11 - 20 of 228 results for: RELIGST

This course explores the intersection of the two topics one should avoid at the dinner table: Religion and Politics. Guest speakers from the Religious Studies and Political Science departments will speak on issues such as the separation of church and state, and how religion influences one's political views. As part of Stanford's response to President Obama's Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, the course will draw connections between belief and global citizenship through guest lectures and participant discussion. It is a collaboration between the Office for Religious Life, the Haas Center for Public Service, the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society, and the Religious Studies department. Class meets on Wednesdays starting April 2, 12:00 pm. Location TBD. The course is open to the public.

Temples, prayer beads, icons, robes, books, relics, candles and incense, scarves and hats, sacred food and holy water; objects of all sorts play a prominent role in all religions, evoking a wide range of emotional responses, from reverence, solace and even ecstasy, to fear, hostility and violence. What is it about these things that makes them so powerful? Is it beliefs and doctrines that inspire particular attitudes towards certain objects, or is it the other way around? Many see a tension or even contradiction between religion and material pursuits and argue that the true religious life is a life without things. But is such a life even possible? This course adopts a comparative approach, drawing on a variety of traditions to examine the place of images, food, clothing, ritual objects, architecture and relics in religious thought and practice. Materials for the course include scholarship, scripture, images and at least one museum visit.

What is the relationship between religion, democracy, and human rights? What is the status of religion within modern human rights regimes? Do religions have "special" rights in democracies? Why did the French outlaw the hijab (Islamic headscarf) and the Swiss the building of mosques and is that good for human and democratic rights? What is (and what should be) the relationship between religious human rights and democratic self-determination? How do we balance between concerns over blasphemy and free speech, in the case of the Danish cartoon depiction of Mohammad, for example? Is the idea of "religion" even useful in human rights or democratic language anymore, as some now claim? These are just some of the questions students will take up as they are introduced to several important areas within the larger field of religion and international relations.nnReadings are interdisciplinary in nature, and include case studies. No prerequisite. Open to all majors/minors, and will be particularly beneficial to students in International Relations, International Policy Studies, Political Science, and Religious Studies, as well as students with specific regional political interests where the themes of the course are especially relevant (e.g., Middle East, Latin America, Russia and Eastern Europe, Africa, and so on) and Pre-Law students.

Reading and discussion of Zen texts in English translation.

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 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.

This is a continuation of the Winter Quarter Biblical Greek Course. We will be reading selections primarily from the New Testament (both Gospels and Epistles) as well as focusing on knowledge of key vocabulary and grammar needed to read the Greek Bible with ease. Readings will be supplemented with sections from the Septuagint and Early Christian texts (Apostolic Fathers and Early Creeds). Pre-requisite: ClassGrk 5 or a similar introductory course in Ancient Greek.

Introduction to the most important features of the Islamic religious tradition in the premodern period. The ways in which Muslims have interpreted and practiced their religion. The main subjects of discussion include the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an, law, ritual, mysticism, theology, politics, and art, with reference to their historical contexts. Topics include abortion, gender, war, and the visual vocabulary of paintings. Important theories and methods in the academic study of religion. No prior knowledge of religion required.

No religious tradition forms or exists in a vacuum and throughout history Muslims have lived and interacted with non-Muslims, whether Christian, Jews, or Hindus. This course will explore those encounters by looking at the social and political effects of five encounters between Muslims and non-Muslims across the world.nThe class will begin with two examples from the contemporary period: political debates over Islamic clothing in Europe and shared devotion between Muslims and Hindus in modern Indian as the class examines how politics and cultural affect and are affected by religious identity. We will then turn to the example of Muslims living under non-Muslim rule in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century West Africa. As we examine how these communities decided to shift from religious accommodation to religious warfare and Muslim statehood we will question the role of religious conflict in driving large historical changes. nIn the fourth section of this class will examine the relationship between racial and religious identity by looking at Muslims in the Americas, and specifically at the participation of Muslims in the 1835 slave uprising in Brazil. Finally, the last section of the class will focus on the development of the first Muslim community in the Arabian peninsula as we look at the relationship between the formation of religious identity and the formation of a religion itself.nWhile historically and geographically distinct, all these moments bring to light the fundamental issue of contact and encounter and examine how those encounters shape religious traditions and identity.

Key philosophical questions concerning the nature of the divine and the religious through a close reading of some classic philosophical texts, while aiming to develop critical thinking about these issues. Topics include: the existence and nature of God, the problem of evil, the justification of religious belief, the nature of and relationship between faith and reason, and the function(s) of religion. Key texts will include Plato, St. Anselm, Hume, and Nietzsche.