This course focuses on the Qur'an and its different interpretations. Historical, linguistic, literary, sectarian, Sufi, feminist, modernist and traditionalist approaches are considered in the discussion of selected readings from the Qur'an in English translation. COURSE CATEGORY: Religion and Gender; Religious Thoughts and Practices RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Islam This course is offered as both 3.00 and […]
This course explores diversity in early Christian thought and practice by investigating groups traditionally viewed as “heretical.” This will include analysis of the New Testament Apocrypha, Nag Hammadi writings, and the opponents attacked in canonical and heresiological literature. RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Christianity
Jewish thought and culture are explored over a millennium (800-1800), focusing on transformations of the classical (biblical-rabbinic) legacy and interplay with the Islamic and Christian religio-cultural spheres in which they developed. RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Judaism
The course examines the development of Islamic mystical tradition (Sufism) in reference to two issues: one, the development of Sufism as a form of social organization institutionalized in the tarîqa orders, and two, the employment of different themes and symbols in Sufi thought that seek to personalize religious experience through esoteric interpretations of the sacred […]
Allows students to pursue a supervised program of research in the advanced study of religion. Topics can include focused projects in specific ancient religious texts; contemporary religious issues; or religion and literature, philosophy or psychology. RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Varies by year
No one has had a greater impact on Chinese culture than Confucius. His ideas about self-cultivation, the proper ordering of society, the role of the individual in the social order, the relationship between humanity and the cosmos et cetera not only shaped the underlying fabric of Chinese civilisation, they deeply influenced several neighbouring cultures as […]
Problems in the determination of the international relations of the Israelite states in the Iron Age. Sources, written and unwritten, from Israel, Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt and Israel's smaller neighbours will be examined in the course of these investigations. This course is restricted to History, Classical Studies, Jewish Studies or Religious Studies Honours majors and minors […]
Examination of the relationship between science and religion through a study of the implications of the following intellectual developments for religious thought: the rise and triumph of Newtonian science, the Darwinian revolution, relativity theory, quantum physics, “big bang” theory, and creationism. RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Christianity
This course will present a broad exposure to the history, thought, literature, and main institutions of Rabbinic Judaism from its inception, during the Second Temple period, through contemporary times. We will explore a variety of classical texts and genres in light of their religious and historical settings. We will consider institutions that have shaped Rabbinic […]
This course offers an exploration of Jewish beliefs, institutions, and bodies of literature, emphasizing continuities and changes in religious expression within and across different places, circumstances, and times. Themes covered include God, the Jewish people, Torah and its interpretation, the land of Israel; the commandments (mitzvot) and their legal (halakhic) expressions; the Sabbath; daily and […]