This document is always under construction, since this list is being compiled from syllabus copies.  It is close to being comprehensive but there are a few gaps that we are trying to fill.  Special topics numbers will have the course description from the catalog and OU course database.  Otherwise we try to provide the syllabus description here, as we follow up with new and current professors and instructors to provide their syllabus copies.  To find the catalog description of any course, please go to the Admissions webpage at http://www.ou.edu/bulletins/courses/courses.htm. 

 

For a list of courses approved for use in the Religious Studies Degree, see the Course Inventory here.

 

African/African-American Studies (AFAM)

 

4010 Gospel Music. 

 

4010 African-American Religious Tradition.

 

Anthropology (ANTH)

 

1823 Religion in Everyday Life.  Religion is a cultural universal, that is, it has been documented in all known societies both past and present.  Via the examination of anthropological theorists, diverse explanations of religion’s role in human populations will be analyzed.  World religions are surveyed, and students are introduced to social and cultural analyses of religious concepts and behaviors using a comparative approach.  The place of religion in everyday life is considered from this cross-culture, anthropological perspective. 

 

3423 Anthropology of Religion.  Prerequisite:  Junior Standing.  A consideration of the nature and role of religion in small-scale societies.  Emphasis will be given to the relationship of the various anthropological approaches to religion with the intellectual history of anthropology as a discipline.  Since the inception of anthropology in the late nineteenth century, questions of religion have been central to the discipline.  This course examines the range of anthropological approaches to the study of religion that have been developed and refined over the past hundred years.  It focuses on both the variety of religious phenomena found throughout the world and the methodological and theoretical techniques anthropologists use to account for them.  Anthropology takes a non-judgmental and cross-cultural view of religion.  It does not seek to question or refute the validity of any religion, and accepts that for those who participate in a given belief system, its beliefs are self-evident truths.  Anthropologists are interested in broad questions about the role religion plays in human life such as the common human concerns that evoke religious responses and the connection between ritual and belief.  Religion is a mode of communication that articulates people’s worldview and concepts of the supernatural.  It is an ideology that supports the social order, although as a form of social consciousness it can also be used to resist a given political system.  As philosophy, religion provides explanations that help people cope with the uncertainties and difficulties of everyday life as well as celebrate life’s high points. 

 

4953 Anthropology of Jewishness. Through ethnography of Jewish communities around the world this course explores many core issues in cultural anthropology, including race, religion, ethnicity, identity, life cycles, and gender roles, among others. The course will also examine the role of Jewish anthropologists in their history of American anthropology, and the influence their Jewishness had on their work and shaping the discipline. Non-majors should contact the professor before enrolling.

 

Art History (A HI)

 

3263 Survey of Byzantine Art & Architecture.  A survey of Byzantine monuments from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 CE to its fall in 1453.

 

4233 Medieval Art I:  Early Christian to c. 1100. A study of western art and architecture from the early Christian period (fourth century) through the early Romanesque period (about 1100).  Studies of Byzantine, migratory, insular, Hispano-Islamic, Carolingian and Ottonian art included. 

 

4243  Medieval Art II:  Romanesque. European Medieval Art of 11th and 12th centuries.  Romanesque, the first Pan-European style, is formulated during a period of urban growth and the beginning of the university system.  One of the most significant achievements during the Romanesque is the sculpted iconographical portal. 

 

4253  Medieval Art III:  Gothic.  European late Medieval art from mid-twelfth century to mid-fifteenth century.  Beginning with Gothic and continuing into early Renaissance, when two distinct styles come about simultaneously; Flemish and Early Renaissance. 

 

4273  Byzantine Icons.  Byzantine images/icons represent a vision of the invisible and one founded on divine knowledge which transforms the created work into the miracle working image.  This course examines the challenging process of producing holiness and divinity through painting panels. 

 

Classical Culture (CL C)

 

3313 Religions of Rome.  This course surveys the religions that flourished in Ancient Rome, from its beginnings to the establishment of Christianity.  Particular attention will be given to syncretism and the key role that it played in the evolution of religious life at Rome.

 

English (ENGL)

 

3653 The Bible as Literature. Interpreting the Bible as literature. Although much class time will spent developing readings of individual books, a number of critical issues that affect the ways to approach the project of understanding the Bible will also be considered.  

 

Greek (GRK)

 

3123 New Testament Greek.  Prerequisite:  1115 and 1225 or equivalent.  Students will study the grammar, vocabulary, and style of the Greek New Testament.  Emphasis will be placed on accurate translation.

 

History (HIST)

 

2683 – Introduction to Islam.  Survey of the history of Islamic civilization in the Near East, North Africa, India, and Malaysia from the advent of the Prophet to the modern period.

 

3113 The Crusades. Prerequisite: 1113 or 1613 or junior standing. Covers crusades to the Holy Land and Europe against Moors, pagans, heretics, and enemies of the Pope. Topics include crusade ideology, relations between Latins, Byzantines, Jews, and Muslims, crusader states, techniques of warfare, and the experience of crusading.

 

3120 Topics in Modern European History.  May be repeated for credit with change of content.  Discussion of a selected special problem or problems in modern European history.  Topics approved for use in RELS major include:  The Holocaust; European Jews from Ghetto to Modernity; Jews & Other Germans; Inquisitions in Europe; and The Transformation of Jews.

 

3143 The Era of the Reformation. An analysis of the forces leading to the religious upheaval in the sixteenth century and the spread of Protestantism in Northern European countries; the Catholic Reformation or Reaction; Thirty Years War; and the relation of the Reformation Era to medieval and modern civilization.

 

3293 Antisemitism. Prerequisite: junior standing. Covers the history of antisemitism, the world’s oldest prejudice, from the Middle Ages to the present, with emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Topics include antisemitism’s religious and social roots, the Inquisition, the Holocaust, antisemitism of the right and left, and ethnic, black, and “genteel” antisemitism

 

3413 Ancient Israel. The course is a survey of Ancient Israel from 2000 BCE to about 70 CE, dealing with the main institutions and their background.

 

3500  History of Heaven and Hell.

 

3500  Jewish Mysticism.  Jewish mysticism constitutes on of the main disciplines of Judaism.  Although Kabbalah nowadays is attracting considerable attention outside Jewish circles, little is still known about this discipline.  This course will introduce students to the main trends of Jewish mysticism, among them Kabbalah.  The goals of this course are to define Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah; to familiarize students with ancient mystical sources that led to the Kabbalistic doctrine; to help students understand the meaning of these highly complicated mystical texts through a close reading in translation; and finally, to acquaint students with the modern literature on the subject.  Basically, the course will be divided into two sections.  The first section will focus on ancient esoteric traditions; the second will focus on Kabbalah and on the role mysticism played in Hasidic movements.

 

3663 Political Islam. Prerequisite: junior standing. The study of radical Islamic thinkers, political parties, and governments in the modern Middle East.

 

3770  Eastern Orthodox Christianity and State-Building in Eastern Europe.  The course explores the role of the Eastern Orthodox faith in shaping the political culture of Russia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, and other nations of Eastern Europe.  It further reviews church-state relations over a period ranging from medieval statehood to the communist rule.  The course emphasizes the centrality of religion in forging national identities, as well as its role in the movements for national liberation in Eastern Europe.  It also focuses on the impact of Orthodox Christianity on art, architecture, music, and other aspects of cultural self-awareness and expression.  Finally, the course attempts to explain the deep-rooted differences in civilization and outlook which divide Eastern Europe from the Western world. 

 

3840 Middle Eastern Jews in Modern Times.

 

3893 Culture and Society in the Middle East. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of instructor. Covers the major social and cultural conflicts which have defined the peoples and states of the modern Middle East from 1800 to the present. The focus will be on Turkey, Iran, Egypt and Israel. History texts, primary documents, and novels will be read. Particular attention will be paid to the debates over the place of women and religion

 

3963 Rebirth of Israel. Prerequisite: junior standing. Examines the historical evolution of the Zionist movement in the second half of the 19th century through the establishment of the State of Israel in the mid-20th century within the framework of Jewish modernization, antisemitism, and conflicting modern nationalisms.

 

3973 Judaism – A Religious History. Prerequisite: junior standing. Introductory survey of Judaism from its earliest origins in the ancient Near East to the present. Development of ideas, forms, of worship, and religious expression as well as sectavian trends and variations will be examined.  This course offers a sweeping introduction to Judaism from Abraham the Patriarch to the Lubavitcher Rebbe.  The readings and lectures will trace the ongoing religious encounter between a unique people and its God.  The development of ideas, forms of worship and religious expression, as well as sectarian trends and variations will be examined.  Students will be introduced to the nature of the Jewish religious experience, its system of belief and ritual, its thought and symbols.  Modern movements such as Reform and Conservative Judaism, Reconstructionism, the Ba’alei Teshuva, and Gush Emunim will be discussed.  Although not a History of the Jews (the University offers other courses for that), the course will look at the religion known as Judaism against its historical background. 

 

3983 Medieval Jewish History. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of instructor. Wide-ranging survey of Jewish history form the fall of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. to the expulsion from Spain in 1492. It is difficult to accommodate the Jews to conventional historical rubrics, and this will not be a conventional history course.  There was no medieval Jewish state or territory.  Jews lived in radically different societies, each with its own life-style and its own world view.  In spite of this, they formed an extended nation without borders.

 

The primary emphasis of this course will be on the medieval Jewish communities of the Islamic oikoumene.  The Jews of the Latin or Catholic West will be granted next priority.  Byzantine Jewry will only be briefly treated.  Because medieval Jewish civilization is multifaceted, we must approach it in different ways, always trying to understand it on its own terms. To do so, we shall give some attention to economic, social, and where applicable, political life and evolution.  There will also be treatment of social and intellectual history of the Jewish communities of the Islamic world and of Latin Christendom and their relations with the two great medieval civilizations.

 

3993 the Evolution of Martyrdom in the Judeo-Christian Civilization. Prerequisite: junior standing. This course will trace the historical development of martyrdom in Judaism and Christianity and examine the impact of martyrs’ behavior on their groups and history.  Goals of the course will be to understand what motivated individuals and communities to give up their lives for their convictions; familiarize students with the primary and secondary sources, to examine martyrological texts of various genres, to weight their value as historical evidence, to understand the meaning and significance of martyrdom and finally, to analyze the relationship between Jewish and Christian martyrdom, comparing the evolution of the idea of martyrdom in Judaism and Christianity to identify differences and similarities between these two faiths.  We will address these aspects in the attempt to answer the question:  what has possessed human beings to sacrifice themselves and others in the name of religion or ideology?

 

History of Science (HSCI)

 

3443 Historical Studies of Science in a Religious World. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission; previous history/history of science course recommended. An overview of major events in the intersection of science and religion from the Middle ages to the present. Detailed look at the historical record and exploration of the background of the people involved, the social and political context, and the reasons why certain issues mattered so much. Was Galileo really the defender of Truth he is so often claimed to be, valiantly standing against the obscurantism of an authoritarian Church?  Why was the Scopes “Monkey Trial” of 1925 declared a victory for science?  Why did the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking use explicitly religious language about “knowing the mind of God” when he speculated about the goals of scientific knowledge?  Searching for the answers to these questions reveals the complexity of the issues that have engaged religionists, scientists, philosophers, and laymen alike for centuries.  In this course students will consider some of the broad epistemological and sociological matters that affect the relationship between science and religion.  Using historical case studies, we will examine the foundations and assumptions of different perspectives.  The goals will be twofold:  first, we will try to separate fact from myth in some of the most often told stories in the history of science; and second, we will develop analytical tools to talk about science and religion issues, sensitizing ourselves to the myriad ways that people have used terms like science, scientific, method, and religion and asking if more specific language might be more helpful in clarifying the issues. 

 

3823 Science in Medieval Culture.  A survey of the historical development of medieval scientific, mathematical, medical, and philosophical thought.

 

Honors Program (HON)

 

2973 Religion & Globalization. Prerequisite: permission of Honors College. May be repeated; maximum credit six hours. This course is an interdisciplinary survey of human religious traditions and their relationship to the ongoing process of globalization.  How have various religious communities contributed to the emergence of a global society, and how have they adapted to this new social context?  Relying on the theories and methods of comparative religious studies, we explore themes of similarity and difference, continuity and change, migration and indigenization.  Course readings include conventional texts and electronic materials; class meetings focus on contemporary issues and feature guest speakers and audiovisual presentations. Students have the opportunity to deepen their appreciation for human religious diversity, to broaden their understanding of responsible citizenship in the context of an emerging global society, and to develop their critical skills for use in academic, professional, and personal settings. 

 

2973 New World Religion.  Prerequisite:  permission of Honors College. 

 

3713 Religion in America.  Prerequisite:  permission of Honors College.  This course traces the development, character and impact of religion in American from the pre-colonial era to the present.

 

3993 Honors Colloquium.  Prerequisite:  permission of Honors College.  An interdepartmental colloquium involving instructors from two different departments.  Topics approved for use in the RELS major include Muslims in Western Society and Religion & Democracy. 

 

International and Area Studies (IAS)

 

2413 Islam.  Survey of Islamic history and theology in the Near East, North Africa, and Asia from the advent of the prophet to the modern period.

 

3003 Religions of China. Prerequisite: junior standing. Religion in China had a markedly different function and place than in Euro-American Judeo-Christian culture.  In some measure, instead of placing emphasis on the state of the soul and its future in the hereafter, it focused on more immanent, this-worldly concerns.  This course will introduce students to the religious traditions of China with a particular focus on Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.  Through our study of these traditions we will investigate how Chinese culture approached questions of spirituality, mortality, self-sacrifice, and the divine.   

                       

Modern Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (MLLL)

 

3063 Jewish Literature.  Survey of Jewish Literature from antiquity to the present, from the Hebrew Bible to contemporary American literature, presented as a journey in which stops will be made at important places, covering all significant periods, genres and prominent writers. 

 

3073  The Hebrew Bible as Literature.  Concentrates on the Hebrew Bible from a literary point of view.  The course will explore several issues such as what is literature, what is the Hebrew Bible, what does it mean to read the Bible from a literary perspective, what are the literary genres used to write the Bible, both prose and poetry, etc.  Special attention will be given to close reading and comparative readings of Biblical texts and textual analysis.

 

4993  Epics of India:  Ramayana and Mahabarata.  Reading of the two great epics of India.  Special attention will be paid to narrative structure and the role of the storyteller.  The course involves extensive weekly reading along with weekly writing assignments and a semester-long research project which students will publish on the internet (no previous web publishing experience is required).

 

Native American Studies (NAS)

 

3113 Native American Philosophy. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of instructor. A survey of systems of understanding and explaining the relationships between human beings and the natural world in Native American cultures including; concepts of power, spirituality, and ceremonialism; ethical systems; and culturally based ways of knowing. The class will introduce you to Native American world views—different ways of looking at the world and how human cultures explain their relationship with the natural world.  You should learn how different cultures have their own consistent logical systems and how to analyze them in terms of cause and effect relationships.  We will compare Native American world views with the intellectual traditions of contemporary Christianity and the modern university system to determine the similarities and differences between the two. 

 

Philosophy (PHIL)

 

1203 Philosophy and Human Destiny, East and West. An inquiry into values bearing upon human destiny or fulfillment with special attention to values inspired by religion in both western and eastern traditions.

 

2403 Introduction to Philosophy of Religion. A systematic critical discussion of religious world-views. Topics covered include definitions of religion, reason and faith, authority, proofs for God’s existence, evil and immortality.

 

3283 Religion and the Environment. Prerequisite: Six hours of philosophy or junior standing. Will examine how various religious traditions serve as the source of different philosophical visions of human beings’ place in the environment.

 

3303 East Asian Philosophy. Prerequisite: six hours of philosophy or junior standing. Survey and analysis of the major texts and schools of philosophy in East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, and surrounding regions). Included are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.

 

3423 Ancient and Medieval Religious Philosophy. Prerequisite: six hours of philosophy or junior standing. Covers the history of religious philosophy in the West from ancient Greece until the 16th century. Major figures studied include Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Plotinus, Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Maimonides, Aquinas, Averroes, Scotus, Ockham, and the Reformers.

 

3433 Modern Philosophy of Religion. Prerequisite: six hours of philosophy or junior standing. Covers the history of modern religious philosophy in the West from the 17th to the mid-20th centuries. Major figures studied include Descartes, Pascal, Leibniz, Locke, Hume, Kant, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Clifford, James, Freud, and Wittgenstein.

 

3443 Contemporary Issues in Philosophy of Religion. Prerequisite: six hours of philosophy or junior standing. Issues currently debated in philosophy of religion. Topics include the rationality of religious belief, the problem of evil, the dilemma of divine foreknowledge and human free will, life after death, the relation between science and religion, and religion and public policy.

 

4473 Philosophy of Religion.  Prerequisite:  eight hours of philosophy or permission of instructor.  Survey of the topics in the philosophy of religion.  Topics covered include the concept of God, the problem of religious knowledge, the nature of religious language, and the problem of evil, and particular thinkers. 

 

Political Science (P SC)

 

3033 Religion and Politics in America. Prerequisite: 1113. Examines the diverse religious traditions in America and explores their political manifestations.  Assesses the religious impact on voting, lobbying, political mobilization and political culture. Particular attention will be paid to the strategic environment in which religious political actors must operate.  

 

3053 Global Religion and American Foreign Policy.  Prerequisite:  1113 or permission of instructor.  This course examines the intersection of American faith-based movements, global religious developments, and U. S. foreign policy.  It explores how global religious conflicts impinge on American foreign policy, and how domestic religious groups attempt to shape U. S. policy on such concerns as human rights, humanitarian aid, and conflict mediation.

 

Psychology (PSY)

 

4733 Social Psychology and Religion.  Prerequisite:  Junior standing or permission of instructor.  This course will introduce you to the psychological study of religion and religious phenomena.  Students should leave this course with an enhanced understanding and appreciation of the relationships between 1)  psychological processes and religious thinking, experience, and behavior; and 2) religion and the science of psychology.  Example topics covered in this course include personality and the self-concept, conversion, cults, superstitious thinking, social perception, and pro-social/anti-social behavior.

 

Religious Studies (RELS)

 

1113 Introduction to Religious Studies. This course is an introduction to the study of religion.  There are no prerequisites for this course.  Students will engage religion from the perspective of one who is an “outsider” seeing to better understand the inner workings and external practices of religion.  In this course students will reflect upon the various definitions of religion, how religion functions in the world through ritual, myth and symbol, varieties of religious experience, the issue of human destiny and the use of sacred texts among the world’s religions.  Course material will include an introduction to the ethical and moral dilemmas addressed by the world’s religions.  The course will conclude with a discussion of the importance of religious dialogue in a global environment.  Although this is NOT a course in comparative religion, the course will employ various world religions as case studies.

 

RELS 2003 Special Topics in Introduction to Religious Studies.  May be repeated with change of content; maximum credit six hours.  Various topics not accommodated by the current curriculum in the Introduction to Religious Studies including comparative studies and theories in the study of religion.

 

2013 Introduction to Religious Traditions. May be repeated with change of content; maximum credit nine hours. An introduction to religious traditions not covered in the other RELS curriculum options.

 

2403 Introduction to Comparative Religion.  Our increasing proximity to the cultures of the world means that we are also exposed to the variety of religions in the world.  In order to become sufficiently educated for world citizenship, our learning should include an understanding and appreciation of the world’s religions.  Accordingly, in this course we propose to provide the following:  (1) a general understanding of the most representative religious traditions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism/Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; (2) a comparative consideration of differences and similarities among the religions; (3) an investigation of the possibilities for dialogue among the religions and strategies for such dialogue.

 

2413 Religion, Culture, and the Meaning of Life. Basic human values and our sense of the promise of human existence have been historically the special domain of religion.  In significant ways religion, along with culture in general, provides the context within which fundamental life interests are shaped, guided, and criticized.  In this course we will inquire into religion and culture as resources for understanding ourselves, our values, and our overall sense of meaning.  The study will include consideration of key factors in some of the world’s major religions, East and West, as well as critical questions regarding the proper role and adequacy of religion within cultures for shaping human well-being.

 

2703 Introduction to Buddhism.  An introductory study of Buddhism, including sacred texts and concepts; examines the four noble truths, the noble eight-fold path, the four immeasurables, and the three traditions of Buddhism, Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism.  Examines the development of Buddhism from its Asian origins to its adaptation to western culture.

 

2803 Introduction to Hinduism.  An introductory study of Hinduism.  Examines the historical development of the tradition as well as the thoughts of modern philosophers.  Examines Aryan and early Indian culture, epics, scriptures, and philosophies that have developed.  Explores fundamental premises and guiding principles and organic process of change.  Generally inquires into the historical development of the Hindu religious tradition.

 

RELS 2900 Special Topics in Religious Studies.  May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit six hours.  Special topics in Religious Studies not accommodated by the current curriculum.

 

RELS 2903   Introductory Topics in Judaic Religious Tradition.  May be repeated with a change of content; Maximum credit six hours.  An introductory course in the religious tradition of Judaism.  Includes historical context of the tradition, basic teachings and different approaches to their interpretations.  Examines organic process of religious and/or philosophical change.

 

RELS 2913   Introductory Topics in Christian Religious Tradition.  May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit six hours.  An introductory course in the religious tradition of Christianity.  Includes historical context of the tradition, basic teachings, and different approaches to their interpretations.  Examines organic process of religious and/or philosophical change. 

 

RELS 2923 Introductory Topics in Islamic Religious Tradition.  May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit six hours.  An introductory course in the religious tradition of Islam.  Includes historical context of the tradition, basic teachings, and different approaches to their interpretations.  Examines organic process of religious and/or philosophical change. 

 

RELS 2923 Introduction to Islam.  This course teaches students to read and interpret twelve different types of Muslim writings and other voices representing Islam:  the Qur’an, biographies of the Prophet Muhammad, Hadith, legal and theological and mystical writings, responses to the Christian West, ritual practices, Islamist writings, modernist critiques, American Muslim voices, and representations of Muslims in news media.  Background readings will provide some framework to help students make sense of each new Islamic voice, but we will focus on listening to each new primary voice in the context of what we learned from studying prior voices.  Students will construct their own interpretations of these voices through online questions, short written commentaries submitted online, class discussionss, and midterm and final exams

 

RELS 2933   Introductory Topics in Eastern Religious Traditions.  May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit six hours.  An introductory course in a religious tradition such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism, Confucianism or other Eastern tradition.   Includes historical context of the traditions, basic teachings, and different approaches to their interpretation.  Examines organic process of religious and/or philosophical change. 

 

RELS 2943   Introductory Topics in Indigenous Religious Traditions.  May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit six hours.  An introductory course in an indigenous or folk religious tradition.   Includes historical context of the traditions, basic teachings, and different approaches to their interpretation.  Examines organic process of religious and/or philosophical change.

 

2960 Directed Readings. 1 to 3 hours. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. May be repeated; maximum credit six hours. Consists of topics designated by the instructor in keeping with the student’s major. Topics will cover materials not usually presented in the regular course offerings.  

 

3013 Special Topics in Sacred Texts. Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated with change of text; maximum credit nine hours. An examination of religious texts, and may include the Koran, Jewish scriptures, Christian scriptures, Bhagavad Gita, Vedas, etc.  

RELS 3013 The Qur’an.  Prerequisite:  Junior standing or permission of instructor.  Intensive study of the Qur’an, its major themes, and its literary forms, with attention to a range of classical and contemporary discourses about the Qur’an, both Islamic and Western.  The course is organized topically.  As we study each of the major topics discussed in the Qur'an (signs, prophets, rebukes and exhortations, theology, and law), we will read through relevant parts of the Qur'an, roughly in chronological order.  At the same time, as we look at each topic, we will study a different way of looking at the Qur'an:  we will look at the texture and sound of Qur'anic language, we will make comparisons with other scriptures, we will read examples of Muslim interpretation from a number of different schools of thought, we will sample modern Muslim reinterpretations of the Qur'an, and we will consider some Western scholars' theories about the Qur'an.  Thus by the end of the term we will have read all of the Qur'an, and we will have explored many of the different ways that both Muslims and non-Muslims have tried to analyze and interpret the Qur'an.

 

3023 Special Topics in Religious Traditions.  Prerequisite:    Junior Standing or permission of instructor.  May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit nine hours.  An examination of religious traditions not accommodated by the current curriculum.

 

3033 Special Topics in Religion, Literature, and the Arts. Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated with change of text; maximum credit nine hours. An examination of the relationship of religion, literature, and the arts, and may include study of various religious expressions through art, music, or literature; or the influence of religious traditions upon the art, music, or writing of a culture or society.

 

Spring 2007:  Islamic Law through Gender Issues.  This course will follow one thread (gender) through the following layers of Islamic law:  1)  The sources of law – principally the Qur’an and the practice of the Prophet.  2)  Classical legal discourse – an early collection of opinions, a classical manual of legal rules, and the theory behind those rules.  3)  Reformulations of classical law by modern thinkers.  4)  Law in practice – its implementation through fatwas and courts, and its relationships to the daily lives of Muslims.  Readings for the first three sections will be drawn mostly from primary texts; the fourth section will rely on secondary studies of court documents and on an anthropologist’s observations in Moroccan and Iranian courts.  The course will touch on all the major topics of Islamic law, but our focus throughout will be on issues relating to the construction of gender and gender relations:  Gender-specified purity and ritual regulations, separation of men and women, gender-specific social roles and spheres, gender equity, gendered authority, the regulation of sexuality, conceptions of the nature of gender, and especially the major legal topics of marriage and divorce.

 

3043 Special Topics in Religion, Social Organization & Politics. Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit hours. An examination of issues and topics in religion, social organization and politics.  

 

3043 Folk Religion.  Prerequisite:  Junior standing or permission of instructor.  While this course may help you to formulate your own ideas of religious truth, that is not its aim.  Rather, our purpose is to better understand human beings within the religious dimensions of their (our) everyday lives in various social and cultural contexts.  Our sociological-anthropological-folkloristic approach to religion will allow us to more fully understand religious phenomena as different in form and character as the Salem witch trials of 1692, serpent handling among Protestants in Appalachia, Pentecostal glossolalia, Hmong shamanism and folk medicine, the practices of Haitian Voudou in Brooklyn, the rise of Neopaganism among the American middle class, and the widespread American belief that there are aliens among us.

 

3043 Religion and Myth.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor. Myths are often described as “sacred narratives,” stories believed to convey profound truths about the nature of reality by the people who tell them.  Many such stories have strong connections with the world’s religious traditions, and may even comprise their foundations.  This course explores a variety of mythic narratives by employing the interpretive strategies of anthropology, folklore, religious studies, classics, and depth psychology to give us a deeper appreciation of some of the basic assumptions we have inherited through religious myth, including ideas about text, metaphor, belief, progress, gender, and power.

 

3053 Special Topics in Religion and History. Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit nine hours. An examination of religious phenomena throughout history, appearance and development of religious traditions, or special issues or topics in religion and history.  

 

3063 Special Topics in Religion and Philosophy. Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit nine hours. An examination of issues and topics in religion and philosophy.  

 

3113 Internship in Religious Studies. Prerequisite: Major in Religious Studies, Junior standing, and permission of instructor. Practical vocational experience in the community directed by a Religious Studies faculty member; includes a significant research paper.  This course is designed for RELS majors and minors to participate in a learning experience outside the university setting connected to their career goals in a religious, service, or non-profit vocation.  The student will work in a negotiated and approved internship for at least one semester, meet with the professor and other student interns as required, read the required texts and report on the internship experience through assigned coursework.  This course does not focus upon or discuss the theology or belief structures of a specific religious group.  Students from any religious tradition may take this course as long as the internship meets the standards for academic credit at the university.

 

3123 Comparative American Christianity. Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.  This course is designed as a comparative study of Christianity as it is practiced in the United States.  The course begins with the variety of Christian forms found in the early colonies from European roots and progresses to the American-born expressions of Christianity.  Students will study a wide variety of denominational forms of Christianity, including the African American experience.  The course will be strongly aided by speakers from the various religious expressions, class discussions and group work.  This course is predominantly a reading and research course for upper division students.   

 

3133 Introduction to Christianity.  Prerequisite:  Junior standing or permission of instructor.  Broad phenomenological study of the religious tradition of Christianity.  Examines origins and early myths, the teacher and key element of his teachings, founders of the early movements, the spread of the tradition, sacred texts, key practices and rituals, symbols, moral codes and ethical issues, polity and leaders, challenges to its system of faith, and the globalization of Christianity. 

 

3143 Christian Scriptures.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.  Using historical criticism, students will study the dating, authorship, historical setting, and liturgical and literary forms of the texts.  Attention will be given to the canonization process and a brief look at some of the deuteron-canonical texts from recent archaeological finds that shed new light on the history and development of the Christian sacred texts.

 

3153 Historical Jesus.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor. This course will focus on the character in the Christian Scriptures known as Jesus.  Students will study this historical figure through a variety of scholarly perspectives in order to better understand the diversity of beliefs within the Christian religion.  This course is designed to reflect upon a variety of scholarly and historical schemes for understanding and interpreting this man and his life.  In this course students will be asked to come to their own sound and well-reasoned conclusions after in-depth research and reflection about the historical figure of Jesus.

 

3203  Women, Religion, and Secularism.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.  This course will consider the current struggle over the role of women in societies around the world by looking at religious debates and experiences.  We will examine the historical and contemporary experiences and roles of women, paying particular attention to the ways in which religious beliefs and ideologies have affected women’s lives in relation to religious, social, economic, and political institutions.  What, we ask, are the various understandings of gender in the world’s major religions, in particular, in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity?  Why are modern Jewish, Christian, and Muslim women choosing to practice their religion traditionally?  What are the various movements and voices which seek to reinterpret sacred texts and traditional practices in a more feminist or modern way?  How are women attempting to redefine religious practices and beliefs both in more “modern” and “traditional” ways?  In seeking to answer these questions, we tackle the “big picture” of the contemporary political role of religion and its significant impact upon women’s lives. 

 

3213 Religion and Violence.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor. Most people consider religion to be the antithesis of violence and in many places and times religion has been a force for peace and social justice.  And yet, there is an enduring tension between the peaceable garden cultures found in all religions and their holy warrior cultures that tells us that while it is ultimately right to love our neighbors, it may be our sacred duty to kill them.  Indeed, the most cursory walk through history tells us that violence has always been at least one part of the religious experience.  And, despite the belief that religion would become less relevant in the modern world, religion appears to have become strangely more relevant to explaining acts of violence. After the events of September 11, 2001, understanding religion violence has become imperative not just for scholars of religion, but for everyone.  This course examines the causes, characteristics, and consequences of religious violence around the world.  It also looks at religion’s unique relationship to violence, as the only institution other than the state that can legitimate violent action and the particular ways in which it frames political violence in terms of a struggle between the sacred and the profane, between good and evil. 

 

3403 Studies in Comparative Religion. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of instructor. An advanced study of religious ideas and practices, texts and traditions, to identify areas of similarity, areas of difference, and the various influences religions may have upon each other as well as on society and culture.

 

3413 Approaches to the Study of Religion. Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor. Examines ways religion may be studied in order to better understand it. The course will include approaches and methodologies of the social sciences and humanities.  The academic study of religion is not a religious activity!  Whether we are religiously oriented or not, we can consider the nature and role of religion in personal, socio-cultural, and global contexts.  Furthermore, we can investigate the coherence, integrity, and justification of claims that religions make.  In this course we examine various ways religion may be studied in order to better understand religion and provide a more adequate critical appreciation of it.  The principal approaches to be considered are those of the life sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities.  In addition, attention will be directed to the methods inherent in the discipline of Religious Studies itself.  Underlying this study are two key questions:  (1) is it possible to determine the nature of religion as such beyond the various forms it takes among human groups; (2) does religion have an intrinsic character not derived from any other dimension of human existence, or is it secondary and epiphenomenal? 

 

3643 Special Topics in Religious Studies: Travel Abroad. Prerequisite: RELS major or minor, junior standing, permission of instructor and satisfaction of criteria established by OU Education Abroad office (including overall GPA of 2.5). May be repeated with change of content/location; maximum credit six hours. An examination of themes, shifts, events or major sites of various religions.

 

3703 Legal Issues in Church/State Relations.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor. This course is intended to familiarize students with case and statutory laws that have implication for the legal relationship between Church and Stae.  Students will become acquainted with the use of legal research materials in order to answer legal questions.  Students will study judicial analytical “tests” that they can apply to the development of legally defensible policies and practices in a variety of state institutions.  In addition students will read and analyze for discussion conceptual material regarding the history, sociological and political issues surrounding the Religion Clause.

 

3713 Modern Catholicism.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.  Students will study the origins and development of the Catholic tradition and its relationship to other Christian and non-Christian traditions.  The course explores the highlights of Catholic Church history, development of certain doctrinal positions, as they inform Catholic Social Teaching; the focus of this course will be on the fundamentals of Catholic Social Teaching and their place in historical debates about Capitalism, Marxism, Liberal Democracy, Religious Freedom, and post-modernity. 

 

3900 Special Topics. 1 to 3 hours. Prerequisite: junior standing or permission of instructor. May be repeated with change of topic; maximum credit nine hours. Topics in Religious Studies not accommodated by the existing curriculum.

 

RELS 3903   Topics in Judaic Religious Tradition.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.  May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit six hours.  An upper division course in the religious tradition of Judaism.  Includes historical context of the tradition, basic teachings and different approaches to their interpretations.  Examines organic process of religious and/or philosophical change. 

 

RELS 3913   Topics in Christian Religious Tradition.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.  May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit six hours.  An upper division course in the religious tradition of Christianity.  Includes historical context of the tradition, basic teachings and different approaches to their interpretations.  Examines organic process of religious and/or philosophical change. 

 

RELS 3923   Topics in Islamic Religious Tradition.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.  May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit six hours.  An upper division course in the religious tradition of Islam.  Includes historical context of the tradition, basic teachings and different approaches to their interpretations.  Examines organic process of religious and/or philosophical change.

 

RELS 3933   Topics in Eastern Religious Traditions.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.  May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit six hours.  An upper division course in a religious tradition such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Taoism, Confucianism or other Eastern Tradition.  Includes historical context of the tradition, basic teachings and different approaches to their interpretation.  Examines organic process of religious and/or philosophical change. 

 

RELS 3943   Topics in Indigenous Religious Traditions.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.  May be repeated with a change of content; maximum credit six hours.  An upper division course in an indigenous or folk religion.  Includes historical context of the tradition, basic teachings and different approaches to their interpretation.  Examines organic process of religious and/or philosophical change. 

 

3960 Honors Reading. 1 to 3 hours. Prerequisite: Admission to Honors Program, junior standing and permission of instructor. May be repeated; maximum credit six hours. Consists of topics designated by the instructor in keeping with the student’s major program. Topics will cover materials not usually presented in the regular course offerings. Will provide an opportunity for the gifted Honors candidate to work at a special project in the student’s field.

 

3980 Honors Research. 1 to 3 hours. Prerequisite: Admission to Honors Program, junior standing and permission of instructor. May be repeated; maximum credit six hours. Consists of topics designated by the instructor in keeping with the student’s major program. Topics will cover materials not usually presented in the regular course offerings. Will provide an opportunity for the gifted Honors candidate to work at a special project in the student’s field.

 

3990 Independent Study. 1 to 3 hours. Prerequisite 1113 or 2003 or 2403 or 2413, or Anthropology 1823, or Philosophy 1203, or 2403; junior standing, and permission of instructor. May be repeated; maximum credit six hours. Through a written contract, independent study may be arranged for a topic not currently offered in regularly scheduled courses. Independent study may include library and/or field projects.

 

4203 Religion, Nationalism, and Ethnic Conflict.  Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.  Religion and religious communities have played an increasingly important role in ethnic conflict around the world from former Yugoslavia, to India to Sudan, to name a few places. Borrowing approaches from sociology, anthropology, history, political science and other disciplines, students in this course will examine the role of religion in the formation and maintenance of ethnic groups, in the rise of nationalism, and in conflicts between different national groups.  The course begins by examining theoretical approaches to understanding the relationship between ethnic and religious conflict. In what important ways does religion shape or even spur ethnic conflict? What are the real issues involved in ethno-religious conflict? Why does this type of conflict appear to be increasing? What is the relationship between ethno-religious conflict and such larger processes as economic development and democratization? Is the world becoming a global culture or can it be better characterized as a clash of civilizations? The middle portion of the course looks more closely at particular cases of ethnoreligious conflict, focusing on the recent wars in the Balkans. Situated on the “faultlines” between three of the world’s great faiths--Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism and Islam--the Balkans provide a useful case for understanding ethno-religious conflict. We will attempt to answer questions about the causes, character and consequences of ethnoreligious conflict by an in-depth study of this area. All students will choose an additional case of ethno-religious conflict on which they will conduct research and present their findings to the class.  In the third portion of the course, students will investigate ways in which governmental, non-governmental and church organizations have responded to these conflicts. Is it possible to diffuse such ethno-religious tensions when they arise? Which is the best response to ethno-religious conflict? What should the role of religious

authorities be in such situations? Can we ameliorate the effects of clashing civilizations or does another approach more accurately explain and respond to ethno-religious conflicts in the world? The course will end with a brief look at the prospects for reducing ethno-religious tensions in the future.

 

 

4323 Capstone. Prerequisite: Major in Religious Studies, senior standing, and permission of instructor.

 

Spring 2006:  Capstone provides the opportunity to integrate knowledge about the major and apply it to a project culminating in a presentation and senior paper. The project will develop a selected problem, issue, or controversy in religious studies. Students majoring in Religious Studies should be exposed to at least some representative classics in religion before graduating.  In this course we study at least two such classics:  The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James and The Idea of The Holy by Rudolf Otto.  The course will consist, to a significant extent, close readings of these two texts and in-depth discussions of key concepts.  While both of these texts are committed to global interpretation of religion, both are written from a western perspective and are limited by that perspective.  In addition to the two texts, students will investigate the relation between religion and seven major issues in contemporary global culture:  science/technology, the environment, health/medicine, politics, economics, education, and gender.  Each will be discussed for either one or two weeks around this key question:  what does religion have to do with the issue, and how does the issue bear upon religion?

 

Spring 2007:  This capstone course is designed as an opportunity for each Religious Studies major to reflect on the variety of approaches to the study of religions that he or she has encountered in this intrinsically multidisciplinary program, and to articulate how his or her own intellectual project fits into that range of approaches.  Our primary materials will be drawn from the history of interactions between Muslims and Christians; each week we will study one moment in that history through the lens of one or two particular approaches to the study of religion – artistic, literary, sociological, political, anthropological, philosophical, theological, historical, critical, or “religious studies” approaches.  As we progress, each student will be encouraged to identify what he or she finds helpful or problematic about each approach, culminating in a position paper articulating the student’s own vision of the goals and methods of religious studies.

 

4990 Independent Study. 1 to 3 hours. 1113 or 2003 or 2403 or 2413, or Anthropology 1823, or Philosophy 1203, or 2403;  senior standing, and permission of instructor. May be repeated; maximum credit six hours. Through a written contract, independent study may be arranged for a topic not currently offered in regularly scheduled courses. Independent study may include library and/or field projects.

 

Sociology (SOC)

 

3873 Religion and Society. Prerequisite: 1113 or permission of instructor. An analysis of the functional significance of religion in society. Topics include the distinction between magic and religion, the functional approach to social phenomena, the relationship between religion and the problem of order in human societies, the relationship between religion and other major institutional arrangements (e.g., the economy and the polity).