This course examines not only how Japanese religious/philosophical traditions were utilized for practical concerns by Japanese immigrants, but also how they came to inform the identity of Japanese Canadians in the context of a broader understanding of the role religion has played in the East. Although religious identity did not loom strongly in the minds […]
This course investigates the origins, development, significance, and social functions of personified evil--Satan and his demons--in early Judaism and in the history of Christianity. We will consider some of the most important literary and visual depictions of this figure (and his story) from the ancient world through the middle ages to our own day. RELIGIOUS […]
Explores the key themes, critical questions, and entrenched conflicts about the place of religion during the long and varied history of American civic and cultural life. It analyzes Native-Newcomer religious tensions, disestablishment, uniquely American religions, and the intersections of religion with war, nationalism, immigration, race, science, expansion, urbanization, gender, counterculture, and new media. RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) […]
This interdisciplinary course examines historical and contemporary manifestations of Islamophobia. We explore both the ways those understood as Muslim have been gendered and how Islamophobia produces particularly gendered anti-Muslim racism. Each class will consist of four interrelated components: student reading presentations, lectures, audio visual material and group discussions. The lectures will address the key considerations […]
This course examines debates amongst anthropologists about the study of Islam and Muslim societies, and Muslim expressions of Islam according to anthropological themes including the body, space, ritual, knowledge, agency and representation. Students design and undertake a field-based research project. RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Islam Cross-listed as AP/ANTH 3570 6.00.
The Bible offers archetypal figures for Western art, music and film as well as literature. This course will analyze women in the New Testament with a focus on sexuality, seduction, murder and mayhem. From the figure of Eve in the Hebrew Bible and her counterpart Lilith through New Testament figures such as Mary Magdalene and […]
The Bible offers archetypal figures for Western art, music and film as well as literature. This course will analyze women in the Hebrew Bible with a focus on sexuality, seduction, murder and mayhem. Beginning with Eve and her counterpart Lilith the Bible offers portraits of women who are inquisitive, dangerous and powerful while also demonstrating […]
This course explores the intersection of religion and superstition from ancient times to the present. It analyzes issues of gender, power and sexuality through the study of goddesses, witches and the current fascination with vampires in popular culture. It is comprised of three units. The first unit analyzes goddesses in the ancient near east and […]
Women have been creating their own significant rituals both inside and outside established religious movements for centuries. Understanding the nature of women's rituals allows us to comprehend more fully women's relationship to humanity and to the numinous. This course will explore the phenomenon of women ritualizing and analyze a variety of contemporary women's rituals in […]
In the last part of the 20th century in North America, an exciting re-membering of women’s voices began to emerge, sparking growth in critical consciousness and in feminist theory/methods designed to uncover, critique, and challenge problems firmly embedded in dominant patriarchal traditions. Spaces opened up where women shared their stories and traditions, and discussed empowerment; […]