Religious Studies

RLGS 3001 Judaism (4 Credits)

A literary and historical journey through Judaism. This course examines the "Jewish story" from its roots to its modern-day manifestations, focusing on select, classic Jewish texts in their historical contexts. From them, students explore Jewish tradition and practice and actively engage with and in the vivid interpretive imagination of the authors of Judaism throughout the ages. Cross listed with JUST 3001.

RLGS 3002 Creation & Humanity (4 Credits)

Why am I here and what is my place in the world? In this class, students engage a wide-variety of answers to this timeless question. We focus on primary texts regarding the creation of the world and humanity's role within the world from multiple religious traditions, from ancient Near Eastern mythologies to modern spiritualties and film. Themes of the course include humanity's relation to the divine, nature, and one another; we also discuss issues of inequality and sustainability. Students also learn to perform fruitful cross-cultural comparison.

RLGS 3003 The Moses Traditions: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Traditions about Moses from Past to Present (4 Credits)

The “Abrahamic Traditions” (Judaism, Christianity & Islam) are described as such because each tradition situates its origin in the figure of Abraham, yet there is another foundational figure who looms even larger in all three traditions — Moses. The Moses Traditions traces Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions about Moses from the Hebrew Bible through modern America, and in so doing brings into the foreground the religious and inter-religious importance of this beloved figure. Drawing from over 2,500 years of texts and traditions, students come away with a deeper understanding of: 1) how the figure of Moses is shaped and reshaped throughout history and across the globe, 2) how religious traditions portray and redescribe foundational figures to suit the ever-changing needs of their communities, and 3) how to engage a multi-faceted, culturally-embedded, and millennia-long collection of traditions in a way that yields fruitful insight into the inner workings of the religious imagination. This course is cross-listed with JUST 3003.

RLGS 3023 Great Thinkers: Maimonides (4 Credits)

Using "The Guide for the Perplexed" as our central text, we explore the complex philosophical ideas of Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), one of the central figures in medieval philosophy and Jewish thought. Our study includes analyses of his ideas on principles of faith, human perfection, intellectual vs. "imaginational" approaches to truth, pedagogy and politics, reasons for the commandments, the nature of God and divine will, the limits of human knowledge, the mechanics of prophecy, and the parameters and implications of providence. Cross listed with PHIL 3023 and JUST 3023. Prerequisite: junior standing or instructor's permission.

RLGS 3024 Maimonides: Greek, Islamic, and Christian Encounters (4 Credits)

Using the "Guide of the Perplexed" as our central text, we explore the complex philosophical ideas of Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), a central figure in the history of philosophy and in the history of Jewish thought. In this course, we examine in depth the relationship between Maimonides’ core ideas and various Greek, Muslim and Christian thinkers, including: Aristotle, Plotinus, al-Farabi, Avicenna (Ibn Sina), al-Ghazali, Averroes (Ibn Rushd), and Aquinas. Topics to be explored include: what is "metaphysics?"; God’s unity and essence as existence itself; the mystery of knowing and not knowing God (including a consideration of God’s ways as well as "negative theology"--viz. the extent to which we do not know God); God as pure intellect; the nature of the cosmos and the "separate intellects"; creation vs. eternity vs. emanation: philosophical and religious perspectives on the origins of the universe and implications for "living in the world with/out God." In our study, we will also address the methodological implications of cross-religious and cross-language analyses, and how to spot and address (in your own work and in the work of others) tacit cultural biases at play in the interpretive process. Cross listed with JUST 3024 and PHIL 3024. Prerequisite: Junior standing or instructor's permission.

RLGS 3086 The Emergence of Monotheism (4 Credits)

This course is cross-listed with JUST 3086. Monotheism, the belief in a singular deity, did not arise out of nothing. Rather, the emergence of monotheism was a multi-stage process spanning several millennia and involving numerous religious traditions, primarily Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This process was marked by internal and external conflict, as individuals and communities struggled to distinguish themselves from their non-monotheistic predecessors and neighbors, while often attempting to convince others to do the same. In this class, we begin with the ancient Near Eastern religious environment in which the idea of monotheism first appeared, then turn our attention to how the movement toward monotheism shapes the texts of the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and Quran. We also look to archaeological sites and case studies in material culture to fill out our understanding of the lived experiences at play in the emergence of monotheism.

RLGS 3090 God and Giving? Religion and Philanthropy in America (4 Credits)

This course is cross-listed with JUST 3090 and ANTH 3090. The United States is notable for its high levels of religious participation and for its well-established and rapidly expanding nonprofit sector. In this course, we will explore these phenomena from a variety of disciplinary perspectives including anthropology, history, and religious studies in order to understand the intersections of religion and philanthropy. By looking at religious ideologies, social theory, and legal and economic contexts, we will consider how religion, government, and philanthropy shape and are shaped by one another. We will examine a number of case studies including faith responses to Hurricane Katrina, the history of philanthropy in Denver, and U.S.-based religious global giving. We will explore key questions regarding community and social responsibility and ask which actors get to define key societal problems and who is ultimately responsible for responding to these problems.

RLGS 3102 Early Judaism (4 Credits)

This course traces the development of Judaism in history and literature from the Babylonian Exile and the end of the biblical period through the origins of Rabbinic Judaism and the completion of the Babylonian Talmud (c. 650 CE). However, special emphasis is placed on Jewish culture in the late Second Temple period (c. 200 BCE to 100 CE) and its impact on the early Christian movement, including Jewish literature from the time of Jesus, lost texts of the Bible, new evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the few surviving historical sources of the Second Temple Period. In addition, students analyze how the Bible came to be and understand how sacred texts and their interpretations eventually became the new center of both Judaism and Christianity. Cross listed with JUST 3102.

RLGS 3150 The Bible & Dead Sea Scrolls (4 Credits)

This course includes an advanced study of the Dead Sea Scrolls with a particular focus on the Bible as it appears in the Qumran library. We will discuss the variant versions of the Bible, some of which were previously unknown before the discovery of the Scrolls, and how the findings of the Scrolls may question the very idea of "Bible" itself in the context of the late Second Temple Judaism. Further, we will place particular emphasis on studying the way biblical texts were engaged, interpreted and even written by the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In this way, we shall explore the origins of biblical interpretation and how the notion of the Bible came to be. Cross listed with JUST 3150. Prerequisites: One year of Hebrew language or equivalent or by special permission of the instructor.

RLGS 3151 Dead Sea Scrolls (4 Credits)

The Dead Sea Scrolls represent one of the greatest manuscript finds of the twentieth century and have been said to be the most important discovery in biblical archaeology. These scrolls offer a rare window into early Judaism and Christianity and offer us the earliest and most important witnesses to the (Hebrew) Bible. This course covers the Dead Sea Scrolls in their historical, literary and religious context in English translation, together with relevant scholarly research. Cross listed with JUST 3151.

RLGS 3192 Christian Classics (4 Credits)

Reading and discussion of influential historic books pertaining to Christian life and devotion.

RLGS 3203 Christianity (4 Credits)

This is an introductory course about the Christian religion, with a substantial component devoted to experiential learning. The primary goal of the course is to acquaint students with the richness, dynamism and diversity of one of the world’s largest and most influential religious traditions. Even those students who have some general knowledge of Christianity benefit from the disciplined approach of the academic study of religion.

RLGS 3205 Native Americans and Christianity in USA (4 Credits)

This class will help students explore the forms of Christianity that have emerged among the indigenous peoples of North America. In their struggles against and adaptation to Euro-American cultural forms, indigenous peoples have developed “contextualized” forms of Christian religiosity. Students will develop a careful understanding of the multiplicity and historical contingency of Christianity as it has spread throughout the world.

RLGS 3300 Psychology of Religion (4 Credits)

Beliefs, feelings and actions representing human religious response of experience; function of religion in individual life.

RLGS 3302 Islamic Fundamentalism (4 Credits)

This writing-intensive course introduces students to the history and scope of fundamentalist movements in the Muslim world, focusing on the Middle East. Beginning with a look at the internal traditions of renewal and reform built around the idea of a return to the fundament or origins of Islam, the course examines the rise of major movements from the 1700s to the present. Students will engage with key questions, including the following: What distinguishes fundamentalism from radicalism? How do Sunni and Shii fundamentalisms differ? What roles have these movements played in politics and society, and how might these evolve in the future? How might policy makers and others best approach fundamentalist groups? A basic knowledge of Islam is assumed; students wishing to enroll without this background knowledge will be provided supplementary readings.

RLGS 3315 Religion & Moral Psychology (4 Credits)

Philosophical foundations and research strategies of psychological studies of moral thought; Aristotelian, Kantian and utilitarian thought included, as well as religious dimensions of morality.

RLGS 3350 Culture, Psyche, and Religion (4 Credits)

RLGS 3370 Freud, Psychology, & Religion (4 Credits)

Readings, discussion, and papers help students learn about the life, intellectual and social environment, and clinical and theoretical work of Sigmund Freud. Attention is given to the influence of Freud's work on the understanding of religion at the beginning of the 21st century.

RLGS 3448 Theory of the Subject: From Hegel to Zizek (4 Credits)

The great French philosopher Michel Foucault in his Collège de France lectures in the early 1980s characterized the theory of the subject as the very key to the development both of Western philosophy and Western thinking in general. This course will explore Foucault’s thesis with reference to different theoretical models of subjectivity and “subjectification” (as Jacques Lacan calls it). It will do so through close readings of selections from the works of G.W.F. Hegel, Søren Kierkegaard, Lacan, Alain Badiou, and Slavoj Žižek as well as select portions of Foucault’s 1981-82 lectures entitled The Hermeneutics of the Subject. This course is cross-listed with PHIL 3448.

RLGS 3452 Political Theology (4 Credits)

A general inquiry, focusing on the modern and postmodern eras, into various forms of philosophical reflection on the relationship between religion and political theory. Survey of the seminal ideas of such major thinkers as Kant, Hegel, Schmidt, Strauss, Derrida, Agamben, Asad, and Zizek.

RLGS 3453 Is God a Racist Sexist?: Black Liberation and Womanist Theology (4 Credits)

What is God's race? Does God have a gender? Is God on the side of the oppressed? Black liberation and Womanist theologies have asked these questions based on experience of black oppression in the context of the United States. African Americans have compelled to make sense of God in light of chattel slavery, Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Black Power Movement. This questioning continues in light of today's social enviroment. This seminar course will discuss the many strands of liberation theology in the United States, including Womanist theology. In addition to black liberation theology’s methodologies and its challenges to the theological discipline, we will explore the origins and development of theological discourse in the late 1960s during the later part of the Civil Rights Movement and the emergence of the Black Power Movement. Black Theology is a theological perspective which draws on the diverse sources, including religious experience, art, literature, music, and lived narratives. These sources will inform our study. Students will engage critical voices that have shaped the movement such as James Cone, but also engage critiques of Cone and Black Theology. The course will also explore how liberation theologies attempt to deal with the problems of race, class, and gender. Student will be introduced to theological construction in African American communities and analyze the similarities and differences between these theological constructions.

RLGS 3454 Capitalism, Religion, Democracy (4 Credits)

The course explores the historical and contemporary relationship between capitalism, religion, and democracy at a theoretical level. Focus will be on the question of what exactly is capitalism as understood by key political philosophers and social theorists in relationship to the religious world views and values that authorize it. At the same time, the course will examine in what measure these world views and values also promote liberal democracy, or work against it, while offering a genealogical account of such phenomena as slavery, colonialism, gender and class domination, along with present day iterations of ethno-nationalism and neoliberal hegemony.

RLGS 3456 Kant on Religion (4 Credits)

A study of the philosopher Immanuel Kant's major writings on religion and their subsequent influence on critical theory and the philosophy of religion.

RLGS 3460 Nietzsche & the Death of God (4 Credits)

This course will involve an intensive reading and discussion of Friedrich Nietzsche's 'Thus Spake Zarathustra,' together with relevant associated materials, especially 'The Gay Science.' Cross listed with PHIL 3460.

RLGS 3465 Derrida and Postmodernism (4 Credits)

Cross listed with PHIL 3465.

RLGS 3470 Mysticism & Psychedelics (4 Credits)

The course will examine various texts, traditions, and practice from indigenous to New Age religions that fall under the general category of what has been historically labelled "mysticism." Special emphasis will be placed on chemical or plant-induced forms of altered consciousness, commonly known as "psychedelics" or "entheogens". that both simulate, and are frequently employed by different peoples in different times and places in tandem with, mystical experiences. The course will also examine the transcultural as well as the syncretic nature of mystical practices, spiritual disciplines, and the use of mind-altering substances, in particular with reference to the misuse of these forms by secular enthusiasts who are responsible for what is known as "cultural appropriation" or "neocolonial" misrepresentation.

RLGS 3475 Deleuze and Semiotics (4 Credits)

Examines the development of the thought of the famous French postmodern thinker Gilles Deleuze with special attention to his cultural and semiotic theory to the degree that it is relevant to the philosophy of religion. The course also investigates how Deleuze's work has shaped, and is beginning to push in new directions, contemporary postmodern philosophy. Prerequisites: must be at least junior standing and have completed at least two undergraduate courses in philosophy.

RLGS 3500 Islam (4 Credits)

Introduction to the history, faith, practice, culture(s), and politics of Islam, starting with the Judeo-Christian Near Eastern context in which it emerged and tracing its theological development and geographic spread around the world. Proceeding thematically along a broad historical frame, the course ends with an examination of the numerous, often competing, trends in contemporary Muslim communities.

RLGS 3502 Contemporary Islam (4 Credits)

This course introduces students to contemporary Islam. After a historical overview, the course looks thematically at different spheres of Muslim life. It considers changes that relate to political systems and forms of governance, styles of education, labor and professional work, changes in daily life habits such as timing and organization, changes in gender relations, and changes in religious authority. It also pays attention to the ways in which faith and practice are articulated through cultural practices like pop music and film.

RLGS 3503 Quran and Hadith (4 Credits)

This writing-intensive course introduces students to the key texts of Islam--the Qur’an and hadith--including their origins and meaning as well as how they have been interpreted by Muslims over time, and focusing as well on case studies that highlight issues of crucial relevance for today and the future.

RLGS 3504 Islam and Gender (4 Credits)

This upper-level course introduces students to key debates, historical developments, and thematic issues in the study of Islam and gender. It grounds this study in theoretical texts but takes a lived religions approach, focusing primarily on the production of "modern" gender norms in the colonial and post-colonial era. It proceeds thematically, with class sessions on sexualities, dress, reproduction, family roles, masculinities, pious self-construction, and the gendering of pilgrimage, and concludes with a look at contemporary and likely future debates.

RLGS 3505 Gender and Politics in Muslim Pop Cultures (4 Credits)

This undergraduate/graduate course introduces students to contemporary Muslim popular cultures, in the United States and around the world. It uses gender and politics as thematic lenses, taking a lived religions approach to phenomena that range from pious television programming to online efforts to spread Islamophobia.

RLGS 3570 Religion and Morality in the American Public Square (4 Credits)

Close focus on one or two moral issues in which religion is drawn into public debate in the contemporary U.S. Observation of the debate first hand at demonstrations, town meetings, and discussion groups, etc. Analysis of these observations is facilitated by readings on the subject and class discussion.

RLGS 3642 Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Civil Rights (4 Credits)

In this course, students will explore the lives and religious thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, two of the most prominent black religious leaders during the height of the US Civil Rights Movement, often perceived as ideological opposites. Through engaging with their autobiographies, speeches, students will compare and contrast their thoughts on religion, race, and politics in the United States. During the course, students will be able to identify religious and political similarities and differences between the two leaders. We will also explore the development of their religious and ideological shifts in the context of the struggle for civil rights. Ultimately, we explore how their vision for racial justice developed into a call for social and economic equality and human rights.

RLGS 3645 Religious Nationalisms: A Comparative Approach to White Christian Nationalism and Hindu Nationalism (4 Credits)

This course examines the religious nationalism in the context of South Asia and the US. We investigate the religion, identity, politics, and power with readings/materials that explore historical memory, religious symbols/rituals/canon, political upheavals, and violent actions in both of these regions. In the context of South Asia, we will examine the British colonial period and post-independence India. In the US, we will focus our attention on post-Civil War politics and the development of the modern US polity. We necessarily interrogate the history and dynamism of important terms such as “religion”, “nationalism”, and “secular” in the context of Hindu Nationalism and white Christian Nationalism in South Asia and the US respectively. At the core of our inquiry is how specific religious traditions have been invoked in political contexts (and vice-versa), public displays of religiosity, and the complex dynamics of religion and the state.

RLGS 3693 Religion and the Media (4 Credits)

Interactions between religion and all forms of communications media in American life.

RLGS 3694 Religion in the Virtual Space: A Critical Theory Approach (4 Credits)

This course uses a critical theory lens to consider religious praxis, traditions, beliefs, canons, and rituals within virtual/digital spaces (e.g. websites, apps, social media, digital platforms for gaming, etc.). Students will be introduced to several scholars of virtual religious spaces and practices who use both netnography techniques and critical theory approaches (e.g. Wendy Chun, Lisa Nakamura, Michelle Zappavigna, Oliver Roy, etc.) as well classical scholars of semiotics and language (Judith Butler, Jacque Derrida, Walter Benjamin, Julia Kristeva, and others). Theoretical works are paired with ethnographic, historical and/or public scholarship/experiential to offer students a "lived perspective" critical approach to the topic of digital or virtual religion.

RLGS 3695 Digital Religion (4 Credits)

This course introduces students to the study of digital religion from a lived religions perspective. It begins with an examination of the history, concepts and methods of the field, and continues with thematic explorations of digital religion scholarship across varied religious traditions. Students develop an understanding of how scholars study religion and spiritual identities, beliefs, and practices online, and how the religious and digital arenas influence and shape one another.

RLGS 3701 Topics in Religious Studies (1-4 Credits)

An exploration of various topics and issues related to the academic study of religion. The subject matter of the course varies and may be taught by the regular faculty of the department or a visiting scholar. Some offerings may include a travel component.

RLGS 3707 Religion and Film (4 Credits)

Understanding religion requires us to take culture seriously. In doing so, we must consider products of culture, including popular culture. This course engages both classic and more recent films as “texts” to be analyzed, not as mere entertainments or diversions. We focus not only on those films that identify themselves explicitly as “religious” or reflect a particular religious tradition, but also moved that render the subject more obliquely, which reveal – via image and sound – religion as a complex human activity.

RLGS 3708 First Americans in Film: Religion, Land, and Identity (4 Credits)

This course will explore, using a chronological approach, the history of Indigenous portrayal in the US Western Cinematic tradition. Students will be exposed to a variety of interweaving historical processes; including colonial history (with particular interest in Indigenous experience), the history of the film industry, the history of Indigenous representation in film, and the history of the 20 Century United States (with particular interest in Indigenous experience). The first two weeks of the course will be dedicated to the development of a theoretical toolbox. This toolbox – consisting of a series of theoretical concepts and analytical approaches – will function as the bedrock of the class and empower students, supplying the necessary lenses through which to analyze the films that will be screened throughout the quarter.

RLGS 3740 Bodies and Souls (4 Credits)

This course examines the unique place of the body in biblical religion. We ask how the Bible and its interpreters have shaped current views on sex and the gendered body in Western society. How has the Bible been (mis)used in relation to current understandings of the physical body? Is the saying that a "human" does not have a body, but is a body as true for the Hebrew Bible as the Christian New Testament? How have Judaism and Christianity (de)valued sexuality, procreation, and celibacy? How do the biblical traditions shape our modern opinions about the ideal physical body and body modifications? How can we understand "out-of-body" experiences and notions of death and afterlife in Western religion? Students are encouraged to interpret the Bible and their own beliefs from a uniquely embodied perspective. Cross listed with GWST 3740, JUST 3740.

RLGS 3760 Globalization and Religion: Theory and Methods (4 Credits)

This course explores how religious movements around the world both affect, and are affected by, the process of globalization. A major segment of the course is devoted to various theories of globalization and how they account for the increasingly important role of religion. Focus is largely on the relationship between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

RLGS 3814 Modern Hinduism (4 Credits)

Doctrines, practices and history of South Asian Hinduism; conceptions of Gods and gods; image worship and temples; and the influences of caste and gender on the experience of Hinduism. Cross listed with RLGS 3814.

RLGS 3820 Buddhism (4 Credits)

Buddhist life and thought from origins to present in India, Tibet, Japan and China. Cross listed with ASIA 2704.

RLGS 3832 Religious Lives: The Dalai Lamas (4 Credits)

This course explores the many lives of the Dalai Lamas and the transformation of a reincarnated religious teacher into the political leader of Tibet and, eventually, a worldwide religious personality. In order to understand that transformation, the course investigates the institution of the Dalai Lamas from historical, doctrinal, and ritual perspectives. We will look at the role of the Dalai Lama as an embodiment of the bodhisattva of compassion at the center of a tapestry of religious ceremony and ritual performances. The course will also consider the religious, ethical, and political thought of several of the most prominent Dalai Lamas, with significant attention given to the writings and work of the current, fourteenth, Dalai Lama. Cross listed with ASIA 3732.

RLGS 3885 Islamic Mysticism (4 Credits)

The origins and development of Islamic mysticism, including asceticism and the Sufi orders.

RLGS 3890 Religion and Diaspora (4 Credits)

When forced to leave a homeland, displaced communities frequently turn to religion to maintain identity and adapt to--or resist--new surrounding culture(s). This course examines the role of religion and identity in three Jewish and Christian communities living in diaspora and poses questions such as the following: What is the relationship between religion and (home)land? How have the biblical themes of exodus, diaspora, promise and restoration been applied to contemporary experiences? And how have our American stories been interpreted through the lens of the Bible? As part of the service learning component, students have the opportunity to work with religious and immigrant aid organizations in the Denver community. Cross listed with JUST 3890.

RLGS 3891 Justice: A Biblical Perspective (4 Credits)

This is a service learning course designed for religious studies undergraduate majors, though non-majors are welcome to enroll. Cross listed with JUST 3891.

RLGS 3892 Grant Writing for Community Engagement and Research (4 Credits)

This community engagement course introduces student to non-profit work and to scholarship on non-profit activities. It connects students with community partners, continuing the department's commitment to experiential learning and to engagement with living faith communities. Students spend course time discussing scholarship on grant writing and non-profit grant support and discussing logistical and other issues related to their community engagement partners. This course is intended to help provide advanced undergraduate and graduate students with arenas for future research, including possible thesis topics, while also offering a practical opportunity for professional development. Understanding 501(c)3 corporations and experience in writing grant proposals will be an asset for students planning to work in non-profits as well as for those continuing on to doctoral work.

RLGS 3893 Buddhism and Social Justice (4 Credits)

This course examines Buddhist theories and practices of social justice, with a focus on the contemporary global movements known as "Humanistic Buddhism" and "Socially Engaged Buddhism." The course covers topics such as: the roots of engaged Buddhism in social and political movements of 19th and 20-century Asia, the role of meditation and other Buddhist practices as both a support for and a means of social engagement, and Buddhist approaches to contemporary issues of racial justice, equality, economic development, and the environment. In the final analysis, the course asks whether the concept of justice makes sense within a Buddhist worldview, or if Buddhist concerns for social welfare hinge on an entirely different paradigm. This course is a community-engaged service learning course. As part of the course, students work with a local community partner to further their own community engagement work.

RLGS 3898 Dharamsala: Myth, Land, and Traditions (4 Credits)

This course explores the myths and stories that root cultural, religious, social and political traditions in the material landscape of India. It will explore the sacred spaces, images, rituals, and belief-traditions of the Himalayan region surrounding Dharamsala, India. As a study-abroad course, the materials, site visits, and community-engaged learning projects interrogate how myths operate as both cultural “glue” and demarcations of difference. Students participate in community-engaged learning placements to learn how myth creates and fosters cultural communities. Through site visits and readings we will learn how the "lived experience" of cultural belief-traditions, social and political practices, and sacred images and spaces are products of a unique marriage of land, story, and community. We will also have lectures and a Canvas site with pre-travel readings that will prepare you for the cultural and social belief-traditions we will encounter within Dharamsala. While in India, we will continue to read about ritual, devotion, stories of the land, social and political identities rooted in the land, and more. This course will be cross-listed with INTS for undergraduate and graduate elective credit.

RLGS 3991 Independent Study (1-10 Credits)

RLGS 3995 Independent Research (1-10 Credits)

RLGS 4050 History of Islam (4 Credits)

RLGS 4100 Hebrew Bible Backgrounds: Seminar in Ancient Israelite Religion (4 Credits)

This course is designed to train the student in the method and means of engaging in archeo-historical study of the Hebrew Bible. The content of this course focuses on ancient Israelite religion in Iron Age Palestine, particularly on emergent ideas about God ('El) and the development and evolution of the priesthood. Cross listed with JUST 4100.

RLGS 4150 Biblical Aramaic (4 Credits)

Reading seminar in Biblical Aramaic. This course focuses on the vocabulary, syntax and expression of Aramaic in the Bible as well as in some related post-biblical texts (Targums, Dead Sea Scrolls, etc.).

RLGS 4980 Internship (1-4 Credits)

Designed to provide masters students with valuable experience in non-profit, educational, faith-based, governmental, and related organizations. It helps students translate the knowledge and analytical skills learned in Religious Studies courses into a professional context, while exploring potential career paths and professional opportunities. Students interested in pursuing an internship must meet with the Undergraduate Advisor at the start of the previous quarter to discuss internship goals and identify potential placements. Students meet weekly with a faculty supervisor to monitor their internship experience, and complete the internship by writing a reflective essay. For MA students only.

RLGS 4981 Internship in Religious Community (1-4 Credits)

RLGS 4991 Independent Study (1-10 Credits)

RLGS 4995 Independent Research (1-10 Credits)