Courses - RST Lower Division
100. Introduction to Religion (3)
Prerequisite/Corequisite: One GE Foundation course.
Origin, nature, and function of religion in the individual and culture with emphasis upon and reference to outstanding personalities, sacred writings, and basic features of the world's leading religions.
101. Religion at the Movies (3)
Prerequisite/Corequisite: One GE Foundation Course.
Introduces students to the nature of religion and its cultural contexts as reflected in film, examining the religious compensatory functions of film and the processes of religion as represented in selected films from various genres.
111. Religion Games: Religion in the Public Square (3)
Prerequisite/Corequisite: One GE Foundation Course
Introduces how religion functions in the "public square" in different historical eras/cultures through live action role-playing or other games. Issues include the tension between religion as a mode of governing and individual freedom, as resistance, and in conflict with science.
Letter grade only (A-F).
200. Introduction to Early and Western Religions (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Foundation requirements.
A survey of representative figures, themes, the schools in Western religious thought, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
201. Introduction to Asian Religions (3)
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Foundation requirements.
Survey of Indian, Chinese and Japanese religious thought. Emphasis will be on original texts in translations.
202. Religion and Society (3)
Prerequisite: GE Foundation requirements.
Religious and secular views of the relation of persons and society with emphasis upon contemporary problems of personal and social ethics, political responsibility and social structure.
208. Religion and Sexual Ethics (3)
Prerequisite: Completion of GE Foundation requirements.
Exploration of ethical issues related to sexuality within major world religions. Critical analysis of religious norms governing sexuality, particularly as these relate to diverse understandings of the body as a locus of both transcendence and/or social control..
Letter grade only (A-F).
210. Introduction to the Bible (3)
Prerequisite: GE Foundation requirements.
Overview of Sacred texts of Jews and Christians. Inspiration, Creation, Salvation, and other Biblical themes will be discussed, as well as key persons and events, such as Moses, Jesus, etc.
Not available to students with credit in R/ST 101A.
230. Heaven, Hell and Other Afterlives (3)
Explores the history and development of notions of the afterlife in Judaism. Jewish ideas about the experience of death and the fate of the dead will be studied in the context of broader reflection on ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Greek views of the afterlife, as well as brief considerations of Christian and Muslim views of the afterlife.
240. Love, Life, and the World (3)
Prerequisite: GE Foundation requirements.
Examines love in life and the world. Students will explore the philosophical, religious-mystical, psychological, social, and natural historical dimensions of love and complete both practical and research projects that will lead them to a fuller understanding of a loving life.
