Philosophy of peaceful meditation or ideology of late capitalism? Both or neither? In this course you will learn through texts, images, objects, voices, and events how Buddhists through history have expressed their aspirations and anxieties, their thoughts and devotion, to discover how this religion changed and grew over time, and how it is being practised and applied today.

This course surveys the history of Sikhism from its beginnings as a devotional movement in late medieval Punjab to its transformation during the colonial period. Students will learn about the historical development of core Sikh doctrines, practices, and institutions.

This course studies the history of Zoroastrianism, a religion born in Iran over 3,000 years ago. It analyzes its main doctrines and practices, provides an overview of its sacred literature and arts, and explores its interactions with other religions of the eastern and of the western world through the millennia.

Indigenous traditions constitute the majority of the world's religions. They encompass the whole earth, and are incredibly diverse. So: where to begin? This course will introduce students to the vast array of global Indigenous traditions in both historic and contemporary contexts by looking comparatively at selected beliefs and practices. Attention will also be paid to Indigenous responses to colonialism and to the ways in which many communities are reviving their traditions.

Hinduism is today the world’s third largest religion, with over one billion practitioners. In this course, students will learn about Hindu philosophy, literature, music, art, architecture, and ritual practices. A special focus will be on interactions between Hinduism and other South Asian religious traditions.

How does religion shape popular culture? How does popular culture shape religion? This course traces a history of these questions from the early modern period through the twenty-first century by looking at fairs and folk culture; mass broadcast media like radio, film, and television; and the rise of digital culture. Topics covered vary by semester, but could include religious comic books, televangelism, mass-mediated religious violence, online pilgrimage, digital occultism, etc.

This courses provides a richly rewarding opportunity for students in their second year to work in the research project of a professor in return for 299Y course credit. Students enrolled have an opportunity to become involved in original research, learn research methods and share in the excitement and discovery of acquiring new knowledge. Participating faculty members post their project descriptions for the following summer and fall/winter sessions in early February and students are invited to apply in early March. See Experiential and International Opportunities for more details.

What will religion look like in 2100? This course asks how early twenty-first century society is using religion to imagine its future around such questions as climate change, neoliberalism, authoritarian capitalism, pandemics, artificial intelligence, etc. Readings pair history, anthropology, and critical theory with science fiction, news media, and visual culture.

This course surveys major theories of religious objects and icons from the 18th through the 21st century in order to problematize the categories of fetish, totem, and idol. It presents the study of material religion as integral to the broader study of religion, media, and culture.

This course focuses on the history, institutions, and practices of Sufism, popularly referred to as Islam’s “mystical” dimension. This course will examine the origins of Sufism, the development of metaphysical and theoretical thought, poetry, the emergence of Sufi orders, and shrine-based practices from the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, China, and the West.

This course focuses on the history of Islam in South Asia from the 8th century to the present with an emphasis on religio-politics, the role of Sufism, Shi'ism, ritual, devotional and material practices, and questions of Islamic identity. Students will read primary sources in translation and examine art, architecture and material culture reflecting the historical depth and religious diversity of Muslims in South Asia.

An investigation of the spiritual traditions in Islam, covering the development of Sufism and other esoteric schools of Islamic thought. The historical evolution of devotional traditions, philosophical schools and scriptural hermeneutics are explored.

This course explores aesthetic traditions in the Muslim world, including art, architecture, music and literature. Case studies may range from the majestic Taj Mahal to the sonorous voice of Umm Kulthum, from the enthralling worlds of the 1001 Arabian Nights to the lilting lyricism of poets like Hafiz and Rumi.

An exploration of the history, thought and institutions of the Shi'i interpretation of Islam. The early Shi'i milieu, Zaidi, Ismaili and Twelver Shi'ism and the development of the Shi'i school of thought from early to modern times will be studied in this course.

A general introduction to Indian scholasticism through the organizing rubric of the human ends (purusarthas): pleasure, power, moral order, and liberation. Intellectual traditions covered may include the science of desire, aesthetics, the science of power, analysis of the socio-moral order, hermeneutics, and metaphysics.

How do we interpret traces from the past? In the study of South Asia, we have access to a range of material data, inscriptions, legendary accounts, and historiographic poetry. This course explores the use of these sources in different periods and regions.

This course will introduce students to topics including aspects of how Islam shapes life-cycle rituals, pilgrimage practices, cycles of fasting and feasting, healing practices, foodways, and votive offerings. Using primary sources, including ethnographic studies, documentaries, images, and food, we will examine case studies drawn from Sunni, Shiʿi, and Sufi traditions in the Middle East, South Asia, North Africa, and beyond.

A study of the Ramayana of Valmiki in translation. Themes include aesthetic, ethical, and socio-political issues in the text, as well as commentary and the rise of Rama worship.

This course explores how ecological concerns have influenced and challenged contemporary religious traditions and non-traditional forms of religious expression. We will also consider how religious traditions themselves have shaped or contributed to the environmental crisis.

What is religion? How should we study it? This course gives students the opportunity to ask the big, messy questions about religion, and to see how scholars know what they know about it. Students will learn key theoretical ideas and research methods, and then apply them in their own projects.

The Hebrew Bible (i.e. the Old Testament) is not a single book, but an anthology selected from a larger body of ancient Jewish literature reflecting different authors, historical circumstances, literary genres, and religious agendas. This course familiarizes the student with critical study of the Hebrew Bible and related literature of ancient Jewish communities (Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls). Among the topics to be examined are the basic forms of ancient Hebrew literature, the issues of textual development, the process of canonization, and the ancient Near Eastern cultural environment from which this literature emerged.

This course focuses on the interaction of gender and religion from a comparative and multidisciplinary perspective; topics include creation myths, authority and leadership, sainthood, expressions of the divine, and gendered ritual.

Ancient Jewish sages understood wisdom as a "skill in living." Wisdom for them was an approach to life, a way of looking at the world, and a quest for meaning and purpose in the relationships with God and fellow human beings. Some of history's most enduring collections of ancient wisdom are included in the Hebrew Bible (i.e., Old Testament) books of Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Wisdom perspectives are also found in the Song of Songs and many of the Psalms. Sometimes joyful and exultant, at other times cynical and fatalistic, the ancient sages wrestled with the ups and downs of life, and grappled with them rationally from the perspective of experience and community wisdom. This course investigates the genre of wisdom literature - its style, language, and historical and theological backgrounds - and explores the pluriformity of the biblical heritage.

Is violence inherent in religion? Most religious traditions include teachings that profess a love of peace, and yet these same traditions have motivated some of the most atrocious acts of violence in human history. This course will explore this issue through a critical and comparative examination of theories of different forms of religious violence (e.g., terrorism, sacrifice, patriarchy, colonialism). This examination will in turn involve considering violence in various historical and contemporary religious texts, practices, beliefs, and events.

Are scientific and religious practices and ways of understanding unrelated? Contradictory? Complementary? What assumptions are made when we practice religion or science? And what do we assume when we attempt to interpret these practices? This course explores the relationships between religion, science, and academic interpretation in the contemporary world.

This course offers students a historical glimpse at an ancient religion that has had a key influence on values that shape our world today: that not-harming should inform all our actions, that the truth consists in the awareness of contradictory views, or that the main quality of personality is self-improvement.

This course studies the interplay between religion, magic, and astrology. It analyzes how magic and astrology have been viewed in history by different world religions, and how these religions have integrated, or excluded, magical practices and astrological beliefs in their mainstream practices and beliefs.

Analytic and comparative study of the earliest accounts of the life of Jesus of Nazareth in the canonical and non-canonical Gospels with a supplementary focus on historical reconstructions of Jesus using broader textual, cultural, and archaeological data.

An exploration of the literary form and theological content of Paul's letters in the New Testament, including analyses of the importance of Paul in the rise, spread, and development of what would become earliest Christianity.

Apocalyptic literature, concerned with the expectation of imminent, radical and transforming intervention of the divine into human history, flourished between 200 BCE and 200 CE. This course provides an introduction to the study of the origin, form and function of ancient Jewish and related apocalyptic literature understood in its cultural and literary contexts.