Religion and Philosophy

Introduction to critical thinking through inquiry into fundamental aspects of philosophy; methods of critical analysis applied to selected ethical, religious, and metaphysical problems. 

Critical examination of main procedures for making moral decisions. Application of ethical ideas to contemporary moral issues. 

Examination of the development of philosophical ideas from 5th century B.C. through the Middle Ages; emphasis on Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas. 

Development of philosophical ideas as seen in writings of selected thinkers from the Renaissance through the 19th century. Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, and Hegel.

Analysis of the philosophical issues that arise in sport, investigation of the function and value of sport in society, and consideration of ethical dilemmas arising from participation in sport.

An examination of ethical questions related to medicine and biomedical research. Special emphasis on patient autonomy, informed consent, medical paternalism, research on animals and human subjects, and allocation of scarce medical resources. 

This course explores a variety of ethical questions regarding the environment and our relationship to it, including but not limited to what obligations we have to animals and wildlife, how those obligations weigh in designing policy, what individual decisions we ought to make regarding our interaction with the environment, and what obligations we have to future generations. 

Introduction to techniques of sound reasoning in written and verbal communication. Formulation and testing of arguments; means of identifying and correcting fallacious reasoning. Practical applications. 

This course surveys the beliefs, practices, and scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto. The course satisfies the Humanities Core requirement. This course satisfies the International Exploration requirement.

The development of philosophy in the 20th century; logical positivism, ordinary language analysis, existentialism, pragmatism, and process philosophy.

Examination of contemporary issues in philosophy of art: definition of a work of art, the nature of aesthetic experience, standards of aesthetic evaluation. Application to painting, sculpture, music composition and performance, drama, acting, film, and dance.

Critical examination of philosophical problems of religion: nature of religion, religious experience, theistic proofs, religious knowledge, religious language, alternative views of God, problem of evil, relation of religion and value experience.

Examination of contemporary political philosophy and its application to key questions of justice in contemporary political life. 

Selected topics in philosophy chosen by the instructor in response to student interests.

Intensive study of a selected philosophical topic.

Advanced independent research in a specific area of philosophy, under the supervision of a faculty member.

Work experience related to the student's major, jointly supervised by the department and a professional in the field. Although the usual internship will carry either three or six hours credit, a student may elect to arrange an internship carrying between two and six hours credit with the permission of the department. Each hour of credit will require forty hours at the internship site.

Work experience related to the student's major, jointly supervised by the department and a professional in the field. Although the usual internship will carry either three or six hours credit, a student may elect to arrange an internship carrying between two and six hours credit with the permission of the department. Each hour of credit will require forty hours at the internship site.

Individually-designed reading and research program, developed in consultation with faculty in the department, requiring the senior philosophy major to apply acquired analytical skills in attempting to solve a particular philosophical problem.

Independent research in a special topic for honors.

Independent research in a special topic for honors.

Exploration of basic questions that arise in the study of religion. Attention is given to the variety of religious experience and practice.

This course undertakes the academic study of religion on a global scale. Attention is given to the origin, history, mythology, doctrines, and lived practices of religions that compose the global religious landscape.

This course surveys the Jewish and Christian scriptures using modern historical methods. Attention is given to the development of Judaism in ancient Israel and to the emergence of Christianity.

This course practices close readings of selected texts in the Old Testament and Hebrew Bible using the methods of academic biblical studies. Designated material will be examined through literary analysis, archaeology, anthropology, and historical criticism with special emphasis on interpretive methods that examine texts in their original historical settings.

This course discusses the literature of the New Testament in light of historical, social and religious conditions from which it emerged. Particular attention is given to historical issues related to Jesus and the origins of Christianity. 

This course explores the beginning of Christianity as it emerges from its Jewish parentage and its expansion in the Greco-Roman, medieval, and modern world.  Christian diversity, evolution, and belief are central themes in the class. 

This course explores the lives, times, and influences of religious individuals who have made significant impact on their communities and societies.  Particular attention is given to the historic context and the social factors of the different time periods. 

This course surveys key historical contexts of the Old and New Testaments, and introduces  some of the most groundbreaking archaeological finds of the last 150 years that have influenced reconstructions of the biblical world and interpretations of the Bible. This course also investigates important instances of archaeological forgeries.

This course explores the origins of the Christian Bible including the development of the textual tradition within ancient Israel in the formation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and the historical context of the production of the New Testament texts within early Christian communities.  While not a language class, the course will pay particular attention to the Hebrew and Greek origins of the texts, as well as the processes of canonization and reception.

This course introduces students to the array of manuscripts and written traditions from the ancient Near East and eastern Mediterranean that predate the modern canonized scriptures of Judaism and Christianity. Students will become familiar with the Greek Septuagint, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and a wide range of apocryphal texts including gospels, vision narratives, and pseudonymous writings, all of which circulated as religious literature among Jewish and Christian communities before the existence of any Bible known today.

This course serves as an exploration of Jesus based on the experience of the early Christian community and its writings.  The course will include a careful reading of the four New Testament gospels using a variety of interpretative methods.  Students will also be introduced to scholarly research about Jesus from later historical time periods.

This course surveys the corpus of New Testament letters in light of the historical, social and religious conditions from each emerged. Students will be introduced to ongoing scholarly conversations on the person of Paul while also engaging the fundamental question of what it means to read someone else's mail as religious literature. This course also explores the processes by which the letters now contained in the New Testament became scripture.

This course surveys the representation and reception of Abraham as a foundational figure in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim texts and communities across time. Investigation focuses on both similar and different memories of Abraham as an exemplar of faith, and on divergent familial trajectories as expressed through religious identity. The course also introduces students to scholarly debates on the use of “Abrahamic Traditions” as an investigative category.

The course introduces students to prominent religions in the ancient Near East during Bronze and Iron Ages, as well as some from the Persian and Hellenistic periods. Students will study the religious worlds of elites and common persons in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia through textual and archaeological study. Focus is placed on the function of religion in daily life and on the social and cultural interconnections around the Mediterranean and southwest Asia.

This course explores basic questions that arise from the academic study of religion. Students will deepen their understanding of influential thinkers, common methods of study, important debates, and key concepts in the academic study of religion.

This course surveys the texts, teachings, and techniques of prophetic and messianic persons in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. Students will also explore the contours of different ancient and contemporary apocalyptic worldviews while developing a deeper understanding of the form and function of apocalyptic writings among historic and modern religious communities.

This course explores fundamental questions regarding conceptions of the divine across religious traditions. In asking the core question, “What is a god?,” the course also explores realms and hierarchies of superhuman powers representing good and evil. Students will examine textual and artistic representations of angels, demons, other superhuman powers and the afterlife, and explore how thought and depictions of these entities emerged and changed over time.

This course takes up the study of religion and spirituality in relation to the natural world. Students will investigate how religious traditions have represented and integrated the natural world in religious life. Focus is given to themes of creation, evolution, sacred place, stewardship, and religiously-rooted responses to environmental crises. The course also explores the roles animals have played across history in religious texts and practice, namely as victims of sacrifice and as metaphors and agents of divine power.

This course offers an in-depth exploration of New Religious Movements (NRMs) from a multidisciplinary perspective, delving into the origins, beliefs, practices, and societal impacts of these dynamic and often controversial movements. Students will analyze the emergence and evolution of NRMs across different cultures and historical periods, critically examining their ideologies, charismatic leaders, organizational structures, and interactions with mainstream societies.

This course explores the often unrecognized ways religion functions in secular spaces of medical practice. The course begins with a survey of historic intersections of medicine and religion across religious contexts before moving on to case-study based investigations of religion in the lives of medical practitioners and patients. Focus is given to generating constructive responses to religion in the healthcare landscape.

Translation and interpretation of representative passages from Paul’s writings.

This course surveys the beliefs, practices, and scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto. The course satisfies the Humanities Core requirement. This course satisfies the International Exploration requirement.

This course surveys Judaism as a religion and civilization from its origins through the modern period. Attention is given to both texts and practices, as students engage in discussions of diversity regarding Jewish identities and lived religious experiences. Attention is also given to the  persistent problem of anti-Semitism.

History, liturgy, and doctrine of the church from approximately 100 C.E. to the present. Includes Augustine, Francis of Assisi, Luther, Calvin, Isabella of Spain, Wesley, and John XXIII.

This course surveys Islam from its origins through the modern period. Attention is given to both texts and practices, as students engage in discussions of diversity regarding Muslim identities, lived religious experiences, and expressions of power.  This course satisfies the Humanities Core requirement.

This course surveys Christianity from its origins through the modern period. Attention is given to both texts and practices, as students engage in discussions of diversity regarding Christian identities, lived religious experiences, and expressions of power.

This course explores the themes of human movement and migration in the Old and New Testaments and examines the origins and transmission of these textual collections in light of their shared character as products of and responses to the mobile worlds of the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean.

This course explores the historical, literary, and ideological elements of justice in the Old Testament. Consideration is given to the origins of morality, the relationship between law and justice, and comparative examinations of various biblical and modern conceptions of justice and moral agency.

This course surveys the intersections of mobility and religion with a special focus on historic and contemporary instances of migration, diaspora, and pilgrimage. Students will explore how cultures of mobility inform religious development and how certain types of movement can become institutionalized religious practice. The course also investigates the core question of whether there are unique characteristics to religion in contexts of mobility.

This course offers an interdisciplinary study of the complex relationship between biblical texts and bodies. The central theme of the course is how bodies, specifically those understood as religious, are created through cultures of religious practice and textual embodiment. Areas of focus will include ritual praxis, adornment, clothing, body modification, hallucinogenic and consciousness-enhancing drugs, sex, and choices for medical care.

This course explores religious place and space in and beyond biblical texts. We begin with a survey of urban and rural landscapes in the biblical corpus that weaves together archaeology, phenomenology of landscape, urban planning, architecture, and philosophies of space to understand the cultures of spatial production and practice that inform the worlds in and around the Bible. Students will investigate the rural/urban and mobile/settled divides present across biblical texts. Special attention will be paid to spatial practice, including gendered aspects of space and spatial negotiation, as well as to relationships between rural/urban religiosities in past/present contexts. Finally, students will examine the ways biblical texts have shaped religious life in fictive and real spaces in later traditions.

In the face of increasing polarization around issues of religion in the public sphere, what tensions and possibilities impact American political life and the development of public policy? This course will address the role of religion in public life, exploring the ways religion shapes perspectives about public policy issues related to gender, families, sexuality, science, race, immigration, education, and work, among others. Consideration will be given to the impact of religious views on the democratic process and related institutions, including the role of religion in social movements and the implications of the rise of Christian nationalism.

This course explores the relationship between a variety of Christian institutional forms and the relationship of those institutions to their larger cultures.  Particular attention will be paid to the global nature of the church, to its immense diversity, and to its impact on cultures of different times and places.

This course investigates the relationship between cognitive, moral, and emotional developmental processes to the formation of religious faith from childhood through older adulthood. Special emphasis is placed on James Fowler's faith development theory, including psychological and theological sources, critiques, and alternative approaches.

Seminar on selected topic(s). Comprised of intensive study, discussion, and participation in other learning activities.

This course explores women’s agency and identity in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions through presentations of women in religious texts and through accounts of the lived experiences of women who are religious practitioners in these traditions. Students will engage in historic and recent discussions around the intersections of religion, gender, sex, power, marriage, and violence in public & private domains of women’s lives.

This course explores the evolution of religion in Appalachia beginning with local indigenous traditions and the later introduction of Western European Christianity into the region.  The class will consider unique Appalchian forms of religiosity that have developed over the years, set against the backdrop of the larger American religious tradition.

Capstone experience required of all majors in their final year of study. Paired with a RELG 470/471 internship experience or RELG 480 independent student project. For seniors only, except with permission of the department chair.

Advanced directed study in a specific area, under the supervision of a faculty member. Permission of the department chair required.

Work experience related to the student's major, jointly supervised by the department and a professional in the field. Internships will carry either three or six hours credit. Each hour of credit will require forty hours at the internship site.

Work experience related to the student's major, jointly supervised by the department and a professional in the field. Internships will carry either three or six hours credit. Each hour of credit will require forty hours at the internship site.

Individual research project component of the senior seminar, developed in consultation with faculty in the department, requiring the senior religion major to apply acquired analytical and research skills in exploring an appropriate religious studies topic.

Independent research in a special topic for honors.

Independent research in a special topic for honors.