Course Descriptions
Religious Studies Courses
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RELS 2000 Catholicism: Spirit and Methods
RELS 2000 Catholicism: Spirit and Methods
Credit Hours: 3
This course is a basic introduction to Catholicism. It covers such topics as faith, the Gospels and Jesus, the Christian God, community, sacrament, liturgy and worship, the meaning of church, spirituality, Catholic Social Teaching, and the "Catholic Imagination." The course requires personal reflection on the spiritual traditions of Ignatius Loyola and Catherine McAuley as well as service in the community and reflection on that experience in the light of Catholic Social Thought.
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RELS 2001 The Study of Religions
RELS 2001 The Study of Religions
Credit Hours: 3
Examines the various methods scholars employ for describing and understanding religious phenomena. The course focuses on the various dimensions of religious belief, experience, and practice and explores the main religious themes, such as the nature of God, the human condition, and salvation, in the context of different religious traditions. It also draws attention to the values that religions promote and to the major religious issues commonly discussed in academic and/or public circles.
RELS 2001 replaced RELS 1000 and RS 100. Students who have already taken either RELS 1000 or RS 100, should not enroll in RELS 2001 as they will not receive credit toward graduation for both courses. Students who have questions should consult with their Academic Advisor or the CLAE Dean's Office. -
RELS 2020 Asian Religions
RELS 2020 Asian Religions
Credit Hours: 3
A survey of those religious traditions usually labeled "Eastern," namely, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Chinese and Japanese religions, and the various forms of Buddhism. A brief history, the major scriptures, and the beliefs and rituals of each religious tradition are covered. Current developments, especially the presence of some of these religions in the Western world are also explored.
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RELS 2030 Western Religions
RELS 2030 Western Religions
Credit Hours: 3
A survey of those religious traditions usually labeled "Western," namely, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Also included are prehistoric religion, the religions of contemporary nonliterate societies, and several religions of ancient civilizations. The historical background, the major religious developments, and the beliefs and rituals of the main religious traditions are outlined. Some problems, such as secularization, which these great religions face in the modern world, will be discussed.
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RELS 2050 Introduction to Islam
RELS 2050 Introduction to Islam
Credit Hours: 3
This course provides a deep understanding of the basic tenets of the Islamic faith, explaining them in the context of Islam's organic development and its prospects for continued evolution as it faces modern challenges. The course will examine Islam as a way of life, a belief structure, an intellectual environment, a cultural phenomenon, and a mode of social interaction.
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RELS 2120 Introduction to Judaism
RELS 2120 Introduction to Judaism
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to the essentials of basic Judaism: beliefs, practices, customs, ceremonies, holidays, and institutions of the Jewish people. Current trends in contemporary Jewish life, as well as the concerns of the Jewish people are examined.
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RELS 2140 Women and Religion
RELS 2140 Women and Religion
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines, from women's perspectives, their experience in a variety of religious traditions. It examines the relationship between religious definitions of women and their social status, analyzes the causes of women's subordination in some religious traditions, compares the values of such traditions with those values affirmed in religious traditions primarily shaped by women, and presents feminists' and womanists' critical theories relating to dogmas, traditions, and ethics.
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RELS 2150 The Rise of Christianity
RELS 2150 The Rise of Christianity
Credit Hours: 3
A study of the historical setting, theological controversies and institutional development of early Christianity.
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RELS 2160 Reformation Era
RELS 2160 Reformation Era
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to the origin and development of Protestantism, from Martin Luther to the Treaty of Westphalia. An examination of the Catholic Reformation, including the founding of the Society of Jesus and the Council of Trent. A study of the history and development of Lutheranism, Calvinism, the Anglican Reformation and the Radical Reformation.
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RELS 2170 Religion in the United States of America
RELS 2170 Religion in the United States of America
Credit Hours: 3
An historical introduction to the variety of religious orientations in the U.S.A. together with a consideration of the relationship of religion to American culture.
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RELS 2180 Black Religion in America
RELS 2180 Black Religion in America
Credit Hours: 3
Introductory exploration of the spirituality and religious understandings of African Americans, attending to gender and class, and the identification of related key social streams.
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RELS 2195 Geographies of Religion
RELS 2195 Geographies of Religion
Credit Hours: 3
This course explores the interplay of space, place and religion in the human experience using contemporary global case studies. Through these examples, we can understand how religion in contemporary life has been impacted by the spatial dynamics of colonialism, the modern nation state, and social stratification on the basis of race, gender, and sexuality. We will move from the small scale of church architecture to major border disputes that invoke religion as claim to the land 鈥� demonstrating that religions are no less physical than they are systems of thought. Through close readings and critical discussions of our case studies, we will unpack assumptions and assertions about religious practice and share our own analyses of these issues through ethnographic and expository writing assignments.
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RELS 2200 Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible)
RELS 2200 Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible)
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces students to the world of ancient Israel and the literature of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible against the background of the ancient Near East. Students confront the challenge of reading and interpreting these ancient texts in the modern world.
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RELS 2230 Prophets and Visionaries
RELS 2230 Prophets and Visionaries
Credit Hours: 3
A survey of portions of the books of the prophets, the Wisdom writers, and the apocalyptic visionaries in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).
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RELS 2240 Jesus and Gospels
RELS 2240 Jesus and Gospels
Credit Hours: 3
A survey of the gospels in the Christian Testament (New Testament): Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
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RELS 2245 Introduction to the New Testament
RELS 2245 Introduction to the New Testament
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces students to the literature of the New Testament, particularly against the backgrounds of the early Judaism and the Greco-Roman world. Students also confront the challenge of reading and interpreting these ancient texts in the modern world.
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RELS 2290 The Bible as Religious Literature
RELS 2290 The Bible as Religious Literature
Credit Hours: 3
A literary-historical survey of the biblical writings, concentrating on the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and their influence of the New Testament. Attention is also paid to post-biblical literature influenced by the Bible (e.g. Milton's Paradise Lost).
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RELS 2300 Catholic Theology Today
RELS 2300 Catholic Theology Today
Credit Hours: 3
An introductory survey of Roman Catholic Theology both in its traditional form and in the light of its transformation during and since Vatican Council II, focusing chiefly on doctrinal issues: God, Christ, Revelation, the Church, relationship to the modern world.
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RELS 2310 Introduction to Theology
RELS 2310 Introduction to Theology
Credit Hours: 3
A basic introduction to the nature and method of theology using both classical and contemporary theologians as models.
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RELS 2340 Introduction to Christian Ethics
RELS 2340 Introduction to Christian Ethics
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to the field of Christian ethics, this course discusses the sources of Christian moral thought and the ways in which Christians have approached a variety of moral issues, e.g., war, economic and social justice, sexuality.
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RELS 2350 Christ in Faith Fiction and Film
RELS 2350 Christ in Faith Fiction and Film
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to Christology, concentrating on the narrative depiction of Christ in the New Testament and in selected short stories, novels, and films. The course begins by comparing the gospels in the context of the developing understanding of Jesus in early Christianity and proceeds to study the Christ image in various works of fiction and film.
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RELS 2360 Religion and Film
RELS 2360 Religion and Film
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to religious themes, perspectives, stories and traditions in film. Special attention is paid to the unique ways in which cinematographic techniques can convey religious meanings and perspectives.
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RELS 2400 Social Ethics
RELS 2400 Social Ethics
Credit Hours: 3
A survey of selected contemporary social ethics issues. Interest will focus on the disciplined methods of understanding the nature, function, and validity of values in socially structured situations.
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RELS 2420 Religion and Science in the West
RELS 2420 Religion and Science in the West
Credit Hours: 3
A study of changing relations between religious outlooks and scientific methods, from the 17th to the 20th century. Special attention is paid to the shifting boundaries between "religion" and "science."
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RELS 2440 Love and Sexuality in Modern Christian Thought
RELS 2440 Love and Sexuality in Modern Christian Thought
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of human sexuality and its relationship to love, human and divine. Besides reviewing the history of Christian attitudes to sex from biblical times to the present, it will address such issues as homosexuality, gender roles, changing attitudes towards marriage and celibacy, theories of psychosexual development, etc.
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RELS 2450 Class, Race and Gender
RELS 2450 Class, Race and Gender
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to white feminists' and black womanists' ethical thought. This course explores important themes in religious ethics, such as how to discern the good, the relationship between love and justice, and between objectivity and subjectivity. It provides an introduction to women's critical contributions in ethics and theology.
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RELS 2480 The Holocaust
RELS 2480 The Holocaust
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines events leading up to the Holocaust and the systematic decimation of European Jewry during the Third Reich. The course will trace the historical roots of anti-Semitism, the societal impact of WWI and WWII, the rise of Hitler and the Nazis' annihilation of six million Jews. Students will explore their own personal responses to the information learned and the implications of the Holocaust for society.
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RELS 2490 Violence, Nonviolence and Religion
RELS 2490 Violence, Nonviolence and Religion
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines the ways in which Christianity has both encouraged violence and condemned it, while proposing ways of stopping the cycle of violence and enabling its victims to heal from its destruction.
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RELS 2500 The Quest for God Today
RELS 2500 The Quest for God Today
Credit Hours: 3
The contemporary search for the meaning of life as expressed in literature, psychology, and theology. This course explores both Christian and non-Christian forms of spirituality, from prayer and social action to recovery movements, focusing on the individual's experience of the divine.
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RELS 2510 Theology and Literature
RELS 2510 Theology and Literature
Credit Hours: 3
An investigation of theological themes such as faith, the search for meaning, the mystery of suffering, death, conscience, hope and love. It uses a variety of literary texts, classic and contemporary, in the course of an experiential reflection of these topics in the light of the Christian tradition.
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RELS 2550 Theology of Christian Marriage
RELS 2550 Theology of Christian Marriage
Credit Hours: 3
A study of Christian marriage from a number of perspectives: historical (from Old Testament Judaism through early Christianity to today); theological (the meaning of Christian commitment in relation to God, the community, and the couple themselves); psychological (questions of intimacy, sexuality, faithfulness, developmental stages in the life process, effective communication in marriage).
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RELS 2560 God and The Human Condition
RELS 2560 God and The Human Condition
Credit Hours: 3
An introductory course in theology which uses literature and film to explore basic questions about human existence, such as the following: What forces or powers, chance, luck, fate, providence, are at work in our lives? What are the natures and causes of human tragedy, suffering and evil, and what difference might faith in God make in responding to them?
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RELS 2580 Issues in Christian Love
RELS 2580 Issues in Christian Love
Credit Hours: 3
Exploration of the traditional doctrines of Christian love, agape and caritas, and their related doctrines of grace and sin. Special attention is paid to the issues raised by gender differences, and to recent attempts by feminist theologians to reconstruct a model of Christian love in terms of care.
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RELS 3000 Philosophy of Religion
RELS 3000 Philosophy of Religion
Credit Hours: 3
A study of the philosophical issues raised by religious practice and religious belief. In addition to arguments for the existence of God, the course will include the following topics: the problem of evil and attempted solutions, the epistemological significance of religious belief, the relationship between religious belief and religious practice, and the role of religion in contemporary society.
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RELS 3050 Islam
RELS 3050 Islam
Credit Hours: 3
Understanding and living with religion, politics and culture in the Middle East. This course studies the origin and growth of Islamic civilization, emphasizing the principal religious teachings, including selections from the Quran, the life of the Prophet Muhammad, and later developments in Sufi mysticism, sectarian differences, and the recent Muslim experience in America.
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RELS 3051 Creative Islam
RELS 3051 Creative Islam
Credit Hours: 3
Addresses key developments in Islamic music, architecture, art, calligraphy, poetry, cuisine, fashion, and forms of protest expressions. Examines the various expressions of creativity within the Islamic world. The course focuses on the various disciplines such as art, calligraphy (musical writing), psalmology/ tajweed (recital with rhythm), architecture, ethnomusicology, poetry and more. It also draws attention to the values that Islam promotes and to the major issues commonly discussed in academic and/or public circles.
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RELS 3052 Controversial Islam
RELS 3052 Controversial Islam
Credit Hours: 3
A course designed to allow students to integrate critical perspectives encountered in Islamic Studies courses. Interest will focus on the application of selected concepts, theories and paradigms of inquiry to controversial issues in contemporary Islamic Studies. Students design and complete an individual culminating project involving service-learning and scholarly research on a relevant topic from the contemporary or historical Muslim experience. Topics will include inter alia, jihad, ijtihad, hijab, hilal, halal, gender, satire, and creative arts such as music and dance.
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RELS 3055 Islam in America
RELS 3055 Islam in America
Credit Hours: 3
This course covers both the historical development of Islam in North America and thematic issues of relevance in our contemporary moment. It takes a broad historical sweep, starting from pre-modern empires, moving through the first centuries of settler-colonial nations, and post 9/11 realities. The course will facilitate questions about religious devotion, authority, and community while also giving attention to the way 鈥淚slam鈥� and 鈥淢uslim鈥� are social concepts that can create structural inequalities, dehumanization, and fuel warfare. There is also attention to gender and the diversity of Muslim racial identity, geography, and experience.
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RELS 3060 Buddhism
RELS 3060 Buddhism
Credit Hours: 3
History of Buddhism from its origins to later manifestations, differentiations into Mahayana and Theravada. Also, a study of major philosophical schools and Buddhist institutions in South Asia and East Asia.
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RELS 3061 Buddhisms in America
RELS 3061 Buddhisms in America
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction of the major events and issues in the history of America's encounter with Buddhism, with a focus on the last few decades. Topics include basic teachings and history of Buddhism, Buddhist traditions in America and their respective emphases, adaptation of Buddhist teachings and practices to American social ethos, and influences of Buddhism on American culture. Background knowledge in Buddhism will be helpful but is not required.
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RELS 3220 Wisdom Literature
RELS 3220 Wisdom Literature
Credit Hours: 3
A study of the books of Proverbs, Job and Qoheleth and several psalms in the Hebrew canon, and of the books of Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon in the larger canon. Wisdom themes in the inter-testament, rabbinic and Gnostic literature are traced, and in the New Testament special attention is given to the Johannine and Matthean Christologies and the Corinthian Correspondence of Paul.
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RELS 3240 Feminist Biblical Interpretation
RELS 3240 Feminist Biblical Interpretation
Credit Hours: 3
Focuses on texts that deal with the following issues: female subordination/male dominance; images of God; power and leadership in institutional religion; differences in the ways African Americans and white Americans read the Bible; women in Israelite societies, in early Judaism, in the Jesus movement, and in Gnosticism. Students read major American and European feminist/womanist literary criticism. This course also hosts lectures or panel discussions for the 大象传媒 community.
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RELS 3310 The Christian God
RELS 3310 The Christian God
Credit Hours: 3
A study of the experience of God as Father, as Jesus, as Spirit: its New Testament formulations (as well as its Jewish-scriptural background), its Patristic development and conciliar definitions, is medieval theological elaboration, this contemporary re-interpretation (Rahner, Moltmann, Tillich, Lonergan) and relevance.
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RELS 3320 Modern Christian Theologians
RELS 3320 Modern Christian Theologians
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to the thought of some influential modern interpreters of the Christian message, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox. After a survey of developments in Christian theology since the Enlightenment, the course will focus chiefly on the work of a few seminal thinkers representing the major traditions.
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RELS 3330 Theology of Karl Rahner
RELS 3330 Theology of Karl Rahner
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to the thought of the greatest Catholic theologian of modern times, and the theological revolution he created before and after Vatican II. Beginning with his early devotional and philosophical works, it will examine carefully some of the major essays from his multi-volume Theological Investigation, as well as other works.
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RELS 3340 Theology of Death and Resurrection
RELS 3340 Theology of Death and Resurrection
Credit Hours: 3
An approach to the deepest of life's mysteries, using literature and theology to shed light on the darkness of human destiny. The New Testament accounts of Jesus' death and resurrection will be studied, along with experiential attempts to confront (or avoid) the reality of dying, and the means various religions and cultures employ to deal with death or to envision an afterlife.
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RELS 3370 Black Theologies
RELS 3370 Black Theologies
Credit Hours: 3
A focused study of black theologies which have developed through the African Diaspora. Special attention is given to current developments.
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RELS 3380 Latin American Liberation Theology
RELS 3380 Latin American Liberation Theology
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to liberation theologies through reading major theorists; understanding the significance of connecting faith with action; and exploring the dynamics of social analysis.
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RELS 3390 Ecology and Justice
RELS 3390 Ecology and Justice
Credit Hours: 3
An exploration of relationships between justice and the environment, the varied religious meanings and ethical dimensions, and global connections and implications. Special application is made to ecology in the Detroit metropolitan area.
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RELS 3400 Class, Race, and Gender
RELS 3400 Class, Race, and Gender
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to white feminists鈥� and black womanists鈥� ethical thought. This course explores important themes in religious ethics, such as how to discern the good, the relationship between love and justice, and between objectivity and subjectivity. It provides an introduction to women鈥檚 critical contributions in ethics and theology.
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RELS 3430 Ethics and Economic Theories
RELS 3430 Ethics and Economic Theories
Credit Hours: 3
An in-depth analysis of the underlying assumptions about human nature, community, and social justice as expressed in contemporary economic theories. Economic theories, as expressions of social values, are analyzed in light of religious teachings, particularly Jewish and Christian teachings, in social ethics.
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RELS 3470 Catholic Social Thought
RELS 3470 Catholic Social Thought
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of the positions major Christian thinkers have proposed on the responsibility of men and women towards each other, government, the legitimacy of dissent, and issues of justice.
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RELS 3480 Justice: Contemporary Issues and Theories
RELS 3480 Justice: Contemporary Issues and Theories
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of contemporary problems of justice in the areas of economics, law, government, and international relations. These issues are analyzed in the light of philosophical and religious theories of justice.
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RELS 3500 Religion and Psychology
RELS 3500 Religion and Psychology
Credit Hours: 3
An exploration of the interface between psychology and religion, as each addresses such issues as the nature of human beings, the development of conscience, freedom, the quest for meaning, the origins of the idea of God, the nature of faith, etc. A blend of readings from both disciplines will be included, with special attention to humanistic psychology and its approach to the problem of becoming fully human and fully alive.
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RELS 3530 Dynamics of Spiritual Growth
RELS 3530 Dynamics of Spiritual Growth
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines in depth the spiritualties of the founders of the Jesuits and Sisters of Mercy as models for understanding spirituality in general. Through this study students will explore the meaning of spirituality, spiritual growth, and applications and integration of spirituality with other aspects of life.
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RELS 3550 Poets, Mystics and God
RELS 3550 Poets, Mystics and God
Credit Hours: 3
The reality of the divine, as revealed to the great mystics and poets of the western tradition, including Juliana of Norwich, St. John of the Cross, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and T.S. Eliot. Beginning with such classic studies as those of William James and Evelyn Underhill, the course examines mysticism in the Jewish and Christian scriptures as well as its later manifestation.
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RELS 3570 Spiritual Autobiographies
RELS 3570 Spiritual Autobiographies
Credit Hours: 3
A careful reading of some of the great religious autobiographies, beginning with The Confessions of St. Augustine and proceeding on to such 20th century classics as the works of Gandhi, Dorothy Day, and Anne Frank. Each student also writes an account of his or her own spiritual journey up to the present.
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RELS 3580 Theology of the Imagination
RELS 3580 Theology of the Imagination
Credit Hours: 3
A study of human creativity and the way the imagination works to disclose the divine. The role of imagining in dreams, scientific discovery, art and literature are explored en route to a deeper understanding of the process of religious revelation.
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RELS 3590 Religion, Health and Healing
RELS 3590 Religion, Health and Healing
Credit Hours: 3
Explores the ways in which health, illness and healing are integrally related to religious and moral concerns, beliefs and practices in all cultures. Special attention to the ancient healing traditions of shamanism and energy medicine.
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RELS 3610 Religions and Sci-Fi
RELS 3610 Religions and Sci-Fi
Credit Hours: 3
This course will employ the academic approach of cultural studies and lead students to examine the representations or misrepresentations of religions in Sci-Fi films and television series, discern their endorsements or criticisms of traditional religious doctrines, investigate their anxiety about or celebration of cross-cultural and interreligious encounters, examine the fairness or the lack thereof in their portrayal of the gender, racial, cultural, or religious "others," and critique the genre from the perspectives of gender justice, racial justice, and inter-cultural justice.
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RELS 3755 On the Divine
RELS 3755 On the Divine
Credit Hours: 3
This religious studies course explores the human search for, experience of, understanding of, and relationship with the divine. The course follows an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on psychology, sociology, philosophy, and theology along with the student's own experience and reflections.
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RELS 3800 Sport and Spiritual Traditions
RELS 3800 Sport and Spiritual Traditions
Credit Hours: 3
In this course, students will make use of the interdisciplinary method of the academic study of spirituality (which includes theology) to reflect on the human, cultural and spiritual significance of sport in diverse contexts and from the point of view of different religious traditions. Among the various topics covered, this course examines how sport has been used as a way of fostering unity and peace in societies or has intensified already existing conflicts between people from different races, cultures, nations or religious traditions. Students also consider attempts to make sport available to marginalized groups, including poor children, and in some cultural and religious contexts, girls and women.
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RELS 3980 Special Topics
RELS 3980 Special Topics
Credit Hours: 1 TO 3
An exploration of selected topics in the study of religion.
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RELS 4020 Asian Religions
RELS 4020 Asian Religions
Credit Hours: 3
Examination of major Asian religions in their cultural and historical settings, with attention to the spirituality and values fostered by each. Traditions under consideration will include Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism, etc.
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RELS 4021 Traditions in China
RELS 4021 Traditions in China
Credit Hours: 3
An exploration of the historical and contemporary currents of thought and practices in Chinese culture. The development of each of the 'Three Teachings, i.e. Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, will be traced, and the interactions among them and their manifestations in the daily lives of Chinese people will be examined. A brief survey of popular and minority religions in China will also be included.
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RELS 4100 Classical Islam
RELS 4100 Classical Islam
Credit Hours: 3
A survey of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources for Islamic ethico-legal interpretations and how they could be of use in understanding and reinterpreting contemporary practices. Interest will focus on the disciplined methods of understanding the Quran and Muhammadan paradigm and the Shari'ah that evolved and continues to evolve from interpretive sources.
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RELS 4112 Contemporary Islam
RELS 4112 Contemporary Islam
Credit Hours: 3
Explores the multiple interpretations of Muslims in a post-911 global village with special emphasis on Muslims in North America. Interest focuses on the multiple identities that emerged and the many adaptations made by Muslims to explain the future of Islam as a religion and its role in the world. The course will provide opportunity to read some of the most interesting and significant writing on contemporary issues by Muslim intellectuals.
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RELS 4130 Christianity and World Religions
RELS 4130 Christianity and World Religions
Credit Hours: 3
Explores the problem of religious pluralism in the contemporary world. This course concentrates on: 1) a description and evaluation of the main theologies of religion, and 2) and examination of the relationships which the major world religions, namely, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, have developed over the last few decades. Special emphasis is placed on the current movement towards dialogue and the many official documents that relate to dialogue.
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RELS 4132 Religions and Global Wellbeing
RELS 4132 Religions and Global Wellbeing
Credit Hours: 3
What are the major world religions' responses to and critiques of capitalistic globalization and the social problems following from it? And do the traditional teachings they appeal to have something in common, upon which a realistic global ethics can be built? This course explores the ways in which traditional religious teachings and ethics are relevant and applicable to the current socio-economic condition of global interdependence, and prompts students to view themselves as citizens of the global village who have global responsibilities. By guiding students to examine different religious' responses to globalization and globalized problems, this course will help instill an appreciation of other religions as well as a sensitivity for cultural diversity, both of which are much needed in the contemporary conflict-ridden world.
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RELS 4140 Gender and Religion
RELS 4140 Gender and Religion
Credit Hours: 3
Examination from a gender standpoint of the experiences of women and men in various religious traditions, including issues of social status, leadership, teachings, ethics, reform. The course will be taught from a (pro) feminist/womanist perspective.
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RELS 4141 Gender in Asian Traditions
RELS 4141 Gender in Asian Traditions
Credit Hours: 3
Diverse Asian traditions such as Hindu traditions, Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Shinto, and shamanism, are often intertwined with one another. Together they present a complicated mixed picture when it comes to women and gender relation. This course focuses on the tension between the elevation of the life-giving feminine, the 'cosmic' subordination of women in the male scripts, and the confluence and contestation among different sub-traditions.
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RELS 4205 The Torah
RELS 4205 The Torah
Credit Hours: 3
A detailed study of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament with special attention to their composition, and social and theological contexts. The course will also consider the questions of legal and religious authority as well as the figure of Moses in the portrayal of that authority.
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RELS 4220 Torah and Historical Writings
RELS 4220 Torah and Historical Writings
Credit Hours: 3
A study of the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy) and the historical books (Joshua through II Kings). Use of contemporary methods of critical interpretations of the major stories and their theological insights, humor and enduring power.
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RELS 4230 Prophets, Wisdom and Apocalyptic
RELS 4230 Prophets, Wisdom and Apocalyptic
Credit Hours: 3
A study of the major and minor prophets, the Wisdom literature and the emergence of the Apocalyptic in the book of Daniel.
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RELS 4240 The Four Gospels
RELS 4240 The Four Gospels
Credit Hours: 3
A survey of modern scholarship on the Gospels. Religious and political conditions of the Greco-Roman world of the first century of the Common Era. The formation of the Gospels, the quest for the historical Jesus movement. The distinctive approaches of the four evangelists, and the relationship of canonical to no-canonical gospels.
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RELS 4310 Introduction to Theology
RELS 4310 Introduction to Theology
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to recent developments in understanding the theological task through the study of classical and contemporary theologians and theological movements.
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RELS 4320 Classical and Contemporary Catholicism
RELS 4320 Classical and Contemporary Catholicism
Credit Hours: 3
This course treats key theological, spiritual, and ecclesiological developments in the early church, the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and Vatican Council II. Emphasis is on the relationship between historical issues and contemporary church and social concerns. The course requires personal reflection on the spiritual traditions of Ignatius Loyola and Catherine McAuley as well as service in the community and reflection on that experience in the light of Catholic Social Thought.
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RELS 4340 Christian Ethics
RELS 4340 Christian Ethics
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to the foundations of Christian morality in the New Testament and their later development, including contemporary theology and present-day issues and questions (nuclear war, abortion, social justice, etc.)
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RELS 4440 Sexuality and Love in Contemporary Christian Thought
RELS 4440 Sexuality and Love in Contemporary Christian Thought
Credit Hours: 3
The nature of human sexuality and its relationship to love. Contemporary theories of psychosexual development. History of Christian teaching regarding sex. Changing attitudes toward sexuality, homosexuality, married love and celibacy. Sexuality and gender roles. Sexual love and its relationship to religious love.
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RELS 4450 Sex, Race and Class: Feminist/Womanist Ethics
RELS 4450 Sex, Race and Class: Feminist/Womanist Ethics
Credit Hours: 3
An introduction to Christian feminist and Womanist ethics. Topics may include the re-visioning of love, justice, sexuality, and the common good.
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RELS 4510 Theology and Literature
RELS 4510 Theology and Literature
Credit Hours: 3
An exploration of theological themes (faith, the quest for meaning in life, the mystery of death, the nature of moral choice) through classic and contemporary literary texts, including poetry, drama, fiction and autobiography.
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RELS 4680 Catholic Health Care Ethics
RELS 4680 Catholic Health Care Ethics
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of moral problems in health care from the perspective of Catholic moral theology and selected Church writing. Fundamental moral concepts in the Catholic tradition are applied to topics such as reproductive technology, end-of-life care, physician-assisted suicide, abortion, contraception and resource allocation. The course will also expose students to moral views from other faith traditions as well as from secular health care ethics literature.
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RELS 4800 Topics in Islamic Studies
RELS 4800 Topics in Islamic Studies
Credit Hours: 3
Topic will vary with the instructor and semester offered, but will involve an in-depth examination of major aspects of Muslim and Islamic experience, e.g., Spirituality, Finance, Ethics, Ecology, Science, Gender, Law, and History.
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RELS 4950 Directed Readings
RELS 4950 Directed Readings
Credit Hours: 1 TO 3
Private readings on a selected problem. Permission of instructor required.