RELI 160D3 – Love in World Religions

Tier 1 Traditions and Cultures

This course investigates the various conceptions of love in world religions. We will explore the conceptions of love in Western traditions including Greek, Jewish and Christian traditions as well as conceptions of love in Islam and Buddhism.

RELI 160D5 – Spirituality, Ceremony, and Saints of the Southwest

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 1 Traditions and Cultures

Honors Contract

An introduction to the religious history and contemporary religious diversity of the region currently known as the American Southwest, focusing on a variety of topics such as land based spirituality, shrines, pilgrimage, folk saints, religious syncretism, and New Age movements. The religious landscape of this area includes the traditions of indigenous communities, Spanish colonial descendants, Mexican Americans, Anglos, and immigrants from around the globe.

RELI 160D6 – Gender and Religion

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 1 Traditions and Cultures

Honors Contract

This course is an introduction to the study of gender and religion. We will examine the ways religious roles have been shaped by gender, and how religion has formulated understandings of gender, including gendered representations of the divine.

RELI 203 – Religion and Medicine in the Western Healing Traditions

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

An examination of the intersection between medicine and healing in western healing traditions, from ancient times to the modern era. Key scientific and humanistic questions will be addressed.

RELI 212 – Introduction to American Indian Religious Traditions

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

An introduction to American Indian religious systems and their larger functions in communities and in history. Of particular importance are the history and effects of colonialism and missionization on native peoples, their continuing struggles for religious freedom and cultural and linguistic survival, and the ways in which American Indians use religion, both past and present, to respond to social, cultural, political, and geographical changes.

RELI 222 – Introduction to Zen Buddhism

Cross Listed

This course is designed to introduce students to the history,teachings,and practice of Zen Buddhism in China,Japan, Korea and the United States. The course will discuss Zen from a variety of perspectives but will center around the question of the meaning of history. Zen is a tradition of Buddhism that claims to have inherited and to pass on, in an unbroken historical transmission from patriarch to patriarch, the living experience of the Buddha's enlightenment. The course will discuss how Zen's conception of its history is related to its identity as a special tradition within Buddhism, as well as its basic teachings on the primacy of enlightenment, the role of practice, the nature of the mind, and the limitations of language.

RELI 271 – The History of Christianity

Cross Listed

This course examines the history of the great diversity of beliefs, practices, ways of life, and forms of authority among Christians, and especially conflicts about these. Not narrowly theological, the course construes Christianity broadly, treating, for example, society, culture, and art.

RELI 277A – History of the Middle East

Cross Listed

Tier 2 Humanities

Middle East history from the rise of Islam to the Turkish conquest of Constantinople, 600-1453.

RELI 308 – Does Pikachu Have a Buddha Nature? Buddhism in Japan

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

This course provides an overview of the history of Buddhism in Japan. Major themes covered in the course include an integration of indigenous "kami veneration" (Shinto) into a Buddhist theological framework; a doctrinal emphasis placed on the notion of Buddha nature or "original enlightenment" (hongaku); the rise of the so-called Kamakura schools of Buddhism; bureaucratic roles imparted to Buddhist temples during the Tokugawa period; and challenges Buddhism faces in contemporary Japanese society.

RELI 326 – God, Humanity & Science

Cross Listed

Tier 2 Individuals & Societies

An examination of the role of religion and science in the construction of human worldviews and beliefs, in historical and contemporary contexts.

RELI 334 – Islamic Thought

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Individuals & Societies

A consideration of Islam, one of the world's major religions, and the view of the universe and the modes of behavior and values it advocates. Most of the course will be dedicated to an examination of the majority (Sunni) opinion, but some attention will be directed also to the more significant minority (Shi'i, et al.) positions as well. The course has no prerequisite but does build on the information presented in TRAD 101 Middle Eastern Humanities.

RELI 335 – Rap, Culture and God

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Pass/Fail Option

Honors Contract

Study of popular culture and religion in African-American and Latino/a communities, with a focus on the place of rap music in the cultural identity of these traditions.

RELI 358 – Tibetan Buddhism

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

How did Tibetans adapt Buddhism to create a distinctly Tibetan tradition? How did Buddhism come to Tibetan soil, and how did it evolve over time? Sources from the domains of art, ritual, philosophy, and literature, especially biography, will play an important role in our explorations. We will contemplate questions surrounding individual, religious, and cultural identity, and of the role of women. We will conclude by examining further transformations of Tibetan Buddhism in exile and in western settings like Tucson.

RELI 363 – Religion and Sex

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

In this course we will analyze attitudes towards sexuality in the major world religions, and focus on the relationship between religion and sexuality in the contemporary U.S. context.

RELI 370A – History of the Jews: Modern Jewish History

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Individuals & Societies

Survey of major political, socioeconomic, and cultural developments in the history of Diaspora Jewry: Modern Jewish history.

RELI 370B – History of the Jews: Cultural Loss and Resilience from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Individuals & Societies

Survey of major political, socioeconomic, and cultural developments in the history of Diaspora Jewry from the Middle ages to the French Revolution.

RELI 370B – History of the Jews: Cultural Loss and Resilience from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Individuals & Societies

Honors Course

Survey of major political, socioeconomic, and cultural developments in the history of Diaspora Jewry from the Middle ages to the French Revolution.

RELI 372A – History and Religion of Israel in Ancient Times -- The Biblical Period

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Survey of the history and religion of ancient Israel. Biblical period through the Babylonian Exile; introduction to the Hebrew Bible.

RELI 372A – History and Religion of Israel in Ancient Times -- The Biblical Period

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Course

Survey of the history and religion of ancient Israel. Biblical period through the Babylonian Exile; introduction to the Hebrew Bible.

RELI 389 – Middle Eastern Ethnic and Religious Minorities

Cross Listed

Writing Emphasis Course

Overview of ethnic and religious minorities in the contemporary Middle East, study of ethnic and religious diversity and its origin and manifestations in the modern Middle East. Examination of how the concept of religious and ethnic minority has emerged as a key factor in state policies towards minorities as well as the cultural, economic, political, religious, and educational lives of its people.

RELI 402 – East Asian Buddhism in Regional Perspective

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Buddhism in China, Korea and Japan with emphasis on the relationship between East Asian Buddhist thought and practice and the various historical contexts in which they emerged.

RELI 405A – Medieval Europe

Cross Listed

Major institutions and trends in Europe from the breakup of the Roman World to the 14th century.

RELI 409 – The Reformation

Cross Listed

The Reformation in thought and action both from the perspective of its religious origins and of the political and social conditions. Analysis of its impact on sixteenth century Europe including the spread of Protestant reformation and its companion movement, counter-reformation.

RELI 444 – Islamic Mysticism

Cross Listed

Origin and development of Sufism and its impact on Muslim and non-Muslim worlds.

RELI 491 – Preceptorship

Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of instruction and practice in actual service in a department, program, or discipline. Requires faculty member approval, preceptor application on file with department.

RELI 498 – Senior Capstone

A culminating experience for majors involving a substantive project that demonstrates a synthesis of learning accumulated in the major, including broadly comprehensive knowledge of the discipline and its methodologies. Senior standing required.

RELI 499H – Honors Independent Study

Honors Course

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

RELI 544 – Islamic Mysticism

Cross Listed

Origin and development of Sufism and its impact on Muslim and non-Muslim worlds.

RELI 599 – Independent Study

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

RELI 160A1 – Gods, Goddesses, and Demons: Divinity in South Asia

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 1 Traditions and Cultures

Honors Contract

This course is an introduction to multiple concepts of the divine in South Asia. We will explore the different ways that the religious traditions of South Asia understand supernatural beings and forces. In order to do this we will read portions of primary texts in translation, examine iconography, and watch rituals as they unfold. In addition to learning about the South Asia traditions, we will put those conceptions of the divine in conversation with those rooted in a European context, forcing you to learn to think critically about the ways people from different cultures view the world around them.

RELI 160D4 – Introduction to World Religions

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 1 Traditions and Cultures

Honors Contract

This course explores the diversity of religions and religious experiences across the globe. Religions to be examined include, but are not limited to, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, as well as indigenous traditions.

RELI 241 – Introduction to Chinese Religions

Cross Listed

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

The course is a comprehensive historical survey of the main religious traditions in China, including Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and popular religion. Through lectures, discussions, and reading of select primary and secondary sources, we will explore the formulations and subsequent transformations of key beliefs, doctrines, practices, and institutions that characterized specific religious traditions. We will also examine the patterns of interaction among different traditions, as well as the general character of religious life in both traditional and modern China.

RELI 280 – Introduction to the Bible: New Testament

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

This course introduces students to the New Testament in light of the contexts in which it was written and compiled, and as a window into reconstructing the world of early Christianity. The course will also examine how various Christian communities have understood the meaning and authority of the New Testament.

RELI 372B – History & Religion of Israel in Ancient Times: Ezra-Nehemiah to the Roman Empire

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Survey of the history and religion of ancient Israel. Ezra-Nehemiah to the Roman Empire, with emphasis on the formation of rabbinic Judaism.

RELI 130 – Asian Religions

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

The course surveys six religious traditions founded and developed in Asian including two from India: Hinduism and Buddhism, two from China: Confucianism and Taoism, and two from Japan: Shinto and Japanese New Religions. The survey of each religion includes: 1. a primary or sacred text, 2. contemporary practices in Asia, 3. contemporary practices in America, and 4. depictions in modern media. The course studies how the central tenets and teachings of Asian religions create the cultural roots of contemporary Asian cultures and how these teachings have influenced America's religious diversity.

RELI 150B1 – Religion and Popular Culture

Honors Contract

This course provides an introduction to the study of Religion and Popular Culture in modern societies. We will study what constitutes "religion" and how definitions of religion change over time. We will examine the ways popular culture becomes "religious" and how religious institutions reflect popular taste and opinion.

RELI 160D1 – Christianity and Art

Tier 1 Traditions and Cultures

The architecture, manuscript illumination, painting and other visual arts of Christianity explored within the contexts of contemporary history.

RELI 200 – Introduction to the Study of Religion

Honors Contract

The objective of this course is to introduce you to the study of the phenomenon called 'religion'. What makes people religious? How is religion defined? What are the different approaches to understanding religion in all of its diversity? Through a reading of texts from diverse backgrounds and approaches, this course will illuminate the complex and multi-dimensional elements of religion, and how the study of religion can open up new ways of seeing the world.

RELI 203 – Religion and Medicine in the Western Healing Traditions

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

An examination of the intersection between medicine and healing in western healing traditions, from ancient times to the modern era. Key scientific and humanistic questions will be addressed.

RELI 211 – Life After Death in World Religions and Philosophies

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

An examination of the afterlife in major world religions, intimations of life beyond death in contemporary human experience, and key scientific, theological, and philosophical challenges to both.

RELI 212 – Introduction to American Indian Religious Traditions

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

An introduction to American Indian religious systems and their larger functions in communities and in history. Of particular importance are the history and effects of colonialism and missionization on native peoples, their continuing struggles for religious freedom and cultural and linguistic survival, and the ways in which American Indians use religion, both past and present, to respond to social, cultural, political, and geographical changes.

RELI 227 – Religion and Film

Honors Contract

This course explores religion and its relationship with visual storytelling culture. We will analyze, explore, and challenge various religious, pop-cultural, ideological, and moral messages as presented in various types of film, from art house cinema to blockbuster movies, and genres ranging from horror to comedy.

RELI 277A – History of the Middle East

Cross Listed

Tier 2 Humanities

Middle East history from the rise of Islam to the Turkish conquest of Constantinople, 600-1453.

RELI 277A – History of the Middle East

Cross Listed

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Course

Middle East history from the rise of Islam to the Turkish conquest of Constantinople, 600-1453.

RELI 280 – Introduction to the Bible: New Testament

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

This course introduces students to the New Testament in light of the contexts in which it was written and compiled, and as a window into reconstructing the world of early Christianity. The course will also examine how various Christian communities have understood the meaning and authority of the New Testament.

RELI 303 – Spirituality and Sickness: Religion and Health in the U.S.

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

This course explores diverse religious and spiritual conceptions of health in the United States and their relationships to experiences of sickness and healing. It will include a critical examination of historical and contemporary cases in which religious and spiritual views of health have interacted with healthcare systems, including cases of cooperation and conflict.

RELI 304 – The Question of God

Tier 2 Humanities

Study of the question of God from a theological, philosophical, and literary perspective.

RELI 305 – Greek and Roman Religion

Cross Listed

Tier 2 Individuals & Societies

Honors Contract

Writing Emphasis Course

Religious beliefs and cult practices in ancient Greece and Rome. All readings in English.

RELI 313 – Health and Medicine in Classical Antiquity

Cross Listed

Writing Emphasis Course

The course examines the mythology and practice of medicine in Greek and Roman times from Asclepius to Hippocrates and Galen, medical instruments and procedures, the religious manifestation of healing in Greek and Roman sanctuaries, the votive dedications by patients and cured, midwifery and child care, public hygiene and diseases. The topics cover a large spectrum of the medical practice and public health in the ancient societies of Classical antiquity, as well as how ancient worldviews, including religion and religious practice, shaped health and medicine in Greek and Roman civilization.

RELI 335 – Rap, Culture and God

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Pass/Fail Option

Honors Contract

Study of popular culture and religion in African-American and Latino/a communities, with a focus on the place of rap music in the cultural identity of these traditions.

RELI 336 – Spirituality, Psychology, and the Mind

Cross Listed

Pass/Fail Option

Honors Contract

This course is a survey of psychological theory and research investigating religious beliefs, experiences, and practices.

RELI 358 – Tibetan Buddhism

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

How did Tibetans adapt Buddhism to create a distinctly Tibetan tradition? How did Buddhism come to Tibetan soil, and how did it evolve over time? Sources from the domains of art, ritual, philosophy, and literature, especially biography, will play an important role in our explorations. We will contemplate questions surrounding individual, religious, and cultural identity, and of the role of women. We will conclude by examining further transformations of Tibetan Buddhism in exile and in western settings like Tucson.

RELI 363 – Religion and Sex

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Contract

In this course we will analyze attitudes towards sexuality in the major world religions, and focus on the relationship between religion and sexuality in the contemporary U.S. context.

RELI 370A – History of the Jews: Modern Jewish History

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Individuals & Societies

Survey of major political, socioeconomic, and cultural developments in the history of Diaspora Jewry: Modern Jewish history.

RELI 370A – History of the Jews: Modern Jewish History

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Individuals & Societies

Honors Course

Survey of major political, socioeconomic, and cultural developments in the history of Diaspora Jewry: Modern Jewish history.

RELI 370B – History of the Jews: Cultural Loss and Resilience from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Individuals & Societies

Survey of major political, socioeconomic, and cultural developments in the history of Diaspora Jewry from the Middle ages to the French Revolution.

RELI 372A – History and Religion of Israel in Ancient Times -- The Biblical Period

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Survey of the history and religion of ancient Israel. Biblical period through the Babylonian Exile; introduction to the Hebrew Bible.

RELI 372A – History and Religion of Israel in Ancient Times -- The Biblical Period

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

Honors Course

Survey of the history and religion of ancient Israel. Biblical period through the Babylonian Exile; introduction to the Hebrew Bible.

RELI 374 – The Holocaust

Cross Listed

Socio-economic and intellectual roots of modern anti-Semitism, evolution of Nazi policy, the world of death camps, responses of Axis and Allied governments, and responses of the Jews.

RELI 379 – Religion in German Culture

Cross Listed

Tier 2 Humanities

Introduction to major cultural figures of German speaking countries who have seen, imagined, or experienced what role religion may or can play in human life. Taught in English.

RELI 381 – African/Indigenous Religions

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

Tier 2 Humanities

This course examines religious beliefs in Africa in order to illuminate connections between religion and culture on that continent, and to examine the relationship between religio-culture and the socio-economic and political forces that shape contemporary African societies.

RELI 383 – Religion and State in Islam

Cross Listed

Examines the changing relationship between Islam and politics from the time of the Prophet to the present day.

RELI 389 – Middle Eastern Ethnic and Religious Minorities

Cross Listed

Writing Emphasis Course

Overview of ethnic and religious minorities in the contemporary Middle East, study of ethnic and religious diversity and its origin and manifestations in the modern Middle East. Examination of how the concept of religious and ethnic minority has emerged as a key factor in state policies towards minorities as well as the cultural, economic, political, religious, and educational lives of its people.

RELI 399 – Independent Study

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

RELI 401A – Early Christian Literature: Greek Texts

Cross Listed

Honors Contract

Writing Emphasis Course

This course involves in depth study of early Christian texts together with related contemporary Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. Students will engage in careful analysis of individual texts in the New Testament and from the first four centuries of the Common Era, focusing on questions of genre, authorship, and meaning. Alongside these, students will examine writings by contemporary Jewish, Greek, and Roman authors (e.g., Philo, Josephus, Seneca, and Plutarch) as illustrative of the wider literary and religious culture. For students who have completed GRK 201, an option for readings in ancient Greek will be available as part of the course.

RELI 428A – Globalization, the Environment, and Indigenous Religions

Cross Listed

Honors Contract

Writing Emphasis Course

This course discusses the impact of globalization on the environment and ecology, with a particular focus on indigenous cultures and religions in the context of environmental instability.

RELI 454 – The Spanish Inquisition

Cross Listed

The Inquisition in Spanish, European, & ethnic history: its bureaucracy and procedures; its festivities, its victims, New and Old Christians; and witches. Social, economic, and demographic context.

RELI 489 – History of Japanese Religions: Modern

Cross Listed

Gen Ed Diversity Emphasis

A selective survey of the history of Japanese religion from the 16th century through the present. Topics may include Shinto and Buddhism; Christianity and its suppression; Edo-period official and popular religion; State Shinto; and Japan's "new religions" and "new new religions."

RELI 491 – Preceptorship

Specialized work on an individual basis, consisting of instruction and practice in actual service in a department, program, or discipline. Requires faculty member approval, preceptor application on file with department.

RELI 498 – Senior Capstone

A culminating experience for majors involving a substantive project that demonstrates a synthesis of learning accumulated in the major, including broadly comprehensive knowledge of the discipline and its methodologies. Senior standing required.

RELI 498H – Honors Thesis

Honors Course

Writing Emphasis Course

An honors thesis is required of all the students graduating with honors. Students ordinarily sign up for this course as a two-semester sequence. The first semester the student performs research under the supervision of a faculty member; the second semester the student writes an honors thesis.

RELI 499 – Independent Study

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.

RELI 501A – Early Christian Literature: Greek Texts

Cross Listed

Writing Emphasis Course

This course involves in depth study of early Christian texts together with related contemporary Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. Students will engage in careful analysis of individual texts in the New Testament and from the first four centuries of the Common Era, focusing on questions of genre, authorship, and meaning. Alongside these, students will examine writings by contemporary Jewish, Greek, and Roman authors (e.g., Philo, Josephus, Seneca, and Plutarch) as illustrative of the wider literary and religious culture. For students who have completed GRK 201, an option for readings in ancient Greek will be available as part of the course. Graduate level requirements included a extended research papers drawing on appropriate levels of training in language, literature, and knowledge of the ancient world.

RELI 520 – Archaic Greek Sanctuaries

Cross Listed

This course concentrates on the evidence for Greek sanctuary sites between 1000 and 600 B.C. We examine the excavated material from numerous sanctuary sites, including architectural remains (temples and/or altars), votive offerings of bronze and clay, and any other evidence revealing religious practices during these formative years. The role the sanctuaries played in society is also considered with a view to their political, social, economic and spiritual implications for Archaic Greek life. Graduate-level requirements include a more extensive paper than undergraduates.

RELI 554 – The Spanish Inquisition

Cross Listed

The Inquisition in Spanish, European, & ethnic history: its bureaucracy and procedures; its festivities, its victims, New and Old Christians; and witches. Social, economic, and demographic context. Graduate-level requirements include graduate students studying more deeply the economic, social and demographic context of the Inquisition, through more scholarly reading, discussion and writing.

RELI 599 – Independent Study

Qualified students working on an individual basis with professors who have agreed to supervise such work.