Religion, Study of
Courses
For course descriptions not found in the UC San Diego General Catalog, 2012–13, please contact the department for more information.
RELI 1. Introduction to Religion (4)
An introduction to key topics in the study of religion through a comparative reading of religious texts and/or artifacts. The intent is to develop basic strategies of interpretation for undertaking a critical, disciplined study of religion.
RELI 110A. The Modern Study of Religion: Religion in Modernity (4)
This class examines the history of the term “religion,” focusing upon the development of religion’s contemporary significance within the Reformation and Enlightenment, and questioning what it means to be “modern.” Topics change yearly. Special attention to contemporary culture and politics.
RELI 110B. The Modern Study of Religion: Social and Cultural Theories of Religion (4)
An introduction to basic strategies of interpretation in the study of religion, including issues of category formation, theory, and method. Special attention paid to prominent voices of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including Marx, Freud, Durkheim, Eliade, etc.
RELI 111. Texts and Contexts: The Holy Book in Judaism and Christianity (4)
This class examines the development of sacred scripture in Judaism and Christianity. Topics include the variety and use of texts in religious communities; the process of canonization; the formation and transformation of textual communities. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or department stamp.
RELI 112. Texts and Contexts: The Holy Book in Islam (4)
An overview of the history and thematic issues in the study of Quran. It will focus on historical events, issues, and various interpretive practices in the development of Quran as a sacred text. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or department stamp.
RELI 113. Texts and Contexts: Textual Communities in South Asia (4)
This class considers important texts belonging to one or more of the following South Asian Traditions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, or Sikhism. It introduces students to the ways in which religious identities are formed and contested within a pluralistic society.
RELI 130. Religion, Science, and Magic (4)
Religion, science, and magic provide scholars with a set of analytic categories for the comparative study of cultural forms and modes of thinking. What are the ideological underpinnings and political implications of these categories? This class addresses this question using comparative avenues involving literary sources. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
RELI 131. Topics in Religion and Sexuality (4)
How does religiosity as a significant cultural component help mold gender and sexuality identities? The class offers topical investigations into this question. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
RELI 132. Topics in Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy (4)
Religious dogmas often develop in dialogue with alternative viewpoints that ultimately are rejected by heterodox by the dominant group. This class presents case studies in the interpretation of such ideological and sociological pairings using scriptural, literary, and analytic sources. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
RELI 134. Topics in American Religion (4)
Topical studies in the history of religion in American society, ranging from the Puritans to the New Age. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
RELI 140. Death and Religion (4)
This interdisciplinary course uses literary sources to explore the relationship between death and religion on a historical and global scale; the relationship between political religious rituals and symbolism of rebirth; examination of carnival, death pollution, and symbolism of gender. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
RELI 142. Secularization and Religion (4)
Surveys the relationship between religion and modernity, in particular the problematic of the secularization theory; covers cases such as Catholic liberation theology and Islamic fundamentalism, with particular focus on the “deprivatization of modern religion.” Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
RELI 143. Topics in Performing Religion (4)
This course explores religion as a system of bodily practices, rather than one of tenets or beliefs. How do day-to-day activities as well as significant rituals express and inform people’s religious lives? Why is doctrine an insufficient basis for understanding religion? May be taken up to three times as topics vary. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
RELI 144. Devils and Demons in Christianity (4)
Christianity frequently finds definition in contradistinction to an “Other” characterized as immoral, irrational, and malevolent. This class investigates how devils and demons as constructions of the “Other” have contributed to Christianity’s growth and identity formation throughout history. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
RELI 145. Communication, Technology, and Religion (4)
This course will look at the relationship between information communication technologies (ICTs) and religion and how they have intersected or diverged in the course of history. We will look at both older and newer media, such as telegraph, radio, television, cassette tapes, Internet and satellite, and how they have been used by groups like Evangelical, Catholic, or Islamist movements in proliferation and transformation of ideas, rituals, ideologies, values, and diverse forms of sociability. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
RELI 146. Topics in the Religions of Antiquity (4)
Topical studies in the religious beliefs, practices, and institutions of pre-Christian Europe and near East. May be repeated for credit up to three times when topics vary. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
RELI 147. Pagan Europe and Its Christian Aftermath (4)
This course explores the history of how western Europe was converted from its indigenous pagan religions to the imported religion we know as Christianity. We will discuss conversion by choice and by force, partial or blended conversions, and the relationships between belief and culture. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor.
RELI 188. Special Topics in Religion (4)
Students in this lecture will investigate important problems in the study of religion or the history of particular religions. May be repeated for credit up to three times when topics vary. Prerequisites: upper-division standing.
RELI 189. Seminar in Religion (4)
This seminar requires the intensive analysis of critical problems in the study of religion or the history of particular religions. May be repeated for credit up to three times when topics vary. Prerequisites: upper-division standing; RELI 110A or 110B or consent of instructor.
RELI 196H. Honors Thesis Research (4)
Honors thesis research for students accepted into the Honors Program. Research is conducted under the supervision of a program faculty member. Prerequisites: program approval into the Honors Program.
RELI 197. Directed Advanced Readings (4)
A faculty member will direct a student in advanced readings on a topic not generally included in the Program for the Study of Religion’s curriculum. Students must make arrangements with the program and individual faculty. May be repeated for credit up to three times for credit. Prerequisites: upper-division standing; RELI 110A or 110B; overall GPA of 2.5.
RELI 199. Independent Research Study for Undergraduates (2–4)
Independent research in religion under the supervision of a faculty member affiliated with the Program for the Study of Religion. This course may be repeated three times with program approval. (P/NP grades only.) Prerequisites: upper-division standing, with 2.5 GPA (overall); program stamp.
Approved Elective Courses
The following lower- and upper-division courses are offered on a regular basis, although not every course is available every year. Please contact the program coordinator for approved courses in any given quarter or visit the program’s website, http://religion.ucsd.edu. Students may petition other courses, including independent study and Education Abroad Program courses when appropriate.
Lower Division
ANTH 1. Introduction to Culture
HUM 1. The Foundations of Western Civilization: Israel and Greece
HUM 2. Rome, Christianity, and the Middle Ages
MMW 2. The Great Classical Traditions
MMW 3. The Medieval Heritage
PHIL 14. Introduction to Philosophy: The Nature of Reality (when topic covers religion)
PHIL 31. Introduction to Ancient Philosophy
RELI 1. Introduction to Religion
SOCI 1A, B. The Study of Society
Upper Division
Methodological
ANSC 120. Anthropology of Religion
ANSC 167. Rituals and Celebrations
RELI 110A. The Modern Study of Religion: Religion in Modernity
RELI 110B. The Modern Study of Religion: Social and Cultural Theories of Religion
RELI 143. Topics in Performing Religion
RELI 189. Seminar in Religion
SOCI 100. Classical Sociological Theory
SOCI 156. Sociology of Religion
General Comparative
ANSC 104. Anthropology of Fantasy
ANSC 134. Global Islam
ANSC 160. Nature, Culture, and Environmentalism
LTWL 100. Mythology
RELI 130. Religion, Science, and Magic
RELI 131. Topics in Religion and Sexuality
RELI 132. Topics in Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy
RELI 134. Topics in American Religion
RELI 140. Death and Religion
RELI 144. Devils and Demons in Christianity
RELI 145. Communication, Technology, and Religion
RELI 146. Topics in the Religions of Antiquity
RELI 188. Special Topics in Religion
RELI 196H. Honors Thesis Research
RELI 197. Directed Advanced Readings
VIS 117I. Western and Non-Western Rituals and Ceremonies
Religion in Historical Context
ANAR 142. The Rise and Fall of Ancient Israel
ANAR 143. Archaeology, Anthropology, and the Bible
ANAR 154. Aztecs and their Ancestor
ANSC 130. Hinduism
ANSC 137. Chinese Popular Religion
ETHN 161. Black Politics and Protest Since 1941
ETHN 188. African Americans, Religion, and the City
HIEA 120. Classical Chinese Philosophy and Culture
HIEA 126. The Silk Road in Chinese and Japanese History
HIEA 136. History of Thought and Religion in China: Daoism
HIEA 168. Topics in Classical and Medieval Chinese History (when topic covers religion)
HIEU 101. Greece in the Classical Age
HIEU 105. The Early Christian Church
HIEU 115. The Pursuit of the Millennium
HIEU 132. Germany from Luther to Bismark
HIEU 158. Why Hitler? How Auschwitz?
HIEU 159. Three Centuries of Zionism, 1648–1948
HIEU 163. Special Topics in Medieval History (when topic covers religion)
HIEU 171. Special Topics in Twentieth-Century Europe (when topic covers religion)
HINE 102. The Jews in Their Homeland in Antiquity
HINE 103. The Jewish Diaspora in Antiquity
HINE 106S. Apocalyptic Judaism
HINE 107. Ancient Egypt: History and Culture
HINE 108. The Middle East Before Islam
HINE 112A. Great Stories from the Hebrew Bible
HINE 114. The History of the Islamic Middle East
HINE 115. Islamic Civilization
HINE 116. The Middle East in the Age of European Empires (1798–1914)
HINE 119. US Mid-East Policy Post WWII
HINE 161. Seminar in the Hebrew Bible
HINE 170. Special Topics in Jewish History
HINE 186. Special Topics in Middle Eastern History (when topic covers religion)
HISC 166. The Galileo Affair
HITO 102. East Asian Religious Traditions
HITO 103S. Gnosis and Gnosticism
HITO 104. Jews and Judaism in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds
HITO 105. Jews and Judaism in the Modern World
HITO 106. How Jewish Women Lived in Modern Times
HITO 115S. Myth, History, and Archaeology
HIUS 155A/B. Religion and Law in American Society
JUDA 110. Introduction to Judaism
LTWL 139. Gnosticism: The Religious Underground from Late Antiquity to the New Age
LTWL 142. Islam: The Origins and Spread of a World Religion
RELI 147. Pagan Europe and Its Christian Aftermath
Religion and Society
ANSC 100. Special Topics in Socio-Cultural Anthropology (when topic covers religion)
ANSC 132. Modernity in Brazil
ANSC 133. Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East
ANSC 136. Traditional Chinese Society
ANSC 189. The Anthropology of the End of the World
ETHN 110. Cultural World Views of Native Americans
ETHN 189. Special Topics in Ethnic Studies (when topic covers religion)
HIAF 124. Islam in Contemporary African Societies
HIEA 119. Religion and Popular Culture in East Asia (SOCI 128)
HIEA 120. Classical Chinese Philosophy and Culture
HIEA 135. History of Thought and Religion in China: Buddhism
HIEA 137. Women and Family in Chinese History
HIEU 110. The Rise of Europe
HIEU 111. Europe in the Middle Ages
HIEU 125. Reformation Europe
HIEU 163. Topics in Medieval History
HINE 118. The Middle East in the Twentieth Century
HINE 122. Politicization of Religion in Middle East
HINE 166. Nationalism in the Middle East
HISC 101B. Medieval Science in the Latin West, ca. 500–1500
JUDA 111. Topics in Judaic Studies
LTWL 141. Islam and Modernity
POLI 110A. Citizens and Saints: Political Thought from Plato to Augustine
POLI 110B. Sovereign Subjects in the Modern State: Machiavelli to Rousseau
POLI 121. Government and Politics of the Middle East
POLI 121B. Politics of Israel
RELI 141. Public Sphere and Religion
RELI 142. Secularization and Religion
SOCI 128. Religion and Popular Culture in East Asia (HIEA 119)
SOCI 154. Religious Institutions in America
SOCI 157. Religion in Contemporary Society
SOCI 158. Islam in the Modern World
SOCI 160. Sociology of Culture
SOCI 177. International Terrorism
SOCI 188E. Community and Social Change in Africa
SOCI 188F. Modern Jewish Societies and Israeli Society
SOCI 188G. Chinese Society
SOCI 189. Special Topics in Comparative-Historical Sociology (when topic covers religion)
Religion and Literature
HINE 160. Special Topics in the Bible and Ancient Near East
JUDA 100. Introduction to the Hebrew Bible
LTEN 149. Themes in English and American Literature (when topic covers religion)
LTEU 105. Medieval Studies: Dante
LTEU 158. Single Author in Russian Literature (when topic covers religion)
LTGK 120. Topics in New Testament Greek
LTWL 106. The Classical Tradition (when topic covers religion)
LTWL 129. Wisdom: The Literature of Authority
LTWL 135. The Buddhist Imaginary
LTWL 138. Critical Religion Studies
LTWL 145. South Asian Religious Literature: Selected Topics
LTWL 147. Readings in Mahayana Buddhism
LTWL 153. Literature, Religion, and Culture in Iran
LTWL 158A. Topics in the New Testament
LTWL 158B. Topics in Early Christian Texts and Cultures
LTWL 158C. Topics in Other Christianities
LTWL 172. Special Topics in Literature (when topic covers religion)
RELI 111. Texts and Contexts: The Holy Book in Judaism and Christianity
RELI 112. Texts and Contexts: The Holy Book in Islam
RELI 113: Texts and Contexts: Textual Communities in South Asia
Religion and Philosophy
HISC 168. The Extraterrestrial Life Question
PHIL 104. The Rationalists
PHIL 130. Metaphysics (when topic covers religion)
PHIL 131. Topics in Metaphysics (when topic covers religion)
PHIL 185. Philosophy of Religion
Religion and the Arts
VIS 117A. Narrative Structures
VIS 120A. Greek Art
VIS 120B. Roman Art
VIS 120C. Late Antique Art
VIS 121B. Castles, Cathedrals, and Cities
VIS 121D. The Illuminated Manuscript in the Middle Ages
VIS 122AN. Renaissance Art
VIS 122D. Michelangelo
VIS 123AN. Between Spirit and Flesh: Northern Art of the Early Renaissance
VIS 124BN. Art and the Enlightenment
VIS 126BN. The Art and Civilization of the Ancient Maya
VIS 128A. Topics in Pre-Modern Art History (when topic covers religion)
VIS 128B. Topics in Early Modern Art History (when topic covers religion)