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Classes in Religion
The following list provides detailed descriptions of some of our classes, prepared
by the instructors themselves. Note, however, that these are not the official
university descriptions of these classes. For these, and for a more complete
listing of department offerings, see the Religion Department listings in the CMU
Bulletin.
Several University Program Groups and Subgroups include Religion
courses. University Program courses are clearly marked in the list below. Religion
courses also fulfill free elective requirements for all degree programs. None of
the courses listed here has prerequisites.
Is religion about anything that matters in this life? Religion
is intimately involved
in the ways that people come to know
themselves, each other, and the world around
them. Introduction to
Religion examines topics such as: how sacred stories provide
people
with a worldview; how religious claims and values shape and
legitimize social
structures and behavior; how various types of
rituals function; and how, ultimately,
religion serves as a
reality-defining institution. These topics are studied in
light of
religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism,
and
the traditional religions of Africa and North America.
REL 130: RELIGION IN AMERICA (UP Group I-A)
This course explors issues in American religion such as church/state relations,
nativism and anti-Semitism, and religion in the popular culture. In the
process, it presents case studies of a variety of religious communities in
America, including Native Americans, Roman Catholics, Jews, Protestants,
Buddhists, and new religious movements. Throughout, we consider how
religion both shaped and was shaped by variables like immigration, racial and
ethnic conflict, wars, gender, class, region, science, and politics.
Religion has been a major factor in the lives of groups that
have experienced
racism and discrimination in America. Sometimes
religion has served as a tool
of racism, but it has also been a
means by which oppressed groups have adapted
to their conditions
and struggled to overcome them. This course will explore the
various
roles religion has played in the lives of Native Americans,
African Americans,
Hispanic Americans and others as they have
struggled to work out their identities
in American society.
Through reading, discussion, and documentary films, we will
work to
achieve insight into the culture of each group, a grasp of the
wider
dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in American life, and an
appreciation of the
way the religious creativity of these groups
has helped to shape the ideal of
America as a multicultural
community.
This course will examine the images of women and the roles they
have played in
various religious contexts, studied against the
background of broader social and
cultural realities - particularly
patriarchy. Patriarchal structures have tended
to oppress those
defined as "other" (on the basis of race, class and
gender). While
at times religions have criticized that oppression, at other times,
religions
have offered sacred legitimation for that oppression. We
will explore women's
responses to the dual role religions have
played in oppression, leading some to
argue for reform, others to
argue for rejection of traditional religions. We will
also explore
the challenge to religion and society presented by feminist and
womanist
thought, especially in the areas of theology and ethics.
The traditional culture of the world's most populous nation is
full of rich religious
dimensions. This course will consider
topics such as: the humanistic social and
ethical values of
Confucius; Taoist teachings on nature, spontaneity, and alchemy;
Buddhism
meditation; popular cults, folk religion, and geomancy.
We will conclude with
reflections on religion in contemporary
China, including the relationship between
religion and Maoist
communism.
The flavor of Japanese culture includes a refined and heightened
sense of beauty
co-existing with pain and death, intense loyalty
and a driving will to succeed,
the way of the samurai and the way
of the tea ceremony. All of these elements
of the Japanese spirit
come together in our study of Shinto, Confucianism, Zen,
and Pure
Land Buddhism, and the "new religions" of 20th century Japan.
Our
goal is to explore these traditions as dynamic cultural forces; our
guides
will be philosophical and popular literature, poetry, art,
and film.
This course will explore the religious mosaic of India, with
special focus upon
the Hindu tradition. It will attempt to come to
some understanding of the faith
and practices of Hindus through the
study of such elements as their sacred texts,
myths, philosophy,
rituals, and quest for liberation.
The Nazi Holocaust of six million European Jews during the Third
Reich ranks among
the most heinous criminal events of the twentieth
century. Jews and Christians
alike have since asked the question:
Where was God when six million of his chosen
people were murdered?
Our time has probably never presented a more serious theological
question.
This
course will investigate the religious roots of Christian
antijudaism and antisemitism.
These roots reach back to the
Christian New Testament itself. A thorough familiarization
with
early Christian antijudaism is essential for the understanding of
medieval
and modern antisemitism which culminated in the political
decision of the Nazis
to annihilate European Jewry. Toward the end
of the investigation the course will
look at the relationship of
Judaism and Christianity after Auschwitz.
REL 240: AFRICAN AMERICAN RELIGION (UP Group
IV-C)
African American religion is the creative synthesis which American of African
descent have constructed out of African traditional religions and European
Christianity in the American context of slavery and segregation. Through
readings, videotapes, music, lectures, and discussion, this course will examine
the influence of Africa upon the religion of the slaves and their descendants in
the New World; the religious culture of slaves and masters in the pre-Civil War
South; the development of independent black churches; the rise of Islam and of
new religious movements; the impact of migration and urbanization upon
African-American religious life; and the relation of African-American religion
to various movements for social change and racial justice.
Prophets, priests, and poets, historians, law-givers, and sages-
they all have
contributed to the Hebrew Bible. This ancient
literature, called by Jews the "Law,
Prophets, and Writings" and
called by Christians the "Old Testament,"
has played a pivotal role
in the development of both Judaism and Christianity.
Further, it
has also indirectly left its mark on the religion of Islam. Hence
the
Bible has an abiding influence on religious life and self-
understanding in the
western world.
In order to appreciate the content and significance of the
Bible,
selected portions of it will be studied against the
background of the Ancient
Near East out of which it arose. The
course will examine representative genres
and major themes of this
religious literature. Students will become acquainted
with current
approaches and central issues in biblical scholarship.
Jesus of Nazareth was executed at the hands of the state as a
political criminal.
The New Testament writings claim that much
more occurred here than merely a travesty
of justice. The New
Testament calls Jesus the Christ (= the Messiah, i.e. the
one
anointed to be King of Israel and God's agent for justice and
transformation).
The New Testament argues that in Christ are
revealed God's love, power, and justice.
To
understand these claims of the New Testament, it is
necessary to see it in its
first century setting. This course will
examine the New Testament against the
background of its original
Jewish and Hellenistic world. Attention will be centered
on the
Gospels and the letters of Paul. The students will be acquainted
with
the history, literary forms, and religious thought of early
Christianity and also
with current scholarly approaches to and
central issues of debate regarding the
New Testament.REL 304: RELIGION AND
PSYCHOLOGY
Are religion and psychology opposed to one another or are they essentially
complementary ways of interpreting the meaning of human existence? Is
modern depth psychology fundamentally a religious mode of experience and
inquiry? This course approaches questions such as these through an
intensive study of Sigmund Freud's radical critique of religion and C. G. Jung's
revisioning of the significance of the depth psychological movement, and to
contemporary Neo-Freudian and post Jungian psychology.
Whether you are a skeptic or a believer, an insider or an outsider to the
tradition,
Christianity is a powerful influence in your world. Chances are,
though, that
you don't know much about how it got to be that way.
What are Christianity's leading
ideas, what has shaped its history,
and what are the continuing controversies
in which it is involved?
This course will explore these questions through primary
source
readings, discussion, and films. The evolution of doctrine,
worship
and social thought will be examined in a variety of
traditions--Roman Catholic,
Orthodox, and Protestant--and in a
variety of historical contexts, ranging from
the world of the earliest followers
of Jesus to contemporary theological trends.
REL 315: JUDAISM (UP Group I-A)
Judaism is not just Christianity without Christ, but a vital religious
tradition in its own right. Grounded in the Hebrew Bible and the ongoing
interpretation of sacred texts, Judaism has continued to grow. This
introductory course covers some basics of religious practice (prayer, Torah
study, observing the Sabbath and holy days, keeping kosher, etc.) while
considering issues about Jewish identity in changing contexts. Judaism
encompasses the spiritual aspirations and intellectual challenges of a
covenanted people as they have spread out across the globe and as they have
returned to the land of Israel.
Siddhartha Gautama is called the Buddha ("the One Who Woke Up")
because
he claimed to have awakened to the realities of the human
condition and to have
discovered a way to escape the nightmare of
suffering. His teachings analyze how
and why we suffer, and
present a "path" leading to perfect peace, nirvana.
We will
explore how monks and ordinary Buddhists from Sri Lanka, Tibet,
Japan
and the USA follow Buddha's path in their daily lives by meditating,
chanting,
practicing non-violence, cultivating compassion, etc.
Video presentations will
be a window into the real lives of
Buddhists teaching and practicing their religion.
Death calls into question the meaning and purpose of human
existence. It challenges
us to identify those values which we
believe make life humane and to analyze the
relationship of those
values to our modes of living and dying. In particular,
it
challenges us to examine the relationship of those values to such
elements
of contemporary life as rapid social change,
transformation of traditional institutions,
technology, law, modern
medicine and public policy on health care issues. In this
course,
death will be explored in contexts such as these.
Through religions, people have always reflected on their place
in the universe.
Where do we fit into the larger scheme of things?
What is the meaning of it all?
What are the roles and
responsibilities of humans with respect to the non-human
world?
Increasingly, questions like these are being raised under the
heading
of "ecology." As we become more aware of the impact of
human activity
on nature, we are driven to raise ethical questions
about what that impact ought
to be and how we may need to change
our behavior. The study of religions can be
a resource for
addressing such questions. Understanding the role played by
religion
in shaping modern Western attitudes toward nature can help
us to understand how
we got here and what is at stake in our
current dilemmas. Moreover, the great
variety of attitudes towards
nature in world religions can provide models for
new developments
in Western culture. This class, then, will explore the views
of
nature formulated in religious traditions around the world and
discuss them
in relation to contemporary ecological concerns.
 CMU
(an AA/EO institution) encourages diversity and resolves to provide equal opportunity
regardless of race, sex, disability, sexual orientation, or other irrelevant criteria.The
information on this page is maintained by David Smith, Department of Religion.
Document Revision Date: 15 September 2006
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