Spring 2026 Courses
Islamic Spain
RLST/HUMN 1810-001 | 3.0
Brian A. Catlos
Muslim Spain – al-Andalus – was the home to Christians, Muslims and Jews who lived together in both cooperation and conflict, helping lay the foundations for the later European Renaissance and Scientific revolution, and of modern Jewish culture. We will consider how Spanish culture and identity coalesced as a consequence of Muslim rule; the historical entanglements of Europe, Africa and the Middle East shows that the Mediterranean world was at the epicenter of the emergence of Modernity. Same as HUMN 1810.
Tu/Th 9:30-10:45 Humn 1B80
Global History of Holocaust and Genocide
RLST/JWST/HIST 1830-001 | 3.0
Thomas Pegelow Kaplan
Examines the interplay of politics, culture, psychology and sociology to try to understand why the great philosopher Isaiah Berlin called the 20th century, "The most terrible century in Western history." Our focus will be on the Holocaust as the event that defined the concept of genocide, but we will locate this event that has come to define the 20th century within ideas such as racism, imperialism, violence, and most important, the dehumanization of individuals in the modern world.
MW 4:40-5:55 Mira 155
A&S Core: Historical Context
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
CMCI Core: Diversity & Global Cult-NonCMCI
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Lower
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities
Music General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament
RLST/JWST 1900-001 | 3.0
Examine the content of the Hebrew Bible and critical theories regarding its development. Explore the development of these texts, as well as their foundational role for rabbinic literature and the New Testament. Assess the enduring influence of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in world literature and culture (such as in art and music). Same as JWST 1900.
MWF 1:25-2:15 Humn 1B80
CMCI Core: Diversity & Global Cult-NonCMCI
CMCI Core: Humanities and the Arts
Education General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Lower
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities
Music General Education: Diversity-Global Perspective
Introduction to the New Testament
RLST/JWST 1910-001 | 3.0
Celene Lillie
We often think of the history of the New Testament as the history of Christianity, but it is really a history that lies at the crossroads of ancient Israel and the Roman Empire. In this class, we will explore the earliest scriptures of what eventually became Christianity in the context of their Jewish and Roman imperial roots through close readings and comparative readings of primary texts as well as secondary readings from a variety of interpretational viewpoints. Emphasis will be placed on New Testament themes, textual diversity, and interpretational questions and issues that are relevant for the engagement with and interpretation of the New Testament in the 21st century.
MWF 10:10-11:00 Humn 1B90
EDUC GenEd: Diversity-Global Perspective, EDUC GenEd: Arts and Humanities, ENGR GenEd: Humanities & Social Science, ENVD GenEd: Humanities-Lower, Arts & Sci Gen Ed: Distribution-Arts & Humanities, Arts & Sci Gen Ed: Diversity-Global Perspective, MUSC GenEd: Arts & Humanities, MUSC GenEd: Diversity-Global Perspective
Religion, Ethics and Politics
RLST 2400-001 | 3.0
Elias Sacks
What role does religion play in contemporary society? What do religious traditions have to say about contemporary ethical, social, and political issues, and how have these traditions themselves been transformed in light of changing circumstances? What place does religion have in a diverse society, and how should religious and secular voices interact in discussions about ethics and public policy? This course will explore such questions, focusing on the contemporary United States. We will examine a wide range of voices drawn from Christianity, Judaism, and other traditions, considering diverse roles played by religion in ongoing debates about issues such as same-sex marriage, climate change, war, criminal justice, torture, race, sexual ethics, abortion, immigration, and economic justice. We will devote special attention to the relationship between religious and secular perspectives, as well as to ways in which communities reimagine, debate, and struggle with the meaning of ancient sources and rituals in the modern world.
Tu/Th 11:00-12:15 Humn 135
A&S Core: Contemporary Societies
BUSN GenEd: Arts & Humanities, CMDI GenEd: Humanitites and the Arts, EDUC GenEd: Arts and Humanities, ENGR GenEd: Humanities & Social Science, ENVD G
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Happiness and Nirvana: India
RLST 2610-001 I 3.0
Loriliai Biernacki
Addresses religious and spiritual practices geared towards ideals of enlightenment across various religious traditions in India, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism, in relation to different social groups historically. Examines the concept of happiness (sukhā) and its connections to spiritual enlightenment.
Tu/Th 12:30-1:45 Humn 1B90
Asia Content
A&S Core: Ideals & Values
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
CMCI Core: Humanitites and the Arts
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Lower
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities
Arts & Hum: Lit & Humanities
Meditation: Ancient and Modern
RLST 2650-001 I 3.0
Holly Gayley
Explores the roots of today's mindfulness movement in ancient forms of Buddhist meditation. Topics covered include the array of meditation techniques in Buddhism, colonial-period origins of lay meditation in Asia, Buddhism's transmission to North America and Europe in the 20th century, the emergence of secular forms of mindfulness, and scientific studies on mindfulness and compassion.
MW 12:20-1:10 Ekel E1B20
Gen Ed: Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities
Native American Religious Traditions
RLST 2700/ETHN 2703-010 I 3.0
Natalie Avalos
Studies the religious lifeways of diverse Indigenous peoples in North America. The course considers how these religious lifeways facilitate healing, movements of social protest, and efforts for self-determination in response to ongoing forms of colonialism. Students will critically explore the impact of colonial structures on Native American religious traditions, such as missionization, and evaluate the meaning of decolonization as both a pathway and goal supporting Native liberation.
MW 11:15-12:05 Muen E0046
A&S Core: Human Diversity
A&S Core: Ideals & Values
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Arts & Hum: Lit & Humanities
Women and Religion
RLST/WGST 2800-001 I 3.0
Celene Lillie
What is a woman? What is religion? How does the answer to one inform the answer to the other? In this course, we will begin by exploring theoretical texts as well as a range of literature from ancient Greek and Roman mythology to first and second century Jewish and Christian writings to think about modern Western notions of woman/gender and religion. We will then look at contemporary writings in a number of religious traditions, and engage with traditions including Islam, Judaism, Indigenous traditions, Chicana spirituality, African American traditions, Buddhism, and Hinduism to think about a range of questions at the intersection of women and religion.
MWF 11:15-12:05 Humn 1B80
A&S Core: Human Diversity
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity-U.S. Perspective
Arts & Hum: Lit & Humanities
Modern Christianity
RLST 3001-001 I 3.0
Deborah Whitehead
Studies development of various aspects of global Christian traditions from the Reformation to the present day, as expressed through scripture, theology, ritual, media, politics, ethics, popular culture, and the arts. Includes topics such as colonialism, modernism and liberalism, secularism, pluralism, ecumensim, globalization, and the impact of new technologies. Recommended perquisite: RLST 3000
Tu/Th 11:00-12:15 Muen E417
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Religion and the Senses
RLST 3010-001 I 3.0
Celene Lillie
Expanding the five common senses so they are grounded on a more fundamental kinesthetic sense, that is, sense of movement, this course focuses on the study of religion and culture on all those marvelous richly and sensuously textured aspects of religious behavior: movement, experience, feeling, action, sensation, gesture, art, music, dancing, architecture, costume, food, and ritual.
MWF 12:20-1:10 Ktch 1B60
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Islamic Mysticism
RLST 3070-001 I 3.0
Aun Hasan Ali
Introduces students to the philosophical, literary, and musical traditions of Islamic Mysticism or Sufism. Figures covered include: Rumi, Hallaj, Ibn Arabi, Mulla Sadra, Ghazali, Hafez, Ibn al-Farid, Ghalib, and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Students will learn how Islamic Mysticism differs across cultural contexts and how it compares to other mystical traditions.
MWF 1:25-2:15 Humn 1B90
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Judaism
RLST 3100-001 I 3.0
Elias Sacks
What is Judaism? What beliefs and practices have been associated with this tradition, and how have these ideas and customs developed over time? Is there such a thing as Judaism, or should we speak instead of various Judaisms? This course will explore such questions, surveying Jewish belief, practice, and literature from the biblical period to the present day. We will encounter diverse voices and explore the changing contexts in which these voices have emerged, paying special attention to the relationship between the beliefs that Jews have held and the rituals that Jews have performed. We will consider specific topics such as forms of worship associated with Jewish life; Jewish views on religious diversity, race and Judaism in the contemporary United States; and attempts to reimagine inherited beliefs in light of developments such as the Holocaust. Exploring these topics will also lead us to reflect more broadly on the nature of religion.
Tu/Th 2:00-3:15 Hellems E1B10
Asia Content
A&S Core: Historical Context
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
CMCI Core: Humanitites and the Arts
Education General Education: Arts and Humanities
Engineering & Applied Science General Education: Humanities & Social Science
Environmental Design General Education: Humanities-Upper
Music General Education: Arts & Humanities
Yoga, Castes and Magic: Hindu Society and Spirituality
RLST 3200-001 I 3.0
Loriliai Biernacki
This course addresses the practices of magic and yoga and religious asceticism in the context of spirituality and power in Hinduism in India from ancient times through the modern period. How do spiritual practices in India change social roles and expectations? And how do religion, magic and mysticism talk about the attainment of both happiness and enlightenment? This course will examine this in the context of the ways that spiritual practices in the quest for happiness have contributed to subverting dominant orders of power. This course will also probe the ideas and practices contributing to yoga and mysticism, particularly as they reference practices for strengthening the mind and body through different forms of yoga.
Tu/Th 3:30-4:45 Humn 1B90
Asia Content
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution–Arts & Humanities
Tibetan Buddhism
RLST/ASIA 3550-001 I 3.0
Dan Hirshberg
This course explores Tibetan Buddhist theories and practices of dying and death to survey its diverse contemplative techniques, philosophical principles, and ultimate objective of total liberation from suffering. With its elaborate descriptions of the experience of death, the so-called Tibetan Book of the Dead has been an object of Western fascination for a century––but we will survey its complete form, not only as a manual for dying but for living, while placing it within its historical, textual, and literary contexts as a religious scripture and ritual liturgy. Assigned readings will include primary texts in translation, commentaries by classical and contemporary lineage holders, and secondary analyses.
We will also investigate the range of death rites, signs of accomplishment, and rebirth options in Tibetan Buddhism, from “sky burial” to mummification, rainbows to relics, heavens to hells, and ghosts to zombies, as well as the Tibetan reincarnation system of tulku, who are considered the “magical emanation bodies” of buddhas.
Tu/Th 2:00-3:15 Stad 140
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Muslims, Christians, Jews and the Mediterranean Origins of the West
RLST 3801-001 I 3.0
Brian A. Catlos
This course provides a historical foundation for the study of western Modernity, including the Anglo-European and Islamic worlds. It focuses on the Mediterranean region in the long Middle Ages (650-1650), emphasizing the role of Christian, Muslim and Jewish peoples and cultures, in Europe, Africa and West Asia in both conflict and collaboration. The approach is interdisciplinary incorporating social, economic, cultural, literary and art history, combining lectures with discussions based around readings of contemporary documents and the analysis of contemporary artifacts.
The goals are to provide students with foundational knowledge of history of the broader West and the history of the Pre-Modern Mediterranean region, focusing on the role of ethnic and religious diversity in the formation of Western societies and cultures. Topics will include: political, economic and social history, religion and culture, ethnicity and community, gender, intellectual and cultural history, slavery, and others.
No pre-requisites/ all majors are welcome.
Tu/Th 12:30-1:45 Humn 135
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Business General Education: Arts & Humanities
Arts & Sciences General Education: Diversity
Seminar: Topics in Buddhism: Buddhist Literature in Tibet
RLST 4250/5250-001 I 3.0
Holly Gayley
W 3:35-6:05 Humn 270
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities
Asia Content
Seminar: Topics in Islam: Fundamentalisms
RLST 4610/5610-001 I 3.0
Aun Hasan Ali
M 3:35-6:05 Humn 270
This course explores three sets of questions: (1) “What are the local, regional and global contexts for, and triggers of, the emergence of fiercely antimodernist and antisecular movements from within virtually every major world religion in the twentieth century? Under what conditions have such movements grown and gained momentum? What factors precipitate their hibernation, decline, or disappearance?” (2) “What characteristics do these movements share across religious, cultural, and political borders? …[Is] it possible, and appropriate, to understand fundamentalism as a singular phenomenon?” and (3) “[Are] fundamentalist movements, whatever their places of origin and everyday activity, capable of extending their influence transnationally?”
Arts & Sciences General Education: Distribution-Arts & Humanities