Department of Religion
111 Mather House
Phone 368-2210; Fax 368-4681
Eldon Jay Epp
The study of religion is a liberal arts discipline with many interdisciplinary aspects. It acquaints the student with a range of past and present cultures and ideas and it employs historical, literary, linguistic, archaeological, philosophical, social, anthropological and phenomenological methods, all of which sharpen critical and evaluative skills. The study of religion, therefore, when combined with appropriate courses in other fields, can provide an excellent background for any number of professional careers, such as law and medicine. It is also recommended, though not mandatory, for students going on to theological studies in a divinity school. By itself, a major in religion provides a fine liberal arts background, though it leads to no specific career without further studies at the graduate level.
Eldon Jay Epp, Ph.D. (Harvard University)
Harkness Professor of Biblical Literature and Chair
Christian origins; New Testament studies; Greco-Roman religions
William E. Deal, Ph.D. (Harvard University)
Severance Assistant Professor of the History of Religion
Religions of China and Japan; Asian civilizations
James W. Flanagan, Ph.D. (University of Notre Dame)
Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Professor of Catholic Studies
Hebrew scriptures; history and religion of Ancient Israel; social world of the Ancient Near East
Susannah Heschel, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania)
Abba Hillel Silver Associate Professor of Jewish Studies
Jewish studies; modern German intellectual history; women and religion
Stephen G. Post, Ph.D. (University of Chicago)
Associate Professor of Biomedical Ethics, School of Medicine; and Associate Professor of Religion
Biomedical ethics; American religious thought; philosophy of religion
The Department of Religion offers a major and a minor in religion, as well as a Departmental Honors Program, for students pursuing the Bachelor of Arts degree. Humanities and social science sequences are offered for B.S. degree students in Engineering. Both the major and minor programs acquaint the student with the traditions of the ancient Near East, Judaism, Christianity, and Asian religions, which are investigated critically. Majors are welcome to participate in the Junior Year Abroad Program. Several 300-level courses may be taken for graduate credit by fulfilling additional requirements, and qualified students may pursue the M.A. degree under the Integrated Graduate Studies Program (IGS). The Department of Religion also contributes courses to and supports the Asian Studies, German Studies, and International Studies programs.
Students majoring in religion must complete a minimum of 30 semester hours of work in the department. Courses required of all majors are RLGN 201, 202, 203, and 204. In addition, every major is expected to complete six other three-semester- hour courses (18 hours). Majors are urged, but not required, to take two years of college-level work in one of the following languages: French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, Arabic, Chinese, or Japanese.
Students minoring in religion must complete 15 semester hours, including RLGN 201 and 202 and three other courses chosen in consultation with the departmental adviser.
Sequences normally include RLGN 201 and 202 and two additional courses offered by the department. Approval for sequences should be sought from the departmental adviser, Eldon Jay Epp.
RLGN 201, Literature and History of Ancient Israel, and RLGN 202, Christian Origins and the New Testament, may be used to fulfill the History and Culture requirement of the Western Reserve Core. Normally, both are offered each semester and may be taken in either order to satisfy the requirement.
Students who are majoring in religion and who have a 3.5 grade point average may apply for the honors program. A project must be accepted by a member of the department faculty and the application approved by the department. Honors students enroll for RLGN 390 each semester during their senior year, and departmental honors are awarded upon satisfactory completion and acceptance of the senior project by a faculty committee, provided that a grade point average of 3.5 is maintained.
Faculty members in the department are engaged in scholarly research and writing, as well as editorial work, in such areas as transmission and interpretation of biblical literature, archaeology and the social world of the ancient Near East, history and literature of Judaism, and issues in the religions of China and Japan.
Religion (RLGN)
RLGN 102. Introduction to the Study of Religion (3).
Introduction to the critical study of religion and the religious dimension of life.
RLGN 120. Comparative Ethics (3).
Exploration of the diversity of ethical claims from a cross-cultural perspective, involving a study of world-views, including religious, scientific, humanist, and Marxist perspectives, and the implications of such world-views on how values are thought about and justified. Consideration also of the force of rhetoric and discourse in persuading others to follow a certain moral course or argument.
RLGN125, 126. Beginning Hebrew I, II (3,3).
(Credit for RLGN 126 only upon completion of RLGN 125.) Elements of Hebrew grammar and syntax, with conversation, reading, and translation from classical and modern sources.
RLGN 201. The Literature and History of Ancient Israel (3).
The Jewish Bible in the light of the history and religion of Israel and the ancient Near East. RLGN 201 and 202 may be used to satisfy the Western Reserve Core requirement in history and culture.
RLGN 202. Christian Origins and the New Testament (3).
The literature of the New Testament in its historical, ideological, and religious setting. RLGN 201 and 202 may be used to satisfy the Western Reserve Core requirement in history and culture.
RLGN 203. Introduction to Judaism (3).
The beliefs, doctrines, and institutions of classical Judaism; their origin and development.
RLGN 204. Introduction to Asian Religions (3).
Principal Asian religious traditions based on a study of classical sources. Classical Chinese thought, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Readings include selections from the works of Confucius, Mencius, Mo Tzu, Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu the Mahabharata, the Bhagaavad Gita, and the early Buddhist canon.
RLGN 205. Methods and Modes of Thinking in Humanistic Studies (3).
(Also listed as CMPL 205, PHIL 205, SOCI 205.) Methods and modes of thought characteristic of philosophical, literary, historical, and social-scientific inquiries described, contrasted, and applied in context of reflecting upon select substantive problems concerning human nature, knowledge, belief, value, and history. Emphasis on complementary relationships among the various approaches. Reading from classical and contemporary sources. Required for interdisciplinary minor in forms and roots of modern consciousness. Open to all students.
RLGN 214. Text and Image in Japanese Culture (3).
(Also listed as ASIA 214, CMPL 214.) Introduction to major intellectual, artistic, and historical works that have shaped traditional and modern Japanese culture. Special attention will he given to gender issues. Lectures and discussion will focus on primary readings in translation, films, and field trips to the Cleveland Museum of Art.
RLGN 216. Hinduism (3).
The dominant religious tradition of India. The evolution of Hinduism from Vedic religion; classical Hindu mythology, philosophy, and theology; yoga; the modern transformation of Hinduism; religion and politics in India; and the spread of Hinduism to other parts of the world.
RLGN 217. Buddhism (3).
The development of Buddhism. The life and teaching of the Buddha, the formation of the early Buddhist church, the schools of Hinayana Buddhism and Abhidharma philosophy, Nagarjuna and the emergence of Mahayana Buddhism, the spread of Buddhism to China, the transformation of Buddhist thought in China, Zen Buddhism, the spread of Buddhism to the West.
RLGN 223. Religious Roots of the Middle East Conflict (3).
Religious, historical, cultural, and political bases for conflict in Middle East today. Terrorism and other forms of violence; tension between Western and Middle Eastern world views, role of religion in legitimation of political authority, contrast between oral and literate societies, and effects of rapid social change on religious systems and sentiments.
RLGN 225. Intermediate Hebrew I (3).
Advanced grammar. Grammar review, vocabulary building, conversation, readings in classical and modern Hebrew. Prerequisite: RLGN 126 or equivalent.
RLGN 254. The Holocaust (3).
(Also listed as HSTY 254.) History of racism in European society from 18th to 20th century; investigation, from perspectives of history, psychology, literature, philosophy, and religion, of how bureaucracy could exterminate six million Jews; responses of individuals, groups, institutions, and nations to deliberate extermination of nearly a whole people.
RLGN 260. Evolution of Christian Thought I: New Testament to the Reformation (3).
Christianity as it was shaped by the principal events, persons, and ideas in the ancient and medieval phases of its development.
RLGN 261. Evolution of Christian Thought II: Reformation to the Present (3).
Christianity as it was and is shaped by the principal events, persons, and ideas in the modern phases of its development.
RLGN 300. Archaeology of Biblical Israel and Its Social World (3).
Religious and social world of biblical Israel as recovered by archaeology and interpreted with aid of comparative history and anthropology.
RLGN 301. History and Ritual in Religion (3).
Religious traditions, including those of the Ancient Near East, as they change throughout history. Selected historical personalities and events that accompany the formulation and reformulation of traditions. Changes such as rise of literacy in oral society, relationship between agrarian and nomadic societies, and devolution of centralized power serve as case studies for religious transformation.
RLGN 303. Japanese Religions (3).
Thematic and historical survey of major Japanese religious ideas and institutions. Emphasis on translated readings in primary texts. Issues covered include Shinto and Buddhist traditions, religion and state, and role of religion in modern Japan.
RLGN 304. Chinese Religions (3).
Thematic and historical survey of major Chinese religious ideas and institutions. Emphasis on translated readings in primary texts. Course covers Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist traditions; religion and the arts; and issues of religion and state in both traditional and modern China.
RLGN 306. Interpreting Buddhist Texts (3).
Readings in translation of major texts from the Buddhist tradition. Special emphasis on problems of textual interpretation, historical context, Buddhist conceptions of the sacred, and Buddhist ethics. Previous coursework in Religion or Asian Studies desirable but not required.
RLGN 308. Problem of the Historical Jesus (3).
Understanding of Jesus by nascent Christianity and by modern scholarship.
RLGN 309. Greco-Roman Mystery Religions (3).
Hellenistic religious structures and motifs from Alexander to Constantine. Hellenistic mystery religions and healing cults, heroization and the growth of tradition, and related features of early Christianity.
RLGN 314. Jews and Christians in Germany (3).
Jewish and Christian self-understandings and attitudes toward each other in Germany from the late 18th century to the present. Special attention to the history of modern anti-Semitism and Jewish responses to it, particularly as a factor in the Nazi period.
RLGN 330. Classical Jewish Religious Thought (3).
The thought of some major biblical and Rabbinic writings and of the classic age of medieval Jewish philosophy.
RLGN 331. Modern Jewish Thought (3).
Jewish thought since the 18th century, with focus on religious reform movements, Zionist theory, and formulations of Jewish identity.
RLGN 332. The Jewish Experience in America (3).
Religious, political, and social history of Jews in America from 17th century to the present. Special attention to the question, "How have Jews responded to the openness of American society?" including the definition of Jewish theology in contrast to Christianity, the special culture of Eastern European immigrants, and the struggle of Jewish women to assert Jewish commitments against the tide of assimilation in the late 20th century.
RLGN 333. Philosophy of Religion (3).
(Also listed as PHIL 333.) Topics include: classical and contemporary arguments for God's existence; divine foreknowledge and human freedom; the problem of evil and theodicy; varieties of religious metaphysics; knowledge, belief, and faith; nature and significance of religious experience; mysticism; nature of religious discourse. Readings from traditional and contemporary sources.
RLGN 372. Anthropological Approaches to Religion (3).
(Also listed as ANTH 372.) Religion as a sociocultural institution: its relation to magic, witchcraft, science, and other institutions; its functions in relation to social control. Religion in non-literate societies and non-Western civilizations. Prerequisites: ANTH 102 or consent of instructor.
RLGN 374. Reformation Europe, 1500-1650 (3).
(Also listed as HSTY 309.) Origins and development of Protestantism, the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and the interaction between secular power and religious identification in Christian Europe.
RLGN 388. Topics in Religion (3).
Critical assessment of selected topics of historical or current interest.
RLGN 390. Independent Study, Honors (3).
Prerequisite: Acceptance of the project by a member of the department faculty. Generally limited to junior and senior religion majors.
Students working toward a graduate degree in other departments who wish to pursue some graduate study in religion may register for any of the courses listed.
*RLGN 400. Archaeology of Biblical Israel and Its Social World (3).
(See RLGN 300.)
*RLGN 401. History and Ritual in Religion (3).
(See RLGN 301.)
*RLGN 408. Problem of the Historical Jesus (3).
(See RLGN 308.)
*RLGN 409. Greco-Roman Mystery Religions (3).
(See RLGN 309.)
*RLGN 414. Jews and Christians in Germany (3).
(See RLGN 314.)
*RLGN 430. Classical Jewish Religious Thought (3).
(See RLGN 330.)
*RLGN 431. Modern Jewish Thought (3).
(See RLGN 331.)
*RLGN 432. The Jewish Experience in America (3).
(See RLGN 332.)
*RLGN 433. Philosophy of Religion (3).
(See RLGN 333.)
RLGN 488. Topics in Religion (3).
(See RLGN 388.)
RLGN 601. Special Research (1-6).
RLGN 651. Thesis, M.A. (1-9).
*Graduate Students registered for these 400-level courses share class with undergraduates registered for the corresponding 300-level course. Students registered at the 400 level may be expected to attend an additional seminar and/or meet additional requirements beyond those demanded of students registered at the 300 level.
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