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Religious Studies RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY, AND SOCIETY Professor: Greta Austin; Suzanne Holland, John B. Magee Professor of Area B. Asian Religions Science and Values; Stuart Smithers, Chair; Jonathan Stockdale 231 Korean Religions and Culture 233 Japanese Religious Traditions Visiting Associate Professor: Tanya Erzen 234 Chinese Religious Traditions Assistant Professor: Sam Kigar (on leave Fall 2021); Hajung Lee (on 300 Japanimals: Power, Knowledge, and Spirituality at the leave Spring 2022) Intersection of Species 328 Religion, the State, and Nationalism in Japan About the Department 332 Buddhism For students seeking a socially engaged liberal arts education, the 334 Vedic Religion and Brahmanism Department of Religion, Spirituality, and Society explores questions of 335 Classical Hinduism power, knowledge, and identity as they relate to religious traditions. While developing a deeper understanding of oneself as a situated Area C. Cultural and Ethical Studies knower, students also explore individual religious traditions in depth, 220 Spirituality and the Self as well as broad themes such as the following: myth, ritual, and sym- 265 What Is Justice? bol; mysticism, magic, and medicine; beginning and end times; ethics, 270 Religion, Activism, and Social Justice law, and moral philosophy; oppression and liberation; pacifism and 272 Public Health Ethics violence; animals, bodies, and emotions. Courses are conducted with 292 Basics of Bioethics attention to structures and institutions of class, gender, sexuality, and 298 Reproductive Ethics race in their cultural and historical contexts. 302 Ethics and the Other For the major and minor in Religion, Spirituality, and Society, the faculty 315 Modern Jewish Thinkers provides an introduction to the academic discipline of Religion, Spirituality, 323 Gender and Sexuality in Muslim Societies and Society followed by careful probing of two or more important tradi- 325 New Religious Movements tions and a consideration of the methods useful to their study. A major or 368 Gender Matters minor provides opportunities to develop excellent skills in writing, anal- CONN 318 Crime and Punishment ysis, and argumentation and serves as an exceptional stepping stone to graduate or professional school. Past majors have gone on to excel in the Area D. Advanced Seminars in Religious Studies non-profit sector, law school, medical school, doctoral programs, social 410 Religion and Violence work, creative writing, marketing and business, among other vocations. 420 Law and Religion 430 The Politics of Living and Dying Learning Objectives in the Religious Studies Major 440 The Body in Comparative Religions • To develop an understanding of a range of religious traditions, in- 444 God in the Anthropocene cluding Asian and Abrahamic religions 450 Technology, Enchantment, and Violence • To develop an understanding of the roles religions play in political, 456 Ethics and Postmodernity economic, social, cultural, and moral areas of people’s lives 460 Religious Technologies • To gain familiarity with a variety of theories, methods, and issues 470 Global Migrations and Lived Religions involved in the academic study of religions. 494 Special Topics Religion, Spirituality, and Society courses are grouped into the following Area E. Additional Courses areas: 202 Introduction to the Study of World Religions 208 Yoga, Psychedelics, and the Ascetic Imperative Area A. Abrahamic Religions 215 Religion and Queer Politics 201 The History and Literature of the New Testament 301 Consciousness and the Bourgeoisie 203 Jesus and the Jesus Tradition 305 Marxism and the Messianic 204 Religions of the Book 307 Prisons, Gender and Education 205 Introduction to Jewish Studies 330 Religious Freedom in the United States 210 Comparative Christianities 495/496 Independent Study 211 Islam in America CONN 344 Magic and Religion 212 Global Islam 303 Sexuality and Religion General Requirements for the Major or Minor 310 Christianity and Law in the West General university degree requirements stipulate that 1) at least four 312 The Apocalyptic Imagination units of the major or three units of the minor be taken in residence at 321 Sexuality and Christianity: Then and Now Puget Sound; 2) students earn a GPA of 2.0 in courses taken for the 342 Sufism major or the minor; and 3) all courses taken for a major or minor must be 350 Mysticism: The Spiritual Search in the Christian Tradition taken for graded credit. Any exceptions to these stipulations are indicat- 363 Saints, Symbols, and Sacraments: History of Christian ed in the major and minor degree requirements listed below. Traditions CONN 322 Jihad, Islamism, and Colonial Legacies Requirements for the Major The major in Religion, Spirituality, and Society is nine courses, one of which is the required REL 340 Imagining Religion. 2021 –22 BULLETIN | UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND 1 Religion, Spirituality, and Society From Area A: 1 course Religion (REL) From Area B: 1 course 201 The History and Literature of the New Testament All the writ- From Area C: 1 course ings of the New Testament are studied, in order to understand both the From Area D: 2 courses critical scholarly questions of date, authorship, purpose, and the impact REL 340, Imagining Religion (usually taken sophomore or junior year) of these writings and their authors on the emerging Christian communi- From Areas A through E: 3 additional elective courses in Religion, ty. Offered frequently. Spirituality, and Society, at least one at the 300 level or above 202 Introduction to the Study of World Religions This course Notes provides an introduction to the vocabulary, methods, and theoretical 1. REL 495/496 counts as an elective toward the major, and not as an assumptions of the academic study of religion. By examining several advanced seminar. diverse religious communities and traditions—including Lakota Sioux, 2. One ancillary course may be applied toward the major as an elec- Southern Pentecostal, Nation of Islam, and Zen Buddhist—we exam- tive, with the permission of the chair. Examples of ancillary courses ine patterns, themes, and issues that scholars commonly encounter include: CLSC 321, 330, CONN 332, ENGL 353, HIST 311, HIST across world religions. We also examine how specific communities give 393, STS 370. voice to themes found within the larger world religion from which they 3. Only grades of C (2.00) or higher count toward the major or minor. emerge. In each case, particular attention is paid to the role of religion in social justice and salvation movements, and in the formation of indi- Requirements for the Minor vidual and group identities. In addition, this course provides a setting The minor in Religion, Spirituality, and Society is five courses: in which to practice and develop critical thinking skills through reading, writing, reflection, and discussion. Students should come away from One course each from Area A, B, and C; and two additional Religion, the course with a greater understanding of critical issues facing religious Spirituality, and Society courses, at least one course must be above the communities historically and in the world today, with a greater apprecia- 200 level. tion of the diversity of world religions within the United States, and with Note a grounding in influential scholarly approaches to the study of religion. Only grades of C (2.00) or higher count towards the major or minor. Satisfies the Humanistic Approaches core requirement. Satisfies the Knowledge, Identity, Power graduation requirement. Offered frequently. Course Offerings 203 Jesus and the Jesus Traditions The figure of Jesus has sparked Unless otherwise specified, each course carries 1 unit of credit and is theological debates, artistic expressions, government decrees, religious offered at least once each academic year. Please see “Frequency of persecutions, pietistic revivals, and social and moral attitudes, affecting Course Offerings” on page 18. the lives of countless generations. This course addresses an over-arching question throughout the semester: How does an educated person in Seminars in Scholarly Inquiry. See Seminars in Scholarly Inquiry in the today’s society evaluate such conflicting responses? The course draws Core Curriculum section of this Bulletin for course descriptions. on current historical and narrative approaches to understand the ‘imag- SSI1/SSI2 102 Rhetoric and Religion es’ of Jesus in their respective literary, social, and historical contexts. It SSI2 129 Religion on the Border: Boundaries of Religion and addresses some of the following questions. What did Jesus mean to the Politics first interpreters? How did the early Christian communities view Jesus? SSI1/SSI2 150 Exploring Bioethics Today What do the texts reveal about early Christian attitudes towards outsiders SSI1 155 Are Prisons Necessary? (government, different religious groups, social/moral attitudes)? How has SSI2 162 Mary and ‘Aisha: Feminism and Religion Jesus been perceived in Christian tradition (art, literature, theology, eccle- SSI1 178 Muslim Fictions siology) and in the development of western civilization (e.g., literature, the SSI1 180 Global Bioethics arts, politics, public schools)? The goal is not to give final and definitive answers. Rather, the course seeks 1) to encourage questions regarding Other courses offered by Religion, Spirituality, and Society the themes, purpose, and significance of the texts; 2) to provide method- Department faculty. ological tools to aid such questions; 3) to place these questions and an- See Connections in the Core Curriculum section
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