Religion

An introduction to the history, philosophy, and practice of the major religions of the world, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.

An introduction to topics in the study of Religion. Topics will vary by semester and year. Check the department website for upcoming topics.

 Introduction to the fundamentals of Hebrew grammar and syntax. Emphasis on the development of oral and writing skills.

 Continued introduction to the fundamentals of Hebrew grammar and syntax. Emphasis on the development of oral and writing skills.

Modernity is associated with disenchantment, secularisation and progress, and has traditionally been understood as the successor to the enchanted, spiritual, and transcendent worldviews of antiquity and the middle ages. Re-enchantment, a term increasingly encountered in popular and academic contexts alike, demonstrates nostalgia for an enchanted past, a discomfort with the modern narrative, and a desire to recover wonder. This course will examine the history of enchantment through a series of readings taken from literature, philosophy, theology, ranging from Plato to contemporary magical realism. Restricted to first-year students. Not available for CR/NCR option.

This course will examine the “what ifs” and imagined worlds of ideal utopias and oppressive dystopias through the lens of religion and gender in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland. Because science fiction and utopian/dystopian literature expresses what an author sees as possible or hopes is possible, but also fears is possible, we will consider science fiction as a political and social critique. Themes to be covered include fundamentalism, totalitarianism, the relationship between technology and religion, religion and reproductive rights, and the potential relationship between religion, gender and oppression. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Kant, the great modern philosopher, famously describes enlightenment as our release from self-incurred immaturity or minority. That is, according to Kant, we don’t want to grow up. Our immaturity is facilitated especially by religion, whose demands for deference to the authority of texts, traditions, and gods often prevent us from taking full responsibility for our thoughts and actions. But need religion play this role? Is there a religion for grown-ups? This course explores those questions by reading autobiographical accounts of philosophers who describe how their study of philosophy either strengthened or strangled their youthful religious convictions. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An introduction to the discipline of the study of religion. This course surveys methods in the study of religion and the history of the discipline in order to prepare students to be majors or specialists in the study of religion.

A historical and thematic introduction to Indigenous religions.

An introduction to the religious tradition of the Jews, from its ancient roots to its modern crises. Focus on great ideas, thinkers, books, movements, sects, and events in the historical development of Judaism through its four main periods - biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern.

An introduction to the Christian religious tradition as it has developed from the 1st century C.E. to the present and has been expressed in teachings, institutions, social attitudes, and the arts.

The faith and practice of Islam: historical emergence, doctrinal development, and interaction with various world cultures. Note: this course is offered alternatively with NMC283Y1, to which it is equivalent.

A historical and thematic introduction to the Hindu religious tradition as embedded in the socio-cultural structures of India.

The development, spread, and diversification of Buddhist traditions from southern to northeastern Asia, as well as to the West.

A historical and thematic introduction to the Sikh religious tradition as embedded in the socio-cultural structures of India.

A survey course that introduces students to a range of epistemological and ethical issues in the study of religion. The issues include: the justification of religious belief; the coherence of atheism; reason vs. faith; the nature of religious language; religious pluralism, exclusivism, and inclusivism.

Religion from the sociological viewpoint; religion as the source of meaning, community and power; conversion and commitment; religious organization, movements, and authority; the relation of religion to the individual, sexuality and gender; conflict and change; religion and secularization. Emphasis on classical thinkers (Durkheim, Marx, Weber) and contemporary applications. Note: This course is equivalent to SOC250Y1.

A survey of the psychological approaches to aspects of religion such as religious experience, doctrine, myth and symbols, ethics and human transformation. Attention will be given to phenomenological, psychoanalytic, Jungian, existentialist, and feminist approaches.

Anthropological study of the supernatural in small-scale non-literate societies. A cross-cultural examination of systems of belief and ritual focusing on the relationship between spiritual beings and the cosmos as well as the rights and obligations which arise therefrom. Among the topics covered are: myth and ritual; shamanism and healing; magic, witchcraft and sorcery; divination; ancestor worship.

Surveys interpretative traditions related to sacred texts, focusing on reading strategies that range from the literal to the figurative with attention to rationales that transform literal textual meanings and copyists manipulations of texts. May focus on various religious traditions from year to year, targeting a single canonical tradition or comparative analysis. Students will gain insight into literalist, environmentalist, secularist and erotic approaches to texts. Prior exposure to the study of religion is not required; all readings will be in English.

Myths and legends are narrative means for humans to make sense of their environment, the organization of their societies, and their social practices. This course introduces the principal myths and mythological figures of a selection of mythic systems (Near Eastern, Celtic, Nordic, Slavic and Indigenous North American) as way of modelling the world. Such topics as creation, chaos and order, love and death, coming of age, the monstrous, and explanations of evil and misfortune, and the survival and the transformation of mythic and folkloric elements.

The course examines various issues, including: Canadian society and secularization; religious pluralism and legal pluralism; the role of religions in public contexts; land and property; marriage and women’s rights; and the place of minority religious communities.

A course on the interactions, both positive and negative, between religion and popular culture. We look at different media (television, advertising, print) as they represent and engage with different religious traditions, identities, and controversies.

Examination of gender as a category in the understanding of religious roles, symbols, rituals, deities, and social relations. Survey of varieties of concepts of gender in recent feminist thought, and application of these concepts to religious life and experience. Examples will be drawn from a variety of religious traditions and groups, contemporary and historical.

Some topic of central interest to students of religion, treated on a once-only basis. For details of this years offering, consult the Departments current undergraduate handbook.

An introduction to early Christian writings, including the 'New Testament,' examined within the historical context of the first two centuries. No familiarity with Christianity or the New Testament is expected.

 Intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew.

 Continued intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew.

The first semester of an introduction to Classical Sanskrit for beginners. Students build grammar and vocabulary, and begin to read texts in Sanskrit. Complete beginners are welcome. Two sections of the course will be offered: an on-campus class meeting and an online section via live webinar participation. The final exam will require attendance on the St. George campus, or in another authorized exam centre.

An introduction to Classical Tibetan language for beginners. Development of basic grammar and vocabulary, with readings of simple texts. This is an online course. Lectures will be delivered via the web and mandatory tutorials will require live webinar participation. The final exam will require attendance on the St. George campus, or in another authorized exam centre.

The second semester of an introduction to Classical Tibetan language course for beginners. Continued work on grammar and vocabulary, advancing to reading texts. This is an online course. Lectures will be delivered via the web and mandatory tutorials will require live webinar participation. The final exam will require attendance on the St. George campus, or in another authorized exam centre.

The second semester of an introduction to Classical Sanskrit for beginners. Students continue to build grammar and vocabulary, and use that knowledge to read texts in Sanskrit. Two sections of the course will be offered: an on-campus class meeting and an online section via live webinar participation. The final exam will require attendance on the St. George campus, or in another authorized exam centre.

This course offers an opportunity to students interested in Buddhism to read, analyze, and discuss select simple passages from the scriptures of the Theravada canon in their original language. It will cover philosophical, psychological, and narrative texts and their interpretation, as well as provide a first exposure to the Pali Language.

This course offers an opportunity to students interested in Buddhism and with basic knowledge of Pali to read, analyze, and discuss select simple passages from the scriptures of the Theravada canon in their original language. It will cover philosophical, psychological, and narrative texts and their interpretation.

An alternative version of the content covered by RLG100Y1, for students in second year or higher who cannot or do not wish to take a further 100-level course. Students attend the RLG100Y1 lectures and tutorials but are expected to produce more substantial and more sophisticated written work, and are required to submit an extra written assignment.

Topics vary from year to year Please check Department handbook.

This course will survey historical, cultural, and textual contexts for Buddhist meditative and contemplative practices and techniques.

Critical analysis of Freud's main writings on religion, with particular attention paid to the concepts unconscious, Oedipal trauma and its transmission, dreams, symbols, and unconscious communication. Comparisons with Jung include approaches to the unconscious, symbols and archetypes. Jung's theory of synchronicity and Freud's theory of thought-transference, and their implications for different understandings of the unconscious and archaic inheritance, along with their implications for Freud's and Jung's approach to religion will be explored.

In many cultures, dreaming is understood to open pathways to unseen realities and worlds populated by spirit beings, souls of the dead, noetic powers and avenues to mystical union. Dreams include visions, daydreams, and dissociative, altered states of consciousness. This course examines contributions from a variety of disciplines such as psychoanalytic psychology, anthropology, biblical criticism, neuroscience, and paleo-archaeology to the study of religious experiences. Topics include how human beings negotiate the contents of their minds that result in social and political agreements that distinguish what is deemed as real, thereby constituting acceptable religious experience. The course will also discuss crisis apparitions, alien abduction accounts, spirit possession and existence of life after death as culturally specific religious narratives that seek to articulate and organize dreams and other visionary experiences.

The existence of evil poses a problem to theistic beliefs and raises the question as to whether a belief in a deity is incompatible with the existence of evil and human (or other) suffering. This course examines the variety of ways in which religions have dealt with the existence of evil.

Theories of the self that involve the constitutive role of language in its various forms. Problems of socially-conditioned worldviews and sense of self as related to discourse. Myth, symbol, metaphor, and literary arts as vehicles for personality development and self-transformation along religious lines.

Religions are constituted by material forms, including bodies, shrines, films, icons, and ‘ kitsch’. Anti-material impulses have also prompted many religious impulses, involving forms of iconoclasm that ironically demonstrate the power of objects. What is at stake in studying materiality? How might such a perspective transform our view of religion?

This course focuses on current debates in the fast-developing field of the anthropology of Christianity. Topics possibly included: the past and present influence of Christianity on anthropological thinking; historical interactions between missionaries and anthropologists; emerging transnational, charismatic Christian networks; the ‘Southernization’ of Christianity; Christianity and competing ideas of ‘the modern’.

Museums have long collected and curated religious objects for public audiences, with missionaries as a primary collections source. Multiple visits to the Royal Ontario Museum and other museums will enable students to think critically about how museums received and presented these objects, while engaging with the challenges of museum curation.

The course focuses on the role of religion in the genesis and development of cities, as well as the ways urbanization and immigration have transformed religious organizations and identities. Various methodologies, including ethnography, social and cultural history, and textual analysis will be considered. In some years, course projects will focus on mapping the changing significance and presence of particular religions in Toronto. Check with the department for the next scheduled focus for this course.

The relationship and interaction between religious and ethical norms, social and political ideals, and systems of law. The course concerns the ongoing dialectic between religious and other values, the application of religious ideas to social orders, and questions of religious and human rights.

This course examines select modern thinkers and their critical approaches to the nature and significance of religious beliefs and practices. Hobbes, Spinoza, Hume, and Kant are among the major thinkers studied.

A study of women in the religious traditions of South and East Asia, including historical developments, topical issues, and contemporary womens movements.

An introduction to the role of women in Muslim societies in past and present. Topics include the status of women in the Quran and Islamic law, veiling, social change, and Islamic feminism.

This course is a comparative study of the significance of gender and sexuality within Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and new religious movements in Europe and the Americas. Topics may include historical, political, social, and legal contexts for changing approaches to gender and sexuality in these religions.

The study of pilgrimage has become increasingly prominent in anthropology and religious studies in recent decades. Why should this be? This course provides some answers while engaging in a cross cultural survey and analysis of pilgrimage practices. We also explore whether research into pilgrimage has wider theoretical significance.

Analysis of rituals of transition from one social status to another (e.g., childbirth, coming of age, marriage,) from theoretical, historical and ethnographic perspectives. Particular attention is paid to the importance of rites of passage in the construction of gendered identities.

An examination of the variety of ways in which religious traditions construct sanctity, articulate categories of exceptionalism, and how exceptional persons function within social systems. Consideration of gender and social status in definitions of sanctity. Focus varies from year to year, and may focus either on constructions of sanctity in one religious tradition, or comparatively, comparing and contrasting ideas of sainthood and martyrdom in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and/or Buddhism.

Religious violence and nonviolence as they emerge in the tension between strict adherence to tradition and individual actions of charismatic figures. The place of violence and nonviolence in selected faith traditions.

There is a complex relationship between nature, religion and the aesthetic expression of human spirituality. Religion and Nature will explore this relationship across a range of periods, from the antique to the contemporary. Our journeys, both philosophical and literary, will take participants through a range of biomes— desert, countryside, forest, mountains, tundra—and explore how these texts can help to redefine our place both in nature and as part of it.

This course introduces students to various religious approaches to death, the dead, and afterlife. Through considering different ways in which death has been thought about and dealt with, we will also explore different understandings of life and answers to what it means to be human.

Judaism and Christianity in the period from 70 C.E. to 200 C.E. The course focuses on the relationship between the two religious groups, stressing the importance of the setting within the Roman Empire.

Literary, historical, and rhetorical analyses of selected early Christian gospels. The gospels to be treated will vary, but each year will include a selection from the four canonical gospels and extra-canonical gospels (the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Truth, infancy gospels, and fragments of Jewish-Christian gospels).

An examination of the historical Jesus based on a critical study of the earliest accounts of Jesus, with intensive study of the Gospels to determine what can be said about Jesus activities and teachings.

An examination of Paul’s life and thought as seen in the early Christian literature written by him (the seven undisputed letters), about him (the Acts of the Apostles, the Acts of Paul) and in his name (the six disputed NT letters).

Analysis of selected documents of Second Temple Judaism in their historical contexts, as part of the generative matrix for both the early Jesus movement and the emergence of rabbinic Judaism.

This course examines historical processes, negotiations, and strategies involved in the consolidation of discourses and practices of orthodoxy and heresy in Christianity from the second through fifth centuries. Topics include: intellectual, therapeutic, and social models of orthodoxy; methods of discipline; historical events and contexts; the political and social contexts of theological conflict; and the gendered production of the orthodox subject.

This course explores the transformation of religion, space and practices in diasporic settings. How is space adapted to the sensibilities of diasporic subjects, and how are the ritual practices that take place in those spaces transformed? The course examines historical and contemporary examples of the impact of diasporas, exile, and immigration on spatial practices in synagogues, churches, mosques, and temples, and ritual transformations in diaspora.

A course looking at the theories about and responses to the monstrous in the European Christian Middle Ages.

This course considers the history and theory of Western witchcraft, magic, and heresy in the mediaeval and early modern periods. Consideration of relevant anthropological theory, the relationship between constructions of witchcraft, the Enlightenment and the rise of science, and the role of gender in definitions of witchcraft.

A brief survey of the Jewish biblical and rabbinic traditions; the extension of these teachings and methods of interpretation into the modern period; common and divergent Jewish positions on pressing moral issues today.

A study of four great figures during critical moments in Jewish history, each of whom represents a turning point: Jeremiah (biblical era), Rabbi Akiva (rabbinic era), Moses Maimonides (medieval era), Franz Rosenzweig (modern era). Belief in God; Torah as law, teaching, tradition, revelation, eternity of Israel, meaning of Jewish suffering, problem of radical evil, history and messianism.

An inquiry into the theme of exile and return in Judaism, often called the leading idea of Jewish religious consciousness. Starting from Egyptian slavery and the Babylonian exile, and culminating in the ideas of modern Zionism, the course will examine a cross-section of Jewish thinkers--ancient, medieval, and modern.

The development and range of modern Jewish religious thought from Spinoza, Mendelssohn and Krochmal, to Cohen, Rosenzweig and Buber. Responses to the challenges of modernity and fundamental alternatives in modern Judaism.

A historical study of the Kabbala and the mystical tradition in Judaism, with emphasis on the ideas of Jewish mystical thinkers and movements.

Explores how “Jews” have been viewed (often mistakenly and confusedly) in various contexts from pre-Christian antiquity to the contemporary world. Emphasis is on problems involved in defining and explaining antisemitism, especially concerning the difference between religious and racial forms of antisemitism.

The environment and human society studied as systems of organization built for self-preservation. Such topics as vegetarianism and the humane treatment of animals, suicide and euthanasia, sustainability and recycling, explored from the perspective of Judaism.

The meaning of holy time and holy place, the physics and metaphysics of time and space within Judaism. Topics include the garden of Eden, the temple, the netherworld, the land of Israel, and exile; the sabbath and the week; the human experience of aging as fulfillment and failing.

Continuing from, but not presupposing, "Judaism in the Early Modern Era,” the course will trace the late modern stages in the development of Jewish thought, and will bring the history of modern Jewish thought to the present.

This course deals with how the momentous experience of the Holocaust, the systematic state-sponsored murder of six million Jews as well as many others, has forced thinkers, both religious and secular, to rethink the human condition.

Topics in Judaism. Themes vary from year to year.

This course examines Muhammad's life as reflected in the biographies and historical writings of the Muslims. Students will be introduced to the critical methods used by scholars to investigate Muhammad's life. Issues include: relationship between Muhammad's life and Quran teachings and the veneration of Muhammad.

The revelatory process and the textual formation of the Quran, its pre-eminent orality and its principal themes and linguistic forms; the classical exegetical tradition and some contemporary approaches to its interpretation.

This course will study Islam in a post-colonial framework. It will introduce students to the work of post-colonial studies, and how critical scholarship has transformed our understanding of monolithic concepts such as modernity, the nation and Islam. It will focus on the particular case of Islam in South Asia and the Middle East by exposing students to the transformative impact of colonialism. It will equip students with the tools to challenge the hegemonic notion of a singular 'tradition' in Islam by tracing its lineages in the post-colony.

The course examines religious charitable giving, philanthropic foundations, and humanitarian aid and asks: Is charitable giving altruistic or is it always partly self-interested? Could aid perpetuate poverty? What kinds of "strings" come with receiving aid and is there such thing like a free gift?

 Advanced intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew.

What is Islam beyond news stories of veiling and terrorism? This course introduces student to studies of contemporary Islam that are based on extensive periods of research with Muslim communities in their own languages using anthropological methods. What do such studies teach us about the varied ways Muslims engage their religious tradition in the modern world? And how can such studies make us think differently about gender, economy, medicine, and secularism?

 Continued advanced intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew.

Despite having an estimated Muslim population of 20 million, the place of Islam within the Peoples Republic of China is not widely understood. This course will examine the history of Islam in China from its introduction in the seventh century through the modern period. Emphasis will be placed on the variety of practices within Chinas contemporary Muslim communities. Specific attention will be paid to official state policy toward the Hui and Uygur ethnic minorities, including laws governing pilgrimage, the veil, the formation of Islamic organizations, the reformation of writing systems and so on.

Topics in Hinduism. Themes vary from year to year.

Review of grammar and the development of vocabulary with a focus on reading simple narrative prose and verse.

Review of grammar and the further development of vocabulary with a focus on reading simple narrative prose and verse.

A study of the literatures of Hinduism in India and the diaspora, including issues of identity formation, nostalgic constructions of the "homeland", fictional representations, and the quest for authenticity.

A study of the figure of Rama, from his genesis in the Valmiki Ramayana, to his historical evolution as a cultural and political icon through mediaeval and modern India.

A study of Hindu bhakti traditions through classical and vernacular texts, in conversation with colonial and post-colonial theoretical perspectives on the notion of "bhakti" in Hinduism.

This course examines the evolving role of religions in contemporary public, political contexts. Themes include: democracy and secularism; religion, human rights, law and justice; party politics, identity-formation and citizenship; gender and sexuality; interreligious conflict. (Given by the Departments of Political Science and Religion)

A historically-informed look at Hinduism's engagement with contemporary media: books, television, film, and cyberspace.

The development of modern Hindu religious thought in the contexts of colonialism, dialogue with the West and the secular Indian state.

A study of different schools, texts, and issues of Hindu philosophy.

The course surveys the textual sources of the practices of Yoga, Ayurveda and Hindu traditions such as domestic rituals, rites of passage and community centered religious activity. It critically evaluates the assumption of an unbroken continuity of tradition of these practices from antiquity onwards and comes to consider what they have come to constitute as a result of modernity and globalization.

A study of the great Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata.

Intermediate level language course focusing on both spoken and literary forms of Tibetan.

An exploration of the Buddhist concept of interdependence, or interdependent origination, from doctrinal and contemplative perspectives, as presented in classic Buddhist texts and as used in contemporary environmental and activist movements globally.

A course in Tibetan Studies, with a different focus each year. Topics may include Tibetan Buddhist literature, Tibetan Buddhism and medicine, Tibet as a historical entity, the Tibetan diaspora, geographic perceptions of Tibet, or foreign representations of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.

Daily worship, the alms round, life-crisis celebrations, healing rituals, meditation, festivals, pilgrimage, the consecration of artefacts and taking care of the ancestors are among the forms of Buddhist ritual introduced and analyzed in this course. Liturgical manuals, ethnographic descriptions and audiovisual records form the basis for a discussion of the role of ritual as text and event.

This course examines the role of a variety of religious forms and spiritual practices in the politics of postcolonial societies, tracing their genealogies from the colonial period to the present. Cases taken principally from Africa and Asia. (Given by the Departments of Political Science and Religion)

This course explores the genres of autobiography and biography in Buddhist literature. The course will begin with theoretical studies on narrative and religious life-writing. We will then consider the development and distinctive features of auto/biographies and hagiographies in the literature of one or more Buddhist cultures, analyzing representative examples of these genres from a range of traditions and historical periods, and considering how these sources have been understood and used in secondary scholarship.

The course serves as an introduction to one or more Buddhist traditions still living or historically documented in South and Southeast Asia, ranging from ancient and medieval Buddhism to Buddhist modernities and including Buddhism in its local Theravada variants. Themes will vary by year; consult the departmental website for this year’s course description.

This course will examine the diversity of Buddhist traditions in the Himalayan region, covering texts, rituals, histories, and personalities relevant to their study, and the methods employed in the field.

An historical introduction to the religious traditions that flourished along the Silk Road, including Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Nestorian Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Islam. Drawing on a variety of sources (textual, archaeological, works of art), the course will focus on the spread and development of these traditions through the medieval period. Issues include cross-cultural exchange, religious syncretism, ethnic identity formation and so on. Emphasis will also be placed on religious and political events in modern Central Asia.

Frequently today in discussions in bioethics dealing with life and death, even secular thinkers invoke the concept of the sanctity of human life. Yet that concept is clearly religious in origin. What do the three great monotheistic traditions have to say about this concept and its ethical significance?

Can we understand the beliefs and behaviors of people whose religious and cultural outlooks differ radically from our own? Do we always impose our preconceptions on them? Or are there cognitive, imaginative, and emotional resources that enable us to see people on their own terms? These questions, which beset the practices of anthropologists and historians of religions, are central to the philosophy of the human sciences. This course explores the theoretical issues involved in interpretation and dialogue across cultural and historical divides by reading seminal texts by Dilthey, Collingwood, Heidegger, Quine, Davidson, Winch, MacIntyre, Benedict, Geertz, and Rorty.

This course traces the development of philosophical arguments in favor of toleration or pluralism that emerged first in response to bitter religious conflicts and then out of a growing recognition of the potential benefits of the normative diversity characteristic of modern societies. Typical philosophers to be studied are Bodin, Spinoza, Locke, Bayle, Lessing, Herder, and Mill.

What does it mean to be modern? Words like “modern,” “modernity,” and “modernism” are used to mark a fundamental boundary between our era and all that came before it (or lies outside of it); but most of us are hard-pressed to offer a solid account of what exactly this boundary is. This course examines the relationship between: a fundamental shift in the nature of daily experience; an order-of-magnitude expansion of the power of the State; a dramatic reorganization of religious experience and cultures; and a tremendous growth in the enterprise of Western science and technological production. We trace this reorientation over the last two centuries and examine its consequences using philosophical, literary, theological, and scientific sources, as well as recent scholarly work on the topic.

Course explores issues at the intersection of religion and science which may include such topics as evolution and the assessment of its religious significance by different traditions, conceptions of God held by scientists (theism, pantheism, panentheism), ethical issues raised by scientific or technological developments ( cloning or embryonic stem cell research), philosophical analysis of religious and scientific discourses.

Special Topics.

Special Topics

The role of film as a mediator of thought and experience concerning religious worldviews. The ways in which movies relate to humanity's quest to understand itself and its place in the universe are considered in this regard, along with the challenge which modernity presents to this task. Of central concern is the capacity of film to address religious issues through visual symbolic forms.

Examines select modern thinkers and their critical approaches to the nature and significance of religious beliefs and practices. Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, and Nietzsche are among the major thinkers studied.

This course explores some of the major thinkers of the European Enlightenment and their philosophical inquiries into the meaning and significance of religion as a set of cultural institutions. Special attention is paid to the analysis of religious concepts and institutions along epistemological, ethical, and political lines.

Survey of themes connecting religious ideas, symbols, and representations with graphic novels and sequential art. The course will explore techniques of story-telling in mythic and visual representations in religious traditions and explore how these techniques and images are mirrored within popular comic-style (sequential) art.

Religion weaves complex social logics and social rationales imbedded in all levels of culture. This course explores multiple questions of religion as a cultural element, both visible and invisible. Theories of religion as well as questions of gender, authority, and power will be examined. The course culminates in a student project oriented toward an academically oriented “Handbook” for the study of religion in the Game of Thrones.

Special Topics

Special Topics

This class is an introduction to early Sikh texts in their original language and in translation. In addition to learning the grammar of what Christopher Shackle has called 'the sacred language of the Sikhs' and acquiring translation skills, students will be expected to demonstrate their ability to analyze and interpret texts in relation to their contexts of production.

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/rep. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/rep. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/rop. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Intensive programs of study including site visits and lectures in areas of religious significance abroad. Preparatory work expected, together with paper or assignments upon return.(Y1 course: 4 weeks minimum; H course: 2 weeks minimum)

Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Intensive programs of study including site visits and lectures in areas of religious significance abroad. Preparatory work expected, together with paper or assignments upon return.(Y1 course: 4 weeks minimum; H course: 2 weeks minimum)

Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Intensive programs of study including site visits and lectures in areas of religious significance abroad. Preparatory work expected, together with paper or assignments upon return.(Y1 course: 4 weeks minimum; H course: 2 weeks minimum)

Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An integrative capstone seminar that emphasizes iterative development of a research project, locating a research specialization within its broader disciplinary audience, and communicating the process and results of a research project to non-specialists within the study of religion.Open to Relgion Specialists and Majors only.

A capstone seminar that emphasizes integration of the study of religion with contemporary public life in the development of a research project, locating a research specialization in relation to non-academic contexts, and communicating the process and results of a research project to non-academic audiences.

How have different researchers constructed ‘religion’ as their object of study, and are some frameworks simply incompatible with each other? We discuss – but also provide critical assessments of -- different theoretical and methodological frameworks.

Advanced Topics in Religion

Advanced Topics in Religion

Advanced Topics in Religion

Few methods have been more foundational to the scholarly study of religion, or more subject to searching criticism, than the practice of comparison. This seminar offers an advanced introduction to comparative method through close study of 4-6 recent works, from ritual studies, philosophy of religion, comparative theology and/or ethnography.

Advanced study in specialized topics focusing on the instersection of religion and gender.

Interrogation of the concept of ‘radical evil’ from perspectives of philosophy, critical theory, psychoanalysis and the study of religion.

A seminar that explores a topic in the philosophical study of religion. Possible topics include: the nature of religious truth; the phenomenology of religion; descriptions of the holy; religion and the meaning of life; God-talk as literal or metaphorical language; naturalizing religious belief.

Themes considered include what notion of religion is necessary for secular governance, and how secularity relates to particular discourses of citizenship and practices of political rule. Case studies include the effects of colonial rule on religious life; Jewish emancipation in Europe; and religious freedom in France and North America. (Given by the Departments of Political Science and Religion)

Registration in this course is through the Department of Religion.

An advanced study of selected Enlightenment thinkers with a focus on their interpretations of religion. The main thinkers discussed are Spinoza, Hume, and Kant. Issues include the rational critique of traditional religion, the relations among religion, ethics and politics, and the pursuit of universal approaches to religion.

Advanced study of key figures past and present in the psychoanalytic study of religion, including Freud and other psychoanalytic interpreters from both Anglo-American and European traditions.  Crucial distinctions between psychology of religion and the psychoanalytic study of religion.  Permission of instructor.

An advanced study of Immanuel Kant’s theory of religion, as developed in major writings such as Critique of Practical Reason and Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason. Emphasizes rational ethical criteria as the basis for analyzing the doctrines, symbols, and institutions of historical religions.

A study of how principles of textual interpretation and theories of language have been central to modern philosophy of religion. We begin with Schleiermacher, and then move to an in-depth treatment of the 20th century hermeneutical theories of Heidegger, Gadamer, and Ricoeur.

For upper-year students, from any discipline. In a 40-hour community service placement, discover first-hand religion’s significance in Toronto and examine how religion manifests in public spaces, institutions, and interactions, while critically reflecting on the experience of working with professionals and their “clients” in settings where religious diversity is at play.

This course introduces students to classical and contemporary social scientific work on the relation between religion and economy. It draws on classics such as Marx, Weber, and Mauss, as well as recent anthropological work. Topics may include sacrifice, the gift, commodity fetishism, prosperity gospel, neoliberalism, charity, and development.

Advanced Topics in Judaism

Advanced Topics in Judaism

Advance Topics in Judaism

An introduction to The Guide of the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides, and to some of the basic themes in Jewish philosophical theology and religion. Among topics to be considered through close textual study of the Guide: divine attributes; biblical interpretation; creation versus eternity; prophecy; providence, theodicy, and evil; wisdom and human perfection. Also to be examined are leading modern interpreters of Maimonides.

Close study of major themes, texts, and thinkers in modern Jewish thought. Focus put on the historical development of modern Judaism, with special emphasis on the Jewish religious and philosophical responses to the challenges of modernity. Among modern Jewish thinkers to be considered: Spinoza, Cohen, Rosenzweig, Buber, Scholem, Strauss, and Fackenheim.

The philosophic thought of Leo Strauss approached through his writings on modern Judaism. Primarily addressed will be the mutual relations between philosophy, theology, and politics. Among other topics to be dealt with: origins of modern Judaism, Zionism, liberal democracy, and biblical criticism; meaning of Jerusalem and Athens; cognitive value in the Hebrew Bible.

This course examines changing patterns of authority and hierarchy in early Christian communities. Students will explore various roles and offices of authority in canonical and extra-canonical texts in relation to cultural, political, and theological constructions of body, gender, holiness, and orthodoxy as these contribute to developing models of authority. The goal of the course is to familiarize students with the constellation of ideas that participate in developing Christian notions of religious authority.

How are we to analyze the words that Christians use? And how are such words related to ritual forms? We explore techniques for the analysis of texts, while looking at forms of verbal discourse ranging from prayers, speaking in tongues, and citing the Bible to more informal narratives.

How do disciplinary commitments shape theoretical and historical accounts of Christianity’s relationship to “modernity”? Through comparative analysis (including topics of science, colonialism, capitalism, and gender) students will develop an historically-grounded critique of the key terms: genealogy, Christianity, and modernity.  Based on reading and seminar discussion, the course encourages interdisciplinary exchange.

Magic, religion, astrology, alchemy, theurgy, miracle, divinationall of these phenomena characterize the context and practice of ancient Christianity. This course examines the constitution of these categories, the role and character of these phenomena in the Graeco-Roman world, and the interaction with and integration of these phenomena by ancient Christianity.

A seminar examining the phenomenon of falsely claimed and/or attributed authorship in religions of the ancient Mediterranean, mainly Christianity and Judaism. The course examines understandings of authorship and other cultural forms that facilitate or inhibit ancient pseudepigraphy, ancient controversies over authorship, as well as specific pseudepigraphical writings.

Investigation of the history of solutions to the Synoptic Problem from the eighteenth century to the present paying special attention to the revival of the Griesbach hypothesis and recent advances in the Two-Document hypothesis.

Examination of the parables in the gospels and other early Christian writers, and major trends in the modern analyses of the parables. Special attention will be paid to the social and economic world presupposed by the parables.

Examination of the accounts of the passion and death of Jesus in their original historical and literary contexts.

Sets the study of early Christianity and Second Temple Judaism into relation with postcolonial historiography. Topics include hybridity, armed resistance, the intersection of gender and colonization, diaspora, acculturation, and the production of subaltern forms of knowledge. Comparative material and theories of comparison are also treated.

The social setting of the early Jesus movement in Roman Palestine and the cities of the Eastern Empire. Topics will include: rank and legal status; patronalia and clientalia; marriage and divorce; forms of association outside the family; slavery and manumission; loyalty to the empire and forms of resistance.

A study of the construction of deviance or heresy within the literature of first and second century Christianity: tasks include a survey of sociological theory in its application to deviance in the ancient world and close readings of selected texts from first and second century Christian and pre-Christian communities.

The course will examine debates on postsecularism and religion’s public, political role as articulated by political thinkers such as Jurgen Habermas, by focusing on politically radical or revolutionary challenges to liberalism in the 20th and 21st century, especially from the postcolonial world, whose theoretical arguments are grounded upon or draw their inspiration from religious traditions, doctrines and practices.

Advanced study of specialized topics in Islam.

This seminar in theory will explore the modern history of the concept of ‘fanaticism’ and its role in the development of political modernity. A focus on the concept of the “fanatic” (and its cognates) from the perspective of its various uses in political and religious thought from the Early Modern period through the Enlightenment and up to the present day, provides a fascinating opportunity for a critical review of the secular, rationalist, and scientific assumptions underwriting modern political forms and concepts, especially those of liberal democracy. At the same time, the course will offer critical insight into the ways in which religious and political differences among colonial “others” were, and continue to be, central to the elaboration of Western theoretical discourse on fanaticism and extremism as forms of “political pathology”. (Given by the Departments of Political Science and Religion)

This course explores how this conception is the result of a historical process by examining documentable transformations in the reception of the Ramayana. Our focus will be on the shift in the classification of the Ramayana from the inaugural work of Sanskrit literary culture (adi-kavya) in Sanskrit aesthetics to a work of tradition (smrti) in theological commentaries, the differences between the Ramayanas ideal of divine kingship and medieval theistic approaches to Ramas identification with Visnu, the rise of Rama worship, and the use of Ramas divinity in contemporary political discourse.

Critical reading, analysis and interpretation of Ismaili historical and doctrinal works of the Persianate tradition as developed by authors such as Nasir-i Khusraw, Nasir al-Din Tusi, Nizari Quhistani and others. The primary authors studied will change yearly.

An academic legend recounts that if you ask a Newar whether he is Hindu or Buddhist the answer is yes. The course deals with the problem of how to study religions which coexist and compete with each other creating shifting coordinates of religious identification from the perspective of one specific Nepalese community.

Close study of major themes, texts, and thinkers in Tibetan Buddhism. Themes and texts will vary by year; consult the departmental website for this year’s course description.

This course examines histories of Buddhism authored inside and outside Asia, considering how various models of historiography affect our knowledge of Buddhism and Buddhist cultures. Readings will include translations of indigenous Buddhist histories, recent histories of Buddhism that have shaped the field of Buddhist Studies, and theoretical studies of historiography.

An advanced study of select Buddhist texts with a focus on issues of translation, interpretation, commentarial approaches, narrative strategies, as well as issues related to the production, circulation, and consumption of these works. Themes and texts will vary by year; consult the departmental website for this year’s course description.

An advanced study of key texts pertaining to the Theravada and other Sravakayana schools produced in Southern and Southeastern Asia from the early centuries BC till today with a focus on issues of translation, interpretation, commentarial approaches, doctrinal and narrative strategies, as well as issues related to the production, circulation, and consumption of these works. Texts will vary by year; consult the departmental website for this year’s course description.

An advanced study of key texts pertaining to the Mahayana schools with a focus on issues of translation, interpretation, commentarial approaches, doctrinal and narrative strategies, as well as issues related to the production, circulation, and consumption of these works. Texts will vary by year; consult the departmental website for this year’s course description.

Advanced study of specialized topics in Buddhist Studies

Advanced readings in Tibetan literature using Tibetan language. Tibetan language skills required.

A study of Tantric Buddhism, addressing ritual and scholastic practices, and problems of translation and interpretation. Themes will vary by year; consult the departmental website for this year’s course description.

Advanced study in specialized topics on Hinduism.

Religion and aesthetics are sometimes constructed as separate categories, but in South Asia religion is not often conceptually distinct from an autonomous sphere of aesthetic reflection. In conversation with recent sociological, anthropological, and philosophical writings, we will explore this issue through careful study of a variety of Sanskrit sources: the epics, Abhinavaguptas commentary on the Natya Sastra, Vaisnava, Saiva, and Jaina appropriations of Sanskrit aesthetics and courtly poetry, and the works of Rabindranath Tagore. Students are encouraged to work with sources in the primary languages, although materials will also be provided in translation.

A survey of Vedantic thought beginning with the classical commentaries on the Brahmasutras (such as those of Sankara, Ramanuja etc.) and ending with neo-Vedanta in the writings of Dayananda Saraswati, Sri Aurobindo and Radhakrishnan.

This course will have students read choice pieces of South Asian literature. While tackling a text in Sanskrit from a major literary tradition, Buddhist or Hindu, and discussing its content and context, students will learn strategies for translating and interpreting Sanskrit literature.

An upper-level undergraduate and graduate course. Will look at a wide range of narratives and ritual practices as well as philosophical reflections from classical Indian thought on the relationship between food and religion and how this relationship plays out in the context of feasting and fasting in Indian/Hindu traditions.

This course looks at original and translated works of both fiction and non-fiction, or those which blur the boundaries between both in Tamil literature both in the premodern and contemporary period, which deal with case in Tamil society. By looking at a range of works from the Periyapuranam to the contemporary radical Dalit perspective writings of Imayam and E. M. S. Kalaivaanan, among others we aim at arriving at an understanding of why, despite social and economic mobility caste remains the indelible marker of the modern Tamil identity even today.

  This course will question the statement that “to be a Burmese is to be a Buddhist” by introducing students to the variegated religious landscapes of Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Judaic, and Muslim Burma/Myanmar through an analysis and discussion of historical, art-historical, anthropological, and literary sources.   

This seminar covers three main areas of the Islamic intellectual tradition: legal, theological and mystical. Each section will be covered by reading an original work translated into English with the aid of secondary literature. The seminar will develop the students’ knowledge of the classical Islamic tradition. Students will choose a research topic and develop and present to the class a synopsis of their research. The seminar culminates in writing a research paper on one aspect of the Islamic religious tradition.

This course examines how religious concerns within various religious traditions interface with contemporary environmental issues. Particular attention is paid to the challenge posed to the human and religious values of these traditions by the present ecological crisis and some salient ethical and religious responses to this challenge.

Student-initiated intensive research courses supervised by faculty members of the Department. The student must obtain both a Supervisor's agreement and the Department's approval in order to register. The maximum number of Independent Research courses one may take is two full-course equivalents. Deadline for submitting applications to Department, including Supervisor's approval, is the first week of classes of the session. A full-course may be compressed into a single session or spread through two sessions; a half-course may similarly be done in either one session or across two sessions. These courses are open to majors and specialists only. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Student-initiated intensive research courses supervised by faculty members of the Department. The student must obtain both a Supervisor's agreement and the Department's approval in order to register. The maximum number of Independent Research courses one may take is two full-course equivalents. Deadline for submitting applications to Department, including Supervisor's approval, is the first week of classes of the session. A full-course may be compressed into a single session or spread through two sessions; a half-course may similarly be done in either one session or across two sessions. These courses are open to majors and specialists only. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Student-initiated intensive research courses supervised by faculty members of the Department. The student must obtain both a Supervisor's agreement and the Department's approval in order to register. The maximum number of Independent Research courses one may take is two full-course equivalents. Deadline for submitting applications to Department, including Supervisor's approval, is the first week of classes of the session. A full-course may be compressed into a single session or spread through two sessions; a half-course may similarly be done in either one session or across two sessions. These courses are open to majors and specialists only. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.