Courses> Upper Division Courses (Intended for Undergraduates)

Area 1: Sacred Texts

301. Hebrew Bible (3)
Literature, history, major themes of Bible; methods and concerns of contemporary biblical studies. Situates folkloric, political, heroic, poetic, and religious meanings of texts among their original audiences.

305. The New Testament (3)
Structure, composition, meaning of New Testament; methods for interpreting Biblical texts. Focus on letters of Paul, post-Pauline writings, Gospel accounts of Jesus's life. 

310. The Qur'an (3)
Major themes of the Qur'an including cosmology, eschatology, good and evil, gender, God and monotheism, People of the Book (Jews and Christians), and role of religion in society. Attention to historical period in which the Qur'an was compiled.

315. Sacred Texts of South Asia (3)
Primary texts from sacred literatures of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Methods of interpretation, issues of translation, and placement of sacred texts in their social and historical contexts.

Area 2: World Traditions

320. Judaism (3)
Jewish history, culture, theory, and practice. Biblical roots of modern Jewish beliefs, basic movements within modern Judaism, Jewish calendar and Jewish life cycle as seen in Hebrew Bible, short stories, and films. 

325. Christianity (3)
Historical development of Christian traditions and major issues confronting Christianity today. Beliefs and practices important to Christian self-understanding, debates over authority of Bible, accommodations to modern science, and relationship with non-Christian religions. 

328. Islam (3)
Islamic religion and culture in Asia, Africa, and Near East. History, doctrines, practices, literatures, social and intellectual movements, role of Mohammed, and gender relations within Islam as understood in global context.

333. Ancient Near Eastern Religions (3)
Religious worlds of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Canaan through an examination of gods, goddesses, mythology, death, afterlife, religious art, architecture, and archaeology.

335. Comparative Mysticism (3)
Meaning, origin, and development of mysticism. Purgation, illumination, annihilation, separation, covenant, and union of soul with the Divine as found in world scriptures, writings of prominent mystics, and mystical movements such as Kabbalists, Sufis, and yogic traditions. 

338. Buddhism (3)
Origins and interpretations of Buddhist teachings in India, China, Tibet, and Japan. Trends in contemporary Buddhism and foundational concepts on Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism including their development in various Asian geographical settings.

339. Religions of India (3)
Major religious traditions from pre-Aryan Harappas to post-colonial India. Literatures of Hinduism, religious practices such as yoga and tantra, scriptural schools, sacrificial cults, Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad-Gita, Vedanta philosophies, early Buddhism.

340. Daoism and Chinese Religions (3)
Daoist tradition in context of Chinese popular religions. Early Daoist communities, texts, practices covered. Themes include body and cosmos, magical medicine, immortality practice, ritual, and relationship between classical and popular religious traditions.

342. Hinduism (3)
Historical development of Hinduism from its Harappan and Vedic origins to contemporary times. Hindu myths and rituals, gods and goddesses, art, architecture and sacred geographies; Hindu philosophies and ascetic traditions, yogas and tantras; modern Hinduism, diaspora Hinduism and Indian nationalism.

345. Religions of East Asia (3)
Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism in broad historical and cultural context. Focus on Ch'an (Zen) school of Buddhism, Confucius, neo-Confucianism of Chu Hsi, and Taoist masters Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu.

PHIL 351. Chinese Philosophy (3)
Philosophical traditions which have shaped the intellectual life and culture of China. Emphasis on foundational texts surviving from pre-Han China.

PHIL 412. Medieval Philosophy (3)
European, Arabic, and Jewish philosophies from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries.  

Area 3: Religion, Society, and Culture

330. Abrahamic Faiths: Shared Stories (3)
Theological, textual, and political relations among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Shared religious practices and stories such as creation, sacrifice, theories of evil and salvation, prophecy and Messianic expectations. Contemporary issues regarding gender, fundamentalism, and rise of nationalism.

350. Varieties of Religious Experience (3)
Religious experiences created in the dynamics of myth, ritual, pilgrimage and community using film as primary data base. Primal and shamanistic religion, ecstatic experience and mysticism.

353. Religion and Psychology (3)
Religious dimensions of the psyche using insights from academic and transpersonal psychology. Construction of religious identities through spiritual practice and transformation.

358. Death, Dying, and the Afterlife (3)
Diverse ways religions deal with the process of dying and rituals involved in the transition from life to death. Grieving, end-of-life decisions, views on the afterlife.  

363. Religion and the Sciences (3)
Views of science and religion as separate, conflicting, and complementary. Galileo and the Church, the Scopes Trial and twentieth century physics provide historical examples for study of assumptions about science and religion. 

364. Religion and Film (3)
Representations of religion in modern cinema and analysis of how religious themes and imagery in films reflect societal values, beliefs, and morals.

370. Women in Religion (3)
Women's contributions to and transformations of mainstream and marginal religions, including ancient goddess worship and modern witchcraft, indigenous religions, and major world religions. Spiritual questions and quests of contemporary women.

373. Women and the Bible (3)
Narrative, legal, and poetic material about women in Bible. How women were depicted by authors of Bible, lives of women in ancient world, how women and women's studies are transforming biblical studies. 

376. Nature, Spirituality, Ecology (3)
Cross-cultural religious views of nature. Attention to sacred texts, writings of naturalists, deep ecologists, and ecofeminists on place of nature in spirituality and role of spirituality in ecology.

378. Religion and the Marketplace (3)
Modes of consumption and economics in relation to religious beliefs and practices. Uses of religion in marketing and marketing of religion.  

379. Religious Violence and Nonviolence (3)
Role of religion in terrorism, hate groups, scapegoating, domestic and ecological violence, versus role of religion in peacemaking and movements for social justice. Nonviolent philosophies of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and pacifism in Jain, Buddhist, and Christian traditions.

SOC 338. Sociology of Religion (3)
Forms of religious belief, knowledge, practice, and experience tied to different social arrangements and historical periods. Consequences of religion for community and society. Secularization and conversion processes in modern industrial societies.

PHIL 535. Philosophy of Religion (3)
Philosophical examination of issues raised by the religious impulse in humanity. 

WMNST 515. Women: Myth, Ritual, and the Sacred (3)
Meanings and functions of myths and rituals in their sacred and secular aspects, emphasizing their impact on women's lives and relationships in differing cultural contexts, past and present. 

Area 4: Religion in the Americas

390A-390B. Religion and American Institutions (3-3)
Major religious movements, events, and issues affecting the development of U.S. government and institutions.

REL S 390A: from time of Spanish contact to 1900, REL S 390B: religion's impact in 20th century. This year-long course satisfies the graduation requirement in American institutions.

395. New Religions (3)
America's alternative religions, popularly called "cults," and why they attract spiritual seekers. New religions and transplanted Asian and African religions. Theoretical structures of belief systems and concrete specifics on different groups. 

AMIND 470. American Indian Religions (3)
Spirits, prophesies, and renewals of the Indian way compared through symbols and ceremony. Religions surveyed as they have been influenced by foreign elements and philosophies, influences on values and tribalism as reflected through symbols and other measures.

Other Upper Division and Graduate Courses 

400. Senior Seminar (3)
Senior capstone seminar in major. Discussion and research on topics in Religious Studies. Formal research paper and presentation.

496. Experimental Topics (1-4)
Selected topics. May be repeated with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Limit of nine units of any combination of 296, 496, 596 courses applicable to a bachelor's degree. 

499. Special Study (1-3) I, II
Prerequisite: Twelve upper division units in religious studies. Individual study. Maximum credit six units.

Upper Division Courses (Also Acceptable for Advanced Degrees)

530. Religion and Revolution
20th Century liberation movements in their religious expression, from 1960s Latin America through Black Theology, Feminist Theology, Eco-Theology, and Queer Theology. International religious liberation movements, particularly in Africa and the Americas.\

580. A Major Figure (3) I, II
Life, works and significance of one major figure in a religious tradition. May be repeated with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units. 

581. Major Theme (3) I, II
Advanced systematic study of a theme or motif selected from major religious traditions. May be repeated with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units. 

582. Major Text (1-3)
Advanced systematic study of a selected scripture or classic text(s) selected from one of the major religious traditions. May be repeated with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units. 

583. Major Tradition (3)
Advanced systematic study of the doctrines, practices, and development of a major religious tradition. May be repeated with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Maximum credit six units.

596. Advanced Topics in Religious Studies (1-3)
Advanced selected topics in religious studies. May be repeated with new content. See Class Schedule for specific content. Limit of nine units of any combination of 296, 496, 596 courses applicable to a bachelor's degree. Maximum credit of six units of 596 applicable to a master’s degree. Maximum combined credit of six units of 596 and 696 applicable to a 30-unit master's degree.