printer friendly pageRELIGST 329X: Advanced Paleography (CLASSICS 216, ENGLISH 300A, HISTORY 315)
This course will train students in the transcription and editing of original Medieval and Early Modern textual materials from c. 1000 to 1600, written principally in Latin and English (but other European languages are possible, too). Students will hone their archival skills, learning how to describe, read and present a range of manuscripts and single-leaf documents, before turning their hand to critical interpretation and editing. Students, who must already have experience of working with early archival materials, will focus on the full publication of one individual fragment or document as formal assessment.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
Instructors:
Treharne, E. (PI)
RELIGST 335: Religion in Modern Society: Secularization and the Sacred (RELIGST 235)
What is the status of religion in modern life? Is the modern world "secular" in some fundamental, irreversible way and what does this mean? This course will explore these questions through variety of readings from leading sociologists, philosophers, and anthropologists. Our goal will be to understand in what ways industrialization, political liberalization, the rise of technology, and the success of modern science have been used to support the "secularization" thesis that the modern West rendered religion a thing of the past. A central question to be asked will be: do assessments of the place of religion in modernity necessitate a philosophy of history i.e., a theory not only of historical change, but of the meaning of this change as well?n The course will begin by looking at the origins of the theory of secularization from its beginnings in Enlightenment attempts to understand the meaning of history. We will then turn to contemporary debates over the term "secular" against its counterpart, "religious", and the problems with their application to non-Western societies. We will read works by Talal Asad, Saba Mahmood, Max Weber, Charles Taylor, Jürgen Habermas, and Pope Benedict XVI.
Last offered: Spring 2014
RELIGST 340: Contemporary Religious Reflection
Focus is on normative and prescriptive proposals by recent and contemporary philosophers and theologians, as opposed to the domination of Religious Studies by textual, historical, cultural, and other largely descriptive and interpretive approaches. Do such normative and prescriptive proposals belong in the academy? Has Religious Studies exorcised its theological nimbus only to find contemporary religious reflection reappearing elsewhere in the university?
Last offered: Autumn 2008
RELIGST 346: Constructing Race and Religion in America (CSRE 246, HISTORY 256G, HISTORY 356G, RELIGST 246)
This seminar focuses on the interrelationships between social constructions of race, and social interpretations of religion in America. How have assumptions about race shaped religious worldviews? How have religious beliefs shaped racial attitudes? How have ideas about religion and race contributed to notions of what it means to be "American"? We will look at primary and secondary sources, and at the historical development of ideas and practices over time.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
Instructors:
Lum, K. (PI)
RELIGST 347: Chinese Buddhist Texts
Chinese Buddhist texts from the Han Dynasty onwards, including sutra translations, prefaces, colophons, story collections and biographies. Prerequisite: reading competence in Chinese.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| Repeatable
5 times
(up to 25 units total)
Instructors:
Kieschnick, J. (PI)
RELIGST 351: Readings in Indian Buddhist Texts (RELIGST 251)
(Graduate students register for 351.) Introduction to Buddhist literature through reading original texts in Sanskrit. Prerequisite: Sanskrit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| Repeatable
5 times
(up to 25 units total)
Instructors:
Harrison, P. (PI)
RELIGST 354: Recent Contributions to Buddhist Studies (RELIGST 254)
This reading intensive course will examine nine areas in recent work in Buddhist studies, including ethnography, archaeology, monasticism, the study of "experience," and gender. May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| Repeatable
for credit
Instructors:
Kieschnick, J. (PI)
RELIGST 355: Religion and Power in the Making of Modern South Asia (HISTORY 297F, RELIGST 255)
This course examines the diverse ways that religious traditions have been involved in the brokering of power in South Asia from the late seventeenth century to the present day. We will examine the intersection of religion and power in different arenas, including historical memory, religious festivals, language politics, and violent actions. At the core of our inquiry is how religion is invoked in political contexts (and vice-versa), public displays of religiosity, and the complex dynamics of religion and the state. Among other issues, we will particularly engage with questions of religious identity, knowledge, and violence. HISTORY297F must be taken for 4-5 units.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
Instructors:
Truschke, A. (PI)
RELIGST 358: Japanese Buddhist Texts (RELIGST 258)
Readings in medieval Japanese Buddhist materials. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: background in Japanese or Chinese.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Repeatable
for credit
RELIGST 36S: Saints, Hermits and Epic Journeys in East Asia
We will be reading Buddhist literary classics from China and Japan. This course introduces traditions of East Asian Buddhism and other religious traditions of China. Two major themes emerge in Buddhist literature: tales of great persons and grueling journeys of spiritual consequence. This course explores the themes of saints and their journeys, in the Buddhist traditions and the literature of East Asia. Students will develop critical skills for reading religious literature and will practice articulating religious themes. The course begins with introductions to the three great traditions of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. Through reading saintly stories and Chan lore, students will learn to identify genres, themes, and religious ideals in ancient religious texts. Then the course will turn to modern versions of the lives of saints, analyzing the best¿selling manga Buddha. Next, our class will read the medieval Chinese poetry of the hermit known as Cold Mountain and learn to discern his Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian impulses. We will examine poetic techniques as preparation for turning to the literary devices and Buddhist themes in a record left by a Japanese recluse. Our readings will conclude with China¿s epic Journey to the West and a harrowing poetic record of a famous journey through the Japanese Alps. We will attend to these texts¿ use of plot and narrative technique as we consider `the journey¿ as metaphor for the spiritual path.
Instructors:
Protass, J. (PI)
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