Click
on the pictures for more information about that professor.
Semester notes: Professors Paul
Groner, Peter
Ochs, and Jamie
Ferreira are not offering
classes. Professor Augustine
Thompson joins our faculty
from the University of Oregon.
Undergraduate Courses
Please make it a practice to compare your desired courses
as listed in the printed COD with the ONLINE COD.
As you may know from previous enrolling procedures, the online
COD changes from day to day.
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RELC 100 Catholicism in Personal
Experience
Gerald Fogarty
(GFogarty@virginia.edu ) Schedule # 30949 TR
1530-1645 RSH B023
Through fiction, autobiography, and biography, the
course will explore the diversity of expressions of
the Roman Catholic tradition. Readings will include
selections from Graham Green, Dorothy Day, St. Augustine,
and Flannery O'Connor
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RELG 101 Introduction to Western
Religions
Heather Warren ( hwarren@virginia.edu
) Schedule # # 32956 MW 1300-1350+Sections WIL 402
 An
historical survey of the origins and development of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Subjects include the
origins of monotheism, the rise of Israel as a nation,
early Christianity, the rise of Islam in the Middle
Ages, the Protestant Reformation, Christianity during
the Enlightenment, and the influence of modern science
and industrialism on 19th and 20th century religious
life.
Requirements: Weekly readings, a mid-term, and a final.
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RELC 121 / RELJ 121 Old Testament/
Hebrew Scriptures
Esther Menn () Schedule# 30076/30245
MW 1200-1250 +Sections CLK 147
The Bible continues to be a best-seller because of
its fundamental place within Judaism and Christianity
and because of its insights into Ancient Near Eastern
religion and culture. This course introduces students
to the literature of the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures,
both in its original historical and cultural contexts
and in the history of its reception as sacred scripture.
It covers the major historical phases of the religion
and institutions of ancient Israel and explores the
diverse literary genres and religious perspectives found
in the biblical corpus. Discussion of important themes
(for example, the exodus from Egypt) incorporates material
from the Ancient Near East and later Jewish and Christian
interpretations.
Fulfills: Non-Western Perspectives Requirement
Requirements: Biblical and secondary readings, participation
in discussion section, two mid-term examinations, and
a final examination.
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Religious Studies Course Listed Under
Usem
 USEM
170-018 Suffering and Inflicting Evil
Charles Mathewes (ctmathewes@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 34601 T 1530-1730 CAB 123
Course Description not available
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USEM 170-20 Taking Human Life:
Islamic Perspectives
Aziz Sachedina (sachedina@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 34612 T 1500-1700 CAB 338
One of the highly controversial topic in religious
ethics of Abrahamic traditions is the religious justification
for taking human life, whether on the battlefield, hospital
bed or in prison. If life is a divine gift to humanity
then does human being or human institution have a right
to terminate it? The question has implications not only
in the area of bioethics where issues related to the
right to abortion and euthanasia have become a major
battleground for religious and ideological groups; it
has also implications for deciding the ethics of war
and penal systems that justify capital punishment. The
seminar will introduce the students to the religious
and ethical debates connected with the sanctity of life
in Islam and other Abrahamic traditions to analyze violence
justified in the name of God and validated for the well
being of human body and society.
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USEM 170-032 Saints and Songs of
Hindu India
 Anne
Monius () Schedule # 34382 T 1400-1600 CAU 112
This seminar will explore the lives of the medieval
Hindu saints--their hagiographies and their poetry--through
a careful examination of a variety of devotional literatures
in English translation, as well as the enduring significance
of that narrative and poetic literature in the lives
of Hindus today. How have Hindu saints or exemplary
devotees expressed their love and devotion to the various
deities of the Hindu pantheon? How are the works of
such poets understood and used by their communities
of followers today? How do the poetry and life-stories
of the saints continue to provide enduring resources
of meaning and value for Hindus?
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RELJ 203 Judaic Tradition
This course has been cancelled
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RELC 205 History of Christianity
I
Robert Wilken (rlw2w@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 34092 MWF 1000-1050 +Sections WIL 301
How did Christianity evolve from a small Jewish sect
in Palestine into a church that embraced the Mediterranean
world, Europe, the middle East, Byzantium and the Slavic
peoples? How did the teachings of Jesus and the events
of his life become the foundation for a complex system
of belief (e.g. Trinity), ethics (e.g. marriage), worship?
What was the origin and development of Christian institutions
and practices, e.g. bishops and clergy, the papacy,
monasticism, Baptism, Communion, et al. How did the
Bible take its present form? How was this faith understood
and explained in rational terms? These are the broader
questions addressed in a survey of the first thousand
years of Christian history.
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RELI 207 Classical Islam 
Aziz Sachedina (sachedina@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 30204 TR 0930-1045+Sections RFN G004B
A historical and topical survey of the origins and
development of Islamic religion. Special attention will
be given to the life and career of the Prophet Muhammad,
the teachings of the Qur'an, the  development
of the Muslim community and its principal institutions,
theological and legal schools, philosophical and mystical
developments, to about 1300 A.D. Readings will include
M.G.S. Hodgson, Venture of Islam, Volume I; Fazlur Rahman,
Major Themes of the Qur'an; Kenneth Cragg, Islam from
Within
.Prerequisites: None
Requirements: A one-hour test and final examination.
Two short papers on selected topics (4-5 pages). Participation
in a field trip to the Islamic Center in Washington
DC and the Freer Gallery of Art.
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RELH 209 Introduction to Hinduism
Anne Monius () Schedule # 31197
MW 1300-1350+Sections MRY 104
 This
course is designed as an introduction to the many distinct
yet interrelated religious traditions of South Asia that are
labeled "Hinduism." From the ritually reconstituted cosmos
of the ancient Vedic texts to the philosophical speculations
of the Upanishads and the devotional outpourings of the great
vernacular poets, we will examine the historical foundations
of the three Hindu paths or margas: ritual, contemplative
renunciation, and devotion. Focusing on the key concepts of
dharma or duty, karma, and bhakti or love for the lord, we
will 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.
Fulfills: Historical Studies and Non-Western Perspectives
Requirements
Prerequisites: none
Requirements: weekly readings, active participation
in discussion section, midterm and final examinations,
short research paper (8-10 pages)
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RELB 210 Introduction to Buddhism
Karen Lang (klang@virginia.edu)
Schedule # 31486 MW 1100-1150+Sections RFN G004A
 This
course will introduce the beliefs and practices of Buddhism,
beginning with its origins in India, its spread throughout
Asia, and culminating in its emergence in the West.
Classical texts on the nature of enlightenment and the
practice of meditation will be examined, as well as
the views of contemporary Buddhist teachers on the challenges
Buddhism faces in the modern world. Texts: Thich Nhat
Hahn, For A Future to Be Possible; Peter Harvey, An
Introduction to Buddhism; Kenneth Kraft, Zen; the Dalai
Lama, A Policy of Kindness; John Strong, The Experience
of Buddhism, and Karma Lekshe Tsomo, Buddhism Through
American Women's Eyes.
Prerequisites: None
Requirements: Three Examinations and active participation
in discussion sections.
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RELJ 222
Zionism
Asher Biemann (Biemann@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31339 MWF
1400-1450 CAB 311
This course will examine Zionism as a cultural, intellectual,
and political movement in the context of modern Jewish,
European, and middle Eastern history. It will be our
goal to not only understand the Jewish State in the
making, but also contemporary issues in Israel and the
Middle East. Topics will include: The origins of the
Jewish national idea; the impact of Enlightenment and
Emancipation of European Jewry; Antisemitism and Zionism;
Herzl and his opponents; political, religious, and ethical
nationalism; Zionist culture in Diaspora Jewry (art,
literature, thought); the Yishuv and the Balfour Declaration;
the Arab-Jewish encounter; Zionism and the Holocaust;
issues of Post-Zionism.
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RELJ 223 Spiritual Journeys In Judaism
Vanessa Ochs (Vochs@virginia.eduvlo4n@ ) Schedule # 34086 TR 0930-1045 CAB 337
 While
the story of the Jewish People may appear to have a
single-threaded and coherent narrative, the story of
any single Jew's lived experience is complicated, varying
according to the specific person, the time, the place
and the cultural/political context. In this course,
we will study the wide variety of Jewish spiritual journeys
that are available in writing in both ancient sacred
texts and in a variety of contemporary literary genres:
fiction, autobiography and poetry. We will pay particular
attention to the role literary genre plays in translating
the lived Jewish experience into what appears to be
a coherent journey or quest story. Texts we will consider
include the Torah, the Talmud and writing by Hillesum,
Ozick, Potok, Cowan, Roiphe, Appelfeld, Goodman, Ravikovitch
and Amichai.
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RELG 229 Business Ethics
Tim Read (ttr3p@virginia.edu)
Section 1 Schedule # 32810 MW 0930-1045 MON 203
More information about this section is
available online at http://toolkit.virginia.edu/COMM381-1
John McVea (jfm7f@virginia.edu)
Section 2 Schedule # 34675 TR 1530-1645 MON 118
Michelle Meyer (mnm3e@virginia.edu)
Section 3 Schedule # 31814 MW 1400-1515 MON 203
More information about this section is
available online at http://toolkit.virginia.edu/COMM381-3
Ethics is embedded in the everyday activities and responsibilities
of business. These responsibilities often appear as
dilemmas for individuals, organizations, or in the interchanges
between an organization and its competition, consumers,
environment, or society. These challenges and responsibilities
and the issues they generate will be the subject for
this course. We shall begin with an examination of some
classical texts in ethics, then examine the question
of relativism and issues in truth-telling. The justification
of free-enterprise in light of its harshest critics,
focusing on the concepts of profit, private ownership,
and justice will also be explored.
Turning to business itself, using stakeholder theory
we shall study the nature and moral responsibilities
of corporations, the question of employment, affirmative
action, and employee rights. If time permits we shall
also discuss some specific issues, such as the question
of the environment. To give a practical thrust to these
theoretical issues, specific case studies in business
that deal with each issue will be analyzed in class
each week. Understanding these cases will be essential
to grasping the philosophical questions we raise.
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RELC 236 Elements of Christian Thought
Eugene Rogers (GRogers@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 33064 TR 1230-1345+Sections CLK 140
Everything you always wanted to know about Christianity
but were afraid to ask. This course investigates the
overall coherence of Christianity considering such critical
questions as the following: How do we study Christianity
in Religious Studies? How do human beings search for
God? How do Christians say God searches for human beings?
Does God make choices (predestination)? Who is in control
of salvation (grace and free will)? What is the trinity
about? How do Christians explain how Jesus saves? How
does Christianity relate to Judaism? Why does a good
and almighty God permit evil? What is the body for?
What is salvation, anyway? Readings are arranged topically
and come from the greatest hits of the Christian tradition
and present rival views on most questions. Authors include
Protestant, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, and
secular thinkers, such as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas,
Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Jefferson, C.S. Lewis,
and Karl Barth.
Requirements: There are two options, both of which
require regular participation in a class newsgroup.
The exam version requires two non-cumulative tests.
The writing version, which fulfills the Second Writing
Requirement, requires two papers and no tests.
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RELC 240 / HIUS 240 History of American
Catholicism
Gerald Fogarty (GFogarty@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 34339 TR 0930-1045 CAB 222
The election of John Kennedy signified, on one level,
the acceptance of Catholics as Americans. The document
of religious  liberty
of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) seemed to
ratify what had long been a cherished American Catholic
tradition. Proving to be loyal to the Catholicism of
Rome and the democracy of the United States had been
the dilemma of American Catholics. To understand this
dilemma, the course will  treat
the following themes: the early Spanish and French settlements;
the beginning of English-speaking Catholicism in Maryland;
the establishment of the hierarchy under John Carroll
and its early development; immigration and nativism;
American Catholic support of religious liberty and conflict
with the Vatican at the end of the 19th century; and
the American Catholic contribution to Vatican II (1962-1965).
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RELB 255 Buddhist Meditation
P. Jeffrey Hopkins (jhopkins@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 30371 TR 1230-1320+Sections WIL 301
An introduction to Buddhism by way of exploring meditative
techniques and practices used for attaining enlightenment.
Meditation manuals from Tibetan traditions will be examined
and compared, providing a survey of Buddhist techniques
for non-attachment, love, compassion, and insight into
the nature of reality. The emphasis will be on yogic
transformation of the mind through reflective, stabilizing,
and analytical meditation. Buddhist attitudes about
the basic human condition, altruism, and the conflict
between appearance and reality will be discussed.
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RELG 265 Theology Ethics & Medicine
Jim Childress (Childress@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 30253 MWF 1100-1150 +Sections WIL 402
 An
analysis of the ethical principles that should undergird
decisions in science, medicine, and health care. The
lectures readings, and discussions will focus on ethical
principles developed within different ethical traditions
(such as Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, and Humanism)
and on their implications for cases in abortion, death
and dying, research involving human subjects, artificial
reproduction, genetic engineering, cloning, and allocating
resources. Several films, videotapes, and cases will
be used. Instructor's permission is NOT required for
admission in this course.
Requirements: Midterm, final examination, 4 brief papers
(2 pages) and participation in discussion.
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RELA 275 Introduction to African Religions
Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton (H-Fatton@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 30017 MW 1000-1050+Sections CAB 311
An introductory survey of African religions, this course
will concentrate on African traditional religions but
Islam and Christianity will also be discussed. Topics
will include indigenous mythologies and cosmologies,
sacrifice, initiation, witchcraft, artistic traditions
and African religions in the New World. Readings include:
Ray, African Religions; Stoller and Olkes, In Sorcery's
Shadow; Soyinka, Death and the King's Horsemen; Ijimere,
The Imprisonment of Obatala; Salih, The Wedding of Zein;
and a packet of readings.
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RELB 300 Mysticism and Rhetoric
David Germano (germano@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 30677 TR 1100-1215 CAB 132
This course has undergone many incarnations, ranging
from comparative study of Buddhist and Christian mysticism,
to the interface between Buddhist mysticism and postmodernism.
The current incarnation will explore unusual experiences
and unusual language found in the relation between poetry
and mysticism in various cultures. Embodiment, and particularly
the erotic body, will be an important theme in our inquiries:
how does poetry inhere within the body? how does mysticism
relate to embodiment? and how do both converge, or diverge,
within the body? Readings will include the poetry of
Rainer Maria Rilke, Buddhist poetry, and possibly Kristeva's
Desire in Language and/or Persian mystical poetry, among
other sources. We will also be watching several European
films, including Wings of Desire and one by Tarkovsky
(possibly Solaris).
Requirements: Considerable writing and very close readings
of texts.
Prerequisites: A deep interest in the subject matter
and willingness to talk.
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RELC 304 Paul: Letters and Theology
Harry Gamble ( hgamble@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 30986 TR 1100-1215 CAB 123
This course examines the activity and thought of Paul
of Tarsus, the best known and most influential thinker
of the Christian tradition. We will treat the basic
porblems of Pauline biography and chronology, the nature
of Paul's authentic letters, and the leading element
of Paul's interpretation of Christianity. Each meeting
will consist of both lecture and discussion.
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RELJ 332 Judaism: Medicine and Healing
Vanessa
Ochs (vlo4n@virginia.edu ) Schedule # 31515 R
1530-1800 CAB 241
The Jewish tradition integrates a respect for the skill
and knowledge of the physician with profound awareness
of the spiritual and relational components of the healing
process. In this course we will study: Jewish ways of
understanding why we get sick, suffer, heal, and find
meaning once again; Jewish healing practices, ancient
and contemporary, in ritual and prayer; specific laws
and practices concerning health, the healing professions,
sickness and death. Readings will include ancient sacred
writings in Torah, Mishna, and Talmud and contemporary
texts that have emerged as part of the current Jewish
healing movement.
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RELC 358 The Christian Vision in
Literature
 William
Wilson (wmw2v@virginia.edu ) Schedule # # 30752
MWF 1000-1050 CAB 324
A study of selected classics in Christian imaginative
literature. Readings will come from the Bible, Dante's
Divine Comedy, and several modern authors such as Andrew
Lytle, William Faulkner and Flannery O'Conner.
Requirements: Three one-hour tests.
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RELG 360 Religion and Drama
Larry Bouchard (lbouchard@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31408 TR 1100-1215 CAB 320
Are there connections among theater, ritual, myth and
portrayal of the self and its moral and political communities?
What differences do such relations make in our enjoyment,
understanding, and criticism of drama? This course explores
such questions. We will discuss some plays with explicitly
religious themes or historical subjects (as in Greek
theater, medieval Christian drama, Denys Arcand's film
Jesus of Montreal, S. Ansky's play The Dybbuk, and Wole
Soyinka's uses of African and European theatrical traditions).
We will also read more ostensibly secular plays that
nonetheless implicitly pursue religious and moral issues
(as do, for example, plays by Bertholt Brecht, Peter
Shaffer, and Caryl Churchill). Models of ritual communication
and transformation, and their applications to drama,
will also be examined. Two special tasks will guide
us: We will try to identify acts of interpretation (and
misinterpretation) taking place between characters in
plays, as well as between performance and audience.
We will also explore how theater dramatizes questions
of "integrity, " both as a moral quality of actions
and as dynamic relationship among persons and their
communities. Some lectures, much discussion, perhaps
play attendance.
Requirements: Regular class attendance and participation;
two essay exams and one paper; or three short papers
for students wishing to complete the second writing
requirement
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RELC 391/ RELJ 391 Women and the
Bible
Judith Kovacs (jkovacs@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 30987/31560 TR 1530-1645 CAB 132
This course provides a forum for exploring the intersection
of gender issues and Biblical studies. It surveys passages
in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
that focus specifically on women or use feminine imagery
and considers various readings of them, including traditional
Jewish and Christian, historical-critical, and feminist
interpretations. Much of the course focuses on the close
interpretation of particular biblical texts. Topics
include stories of creation and fall in Genesis 1-3,
narratives with female protagonists (Sarah, Deborah,
Hannah, Esther, Ruth Judith, Mary, Mary Magdalene, the
Samaritan woman), the prophetic images of Israel as
prostitute, wife and pure daughter of Zion, the figure
of Lady Wisdom in Proverbs, the erotic imagery of the
Song of Songs, women in the circle of Jesus, Paul's
views on women, and the use of female images to portray
judgment and redemption in the Revelation to John.
Requirements: Regular Class attendance and participation;
two 8-page papers and several brief reflection papers.
Fulfills second writing requirement. Previous historical
study of the bible not required, but helpful.
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RELC 393 End of the World in Christian
Thought
Augustine Thompson (AThompson@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31000 MWF 1300-1350 CAB 118
This lecture course will trace Christian ideas on the
End Times (including the End of the World, the Return
of Christ, the Appearance of Antichrist, and the Resurrection
of the Dead) from ancient to modern times. Readings,
which will form the topic of discussions, will be taken
from Christian writers of all periods. Requirements
include active participation in discussions, a mid-term,
a final, and a term paper. A previous course on Christianity
will not be assumed.
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RELG 395 Evil in Modernity: Banal
or Demonic? 
Charels Mathewes (ctmathewes@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31425 TR 1400-1515 MRY 115 +section
Modernity is riddled by evil. Its history seems an
odd mix of progress and increasing brutality, wickedness,
and savagery. Many of the most powerful modern thinkers
have struggled with the problem of how to understand
and respond to evil. Some thinkers even argue that the
great lesson of modernity is its failure to come to
terms with evil, a failure that reveals the modern world
to be morally and spiritually bankrupt. This class will
investigate the attempts of various modern thinkers
to undertstand evil, in order both to gain a deeper
purchase on evil--its manifestations, character, and
consequences--and to understand the challenge evil presents
to the modern world's self-understanding. We will read
novels, study texts in history, philosophy, political
theory, and psychology, and view several films, all
in the service of our basic investigation into the inner
history of evil in modernity, and the implications of
that history for the future.
Prerequisites: None.
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RELG 400A Majors Seminar Death and
Afterlife
Benjamin Ray (benray@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 30588 T 1530-1800 PV8 108
 The
goal of this seminar is to develop an informed and critical
perspective on the study of religion through the study
of myths, rituals, and literature concerning death and
afterlife. The seminar does not intend to make the case
for any single definition of religion or to take a particular
theological perspective on death, but rather to have
participants develop critical skills necessary for evaluating
the strengths and weaknesses of a number of scholarly
approaches to the subject.
Requirements: Six short papers, approximately one every
other week. No mid-term and no final exam.
Prerequisite: 3rd and 4th year Religious Studies Majors
ONLY.
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RELG 400B Majors Seminar Religious
Experience
Cynthia Hoehler- Fatton ( H-Fatton@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 34466 W 1430-1700 WIL 140
What is religious experience? How do we interpret and analyze
something many consider ineffable? Divine inspiration, conversion,
mystical knowledge, miracles, epiphanies and revelations are
integral to many religious traditions, yet prove difficult
to explain. This seminar will examine a variety of scholarly
attempts to understand religious experience, including psychological,
 sociological,
anthropological, historical and philosophical approaches.
Case studies are drawn from a wide array of religio-cultural
contexts ranging from American Christian fundamentalism, to
Brazilian Candomble to South Indian spirit possession, to
Japanese Zen monasticism, to the Black Church.
Requirements: several short seminar papers, a mid-term
exam and a final paper of 10-12 pages
Prerequisites: 3rd and 4th year Religious Studies
Majors ONLY
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RELG 411 What is the Soul?
John Milbank (jmilbank@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31717 F 1230-1515 PV8 103
This course asks whether it is any longer possible
or desirable to believe in the idea of a soul. It begins
by looking at recent debates about mind and brain, and
then turns to texts on the soul by Plato, Aristotle
and Gregory of Nyssa. It will be asked can the soul
be material without being reduced? Is there necessarily
an abrupt rupture between the nature of the soul and
everything else? Does the notion of soul only make sense
in relation to notions of God? Can the existence of
the soul be argued for in any way, or alternatively
can it be disproved? If we have a soul, is it necessarily
immortal? And how does the immortality of the soul relate
to the resurrection of the body?
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RELG 422 American Religious Autobiography
Heather Warren ( hwarren@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 33276 M 1500-1730 CAB 234
A multidisciplinary examination of religious self-perception
in relation to the dominant values of American life.
Readings represent a variety of spiritual traditions
and autobiographical forms, among them Thomas Merton's
The Sign of Jonas, The Autobiography of Malcolm X; Charles
Colson's Born Again; and Kathleen Norris' Dakota: A
Spiritual Geography. Fulfills the majors seminar requirement.
Prerequisites: Courses in religious studies, American
history, or American literature.
Requirements: Two short papers (5-7 pp. each) and an
autobiography (20 pp.).
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RELG 423 Bioethics Internship Seminar
John Fletcher (jcf4x@virginia.edu)
Schedule # 33991 R 1200-1400 CAB 521
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RELC 481 Poetry and Christainity
Alison Milbank (agm2a@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 34500 TR 1400-1515 MCL 2008
Beginning with the Bible and sweeping through two millenia
to Australian Les Murray's most recent work, this course
offers something of a roller-coaster ride through the
landmarks of the Christian poetic tradition. Our journey
takes us from early Syriac, Latin and Celtic sources
through the Anglo-Saxon Dream of the Rood to Dante's
Divine Comedy and via the Spanish John of the Cross
to Milton's Paradise Lost. Eighteenth-century mystical
verse will include poems by a Welsh shepherdess, and
in the ninteenth century we shall look at attempts to
revive Christian epic. The French poet Charles Pèguy
will provide an introduction to two major Christian
poets of our own century: T.S. Eliot and W. H. Auden.
Finally, we shall examine several contemporary poets
to see if there exists anything beyond the private lyrical
effusion of faith to take Christian poetry into the
twenty-first century.
Course requirements: two short essays and a final examination.
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RELJ 513 Special Topics in Hebrew
Bible: Psalms
Esther Menn () Schedule #
31607 W 1530-1800 CAB 318
Traditionally regarded as the prayers and praises
of King David ("the sweet singer of Israel"), the
biblical book of Psalms contains some of the best
loved and most recited poetry in the Bible. This influential
collection of religious poetry serves both as a witness
to the piety and ritual practices of ancient Israel
and as an enduring resource for later forms of Jewish
and Christian worship and meditation. In this seminar,
we will study selected psalms in their original historical
and cultural contexts, giving special attention to
the following: parallels with other Ancient Near Eastern
literature; forms of ancient Israelite ritual, prayer,
and hymnody; distinctive features of biblical poetry;
and the images used to describe the relationship between
God and humanity. We will also reconstruct how David's
name came to be associated with the Psalter, and analyze
some significant transformations in the meaning and
function of selected psalms within these later religious
contexts. Special reading sessions for those with
a knowledge of Biblical Hebrew will be arranged.
Course Requirements: Short reaction papers and class
presentations, term paper, final exam
Upper-level undergraduates welcome
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RELC 514 Calvin and Calvinism
Augustine Thompson (AThompson@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31019 F 1400-1630 CAB 335
This graduate seminar will examine the works and
influence of John Calvin (1509-1564) on Christian
though during the Reformation and Post-Reformation
period. Reading will include works by Calvin and his
followers as well as by modern students of the Reform
tradition. Every student will be expected to present
a weekly oral report along with writing a substantial
research paper. A reading knowledge of Latin and French
would be useful but it is not expected.
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RELB 533 Colloquial Tibetan III
David Germano (germano@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31240 MW 0900-0950 WIL 140
A continuation of the colloquial portion of Literary
and Spoken Tibetan II, this course uses multimedia
programs in Colloquial Tibetan to develop verbal fluency,
acquire vocabulary, and master advanced topics in
spoken Tibetan.
Prerequisites: Tibetan II.
Requirements: Class attendance, participation, preparation
of programs outside of class, multiple exams and quizzes.
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RELB 535 Literary Tibetan, III
David Germano (germano@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 34157 TR 1400-1515 WIL 141A
A continuation of the literary portion of Literary
and Spoken Tibetan II, this course is designed to
expose students to a variety of styles/genres in Tibetan
literature and advanced Tibetan grammar.
Prerequisites: Tibetan II.
Requirements: Class attendance and participation,
three exams, four translation assignments.
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RELB 538 Imperial Tibetan Religion
David Germano (germano@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 30680 T 1530-1800 CAB B028
This course studies the religious complexes of the
imperial period of Tibetan history, i.e. from the seventh
to the middle of the ninth centuries. The period is
marked by the rise and fall of a complex religious tradition
centered around the sacral figure of the Tibetan emperor,
and ends with the official introduction of Buddhism
into Tibet, and its gradual pervasion of Tibet after
the Empire's distintegration. In addition, a variety
of religious traditions were operative, including so-called
"shamanism", and cults pertaining to a vast pantheon
of gods and demons. We will be examining various attempts
at reconstructing the history of Tibetans' changing
religious concepts of world, life, death and self against
the backdrop of the stunning rise of the Tibetan Empire
to become a dominant military power in the ancient world,
and the concomitant social, political and intellectual
transformations it engendered.
Requirements: Analytical and interpretative essays.
Prerequisites: This will be taught at the graduate
level, and undergraduates need instructor's permission.
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RELG 541 Religion, Morality and
Policy
James Childress (Childress@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31734 R 1530-1800 CHM 260
This seminar for graduate students and advanced undergraduates
will carefully and critically examine various perspectives
on the role of religious convictions in formulating
public policies in a liberal democratic society. Within
the context set by the US constitutional framework of
separation of church and state, the seminar will focus
mainly on important debates (1) in political and social
philosophy and (2) in theology and religious ethics
about the legitimate role of religious convictions in
forming public policy.
Permission of instructor required.
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RELB 542 Colloquial Tibetan V
David Germano (germano@virginia.edu
) Schedule #31394 MW 1100-1150 WIL 141A
A continuation of the Colloquial Tibetan IV, this course
uses multimedia programs in Colloquial Tibetan to develop
verbal fluency, acquire vocabulary, anhd master advanced
topics in spoken Tibetan
Prerequisites: Tibetan IV
Requirements: Class attendance, participation, preparation
of programs outside of class, multiple exams and quizzes.
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RELB 547 Literary and Spoken Tibetan
V
P. Jeffrey Hopkins (jhopkins@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31397 TR 1400-1515 WIL 140
A continuation of Literary and Spoken Tibetan IV, this
course is designed for training in both the literary
and colloquial forms of the Tibetan language. In the
literary section, emphasis is on exposure to a variety
of styles/genres in religious literature and in-depth
knowledge of Tibetan grammar/compound formation; in
the colloquial section, emphasis is on vocabulary acquisition
and verbal fluency. In the colloquial section, emphasis
is on vocabulary acquisition and verbal fluency through
scholastic debate.
Prerequisites: RELB 501 or equivalent.
Requirements: Class attendance and participation, four
exams, midterm, final, translation assignments.
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RELC 551 Early Christian Thought
Robert Wilken (rlw2w@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31852 M 1300-1530 CAB B029
Graduate level introduction to the key persons, texts
and ideas from the beginning of Christianity to the
early Middle Ages. Persons to be considered: Origen,
Tertullian, Athanasius, Gregory of Nyssa, Ambrose, Augustine,
Cyril of Alexandria, Maximus the Confessor, et.al. Open
to advanced undergraduates with permission of the instructor.
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RELJ 556 Topics in Early Judaism
TBA (relig@minerva.acc.virginia.edu)
Schedule # 31738 R 1530-1800 CAB 235
In depth consideration of selected texts, figures and
historical developments in second temple Judaism.
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 RELB
560 Introduction to Pali
Karen Lang (kcl@virginia.edu)
Schedule #31810 TBA
The course is an introduction to the reading of Pali
Buddhist texts. No prerequisites, though some knowledge
of Sanskrit could be helpful.
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RELG 563 Issues in Religion and
Literature
Larry Bouchard (lbouchard@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31776 W 1530-1800 PV8 103
The purpose, problems, and possibilities of interdisciplinary
work in religion, imaginative literature, and criticism,
structured  around
the four major literary genres: epic, drama, lyric poetry,
and prose fiction. Introductory sections of the course
will consider alternative approaches to religion and
culture and their bearing on religion and literature
studies. Another section will consider literary approaches
to and uses Bible. Readings will include focal literary
works from the four major genres as well as many pertinent
theoretical discussions. Some of the broadest "issues"
will include: relations between literary genres and
cultural-religious history, literary transformations
of religious meaning, and imaginative literatures as
comprising interpretive modes of understanding and critique.
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RELG 564 Seminar in Modern Religious
Thought: The Holy Spirit
Eugene Rogers (GRogers@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31806 W 1530-1800 PV8 108
A test of trinitarianism is whether it has anything
interesting to say about the Holy Spirit. The HS also
provides a lens to see how trinitarian doctrine is used
to do "other" things in Christian doctrine, in revelation,
creation, redemption, Israel/ecclesiology, elevation,
theosis, natural law and virtue-theory ethics.The course
is at once a tour of Christian doctrine, an attempt
at a constructive pneumatology, and a meditation on
theology as a discipline. We will evaluate theses such
as these: The Holy Spirit is best thought of in the
NT terms of witness. The HS is a witness already within
the trinitarian life, thus the divine condition for
the possibility of human enjoyment and glorification
of God. As a witness the HS plays the role of the guarantor
at a wedding, holding the parties together, as in the
account of the resurrection at Rom. 8. The HS also overcomes
the apparent dichotomy in ethics between virtue and
law, as in the "law of the Spirit" passage in Rom. 8.
"Grace" is an impersonal name for the Spirit, as is
"freedom." The mode of exegesis proper to the Spirit
is anagogy. Readings will include the Bible, the Cappadocians,
Ephrem the Syrian, Romanos the Melodist, Aquinas, Barth,
Jenson, von Balthasar, Milbank, liturgical studies,
depictions of the HS in exegesis and icons of the baptism,
the transfiguration, and the hospitality of Abraham.
Requirements: One long paper or four five-page
papers. NB: If you write the five-pagers, you will actually
finish before the end of the semester!
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RELB 566 Seminar in Indian Buddhism
Karen Lang (klang@virginia.edu)
Schedule # 30719 M 1530-1800 CAB 235
The focus of this seminar is on Indian Buddhism from
the time of Sakyamuni Buddha (6th cent. BCE) until its
decline in the
twelfth century CE. We will explore how divergent ideas
on the nature of Buddhas and their teachings developed
through reading translations of Indian Buddhist texts
and the works of modern scholars. Texts include: Michael
Carrithers, The Buddha; Steven Collins, Selfless Persons;
Malcolm Eckel, To See the Buddha; and Miranda Shaw,
Passionate Enlightenment. Prerequisites: None though
some prior knowledge of Buddhism will be assumed. Undergraduate
welcome. Requirements: Active participation in class
discussions, two short papers (ca. 5-7 pgs), one of
which can be expanded into a final term paper (15-20
pgs).
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RELG 592 Theology and Politics
Charles Mathewes (ctmathewes@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 32070 M 1530-1800 CAB 330
How ought one's theological convictions influence one's
political activities and commitments? What are the implications
of one's political activities and commitments for one's
theological convictions? This class seeks to answer
these questions, and investigate the relationship between
them. What is the proper understanding of the relation
between "theology," understood as our beliefs about
and reflection on God and the meaning of existence,
broadly construed, and "politics," understood as the
ways (theoretical and practical) that we organize and
negotiate social life? How can we make sense of the
idea that we can rule our lives by religious ideals
that are real but that are also really ideal, norms
which have force for our lives but which are not themselves
easily or simply instantiated in our political practices?
Conversely, how can we make sense of the idea that our
political practices reveal what we "really" believe
in, in ways that we may find uncomfortable or in deep
disagreement with our explicit religious convictions?
This course studies in depth several classic investigations
of these questions, including (but not limited to) those
of Plato, Hobbes, and Augustine, as well as several
contemporary figures.
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RELH 717 Hindu Cosmology
Anne Monius () Schedule # 31337
R 1530-1800 RSH 111
This course is designed as an intensive, graduate-level examination
of Hindu conceptions of space and time. Special attention
will be paid to the historical development of Indic visions
of the universe, the "science" of cosmology or jyotisastra,
the practical application of cosmological principles to Hindu
calendrical systems and almanacs, and the importance of cosmology
in everyday Hindu life.
Prerequisites: Prior coursework in Hinduism, or permission
of instructor
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RELG 737 Proseminar in the History
of Religions
 Anne
Monius () Schedule # 32930 TBA
The Proseminar consists of two one-credit courses offered
in the fall and spring of each year. Each consists of
three meetings, each lasting two-and-a-half hours. Each
meeting will be attended by at least two History of
Religions faculty. The course will involve reading classic
literature in the History of Religions and discussion,
but otherwise will not involve testing or writing. Failure
to attend any class meetings during a given semester
will result in failure of the class, and the student
will be required to retake the course. The seminar will
meet in Cabell 330 from 7:30-9:00 on September 27, October
25, and November 29.
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RELB 820 Spoken Tibetan VII
P. Jeffrey Hopkins (jhopkins@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 32467 TR 1400-1515 WIL 140
A continuation of Literary and Spoken Tibetan VI, this
course is designed for training in both the literary
and colloquial forms of the Tibetan language. In the
literary section, emphasis is on exposure to a variety
of styles/genres in religious literature and in-depth
knowledge of Tibetan grammar/compound formation; in
the colloquial section, emphasis is on vocabulary acquisition
and verbal fluency. In the colloquial section, emphasis
is on vocabulary acquisition and verbal fluency through
scholastic debate.
Prerequisites: RELB 548 or equivalent.
Requirements: Class attendance and participation, four
exams, midterm, final, translation assignments.
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RELB 823 Advanced Literary and Spoken
Tibetan
P. Jeffrey Hopkins (jhopkins@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 30892 TBA
Individual reading in Tibetan literature, with an emphasis
on religious and philosophical issues.
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RELC 825 Trinity, Ontology and Subjectivity
 John
Milbank (jmilbank@virginia.edu ) Schedule # 31139 R
1230-1515 RAN 212
This course will read Augustine's de Trinitate in order
to examine just how Augustine's reflection on the trinity
helps to shape his understanding of being, knowing and
selfhood. We shall then examine later texts in the Western
tradition reaching down to Hegel, in order to see how
far a trinitarian ontology, gnoseology and psychology
was sustained , developed or betrayed by later writers.
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RELB 826 Sexuality and Gender in
Tibet
David Germano (germano@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31303 TBA
Directed readings in Tibetan literature for advanced
students in Tibetan language.
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RELB 827 Colloquial Tibetan VII
David Germano (germano@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31322 MW 1100-1150 WIL 141A
A continuation of Colloquial Tibetan VI, this course
uses multimedia programs in Colloquial Tibetan to develop
verbal fluency, acquire vocabulary, and master advanced
topics in spoken Tibetan.
Prerequisites: Tibetan VI.
Requirements: Class attendance, participation, preparation
of programs outside of class, multiple exams and quizzes.
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RELB 828 Colloquial Tibetan IX
David Germano (germano@virginia.edu
) Schedule # 31373 MW 1100-1150 WIL 141A
A continuation of Colloquial Tibetan VIII, this course
uses multimedia programs in Colloquial Tibetan to develop
verbal fluency, acquire vocabulary, and master advanced
topics in spoken Tibetan.
Prerequisites: Tibetan VIII.
Requirements: Class attendance, participation, preparation
of programs outside of class, multiple exams and quizzes.
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 RELH
865 Readings in Tamil
Anne Monius () Schedule # 32676
TBA
Readings in Tamil literature, with an emphasis on religious
themes and issues.
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