This course investigates various conceptions of love in world religions. The assumption of this course is that the theme of love, though interpreted in many different ways, is a key component of a religious experience of the world and of the Sacred. In many of the worlds religions, an understanding of love or compassion is an indispensable moment in the gaining of wisdom.

A study of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, including both ancient and modern developments in their cultural contexts.

The architecture, manuscript illumination, painting and other visual arts of Christianity explored within the contexts of contemporary history.

This course is an introduction to multiple concepts of the divine in South Asia. We will explore the different ways that the religious traditions of South Asia understand supernatural beings and forces. In order to do this we will read portions of primary texts in translation, examine iconography, and watch rituals as they unfold. In addition to learning about the South Asia traditions, we will put those conceptions of the divine in conversation with those rooted in a European context, forcing you to learn to think critically about the ways people from different cultures view the world around them.

This course introduces the study of religion and popular culture. It explores how religion is represented in popular cultural forms, and how social conceptions of "religion" and "popular culture" change over time. Students will examine how differing definitions of religion, culture, and taste intersect with historical and contemporary categories of class, gender, ethnicity, and race.

Major trends and traditions in the arts, literatures and languages, religions and philosophies of China.

The course surveys six religious traditions founded and developed in Asian including two from India: Hinduism and Buddhism, two from China: Confucianism and Taoism, and two from Japan: Shinto and Japanese New Religions. The survey of each religion includes: 1. a primary or sacred text, 2. contemporary practices in Asia, 3. contemporary practices in America, and 4. depictions in modern media. The course studies how the central tenets and teachings of Asian religions create the cultural roots of contemporary Asian cultures and how these teachings have influenced America's religious diversity.