College of the Humanities
(Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences)
Religion (RELI) Courses
Language courses RELI 1010 [1.0] Elementary Language Tutorial, RELI 2010 [1.0] Intermediate Language Tutorial and RELI 3010 [1.0] Advanced Language Tutorial are intended for students specializing in a particular religious tradition. They are offered according to the availability of members of the Discipline. Courses taken at the 2000-level or above will be mainly independent study under the supervision of a member of the Discipline. Students interested in taking these courses should consult the Co-ordinator.
Elementary Language Tutorial
Elementary study of the language required for studying a religious tradition.
Prerequisite(s): Major/Minor in Religion or permission of the department.
Tutorial two hours a week.
Judaism, Christianity, Islam
A survey of the history, beliefs and practices of these major religious traditions.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1000.
Lecture three hours a week.
South Asian Religions
A survey of the history, beliefs, and practices of South Asian religious traditions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.
Lecture three hours a week.
East Asian Religions
A survey of the history, beliefs, and practices of East Asian religious traditions including Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto.
Lecture three hours a week.
Indigenous Religions in Global Context
This course illuminates a recent category of “World Religions” by examining cases from all five continents, as well as in diaspora (e.g., Brazilian Candomblé, Roma/Sinti religion). Key considerations include the study of minority religions, religion in oral cultures, myth and ritual studies, colonialism, globalization.
Lecture three hours a week.
Varieties of Religious Experience
The variety of religious experiences and their interpretations: myth, literature, art and religious doctrine. Topics include time, self, the other, journey and wisdom. Examples ranging from shamanistic experience to the abstractions of Buddhist philosophy.
Prerequisite(s): restricted to students registered in the Bachelor of Humanities program.
Lecture three hours a week.
Global Religions: Identity and Community
An introduction to major issues in the study of religion in global contexts, drawing on historical and contemporary examples.
Intermediate Language Tutorial
Intermediate study of the language required for studying a religious tradition. Restricted to students registered in a Religion program.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 1902 or RELI 1010 or permission of the department.
Tutorial two hours a week.
Judaism
The history of Judaism and the Jewish people from the Second Temple until the present day. The organization, basic beliefs, social and ethical practices of the Jews and Judaism.
Lecture three hours a week.
Hebrew Bible
Introduces the Hebrew Bible within historical and religious frameworks. All texts are in English.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 1710 or RELI 1000 or RELI 2110 or RELI 2508 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.
Early Judaism
Judaism and the Jewish people from the Maccabees to the Rabbinic Age. Sectarian movements (Pharisees, Sadducees, Qumran Covenanters) Christianity's rise; revolutionaries (Zealots, Bar Kochba), Jewish responses to Hellenism, reshaping of Judaism after destruction of the Second Temple, Rabbinic Judaism in Palestine and the Diaspora.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing.
Lecture three hours a week.
Early Christianity
Introduction to the critical study of the writings of the New Testament with discussion of their Hellenistic and Jewish background, the historical Jesus, Paul and his letters, and historical and sociological explanations for the rise of the early church and interpretation of its writings.
Lecture three hours a week.
Christianity 300-1500
This course examines the development of Christian practices and teachings from late antiquity to early modernity, with a special emphasis on their historical diversity and the complex dynamics of church formation. Students should expect to read (in English) both primary and secondary sources.
Lecture three hours a week.
Christianity 1500-1900
Developments in Christian practices and teachings over the early modern and modern periods, especially in relation to social changes commonly associated with modernity including: urbanization, state formation, industrialization, colonization, the development of capitalist economies.
Lecture three hours a week.
Global Christianity
Survey of recent and current Christian movements around the world, both by region and thematically, with emphasis on institutions and networks that connect Christian communities across national boundaries. Special consideration is given to the cultural and political capacities of such Christian communities and networks.
Islam
The study of Muslim religious tradition and investigation of its organization, basic beliefs, social and ethical principles and practices.
Lecture three hours a week.
Islam in the Modern World
An examination of Islam in the last two hundred years, including the nature of the Islamic resurgence and the new forms of Islamic vitality.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing.
Lecture three hours a week.
The Qur'an
An examination of the Qur'an's content, form, style, central themes, canonization, and classical and contemporary interpretive traditions.
Classical Islamic Thought
A survey of the development of the central ideas and schools of Islamic theology and philosophy from the eighth century to the end of the seventeenth century CE.
Lecture three hours a week.
Buddhism
Basic beliefs and practices of the Buddhist tradition and a brief survey of its development and transformations in India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Tibet, China and Japan.
Lecture three hours a week.
Hinduism
Basic beliefs, practices, and social structures of the Hindu tradition as reflected in Hindu scriptures, myths and symbols, and philosophical schools.
Lecture three hours a week.
Religion and Aesthetics in India
Myths and symbols of the Indian tradition expressed in Hindu and Buddhist art. Hindu theories of beauty and the interface of the arts with the spiritual traditions of India.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing.
Lecture three hours a week.
Religion and Gender
An exploration of women and religion in historical and contemporary contexts.
Religions of China
Survey of the origins, development, and diffusion of Chinese religious traditions, including Confucianism, Daoism, Chinese Buddhism and popular religion(s).
Lecture three hours a week.
Maccabees to Muhammad
The early history, literature and ideas of Judaism, Christianity and Islam from 200 BCE to 750 CE.
Prerequisite(s): restricted to students in the Bachelor of Humanities program.
Lecture three hours per week.
Love and Its Myths
Major devotional movements in Hinduism and Christianity, focusing on the love of the divine and philosophical accounts of these ideas over time.
Religious Diversity of Canada
An historical survey emphasizing the interactions of various religious traditions in Canada, including indigenous religions, Christian missionary and colonial traditions, immigrant and global diaspora religions.
Lectures three hours a week.
Mysticism
An historical and functional study of mystical experience in its religious context, relying on examples from selected traditions such as the Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim.
Lecture three hours a week.
Indigenous Religions of Canada
Religions of Inuit, First Nations and Métis peoples, past and present. Considerations include concepts of tradition, syncretism and “creative ritual.” Primary sources may include textual, visual and oral materials. Course may include fieldwork, as well as in-class presentations by community elders.
Dimensions of Modern Atheism
A historical survey of Western atheism as a major world religious tradition.
Lecture three hours a week.
Death and Afterlife
The meaning of death and afterlife in some religious traditions and secular philosophies with emphasis on the Hindu teaching of the immortal soul; the Hebraic idea of collective survival; the Christian doctrine of resurrection of the body; the Buddhist conception of no-soul and nirvana.
Lecture three hours a week.
Greek Religion
A study of religion in ancient Greece.
Precludes additional credit for CLCV 2102, RELI 2734, RELI 2102.
Lecture three hours a week.
Religion and Society
Cross-cultural survey of religious institutions, focusing on theories and methodologies in the study of religion. Topics may include myth, totemism, cults, ritual, belief systems, altered states of consciousness, new religious and/or new age movements and the relationship of religion with other social institutions and processes.
Also listed as ANTH 2550.
Lectures and workshop three hours a week.
Roman Religion
A study of religion in ancient Rome.
Precludes additional credit for CLCV 2102 and RELI 2734 and RELI 2102.
Lecture three hours a week.
Philosophy of Religion
A study of philosophical issues arising from religion. Topics may include: arguments for and against the existence of God, religious experience, death and the afterlife, miracles, God and evil, the relationship between religion and science, and the relationship between religion and ethics.
Prerequisite(s): a course in philosophy or second-year standing.
Lecture three hours a week.
Interpretations of Religion
Introduction to the academic study of religion by considering its fundamental components: myth, symbol, scripture, doctrine, code, and ritual, drawing material from a variety of world religions.
Lecture, three hours per week.
Sikhism
An examination of the basic beliefs, practices, and social structures of the Sikh tradition as reflected in Sikh scriptures, history and philosophical schools.
Topics in Religion
Content of this course may vary from year to year. Please check departmental website for information on the topic.
Lecture three hours a week.
Advanced Language Tutorial
Advanced study of the language required for studying a religious tradition.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2902 (no longer offered) or RELI 2010 or permission of the department.
Tutorial two hours a week.
Love, Sex and Marriage in Judaism
The Jewish tradition's teachings, laws and customs surrounding love, sex and marriage in historical perspective with emphasis on contemporary Jewish life.
Lecture three hours a week.
Judaism and Gender
An interdisciplinary survey of Judaism and gender highlighting the status and role of gender within Jewish thought, law, practice and experience.
Lecture three hours a week.
Holocaust Encounters
An examination of the experiences of different Jewish communities before, during, and after the Holocaust. Issues to be discussed include anti-Semitism, relations with non-Jewish neighbours, perpetrator motivation, local collaboration, resistance, postwar trials and memory.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.
Germans and Jews
An examination of Jewish society, culture and religious practice in modern and contemporary Germany. Issues to be explored include emancipation, acculturation, secularization, religious adjustment, anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, emigration, and the role of migration in transforming the contemporary community.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.
Reformation Europe
A history of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations of the sixteenth century, with emphasis on the theological disputes of the protagonists and the impact of these disputes on the social, political and cultural developments of the era.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 3708 (no longer offered).
Prerequisite(s): 0.5 credit at the 2000-level in HIST or third-year standing.
Lecture three hours a week.
Jesus of Nazareth
A study of the historical records of the life of Jesus, the methods used to interpret them, and the resulting images of Jesus.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2207 or RELI 2220 or permission of the department.
Lectures three hours a week.
Paul of Tarsus
The social, religious, and historical context of Paul, the communities he founded, and the letters he wrote to them.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2207 or RELI 2220 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.
Christian Discipline
An historical survey of key Christian thought and practices at the individual and collective level. Topics may include self-discipline, body discipline, monastic discipline, church discipline and social discipline.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the department.
Evangelical Christianity in Social-Historical Perspective
The development of some protestant Christianities in relation to material factors, such as colonialism, industrial or consumer capitalism, imperialism, and in relation to major ideological trends, such as nationalism, economic or political liberalism and atheism.
Shi‘i Islam
An introduction to the historical, doctrinal, and socio-political development of Shi‘i Islam from the middle of the seventh century to the end of the twentieth century CE.
Sufism
An introduction to the main practical and theoretical dimensions of Islam's mystical tradition as seen through the life and work of its key representatives.
Islam and Gender
Introduction to ideas about gender in Muslim societies past and present. Topics include: gender in the Qur'an, the Hadith and Islamic law, sexualities, social change, and current debates on gender and sexuality in Muslim communities.
Lecture three hours a week.
The Life and Image of Muhammad
Overview of the life and teaching of the Prophet Muhammad, and the most salient motifs and features of Muslim devotion to him.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 1710 or RELI 2310 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.
The Hadith Literature: An Introduction
Transmission and cultural importance of the Hadith for medieval Muslims, along with contemporary debates about its origins. (Course readings in English; students may also elect to read the primary source texts in their Arabic original.).
Early Buddhism
The development of early Buddhist philosophy, psychology and practice with emphasis on the Pali Canon and its commentators.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2106 or RELI 2410 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.
Buddhism Beyond India
The rise of the Mahayana and the dissemination and development of Buddhist thought and practice outside of India.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2106 or RELI 2410 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.
Early Hinduism
A historical survey of Hinduism from the Vedic era to the development of devotional Hinduism. Vedic religion and developments in early Hindu Philosophy and sectarian Hinduism.
Lecture three hours a week.
Modern Hinduism
A survey of major developments in Hinduism since the period of colonial British rule. The development of “reform” Hinduism in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the emergence of Hindu nationalist movements in the 20th century.
Lecture three hours a week.
Religions and the Environment
Attitudes in the major world religions to nature and the environment and recent responses by religious traditions to ecological degradation and crisis. Includes examination of religious sensibilities expressed in environmentalism.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing and RELI 1000 or RELI 1710 or RELI 1001 or RELI 1711; or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.
Religion and Violence
A thematic course that examines putative cases of “religion and violence” from a range of world traditions, but also interrogates aspects of the “religion and violence” rubric itself.
Lecture three hours a week.
Studies in Greek Art
A study of period or theme in the art and archaeology of Ancient Greece. Topics may vary from year to year.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the unit. Permission of the unit required to repeat.
Lecture three hours a week.
Studies in Roman Art
A study of a period or theme in the art and archaeology of the ancient Romans. Topics may vary from year to year.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the unit. Permission of the unit required to repeat.
Lecture three hours a week.
Religion, Gender, and Sexuality
How religious communities and thinkers past and present have attempted to construct gender and sexuality.
Classical Approaches to Religion
Examination of reflection on the nature and origin of religion from the ancient world up to key figures and founders of the discipline of the systematic, critical, and scientific study of religion in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.
Lecture three hours per week.
Topics in Religion
Content of this course may vary from year to year. Please check departmental website for information on the topic.
Lecture three hours a week.
Topics in the Study of Religion Abroad
This travel course explores religion in its historical and/or contemporary contexts in a particular geographic locale. Travel destinations, religious traditions studied, course content, and themes vary from year to year.
Hours to be arranged. Costs associated with the course are borne by the student.
Contemporary Issues in the Study of Religion
Late twentieth and twenty-first century scholarship on religion including debate on theoretical and methodological approaches.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 3301, RELI 4301, RELI 4740 (no longer offered).
Prerequisite(s): fourth-year standing in the Honours B.A. Religion program, or permission of the department.
Seminar three hours per week.
Tutorial
A tutorial on a topic in religious studies. Contents of the tutorial to be arranged with the supervising faculty member.
Prerequisite(s): fourth-year standing in the Honours B.A. Religion program, or permission of the department.
Seminar in the Study of Religion
Content of this course may vary from year to year. Please consult the departmental website for information on the topic.
Prerequisite(s): fourth-year standing in the Honours B.A. Religion program, or permission of the department.
Also offered at the graduate level, with different requirements, as RELI 5850, for which additional credit is precluded.
Seminar three hours a week.
Honours Research Essay
Honours research paper (approx. 40 pages) is due on the last day of winter term classes. Written proposal due to the Proposal Board on the first day of fall term classes. Please consult department document for full requirements and information.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 4908 and RELI 4909.
Prerequisite(s): 10.0 CGPA and fourth-year standing in the Honours B.A. Religion program, or permission of the department.
Summer session: some of the courses listed in this Calendar are offered during the summer. Hours and scheduling for summer session courses will differ significantly from those reported in the fall/winter Calendar. To determine the scheduling and hours for summer session classes, consult the class schedule at central.carleton.ca
Not all courses listed are offered in a given year. For an up-to-date statement of course offerings for the current session and to determine the term of offering, consult the class schedule at central.carleton.ca