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Religion

RELI E-1010 World Religions Today: Diaspora, Diversity, and Dialogue (13481)

Fall term

Diana L. Eck, PhD, Fredric Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society and Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, Harvard University.

Course tuition: noncredit and undergraduate credit $950, graduate credit $1,850.

Online only, beginning Sept. 3. Lecture 1 video.

This course is an introduction to five of the world's religious traditions—Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim—through the voices of modern adherents and interpreters of the tradition. Readings from Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Emil Fackenheim, Pope John Paul II, Tariq Ramadan, and others. How do people in each tradition articulate their faith in the context of globalization, pluralism, and the issues of today? What are the tensions within traditions? What are the dialogues between traditions? The recorded lectures are from the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences course Religion 11. (4 credits)

RELI E-1015/W Comparative Religious Ethics (12898)

Fall term

Anne E. Monius, PhD, Professor of South Asian Religions, Harvard Divinity School.

Class times: Wednesdays beginning Sept. 2, 5:30-7:30 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit and undergraduate credit $950, graduate credit $1,850.

Online option available. Lecture 1 video.

Writing-intensive course.

This course is a comparative examination of conceptions of the moral self and ways of thinking and acting ethically within the framework of three religious traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. (4 credits)

RELI E-1028 Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) (13388)

Fall term

Shaye J. D. Cohen, PhD, Nathan Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy, Harvard University.

Class times: Tuesdays beginning Sept. 1, 5:30-7:30 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit and undergraduate credit $950, graduate credit $1,850.

Online option available. Lecture 1 video.

This course surveys the major books and ideas of the Hebrew Bible (commonly called the Old Testament). The course also treats the historical contexts in which the books of the Bible emerged, and the Bible's role as canonical scripture in Judaism and Christianity. All readings done in translation; no prior knowledge is assumed. (4 credits)

RELI E-1047 Religion, the Arts, and Social Change (23093)

Spring term

Diane L. Moore, PhD, Professor of the Practice in Religious Studies and Education, Harvard Divinity School.

Class times: Wednesdays beginning Jan. 27, 7:35-9:35 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

Course taught via live video conference.

Through historical and contemporary case studies, this course examines the intersection of religion and politics through the lens of the arts. What do particular artistic expressions reveal about religious influences and worldviews within specific social and historical contexts? How do political assumptions about religion and culture influence artistic expression? Literature, poetry, visual art, music, theater, and dance from around the world are explored. Case studies may include the Christian Passion, the veil, Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Nazi Germany, the cold war, apartheid in South Africa, and the Afro-Brazilian experience. Cross-global cases may also be explored through the lenses of immigration, gay and lesbian rights, global warming, and gender equality. Students present their own artistic creations at the last class. (4 credits)

RELI E-1063 Literature of Journey and Quest (22840)

Spring term

Stephanie A. Paulsell, PhD, Amory Houghton Professor of the Practice of Ministry Studies, Harvard Divinity School.

Class times: Wednesdays beginning Jan. 27, 7:35-9:35 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

This course explores themes of journey and quest in world literature with particular attention to the religious dimensions of those themes. The course considers the relationship between home and exile, between interior journeys and journeys through external landscapes, and between the religious and literary dimensions of literature itself. (4 credits)

RELI E-1066 Dreams and The Dreaming (13432)

Fall term

Kimberley Christine Patton, PhD, Professor of the Comparative and Historical Study of Religion, Harvard Divinity School.

Class times: Thursdays beginning Sept. 3, 5:30-7:30 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

Dreams play a pivotal role in the world's religions and mythologies, for example, as initiation, gateway to the other world or the divine guide, healing event, journey, and prophecy. Focus is on ancient Greece, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (4 credits)

RELI E-1420 History of Ancient Christianity (13310)

Fall term

Helmut Koester, DrTheol, John H. Morison Research Professor of Divinity and Winn Research Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Harvard Divinity School.

Class times: Thursdays beginning Sept. 3, 7:35-9:35 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

This course examines Christian history from the beginnings to the end of the fourth century in its political and cultural context. We discuss Jesus, the diversity of developments, the process of institutionalization, Montanism and Gnosticism, the development of doctrine, persecutions, and the controversies and councils of the fourth century. (4 credits)

RELI E-1503 Religion and Society in America Today: Change and Continuity (23174)

Spring term

Harvey G. Cox, Jr., PhD, Hollis Research Professor of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School.

Course tuition: noncredit and undergraduate credit $950, graduate credit $1,850.

Online only, beginning Jan 27. Required sections to be arranged.

In this course, we study relations between the Protestant mainline and evangelicals; developments in black churches; Buddhists and Muslims in America; tensions in American Catholicism; the role of immigrants; the growth of mega-churches; trends in Judaism; Pentecostalism; religion in film, TV, and the Internet; and the rise of spirituality, examining the theological bases of today's rapid changes, and tracing past roots and projecting future probabilities. The recorded lectures are from the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences course Religion 1561. (4 credits)

RELI E-1505 Religion, Education, and Democracy (13202)

Fall term

Diane L. Moore, PhD, Professor of the Practice in Religious Studies and Education, Harvard Divinity School.

Class times: Wednesdays beginning Sept. 2, 7:35-9:35 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

Course taught via live web conference.

The focus of this course is to develop an understanding of the complex intersection between religion, secularism, democracy, and public education in multicultural America. Our exploration includes a historical review of the relationship between religion and public education in the US with special attention to pivotal Supreme Court decisions that have shaped public policy discourses in these areas over the past half century; a consideration of the social and moral consequences that stem from privileging secularism as the normative ideology of the public sphere; and a historical and contemporary analysis of differing views regarding the nature and purpose of public education and the role of religion in those debates. Final projects focus on the legal, political, or curricular dimensions of the course. (4 credits)

RELI E-1550 Understanding Islam and Contemporary Muslim Societies (23089)

Spring term

Ali S. Asani, PhD, Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures, Harvard University.

Class times: Tuesdays beginning Jan. 26, 7:35-9:35 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit and undergraduate credit $950, graduate credit $1,850.

Online option available.

This course is an introductory survey of the fundamental concepts of Islam and the devotional practices of Muslims around the world, focusing on the diversity of Muslim religious worldviews and the manner in which they have been shaped by the political, social, and cultural contexts in which Muslims live, particularly in the modern period. (4 credits)

RELI E-1705 Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism (22756)

Spring term

Leonard van der Kuijp, PhD, Professor of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies, Harvard University.

Class times: Tuesdays beginning Jan. 26, 5:30-7:30 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

This course is an introduction to and exploration of Tibetan Buddhism in the context of Tibetan intellectual and political history, cultural manifestations, doctrines, and thought. Students read secondary works and examine various primary materials in translation. The course assumes no background in the study of Buddhism, Asian history, religion, or languages. (4 credits)

RELI E-1710 Introduction to the Hindu Traditions of India (22731)

Spring term

Anne E. Monius, PhD, Professor of South Asian Religions, Harvard Divinity School.

Class times: Wednesdays beginning Jan. 27, 5:30-7:30 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

This course is an introduction to the many distinct yet interrelated religious traditions of South Asia that are often labeled Hinduism. We consider the ways in which Hindus from a variety of historical time periods, local traditions, and social backgrounds have attempted to make sense of their world and their lives within it. (4 credits)

RELI E-2000 Methods in Religious Studies and Education: Integrating the Study of Religion into Curricula (23338)

Spring term

Tom Rooney, PhD.

Class times: Mondays beginning Jan. 25, 7:35-9:35 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

Course taught via live web conference.

Students learn how to integrate the study of religion from a nonsectarian perspective throughout the curriculum by applying a cultural studies methodology that is interdisciplinary and appropriate for all ages. Participants learn the foundations of a cultural studies approach and have the opportunity to construct lesson plans and unit plans suitable for their educational settings. Prerequisite: RELI E-1505, or the equivalent. (4 credits)



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