Course Descriptions

INTRODUCTORY COURSE


101 Religious Diversity in America
An introduction to religious studies focusing on greater Los Angeles, which some experts claim is the most religiously diverse environment in the world. Attention to traditional Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish religions; recent immigrant traditions; religious innovation and change; and the implications of religious pluralism. Field trips. One semester, 3 credits.

GLOBAL RELIGIONS


201 Monotheisms
An introductory survey of major texts, beliefs, and practices of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. One semester, 3 credits.

202 Religions of Asia
An introductory survey of the major texts, beliefs, and practices of Hinduism, Buddhism, and the religious traditions of China and Japan. One semester, 3 credits.

210* Introduction to the Bible
An introduction to biblical literature and the social contexts in which the Hebrew Bible and New Testament arose. Emphasis on contemporary critical methods used to understand the Bible. One semester, 3 credits.

216* Literature of the Bible
(Same as ENGL 222) One semester, 3 credits.

221* History of Christianity
An introductory survey of Christianity through an examination of its history, rituals, institutions, theology, and social concerns. Sample themes include the Bible, the mass, monasticism, and the relation of church and state. One semester, 3 credits.

222* Judaism
A survey of the major issues, themes, and practices of the Jewish religion and civilization. The Jewish tradition's place in the development of western civilization as seen in historical overview: from biblical times to rabbinic and medieval times to the modern era. One semester, 3 credits.

235, 236 Arabs and Muslims I & II
(Same as INTD 225, 226) Two semesters, 3 credits each.

311* Life and Teachings of Jesus
The four Gospels; Jesus' birth, baptism, temptation, transfiguration, passion, crucifixion, resurrection; his teachings about war, wealth, divorce, miracles, kingdom of God, end of the age; symbolism in Gospel of John. One semester, 4 credits.

313* Heroes, Gods and Gurus: Introduction to the Literatures of India
Examination of selected texts representative of India's 3000-year-old religious and literary tradition. Includes translations from the Sanskrit Epics and Kalidasa's plays, translations from Tamil classical poetry and devotional hymns, and contemporary Indian novels written in English. One semester, 3 credits.

330* The Buddha and Buddhism
Significance of the life of Buddha and founding of his order for the development of the Buddhist tradition throughout Asia, from philosophical, sociological, and historical perspectives. One semester, 3 credits.

331* Islam
An introductory thematic survey of Islam with some attention to the historical development of the tradition. Principal themes include: the Qur'an, ritual practice, Islamic society, mysticism, the diversity of the Islamic world, Islam and modern politics. Readings from a variety of perspectives. Field trip. One semester, 3 credits.

333* Hindu Religion and Culture
India's principal religious tradition viewed primarily in terms of its variegated expression in contemporary south India. Topics include Hindu gods, temples, and their festivals, asceticism and monasticism, the caste system, Hindu women and domestic ritual, and the philosophical underpinnings of the tradition. Films and slides. One semester, 3 credits.

RELIGIONS: COMPARISONS AND CONTRASTS


241* Sport, Play and Ritual
(Same as INTD 241) January, 4 credits.

251* Monks, Nuns and Ascetics
An introductory examination of the theory and practice of asceticism in Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Discussion of autobiographical works by Mohandas Gandhi and Thomas Merton. Attention to the social and institutional dimensions of asceticism. Field trips, films, short papers. One semester, 3 credits.

253* Women and Religion
An introductory examination of religious definitions of women, of women's religious experiences, and of feminist theologies and transformation of religious traditions. Attention to course topics in cross-cultural perspective. One semester, 3 credits.

307* Religion and the Body
An exploration of the ways in which the corporeal practices and ideologies of diverse religious traditions mediate social meaning. Includes such topics as food and fasting; medicine, healing, and illness; pleasure and pain; representations of the body; sex and reproduction; biological aspects of religion (brain, mind, soul) and religious experience. One semester, 3 credits.

321* Religion in America
Distinct religious movements, themes, and personalities in American history before 1870. Topics include native American religions, Puritanism, California missions, revivalism, frontier religion, and transcendentalism. One semester, 3 credits.

341* New Religious Movements in Southern California
An examination of how California's cultures spawn and embrace innovative and emergent religious groups. Representative NRMs include New Age, Scientology, Aetherius Society, Jesus Movement, Neo-Paganism. Extensive field trips. 4 credits.

342* Sound and the Religious Experience
An exploration of religious music as a way of understanding the world and constructing meaning. Emphasis on the relationship of rhythm to healing and the importance of chanting for inducing ecstasy. Examples span world cultures, and musical styles, including Qur'anic chant, and Santeria trance dance. One semester, 3 credits.

348* Ritual Studies
An integration of theoretical and interdisciplinary perspectives on ritual as sacred performance. It examines the connection between practice and belief in a series of cross-cultural case studies and is organized thematically around such issues as sacrifice, death and dying, food, the body, and lifestage events. One semester, 3 credits.

349* Religious Fundamentalisms
An examination of the roots and expansion of religious fundamentalism throughout the modern world. Topics include Protestant fundamentalisms in England and the United States, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and fundamentalism in Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, and Sikh traditions, among others. One semester, 3 credits.

352* Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage as a cross-cultural phenomenon. Attention to the history, literature, ritual, and social processes of religious journeys in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and the Hindu tradition. One semester, 3 credits.

RELIGIONS: CULTURAL CRITIQUE


240* Cinema and Religion
Contemporary cinema as a medium for raising religious questions in a secular context and as a medium for exploring the religious dimensions of rituals. Movies by Bergman, Buñuel, Fellini, Kubrik, and Capra, among others, are viewed and analyzed. One semester, 3 credits.

340* Global Ethics
An examination of contemporary ethical issues from a theological perspective. Topics include environmental issues, world hunger, nuclear arms, capital punishment, human sexuality, abortion, euthanasia, drug abuse and genocide. One semester, 3 credits.

345* Jesus on Film
An examination of various films about the life of Jesus, ranging from traditional portrayals to provocative ones. Emphasis on how aesthetic, political, social, and theological dispositions affect the portrayals. Selected films include foreign, epic, and musical presentations. One semester, 3 credits.

350* Latin American Liberation Theologies
An introduction to the understanding of justice as the central theological concern for the oppressed peoples of Latin America. Distinctive features of the cultures and theologies in different countries are examined. One semester, 3 credits.

351* Public and Popular Religion
An examination of distinct religious communities and themes in American culture since 1870. Topics include Mormonism, Shakers, utopian communities, civil religion, and televangelism. One semester, 3 credits.

359* Religion and Colonialism
An exploration of several classics in the study of religion that focuses on how these works refl ect the connection between European theories about "native" and "primitives," and the expansion of European political and economic power into environments inhabited by these "natives." One semester, 3 credits.

361* Ways of Understanding Religion
An introduction to the various ways religion has been understood by scholars in the modern western world. Perspectives stressed include the history of religions/phenomenology, psychology, sociology, and anthropology. One semester, 3 credits.

ADDITIONAL OFFERINGS


190, 290, 390, 490* Selected Topics in Religion
Permission. One semester, Variable credits. May be repeated for credit.

295, 395, 495 Independent Studies
Credit and time arranged. Permission. May be repeated for credit.

*Not offered every year.