This course addresses topics related to the field of religious studies not addressed in other courses and is offered depending on interest. Prerequisites vary with topic. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic differs.
This course addresses topics related to the field of religious studies not addressed in other courses and is offered depending on interest. Prerequisites vary with topic. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic differs.
An introduction to and critical interrogation of what counts as "America" and "religion." It asks how these terms have been defined and debated and to what effect. This course examines select moments, figures, debates, and movements from colonial encounter to the present that have helped form and reshape these concepts (religion, America/n), particularly as they intersect with other categories of human distinction and difference-making, including race, space, gender, sex, and class.
An introduction to and critical interrogation of what counts as "America" and "religion." It asks how these terms have been defined and debated and to what effect. This course examines select moments, figures, debates, and movements from colonial encounter to the present that have helped form and reshape these concepts (religion, America/n), particularly as they intersect with other categories of human distinction and difference-making, including race, space, gender, sex, and class.
This course examines religious narratives of collective traumas: Jewish representations of the Shoah and Islamic and Christian representations of the Palestinian Nakba. Comparatively, how are discourses of loss and redemption coded within the symbolic universes of these historically-related religious traditions and deployed in the sacralized politics of memorialization and remembrance? What is the symbiotic relation between conflicting narratives of victimization, imbued with religious meaning, and the historical and contemporary situation in Israel and Palestine?
This course examines religious narratives of collective traumas: Jewish representations of the Shoah and Islamic and Christian representations of the Palestinian Nakba. Comparatively, how are discourses of loss and redemption coded within the symbolic universes of these historically-related religious traditions and deployed in the sacralized politics of memorialization and remembrance? What is the symbiotic relation between conflicting narratives of victimization, imbued with religious meaning, and the historical and contemporary situation in Israel and Palestine?
An examination of the origins, nature, and content of representative literature from the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Old Testament, and cognate literature. Attention is paid to issues of critical reading and theological interpretation of Jewish scriptures. Not open for credit to students who have completed RELG 141.
An examination of the origins, nature, and content of representative literature from the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Old Testament, and cognate literature. Attention is paid to issues of critical reading and theological interpretation of Jewish scriptures. Not open for credit to students who have completed RELG 141.
This course addresses topics related to the field of religious studies not addressed in other courses and is offered depending on interest. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic differs.
This course addresses topics related to the field of religious studies not addressed in other courses and is offered depending on interest. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic differs.
What do religious concepts such as flesh, nature, creation and spirit suggest for our understanding of body, mind, and matter? Conversely, what do new theories of mind, matter, and emotion suggest regarding these religious discourses and practices? How are agency, gender, politics, and the environment construed and lived in light of various paradigms of matter? Primary religious texts such as Augustine's Confessions and Spinoza's Ethics are examined in light of these questions.
Rhetoric
Study of the principles, precepts, and strategies of informative, persuasive, and ceremonial speaking. Emphasis is placed on assessing the rhetorical situation and researching, composing, practicing, and delivering a speech. Ethical, political, and social questions raised by speaking in public are considered. Students deliver speeches, practice effective listening, and serve as speech critics and interlocutors.
Study of the principles, precepts, and strategies of informative, persuasive, and ceremonial speaking. Emphasis is placed on assessing the rhetorical situation and researching, composing, practicing, and delivering a speech. Ethical, political, and social questions raised by speaking in public are considered. Students deliver speeches, practice effective listening, and serve as speech critics and interlocutors.
Topical survey of the major questions and controversies in rhetorical theory, criticism, and practice, including rhetorical situations, classical canons of rhetoric, the role of rhetoric in civic life, and the relationship of rhetoric to power, politics, law, education, and ethics. Students consider the rights and responsibilities of speakers and critics. Accordingly, readings include selections from a wide array of rhetorical theorists and critics as well as a diverse and open canon of orators and speakers.
In this survey of the expectations for successful speaking across several disciplines, students will explore the techniques, strategies, and precepts peer and professional tutors may employ to help student speakers and listeners attain their goals. Participants will examine samples of student speaking and listening, discuss possible responses, and develop model interactions between and among tutors and students.
Survey of the principles and practices of rhetorical inquiry. Focus on approaches to rhetorical criticism, rhetorical history, the history of rhetoric, and archival research. Exposure to the wide array of methodologies, critical perspectives, and citation standards in humanities-based scholarship. Prepares students to write senior-level papers and theses in rhetorical studies.
A seminar on a topic related to rhetoric. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic differs.
Intercultural Communication focuses on the importance of culture in our everyday lives, and the ways in which culture relates to and influences communication processes. With the goal of increasing students’ Intercultural Communication Competence, this interdisciplinary course examines several topics including: identity, perception, culture shock, cultural adaptation, linguistic differences, nonverbal communication, among others. Through a practical application of theory and research, students will explore intercultural communication in a global context relating to the family, education, media, and business.
Russian
An introduction to the fundamentals of the language and culture with emphasis on communicative proficiency, clarity of pronunciation and basic skills in reading, writing, and conversation. Use of language laboratory required. Four hours of class each week, plus an additional conversation meeting with a native speaker.
Completion of grammar; intensive readings from authentic materials in Russian with emphasis on continued development of conversational and writing skills. Required weekly conversation meeting with a native speaker.