Spring 2025 Course Offerings

Posted on November 25, 2024

Spring 2025 Courses, Religious Studies

Online Asynchronous Courses (All 7 Week Courses)

REL 108: Religion and Food

Ashlee Andrews First 7 Week Term 1/13/ -3/05

This course will explain and compare Hindu, Jain, Christian, Jewish and Muslim foodways and evaluations of food. In the process of this comparative study, we will appraise how each of tradition conceptualizes wellness, and evaluates eating, feeding, overeating, dieting and fasting to promote or impede upon wellness.

MAC: MAC Health and Wellness

REL 100: Introduction to World Religions

David McDuffie Second 7 Week Term 3/06 -5/05

This course introduces major religious traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We will begin with a brief survey of theoretical approaches to the study of religion. Topics of study will include each tradition’s historical origins, conceptions of the sacred, rituals and practices, and contemporary trends.

MAC: MAC Global and Intercultural

REL 105: Islam and Popular Culture: Ms Marvel, Movies, and Hip Hop Hijabis

Muntazir Ali Second 7 Week Term 3/06 -5/05

From the rhythmic beats of hip-hop to the captivating visuals of Marvel superheroes and from TikTok influencers to blockbuster films, Islam permeates contemporary popular culture in surprising and profound ways. This course explores how Muslims and Islam are represented, appropriated, and reimagined across global media. We’ll examine music, fashion, film, social media, and literature to unpack the complex interplay between tradition and modernity, religion and consumerism, and piety and performance. Along the way, we’ll critically analyze stereotypes, celebrate subversive artistry, and question the power dynamics behind cultural production. How do Muslim creators reclaim their narratives in the face of Islamophobia? What role does pop culture play in shaping global perceptions of Islam? And where does the sacred find its place in a secular entertainment industry? Dive in to decode the cultural remix of faith, identity, and expression in the modern world.

MAC: MAC Diversity and Equity

REL 115: Religion and Science

David McDuffie Second 7 Week Term 3/06 -5/05

This course is a study of the relationship between religion and science. Primary but not exclusive emphasis will be placed on the religion-science debates as they have developed in relation to modern science and understandings of Western theism. Attention will be devoted to the ways in which the fields of religion and science are variously understood from those within these traditions as well as from those who are commenting from a stated outside perspective. Entailed in this will be an analysis of the types of questions offered by scientific and religious individuals and communities. During the semester, we will explore a variety of viewpoints on this relationship in an attempt to arrive at a better understanding of the complexity of the interaction between religion and science in human culture. Particular attention will be devoted to the interaction of religion with evolutionary and ecological science as well as to the ways in which this interaction contributes to environmental concern. This emphasis will then be connected to the ways in which understandings of religion and science relate to cultural diversity and attempts to establish equality and equity in human cultures.

MAC: MAC Diversity and Equity

REL 212: Christianity from the Reformation to the Present

David McDuffie First 7 Week Term 1/13/ -3/05

Examination of a range of themes in the history of Christian thought from the sixteenth century to present, through reading of a variety of texts representative of Christian traditions.

MAC: MAC Global and Intercultural

REL 223: Witches, Spirits, and Metaphysicalism

Dana Logan First 7 Week Term 1/13/ -3/05

This course focuses on the traditions of paganism, the occult, and metaphysicalism in the US. We will learn about New England witches, Black conjure, spiritualist seances, and the flowering of New Age and Neopaganism in the twentieth century. We will also consider how these traditions relate to institutional religion.

MAC: MAC CritThink Hum and Fine Art

REL 245: Video Games and the Problem of Evil

Gregory Grieve Second 7 Week Term 3/06 -5/05

“REL 245: Video Games and the Problem of Evil” explores the philosophical and theological dilemma known as the “problem of evil,” which questions how an all-powerful, all-knowing, and benevolent deity can coexist with the presence of evil and suffering in the world.

This course does not suggest that video games are inherently evil. Instead, it uses video games as a medium to delve into complex discussions about morality, wickedness, and the overarching narratives that define our understanding of good and evil. Through active learning, students will analyze how video games depict these themes and their impact on players’ perceptions of ethical behavior and societal norms.

MAC: MAC CritThink Hum and Fine Art

REL 224: Yoga: Theory and Practice

Ashlee Andrews Second 7 Week Term 3/06 -5/05

This course will introduce the broad array of mental and bodily disciplines and philosophies that fall under the term “yoga”. Exploring foundational texts and contemporary yoga communities, we will identify and compare how various strands of yoga understand, define and pursue holistic wellness through bodily and mental disciplines.

MAC: MAC Health and Wellness

REL 324 Philosophical Approaches to Religion

David McDuffie First 7 Week Term 1/13/ -3/05

The focus of this course will be an exploration of various interpretations of religious naturalism. This will entail comparisons of cultural conceptions of the divine and religion with scientific understandings of the natural environment and will include the study of both theistic and non-theistic religious naturalism.

CIC: CIC College Writing

Notes: May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

REL 334 American Cults

Dana Logan Second 7 Week Term 3/06 -5/05

This course will explore the history of schismatic religious groups, anti-cult hysteria, and controlling religious authority in American history by focusing on Jonestown, Waco, and NXIVM. This course asks who gets to call a religion a cult, and whether the term is a useful category for cultural analysis.

CIC: CIC College Writing

REL 368

Gender and the Body in Hindu Traditions

Ashlee Andrews Second 7 Week Term 3/06 -5/05

This interdisciplinary course is centered around two primary questions: 1) How have Hindu traditions diversely evaluated and conceived of the human body, particularly as a sexed and gendered entity; and 2) How have these evaluations and conceptions shaped both normative Hindu masculinity and femininity, as well as the ways in which Hindu individuals have (sometimes subversively) performed and conceptualized embodied and gendered existence? To answer these questions, we will explore a collection of Hindu practices, cultures and philosophies from a range of historical periods and geographic contexts.

CIC College Writing
IGS – Intl and Global Studies

REL 371

Islamic Thought, Culture, and History

Muntazir Ali First 7 Week Term 1/13/ -3/05

This course offers an innovative exploration of Islamic history and thought, inspired by Shahzad Bashir’s A New Vision for Islamic Pasts and Futures (The MIT Press, 2022). Moving beyond linear and static conceptions of history, the course invites students to engage with Islamic traditions as dynamic, multifaceted, and ever-evolving. We examine how narratives about the past are constructed, contested, and utilized to shape present identities and future aspirations within Islamic contexts. Through close readings of Bashir’s work alongside case studies, we will explore themes such as historical imagination, temporality, the interplay between sacred and secular time, and the diverse expressions of Islam across geography and culture. Topics include the role of material culture, the significance of artistic and literary traditions, and the ways in which digital technologies are reshaping Islamic pasts and futures. The course is interdisciplinary, drawing from religious studies, history, art, and cultural studies, and emphasizes critical approaches to historiography. Students will leave the course with a nuanced understanding of how Islamic traditions are continually reinterpreted and the implications this has for contemporary global contexts.

CIC Culture Courses
CIC College Writing
IGS – Intl and Global Studies

In-Person Courses, 14 weeks

REL 204 New Testament – Chesley Kennedy, T/Th 9:30-10:45

Study of the New Testament texts in their historical, sociological, and literary contexts.

REL 226 Approaches to the Qur’an – Muntazir Ali, T/Th 9:30 – 10:45

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, through a variety of scholarly perspectives, including historical, literary, theological, and interpretive approaches. Students will examine the Quran’s structure, themes, and language, alongside its pivotal role in shaping Islamic law, ethics, and spirituality. The course traces the Quran’s reception and interpretation across time, engaging with both classical and contemporary commentaries. Particular attention is given to the ways the Quran has been understood across diverse cultural and geographical contexts, highlighting issues of translation, exegesis, and modern debates. Through critical readings, discussions, and writing assignments, students will develop a nuanced understanding of the Quran’s multifaceted dimensions and its enduring significance in the Muslim world and beyond.

REL 230 Introduction to the Cultural Study of Videogaming, John Borchert, T/Th 2-3:15

This course analyzes video gaming and esports cultures and values, as well as how they interact with society in general. This course teaches students the history, methodology, and theoretical approaches to videogaming and esports from various fields and disciplines.

REL 317 Islam and the Construction of Gender, Muntazir Ali, T/Th 11-12:15

In this course, we examine gender and sexuality in Muslim cultures, as well as broader issues that frame and shape how Islam and Muslims are perceived in relationship to these concepts. We will examine how particular constructions of gender and sexuality affect the constitution and representation of Islam and Muslims both in the US and globally. Through this exploration, students will learn to critically engage and complicate key terms and themes, including “masculinity,” “cultural difference,” “women’s and LGBTQ rights,” and “modernity/civilization” that are widely, and often uncritically, deployed in current political and moral debates on Muslim cultures.