This course treats issues in which law and religion meet, overlap, and conflict within Israel. Topics include medical issues (end-of-life, abortion, surrogacy), religious control disputes, the restriction of non-Orthodox movements, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Readings include primary sources; texts of actual legal cases.

Religion in the mass media. Topics may include the coverage of religious issues or events by the news media and the presentation of religious themes or concepts in the entertainment media.

Offered every odd-numbered year.

African concepts of God in names, attributes, status, monotheism, human origin, function of soul, human destiny, rites of passage, and predestination.

Offered every year.

The significant developments in American religious history and thought from Puritanism to the present with attention to the social and cultural contexts in which various religious movements arose.

Not offered on a regular basis.

The history, beliefs, and practices of major traditions of China and Japan, particularly Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Special attention will be paid to the evolution of diverse forms within each tradition, and to the interactions of the different traditions.

Offered every even-numbered year.

Examination and analysis of African myths, legends, fables, etc. The significance and functionalism of these and comparison to those in other world religions.

A history of how the forms, definitions, and goals of Christianity changed in late antique and medieval societies across Europe and the Mediterranean. Examines how the religion responded to and affected the way these societies understood their government, their wealth, their responsibilities, the cosmos, and themselves.

The origin and development of the phenomenon of prophecy as it existed throughout the history of ancient Israel.

Offered every even-numbered year.

Examination of the various methods used to study Native American cultures and religious traditions, including history, anthropology, literature, and history of religions.

Course covers the biblical books that are not covered in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible Literature (the narrative books) and Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible (the prophets). Included are poetry (Psalms), wisdom (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes), and the Five Scrolls (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther).