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This course introduces students to the historic roots and modern practice of Judaism and Islam. For each, we will begin by examining the historical context of its emergence and trace the development and impact of modernization on communities and religious expressions. We will examine beliefs, practices, and events that significantly shape the traditions, and pay attention to contemporary diversities, movements and political dynamics. Additionally, we will examine the intersections of gender, sexuality, and feminism within Judaism and Islam and look at relevant political tensions and conflicts.
Core: TR
REL 232 Hinduisms and Buddhisms (3 SH)
This course introduces two major religious traditions originating in what is today called India: Hinduism and Buddhism. We will consider basic components (worldview, teachings, practices), historical developments, and connections and divergences of the traditions, including changes brought about by cultural and political movements (e.g. colonization and migrations) and contemporary religious manifestations. We will investigate various instances of “lived religion:” the “everyday stuff” of Hinduism and Buddhism – rituals, events, activities of persons who would be considered adherents of a tradition and seek to understand them within their historical and cultural contexts, and varieties of social activism (gender, sexuality, and ecological activism).
Core: TR
REL 233 East Asian Traditions: Confucianism, Daoism, Shinto (3 SH)
This course explores select traditions from East Asia, specifically Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. We will begin by examining the specific worldview and cultural and political context to understand the dimensions of “religion” that make up these specific traditions. We will learn about specific practices and rituals, investigate the role they play in society and culture at different times, and explore themes and issues at various times, such as gender, class, art, relation to sociopolitical governance, and pop culture.
Core: TR
REL 234 Indigenous Traditions (3 SH)
In this course, you will learn to distinguish between and appreciate the specific select religious and spiritual approaches of indigenous and so-called New Age traditions. Depending on the specific semester, this might include European Paganism, North American indigenous traditions, West African traditions, Voodoo, or others. Origins, historical developments, rituals and practices, the religious situation of indigenous people in the postcolonial world, and issues/conflicts arising out of contemporary socio-political contexts will be explored.
Core: TR
REL 301 Gender in the Bible (3 SH)
This course will explore the way that the Hebrew Bible and New Testament construct, depict, shape, and challenge traditional notions of gender. Students will have the opportunity to read various biblical texts closely and consider their presentations of gender in historical, cultural, and literary context. Further, students will consider how the interpretation of these texts have shaped and been shaped by cultural attitudes around gender throughout history. In conversation with feminist, womanist, and gender-critical interpreters, students will pay particular attention to the construction of gender identity and gender roles, specific portrayals of women in the Bible, and differing gendered portraits of God.
Core: TR
REL 302 Jesus, God, and Film (3 SH)
This course invites students to think critically and theologically about classic and contemporary films depicting theological themes, such as the life of Jesus; reflections on God; or theological presentations of peace, violence, and justice. Students will reflect on the social, cultural, ethical, and theological images constructed in these films in conversation with texts from the Bible, and they will analyze these films as cultural products that depict distinct and nuanced interpretations of Jesus, God, and life theologically understood.
Core: TR
REL 303 Money in the Bible (3 SH)
Is money the root of all evil? Can one serve both God and Mammon? Are the rich blessed by God? Was Jesus a Capitalist? This course investigates biblical texts and themes related to money, wealth, poverty, and economics that address these questions and more. Through attention to themes such as Sabbath economics, Jubilee, and Jesus’s good news for the poor, students will examine how various biblical texts speak about wealth accumulation, power, social justice, and money itself in conversation with contemporary economic concerns and theory, in pursuit of developing a theological ethics of wealth.
Core: TR
REL 304 Politics in the Bible (3 SH)
In this course we will read the Bible as a work of political theory. We will do so by closely reading some of the arguments it dramatizes about the two central issues of politics: authority and community formation. Students will learn to identify the questions raised and answers offered by the stories read in class and to place them in conversation with contemporary works of political theory.
Core: TR
REL 310-315 Topics in Religion (3 SH)
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This course guides advanced undergraduates in discovering their authentic theological vision for ministry with children and adolescents. Learnings from cultural studies, sociology, psychology, neurology and human development will contribute to understanding the developmental needs of children, youth and emerging adults. We will explore the complex dynamics of faith formation for diverse identities that emerge from ability, class, ethnicity, gender, nationality, race and sexuality. This course addresses ministry contexts with young people in congregations, community-based ministries and beyond. Prerequisite: REL 212 Faith, Meaning, and Adolescence or permission of instructor. (SMCL512)
Core: TR
REL 338 Missiology (3 SH)
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African Americans are diverse in religious expression and identity. From the Shrine of the Black Madonna in Detroit to African American Catholics with long legacies in New Orleans, from Black Muslims who preach Black nationalism in the Americas to Black Jews who believe they are God’s chosen people who rightfully belong to the land of Israel, African American religions are comprised of a wide array of communities. In addition to practitioners, African Americans are theorists and philosophers of religion whose studies have allowed students to gain a more profound understanding of African American life. Together, the diverse expressions and many theorists provide us the opportunity to grow in our knowledge of the study of religion.
Core: TR
REL 342 Sex, Love, God: Religion and Sexuality (3 SH)
This course is about human sexuality and religion, specifically, how religious people have read and interpreted sacred texts and traditions in relation to sex, human sexuality, and expressions of love. You are encouraged to investigate how your own religious beliefs inform your bodily life and attitudes regarding sexual, romantic, and erotic expressions. The main focus of this course is Christianity, though depending on student interest, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu interpretations may be covered briefly as well. You will learn about concepts of the human body and related concerns of sexuality in ancient, medieval, and modern times, and investigate religious perspectives and prescriptions as they relate to specific understandings. You will distinguish between historical ideas of different types of love and the modern construction of heterosexuality and homosexuality. The politicization of sexuality by religious groups and the use of religious ideas about sexuality by secular groups will be discussed.
Core: TR
REL 343 Witches, Cripples, and Other Monsters: Religion and Disability (3 SH)
This course examines the construction of “disability” as a historical concept with real live consequences. We will learn about the different theoretical approaches to disability (“models of disability”), and explore issues regarding sexuality, relationships, rights, representation, and advocacy. We will also keep in mind the intersections with other bodily and social markers, such as gender, race, sexuality, class, and nationality. We will focus on the role culture and religion, particularly Christianity (its doctrines and practices), has played in how we understand disability as a concept, and persons with disability as members (or not) of our communities. We will analyze historical and contemporary sources like art, literature, religious and medical discourses to explore how images of the “normal,” “healthy,” and “beautiful” are generated and contested by embodied differences. For the purposes of this course, “disability” will include various ways in which bodies/minds can be seen as “abnormal,” including physical and cognitive disabilities as well as chronic illness and emotional/mental difference.
Core: TR
REL 350-355 Topics in Theology (3 SH)
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This course is an introduction to the Hebrew Bible, that considers its history, formation, and reception, and surveys its varied texts within their historical, socio-economic, political, literary, and theological contexts. This includes a particular an emphasis on Near eastern culture, religion, and politics as well as the various ways that these texts have been received and appropriated, so that students might become knowledgeable and critical interpreters of the text.
Core: TR
REL 411: New Testament: Text in Context (3 SH)
This course is an introduction to the New Testament, that considers its formation and canonization, and surveys its varied texts within their historical, socio-economic, political, literary, and theological contexts. This includes a particular emphasis on the life of Jesus, Roman imperialism, their Jewish context, and the distinctly socio-economic and political message of the kin-dom of God.
Core: TR
REL 412 Liberation Theologies (3 SH)
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Would you like to experience the inner workings of a congregation, and test your gifts for ministry? A program of study and supervised field experience in a congregation, church agency or related ministry. Special emphasis is placed on personal development for ministry, developing leadership skills and experiencing the many facets of ministry in the congregation.
Core: CE , & TR
REL 462 Mission Practicum (3 SH)
The purpose of the practicum is first-hand involvement in Christian ministry and witness in an intercultural setting. Radical Journey, SALT, and YES and other similar short-term programs may meet this requirement if arrangements are made with an adviser before beginning the placement. Summer placements in global South settings, or participation in a Washington Community Scholars' Center internship or other urban context are encouraged. Religion and intercultural studies minors may integrate their practicum with a required practicum in their major, or within a semester-long intercultural, if arrangements are made beforehand with an advisor.
Core: CE , & TR
REL 499 Independent Study (1-3 SH)
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