History of Religions


Faculty and Staff List

Professors Emeriti
N.F. McMullin, B.A., S.T.B., M.Th., Ph.D.
L.E. Schmidt, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.

Professors
K.S. Derry, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
C. Emmrich, M.A., DPhil.
S.K. Metso, B.A., M.Th., Th.D.
E. Raffaelli, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
A. Rao, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
S.A. Richardson, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
K. Ruffle, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
J.B. Scott, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
K. Smith, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
S.V. Virani, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.

Chair
Dr. B. Chrubasik
Maanjiwe nendamowinan, Room 4264
905-828-5283
hs.chair@utoronto.ca

Departmental Manager
Duncan Hill
Maanjiwe nendamowinan, Room 4260
905-569-4913
dl.hill@utoronto.ca

Program Director
Dr. K. S. Derry
Maanjiwe nendamowinan, Room 4230
rlg.historicalstudies@utoronto.ca

Academic Advisor & Program Administrator
Sharon Marjadsingh
Maanjiwe nendamowinan, Room 4272
905-569-4914
hs.advisor@utoronto.ca

 

The History of Religions explores the importance of religion in the historical processes that make up world history. It situates religion in its historical and socio-political contexts as part of the interplay of forces that constitute the story of humankind, and acknowledges the role of religion in shaping and being shaped by that story. Its approach often involves (but is not limited to) the study of particular religious traditions, the comparative study of religion, and the study of the religious dimension of human experience and of common historical phenomena. Its subject includes all religions throughout the world, from ancient times to the present day. The History of Religions is therefore an excellent preparation for living and working in a cosmopolitan and multiconfessional world. As an academic subject, it is intrinsically rewarding and can lead to graduate work in a variety of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. It also provides the reading, writing, and analytical skills demanded by a wide range of careers in ministry, government, business, library and museum science, law, teaching, journalism, and community services, such as counselling and social services.

The department encourages students to take advantage of the various study abroad opportunities available at UTM.

Students should also review the Degree Requirements section prior to selecting courses

Program websitehttp://www.utm.utoronto.ca/historicalstudies

History of Religions Programs

History of Religions - Specialist (Arts)

History of Religions - Specialist (Arts)

Enrolment Requirements:

Limited Enrolment – Students applying to enroll at the end of first year (4.0 credits) must have a CGPA of at least 2.00 and a mark of at least 70% in each of 1.0 RLG credits. Students applying to enroll after second year (8.0 credits) must have a CGPA of at least 2.00 and a mark of at least 70% in each of 2.0 RLG credits.

Completion Requirements:

10.0 credits, meeting the following requirements:

  1. RLG101H5. It is recommended that this course be completed in the first year
  2. 2.0 RLG credits at the 200-level
  3. RLG312H5
  4. 3.5 RLG credits at the 300+level
  5. 1.0 RLG credits at the 400-level
  6. 0.5 RLG Independent Reading course
  7. 2.0 additional RLG credits at any level

NOTES:

  • Specialists are permitted to substitute non-RLG courses for up to 1.0 RLG credits. Please contact the Historical Studies Academic Advisor for further information.
  • In the Specialist program, language courses offered by the Department of Language Studies at U of T Mississauga and on the St. George campus, relevant for a student’s coursework in the History of Religions, may be substituted for 300-level RLG credits. In this substitution, a language course of 1.0 credits corresponds to an RLG course of 1.0 credits at the 300-level only for a primary source language related to the student’s coursework (Arabic, Persian, Pahlavi, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Avestan, Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, etc.). Students are invited to contact the Historical Studies Academic Advisor for further information.
  • Students intending to pursue graduate studies are strongly encouraged to complete at least 1.0 language courses in consultation with the Historical Studies Academic Advisor.

ERSPE0151

History of Religions - Major (Arts)

History of Religions - Major (Arts)

Completion Requirements:

7.5 credits, meeting the following requirements:

  1. RLG101H5. It is recommended that this course be completed in the first year.
  2. 1.5 RLG credits at the 200-level
  3. RLG312H5
  4. 3.0 RLG credits at the 300+level
  5. 1.0 RLG credits at the 400-level
  6. 1.0 additional RLG credits at any level

NOTES:

  • Majors are permitted to substitute non-RLG courses for up to 1.0 RLG credits. Please contact the Historical Studies Academic Advisor for further information.
  • In the Major program, language courses offered by the Department of Language Studies at U of T Mississauga and on the St. George campus, relevant for a student’s coursework in the History of Religions, may be substituted for 300-level RLG credits. In this substitution, a language course of 1.0 credits corresponds to an RLG course of 1.0 credits at the 300-level only for a primary source language related to the student’s coursework (Arabic, Persian, Pahlavi, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Avestan, Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese, etc.). Students are invited to contact the Historical Studies Academic Advisor for further information.
  • Students intending to pursue graduate studies are strongly encouraged to complete at least 1.0 language courses in consultation with the Historical Studies Academic Advisor.

ERMAJ0151

History of Religions - Minor (Arts)

History of Religions - Minor (Arts)

Completion Requirements:

4.0 credits, meeting the following requirements:

  1. RLG101H5. It is recommended that this course be completed in the first year
  2. 1.5 RLG credits at the 200-level
  3. 1.0 RLG credits at the 300+level
  4. 1.0 additional RLG credits at any level

ERMIN0151

History of Religions Courses

JBH471H5 • Worlds Colliding: The History and Ecology of Exploration, Contact, and Exchange

An examination of contact in world history through both an ecological and a historical lens. Precise topics will depend on the year, but the focus will be on the creation of global systems and ecological challenges that continue to shape our world. In some years, students may have the option of participating in an international learning experience during Reading Week that will have an additional cost and application process. Students interested in this course will need to be approved for enrollment by the department and course instructors.

Prerequisites: 2.0 HIS credits or 1.0 BIO credit at the 300 level and permission of instructor.
Exclusions: UTM290H5 Winter 2018 or Winter 2019

International Component: International - Optional
Distribution Requirement: Humanities, Science
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG101H5 • Introduction to the Study of Religion

Theories about the variety and nature of religious experience, personal and collective. How religious life is expressed in such forms as myth, narrative and ritual, systems of belief and value, morality and social institutions. 


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: Online, In Class

RLG201H5 • Introduction to Religion in the Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts

An examination of the interplay between religion and aesthetics, as expressed through the literary, visual, and performing arts. Structured thematically rather than by religious tradition, this course covers topics such as the creative word, visual representation of the divine through icons and iconography, sacred space and religious architecture, religion and the book arts, religious music, dance, and drama, visual narrativization, and religious ritual as performance.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG202H5 • Introduction to Judaism

This course studies Jewish religious thought and activity in both ancient and modern times through selected biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern Jewish writings. It explores the roots of Jewish religion, the variety of Jewish traditions, and how these traditions worldwide have been transformed throughout history.

Exclusions: RLG202Y1
Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG203H5 • Introduction to Christianity

An introduction to the diverse history of Christianity, ranging from the origins of the Jesus Movement in the Roman Empire to the development of the largest religious tradition in the world with over two billion adherents and thousands of denominations spread across the globe.

Exclusions: RLG203Y1
Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: Online, In Class

RLG204H5 • Introduction to Islam

What does it mean to be Muslim? This course explores the cultural and historical development of Muslim life and religious expression. Topics and themes addressed in the course include the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur’an and hadith, law, arts and architecture, material devotion, Sufism, Shiʿism, ritual, and modern movements.

Exclusions: RLG204Y1
Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: Online, In Class, Hybrid

RLG205H5 • Key Themes in South Asian Religions

How do we approach the extraordinary diversity of South Asian religious history? Students will explore key terms cutting across religious traditions: sacrifice, worship, ritual, practice, duty, scripture, canon, and doctrine. This course is a general introduction and presupposes no prior knowledge about South Asia.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG206H5 • Introduction to Buddhism

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.

Exclusions: RLG206Y1
Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG207H5 • Introduction to Sikhism

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG208H5 • Iran before Islam: Introduction to Zoroastrianism

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG209H5 • Introduction to Indigenous Traditions

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.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG210H5 • Introduction to Hinduism

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.

Exclusions: RLG205H1
Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG211H5 • Introduction to Religion, Media, and Popular Culture

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.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12T
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG299Y5 • Research Opportunity Program

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.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG300H5 • Religion at the Edge of Tomorrow

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG301H5 • Stranger Things: Religious Objects in Theory and Practice

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.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG302H5 • Sufism

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG204H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG303H5 • Islam in South Asia

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.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG304H5 • Islamic Spiritual Traditions

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG204H5 or permission of the instructor.

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG305H5 • Islamic Aesthetic Traditions

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG204H5 or permission of the instructor.

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG306H5 • Shi'i Islam

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG204H5 or permission of the instructor.

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: Online, In Class, Hybrid

RLG307H5 • Indian Scholasticism

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG205H5 or RLG210H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG308H5 • Monuments, Inscriptions, and Narratives in South Asia

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG205H5 or RLG210H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG309H5 • Muslim Lives, Ritual Practices

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.

Prerequisites: RLG204H5
Exclusions: RLG205H5 and RLG303H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG310H5 • The Ramayana

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG205H5 or RLG210H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG311H5 • Religion and Ecology

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.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG312H5 • How to Study Religion

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.

Prerequisites: RLG101H5 and 1.0 additional RLG credits
Exclusions: RLG312Y5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG313H5 • The Literature of Ancient Israel

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.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG314H5 • Religion and Gender

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.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG315H5 • Biblical Wisdom and Poetry

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.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG316H5 • Religion and Violence

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.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: Online, In Class

RLG317H5 • Religion and Science

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.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG318H5 • Jainism

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG205H5 or RLG206H5 or RLG210H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG319H5 • Magic, Astrology, and Religion

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG323H5 • Jesus of Nazareth

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.

Exclusions: RLG323H1
Recommended Preparation: RLG203H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG324H5 • Paul and Earliest Christianity

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.

Exclusions: RLG324H1
Recommended Preparation: RLG203H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG325H5 • Visions and Revelations

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.

Recommended Preparation: RLG202H5 or RLG203H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG326H5 • Early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism

This course examines how Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity interacted in late antiquity. It explores the processes by which each community (in competition with the other and shaped by a wider social context) formed an identity for itself by establishing an "orthodox" set of beliefs, rituals, moral guidelines, and spiritual ideals.

Recommended Preparation: RLG202H5 or RLG203H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG330H5 • Topics in Judaism

A detailed study of selected aspects of Judaism.

Recommended Preparation: RLG202H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG331H5 • Religion on Screen

How have screen-based media technologies (cinema, television, computers, smart phones, video games, etc.) shaped the practice and representation of religion from 1890s till today? What is the relationship between screen cultures and visual religion? Topics may include: magic shows and early cinema; religion in classical Hollywood; devotional websites or zombies.

Recommended Preparation: RLG211H5 or RLG332H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/24P
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG332H5 • Reel Religion

This course uses theories and methods from the study of religion to understand narrative and visual aspects of films that are not explicitly religious. Genres of films may include comedy, horror, action, drama, and sci-fi. Approaches may include the tudy of rituals, symbols, myth, gender, politics, sacred figures, and psychology.

Exclusions: RLG232H1

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/24P
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG333H5 • Biblical Themes in Modern Literature

This course examines the role and representation of various biblical traditions, teachings, and themes in a few selected works of fiction. Topics may include: covenant, freedom, evil, conquest, love, power, suffering, parables, education, and grace. No previous knowledge of the Bible is required.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG337H5 • Christmas: A History

A broad historical survey of Christmas ranging from the earliest accounts of Jesus’ birth in the New Testament up to contemporary debates about the place of Christmas and its celebration in the public sphere.

Recommended Preparation: RLG203H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG340H5 • Topics in Christianity

A detailed study of selected aspects of Christianity.

Recommended Preparation: RLG203H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG342H5 • Holy Heroes: The Lives and Legacies of Christian Martyrs

Though it promises eternal life, Christianity was forged in death. By considering narrative accounts of early Christian martyrdom, including the development of the cult of the saints, this course examines how persecution and death have shaped the culture of Christianity for two thousand years.

Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5 and (RLG300- or RLG400-level course in Christianity) or RLG203H5.

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG346H5 • Early Modern Christianity

A study of the ways in which Protestant and Catholic Christians contributed to and reacted against the complex intellectual, political, and social changes in Europe from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.

Exclusions: HIS340H5
Recommended Preparation: RLG203H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG347H5 • Zoroastrian Religious Writings

The course studies passages of Zoroastrian texts, principally from pre-Islamic times, in English translation. These passages are studied from the doctrinal point of view, and placed in the context of the history of Zoroastrianism. In addition, their points of contact with the texts of other religious literatures are analyzed.

Exclusions: RLG381H5
Recommended Preparation: RLG208H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG348H5 • Zoroastrian Customs and Ceremonies

The course analyzes the religious practices and the daily practices having a religious background, performed by the Zoroastrians in modern times. Their historical development is analyzed, considering, for the medieval and modern times, the influence of the environment of the countries where Zoroastrians lived, and where they represented a minority. Also highlighted is the significance of these practices in relationship to the Zoroastrian doctrinal system.

Recommended Preparation: RLG208H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG349H5 • Medieval Christianity

Spanning a millennium from the fall of Rome to the Protestant Reformation, this course explores the many ways in which the western branch of Christianity, based in Rome, shaped the religion, society, culture, and politics of emerging Europe.

Recommended Preparation: RLG203H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG350H5 • Topics in Islam

A detailed study of selected aspects of Islam.

Recommended Preparation: RLG204H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG351H5 • Major Themes in the Study of the Quran

An introduction to the Quran, the scripture of Islam. Surveys of the history of the text and the development of traditions of Quranic interpretation and commentary, including tafsir and ta'wil, from early to modern times.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG352H5 • Jews and Muslims: The Medieval Encounter

This course examines the encounter between Jews and Muslims during the Middle Ages, when a large majority of the Jewish people subsisted under Muslim rule: an overview of the religious, political, communal, material and intellectual settings of the Judaeo-Muslim experience.

Recommended Preparation: RLG202H5 or RLG204H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG356H5 • Persia and Beyond: Christianity in Asia to 1300

This course will examine the origins of Syriac-speaking Christianity on the eastern fringes of the Roman world, and chart its spread into Persia, Central Asia, China, and India. In contrast to the situation in Byzantium and in the Latin West, Christians in Asia lived (with few exceptions) as religious minorities under Zoroastrian, Muslim, Confucian, or Hindu rulers. We shall consider how these Christians adapted to regional cultures, engaged the political structures of the day, and developed their own unique theological and spiritual traditions.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG357H5 • Contemporary Global Christianity

An exploration of the changing face of Christianity in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries focusing on such topics as: Christianity in the Global South; new religious movements within Christianity; and intra- / inter-religious debates and conflicts in contemporary Christianity.

Recommended Preparation: RLG203H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG358H5 • Christianity in Late Antiquity: From Persecuted Sect to Imperial Religion

Beginning at the end of the Apostolic Age and continuing up to the seventh-century confrontation with early Islam, this course examines the evolution of Christianity from a persecuted sect to the predominant religion of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, with a particular focus on the Eastern Mediterranean and Mesopotamian contexts.

Recommended Preparation: RLG203H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG359H5 • The Orthodox Church of the Byzantine Empire

By the end of the fourth century, Constantinople was becoming the centre of a distinct branch of the Christian Church. This course will explore the formation and development of this "Eastern Orthodox" Christianity, including its theology, religious practices, social and cultural impact, and relationship to political power.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG360H5 • Topics in South Asian Religions

A detailed study of selected aspects of South Asian Religions.

Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5 or RLG205H5 or RLG210H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG361H5 • Encounters Between Indo-Islamic and Hindu Cultures

This course explores historical encounters between Indo-Islamic and Hindu cultures in pre-colonial South Asia, including narratives of conquest and resistance, iconoclasm and the reuse of images, patterns of courtly dress, translations of Sanskrit sources into Persian, indigenous Islamic practices, and sufi and bhakti poetry.

Recommended Preparation: RLG204H5 or RLG205H5 or RLG210H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG362H5 • Hindu and Muslim Worlds in Modern South Asia

Using primary texts as well as films, art, and architecture, this course explores the interbraided cultures of Islam and Hinduism in South Asia from the early modern period through the present day. It examines colonialism and nationalism’s effect on Hinduism and Islam and religion’s role in modern South Asian culture.

Recommended Preparation: RLG204H5 or RLG205H5 or RLG210H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG363H5 • Hinduism in Documentary Film

How does film capture religious experience? This course explores this question via nonfiction films about Hinduism in both South Asia and the diaspora, with attention to various nonfiction film genres and various modes of religious life (e.g., pilgrimage, Vedic ritual, asceticism, family-based devotion).

Recommended Preparation: RLG205H5 or RLG211H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L/12P
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG365H5 • From Murti to Meme: The Image in South Asian Religions

Since antiquity, icons and images have been a key mode of religious life in South Asia. How has the rise of mass media reshaped image-based religion? How has religion shaped mass-mediated visual culture in South Asia and beyond? This course pursues these questions through a series of case studies on topics like poster art, comic books, film, monumental statues, WhatsApp, TikTok, and other media.

Recommended Preparation: RLG205H5 or RLG211H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG366H5 • Icon and Iconoclasm in South Asia

This course focuses on the history of the image in Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Sikhism, and Islam in South Asia. What is an icon, an image, a representation, and what is the ritual function of each form? When is the destruction of an icon and act of “iconoclasm”? In this course we consider acts of political plunder, reuse and rebuilding (spolia), and the power of the visual in shaping South Asian religious lives.

Recommended Preparation: RLG205H5 or RLG206H5 or RLG207H5 or RLG210H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG370H5 • Topics in Buddhism

A detailed study of selected aspects of Buddhism.

Recommended Preparation: RLG206H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG371H5 • Buddhist Thought

The course deals with the historical development of doctrines and controversies pertaining to the most important schools of Buddhist thought up to the end of the first millennium CE. It discusses the relationship of reason, belief and practice while giving a closer look at Buddhist positions on specific philosophical questions.

Exclusions: RLG371H1
Recommended Preparation: RLG206H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG373H5 • Buddhist Practices and Institutions

A study of Buddhist institutions and practices, this course varies in focus. Topics may include devotion, alms-giving, meditation practices, literature, hagiography, monastic codes, artistic and material histories, and/or the political and economic features of Buddhist institutions in particular times and places.

Recommended Preparation: RLG206H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG374H5 • Buddhist Literatures

The course looks at popular Buddhist educational storytelling, courtly dramas, Buddhist poetry or the life-histories of the buddhas, bodhisattvas and Buddhist holy men and women. It reflects on how popular motifs, aesthetic styles and literary media have helped transport Buddhist doctrines across various times, regions and languages.

Recommended Preparation: RLG206H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG378H5 • Museums and Material Religion

Museums have long collected and curated religious objects for public audiences, with missionaries as a primary collections source. Multiple visits to the Royal Ontario Museum and other museums will enable students to think critically about how museums received and presented these objects, while engaging with the challenges of museum curation.

Exclusions: RLG307H1
Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG380H5 • Topics in Comparative Religions

An in-depth study of the main teachings, practices and institutions of the major, and several of the minor, religious traditions: namely, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Shinto, Sikhism, Taoism and Zoroastrianism.

Recommended Preparation: 1.0 credit from (RLG202H5 or RLG203H5 or RLG204H5 or RLG205H5 or RLG206H5 or RLG208H5)

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG381H5 • Topics in Zoroastrianism

A detailed study of selected aspects of Zoroastrianism.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG382H5 • The Divine Comedy: A Spiritual Journey

This course studies the “Divine Comedy” by Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), a poem describing the author’s journey through the afterlife. It analyzes the religious themes of the text, highlighting how different traditions, such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Paganism, contributed to Dante’s shaping of the imaginary structure of the otherworldly spaces.

Recommended Preparation: RLG325H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG388H5 • Special Topics

A comprehensive study of special topics in the history of religions.


Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG399Y5 • Research Opportunity Program

For senior undergraduate students who have developed some knowledge of a discipline and its research methods, this course offers an opportunity to work on the research project of a professor. Students enrolled have an opportunity to become involved in original research, develop their research skills and share in the excitement and discovery of acquiring new knowledge. Project descriptions for the following fall-winter session are posted on the ROP website in mid-February and students are invited to apply at that time. See Experiential and International Opportunities for more details.

Prerequisites: Completion of a minimum of 8.0 to 10.0 credits. (Amended)

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG401H5 • Advanced Topics in Religion and the Literary, Visual, and Performing Arts

A critical exploration of selected topics concerning the relationship between religion and aesthetics, as expressed through the literary, visual, and performing arts. The focus in any given year may be on a particular tradition, or on broader, comparative understandings of "religion." Similarly, the course may concern one specific art form or a variety of forms, including architecture, dance, film, literature, music, visual art, etc.

Prerequisites: RLG101H5 and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG402H5 • Religion and Stories

Stories are central to sacred texts and to creating meaning generally. This course examines different types of stories using approaches from the study of religion. Stories may come from religious traditions or anywhere else, and may involve various media such as books, films, video games, popular music, graphic novels, podcasts, etc.

Prerequisites: RLG101H5 and 1.5 RLG credits.
Exclusions: RLG401H5 (Winter 2020 and Fall 2020 and Fall 2021)

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG411H5 • Advanced Topics in Religion, Media, and Culture

A critical exploration of selected topics concerning the relationships among religion, media and culture. The focus in any given year may be on a particular religious tradition or on a broader thematic question. Assigned readings typically include a combination of visual and written cultural texts, as well as works of cultural and social theory. Content in any given year depends on instructor. See Department of Historical Studies website at www.utm.utoronto.ca/historicalstudies for details.

Prerequisites: 2.0 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG412H5 • Theorizing Religion

This course gives advanced students the opportunity to pursue in-depth study of major classic and contemporary texts in critical theory, cultural studies, and the philosophy of religion. Topics may include: religion and politics; crises of faith; psychology of religion.

Prerequisites: RLG101H5 and 1.5 RLG credits.

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG415H5 • Advanced Topics in the Study of Religion

A critical exploration of selected topics in the study of religion. As part of this course, students may have the option of participating in an international learning experience that will have an additional cost and application process.

Prerequisites: 2.0 RLG credits

International Component: International - Optional
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG420H5 • Women and Gender in Early and Medieval Christianity

This course combines lecture and seminar approaches to understand how ideas about women, gender, and the body were constructed and naturalized in ancient and medieval Christianity.

Prerequisites: RLG203H5 and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG421H5 • South Asian Epics

An exploration of South Asian literary and oral epics moving across boundaries of language and genre. Students will engage with a variety of performative and aesthetic traditions including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, Buddhist narratives, Sufi poetry, and vernacular epics. We will situate heroic, sacrificial, and romance genres in their social and performative contexts.

Prerequisites: (RLG205H5 or RLG210H5) and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG422H5 • Religion and the Senses in South Asia

This course focuses on Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, and Sikh objects and rituals, and we will read primary sources and scholarship in religious studies, anthropology, and ritual theory. Topics may include the gaze in the formation of icons and images, votive offerings, feasts and fasts, smells (perfumery and corpse disposal), and the aesthetics of religious architecture.

Prerequisites: (RLG204H5 or RLG205H5 or RLG207H5 or RLG210H5) and 1.5 RLG credits
Recommended Preparation: RLG206H5 and RLG303H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG423H5 • Ritual and Material Practice in South Asian Islam

In this course we examine the intersection of material practices and senses in South Asian Islamic rituals in how religious worlds are experienced. The course also focuses on the role of ritual and material culture in shaping South Asian Muslim identities (Sunni, Shiʿi, Sufi).

Prerequisites: RLG205H5 or RLG303H5 and 1.5 RLG credits
Recommended Preparation: RLG204H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG430H5 • Advanced Topics in Judaism

A critical exploration of selected topics in the history of Judaism.

Prerequisites: (RLG202H5 or RLG330H5) and 1.5 RLG credits.

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG435H5 • The Dead Sea Scrolls

This course provides a survey of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a brief history of the period in which the Scrolls were written, and a presentation of the various ways in which scholars have interpreted them. The course also includes in-depth study of selected texts and themes illuminating the formation of the Hebrew Bible, ancient Judaism, and the historical and theological background of the New Testament and early Christianity.

Prerequisites: (RLG202H5 or RLG203H5) and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG440H5 • Advanced Topics in Christianity

A critical exploration of selected topics in the history of Christianity.

Prerequisites: (RLG203H5 or RLG340H5) and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG442H5 • Desert Solitaire: Christian Monasticism and the Ascetic Tradition

This course explores the history and significance of Christian monasticism and asceticism, with a focus on the desert tradition. From the early Desert Fathers and Mothers to contemporary spiritual writers, we consider the enduring legacy of solitude, silence, and self-discipline in the history of Christianity.

Prerequisites: RLG203H5 and 1.5 RLG credits
Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5 and any RLG300- or RLG400-level course in Christianity

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG445H5 • Making Martyrs: From Socrates to the Suicide Bomber

Comparative study of martyrdom and the idea of the martyr beginning with Greco-Roman philosophical concepts of 'noble death' and continuing through Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in ancient, medieval, and contemporary contexts.

Prerequisites: 2.0 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG448H5 • Approaches to the Academic Study of Islam

This seminar introduces advanced undergraduate students to the history, genealogies, theories, and methods that have shaped the academic study of Islam and Muslims in the discipline of religious studies.

Prerequisites: RLG204H5 or RLG303H5 and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG449H5 • Islamic Sexualities

This course focuses on the diverse attitudes and expressions of sexuality in Islam. Taking a broad approach, this course examines issues of sexuality, including homosexuality, fe/male sexuality, birth control, divorce, marriage, transgender identity and performance, and feminist sexual ethics.

Prerequisites: RLG204H5 and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG450H5 • Advanced Topics in Islam

A critical exploration of selected topics in the history of Islam.

Prerequisites: (RLG204H5 or RLG350H5) and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG451H5 • Islamic Literatures

This course is an in depth exploration of the literary traditions of the Islamic world. The course examines the influence of religion in the writings of Muslim authors, as well as the role of symbols, philosophy, mystical practice, ideologies, rituals and history in the creation of literary works such as poetry, novels, biographies, court chronicles, epics, and more.

Prerequisites: 2.0 RLG credits
Exclusions: RLG451Y5
Recommended Preparation: RLG204H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG452H5 • Anthropology of Islam

This course focuses on the everyday lived experience of Muslims in different parts of the world. We will read ethnographic studies and analyze films, which highlight important issues in everyday Muslim life: gender, modernity and piety, the role of ritual in everyday practice. This course has an ethnographic field project.

Prerequisites: RLG204H5 or RLG350H5 and 1.5 RLG credits.
Recommended Preparation: RLG306H5 or WGS301H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG453H5 • Researching Islam: Entering the World of Scholarly Investigation

How do academics research Islam? Students in this course learn about and gain hands-on experience with essential scholarly tools for discovering and disseminating new knowledge in this field. Both individually and collaboratively, students will work on original projects concerning academic literature, scholarly communication, or primary sources.

Prerequisites: 2.0 RLG credits
Recommended Preparation: RLG204H5

Course Experience: University-Based Experience
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: Online, In Class, Hybrid

RLG460H5 • Advanced Topics in South Asian Religions

A critical exploration of selected topics in the history of South Asian religions.

Prerequisites: (RLG205H5 or RLG210H5 or RLG360H5) and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG461H5 • Religion and Aesthetics in South Asia

South Asian religious traditions are suffused with aesthetic elements and processes -- Hindu temple worship, for example, abounds in music, song, dance, and iconography. In this course we examine the close relationship between religion and aesthetics in South Asia through study of poetics, courtly poetry, visual culture, music, and performance traditions.

Prerequisites: (RLG205H5 or RLG210H5) and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG462H5 • Sex and Gender in South Asian Religions

This course examines ideas, roles, and regulation of sexuality and gender in South Asian religious traditions, paying attention to sexual abstinence and promiscuity as forms of piety, and we will examine performances of the gendered body that transcend and/or problematize the binary construction of masculine and feminine.

Prerequisites: (RLG101H5 or RLG205H5 or RLG210H5) and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24L
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG463H5 • Genealogies of South Asian Religions

This course looks at debates surrounding central concepts in the study of South Asian religions. We will look at theories of asceticism, devotion, renunciation, caste, kingship, ritual, and state that animate the discussion of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. Students will learn to place their ideas in conversation with larger intellectual genealogies.

Prerequisites: (RLG204H5 or RLG205H5 or RLG206H5 or RLG210H5) and 1.5 RLG credits
Recommended Preparation: RLG101H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG464H5 • Saints, Royalty, and the State in South Asian Religions

This course focuses on the relationship between religious ideologies, saints, and state power in ancient, medieval, and precolonial Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and Muslim states in South Asia. We will read primary sources in translation and examine art, architecture, and material culture to examine how kings and saints/ascetics negotiated politics and power.

Prerequisites: (RLG205H5 or RLG210H5 or RLG303H5) and 1.5 RLG credits
Recommended Preparation: RLG206H5 or RLG207H5

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG465H5 • Sex and Renunciation in Sanskrit Poetry

This course examines the paradoxical relationship of the erotic in Sanskrit poetry with its opposite—renunciation and the technologies of asceticism involving a rejection of sexuality. While the treatment of these themes reflects a deeper civilizational history emblematized by the figure of Śiva, the erotic ascetic, Sanskrit courtly poetry allows us to examine problems peculiar to courtly life and kingship. Did the aestheticization of power in Sanskrit poetry conflict with transcendental ideals? How was the legitimacy of pleasure seen as both autonomous from and concurrent with other legitimate human ends? We will read all works in translation, and no familiarity with Sanskrit is presumed.

Prerequisites: (RLG205H5 or RLG210H5) and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG466H5 • The Sasanian Empire: Religions at the Crossroads in Ancient Iran

This course studies the religious life of the Sasanian empire that ruled over Iran between 224 and 651 CE. It analyzes how different religions coexisted and interacted in the territory of the empire, including Zoroastrianism (the official religion of the empire), Manichaeism, Christianity, Judaism, and Mazdakism.

Prerequisites: (RLG202H5 or RLG203H5 or RLG208H5) and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG470H5 • Advanced Topics in Buddhism

A critical exploration of selected topics in the history of Buddhism.

Prerequisites: (RLG206H5 or RLG370H5) and 1.5 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Total Instructional Hours: 24S
Mode of Delivery: Online, In Class

RLG497Y5 • Independent Reading

Student-initiated project of reading and research, supervised by a member of the Department. Primarily intended for students in Specialist or Major programs. After obtaining a supervisor, a student must apply to the Department of Historical Studies. A maximum of 1.0 credit in a reading course is permitted.

Prerequisites: 2.0 RLG credtis

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG499H5 • Independent Reading

Student-initiated project of reading and research, supervised by a member of the Department. Primarily intended for students in Religion Specialist or Major programs. After obtaining a supervisor, a student must apply to the Department of Historical Studies. A maximum of 2 reading courses, amounting to 1.0 credit, is permitted.

Prerequisites: 2.0 RLG credits

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Mode of Delivery: In Class

RLG499Y5 • Research Opportunity Program

For senior undergraduate students who have developed some knowledge of a discipline and its research methods, this course offers an opportunity to work on the research project of a professor. Students enrolled have an opportunity to become involved in original research, develop their research skills and share in the excitement and discovery of acquiring new knowledge. Project descriptions for the following fall-winter session are posted on the ROP website in mid-February and students are invited to apply at that time. See Experiential and International Opportunities for more details.

Prerequisites: Completion of a minimum of 8.0 to 10.0 credits. (Amended)

Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Mode of Delivery: In Class

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