Religious Studies
Campus Box 1065
One Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
(314) 935-8677

Courses

Spring 2009 || Fall 08 || Summer 08 || Spring 08 || Fall 07

For a complete list of courses offered by Washington University
please go to WUCrsL.

L23 180 Re St Freshman Seminar in Religious Studies: The Self in Chinese Thought
What is the self? Throughout history, selves and thinkers who think about the self have lived and imagined numberless answers to this question. Some argue the true self is an autonomous, freely choosing individual; while others insist the self is only truly the self in social relation with others. Some see reason as the key to selfhood; others insist that feeling and an abundance in feeling marks the true self. This freshman seminar examines such universal and perennial questions about the self primarily within the context of Chinese religious and philosophical texts but also through comparative studies with formulations of the self from select "western" classics. We will examine with depth Daoist and Confucian works such as the Daodejing of Laozi, the Zhuangzi, the Analects, the writings of Wang Yangming, and contemporary works on Confucianism and human rights, while comparing such texts with ideas of the self from classical "western" writings such as those of Aristotle, Freud, and Augustine as well as works of contemporary scholars such as Charles Taylor and Carol Gilligan. Our particular topics of discussion will be shaped by student interests but will include the self in relation to society, human rights, reason and feeling, "authentic" expressions of the self, the self within the private and public spheres, and the gendered self. The aim of the course is three-fold: one, to explore vocabulary that will aid us in thinking about long-standing questions of the self, second, to examine our own ideas about what is the self and third, to introduce ourselves to some of the most widely read classics within the history of Chinese thought. 3 units.
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01 TuTh 1:00p-2:30p XXXII Lee

L23 203 Re St Intro to Religious Traditions II: Asian Religions
This course is designed to introduce students to the study of religion by exploring the major religious traditions of Asia. Traditions that have taken shape in Asian cultural contexts include the Buddhist, Sikh, Islamic, Hindu, Taoist, Jain, and Confucian traditions. These traditions have shaped and been shaped by the rich traditions of literary and performative culture, ethics, sociality and polity in the regions of Asia. Familiarity with these traditions provides a foundation for understanding the cultures of South and East Asia, from film and literature to contemporary political life. Study of Asian traditions also deepens our understanding of the possibilities of human being and striving, and of the manifold aims and means of religious endeavor. Note: Specific traditions and regions emphasized in this course will vary. This course replaces L23 106 and is required of all Religious Studies majors who have not taken L23 106. 3 units. Same as L03 East Asia 203, U66 RelSt 203A.
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01 TuTh 11:30a-1:00p XIII Komarovski

L23 207 Re St Scriptures and Cultural Traditions
Certain books, "sacred scriptures," have shaped human culture in powerful and complex ways. Religious communities believe that Scriptures are ancient texts that are ever-flowing sources of timeless truths. We will do close readings of crucial Scriptural texts and explore how they are interpreted and why they have had such a profound impact on human communities, in social organization and the behavior of individuals, in literature, art, and politics. This year the course will focus on the canonical texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Preference given to TEXT & TRADITION and IPH students. 3 units. Same as home course L93 Hum 209.
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01 TuTh 10:00a-11:30a XXXI Poag
SECT 02: This section will have additional art historical themes. Students will also study the changing shape of the actual books of sacred scripture in the different religions, the scriptural suport/intolerance for artistic representation in sacred texts, and issues of narrative selection in art and texts.
02 MW 10:00a-11:30a XXXI Fleck

L23 208F Re St Intro to Jewish Civilization
This course is a selective survey of the historical, religious, cultural, literary, and political development of Judaism from antiquity to the present. Topics include the development of the Bible and subsequent textual tradition of Judaism, the basic concepts of Jewish religious thought, Jewish law, custom and ritual, and art. The course will highlight a variety of Jewish communities in different cultural and geographical settings, such as the Jews in the Roman Empire, Jewish life under Medieval Islam and Christianity, and the Jewish experience in modern Europe, the US, and Israel. Each week a different topic will be studied through primary and secondary readings (in translation), to be supplemented by audiovisual materials. 3 units. Same as home course L75 JNE 208F.
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01 MW 12:00p-1:00p XX Jacobs
Discussion sections:
A F 12:00p-1:00p XXXI [TBA]
B F 12:00p-1:00p XXXI [TBA]
C F 2:00p-3:00p XXXI [TBA]
D F 2:00p-3:00p XXXI [TBA]

L23 300 Re St Intro to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
A survey of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) examined in the historical and cultural context of the ancient Near East. Traditional Jewish and Christian interpretation of the Bible is discussed. No knowledge of Hebrew required; no prerequisites. 3 units. Same as L35 BHBR 300, L75 JNE 300, L75 JNE 5001.
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01 TuTh 11:30a-1:00p XIII N. Jacobs

L23 303 Re St The Daoist Tradition: Ethics, Poetry, Literature
This course offers an introduction to the ethical aspects of the Taoist tradition through the study of a select number of literary and philosophical texts ranging from ca. 300 BCE through the present day. We will explore questions regarding the relationship between nature and culture, conceptions of the self, and ideas about the good life. 3 units. Same as L06 ANECC 303, L03 East Asia 303, L97 IAS 3030.
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01 TuTh 10:00a-11:30a XXXII Lee

L23 307F Re St Intro to The New Testament
Primitive Christianity through the literature it produced as it emerged from a sect within Palestinian Judaism to a distinct contending faith in the Hellenistic world. Focuses upon (1) major Pauline letters, (2) Synoptic Gospels (including critical methodologies), (3) the Johannine corpus, (4) earliest Apostolic writings. 3 units. Same as U66 RelSt 307F.
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01 TuTh 10:00a-11:30a XXXI Flinn

L23 310 Re St Contemporary Jewish Thought
This course studies the ideas, major works, and historical contexts of significant Jewish thinkers in European and American history since the 17th century. Among others, we will discuss figures and movements such as Baruch Spinoza and rationalism; Moses Mendelssohn and the Haskalah (the "Jewish Enlightenment"); the "Science of Judaism" movement of the 19th century; debates among rabbis over Jewish religious life in the modern world; various forms of Jewish nationalism, including Zionism; as well as 20th century thinkers such as Hermann Cohen, Leo Baeck, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Mordechai Kaplan, and Abraham Heschel. We will also examine intellectual and theological responses to the Holocaust, modern Jewish feminist philosophy, and current trends in Jewish thought. Throughout the course, we will ask what it means to be a "Jewish intellectual" and how figures identified in this way have confronted questions and problems related to the modern Jewish experience. The format of the course will include lectures and discussions of primary texts and selected secondary works. L75 JNE 510 is for graduate students only. 3 units. Same as home course L75 JNE 310.
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01 TuTh 10:00a-11:30a XX Brown

L23 314C Re St Islamic History: 1200-1800
A survey of the major Islamic polities and societies of the Nile-to-Oxus region from 1200 to 1800; their cultures, socioeconomic conditions and historical development. Particular attention is given to the Mamluk and Ottoman Middle East, Safavid Iran, and Mughal India. This course satisfies the pre-modern course requirement for the history major. PREREQ: SEE HISTORY HEADNOTE. 3 units. Same as home course L22 History 314C.
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01 TuTh 2:30p-4:00p XXIV Karamustafa

L23 3221 Re St Topics in Italian Studies: The Jewish Experience In Italy, 1850-1945
This course will examine the social and political history of the Jews of Italy from the period of Italian unification through the end of the Second World War. We will look through two different prisms: first, the constant of Jews' minority status in a Catholic country at a time when Church doctrine was hostile to them and second, their changing status during significant moments in the brief history of the Italian monarchy. Under the latter rubric we will study the rehabilitation of the Jews under liberal political philosophies, their problematic relationship with Fascism, and finally the arrival of the Holocaust in Italy and efforts to defend Jews against Nazi genocide. We will approach these topics wherever possible through primary texts, including essays, memoirs, and novels. Reading knowledge of Italian is not required. Readings in English; some readings in Italian for Italian majors. Discussion in English. Prereq for Italian majors: Italian 307D; no prerequisite for students in other majors. Three five-page papers. 3 units. Same as home course L36 Ital 3221.
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01 MWF 1:00p-2:00p XXIII Sherberg

L23 3263 Re St The High Middle Ages: 1000-1500
This course will begin with the first millennium in the West and end with the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. We will explore issues such as the relationship of popes to kings, of cities to villages, of Jews to Christians, of vernacular literature to Latin, of knights to peasants, of the sacred to the profane. This course satisfies the pre-modern course requirement for the history major. PREREQ: SEE HISTORY HEADNOTE. 3 units. Same as home course L22 History 3263.
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01 W 1:00p-4:00p V Pegg

L23 3301 Re St Religion and Science
This course explores the relationships between religion and the natural sciences from an historical perspective, focusing on developments in the West from the 17th century to the present, with special emphasis on Galileo, Darwin, and contemporary issues raised by cosmology and evolutionary biology. Topics include the Bible and science, natural theology, and the viability of religious belief in the context of 20th-century science. 3 units. Same as L22 History 3302.
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01 TuTh 2:30p-4:00p XXXI Flinn

L23 3313 Re St Women and Islam
An anthropological study of the position of women in the contemporary Muslim world, with examples drawn primarily from the Middle East but also from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the United States. Students will examine ethnographic, historical, and literary works, including those written by Muslim women. Topics having a major impact on the construction of gender include Islamic belief and ritual, modest dress (veiling), notions of marriage and the family, modernization, nationalism and the nation-state, politics and protest, legal reform, formal education, work, and westernization. The course includes a visit to a St. Louis mosque, discussions with Muslim women, and films. L75 5313 IS INTENDED FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS ONLY. 3 units. Same as home course L48 Anthro 3313.
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01 Tu 1:00p-3:30p XXXI Beck

L23 343C Re St Europe in the Age of the Reformation
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Europe was torn apart by the theological, social, and political upheaval created by Martin Luther's challenge to the Roman Catholic Church. We will examine the late medieval history of dissent and the social and religious environment that made the Reformation possible. We will also analyze the doctrines and the tactics of the principal branches of Protestantism and the Catholic Church's response, and the social and political impact of the Reformation. This course satisfies the pre-modern course requirement for the history major. PREREQ: SEE HISTORY HEADNOTE. 3 units. Same as home course L22 History 343C.
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01 TuTh 4:00p-5:30p XXV Bornstein

L23 367 Re St Jewish American Literature "Roth And Company"
Roth and Company: This course will examine the writings of Philip Roth, Saul Bellow and Bernard Malamud. We will focus on Roth for half of the course with three of his most ethnically-centered novels: Portnoy's Complaint, The Ghost Writer, and The Counterlife. Among the other works we will read are Bellow's Herzog and Malamud's The Fixer. The course will attempt to come to terms with the different ways each writer depicts the conflicted nature of the Jewish experience in America, particularly as it can both enable and disable the struggle for identity, community, and humanity. Satisfies the American requirement. 3 units. Same as home course L14 E Lit 367.
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01 TuTh 1:00p-2:30p XVIII Rosenzweig

L23 368 Re St Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion
What is religion? In this course, we will explore how religious ritual may help to clarify the nature and function of religion. We will first consider some "classic" theories of religion and ritual, such as those of James Frazer, Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, Mircea Eliade, Max Weber, E. E. Evans-Pritchard, and Clifford Geertz. NOTE: This course is required for Religious Studies majors and minors. It is recommended that this course be taken after completion of L23 105 (or L23 202) and L23 106. 3 units. Same as L98 AMCS 3688.
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01 MW 1:00p-2:30p XXIII Adcock

L23 385D Re St Topics in Biblical Hebrew Texts: Chronicles and the Reworking of Biblical Tradition
A study of the Book of Chronicles, with a focus on its adaption of traditions in the Books of Samuel and Kings, a close look at how it reveals the development of the Hebrew language, and an analysis of its theological concerns. The course will also explore the controversial question of Chronicles' relationship to the book of Ezra-Nehemiah and comment on Chronicles' connection with later forms of Judaism. Knowledge of Biblical Hebrew required. PREREQ: BHBR 384/584, OR INSTRUCTOR'S PERMISSION. 3 units. Same as home course L35 BHBR 385D.
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SECT 01: L75-585D is intended for GRADUATE STUDENTS ONLY.
01 TuTh 2:30p-4:00p XXIV N. Jacobs

L23 38C8 Re St Religion and Politics in South Asia: Writing Intensive Seminar
The relationship between religion, community, and nation is a topic of central concern and contestation in the study of South Asian history. This course will explore alternative positions and debates on such topics as: changing religious identities; understandings of the proper relationship between religion, community, and nation in India and Pakistan; and the violence of Partition (the division of India and Pakistan in 1947). The course will treat India, Pakistan, and other South Asian regions in the colonial and post-colonial periods. This course satisfies the modern course requirement for the history major. PREREQ: SEE HISTORY HEADNOTE. 3 units. Same as home course L22 History 38C8.
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01 TuTh 2:30p-4:00p XXXI Adcock

L23 393 Re St Medieval Christianity
This course surveys the historical development of Christian doctrine, ecclesiastical organization, and religious practice between the fifth century and the fifteenth, with an emphasis on the interaction of religion, culture, politics, and society. Topics covered include the Christianization of Europe, monasticism, the liturgy, sacramental theology and practice, the Gregorian reform, religious architecture, the mendicant orders and the attack on heresy, lay devotions, the papal monarchy, schism and conciliarism, and the reform movements of the fifteenth century. 3 units. Same as L22 History 393.
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01 TuTh 1:00p-2:30p XXXII Bornstein

L23 4000 Re St IPH Thesis Prospectus Workshop
Students will assist each other in developing viable thesis topics, compiling bibliographies, and preparing research plans. Students will give formal and informal oral presentations of their proposed topics. Prospectuses and, if possible, drafts of first chapters will be peer-edited. The one-credit workshop may be taken for three credits by those students who take the IPH Junior Comprehensive Exam. Credit variable, max 3 units. Same as home course L93 Hum 401.
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01 TuTh 4:00p-5:30p XXXI Coleman

L23 4042 Re St Islam Across Cultures
In this seminar we examine the variety of historical and contemporary ways of interpreting and practicing Islam, with special attention to issues of ritual, law and the state, and gender. Cases are drawn from Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and students engage in fieldwork or library research projects. 3 units. Same as home course L48 Anthro 4042.
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01 W 9:00a-11:30a XXXII Bowen

L23 4401 Re St Topics in Rabbinic Texts: Mishnah and Gemara
The course aims to introduce students to independent reading of selected texts in Mishnah and related Talmudic tractates in the original language. We will focus on a number of topics representing the range of rabbinic discussion, including legal, narrative, and ethical issues. At the same time, we will study the necessary linguistic tools for understanding rabbinic texts. Prereq: BHBR 385 or MHBR 401 or instructor's permission. 3 units. Same as home course L35 BHBR 440.
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01 MW 2:30p-4:00p XV M. Jacobs

L23 478 Re St Topics in Religious Studies: Buddhist Perspectives on Dying, Death and Transcendence
This course concentrates on the Buddhist doctrinal teachings, meditative techniques, ritual practices, and ethical issues related to death and dying. We will be analyzing how Buddhists of different cultures approach the issues of rebirth, dissolution of consciousness in the process of dying, the post-mortem state and related visions, funeral rituals, meditations on death, and specific practices utilizing the death process to transcend the cycle of death and rebirth. We will also address in detail such important ethical issues as killing, war, suicide, euthanasia, and abortion. These and other topics are discussed within the broader context of the Buddhist traditions of Theravada Buddhism, Tibetan Tantric Buddhism (including the book popularly known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead), Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, Zen, and other Buddhist traditions. Prereqs: at least one course in Asian religions or Buddhism is highly desired. 3 units. Same as L03 East Asia 4781, U66 RelSt 4781.
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01 TuTh 4:00p-5:30p XXXII Komarovski

L23 479 Re St Senior Seminar in Religious Studies: Soul, Self, Person in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
What is a "human individual"? Who am I? Do we have souls? Are we immortal? These and a host of other questions that relate to personal identity and selfhood form integral parts of theological, philosophical, spiritual teachings and inquiry in all three of the western monotheisms. In all three cases, the key concept at the nexus of all discussions on these issues is that of the soul. The course is designed as a critical examination of this concept. Initial coverage of Greek/Hellenistic conceptions will be followed by close reading of selected texts in conjunction with relevant scholarly literature. Questions addressed will include: the nature, composition, origin, and final end of the soul; its relation to God; meaning of life and death; the resurrection; communication between souls, dead and alive; dreams. PREREQ: SENIOR STANDING. The seminar is required of all Religious Studies majors (with the exception of those writing honors' theses). The class is also open, with permission of the instructor, to other advanced undergraduates with previous coursework in Religious Studies. Limited to 15 students. 3 units. Same as L97 IAS 4790, L75 JNE 479.
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01 TuTh 11:30a-1:00p XXXII Karamustafa

L23 490 Re St Topics in Islamic History: Comparative Studies of Religious Revival and Violence in the Early Mode
This course explores the development of theories of religious revival and jihad in the Islamic tradition, alongside comparable ones from other traditions, including the Jewish, Christian, and Roman. After laying the comparative theoretical groundwork in the first half, the course will shift attention to specific historical movements of religious revival and violence in the early modern era. The focus, though set in a comparative framework, will be concentrated on the Islamic tradition. Among other topics, we will explore the theories of al-Maqdisi, Ibn Taymiyya, and al-Shawkani, and the movements of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Sayyid Ahmad Barelwi, and Hasan al-Banna. Towards the end of the course, we will spend time exploring the historical roots of the Bin Laden phenomenon. 3 units. Same as L97 IAS 4910, L75 JNE 490.
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01 MW 8:30a-10:00a XXXI Ahmed

L23 4965 Re St Advanced Seminar in History: Magic, Heresy, and Witchcraft in the Middle Ages: 350-1550
This seminar will study the history of magic, heresy, and witchcraft in the Middle Ages. It will begin in the fourth century after to conversion of Constatine and end with the great witchcraft trials of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The seminar will read magical treatises, ecclesiastical polemics against vulgar belief, inquisitional trials, chrinicals, and histories, in our attempt to define what was considered the ordinary and the extraordinary, the natural and the supernatural in the medieval world. Consequently, the history of magic, heresy, and witchcraft, as understoofby people in the past and historians in the present, will be discussed. An important theme throughout this seminar will be the definition of evil and the powers of the devil. This course satisfies the pre-modern course requirement for the history major. ONLINE REGISTRATION UNAVAILABLE: STUDENTS MUST CONTACT INSTRUCTOR FOR PERMISSION TO ENROLL IN THIS COURSE. PREREQ: SEE HISTORY HEADNOTE. 4 units. Same as home course L22 History 4965.
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01 Tu 1:00p-4:00p XXXI Pegg

L23 499 Re St Independent Work Senior Honors II
Investigation of a topic, chosen in conjunction with a faculty advisor, on which the student prepares a paper and is examined. Students will take L23 498 in the fall semester and L23 499 in the spring semester. Prereq: Admission to the Honor's program, and permission of the program director and the major advisor. 3 units.
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** See start of this departmental entry or contact department directly for details on faculty/sections and enrollment.
01-09 XXX TBA

L23 500 Re St Independent Work
PERMISSION OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE PROGRAM. Credit variable, max 6 units. ** See start of this departmental entry or contact department directly for details on faculty/sections and enrollment.
01-09 XXX TBA

University College Courses

U66 106 RelSt The Hebrew Bible: Values, Ideologies, and Politics
The Bible is a very complicated collection of books (the library of the ancient Jews), based on oral traditions and written materials, which were written, rewritten, edited, and re-edited over a 1,000-year period. It contains a variety of values and ideologies, which developed in response to concrete social and political conditions. In this course students cover the development of the Bible as a literary document and undertake a careful reading of the text to uncover and analyze its themes in their historical context. 3 units. Tuition: $1,485.00. Same as home course U94 JINE 106.
01 Tu 6:30p-9:00p XXXIV Joseph Rosenbloom

U66 203A RelSt Intro to Religious Traditions II: Asian Religions
This course is designed to introduce students to the study of religion by exploring the major religious traditions of Asia. Traditions that have taken shape in Asian cultural contexts include the Buddhist, Sikh, Islamic, Hindu, Taoist, Jain, and Confucian traditions. These traditions have shaped and been shaped by the rich traditions of literary and performative culture, ethics, sociality and polity in the regions of Asia. Familiarity with these traditions provides a foundation for understanding the cultures of South and East Asia, from film and literature to contemporary political life. Study of Asian traditions also deepens our understanding of the possibilities of human being and striving, and of the manifold aims and means of religious endeavor. Note: Specific traditions and regions emphasized in this course will vary. This course replaces L23 106 and is required of all Religious Studies majors who have not taken L23 106. 3 units. Tuition: $350.00. Same as home course L23 Re St 203.
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01 TuTh 11:30a-1:00p XIII Komarovski

U66 380 RelSt Topics in Religion: Proving or Disproving The Existence of God
The seminar will examine the classic arguments for and against the existence of God. Emphasis will be placed on original texts. The course will begin with the arguments for and against in classic Greek thought, including Plato, Aristotle, Democritus and Lucretius, to be followed with the God treatments in medieval Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Indian thinkers: Adi Shankara, Anselm, Al-Farabi, Maimonides, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, etc. This section with end with the critical evaluation of proofs in the Enlightement: Descartres, Hume and Kant with a reprise to Hegel. The course will conclude with current populist arguments between negators like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens affirmers like Dinesh D'Souza. Attention will be given to types of argument, the ontological proof, modern science and proof, pragmatic arguments (William James), and proofs based on modal logic (Gödel). 3 units. Tuition: $1,485.00. Same as U98 MLA 580.
01 W 6:30p-9:00p XXXII Flinn

U66 4781 RelSt Topics in Religious Studies: Buddhist Perspectives on Dying, Death and Transcendence
This course concentrates on the Buddhist doctrinal teachings, meditative techniques, ritual practices, and ethical issues related to death and dying. We will be analyzing how Buddhists of different cultures approach the issues of rebirth, dissolution of consciousness in the process of dying, the post-mortem state and related visions, funeral rituals, meditations on death, and specific practices utilizing the death process to transcend the cycle of death and rebirth. We will also address in detail such important ethical issues as killing, war, suicide, euthanasia, and abortion. These and other topics are discussed within the broader context of the Buddhist traditions of Theravada Buddhism, Tibetan Tantric Buddhism (including the book popularly known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead), Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, Zen, and other Buddhist traditions. Prereqs: at least one course in Asian religions or Buddhism is highly desired. 3 units. Tuition: $1,485.00. Same as home course L23 Re St 478.
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01 TuTh 4:00p-5:30p XXXII Komarovski