AP/RLST 4813 3.00/6.00 The Arabian Nights: Morality, Sexuality, and Strategies of Interpretation

This course examines the history of the reception and interpretation of The Arabian Nights, from its first appearance in Galland’s 1701 translation to its modern editions by Husain Haddawy in 2008. Interdisciplinary in approach, this course exposes students to concepts derived from the contemporary discussions of the problems of originality, authorship, translatability, and the reception of the Arabian […]

AP/RLST 4812 3.00 Christianity & Film

This course examines the role and representation of the Christian in popular film. It identifies and analyzes ways in which contemporary cinema reflects, shapes and embodies Christian myths, histories, rituals and doctrines and non-Christian attitudes towards them. RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Christianity

AP/RLST 4810 6.00 Religion in Post-Colonial Literature

This course examines the role and status of the religious in the production and reception of contemporary post-colonial literatures in English. Interdisciplinary in approach, the course begins with an assessment of Christianity’s historical function as the handmaiden of British colonial and imperial expansion. We then analyze ways in which post-colonial novelists of European and indigenous […]

AP/RLST 4809 6.00 The Hebrew Bible and the Literature of the Ancient Near East

This course examines various biblical literary genres and themes within the context of literature from the ancient Near East. RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Judaism

AP/RLST 4808 6.00 Sex & Violence in the Hebrew Bible

This course attempts a nuanced reading of texts dealing with sexuality and/or violence in the Hebrew Bible. The discussion focuses both on a contextual and on a contemporaneous reading of these texts. RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Judaism

AP/RLST 4803 6.00 Church, Mosque & Synagogue: Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Medieval Spain

This course examines religious, intellectual, and cultural relations between the three faith communities of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. It examines the origins of these religious communities, as expressed through their holy texts, and the ways these faith communities grew and spread through history. Methodologically the course pays special attention to the study of primary sources […]

AP/RLST 4775 3.00 South Asian Religions & Popular Culture

How have South Asian religions been represented, practiced, communicated, and transformed through popular culture? How are religious themes, images, and ideas explored in contemporary film, television, print media and music? Focusing on Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Sikhism, the course explores concepts of the religious and the popular in ancient and medieval South Asian art forms […]

AP/RLST 4771 3.00 Buddhism as Seen from the West: The Colonial Encounter and the Study of Buddhism

Explores how the colonial encounter shaped the academic study of Buddhism and the image of Buddhism in the West. Reading popular and scholarly accounts of Buddhism written from the early nineteenth century to the present day, the course analyses how the legacy of and response to colonialism have coloured our understanding of Buddhism as a […]

AP/RLST 4770 3.00 Buddhism in Modern Southeast Asia: Community, Conflict and Change

Explores Buddhist responses to the changing conditions of modernity in Southeast Asia. Seeking to understand Buddhism as a living religion, it investigates how Buddhists have drawn on religious narratives, symbols and rituals to respond to social and political challenges from the nineteenth century to the present, including issues of religious reform, colonialism, nationalism and ethnicity. […]

AP/RLST 4755 3.00 Gender and Contemporary Religious Movements

This course explores the relationship between gender and religion through the examination of contemporary religious movements such as men's and women's spirituality movements, new religious movements, LGBTQ movements, and fundamentalist movements. RELIGIOUS TRADITION(S) COVERED: Multiple