REL

This course introduces students to the study of religion in its cultural and historical

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will demonstrate their ability to think critically about the socially constructed nature of that which can be categorized as “religious.” Students will recognize and describe breadth and diversity within particular constructions of religion. Students will recognize and explain ways in which “religion” has cultural, political, and economic significance and/or ways in which cultural, political, and economic phe Students will produce nuanced reflections on ways that religious traditions and religious communities have interacted with other religious traditions and communities thro Powered by SmartCatalog IQ alog Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog how religion and social power can overlap, blend into, and alter one another. Can religion prompt violence, political movemen nomena have religious significance. ughout history. 2026-2027 Student Handbook ts, and racism? Can social and political circumstances alter religion? This course focuses especially on colonialism, both in its earliest stages as well as contemporary variations on it. Students will also investigate how religious ideals have influenced racial, sexual, and cultural regulation.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course challenges students to think about “religion” as something extending beyond the walls of churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples. Instead, this course asks

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course explores connections between religion and politics. Why are ideas about God and religion so central to so many political co

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will demonstrate their ability to think critically about the socially constructed nature of that which can be categorized as “religious.” Students will recognize and describe breadth and diversity within particular constructions of religion. Students will recognize and explain ways in which “religion” has cultural, political, and economic significance and/or ways in which cultural, political, and economic phenomena Students will produce nuanced reflections on ways that religious traditions and religious communities have interacted with other religious traditions and communities throughout Powered by SmartCatalog IQ exual Harassment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook ge of children’s books and church sermons. But what is magic? And, more importantly, whose traditions and practices get called “magic”? This course examin have religious significance. history. es the debates over magic in historic and contemporary contexts, examining traditions from Vodou to Islam. As we pay particular attention to the lines between the rational and the irrational, the authentic and the fake, and between commitment and entertainment, our investigations will ultimately lead us to ask: what is religion?

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Wizards and Wicca, angels and demons, entertainers and con-artists - the words and the worlds of magic beckon to us from television sets and new-age stores, speak in the langua

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Why do religious sites and icons inspire as much violence and destruction as piety and devotion? How do different religious communities imagine and re-present their ideas of the sacred (however

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course explores how selected religious traditions conceptualize the experience of death and the possibility of an afterlife. It considers culturally located i

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

In this course we examine the role that Christianity played in the construction of the category of race and in the political and economic processes of slavery, col

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will differentiate the diverse ideas and modes of expression found within the text of the Bible Students will demonstrate their ability to think critically about the socially constructed nature of that which can be categorized as “religious.” Students will recognize and describe breadth and diversity within particular constructions of religion. Students will recognize and explain ways in which “religion” has cultural, political, and economic significance and/or ways in which cultural, political, and economic phenom Students will produce nuanced reflections on ways that religious traditions and religious communities have interacted with other religious traditions and communities through Powered by SmartCatalog IQ g Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-202 explore the Bible in light of the ancient contexts in which it was composed, while also studying the way that ancient Jews and Chr ena have religious significance. out history. 7 Student Handbook istians interpreted and transformed the meaning of biblical texts. We will read the Bible’s narratives, poems, proverbs, prophecies and laws, and consider its diverse approaches to topics such as power, holiness, gender, nature, love, death, God, and the relation of the people of Israel to other peoples.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course introduces students to the critical study of biblical literature, focusing on the text known as the Hebrew Bible, Jewish Bible, Tanakh, or Old Testament. We will

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will demonstrate familiarity with the diverse writings of early Christianity. Students will demonstrate their ability to think critically about the socially constructed nature of that which can be categ Students will recognize and describe breadth and diversity within particular constructions of religion. Students will recognize and explain ways in which “religion” has cultural, political, and economic significance and/or ways Students will produce nuanced reflections on ways that religious traditions and religious communities have interacted with o Powered by SmartCatalog IQ 5-2026 Academic Catalog 2025-2026 Graduate Catalog Sexual Harassment Policy and iverse world of the ancient Mediterranean and especially within the context of f orized as “religious.” in which cultural, political, and economic phenomena have religious significance ther religious traditions and communities throughout history. Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook irst century Judaisms. This course uses the tools of historical and rhetorical analysis to engage in close readings of these varied writings, which include gospels, epistles, and apocalyptic writings. .

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This class focuses on the emergence of early Christian literature, including the writings of the New Testament, out of the d

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will demonstrate their ability to think critically about the socially constructed nature of that which can be categorized as “religious.” Students will recognize and describe breadth and diversity within particular constructions of religion. Students will recognize and explain ways in which “religion” has cultural, political, and economic significance and/or ways in which cultural, political, Students will produce nuanced reflections on ways that religious traditions and religious communities have interacted with other religious traditions and Powered by SmartCatalog IQ 2026 Graduate Catalog Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduat ho were these gods? This course investigates the religions and deities of Africa before the advent of Christianity and Islam, and exa and economic phenomena have religious significance. communities throughout history. e Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook mines what happens to the gods of others when they migrate to the African continent. Throughout the class we will examine how Africans of the past debated the nature of knowledge and how encounters between traditions on the African continent shaped our understanding of religion itself.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Long before Marvel brought us Black Panther, the traditions and gods of Africa played an outsized role in our conception of religion and the world. But w

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will distinguish diverse practices within a particular religious worldview. Students will recognize and analyze how religious traditions and/or identities emerge over time and within specific sett Students will recognize and explain the ways in which religious practices and traditions are embedded and function withi Students will apply disciplinary perspectives in analyzing texts, traditions, institutions, and practices. Powered by SmartCatalog IQ 2025-2026 Academic Catalog 2025-2026 Graduate Catalog Sexual Harassment P ia to present-day America. In the course of this study we examine Buddhist s Studies Elective; Peace & Conflict Studies Elective ings. n, cultural, political and economic systems. olicy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook ideas about the nature of the self, existence, the basis of knowledge, the nature and path to salvation, psychology, ethics, aesthetics, gender, mind-body theory and non-violence issues.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course surveys the religious philosophy, practices and cultural developments of Buddhism from sixth century BCE Ind

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Hinduism is the world’s oldest religious tradition, yet in today’s globalizing, technology-rich environment, it continues to reinvent itself. Ancient practices like y

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

1.9 billion people - almost one-quarter of the world’s population - count themselves as Muslims. Moreover, the ideas, artwork, practices, and textual traditions of Muslim

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course asks students to consider the long, contested history of Christianity. Rather than treat Christianity as just one thing that is stable across all tim

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will distinguish diverse practices within a particular religious worldview. Students will recognize and analyze how religious traditions and/or identities emerge over time and within specific settings. Students will recognize and explain the ways in which religious practices and traditions are embedded and function within, cul Students will apply disciplinary perspectives in analyzing texts, traditions, institutions, and practices. Powered by SmartCatalog IQ 2026 Academic Catalog 2025-2026 Graduate Catalog Sexual Harassment Policy and Proce evolution of its major ideas and practices as well as the diversity of Jewish cultu s Studies Elective tural, political and economic systems. dures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook res throughout the world. A range of classical and contemporary Jewish approaches to theology, ethics, ritual, gender, peoplehood, spirituality, authority and relations with other communities will be explored.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course traces the history of the Jewish community from its origins in ancient Israel to the present day, considering the

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course introduces students to the concepts of spirituality and religion as they’ve been practiced, narrated, and adapted in the context of American secularism. This course ap

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course looks at the importance of religious thought in world cinema. It considers a wide variety o

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course analyzes historical and contemporary teachings of the Jewish tradition regarding animals and the natural wo

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Application, acceptance and additional travel fee required. The course may also be counted as a Religious Studies elective and counts toward the Interreligious Studies , Women's, Gender and Sexualities Studies and Asian Studies minors. Powered by SmartCatalog IQ ok 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook Christian, and Jewish traditions and into direct contact with Indians from an array of caste backgrounds, education levels, and occupations, allowing them to develop an informed appreciation of the diversity of the world's largest democracy . Through directed study opportunities, lectures, and daily interactions with Indians who live and work in the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, we will consider the nature of religious identity and practice; explore cultural expectations regarding gender (including arranged and other forms of marriage); assess the ways in which caste does and does not matter in contemporary society; and analyze how tradition and modernity interact in this rapidly changing nation.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course emphasizes the diversity of contemporary Indian identities, devoting particular attention to religion, caste, and gender. This course brings students into a range of Indian religious spaces associated with Hindu, Jain, Muslim,

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course is designed to orient students interested in religious studies to the broader landscape of

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

The course will require a final portfolio that will include material from previous courses in the minor that demonstrate student accomp Powered by SmartCatalog IQ emic Catalog 2025-2026 Graduate Catalog Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Aca onsequences of interreligious encounter into dialogue with data from historical and contemporary instances of encounter. lishment of the programs learning objectives, a minimum of 2 site visit reports, and an integrative/reflective project t demic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook It will provide students a historical framework for examining the encounter of religious traditions over time, familiarize them with typologies of encounter, and help them think critically about the nature of pluralism, tolerance, and interfaith dialogue. hat synthesizes the student's learning in the minor and addresses the practical applications of his/her insights

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course draws from the emerging field of interfaith studies and aims to bring theoretical models for understanding the nature and c

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course will examine the violent, rapidly evolving, and colorful religious world generated by the forces of globali

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will identify and analyze the ways in which religious worldviews shape diverse communities. Students will utilize critical and theoretical tools in examining primary and secondary sources. Students will identify continuities and discontinuities between historical and contemporary religious phenomena. Students will synthesize course materials and sources to generate insightful observations and reach substantial conclusions. Powered by SmartCatalog IQ Graduate Catalog Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-20 oman paganism, emerging Christianity, early Islam). Special attention will be given to the character of Satan, includi 27 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook ng how the character functions in communal contexts. This course primarily employs literary and historical approaches to the study of religion. While historical in focus, this course will give some attention to contemporary constructions of the supernatural and/or the satanic.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course explores beliefs, traditions, and practices related to supernatural beings within the cultures of the Mediterranean world (e.g. ancient Judaism, R

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course examines the enduringand widespread fascination with apocalypse studying the ancient genre of apocalyp

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

• Students will utilize critical and theoretical tools in examining primary and secondary sources, developing their ability to understand and interpret diverse prima • Students will recognize and discuss how religious texts are shaped by their cultural contexts and they will recognize and explain the ways in which religious tradi • Students will deepen their understanding of how the topics of sex, gender, family, marriage, etc. were constructed within early Christian traditions. They will rec • Students will recognize that discussions about bodies in religious discourses often manifest anxieties about identity, assimilation, and the like. • Students will articulate and investigate a critical research question in the field of religious studies. Powered by SmartCatalog IQ e Catalog Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Ca itions, including first century Judaism and early Christianity, constructed and regulated gender a ry and secondary sources in a critical fashion. tions and practices are embedded within cultural, political and economic systems. ognize that discussions of these topics reflected broad cultural assumptions and discourses. talog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook nd sexuality. While the main focus is upon reading ancient primary sources, students will be introduced to contemporary gender theory as well as some of the ways in which ancient traditions continue to impact modern views on gender and sexuality.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Ancient writings on sex and gender have had an enormous influence on modern Euro-American perspectives. This course explores how ancient Mediterranean religious trad

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course examines ancient Jewish and Christian messianic movements and the ways these tradi

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will be able to identify some ways that religion and popular culture influence, shape, and overlap each other Students will demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply at least one theoretical approach to religion and popular cult Students will be able to explain how religious ideals can be embedded within larger narratives, both implicitly and explicitly Students will become sharper observers and analysts of American culture Powered by SmartCatalog IQ 6 Academic Catalog 2025-2026 Graduate Catalog Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student ther that "religion" is an expansive concept that can be found in many unexpected places. One such place ure Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook is the realm of popular culture. Students in this course will explore and analyze the ways that movies, television, sports, novels, and other types of popular culture can shape, cultivate, interact with, and even serve as religion.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course starts with the position that "religion" cannot be neatly confined to "beliefs," "institutions," or "worship," but ra

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will improve their critical thinking about the relationship between religion and state power. Students will be able to explain how nationalism and patriotism can sometimes function as religion. Students will be able to explain how race and racism have played roles in American wars Students will learn how to analyze and demystify religion’s interaction with militancy Powered by SmartCatalog IQ 25-2026 Graduate Catalog Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Gra ary action. Students will also examine how the historical memory of particular wars can shape religious ideals long after the origin duate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook al events, particularly in the case of the Civil War and World War II. This course will also explore how wartime can highlight the difficulties of separating “religion” and “secularism” into neat categories. Course content ranges from the Civil War to the present day War on Terror.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course will ask students to engage with the various ways that American religion has contributed to, resisted, and been embedded within U.S. milit

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course will focus on the religious foundations for social justice within the Christ

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

In an exploration of the moral dimensions of the environmental crisis, students examine

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course will employ an intersectional analysis of the moral dimensions of environmental issues and problems and examine how and why env

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course explores the religious interactions, commercial/technological exchanges, and artistic influences of the Silk Road, which was a vast network of overland trade routes linking Asia with the eastern

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Chinese “religious” thought and practice can include philosophy, political science, ethics, aesthetics, physical edu

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course explores the historical and contemporary role of religion in Japan. It pays particular attenti

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course explores how real and ideal spaces reflect and shape our perceptions of the sacred. It investigates

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will utilize critical and theoretical tools in examining primary and secondary sources. Students will apply disciplinary perspectives in analyzing texts, traditions, institutions, and practices. Students will synthesize course materials and sources to generate insightful observations and reach substantial conclusions. Powered by SmartCatalog IQ alog Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook torical and sociological factors that have linked religious specialists to physical and psychological well-being. Primary and secondary source readings from Hindu, Bu ddhist, and/or Daoist traditions will provide students with theoretical frameworks for rethinking our definitions of “religion” and “the body,” and consideration of the religious dimensions of non-western therapeutic modalities in contemporary America will provide students with opportunities for original research and critical analysis.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course examines the intersection of religion and healing in the Asian context. It considers alternatives to the biomedical model of healing, and investigates the his

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course introduces several of the most important Hindu goddesses and considers how they are represente

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course introduces students to contemporary women's religious lives, ritual performances and

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course examines a selection of written, oral and performed texts associated with Hindu traditions in

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course explores Muslim women's religious roles, participation and practices throughout the history of Islam and across a v

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course explores historical and contemporary Jewish approaches to ethics. We will think critically about a wide range of ideas developed by Jews

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course focuses on the efforts of medieval Jews to interpret traditional Jewish ideas, narratives and practices in light of the ideas of ancient Greek philosop

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course offers a historical and philosophical investigation of modern Jewish thought, considering th

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

The history of Jewish-Christian relations has been marked by deep hatred and violence. This course will consider that history, its influe

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will demonstrate familiarity with some major currents in Islamic philosophy and poetry. Students will examine the relationship between intellectual currents and specific social formations. Students will trace epistemological debates among Muslims over the correct way of knowing and worshiping God. Students will analyze the impact of the forces of Modernity and Colonialism on Muslim understandings of knowledge and society. Powered by SmartCatalog IQ ment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook dition that arose early in the history of Islam and came to influence Muslims around the world, in every period of history. The followers of this path focused - a nd continue to focus - on building a relationship with God based on love and sought a personal, experiential encounter with the “divine.” The course will examine the social, political, and poetic effects of love - on social protest, music, philosophy, gender, and sexuality, with a particular focus on the historical world of the Middle East and Asia.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

A medieval Muslim poet wrote, “I profess the religion of love, wherever its caravan turns along the way / that is the way, the path I keep.” This course examines this “path of love,” a tra

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will demonstrate familiarity with the diverse possibilities for interactions between Muslims and non-Muslims;

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

The accounts of warfare and violence that have filled our televisions and newspapers represent only one possible type of encounter between Muslims and non-Muslims in our present and past. This course ex

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will demonstrate familiarity with how the terms “religion,” “magic,” and “science,” were used at various times by Greeks, Romans, Jews, Christians, and Muslims; Students will examine how these terms changed over time in response to social, cultural, or political pressures; Students will analyze how ideas in one context or religious tradition become adopted into another. Students will understand how concepts like “religion,” “magic,” and “science” can serve as terms of exclusion or inclusion to justify bringing in or casting out various individuals or groups. Powered by SmartCatalog IQ 025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook otter and the dragons of Game of Thrones. In the United States, debates about the secularity of the state rage on, while over 80% of Americans believe in angels and more than two-thirds in demons. The witc hes and wizards; scientists and doctors; and angels and demons of our lives seem to cross the boundaries between the categories of Religion, Magic, and Science - raising the question: what are these categories? And where do they come from? This course will answer this question by following the development of these terms from the antique Greco-Roman world to the present, through varied historical and cultural contexts.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

We live in a world that seems, somehow, to be religious, magical, and scientific all at the same time. Alongside our iPhones, antibiotics, and drones we see cultural obsessions with the witches and wizards of Harry P

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

What is the relationship between literary expression, social and cultural change, and religious identity? Over the past century, African writers have used the mediu

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

These courses allow individual faculty members to teach courses on timely topics that are of speci

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will utilize critical and theoretical tools in examining primary and secondary sources. Students will apply disciplinary perspectives in analyzing texts, traditions, institutions, and practices. Students will synthesize course materials and sources to generate insightful observations and reach substantial conclusions. Students will design and execute a significant research study (research question, methodology, data collection, analysis and in Powered by SmartCatalog IQ will present major theoretical approaches to the study of mysticism before discussing the textual ac terpretation of data, sustained argument, significant conclusion) in the field of religious studies. counts and visual expressions of mystics throughout the world and throughout history. Primary emphasis will be given to Hindu-Buddhist and Christian sources, though other varieties of mystical experience will also be considered.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course explores the remarkable phenomenon of mysticism: the direct experience of the sacred, however it may be defined. It

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will become familiar with the diversity of Jewish thought regarding the morality of war Students will recognize the ways in which Jewish perspectives on war have been shaped by diverse cultural and political contexts. Students will synthesize course materials and sources to generate insightful observations and reach substantial conclusions about war in the Jewish tradition Students will think deeply about how what we learn in this course can help us be global citizens and informed leaders motivated by concern for the common goo Powered by SmartCatalog IQ Graduate Catalog Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures 2025-2026 Student Handbook 2026-2027 Academic Catalog 2026-202 e, from debates about the American Civil War to debates about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, members of Jewish commun d. 7 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook ities have had much to say about the morality of war. This course explores how Jews have thought about the morality of war in various historical contexts, giving particular attention to how traditional Jewish sources have been used in modern discussions about the use of force.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

From the commands to wage war in the Bible to the anti-war movements of the twentieth century, from revolts against Rome to revolts against the British Empir

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Students will demonstrate familiarity with the historical trajectories, key categories, and the interrelated development of the South and Southeast Asian religions under consideration. Students will discuss with accuracy and sophistication a range of historical and contemporary beliefs, practices, and rituals related to spirits, ghosts, demons, ancestors, and the deified dead in each of these religious traditions. Students will recognize how textual and elite discussions concerning death and the spirits of the deceased may shape and be reshaped by non-elite communities and by innovating practices. Students will articulate a research question related to course themes, develop an argument and leverage theoretical sources in response to that question, and craft a research paper that investigates it. Powered by SmartCatalog IQ -2027 Graduate Catalog 2026-2027 Student Handbook eath and funeral rites as well as rituals variously designed to pacify, feed, commemorate, communicate with, install, or expel spirits of many sorts in countries as diverse as India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, and Vietnam. In examining ceremonies led by priests, shamans, and healers we will ask why those who die untimely deaths (e.g., accidents, suicide) are more likely to become ghosts and demons; consider instances where spirits of the deceased may afflict or bless the living; and interrogate the relationship between gender and possession. While our primary focus will be on ethnographic sources and anthropological methodologies, we will also engage the histories of particular places, especially those associated with violence and war as well as interreligious crossing, contact, collaboration, and conflict.

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course focuses on beliefs, practices, and rituals concerning spirits, ghosts, demons, ancestors, and the deified dead in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim traditions of South and Southeast Asia. Together we will explore religious and cultural practices associated with d

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

The continent that we call “Africa,” was first described as such by explorers and missionaries who lived outside of its borders, and particularly by writers working from within the

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

In this capstone seminar, students demonstrate that they can understand, participate in, and contribu

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This internship provides the opportunity for students to apply Religious Studies scholarly frameworks

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

Upper-class majors (or others by instructor consent) may complete individual study in an

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com

This course offers the individual student an opportunity to pursue a research project wi

Subject

REL

Type

course

Edition

2025-2026

Source

elon.smartcatalogiq.com