Explore Spring 2024 courses being offered in the Department of Religious Studies.
- RELI 1010: Introduction to World Religions
- RELI 2500: Spirituality and Wellness
- RELI 3200: Islam and Muslims
- RELI 3500: Migrants, Refugees, and Human Rights
- RELI 4030: Africana Religions
- RELI 4180: History of Christianity II
- RELI 4700: Religion, Film, and Violence
RELI 1010: Introduction to World Religions
This course will introduce students to ways of understanding religion as a phenomenon in human culture and history, while surveying a wide variety of the religions of the world.
| Various Instructors | Totally Online | Link to Class Search |
RELI 2500: Spirituality and Wellness
This course provides an introduction to the emerging field of spirituality and wellness. Utilizing perspectives from multiple disciplines and incorporating both third-person (research, theory) and first-person (experiential, reflective) approaches, students will explore topics such as: the nature of spirituality; mindfulness, meditation and wellness; spirituality and public health; spiritual wellness on campuses; and ecospirituality.
| Instructor: Dr. Michele Desmarais | Totally Online | Link to Class Search |
RELI 3200: Islam and Muslims
What do Muslims believe? How do they practice their faith? What role does Islam and what roles do Muslims play in the 21st century? This course provides an introduction to the history, beliefs, and practices of Islam and Muslim communities, including both Sunni and Shi'i traditions, Sufis and Salafis, from the time of Muhammad ibn Abdullah to the 21st century. Students will examine the ways in which we come to 'know' about Islam and how to approach mediated sources with a critical lens. Thus, in addition to highlighting the many important cultural, scientific, medical, artistic, and architectural contributions of Muslim societies throughout the past millenium, critical contemporary issues will also be addressed, including the role of women in Islam, the meaning of jihad, the legal traditions (shari'a and fiqh), the relationship between religion and politics in Islam, and issues of law, gender, myth, violence, colonialism, modernity, and Islamophobia.
| Instructor: Dr. Paul Williams | Totally Online | Link to Class Search |
RELI 3500: Migrants, Refugees, and Human Rights
Students in this course will be introduced to contemporary topics and debates related to migration (including refugee and asylum concerns) and human rights. Students will gain knowledge about the current status of migration and migrants in the world; how religious and philosophical traditions of thought approach migration issues; and the challenge that international migration poses to human rights categories and protection. The course will also build skills of critical reading, thought, and expression, specifically students’ ability to analyze human rights documents and the global human rights “regime,” and their ability to consider case studies, debates, and ideas about migration by recognizing core values that inform these debates.
| Instructor: Dr. Laura Alexander | Totally Online | Link to Class Search |
RELI 4030: Africana Religions
An introduction to religions in Africa and the diaspora, including African Traditional Religions, Christianity, Islam, and Afro-Caribbean religious traditions, using anthropological, historical, and other academic approaches to the study of religious and spiritual traditions. In particular, students will learn about the role of spirits, ancestors, witches, and other invisible agents in ideas and practices regarding health and healing. Finally, the class will examine the complex inter-relationships between religious ideas and practices and contemporary post-colonial political-economic realities, including the consequences of genocide and other human rights violations and the role of religious communities in social and economic development.
| Instructor: Dr. Paul Williams | Totally Online | Link to Class Search |
RELI 4180: History of Christianity II
This course will focus on the historical development of Christian ideas, practices, and institutions from the reformations of the sixteenth century CE through the early twenty-first century CE. In addition to the theological claims, students will examine the history of ritual practice and organizational development of the principal varieties of Christianity - Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and other eastern churches, Protestant, and Pentecostal.
| Instructor: Dr. Gary Eller | Totally Online | Link to Class Search |
RELI 4700: Religion, Film, and Violence
A study of the ways in which films represent violence and how these representations intersect with religious concepts. Topics will include how films express the justification or "sanctification" of violence as legitimate, redemptive violence, notions of sacrifice, and the nonviolent critique of violence. We will examine a variety of genres including action films, crime stories, horror, and religious films, noting their societal influence and how they express diverse values regarding violence and its legitimation.
| Instructor: Dr. John Lyden | Totally Online | Link to Class Search |