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Interdisciplinary Programs
 

Religious Studies  
Janice Capel Anderson - Coordinator 
c/o Philosophy - University of Idaho
P.O. Box 443016
Moscow, ID 83844-3018

OFFICE: Morrill Hall 405
PHONE: (208) 885-6065
EMAIL:  jcanders@uidaho.edu
 


Lighting Candles

Religious Studies Course List


RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS

Asian and Pacific Religions Traditions
  • Hist 180 Introduction to East Asian History (3 cr). Survey of traditional and modern Chinese and Japanese history.
  • Hist 485 Chinese Social and Cultural History (3 cr). Survey of Chinese culture and traditions during the first millennium.
  • Phil 306 Hindu Thought (3 cr). Same as RelS 306. Analysis of the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-gita, Jainism, and later Hindu thought.
  • Phil 307 Buddhism (3 cr). Same as RelS 307. Philosophy and religion of Gautama Buddha as it developed in India, Tibet, China, and Japan.
  • Phil 308 Confucianism and Taoism (3 cr). Same as RelS 308. Analysis of writings of Lao-tzu, Confucius, Mencius, Chuang-tzu, and medieval Confucianism.
  • RelS 204/404 Special Topics (cr arr).

Western Religious Traditions
  • Hist J442/J542 The Medieval Church: Europe in the Early and High Middle Ages (3 cr). Hist 442 same as RelSt 442. Evolution of medieval Christian society from reign of Constantine (c. 300) to pontificate of Innocent III (1215), as expressed in monastic and mendicant orders, crusades, 12th-century Renaissance, and heresy. Additional projects/assignments required for grad cr.
  • Hist J447/J547 The Age of the Renaissance and the Reformation (3 cr). Hist 447 same as RelSt 447. Survey of European history and society through changes wrought by the Renaissance, the Explorations, and the Reformation. Additional projects/assignments required for grad cr.
  • Hist J448/J548 The Reformation (3 cr). Hist 447 same as RelSt 447. This course examines the social and economic as well as the theological dynamic of the Reformation. The course begins by examining the thought of Erasmus and More, continuing through that of Luther, Calvin, and Loyola, to the Anabaptists. Religious upheaval lead not only to the political and military upheaval of the Religious Wars, but also to religious debate, the echoes of which resound through to the present. Additional projects/assignments required for grad cr.
  • Phil 302 Biblical Judaism: Texts and Thought (3 cr). Same as RelS 302. Analysis of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and related texts with an emphasis on hermeneutics and thought.
  • Phil 303 Early Christianity: Texts and Thought (3 cr). Same as RelS 303. Analysis of the New Testament and other early Christian texts of the first and second centuries C.E. with an emphasis on hermeneutics and thought.
  • RelS 204/404 Special Topics (cr arr).

APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF RELIGION
  • Anth 327 Belief Systems (3 cr) (C). Same as RelS 327. Method and theory of comparative anthropological study of religion.
  • CORE 116 OR 166 Core Discovery: The Sacred Journey: Religions of the World (3-4 cr). Students in this course study sacred images, the afterlife, and other ideas and issues relevant to world theologies. It is nonsectarian and devotes time and consideration to primordial, Greco-Roman, Ancient Near Eastern, and African religions, Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and religious minorities such as the Sikhs, the Jains, the Mormons, the Baha'is, and other religions of interest to members of the class.
  • Engl 375 The Bible as Literature (3 cr). Same as RelS 375. Literary qualities of the Bible.
  • Phil 305 Philosophy of Religion (3 cr). Same as RelS 305. Philosophical investigation of such issues as the existence and attributes of God, problems of free will and evil, afterlife, miracles, and creation.
  • RelS 101 Introduction to Religious Studies (3 cr) (C). Intro to academic study of religion by analyzing history and development of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
  • RelS 204/404 Special Topics (cr arr).
  • Soc J414/J514 Development of Social Theory (3 cr). Same as Anth J414/J514; Soc 414 same as RelS 414. Development of social theory from classical roots through contemporary schools; biographical accounts and original works in sociological and anthropological theory. Additional projects/assignments required for grad cr.
  • Soc 422 Religion, Culture & Society (3 cr). Same as RelS 423. This course provides students with an opportunity to explore religious experience, meanings and organizations as part of a larger socio-cultural context. The primary focus of this course is on a sociological approach to the theory of religion, the historical development and effects of religion in the United States, and contemporary religious conditions and experience. The course will integrate theoretical readings, historical analyses, empirical studies, ethnographic description, and student projects. Throughout the course, a sociological imagination will be cultivated and exercised toward understanding the nature of religious practice and the social significance of its organization and change.

RELIGION & CULTURE
  • Anth 329 North American Indians (3 cr) (C). Origins, physical types, languages, and cultures of North American Indians.
  • Anth J422/J522 Plateau Indians (3 cr) (C). Same as WSU Anth 428/528, RELS 422.An overview of historic and contemporary Indian cultures of the Plateau; oral traditions, ceremonial life, social organization, and subsistence activities; history of contact with Euro-American society. Two 1 to 2-day field trips reqd. Additional projects/assignments reqd for grad cr.
  • Art 100 World Art and Culture (3 cr). An introductory historical survey of art and culture in Western and non-Western contexts. Major cultural sites, monuments, image traditions and technologies will be examined alongside the historical, religious, political, economic, and aesthetic contexts which produced them. Cultures studied include China, Islam, Pre-Columbian civilizations in North and South America, Africa, India, Japan, Oceania, the ancient Near-East, Greece and Rome, Western Medieval, the European Renaissance, and Western and non-Western Modernism. A theoretically comparative approach will be followed, towards an understanding of both similarities and differences between Western and non-Western cultural production. 2 hours of lecture with one 2-hour lab/recitation.
  • Art 208 Italian Renaissance Art and Culture (3 cr). Same as RELS 208. A study of painting, sculpture, architecture, and art theory in Italy from c. 1350-1600. The art of Giotto, Duccio, Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Alberti, Donatello, Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi, Andrea Mantegna, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bramante, Palladio, Giorgione and Titian, among others, is examined along with the broader components of Italian Renaissance culture.
  • FLEN 211 Classical Mythology (Gods) (2 cr). Intro to classical myths and legends and their survival in western literature and art.
  • FLEN 212 Classical Mythology (Heroes) (2 cr). Intro to classical myths and legends and their survival in western literature and art.
  • FLEN 441 Ancient Greek Civilization (3 cr). Survey of development of Greek civilization, BC 2000-BC 300.
  • FLEN 442 Civilization of Ancient Rome (3 cr). Survey of development of Roman civilization, BC 800-AD 500.
  • Hist 101-102 History of Civilization (3 cr; 4 cr for honors sections) (C). Satisfies core requirement J-3-d. Contributions to the modern world. Hist 101: to 1650. Hist 102: 1650 to present.
  • Hist J457/J557 History of the Middle East (3 cr). Survey of the Middle East from the beginning of the Islamic period to the present.
  • Phil 240 Belief and Reality (3 cr). Introduction to epistemology (examination of grounds and limits of knowledge) and metaphysics (inquiry into nature of reality) through historical and contemporary readings.
  • Phil 315 Existentialism (3 cr). Analysis of the writings of such figures as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Hesse, Kafka, Buber, Camus, and Sartre.
  • Phil 320 History of Ancient Philosophy (3 cr) (C). WSU Phil 290. Philosophical thought from the early Greeks through the Middle Ages; concentration on metaphysics and theory of knowledge.
  • Phil 321 History of Modern Philosophy (3 cr) (C). WSU Phil 305. Critical evaluation of the thought of major figures in early modern philosophy, such as Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant; emphasis on metaphysics and epistemology.
  • RelS 133 Religion and Family (2 cr). Overview of influence of religion on dating, courtship, marriage, and family life.
  • RelS 204/404 Special Topics (cr arr).