RELIGST 53: Exploring Jewish Spirituality (JEWISHST 53)
It was once accepted as fact that Judaism is, at its core, a rational religion devoid of any authentic mystical tradition. But the past century of scholarship has reversed this claim, demonstrating that the spiritual life has been integral to Judaism's vital heart since ancient times. This yearning for a direct immediate experience of God's Presence, a longing to grasp the mysteries of the human soul and know the inner dynamics of the Divine realm, has taken on many different forms across the centuries.
This course will introduce students to the major texts--from theological treatises to poems and incantations--and core ideas of Jewish mysticism and spirituality, tracking their development from the Hebrew Bible to the dawn of modernity. Close attention will be paid to the historical context of these sources, and we will also engage with broader methodological approaches--from phenomenology to philology--regarding the academic study of religion and the comparative consideration of myst more »
This course will introduce students to the major texts--from theological treatises to poems and incantations--and core ideas of Jewish mysticism and spirituality, tracking their development from the Hebrew Bible to the dawn of modernity. Close attention will be paid to the historical context of these sources, and we will also engage with broader methodological approaches--from phenomenology to philology--regarding the academic study of religion and the comparative consideration of myst more »
It was once accepted as fact that Judaism is, at its core, a rational religion devoid of any authentic mystical tradition. But the past century of scholarship has reversed this claim, demonstrating that the spiritual life has been integral to Judaism's vital heart since ancient times. This yearning for a direct immediate experience of God's Presence, a longing to grasp the mysteries of the human soul and know the inner dynamics of the Divine realm, has taken on many different forms across the centuries.
This course will introduce students to the major texts--from theological treatises to poems and incantations--and core ideas of Jewish mysticism and spirituality, tracking their development from the Hebrew Bible to the dawn of modernity. Close attention will be paid to the historical context of these sources, and we will also engage with broader methodological approaches--from phenomenology to philology--regarding the academic study of religion and the comparative consideration of mysticism in particular.
This course assumes no prior background of Judaism or any other religious traditions. All readings will be made available in English. Students are, however, invited to challenge themselves with the "optional/advanced" readings of sources both primary and secondary. Pending interest, students with facility in the original languages (Hebrew or Aramaic) will be given the opportunity to do so.
This course will introduce students to the major texts--from theological treatises to poems and incantations--and core ideas of Jewish mysticism and spirituality, tracking their development from the Hebrew Bible to the dawn of modernity. Close attention will be paid to the historical context of these sources, and we will also engage with broader methodological approaches--from phenomenology to philology--regarding the academic study of religion and the comparative consideration of mysticism in particular.
This course assumes no prior background of Judaism or any other religious traditions. All readings will be made available in English. Students are, however, invited to challenge themselves with the "optional/advanced" readings of sources both primary and secondary. Pending interest, students with facility in the original languages (Hebrew or Aramaic) will be given the opportunity to do so.
Last offered: Spring 2025
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
RELIGST 53X: Sustainability and Civilization (BIO 35, HISTORY 35, POLISCI 35)
Our civilization faces multiple sustainability challenges. Climate change often dominates public conversation, but in fact, a whole range of environmental, economic, political, and cultural trends threaten the structures that sustain the societies we know. These problems cannot be understood in isolation, because they interact in complex ways. Solving them will require collaboration across many different fields, from the natural and social sciences to the humanities. This one-unit course brings together over two dozen faculty from across the entire university for a series of interdisciplinary conversations around cross-cutting themes. Our aim is to encourage dialogue and perhaps even future collaborations among students and professors who might otherwise rarely interact in a classroom. All students are welcome, but frosh and sophomores may find the course especially useful as an introduction to a wide range of sustainability-related disciplines and teachers at Stanford.
Terms: Win
| Units: 1
Instructors:
Dirzo, R. (PI)
;
Mayse, E. (PI)
RELIGST 55: Exploring Zen Buddhism
This course is an introduction to Chan/Zen Buddhism. We will study the historical and doctrinal development of this tradition in China and Japan and examine various facets of Zen, such as the philosophy, practices, rituals, culture, and institution. For this aim, we will read and discuss classical Zen texts in translation and important secondary literature. This class will further feature a visit of a Zen teacher, who will give an introduction to sitting meditation.
Last offered: Spring 2023
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
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
Instructors:
Kieschnick, J. (PI)
RELIGST 61: Exploring Islam
Explorations, like those of the so-called New World, have historically aimed at capturing the object of their discoveries, which may explain why the word appears to have been originally used within the context of the hunt. It is in this sense that we will attempt to uncover how Islam continues to be "explored" by observers in the West. Yet in doing so; that is, by collapsing the dam of secular discourse which would attempt to contain Islam in order to regulate its movement, we will also be able to "explore" Islam so as to cause it to flow once again, as the other etymology of the term would suggest (pluere). This (de)constructive task?of analyzing Islam as both a discursive object and a way of life?will be achieved through a collective historical-philosophical study of Islamic texts, performances, practices, sounds, events, communities, and images.
Last offered: Winter 2024
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
RELIGST 62: Exploring Islamic Mysticism
The word "mysticism" comes from the Greek word for "one who has been initiated," which itself comes from the act of "closing one's lips or eyes." In this course, however, our eyes will remain open as we speak freely about the "mystical tradition" of Islam known as "Sufism," given that the Muslim prayer is performed with eyes wide open and the Sufis endlessly speak of the act of seeing God in all things. To facilitate this task, we will follow the Quranic and Sufi division between the inward (batini) and the outward (zahiri). Each week, we will spend one class studying the latter through lectures, videos, and readings of secondary sources on the history and politics of Sufism, starting from its origins in the 7th century and ending with its contemporary entanglements with the West. We will then switch gears and, following the path laid out by the Sufi masters themselves, attempt to "taste" various facets of their theories and practices through the reading of manuals and poems, as well as the performance of guided exercises, which will expose students to the hands-on training undergone by disciples of what is often referred to as the "school of love" (mazhab-i ishq).
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Abbasi, R. (PI)
RELIGST 86: Exploring the New Testament (CLASSICS 43, HISTORY 111B, JEWISHST 86)
To explore the historical context of the earliest Christians, students will read most of the New Testament as well as many documents that didn't make the final cut. Non-Christian texts, Roman art, and surviving archeological remains will better situate Christianity within the ancient world. Students will read from the Dead Sea Scrolls, explore Gnostic gospels, hear of a five-year-old Jesus throwing divine temper tantrums while killing (and later resurrecting) his classmates, peruse an ancient marriage guide, and engage with recent scholarship in archeology, literary criticism, and history.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
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.
Last offered: Autumn 2023
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
RELIGST 105: The Art of Exorcisms
Demons and the demonic appear in nearly every society, but they are especially prominent in one of the world's oldest living religions, Zoroastrianism. Once the state religion of the Persian Empire, this tradition continues to be practiced today and offers a vivid example of how demons crossed religious borders, how writing became exorcism, and how purification rituals continue to shape how we imagine the sacred and the profane. Across fire altars and desert skies, priests waged war not with swords but with words, binding demons through sacred spirals. Our course explores cosmic battles between Light and Darkness, demon-catching bowls buried beneath ancient homes, exorcism manuals, and visions of realms beyond our own. Materials explored include hymns, ritual texts, incantations, and the artifacts that carried them. We will also examine Jewish and Christian discussions of demons to see how people named, negotiated, and neutralized evil. This course welcomes students from all backgrounds; no prerequisites are required.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
Instructors:
Amin, A. (PI)
RELIGST 108X: Environmental Wayfinding: Cultural, Artistic, and Spiritual Approaches to Life on a Changing Planet (EARTHSYS 108, EARTHSYS 208, NATIVEAM 108)
Imagine you woke up tomorrow in a sustainable society. What would this look like, and what would it have taken to get here? Would our work be complete, and what does sustainability even mean? "Environmental wayfinding" is an interdisciplinary course that emphasizes ways of knowing and being not typically centered in current sustainability discourses. These include practices of embodiment, intuition, creativity, contemplation, and relational knowledge. In this course "wayfinding" serves both as a metaphor - supporting students in "finding their way" emotionally, spiritually, and culturally in the face of unfolding global crises - and as an opportunity to explore humanities-based practices that can inform sustainability solutions. The class is arranged topically around current issues, and burning questions that rest at the heart of the study of sustainability and ecology such as how to navigate crises, sustain community, repair and restore the planet, learn from the more-than-human world
more »
Imagine you woke up tomorrow in a sustainable society. What would this look like, and what would it have taken to get here? Would our work be complete, and what does sustainability even mean? "Environmental wayfinding" is an interdisciplinary course that emphasizes ways of knowing and being not typically centered in current sustainability discourses. These include practices of embodiment, intuition, creativity, contemplation, and relational knowledge. In this course "wayfinding" serves both as a metaphor - supporting students in "finding their way" emotionally, spiritually, and culturally in the face of unfolding global crises - and as an opportunity to explore humanities-based practices that can inform sustainability solutions. The class is arranged topically around current issues, and burning questions that rest at the heart of the study of sustainability and ecology such as how to navigate crises, sustain community, repair and restore the planet, learn from the more-than-human world, and imagine just futures for all. Each week we explore how different cultural, artistic, and spiritual disciplines and practices have attempted to answer these burning questions - doing so with our eyes trained upon complex, real-world problems. Students of any background seeking an introduction to, and focus on, the study of sustainability from various humanistic perspectives will find a home in this course. Material created in this class can be used as a potential capstone project.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Mayse, E. (PI)
;
Montague, D. (PI)
;
Polk, E. (PI)
;
Veidis, E. (PI)
;
Wilcox, M. (PI)
;
Herring, R. (TA)
;
Shirhatti, V. (TA)