Session One
| Course | crn | Title | Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|
| RST 1 | 53176 | Survey of Religion | W. Terry |
| RST 60 | 53282 | Introduction to Islam | A. Iravani |
| RST 90 | 53178 | Human Rights | K. Watenpaugh |
| RST 102 | 53177 | Christian Origins | W. Terry |
Session Two
| Course | crn | Title | Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|
| RST 1G | 80368 | Myth, Ritual, Symbolism | W. Lai |
| RST 100 | 80314 | Issues and Methods | C. Chin |
| RST 106 | 80320 | Modern Christianity | M O'Keefe |
| RST 170 | 79147 | Buddhism | M. Elmore |
For information on registration and tuition fees, please visit the UC Davis Summer Session website: http://summer-sessions.ucdavis.edu.
For further inquiries of courses themselves, contact the instructor directly or Maria Saldana-Seibert, Undergraduate Program Coordinator, for any questions at (530) 752-1219.
EXPANDED DESCRIPTION - SESSION ONE
Religious Studies 1: Survey of Religion
Prof. Wendy Terry, wrterry@ucdavis.edu
Lecture/Discussion: MW 5:10-8:30PM, 101 Olson
CRN 53176
Description: This course is an introductory survey of religions and assumes no academic knowledge on the part of the student. We will spend the first half of the term introducing students to the Vedic traditions (Hinduism and Buddhism) and Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) through primary source readings and video clips from contemporary practice. The second half of the class will be devoted to introducing students to traditional and new religious traditions, covering examples close to home (e.g., Wintun and Heaven’s Gate) and examples from the other side of the globe (e.g., Australian Aboriginal and Aum Shinrikyo). This is all done in an effort to ask questions and hopefully glean some basic understandings about religion, its place in the world, and its dynamicity. Because it would be impossible to cover all religious traditions in the time allotted for one course, students will be given the opportunity to choose a religious tradition for a group presentation to take place during the last week of class. GE Credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
Format: Lecture/Discussion; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- A Course Reader
Religious Studies 60: Introduction to Islam
Prof. Ahmad Iravani
RF 2:10-4:40, 101 Olson
CRN 53282
Description: This course aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to Islam, as both a religion and a tradition consisting of various schools of thought. After examining the origin of Islam and the history and themes of the Quran as a main source of Islam, this course will give a general view of almost every important Islamic Issues such as Islamic Philosophy Islamic Mysticism (Sufism), Islamic Theology, Islamic Law, and contemporary issues such as human rights, Fundamentalism and Jihad.
There will be a final exam (40%) and a 7-10 pages term paper (40%) and (20%) will count towards the engagement and participation. GE credit: ArtHum or SocSci, Div, and Wrt.
Professor Ahmad Iravani is a Professor of Law at the Catholic University of America, and he will be the Visiting Professor this summer. For any inquiries, please call 752-1219.
Format: Lecture/Discussion; Extensive Writing.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- TBA
Religious Studies 90: Human Rights
Prof. Keith Watenpaugh, kwatenpaugh@ucdavis.edu
TR 11:00-1:30, 105 Olson
CRN 53178
Description: This course introduces students to the comparative and critical study of Human Rights. Students will study the theoretical, historical and practical foundations of human rights in various civilizations, cultures and religions, evaluate the role of Human Rights within western and non-western societies, and examine the role of human rights thinking, policy and institutions in the contemporary world. Of particular interest will be the intersection of the question of human rights and religious difference and the role religious institutions and movements have in the protection/violation of human rights. GE Credit: ArtHum, Div.
Format: Lecture/Discussion; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- TBA
Religious Studies 102: Christian Origins
Prof. Wendy Terry, wrterry@ucdavis.edu
MWF 2:10-4:40, 105 Olson
CRN 53177
Description: This course is designed as an introduction to early Christian thought and practice for advanced undergraduates. It will focus on the intellectual and social issues that preoccupied Christian thinkers from approximately the year 100 to approximately the year 500, and will examine the ways in which early Christians thought about the content of the statement “I am a Christian.” These are the dominant questions behind the course:
- What were different Christian identities, and how did people claim them?
- How did Christian communities develop rituals and beliefs (and vice versa)?
- How and why did Christian identities change over the first five centuries?
These questions cannot be answered in a single quarter course. In order to begin to address them, this course takes just two major themes in early Christian thought - the idea of a social and ritual community, or church, and the idea of a set of fundamental identifying beliefs, or a creed—and introduces some of the diverse approaches that Christian writers took in thinking about them.
Format: Lecture/Discussion; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: course 40; course 23 recommended.
Text:
- TBA
EXPANDED DESCRIPTION - SESSION TWO
Religious Studies 1G: Myth, Ritual, Symbolism
Prof. Whalen Lai
MW 2:10-5:40, 163 Olson
CRN 80368
Description: This survey course explores myths, rituals, and religious symbols found in a variety of religious traditions including examples from ancient and contemporary religious life.
Format: Lecture; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- A Course Reader
- Campbell, Hero with a Thousand Faces
Religious Studies 100: Methods and Issues
Prof. Catherine Chin, chin@ucdavis.edu
TWR 10:00-11:40, 167 Olson
CRN 80314
Description: In the wake of the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the discovery of the new world, religion became a problem as never before. This class explores the development of this problem from the early modern period through the present, focusing on two wide-ranging narratives. The first concerns the declining authority of God and the reciprocal ascent of the individual as it develops through Luther's theology, Descartes' epistemology, and Locke's liberalism and finally arrives in the consumer technologies of contemporary cosmopolises. The second concerns the birth and growth of the academic study of religion alongside the disciplines of anthropology, psychology, and sociology.
This class unsettles many of the un-reflective conceptions of religion that circulate today, from new-age assumptions about the difference between religion and spirituality to those guiding our foreign and domestic policy. In a world where religion is both the guarantor of mass murder and unbounded generosity, such questions have rarely been more important.
Format: Lecture - 3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- TBA
Religious Studies 106: Modern Christianity
Prof. Meaghan O'Keefe, mmokeefe@ucdavis.edu
TWR 12:10-1:50, 141 Olson
CRN 80320
Description: This course examines Christianity in the twentieth century and in the contemporary world. Topics to be covered include: the rise of Christianity in traditionally non-Christian cultures, such as South Korea and China; competition between new Christian movements and established Christian denominations, particularly in Latin America and Africa; the decline of Christianity in traditionally Christian areas, as in Western Europe. Particular attention will be paid to the relationship of Christian movements to social, economic, and political issues in the contemporary state, for example in Latin American liberation theology, the rise of the U.S. Christian Right, and in the evolution of different forms of Christianity in the former communist bloc. GE Credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
Prof. Meaghan O'Keefe is a Lecturer in the University Writing Program.
Format: Lecture; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- A Course Reader
Religious Studies 170: Buddhism
Prof. Mark Elmore, mkelmore@ucdavis.edu
MW 11:00-1:30, 101 Olson
CRN 79147
Description: This course examines Buddhism in its pan-Asian manifestations, from its beginning in India to its development in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, Central Asia, China and Japan. Topics will cover: cultural context of Buddhist prehistory; life of the Buddha and his teaching; basic teachings of the councils and questions of canonization; the period of King Asoka and the spread of Buddhism; the cult of the Buddha, relics and stupas, and background to the Lotus Sutra; the rise of Mayhana Buddhism; growth of Buddhism in China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet (prior culture and variant styles); and Buddhism in the Modern World.
Format: Lecture; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
TBA