Fall 2012

Introduction to Religion

Listed in: Religion, as RELI-111

Formerly listed as: RELI-11

Faculty

Tariq Jaffer (Section 01)
Susan Niditch (Section 01)

Description

This course introduces students to the comparative study of religion by focusing on a major theme within two or more religious traditions.  Traditions and topics will vary from year to year.  In 2012-13 the major traditions will be Islam and Judaism, and the theme will be death.  Death is involved in life-passages both for those who die and for those they leave behind. This complex and universal concern raises questions about the very nature of being human and believing in the divine as we consider the ways in which the living make sense of death within particular religious and cultural contexts. Specific themes to explore include views of the metaphysical causes of death, descriptions of the experience of being dead, rituals surrounding the dead, ideas concerning the continued sentience or power of the departed, and beliefs about their capacity to communicate with the living and/or to return to life. 

Fall semester.  Professors Jaffer and Niditch.

Offerings

2022-23: Offered in Fall 2022
Other years: Offered in Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023