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| RELC 122 Early
Christianity & the New Testament
Harry Gamble ( HGamble@virginia.edu
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Schedule# 402V4 Plus discussion section Check here for time and location This course surveys the origins and early history of Christianity on the basis of a historical and analytical study of early Christian writings belonging to the "New Testament." Topics covered include the origins of Christianity in Judaism; the activity and significance of Jesus; the formation, beliefs and practices of early Christian communities; the varieties of Christianity in the first century; and the progressive distinction of Christianity from Judaism. Requirements: Two quizzes and a final examination, and occasional short papers in connection with discussion sections. Regular attendance at discussion sections is mandatory. |
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RELC 150 Introduction to Christian Tradition |
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| RELC 206 History of Christianity
II 1054-1800 Augustine Thompson ( AThompson@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 402WE Plus discussion section Check here for time and location Survey of Western Christianity from the 12th to the 19th century. Attention will be given to spirituality and forms of piety, worship, development of theology, and the institutional history of the Christian Church. Special focus will be placed on the High Medieval Church, the Crisis of the Protestant Reformation, and the early modern background of contemporary Christianity, including Eastern Orthodoxy. Readings from original sources. Three short papers, in-class mid-term and final. |
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This course has been replaced by RELI 259 |
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| RELG 216
Religion in America Since 1865 Heather Warren ( hwarren@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 40250 Plus discussion section Check here for time and location 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. |
| RELG 219 Religion
& Modern Fiction Larry Bouchard ( lbouchard@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 403XU Plus discussion section Check here for time and location We will explore ways that modern fiction persists in asking questions that are intrinsically religious in character: questions concerning the relation between human spirit and human nature, of faith and doubt, of evil and suffering, of personal and communal wholeness, identity, and transformation. We will also ask about symbolic orders of meaning in which writers may discern the divine at the limits of language and experience. Some authors we will consider (such as Elie Wiesel, Flannery O'Connor or Susaku Endo, John Updike or Marilynne Robinson) write fictions that are intended to reflect explicitly their religious traditions. Others (such as E. M. Forster, Tony Morrison,) create apparently secular narratives that nonetheless raise philosophical and moral questions that carry religious implications. And others (such as N. Scott Momaday, E. R. Doctorow, or Yann Martel) employ a variety of religious and cultural traditions to create more idiosyncratic religious interpretations. The authors mentioned may change and, in addition, the course will consider a number of interpreters of religion. Requirements: Regular attendance and active participation at lectures discussion sections. Two essay exams before and after the Spring break and a short final paper |
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GREE 224 New Testament Greek
(Intermediate Greek)
This course is not offered by the department, but may be of interest to religious studies students Judith Kovacs ( JKovacs@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 402UK Check here for time and location The aims of this course are to solidify your knowledge of Hellenistic Greek grammar and vocabulary and to gain speed and proficiency in reading and translating the Greek New Testament. We will read passages from I Corinthians and Romans, as well as some passages from the Acts of the Apostles. We will also consider some of the principles of New Testament textual criticism. Prerequisite: Greek 101-102 or permission of the instructor. Graduate students should consult instructor about registration. This course is offered by the Department of Classics. |
RELG 230 Religious Ethics and Moral Problems Charles Mathewes ( ctmathewes@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 4005E Plus discussion section Check here for time and location 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. 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. |
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RELC 246 Aspects of the Catholic Tradition |
RELB 254 Tibetan Buddhist Culture |
| RELI 259 Islam, Democracy and Human Rights Abdulaziz Sachedina ( aas@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 401E7 Plus discussion section Check here for time and location RELI 259 will study the Muslim societies in the modern times to assess their success/failure in remolding their political/religious culture in order to become fully integrated in the international order that is founded upon secularism and modernism. The course will undertake to explore a public role for religion in general, and Islam in particular, in fostering democratic values, including respect for human rights of religious and ethnic minorities and women, that can accommodate a pluralistic nature of the religious and political societies in the Islamic world. That which characterizes the Muslim community is their devotion to the classical faith, Islam, with its legacy of rich past. The call for reformation of this classical heritage has been in the air for over a century. Yet, the beginning or the end of reformation is singularly difficult to observe in terms of a "new" political theology or a "fresh" pluralistic interpretation of Islam to have capacity for the changes that are sweeping Muslim societies. Islam and its people continue to grapple with the fact of Western hegemony through economic globalization and the support the West lends to their autocratic governments in suppressing their political and human rights. The course will evaluate political goals of Muslim governments, and whether these goals are congruent with the development of democratic institutions to further basic human rights. Readings will include: Soroush/Reason, Freedom And Democracy In Islam, Sachedina/Islamic Roots Of Democratic Plural, Sabbagh/Arab Women, Qutub/Social Justice In Islam, Fadl/Place Of Tolerance In Islam |
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RELJ 261 Judaism in a Secular World |
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| RELI 312 Sufism Timothy Gianotti ( tjg5g@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 40539 Check here for time and location Contact professor directly for course description |
RELG 313 Idolatry |
RELH 314 The Jain Tradition |
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RELC 323 Pentecostalism |
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RELC 329 Christianity and Islam |
RELG 335 Metaphysics and Morality |
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RELB 338 Buddhist Perspectives on Dying, Death and Transcendence |
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RELJ 339 Jewish Feminism |
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RELA 341: Witchcraft, Healing, and Popular Religion in Contemporary Africa |
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RELC 349 Scottish Enlightenment and American Faith
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RELB 357 Buddhist Paths to Enlightenment |
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RELG 365 Contemporary Issues in Bioethics: Stem Cell Research and Genetic Enhancement |
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RELC 368 Cultural Catholicism |
| RELG 372 Witchcraft Erik Midelfort (hem7e@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 400U4 Check here for time and location The following description is 6 years old: This course considers the history and theory of Western magic and witchcraft from the points of view of women's studies, European history, and Christian theology. We study various notions of magic and demonology and their intersection with witch hunting, especially in Europe and America, and concentrating on the period 1450-1750. We also consider the connections of modern Wicca (sometimes known as the Goddess religion) to traditional witchcraft. The goal of the course is to refine critical thinking and interdisciplinary skills as well as extend research and writing abilities. Students will write a major research paper (10-15 pages long) on a topic of their choosing. The course proceeds by lectures and discussion of weekly reading assignments of ca. 100-150 pages a week. Additional assignments encourage students to discover resources in the library. A midterm and final examination are required of all. |
RELJ 375 Scriptural Reasoning |
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RELJ 383 Introduction to the Talmud |
RELC 384 American Catholic Social Thought |
| RELG 388 Environmental Theologies Willis Jenkins ( wjj2c@virginia.edu ) Schedule # 400SU Check here for time and location This intensive seminar explores contemporary Christian theologies for the way they have appropriated environmental challenges, and the way theologians think those challenges require theological traditions to be reformed, discarded, or reclaimed. What does biodiversity have to do with salvation? Christian spirituality with nature? Divine creation and an evolving cosmos? In search of answers, we will read works from Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant theologians and consider theological strategies such as eco-justice, stewardship, liberation theology, ecofeminism, and creation spirituality. |
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RELG 400a Majors Seminar Religion and Violence |
RELG 400b Majors Seminar: Online and On the Road with Religious Studies |
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RELG 400c Majors Seminar: Creation |
| RELA 410 Yoruba Religion Ben Ray ( BenRay@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 403K7 Check here for time and location This is not a Majors Seminar. A study of Yoruba traditional religion. ritual art, independent churches, and religious themes in contemporary literature in Africa and the Americas. |
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RELG 423
Bioethics Internship Seminar
Margaret Mohrmann ( mem7e@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 402BN Check here for time and location This is not a Majors Seminar. This course is designed to provide students with experience in discerning and analyzing ethical issues as they arise in particular clinical settings. Each student will spend one half-day each week in a clinic or other health-care-related setting (the same setting throughout the semester) under the mentorship of a health care professional engaged in that setting. Seminar time will focus both on the role of the ethicist/observer and on the particular issues that commonly arise in clinical medicine. During the second half of the semester, students will give presentations related to their specific areas of observation. Students are expected to have some background knowledge of bioethics methods and common questions. Admittance to the course is by application; for details, see the Undergraduate Bioethics Program Website at http://bioethics.virginia.edu/internships.html. |
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RELG 461 Sex and Morality
John Portmann ( jep7a@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 401UX Check here for time and location This is not a Majors Seminar. Survey of how Western moralists have theorized: a woman’s body; a man’s body; celibacy; masturbation; pornography; stripping; prostitution; sexual reproduction; contraception; adultery; homosexuality; marriage and divorce; sex education in public schools; sex scandals; senior sex, and the relation between sexual conduct and moral standing. Focus on Christianity and the United States. What does sexual activity have to do with religious practice? And how did sex come to be the overriding personal goal of modern Westerners (as Foucault laments, with only a little irony, in The History of Sexuality)? *This class can satisfy the second writing requirement. |
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RELS 495 Independent Research |
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RELS 496 Distinguished Major Thesis |
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RELS 498 Senior Essay |
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Graduate Courses |
| RELG 515 Public Health Ethics: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives James Childress ( childress@virginia.edu ) , Ruth Gaare-Bernheim ( ) Schedule #404SX Check here for time and location This interdisciplinary seminar focuses on the ethical dimensions of the choices societies and individuals make when addressing threats to and responsibilities for the public’s health. We will examine a range of philosophical theories and contemporary positions to explore the complex concepts of “public” and “health.” By delving into historical and contemporary cases, including international cases, we will investigate the impact of various understandings of “the public,” i.e., not only as a numerical population that can be defined and measured, but also as a political group that operates under legally defined obligations and relationships and as a “communal” public with diverse cultural and moral beliefs. In the seminar we also will explore the various methods and content of public health ethics, including utilitarian perspectives, various international perspectives (including human rights), and the role of the Code of Ethics for public health professionals. |
RELG 517 Methodology Ben Ray ( BenRay@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 40147 Check here for time and location An introduction to the basic thinkers in the field of History of Religions and Anthropology (Otto, van der Leeuw, Eliade, Durkheim, Bellah, Berger, Levi-Strauss, Geertz, Turner) and to fundamental problems in the study of religious sociology, anthropology, mythology, and ritual.. Such authors as Edith Turner, Wendy Doniger, Jonathan Z. Smith, and Katherine Bell. Also a critical examination of postmodernism and the comparative study of religion. One or two reading critiquse (4-5 pages), a ritual analysis paper (5-6 pages), a myth analysis paper (5-6 pages), and a postmodernism paper (5-6 pages). Guidelines for all papers will be provided; as many papers as possible will be presented in class. Restricted to Graduate students and 4th year Religious Studies majors. |
RELC 521 Luther and Lutheranism Augustine Thompson ( AThompson@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 4401W Check here for time and location This course is an introduction to Martin Luther, the Lutheran tradition and Lutheran theology intended for doctoral students in Religious Studies or history. The focus is principally bibliographical, but reading will include selections from Luther and Lutheran writers. Knowledge of German and French is useful but not required. |
| RELJ 522 Literary Approaches to Rabbinic Literature Elizabeth Alexander (esa3p@virginia.edu) Schedule# 400TH Check here for time and location Rabbinic literature has shaped the values, rituals and theology of Judaism as it is practiced by Jews around the world today. Yet the texts of the rabbinic corpus rarely state their values, rituals or theology in straightforward manner. This course gives students the skills to tease out the essential kernel of a given passage by applying the insights of contemporary literary theory. We will identify the chief literary characteristics of midrash (biblical interpretation), mishnah (legal codification and case law) and gemara (legal argumentation and interpretation). We will also identify literary theories that clarify the goals, purposes and meaning of exemplary passages in each of these genres. The insights culled from literary theory include attention to intertextuality, hermeneutical presuppositions, the use of recurring images and motifs and the constructive role of the reader. Class time will be largely devoted to close readings of primary texts. |
| RELC 530 Roman Catholic Moral Tradition Charles Mathewes ( ctmathewes@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 401YT Check here for time and location |
RELB 534 Colloquial Tibetan IV S. Yangkyi Wang ( syw5r@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 401DN Check here for time and location |
RELB 536 Literary Tibetan IV Yaroslav Komarovski ( ilk3q@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 401A4 Check here for time and location |
| RELB 539 Tibetan Buddhist Esoteric Movements in Context David Germano ( Germano@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 4035C Check here for time and location |
| RELI 540 The Sunnite Creed Abdulaziz Sachedina ( aas@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 400F4 Check here for time and location RELI 540 will concentrate on the development of Muslim Theology in general and the Sunnite creed in particular. It will primarily be a Mu`tazili-Ash`ari theological study, and secondarily Sunni-Shi`i doctrinal analysis. The course is basically concerned with the development of creeds in Islam, the gradual process of formulating Principles of Religion (usul al-din), and their crystallization in the form of dogmas, with theological complexities. Readings will include: A. J. Wensinck, The Muslim Creed; W. M. Watt, The Formative Period of Islamic Thought; H. A. Wolfson, The Philosophy of Kalam; G. F. Hourani, Islamic Rationalism; I. Goldziher, Muslim Studies, Vols. II; E. L. Ormsby, Theodicy in Islamic Thought. COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Active participation in the weekly sessions, Class reports, in the form of short papers, Two book reviews, Term paper on a topic to be selected in consultation with the instructor. N.B. Students taking this course should have a basic grounding in Islam, e.g. RELI 207. |
| RELG 541 Just War and Pacifism James Childress ( childress@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 404SV Check here for time and location This seminar will examine just-war, pacifist, and holy-war attitudes toward war, mainly in the context of Christian theology and modern philosophical discussions. After a brief exploration of the moral reality of war, the seminar will examine the evolution of Christian attitudes toward war, from the early Church through the Reformation, with particular attention to how the Church and its theologians handled New Testament directives that at a minimum created tension in efforts to justify war as well as Christian participation in war. The thought of selected twentieth century theologians will be examined, with attention to representatives of the just-war tradition and the pacifist tradition. These include Reinhold Niebuhr, H. Richard Niebuhr, Karl Barth, Paul Ramsey, the U.S. Catholic Bishops, James Turner Johnson, Oliver O'Donovan, John Howard Yoder and Stanley Hauerwas, among others. In addition, the seminar will analyze and assess what the instructor considers the best book on the morality of war in the twentieth-century: Michael Walzer’s Just and Unjust Wars. In the examination of just-war thought, the seminar will attend to both the jus ad bellum and the jus in bello. Finally, the seminar will consider some contemporary debates about preventive and pre-emptive wars, the role of weapons of mass destruction, and torture. |
RELB 543 Colloquial Tibetan VI S. Yangkyi Wang ( syw5r@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 402TA Check here for time and location Contact professor directly for course description |
| RELB 544 Readings in Buddhist Sanskrit Texts Karen Lang (klang@virginia.edu) Schedule# 401VC Check here for time and location Contact professor directly for course description |
| RELB 546 Seminar in Mayhayana Buddhism Karen Lang (klang@virginia.edu) Schedule# 4036G Check here for time and location Contact professor directly for course description |
| RELB 548 Literary Tibetan VI Kurtis Schaeffer ( ks6bb@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 403JP Check here for time and location Contact professor directly for course description |
| RELI 550 Medieval Islamic and Jewish Philosophy Timothy Gianotti ( tjg5g@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 404AC Check here for time and location Contact professor directly for course description |
| RELC 551 Marcion and Second Century Christianity
Harry Gamble ( HGamble@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 4020V Check here for time and location (Instructor's permission required) This course is planned as a collaborative research seminar, and is limited to graduate students. Ability to work in Greek or Latin, and to use French or German, is expected. The focal figure of the seminar will be Marcion of Sinope, one of the most notorious early Christian thinkers, and one early regarded as a “heretic.” In Marcion and his teaching there converge numerous issues that broadly engaged Christian attention in the second century, and although his positions on these issues are collectively unusual and fall outside so-called proto-orthodoxy, Marcion nevertheless offers an instructive point of conjunction at which to consider a variety of second century problems. |
RELG 556 God and Unity in German Idealism |
RELJ 575 Scriptural Reasoning |
| RELG 738 Pragmatism and Theology Peter Ochs ( pwo3v@virginia.edu ), Nick Adams ( ) Schedule# 400TK Check here for time and location First, an introduction to the American pragmatists' alternative to philosophies and theologies that fail to take responsibility for the societal contexts of their inquiries. Then, a study of the Biblical sources of at least one pragmatist's work (Peirce) and how those sources identify inquiry with the effort to repair human suffering. Then, the main work of the course is to re-examine some of the major scriptural theologians who accept this identification and the responsibilities that come with it. How does their work reshape what we understand by "pragmatism" and by "scriptural theology?" Among theologians considered will be Augustine, Yehuda Halevi, Maimonides, Bonhoeffer, Iqbal, Levinas, and others. |
| RELG 792 The Politics of Theology Corey Walker ( cdw6e@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 403GW Check here for time and location “[A] teaching . . . can, I will even say should, always problematize, that is, put forward, its own limits and conditions in order to draw attention to them, to make them the theme of research. . . .” This statement from Jacques Derrida critically delineates the contours of this seminar in Critical Theology. In this seminar on “The Politics of Theology,” we will explore the limits of theology by entertaining the critical question: “What is at stake in the discourse of t/Theology?” In so doing, we will open up a line of research into the conditions of/for the im/possibility of theology, the “infra-politics” of the discourse of theology, the geopolitics and theopolitics of knowledge, and the possible future(s) of theology and public life. This seminar is intentionally interdisciplinary as our conversations will range across such fields as cultural studies, critical theory, feminist theory, philosophy, political theory, postcolonial studies, religious studies and theology. Some of the key thinkers we will engage include Theodor Adorno, Giorgio Agamben, Karl Barth, Walter Benjamin, Judith Butler, Dispesh Chakrabarty, Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze, Enrique Dussel, Michel Foucault, Jürgen Habermas, Immanuel Kant, Russell McCutcheon, Walter Mignolo, Jacques Rancière, Edward Said, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Gayatri Spivak, Sylvia Wynter and others. |
| RELG 804 American Religious History Heather Warren ( hwarren@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 402VA Check here for time and location Contact professor directly for course description |
| RELC 815 Patristic Greek Judith Kovacs ( JKovacs@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 403FC Check here for time and location Intermediate/Advanced Greek syntax, with readings in church fathers such as Origen, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Attention will also be given to techniques of Greek rhetoric and to theological issues. Designed for graduate students in the program in Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity, but open to other graduates as well. Prerequisite: Mastery of basic Greek grammar |
| RELB 826 Tantric Buddhist Literature David Germano ( Germano@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 402RY Check here for time and location Contact professor directly for course description |
| RELB 828 Colloquial Tibetan VII S. Yangkyi Wang ( syw5r@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 402YG Check here for time and location Contact professor directly for course description |
| RELC 892 Early Christian Thought: Cyprian of Carthage Robert Wilken ( rlw2w@virginia.edu ) Schedule# 403G8 Check here for time and location Focus of the seminar will be on how Cyprian dealt with the social and theological problems arising from the persecution of Christians in Carthage in mid-third century. Close reading of select letters and also two of his treatises, The Lapsed, and The Unity of the Catholic Church. Latin required. |
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RELS 895 Directed Research |
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RELS 896 Thesis Research |
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RELS 897 Non-Topical Research, Peparation
for Research |
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RELS 898 Non Topical Research |
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RELG 899 Pedagogy |
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RELS 997 Non-Topical Research, Peparation for
Doctoral Research |
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RELS 999 Non Topical Research |
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ATTENTION THIRD AND FOURTH YEAR STUDENTS All 500-level courses are open to undergraduate enrollment. Though these are graduate-level courses, they are designed to accommodate advanced undergraduates who have previously taken religious studies courses. Minors, and especially majors are encouraged to consider enrolling in these courses. For those considering graduate school, taking a 500-level course could prove immensely helpful. If you see any 500-level course in this syllabus that you think you might want to take, and you have questions about it, please contact the professor who will be offering it. The religious studies faculty as a whole welcomes all such inquiries. |
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RELIGIOUS STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION The Department of Religious Studies is a multi-disciplinary department that examines and interprets the religions of the world. Courses in the department stress skills such as critical thinking, clear writing, and persuasive use of evidence to support one's views, for these skills are central to the analysis and interpretation of the social and intellectual systems which constitute the data of religious studies. |
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The department offers a wide range of courses covering different approaches to the study of religion, and provides students with the opportunity to examine the major religious traditions of human history (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam), as well as other traditions that have flourished independently of Asian and European influences. |
| At the undergraduate level, the department requires relatively little previous exposure to the academic study of religion. Introductory 100 and 200 level courses are open without prerequisites, although in certain cases a general preparation in introductory courses is often advisable. |
| The majors seminar (RELG 400) is required of all majors in Religious Studies, and should be taken in the third or fourth year. This course is designed to provide an overview of the different methodologies employed in the study of religion, and places a special emphasis on the development of the humanistic and social-scientific skills necessary for the interpretation of religious phenomena. |
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Interested in an undergraduate degree in Religious Studies?
More information is available at Students interested in graduate studies can find information
at |
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