19 courses with the subject RE, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
RE 101Introduction to Religious Studies1098
This systematic approach to the diversity and significance of religion explores what religion is and how it is studied. It considers myth, ritual, belief, scripture, art and the spectrum of the world’s religions. It investigates issues such as the problem of God, death and last things, evil and suffering, paths to salvation, religion and group identity, and religion and technology.
An introduction to the emerging religious landscape in today’s world. The course focuses on Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam beginning with the origins and core beliefs of each religion to better understand their contemporary context in America and Asia specifically . The course considers the geographical migration of religious traditions and how this is increasing interconnectedness and pluralism in today’s societies. Through lectures, presentations, video, field visits, guest speakers and readings, students are expected to understand each tradition’s core beliefs and practices from a practitioner’s perspective. A research project compares and contrasts one’s own spiritual journey to one’s family’s geographical journey to America and how the two have influenced one another.
Introduction to the Jewish historical experience from the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. to the present. Emphasizes the Jewish experience under Roman, Islamic, and Christian rule, the “Golden Age of Spanish Jewry,” Jews in Russia and America, the Holocaust, and the history of modern Israel.
This course studies the religion of Islam. Students learn about the birth and evolution of the faith, its basic tenets, concepts of God, prophets, leaders, sects, practices and rituals, offshoots, and schools of law.
Explore the beliefs and practices of Hinduism, mapping its transformations across history, continents, and cultures to the present in Western society. Readings will range from classical Hindu religious texts and epics, to modern perspectives incorporating science, psychology, and social issues. Study and practice various forms of yoga, meditation, and chanting in class, and through several field visits to local places of worship. This course will give anyone interested in learning about the oldest surviving religion in the world, an opportunity to examine its history, texts, and modern day practices.
Explore the beliefs and practices of the Buddhist religion, mapping its transformation across history, continents, and cultures from its origin in India to the present time in Western society. Readings range from classical Buddhist texts to modern perspectives incorporating science, psychology, and social issues. Study and practice various forms of meditation and chanting. Visit local temples to experience traditional services and interact with practitioners. Further topics include: Taoism, Confucianism, and Zen.
RE 315Religion and Its Expression in Literature1098
Intensive examination of the expression of religious curiosity and religious conviction in literature. Consider the works of one literary genre, culture, or historical period.
RE 320Religion and Personality: The Psychology of Religion1098
Is religion harmful or beneficial to personality development and mental health? Is religion based upon illusion or delusion or the extraordinary perception of a supernatural reality? Is religion a harmful social meme or does it provide moral balance to the individual and society? This course will focus on the nature of religion and its role in the development of the personality of the person. Classic figures in the field such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and William James will be studied. The course will explore issues such as the meaning of dreams, sexuality and the unconscious, the creative process and symbols, altered states of consciousness and spiritual practice, and faith and belief. New methodologies such as cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary psychology will provide the latest scientific research on the role of the brain in the practice of religion and the implications for the practice of religion today.
The course explores the impact of climate change, geography, and technology on religion from 11,000 BCE to 200 BCE utilizing scientific methodologies such as climatology, ethnobotany, biological anthropology, archeology, evolutionary psychology, and cultural ecology. Issues include global warming at the end of the Ice Age, the development of agriculture and subsequent population explosion, the emergence of religious elites, megaliths to honor the dead, and urban life. The course then examines the crisis of meaning that occurs in the age of empires and the emergence of the concept of individual salvation during the Axial Age. Finally, the course speculates, as we enter into the age of information and the potential of a new period of global warming, as to the impact of climate change, social media, and new technologies on the character of religion.
RE 330The Dawn of Humanity and the Search for Religious Experience1098
The course embarks on a journey back through time in search for the earliest religious experiences. Along our way the class will recount the discovery of prehistory, explore cave paintings in France and Spain, decipher Venus Figurines, investigate archaic burial rites, and interpret the appearance of Homo sapiens. A key consideration is the cognitive evolution of the brain and the power of the brain to harness its own spiritual energy and power as manifested in the first religious specialist, the shaman. The evidence is explored from a multidisciplinary approach including evolutionary psychology, biological anthropology, cognitive neuroscience, archeology, archeo-astronomy, and art history. The link between these early forms of religious experience and the later forms of religion such as those found today is discussed. Students undertake individual and group projects that analyze these first religious experiences.
The class explores the influence of science on religion and culture in the modern and postmodern worlds. The course focuses on four themes of creation: the formation of the universe, the appearance of life, the origins of human consciousness, and the formation of nature and the earth. First, the class examines the sacred cosmology of Western Culture that is based upon the creation of the narrative of Genesis and Greek philosophy. Then, the class examines the challenges of science to this cosmology focusing on the disciplines of astronomy, quantum physics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and ecology. Issues such as Galileo and the Inquisition, the theory of the Big Bank, evolution and intelligent design, human consciousness and religious experience, and ecology and global warming are examined. The course raises the question of whether or not it is possible to reconcile the belief in God with the practice of science.
This course is individual research at an advanced level on a religious topic of special interest. It provides the opportunity to develop research methodology under the supervision of the instructor. It combines the collection and analysis of data, the summary and evaluation of results, and effective organization and presentation.
