An examination of the history of selected Caribbean religions from the European conquest to the twentieth century. Haitian Vodou, Cuban Santería, Jamaican Rastafarianism, and Spiritism will receive special attention. An exploration of the cultural processes (creolization, syncretism, etc.) that brought these traditions into existence and account for their social and political impact.

Islam as a religious and sociocultural phenomenon. The fundamental principles of the Islamic faith, Qu'ran, the Sunna of Muhammad, Islamic sectarianism, Islamic law, theology, and mysticism, and themes in Islamic art. The course will also survey Islam in its various forms throughout the world.

Offered every even-numbered year.

Islamic modernism and revivalism as a response to Western cultural penetration since the eighteenth century. Subjects covered will include Sufi reformism, Wahhabism, the Salafiyya movement, Islamic "Fundamentalism," the Iranian Revolution, women's rights, and Western perceptions of Islam.

Offered every odd-numbered year.

Islamic scholarship from the eighth through the fourteenth centuries. Principal topics covered will include the Qur'an and Qur'anic exegesis, the Hadith tradition, Islamic law, theology, philosophy, and Sufi mysticism.

Offered every even-numbered year.

Islamic mysticism, both as a set of metaphysical doctrines and as it is expressed in religious practices. Particular attention will be given to the doctrinal development of Sufism, its literature, major figures, and the process of consciousness transformation.

Offered every odd-numbered year.

In an era marked by profound and often deepening environmental, social, and economic crises, we are challenged to seek sustainable solutions to these issues. This course surveys, analyzes, evaluates, and applies ways in which various Christian thinkers and communities define these local and global crises and seek sustainable solutions.

The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most unique and fundamental aspects of Christian theology. This course provides a survey of trinitarian discourse from its ancient roots and medieval developments through its 20th-century revival and contemporary formulations and practical implications.

The development of Christian thought from the fifteenth century to the present as expressed in the writings and practices of the Christian community and its leading thinkers.

Offered every even-numbered year.

The development of Christian thought from the first through the fourteenth century as expressed in the writings and practices of the Christian community and its leading thinkers.

Offered every even-numbered year.

A survey of the leading theologians of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations of the sixteenth century.

Offered fall semester every odd-numbered year.