21 - 30 of 261 results for: RELIGST

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.

In today's high-tech world, information is everywhere. We live in an age where all the knowledge ever produced, anything you could ever want to know, see, or hear, is available within a matter of seconds. Yet for all this instantly accessible information, it seems there remain questions that can¿t be solved by a simple search on Wikipedia or Google. What is life? Why are we here? Is there a higher being? What is the best way to live? These are questions that have traditionally been associated with religion¿with philosophy rather than science, with faith rather than fact. In a time when everything is immediately knowable, how does religion retain any sense of mystery? Do the ways of talking and thinking about God handed down to us from the ancient world still have any of their power, or have they grown stale, ossified and ineffective as we transform the universe into easily searchable data, into friendly sound bites and viral memes? What has become of religion in the age of information?n nThis course focuses on the concept of information as a way to examine the broader question of the role of religion in the modern world. How is religion affected by the exponential advancement of technology? How are traditional concepts like God, belief, or prayer impacted by the discoveries of science? What is the modern religious experience in this new digital age? In particular this course asks whether or not religious discourse¿the language of poetry, scripture, and everyday speech¿faces new challenges in the modern age.    

In today's high-tech world, information is everywhere. We live in an age where all the knowledge ever produced, anything you could ever want to know, see, or hear, is available within a matter of seconds. Yet for all this instantly accessible information, it seems there remain questions that can¿t be solved by a simple search on Wikipedia or Google. What is life? Why are we here? Is there a higher being? What is the best way to live? These are questions that have traditionally been associated with religion¿with philosophy rather than science, with faith rather than fact. In a time when everything is immediately knowable, how does religion retain any sense of mystery? Do the ways of talking and thinking about God handed down to us from the ancient world still have any of their power, or have they grown stale, ossified and ineffective as we transform the universe into easily searchable data, into friendly sound bites and viral memes? What has become of religion in the age of information?nnThis course focuses on the concept of information as a way to examine the broader question of the role of religion in the modern world. How is religion affected by the exponential advancement of technology? How are traditional concepts like God, belief, or prayer impacted by the discoveries of science? What is the modern religious experience in this new digital age? In particular this course asks whether or not religious discourse¿the language of poetry, scripture, and everyday speech¿faces new challenges in the modern age.

This course engages the question of the self through the exploration of art, literature, religion, philosophy, and pop culture. Through close, guided readings and analysis of classic, contemporary, as well as popular materials, we will attempt to both understand and complicate the notion of the self and inquire into the personal, social, and political relationships that define its contours and boundaries. Course content will be drawn from a diverse but complementary range of thinkers including: Plato, Plotinus, Ibn al-Arabi, Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, William Blake, Guy Debord, Cormac McCarthy, and Friedrich Nietzsche. We will also interrogate what films such as Christopher Noland¿s Memento, images such as Manet¿s `Bar at the Folies Bergère, and countercultural musical movements such as punk rock and black metal have to add to our inquiry. Short lectures will contextualize the topics treated, but the main focus will be on fostering robust and substantive discussion and developing the philosophical skills needed to think through and debate the notion of the self and its attendant issues in a reflective and nuanced manner. By drawing from different eras and cultural contexts, we will gain a new appreciation for the historical background of the existential questions that concern us today, while confronting the radical diversity of possible responses. The seminar¿s ultimate aim is to engage with multimedia materials that help you develop, articulate, and ultimately, live out your own personal response to a very pressing question: ¿Who am I?¿

From its beginnings to the 21st century. Principal teachings and practices, institutional and social forms, and artistic and iconographical expressions. (Formerly RELIGST 14.)

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 course introduces some of the most important features of the Islamic religious tradition. It explores the different ways in which Muslims have interpreted and practiced their religion. The main subjects of discussion --- including the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur¿an, law, ritual, mysticism, theology, politics, and art --- will be considered with reference to their proper historical contexts. Some of the topics covered include abortion, gender, rebellion and violence, and the visual vocabulary of paintings. Students will be exposed to important theories and methods in the academic study of religion. No prior knowledge is 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.