| Course | crn | Title | Instructor |
|---|---|---|---|
| RST 1A | 63450 | Topic: Pilgrimage | B. Tezcan |
| RST 1F | Topic: Contemporary Religion | W. Terry | |
| 60202 | (sec. 1, Discussion Section) | ||
| 60203 | (sec. 2, Discussion Section) | ||
| 60204 | (sec. 3, Discussion Section) | ||
| 60205 | (sec. 4, Discussion Section) | ||
| 60206 | (sec. 5, Discussion Section) | ||
| 60207 | (sec. 6, Discussion Section) | ||
| RST 23 | 60208 | Introduction to Judaism | R. Galoob |
| RST 45 | 63704 | Christianity | C. Chin |
| RST 60 | 64109 | Introduction to Islam | M. Michailidis |
| RST 75 | 63452 | Introduction to Chinese Philosophy | W. Lai |
| RST 80 | 60210 | Religion, Gender, Sexuality | W. Terry |
| RST 100 | 60216 | Issues and Methods | M. Elmore |
| RST 110 | 63454 | Meaning and Identity | W. Lai |
| RST 125 | 63455 | Dead Sea Scrolls | M. Vidas |
| RST 144 | 63705 | History of the Bible | C. Chin |
Note:
Effective Fall 2009, the Hebrew Language Courses will now be housed under the Classics Program. To find out more information about course schedule and expanded course descriptions, please click HERE (It will lead you to the Classics Program Website).
For the meantime, please contact Maria Saldana-Seibert, Undergraduate Program Coordinator, for any questions at (530) 752-1219.
Religious Studies 1A: Topics in Comparative Religion - Pilgrimage
Prof. Baki Tezcan
MW 2:10-4:00, 1150 Hart
CRN 63450
Description: Come join a journey that will explore the meaning of religion through one of the most moving religious experiences: pilgrimage. In the first part of the course, we will start with thinking about what religion is, then move on to methods in the study of religion, ask ourselves what pilgrimage is all about, ponder such intriguing questions as civil religion, and tackle seemingly secular pilgrimages that involve Star Trek and motorcycles. The second part is devoted to the study of pilgrimage in various religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In short, you will be introduced to methods in comparative religion, focusing on the theme of pilgrimage in a variety of religious and seemingly secular traditions. There will be three written assignments geared to creatively evaluate your understanding of religion and pilgrimage in different traditions, including “secular” ones. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- A Course Reader
Religious Studies 1F: Topics in Comparative Religion - Contemporary Religion
Prof. Wendy Terry
Lecture: TR 12:10-1:30, 179 Chemistry
Discussion Section:
A01 (M 1:10-2:00, 1030 Wickson) CRN 60202
A02 (W 10:00-10:50, 118 Olson) CRN 60203
A03 (M 5:10-6:00, 159 Olson) CRN 60204
A04 (W 9:00-9:50 90 Social Science & Humanities) CRN 60205
A05 (T 3:10-4:00, 130 Physics/Geology) CRN 60206
A06 (T 4:10-5:00, 130 Physics/Geolog) CRN 60207
Description: This is a survey course where it will focus on Contemporary Religion. For more information, please contact the instructor at wrterry@ucdavis.edu. GE Credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- Fisher, Living Religions: Brief Introduction
- A Course Reader
Religious Studies 23: Introduction to Judaism
Prof. Robert Galoob
TR 12:10-1:30, 168 Hoagland
CRN 60208
Description: Using Jewish religious texts, philosophical treatises, and other works of cultural production, we will trace the evolution and transformation of a single set of Jewish rituals, those surrounding the Sabbath, as a lens through which to explore Jewish thought and practice in general. Throughout the course, we will examine the effects and limits of studying Judaism as a "religion." Reader responses, research paper. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.
Dr. Robert Galoob is a Visiting Lecturer in the Religious Studies Program.
Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- A Course Reader
Religious Studies 45: Christianity
Prof. Catherine Chin
TR 4:40-6:00, 230 Wellman
CRN 63704
Description: This course introduces Christianity as a global phenomenon. We will begin with the basics of Christianity in the ancient Mediterranean world, and discuss its growth and transformation as it moved through Syria, Persia, China, Africa, India, Europe, and (lastly) the Americas. There will be short writing assignments and term paper required.
Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- A Course Reader on SmartSite
Religious Studies 60: Introduction to Islam
Prof. Melanie Michailidis
MWF 1:10-2:00, 202 Wellman
CRN 64109
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. GE Credit: ArtHum, SocSci, Div, Wrt.
Dr. Melanie Michailidis is a Visiting Lecturer in the Art History Program. Her research interest is in Islamic Art and Architecture. Contact her directly at michailidis@ucdavis.edu for any inquiries about the course.
Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- Jamal Elias, Islam (Pearson, 1999)
- David Waines, An Introduction to Islam (Cambridge, 2003)
Religious Studies 75: Introduction to Chinese Philosophy
Prof. Whalen Lai
TR 2:10-4:00, 2016 Haring
CRN 63452
Description: A basic introduction to Chinese philosophy with the focus on the Classical period with the flourishing of a number of schools. A. C. Graham’s book, Disputers of the Tao, will be used to guide us through the key issues in this era when faced especially with the anarchy during the Warring Period, different thinkers came up with different answers to how to rebuild political order and restore man’s place in a changing universe. The empire period followed. But the fall of the Han empire would lead to the introduction of Buddhism. That will be the next focus; readings will be provided through my various studies of this tradition. The Sung era saw the founding of the Neo-Confucian tradition. The dynamics of China’s own “classical Renaissance” that turned back the “otherworldliness” of her medieval era will be analyzed, using Wing-tsit Chan’s Source Book in Chinese Philosophy and other encyclopedia entries. The course will cover only up to the Late Ming dynasty. The modern period will not be included in this survey class.
Format: Lecture - 4 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- Graham, Disputers of the Tao
- Chan, Source Book in Chinese Philosophy
Religious Studies 80: Religion, Gender, and Sex
Prof. Wendy Terry
MWF 9:00-9:50, 118 Olson
CRN 60210
Description: Constructions of gender and sexuality within one or more religious traditions, pre-modern and modern. Emphasis on the interaction between religious, medical, and ethical definitions of the human body and sexual behavior.
Topics covered in this course include: premodern and modern definitions of masculinity and femininity, and the religious connotations and implications of these definitions, for example in standards of dress and public appearance, and in the different religious status of persons of differing genders, or of non-gender-normative persons. The course also examines historical constructions of sexual behavior, and the interaction between these constructions and different religious identities, for example in religious requirements of celibacy, procreation or polygamy. The course introduces students to the variety of changes and conflicts in different religious attitudes toward gendered and sexual behavior such as marriage, reproduction, abortion, and homosexuality. It also examines the reciprocal effects that ideas of gender and sexuality have on human notions of the divine and on notions of divine and human interaction, for example in the use of sexual language to describe mystical experience. Emphasis of the course is going to be on the christian tradition. GE credit: Div, Wrt.
Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- A Course Reader on SmartSite
Religious Studies 100: Issues and Methods
Prof. Mark Elmore
TR 4:40-6:00, 101 Olson
CRN 60216
Description: In the wake of the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the discovery of thenew 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 unreflective 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/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: None.
Text:
- Carrette, Selling Spirituality
- Freud, Future of an Illusion
- Strenski, Thinking About Religion
- Foucault, Discipline and Punish
- Weber, Protestant Ethic & Spirit of Capitalism
- Nietzsche, Portable Nietzsche
Religious Studies 110: Meaning and Identity
Prof. Whalen Lai
TR 9:00-10:20, 101 Olson
CRN 63454
Description: The class uses a reader in Existentialism to introduce students to the modern quest for meaning, especially among the young through episodes of identity crisis. It will use games and exercises to encourage this uncovering of the world of meaning—the Lebenswelt or LifeSpace—that we live our lives by. A thinker who built his understanding of Religion based on religion’s answers to such correlated issues in existentialism (such as fate and death, guilt and condemnation, futility and meaninglessness) is Paul Tillich. We will try to adopt his vocabulary for understanding the modern situation. A number of other avenues for exploring the world of meaning will also introduced.
Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: course 1 OR 2 OR Upper-Division Standing.
Text:
- McDonald (ed.), The Existentialist Reader
- F. Forrester Church (ed.), The Essential Tillich
Religious Studies 125: Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocrypha, and Pseudepigrapha
Prof. Moulie Vidas
TR 1:40-3:00, 290 Hickey Gym
CRN 63455
Description: This course surveys ancient Jewish texts from a period of formative importance to the history of Judaism and Christianity. We will examine topics such as good and evil, the end of the world, divine knowledge and the structure of the heavens; discuss how these topics were used by the ancient authors to negotiate political and social conflicts; and consider the implications of these texts for the broader study of religious concepts such as canon, heresy and orthodoxy, and mysticism. GE Credit: Wrt.
Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: course 21 or 40 OR Consent of Instructor.
Texts:
- Vermes, Complete Dead Sea Scrolls
- Nickelsburg and VanderKam, 1 Enoch: A New Translation
- Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature Between Bible and the Mishnah
- Knohl, The Messiah before Jesus
- The New Oxford Bible
- A Course Reader on SmartSite
Religious Studies 144: History of the Bible
Prof. Catherine Chin
TR 1:40-3:00, 101 Olson
CRN 63705
Description: This course covers the creation, transmission, and interpretation of the set of texts that Christians today call "the Bible." It begins with the formation of the Jewish and Christian canons in antiquity and continues through the translation of the Bible into thousands of modern languages and media. There will be short writing assignments and term paper required.
Format: Lecture/Discussion - 3 hours; Term Paper.
Prerequisite: course 23 or 40.
Text:
- Brian Malley, How the Bible Works
- Christopher de Hamel, The Book: A History of the Bible