddhist Studies

Graduate Independent study in Buddhism. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit

RELIGST 386: Research in Islamic Studies

Graduate Independent study in Islamic Studies. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit

RELIGST 387: Research in Jewish Studies

Graduate Independent study in Jewish Studies. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit

RELIGST 388: Research in Religious Thought, Ethics, and Philosophy

Graduate Independent study in Religious Thought, Ethics, and Philosophy. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit

RELIGST 389: Individual Work for Graduate Students

May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit

RELIGST 392: Paper in the Field

Prerequisite: consent of graduate director. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-15 | Repeatable for credit
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