How do Jews experience the world, themselves, and God? This is an anthropological, literary and experiential visit to the soul, body and mind of the Jewish people. In addition to primary texts, both ancient and modern, we will consider images of Judaism available in film and literature.

This course focusses on native Chinese religious traditions and is divided into three distinct parts. In the first, some of the classical Chinese texts that determine the parameters of religious discourse are examined. Among them are the Analects, Mencius, Tao te ching, and Chuang tzu. In the second part, we will explore the teachings and practices of religious Taoism. Among the topics discussed are the quest for physical immortality, Taoist views of the body and its relation to cosmology, Taoist religious organizations, and millenarian rebellions. In the final section of the course, popular Chinese religion will be discussed. Among the topics surveyed will be ancestor worship, the roles of gods and ghosts, and spirit possession.

An historical survey of religion in America from the Civil War to the present. The course includes study of theological change in Protestantism, the emergence of three kinds of Judaism, controversy and change in American Catholicism, the origins of fundamentalism and Pentecostalism, and various expressions of African-American faith. It attends to the effects of immigration, urbanization, politics, and other social and cultural changes on American religious life. This course fulfills the Second Writing Requirement. Requirements: Three papers (6-7 pages each), a mid-term exam, and a final exam.

We will explore ways in which modern literature asks persistent questions that are intrinsically religious in character: questions concerning the relation between human spirit and human nature, the fact of evil and suffering, the desire for personal and communal wholeness and fulfillment, and whether human beings need to be rooted in a symbolic order of meaning. Some of the authors we will consider (such as Elie Wiesel and Flannery O'Connor) write fictions that are intended to reflect explicitly their religious traditions. Others (such as N. Scott Momaday and Seamus Heaney) employ a variety of religious and cultural traditions to create more idiosyncratic religious interpretations. And others (such as Milan Kundera or Toni Morrison), create secular narratives that nonetheless raise philosophical and moral questions that have religious implications. In addition, the course will consider other authors and interpreters of religion. Requirements: Two essay exams and a short final paper.

Focusing on the Jewish Communities of Vienna, Prague, and Berlin, this course will explore the richness and complexity of Jewish culture and identity from the turn of the century to the 1930's when the so-called "German-Jewish Symbiosis" came to an abrupt end. Through lectures and the discussion of primary sources (in translation), we will study the significant role Jews played in defining "modernity" in literature, art, music, and the human and natural sciences. Readings will include texts by Sigmund Freud, Otto Weininger, Franz Kafka, Egon Friedell, Stefan Zweig, Martin Buber, Arthur Schnitzler, Albert Einstein, and others. This course is cross-listed with the History department

This course examines several contemporary moral issues from the standpoint of the ethical insights of Western religious traditions (especially Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish, but with some attention to Islamic positions) as well as from a broadly humanistic perspective. We will consider a variety of moral issues including (but not limited to) marriage, friendship, truthfulness, capital punishment, warfare, and the meaning of work, career, and vocation. We will also examine the relationship between religious convictions, morality, and the law, using laws against pornography and/or homosexual marriage as case studies. Particular attention will be paid to what selected authorities and thinkers in the above traditions say about these issues, how they reach their conclusions, and how their theological or philosophical convictions influence their moral judgements. Entry into this course is NOT restricted

The course will trace the origins and development of Roman Catholic doctrine in light of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The following topics will be treated: the nature and person of Christ as examined in the first ecumenical councils from Nicaea (325) to Chalcedon (451); the nature of the Church and its authority vested in bishops and the pope; original sin, grace, and justification; the seven sacraments and their orientation toward the Eucharist; the liturgy of the Mass, as the expression of the reality of the Christ event; the doctrines of the Virgin Mary and the cult of the saints; and the basis for Catholic social teaching. Requirements: 2 Mid-term examinations and a final examination.

This course attempts to be a critical survey of the most significant Jewish responses to the experience of the modern era. Beginning with Spinoza's political and hermeneutical thought, we will explore how Jewish thinkers met the social, cultural, and religious challenges of modernity and, in turn, influenced the transformation of modern Jewry. Changing and conflicting perspectives of tradition, education, culture, and religion will be in the center of our interest. Readings will cover the major trends in Modern Jewish Thought, concluding with "Post-Holocaust-Philosophies," and will include selections from Spinoza, the Maharal, Mendelssohn, Samson R. Hirsch, Achad Haam, Abraham Isaak Kook, Hermann Cohen, Buber, Rosenzweig, Leo Baeck, Heschel, and others.

Buddhism has adapted and changed in response to different cultures and changing times. This course will examine the "export" of Buddhism to the west. The course will explore the different perceptions of Buddhism held by Asian immigrants and by western converts, and investigate the ways in which divergent Buddhist traditions (Zen, Pure Land, Nichiren, Tibetan and Theravðda) respond to the demands of western culture. The course readings include discussion of Buddhism and issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, as well as the "engaged" Buddhist response to social and environmental problems. No prerequisites but previous course work in Buddhism would be useful. Requirements: active participation in class, weekly response papers, and two short papers (7-10 pages).

This course examines the doctrines, practices, and historical development of the Jain tradition, a significant yet often little understood religious community on the Indian subcontinent. Careful attention will be paid to the "founding" figure of Mahavira, the basic scriptures, teachings, and narratives of Jainism, as well as the nature of Jain lay and monastic life. Some previous study of Asian religions useful

This seminar takes as its point of departure Carolyn Bynum's statements: "No scholar studying religion, no participant in ritual, is ever neuter. Religious experience is the experience of men and women, and in no known society is this experience the same." The unifying theme of this seminar is gender and Buddhism. We will explore historical, textual and social questions relevant to gender and sexuality from the time of Buddhism's origins to the present day. This is not an introductory level course and previous course work in Buddhism is expected. Requirements: active participation in class, weekly response papers and a term paper (15-25 pages).

This class addresses the varieties and complexities of interpretation of the text of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is from this text that a diverse number of civilizations, religions, and cultures have taken inspiration, or have resisted the formulative textual narratives and ethics of Western culture. This semester, the course will focus our attention on the first 22 chapters of Genesis, the first book of the five books that make up the Torah, or Pentateuch. We will be reading the text very slowly, with attention to the language and the content of the narrative, and we will also read some of the many responses to the text, including rabbinic midrash, Rashi's medieval commentary, Eastern European exegise directed at a Yiddish-speaking women's community (the T'zenah A'renah), world literature folktales, contemporary Israeli poetry, and an American novel, that take the story as inspiration. Through all of this, we will be paying attention to what the meaning, moral and goal of the text is for us. A task of the course will be to analyze the primary sources using a close textual method. We will develop an understanding of how the exegetical and literary tradition supports and surrounds the ethical themes in the text and how methodologies for critical reading suggest methods in ethical reasoning. All readings and discussion will be in English. The Hebrew Scriptures JPS translation, Genesis, the Beginning of Desire, Aviva Zornberg, East of Eden, John Steinbeck, and a reader which will contain selections from midrash, traditional texts, contemporary literature. The Hebrew Scriptures JPS translation. Genesis, the Beginning of Desire, Aviva Zornberg, East of Eden, John Steinbeck and a reader which will contain selections from midrash, traditional texts, and contemporary literature. There is one case-based midterm, two short papers, a linguistic exercise, and a final research project.

RELC 336

Judaism & Christianity

Esther Menn ()

In this course, we will study the relationship between Judaism and Christianity from the origins of Christianity as a Jewish sect through the conflicts of the Middles Ages and modernity. Substantial attention will be given to how the Holocaust has changed the shape of Jewish-Christian dialogue. Requirements: Class participation, three short papers (2-3 pages), midterm examination, and final examination or term paper. Second Writing Requirement by arrangement. Note:

An introduction to the study of traditional art of sub-Saharan of Africa from the point of view of its meaning and function in African religion and culture. Students will design their own Wed based exhibitions, complete with images of African art objects and original text labels, as a way of conveying what they have learned in the course. There will be two lectures and one computer lab session a week. Visits to the National Museum of African Art and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will be part of the curriculum. A second computer lab session is optional for as additional credit hour. Interested students should look at the student exhibitions on the course Web site at http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~bcr/rela345_98.html. This course counts toward the Humanities area requirement and nonwestern Perspectives requirement. Restricted to majors in Religious Studies, Art History, and African-American & African Studies

According to Robert Orsi, " …religion is an ongoing process of materializing the way in which things unseen are constantly rendered visible in the available idioms of culture …" This seminar will introduce students to the study of religion as an interdisciplinary subject, using methods in anthropology, theology, and the history of religions. As we view religion from the perspective of material culture, we can learn to recognize how religious people enact spirituality and belief in a world of things, places and sensory experiences. Students will study diverse texts (such as Geertz, Freud, Douglas and McDannell) that illuminate the connection between material culture and the study of religion and will develop their critical skills through and independent project. Requirements: Several short papers and a final project. Prerequisite: 3rd and 4th year Religious Studies Majors only