Spring 2024 Course Descriptions

CST / RELS 120 – Catholic Thought: An Introduction
On Campus, TR 12:30-1:45
Instructor: Dr. Laura Dingeldein
For nearly two thousand years, Catholics have put their welfare, comfort, health, and even lives on the line for their God and religion. In this course we will examine these witnesses and martyrs within the Catholic tradition, using this topic as a lens through which to investigate some of the prominent and distinctive themes of Catholic thought.
Past

RELS 130 – Introduction to Islam
On Campus, TR 11:00-12:15
Instructor: Ariz Saleem
Both the fastest growing religion in the world and the frequent subject of misunderstanding and suspicion, Islam is a significant feature of the modern landscape. This course explores various facets of Islamic religion (beliefs, practices, history, society) from its origins in seventh-century Arabia to its status as a multicultural and global religious expression today.
World Cultures

RELS/HIST 177 – Middle Eastern Civilization
Asynchronous Online + On Campus F discussion
Instructor: Dr. Junaid Quadri
Past; World Cultures

RELS/JST/CL 225 – Intellectual Confluences in Medieval Judaism and Islam
On Campus, TR 9:30-10:45
Instructor: Scott Doolin
This course will examine various cross-cultural interactions occurring in the Medieval Muslim and Jewish worlds, with a specific focus on intellectual exchanges and influences within this period. Throughout the semester, we will embark upon a close reading of primary and secondary texts discussing central issues of philosophy, theology and mysticism in medieval Judaism and Islam. No previous background is required for this course.

RELS 230/ANTH 217 Anthropology of Islam
On Campus, TR 11:00-12:15
Instructor: Dr. Nermeen Mouftah
How can the multitudes of Muslim practices around the world be characterized by a single “Islam”? Is there such a thing as Muslim culture(s), or is this a concept used for political and social domination?
This course introduces students to the many different ways that Islam is practiced around the world. Students will explore how anthropologists have approached Islam and Muslims, and place these approaches within the anthropology of religion more broadly. Students will encounter Muslims in majority and minority contexts as they engage such themes as tradition and modernity, gender and sexuality, medicine and science, authority and rebellion, identity and belonging, secularism and religious revivalism. Along the way, we will consider how ethnographic representation is shaped by colonialism, orientalism, and postcolonialism.
RELS 230 can be repeated as long as the topic is different. Students who took RELS 230 in Fall 2023 are welcome in Spring 2024!
World Cultures
download printable flyer

RELS/CL/HIST 232 The Religious World of the Earliest Christians
On Campus, TR 3:30-4:45
Instructor: Dr. Laura Dingeldein
This course explores the religious world of the earliest Christians, focusing on the ways in which early Christian ideas and practices arose out of the cultures, religions, and philosophies of the ancient Mediterranean basin. In particular, we will critically compare early Christian ideas and practices regarding miracle workers, the afterlife, morality, and group organization with ancient Mediterranean ideas and practices regarding these same things
Past
download printable flyer