Syllabi Archive

A 2006 course by Joanne Pierce at College of the Holy Cross offers "an examination of the historical and theological development of the ideals and practices of Christian life, from the High Middle Ages to the Early Modern era. . . . Special attention will be paid to the following themes: gendered perceptions of sanctity and sin; community and solitude; poverty and riches; feasting and fasting as religious and cultural activity."

A 2000 course by John Hawley and Courtney Bender at Columbia University aims "through readings and projects already structured into this syllabus and through sustained exposure to projects of students own devising, to learn something of the complex texture of religious life in New York City."

A 2007 course by Catherine Wessinger at Loyola University New Orleans explores "religious responses to disaster in the context of diverse faiths, with special attention paid to the 2005 Katrina and Rita disaster in New Orleans."

A 2011 course by Nathan Katz and Sanani Chaitanya Pragya at Florida International University explores the "understandings of “self and liberation” in classic texts from the traditions of Theravada Buddhism, Jainism, Yoga, and Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism."

A 2010 course by Kenneth Atkinson at the University of Northern Iowa introduces "the academic study of religion and the world’s major religions. . . . not only study the good side of religion, but we will also explore together the origins of contemporary religious violence in order to help you understand the important role that faith continues to play in world conflicts."

A 2006 course by Catherine Wessinger at Loyola University New Orleans aims to " their histories, worldviews, methods of achieving their ultimate goals, ethics, artistic expressions, and social institutions."

A 2012 course by Mark Unno at the University of Oregon "examines the interplay of themes of religion, love, and death in selected strands of Asian and Western sources" and "examines the diverse dimensions of love and death: love in relation to family, sexuality, society, nature, and the religious dimensions of the divine, dharma, and dao; social, psychological, physical, and religious significations of death. These are set against the background of a range of themes including class, gender, and sexuality."

A 2013 course by Janet McDaniel at Florida International University "serves as an introduction to the study of religion. The course explores the ways in which people understand and express religious experience."

A 2011 course by Daniel Alvarez at Florida International University "is an introduction to the study of religion. It will analyze various elements common to world religions and their expressions. In addition, it will examine the search for the transcendent and its implications at both the personal and the social level."

A 1995 course by Terry Matthews at Wake Forest University seeks to develop " an appreciation of the rich religious history of the South, as well as an awareness of the intellectual, moral, political, social and economic forces that helped mold the region and give it a distinctive ethos." Attention is paid to the often-overlooked experience of African Americans, Roman Catholics, and Jews in the South in addition to Protestantism.