Religion, Law, and Culture

A course by Omid Safi at Colgate University A 1998 course by Donald Binder at the Anglican School of Theology examines the "Acts of the Apostles, with special attention to its social context within the Greco-Roman-Jewish world of the first two centuries "is a multidisciplinary introduction both to the region conventionally referred to as the Middle East, and also to the academic discipline of Middle Eastern Studies. In other words, it is as much a study of the people, region, religion, history, and culture of the region as it is about the politics of studying that region."

A course by Liz Wilson at Miami University (Ohio) "explores some of the fundamental presuppositions about and experiences of marriage in selected Western and nonWestern cultures."

A 2007 course by James Jones at Rutgers University examines "some of the characteristics of the modern world and their impact on religion, the nature of secularization, and the function of religion in a modern, secular society."

A course by Peter Harle at the University of Minnesota introduces "students to the study of religion, using food as an entry point."

A 2009 course by Charles Brown at Albright College explores "the role religion plays in creating and maintaining culture through popular cultural expressions such as music, television, motion pictures, sports, and fashion."

A 2008 course by Nasser Rabbat at MIT "introduces the history of Islamic cultures through architecture. Religious, commemorative, and educational structures are surveyed from the beginning of Islam in 7th-century Arabia up to the present."

A 2017 course by Aaron Ricker at McGill University surveys "key examples of biblical tradition, and critical discussions of their place in Western culture."

A 2009 course by Brian Blount and Mark Lewis Taylor at Princeton Theological Seminary on "how cultural perspective influences the interpretation of biblical and theological sources."

A 2009 course by Steven Studebaker at McMaster Divinity College "considers various ways Christians have sought to negotiate the path between being 'in,' but not 'of' the world."

A 2009 course by Michael Andres at Northwestern College "is a research seminar in which students will explore contemporary questions and issues in light of the Christian religious and theological tradition."

A 2002 course by Michael Fuller at St. Louis Community College studies "Greek Culture, Roman Culture, Jewish Culture, and Early Christianity by analyzing specific material culture (tombs, temples, art, altars, coins, etc.) and non-material (kinship system, political organization, economic system, and world view-religion)."

A course by Mary Suydam at Kenyon College examines "the importance and meanings of blood in the history of Christianity, and the extent to which blood in that tradition is perceived as gendered and/or enabling power."

A 2013 course by Wafik Wahba at Tyndale Seminary "examines the main features of the postmodern culture" for the sake of mission work.

A 2000 course by Daniel Varisco at Hofstra University introduces the concept of religion using primarily anthropological methods.

A 1998 course by Thomas Peterson at Alfred University "explores how cultural worlds of meaning arise by examining artists and shamans who are involved in their constructions . . . (and) the relationship between material culture and the construction of meaning in various cultures."

A 2011 course by Adam Porter at Illinois College on American "civil religion."

A 2009 course by Bryan Stone at Boston University School of Theology "uses the medium of film as an avenue for reflection upon the meaning and truth of the Christian faith as well as its communication and embodiment in contemporary culture."

A 2013 course by Bron Taylor at the University of Florida "examines religius, spiritual, and political dimensions" of representations of nature from the 1930s to 2009.

A 2009 course by Benjamin Hubbard at California State University, Fullerton.

A course by Brent Plate at Hamilton College explores "the interrelations between religious traditions and media" from oral culture through modern day.

A course by James Wellman and Scott Noegel at the University of Washington on the "complex relationship between religion, violence, and peace."

A 2001 course by Jeffrey Carlson at DePaul University employs an interdisciplinary approach to "the importance of place in a time of rootlessness, the role of memory and ritual, pilgrimage and worship, the stories of immigrants and the dispossessed, our craving for nature, the role of public spaces, and a host of other ways that people experience places as particularly significant" throughout Chicago.

A 2008 course by Sally Promey at Yale University "invites students to explore recent interdisciplinary literatures on the subject of the visual cultures of religions in the United States."

A 1998 course by James Treat at the University of New Mexico uses thematic and historical approaches to "the role of religion in American culture and of religious studies in American culture studies."

A 2006 course by Mark Hulsether at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville "is not a survey of all aspects of religion and US culture, but rather a variable-topics course on selected issues and problems within this field . . . focus this term is on understanding the US in the context of globalization and empire."

A 2017 course by Guy Grimes at Gateway Seminary "designed to teach students the process of ethical and legal decision making in the practice of Christian counseling."

A 2013 course by Judge James Menno at Boston College explores the "relationship between man-made law created by the courts and the legislature and moral and religious value."

A 2013 course by David Hackett at the University of Florida about the "many meanings of the sacred journey through outer and inner pilgrimages."

A 2006 course by Nora Rubel at Connecticut College "is a methodological inquiry into American food traditions as elements of personal and communal religious identity."

A 1999 course by Kathleen O'Grady at the University of Calgary offers an "examination of the various methodologies employed in the field of Ritual Studies."

A 1998 course by Paula Cooey at Trinity University "explores the significance of religious symbols for human self-understanding and cultural values in a contemporary Western context (World War II to the present). . . . . (through the) thought of both proponents and critics of religion in relation to contemporary Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Native American Traditions."

A 2012 course by Seth Walker at the University of South Florida "explores the intersection of religion and contemporary popular culture in America."

A 2010 course by Sally Promey at Yale University explores "the destruction, censorship, and suppression of pictures and objects . . . Motivated by religious convictions and practices, in the United States."

A 2007 course by Judith Weisenfeld at Princeton University uses "the thematic lens of visual and material culture studies (largely in U.S. contexts) . . . For the study of religion."

A 2012 course by Kenneth Lasson at the University of Baltimore "examines the history and development of the religion clauses of the First Amendment, as well as the relevant jurisprudence."

A 2013 course by John Farina at George Mason University "on the legal doctrines that have arisen in cases under the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment."

A 2009 course by Bryan Stone at Boston University School of Theology "places the Christian gospel into dialogue with various expressions of North American popular culture (film, television, art, music, entertainment, sports, etc.) in an effort to understand the complex relationship between the two."

A 1999 course by Jeffrey Carlson at DePaul University "provides an opportunity to explore a variety of forms of "religious mixing" and thereby to reflect on the nature of religious identity."

A 2010 course by Seth Dowland at Duke University is a writing-intensive course that examines "the intersection of religion and popular culture."

A 2003 course by Kevin Lewis at the University of South Carolina is an introduction "to the study of the pervasive mutual influence of modern (Western) culture and religion upon each other--focussing on the three religions 'of the Book.'"

A course by Peter Harle at Macalester College introduces "the study of religion, using food as an entry point." Topics such as "aspects of foodways such as cooking, farming, sacrifice, aesthetics, and display as they relate to myth, magic, ritual, healing, ethics, and doctrine" will be explored.

A 2010 course by David Morgan at Duke University "examines the role of things, material practices, the body, space and performance in the study of religions."

A 2012 course by Jennifer Porter at Memorial University of Newfoundland on the "portrayal and treatment of religion in popular culture."

A 2009 course by Brent Rodriguez Plate at Hamilton College explores "how religion--in its actual, lived form--has a lot to do with the ways humans engage the world through the senses."

A 2012 course by Jay Gary at Regent University "examines how religionists and futurists have related to each other."

A 2010 course by Sally Promey at Yale University is an "interdisciplinary" study of "the process and practice of researching and writing sensory and material histories of religious images, objects, buildings, and performances."

A course by Charlie Wallace at Willamette University centers on "Western religious rituals involving food and drink, both as they have been practiced and rationalized in various contexts."

A 2015 course by Denis Bekkering at St. Jerome's University in the University of Waterloo examines the definitions and intersections of "religion" and "culture."

A 2011 course by Paul Horwitz at the University of Alabama School of Law "focuses on the relationship between law and religion, under the United States Constitution and beyond."

A 2011 course by Leslie Griffin at the University of Houston Law Center on issues in American law and religion.

A 2002 course by Winnifred Sullivan at the University of Chicago examines religion, law, and their "intersection" from pre-modern through modern societies.

A 1998 course by Michael Leming at St. Olaf College.

A 2015 course by Gary McCoy at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary "designed to explore the concepts of Christian spiritual formation as it may be understood through creativity and the arts."

A 2017 course by Lynn Neal at Wake Forest University examines "numerous sources, topics, and dilemmas" from popular culture as it considers "religion IN popular culture, popular culture IN religion, popular culture AS religion, and religion and popular cuture in dialogue."

A 2012 course by Mark Lewis Taylor at Princeton Theological Seminary examines "Christianity's relation to the problems of white supremacist and racist phenomena" and to explore how "different theological works . . . enable Christian faith to be anti-racist in practice, and to facilitate course member’s creation of their own anti-racist strategies in belief and practice."

A 2012 course by Frances Adeney at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary assesses "the contemporary situation for Christian evangelism and mission in the United States" with special attention to cultural contexts.

A 1997 course by Thomas Peterson at Alfred University explores "How and why are symbolic frameworks transmuted from certain forms to others through the creative imagination? Special attention to masking will help focus on "image" at the point where ritual and myth intersect with the performing and visual arts. Masking is also a place where identity and culture meet; it therefore raises the question about how the creative process is both a personal and social phenomenon."

A 2005 course by Rudra Vilius Dundzila at City Colleges of Chicago is an "interdisciplinary survey of significant intellectual and artistic achievements of non-Western cultures through selected works of literature, philosophy, visual art, music and other performing arts."

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 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 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 2006 course by Michael Andres at Northwestern College "is a theological, biblical, and historical study of the relationship between Christian theology and popular culture, from a classical as well as a contemporary perspective."

A course by Hendrik Pieterse at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary draws "on scholarship in globalization theory, intercultural communication studies, and more to explore implications for doing theology across cultures today."

A 2014 course by Hendrik Pieterse at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary "offers an introduction to Christianity as a truly worldwide movement today."

A course by Yeo Khiok-khng at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary explores "various reception and hermeneutical theories of rhetoric and intertextuality on cross-cultural wisdoms (such as ancient Jewish, Greco-Roman, Chinese, Islamic, African-American, etc.) of various communities" through the lens of the Book of James.

A 2019 course by Peter Gottschalk at Wesleyan University considers religion "as a phenomenon . . . the meaning of 'sacredness' & 'the sacred' and question their comparative use" in various religious traditions.

A 2018 course by Tina Pippin at Agnes Scott College explores "the concept of religion/s in scholarship and culture, engage[s] theories and methods in religious studies, and use[s] interdisciplinary tools to explore the religious worlds in Atlanta and beyond."

A 2019 course by Jacob J. Erickson at Trinity College Dublin explores "contemporary theological and ethical perspectives on eating and drinking: from food systems to vegetarianism to scarcity and more. How might contemporary ethics shape and be shaped by what we eat or drink, how we eat or drink?"