30 courses with the subject REL, 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.
This course introduces the study of religion by using methods commonly used to study religion in order to explore activities and institutions usually considered separate from organized religion. Case-studies may include professional sports, dieting, the free market, medical expertise or self-help culture. Credit(s): 3
This course explores the global context of 21st century Christian leadership. It examines the challenge of Christian mission and leadership in a post-modern and post-Christian world. Credit(s): 3
This course will focus on the beliefs, attitudes and practices that define Christian discipleship. Drawing upon both film and a variety of types of literature (both fictional and non-fictional), it will consider various possible cross-denominational understandings of what it means to be a Christian, contrasting those that focus on “beliefs” with those that focus on “character” and “practices.” Of particular interest will be the distinctive spirituality and morality associated with Christian life. The course will introduce the spiritual or devotional practices (both corporate and personal) by which Christians cultivate their relationship to God and through which Christian identity and character are formed. Finally, the course will look at ways Christians make decisions in relation to significant contemporary moral challenges. Credit(s): 3
This course offers a survey of major religious traditions, exploring their histories, basic teachings and ritual practices as well as examining how we live together well in a religiously diverse world. Three credits. Credit(s): 3
This course explores how we conceptualize and create civic life together in a religiously diverse society. We will examine how religion has shaped social and political life in the United States, compare different understandings of the role of the state in a religiously diverse society and analyze models for promoting civic cooperation with attention to religious diversity. This course prepares students to communicate about religion in professional and public contexts and to promote cooperation in professional and public contexts with attention to religious diversity. Three Credits. Credit(s): 3
This course will prepare students with knowledge and skills for facilitating difficult conversations. By engaging in, designing and facilitating dialogues about important current issues, students will learn how to create equitable interactions across social and cultural differences, with particular attention to religious difference and interfaith dialogue. Credit(s): 3
This course will survey the religious ideas and theological motifs of the Hebrew Bible. Students will be introduced to critical methods of scriptural study as these relate to the origins, development, canonization and meanings of the text. The role of the Hebrew Bible in shaping the devotional, liturgical and moral lives of both Jewish and Christian people today will be considered. Credit(s): 3
This course will survey the religious ideas and theological motifs of New Testament. Students will be introduced to critical methods of scriptural study as these relate to the origins, development, canonization and meanings of the text as a document written in the Greco-Roman world of the first century. The role of the New Testament in shaping the devotional, liturgical, and moral lives of Christian people today will be considered. Credit(s): 3
This course will introduce students to the Qur’an (Koran), the holy scripture of Islam. We will examine its major doctrines, thematic development, literary style and its relationship to pre-qur’anic, especially biblical, traditions. Special attention is given to various methods Muslims have used to interpret the Qur’an. In providing students with a working knowledge of the Qur’an, we will look at the Qur’an as a historical source; the origin, compilation, and contents of the Qur’an; the forms of the Qur’an, as manifested in recitation, texts (mushafs), and calligraphy; and exegetical and theological analyses of (and debates surrounding) the content of the Qur’an. Credit(s): 3
This course will survey a selected number of the major ideas and events in the history of the western churches from the second to the 20th century. The course content will provide familiarity with the central concepts and practices of Christian traditions as well as setting forth the ideas and practices that ground the faith of ordinary Christians through the centuries. Credit(s): 3
This course explores possible Christian responses to contemporary social problems. Topics include just war and pacifism, poverty and economic justice, sexuality (including homosexuality, abortion and sexism), euthanasia, capital punishment and racism. Credit(s): 3
This course studies the beliefs, attitudes and practices by which Christians seek to cultivate their relationship with God and grow in Christian discipleship. Credit(s): 3
This course serves as an introduction to Christian Systematic Theology and considers the purposes and methods for engaging in systematic theological reflection, the nature of God as Trinity, the person and work of Christ (Christology and Soteriology), the work of the Holy Spirit (Pneumatology), the nature and ministry of the Church (Ecclesiology) and Christian Hope (Eschatology). Credit(s): 3
This course examines basic Jewish beliefs, sacred texts, customs/ceremonies, Holy Days (the Jewish year), as well as the most common issues facing modern day Jews and Judaism. Credit(s): 3
(same as PHIL 311) This course examines the major philosophies and religions of Asia, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Shinto. Particular attention will be paid to conceptions of self, nature, divinity and ethics. The course examines the ways in which these religions have influenced each other. Credit(s): 3
This course provides a general introduction to the origins and development of Islam, the principle teachings of the religion’s faith, practice, the Islamic legal system (the Shari’a), and the evolution of Islamic sects and intellectual movements to the 21st century. Credit(s): 3
In this course, students examine the educational ministry of the church. Some of the key topics include the teaching style of Jesus, theories of Christian education, the formation of Christian identity and conscience, theories of faith development, leadership development and practical issues related to resources, curriculum and programming. Credit(s): 3
This course provides students with a foundation for understanding the ministry of the local congregation and of the leadership issues related to ministry in that setting. It considers biblical and theological understandings of the ministry of the church and of the distinction between clerical and lay ministry. Different forms of church organization, styles of leadership and the decision-making structures in the local church considered. Each student has an opportunity to explore leadership issues of individual interest such as leadership in social or political ministry, the leadership of women, leadership in Black churches, worship leadership, etc. Credit(s): 3
This course provides an introduction to the history of Christianity in the United States, considering the particular ways in which Christian faith and life have been manifest during the successive periods of U.S. history, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries. Extended attention is typically given to the historical origins of the First Amendment’s “religion clauses,” religious nationalism in the United States, and the role of Christianity in the Civil War. Credit(s): 3
This course examines the interrelationship between Christianity and the unique experience of persons of African descent in the United States. The course focuses on the impact of the slave experience on African-American religion, the development of African-American churches with particular emphasis on the African-American church as a social and political institution and the role of African-American churches in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Credit(s): 3
This course examines and evaluates the beliefs, attitudes and practices of the major religious traditions as they pertain to human interaction with the natural world. It will help students understand the relation of religion and ecology and to become acquainted with the thought of the best thinkers in this emerging field of study. Credit(s): 3
(same as GWST 341 ) This course examines understandings of sex and gender in religious communities, including Christian and Muslim communities, and in religious texts, including biblical and qur’anic texts, exploring the intersection of religious and social understandings of sex and gender. Credit(s): 3
This course explores the relationship between religion and violence, especially political violence. It involves an examination of the major world religions and their teachings on war and peace. It will also address one or more relevant topics, such as the role of religion in promoting or opposing violence and war in the history of the United States, the place of religion in the contemporary reality of terrorism and a global war on terror, the relationship between religion and violence against women, and religion in revolutionary movements around the globe. Credit(s): 3
(same as FILM 349 ) The course explores how religious beliefs and practices are embedded in films. The ways in which film interacts with ideas of the sacred, ritual and myth will be discussed and analyzed in order to think critically and creatively about religious, ethical and cultural issues. Credit(s): 3
Selected topics in religion for intensive reading, discussion and writing. Credit(s): 3
An intensive seminar on a current Biblical or theological topic. Credit(s): 3
In this course, a student serves as an apprentice in ministry at a local church or agency. The course offers students an opportunity to explore, in a practical way, a particular aspect of the ministry of the church while receiving onsite and faculty supervision. Credit(s): 2 or 3 credits.
A continuation of REL 421 . Credit(s): 2 or 3 credits.
This course is designed to make available areas of study in religion and its relation to other disciplines that are not included in the regular course offerings. It may be taken as an Independent Study. Since the content will vary, this course may be repeated once for credit. Credit(s): 3
The internship provide students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills for navigating religious diversity by working with an organization in a capacity that promotes civic cooperation with attention to religious diversity.The student will acquire the internship position with approval from the instructor in advance of final registration.Prerequisite: REL 202. One to six credits. This course may be repeated for a maximum of six credits. Credit(s): 1-6
Source: Shenandoah University's catalog, linked per course · table learning_unit · CourseShelf publish 59
