Courses in Religious Studies

The format of this course is lecture and discussion. The usual enrollment in each section is 20 to 25 students. The course includes brief introductions to four or five major religious traditions, while exploring concepts and categories used in the study of religion, such as sacredness, myth, ritual, religious experience and social dimensions of religion. Traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism and Native American traditions are presented through their classic scriptures and traditional practices. Readings vary among sections but typically include important primary sources on Hindu thought and practice (e.g., the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-gita), Buddhist thought and practice ("The Questions of King Milinda," "The Heart Sutra," Jewish life and thought (selections from the Hebrew Bible, "The Sayings of the Fathers," Christian origins (one or more Gospels, selected Pauline letters), Islam (selections from the Qur'an and Sufi mystical poetry), Confucianism (the Analects), Taoism (the Tao Te Ching) and modern expressions of religion (e.g., Martin Buber's "I and Thou"). Many of the primary sources are studied in conjunction with relevant secondary sources (e.g., Rudolf Otto's "The Idea of the Holy," important articles by anthropologists of religion). The department of emphasizes writing, and several essays are assigned in this course. The course is open to all students. This counts toward a major requirement. No prerequisite. Offered fall and spring.

This course covers the same material as RLST 101 but is open only to first-year students and will be run in a seminar format. This counts toward a major requirement. No prerequisite. Offered every year.

This course presents an introduction to the study of religion, using the lens of gender and sexuality as a category of analysis. Students will examine constructions of the body, sexuality/celibacy, control and agency of marginalized persons, issues of fertility and purity, and gender performativity. A variety of religious traditions will be explored as well as feminist and gender/sexuality theorists. Open only to first-year students, with the possibility of second-year students with permission of the instructor. This counts toward the core course requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every two years.

This course aims at an in-depth exploration of controversial issues that marked turning points in Western religious history -- issues that resulted in trials and/or significant national debates. Each offering of the course will engage some combination of the following: the trial of Galileo, the English Reformation, the trial of Anne Hutchinson in Puritan New England, the abolition debate leading up to the American Civil War, and contemporary controversies over abortion and same-sex marriage. (Other trials, debates or controversies may be introduced from time to time.) The course is built upon the pedagogical approach called "Reacting to the Past," developed by Barnard College history professor Mark Carnes. Students separate into at least two competing factions as well as a group of indeterminates (or persuadables). Each student is assigned a role based on a historical person or a composite of ideas that informed the particular issue. Students will assume, research and reenact the roles of the various participants in these controversies. The goal is to persuade others, especially the indeterminates, to vote for the outcome that one’s role specifies. This counts toward an elective for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every two years.

This course is an introduction to the literature of the New Testament. Primary texts in English translation will be read to understand the social, political and religious concerns of Christian writers of the first and second centuries. Students will learn about canon formation, problems of historical criticism and competing forms of Christianity within the ancient world (including differing views of Jesus within canonical and noncanonical writings). The course also will examine the relation between Christianity and the Roman Empire, the relation between Christianity and Judaism, the relation between Christianity and Gnosticism and women within the New Testament. Methodologies currently practiced in biblical exegesis, including form criticism, redaction criticism, literary criticism, and sociohistorical criticism, also are introduced. Students must read assigned writings critically, analyzing structure, themes and the narrative voices of the texts to discover the distinctive literary and religious difference among New Testament writings. No previous familiarity with the New Testament is required. This counts toward the Christianity foundation course for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every two years.

This course seeks to combine a survey of the history of African-American religious experiences with an exploration of various themes emerging from that history. Special attention will fall on the social forces shaping such experiences; the influence of African-American religious commitments on their cultural, social and political activities; and the diversity of religious experiences and expressions among African Americans. The survey will encompass African religious heritage and its relevance in America; the religious life of slaves on the plantations and rise of independent African-American churches in both the North and the South; the role of African-American churches during Reconstruction and Jim Crow; the emergence of diverse African-American religious traditions and movements in the first half of the 20th Century; African-American religion in the civil rights era; and current trends and issues in African American religion and spirituality. Some of the themes that will occupy our attention include religion and resistance; religion and cultural formation; African American Christian missions; the Back-to-Africa Movement; the aesthetics of worship in African-American churches; class, gender and social mobility; and religion and political activism. We will employ a combination of primary and secondary readings along with audiovisual materials in exploring the development of and the issues in African-American religious experiences. This counts toward the American Religions foundation course for the major. No prerequisite. Offered fall semester every other year.

This course is an introduction to the formation of Judaism and Christianity in the Ancient Mediterranean, focusing on their shared developments, tensions and relationships. What aspects of their religious worlds did Jews and Christians share? What were the continuities and disruptions on their stances on issues ranging from communal authority, scriptural interpretation, ritual action and tolerance? How did they confront social issues like gender, ethnicity, legal power and poverty? We will explore these and other questions by focusing on a variety of approaches ranging from “lived religion,” material culture, contemporary readings of critical theory and others. We will devote our attention to pre-modern and modern examples of these interactions. This counts as an elective for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every two to three years.

This course examines various religious perspectives on the meaning and value of the natural world and the relationship of human beings to nature. The focus will be on environmental ethics in comparative perspective. We will look at Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Native American religions to see what conceptual resources they can offer to a contemporary understanding of a healthy relationship with the natural world. Prerequisite: any 100- or 200-level course in religious studies or permission of instructor. Offered every three years.

This course covers the central ideas and practices of Zen Buddhism in China, where it originated and is called Chan; Japan, where it has influenced many aspects of Japanese culture and from where it was exported to the West; and the United States. Readings include both primary texts and secondary studies and are supplemented by films. The class format is a combination of lecture and discussion. This counts toward an elective for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every three years.

This survey course acquaints students with major theoretical approaches to the academic study of religion. The course will cover phenomenological, psychoanalytical, sociological and anthropological approaches to religion. Authors to be discussed will include Frazer, Marx, Freud, Weber, Durkheim, Eliade, Lévi-Strauss, Douglas, Geertz and Turner. This course required for the major. Offered every fall.

This course is designed as a capstone experience in religious studies for majors in the department. The theme of the seminar will vary according to the instructor. Past themes have included religious autobiography, religion and cinema and new religious movements. The course is required for, but not limited to, senior religious studies majors. Religious studies minors are encouraged to enroll, provided there is space. Non-majors should consult the instructor for permission to register. Offered every fall.

The department reserves individual studies to highly motivated students who are judged responsible and capable enough to work independently. Such courses might entail original research, but usually they are reading-oriented, allowing students to explore in depth topics that interest them or that supplement aspects of the major. Students may pursue individual study only if they have taken all the courses offered by the department in that particular area of the curriculum. An individual study course cannot duplicate a course or topic being concurrently offered. Exceptions to this rule are at the discretion of the instructor and department chair. Students must secure the agreement of an instructor to provide guidance and supervision of the course. The instructor and student agree on the nature of the work expected (e.g., several short papers, one long paper, an in-depth project, a public presentation, a lengthy general outline and annotated bibliography). The level should be advanced, with work on a par with a 300- or 400-level course. The student and instructor should meet on a regular basis, with the schedule to be determined by the instructor in consultation with the student. Individual studies may be taken for 0.25 or 0.5 units, at the discretion of the instructor. A maximum of 0.50 uni of IS may count towards major or minor requirements in RLST department. A student is permitted to take only one 0.5 unit of IS in the department (one 0.5 unit course or two 0.25 unit courses). A student must present a petition with compelling reasons in order to obtain special permission to take an additional IS course. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study preferably the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek departmental approval before the registrar's deadline. Prerequisite: GPA of at least 3.0. Exceptions (e.g., languages not taught at Kenyon are granted at the discretion of the instructor, with the approval of the department chair.)