Religion Courses

REL312 Interpretation of Religious Literature

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course studies the various methods of interpreting religious texts, literary forms, and symbols. Attention is given to the principles and exegetical methods of interpreting the New Testament, and the Koran.

REL318 Religious Thought and Conflict Resolution

[3–0, 3 cr.]

Religion has offered people a framework to deepen and organize their beliefs, thought and practice; they have also offered believers norms by which to live and to interact with others. While many consider religion to have often been at the source of conflicts, others look at religion as the way of diffusing conflict and overcoming them. Among other things, the course looks at decisions made by religious leaders and institutions that helped reduce conflicts at key moments in history and reviews the contribution of religious thought to building toler­ance, encouraging dialogue and initiating processes for conflict resolution and transformation.

REL411 Myth & Ritual

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course studies the historical, philosophical, theological, and aesthetic aspects of myths and rituals. Special attention is given to the content and meaning of myth, and ritual, in the Greco-Roman, Christian, and Muslim traditions.

REL412 History of Religious Thought in the Middle East

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course introduces the thinkers, and the major problems key to the historical formulation and articulation of Middle Eastern Christianity and Islam.

REL413 Representatives of Christian Thought in the Modern Period

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course critically studies the works of some modern Christian thinkers.

REL414 Representatives of Islamic Thought in the Modern Period

[3–0, 3 cr.]

This course critically studies the works of some modern Muslim thinkers.