Print and PDF Options

This is an archived copy of the 2019-2020 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://calendar.carleton.ca.

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.

RELI 1010 [1.0 credit]
Elementary Language Tutorial

Elementary study of the language required for studying a religious tradition.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1902 (no longer offered).
Prerequisite(s): Major/Minor in Religion or permission of the department.
Tutorial two hours a week.

RELI 1710 [0.5 credit]
Judaism, Christianity, Islam

A survey of the history, beliefs and practices of these major religious traditions.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1000.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 1715 [0.5 credit]
South Asian Religions

A survey of the history, beliefs, and practices of South Asian religious traditions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1001 (no longer offered) and RELI 1711 (no longer offered).
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 1716 [0.5 credit]
East Asian Religions

A survey of the history, beliefs, and practices of East Asian religious traditions including Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1001 (no longer offered) and RELI 1711 (no longer offered).
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 1720 [0.5 credit]
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.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 1731 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1205, RELI 1206 and RELI 1402 and RELI 2002.
Prerequisite(s): restricted to students registered in the Bachelor of Humanities program.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 1741 [0.5 credit]
Global Religions: Identity and Community

An introduction to major issues in the study of religion in global contexts, drawing on historical and contemporary examples.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2010 [1.0 credit]
Intermediate Language Tutorial

Intermediate study of the language required for studying a religious tradition. Restricted to students registered in a Religion program.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2902 (no longer offered).
Prerequisite(s): RELI 1902 or RELI 1010 or permission of the department.
Tutorial two hours a week.

RELI 2110 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1008 and RELI 2508.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2121 [0.5 credit]
Hebrew Bible

Introduces the Hebrew Bible within historical and religious frameworks. All texts are in English.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 3505C taught in 2007-2008.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 1710 or RELI 1000 or RELI 2110 or RELI 2508 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2122 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2701.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2220 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1003, RELI 1200 and RELI 2207.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2225 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1007, RELI 2507, and RELI 2210 (no longer offered).
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2226 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1007, RELI 2507 and RELI 2210 (no longer offered).
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2230 [0.5 credit]
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.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2310 [0.5 credit]
Islam

The study of Muslim religious tradition and investigation of its organization, basic beliefs, social and ethical principles and practices.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1009 and RELI 2509.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2320 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2704 and RELI 2702.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2330 [0.5 credit]
The Qur'an

An examination of the Qur'an's content, form, style, central themes, canonization, and classical and contemporary interpretive traditions.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 1710 or RELI 2310 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2350 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 3320 or RELI 3321.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2410 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1006 and RELI 2106.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2510 [0.5 credit]
Hinduism

Basic beliefs, practices, and social structures of the Hindu tradition as reflected in Hindu scriptures, myths and symbols, and philosophical schools.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 1005 and RELI 2005.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2515 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2005 (if taken before 2007-2008) and RELI 2008.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2535 [0.5 credit]
Religion and Gender

An exploration of women and religion in historical and contemporary contexts.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2600 [0.5 credit]
Religions of China

Survey of the origins, development, and diffusion of Chinese religious traditions, including Confucianism, Daoism, Chinese Buddhism and popular religion(s).
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2710 [1.0 credit]
Maccabees to Muhammad

The early history, literature and ideas of Judaism, Christianity and Islam from 200 BCE to 750 CE.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2208).
Prerequisite(s): restricted to students in the Bachelor of Humanities program.
Lecture three hours per week.

RELI 2711 [0.5 credit]
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.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2712 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2307 Section A (2007-2008).
Lectures three hours a week.

RELI 2713 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2300.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2720 [0.5 credit]
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.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2731 [0.5 credit]
Dimensions of Modern Atheism

A historical survey of Western atheism as a major world religious tradition.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2732 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2308.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2735 [0.5 credit]
Greek Religion

A study of religion in ancient Greece.
Also listed as CLCV 2103.
Precludes additional credit for CLCV 2102, RELI 2734, RELI 2102.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2736 [0.5 credit]
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.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
Also listed as ANTH 2550.
Lectures and workshop three hours a week.

RELI 2737 [0.5 credit]
Roman Religion

A study of religion in ancient Rome.
Also listed as CLCV 2104.
Precludes additional credit for CLCV 2102 and RELI 2734 and RELI 2102.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2738 [0.5 credit]
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.
Also listed as PHIL 2601.
Prerequisite(s): a course in philosophy or second-year standing.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 2741 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2002 (no longer offered), RELI 1205 (no longer offered), RELI 1402 (no longer offered), RELI 1731, RELI 1730 (no longer offered).
Lecture, three hours per week.

RELI 2750 [0.5 credit]
Sikhism

An examination of the basic beliefs, practices, and social structures of the Sikh tradition as reflected in Sikh scriptures, history and philosophical schools.
Lecture three hours a week

RELI 2840 [0.5 credit]
Topics in Religion

Content of this course may vary from year to year. Please check departmental website for information on the topic.
Precludes additional credit for repeated topics.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3010 [1.0 credit]
Advanced Language Tutorial

Advanced study of the language required for studying a religious tradition.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 3902 (no longer offered).
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2902 (no longer offered) or RELI 2010 or permission of the department.
Tutorial two hours a week.

RELI 3130 [0.5 credit]
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.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 1710 or RELI 2110 or or RELI 1000 or RELI 2508 or RELI 3505 (Winter 2007 and 2008) or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3131 [0.5 credit]
Judaism and Gender

An interdisciplinary survey of Judaism and gender highlighting the status and role of gender within Jewish thought, law, practice and experience.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 1710 or RELI 2110 or RELI 1000 or RELI 2508 permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3140 [0.5 credit]
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.
Also listed as HIST 3714.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3141 [0.5 credit]
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.
Also listed as HIST 3718.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3220 [0.5 credit]
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.
Also listed as HIST 3708.
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.

RELI 3230 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2205, RELI 3208 and RELI 3105.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2207 or RELI 2220 or permission of the department.
Lectures three hours a week.

RELI 3231 [0.5 credit]
Paul of Tarsus

The social, religious, and historical context of Paul, the communities he founded, and the letters he wrote to them.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 3300 and RELI 3106.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2207 or RELI 2220 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3232 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 3302 Section "A" taught in 2007-2008.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the department.


RELI 3250 [0.5 credit]
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.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3322 [0.5 credit]
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.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2310.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3330 [0.5 credit]
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.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2710 or RELI 2713 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3331 [0.5 credit]
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.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2310 or WGST 2803 Section "A" or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3340 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2340.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 1710 or RELI 2310 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3350 [0.5 credit]
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.).
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2310 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3420 [0.5 credit]
Early Buddhism

The development of early Buddhist philosophy, psychology and practice with emphasis on the Pali Canon and its commentators.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 3215.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2106 or RELI 2410 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3422 [0.5 credit]
Buddhism Beyond India

The rise of the Mahayana and the dissemination and development of Buddhist thought and practice outside of India.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 3217.
Prerequisite(s): RELI 2106 or RELI 2410 or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3520 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 3015.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3522 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 3007.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3710 [0.5 credit]
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.
Precludes additional credit for RELI 2307 (Section A taken fall 2003, fall 2004, fall 2005, summer 2006) and RELI 3100 taken in 2008.
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.

RELI 3722 [0.5 credit]
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.
Prerequisite(s): third-year standing or permission of the department.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3732 [0.5 credit]
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.
Also listed as ARTH 3102, CLCV 3306.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the unit. Permission of the unit required to repeat.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3733 [0.5 credit]
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.
Also listed as ARTH 3105, CLCV 3307.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing or permission of the unit. Permission of the unit required to repeat.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3734 [0.5 credit]
Religion, Gender, and Sexuality

How religious communities and thinkers past and present have attempted to construct gender and sexuality.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3741 [0.5 credit]
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.
Prerequisite(s): second-year standing.
Lecture three hours per week.

RELI 3840 [0.5 credit]
Topics in Religion

Content of this course may vary from year to year. Please check departmental website for information on the topic.
Precludes additional credit for repeated topics.
Lecture three hours a week.

RELI 3850 [0.5 credit]
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.
Prerequisite(s): third year standing and 1.0 credit of study in the area related to the year's topic religion, and permission of the department. Permission of the department is required to repeat this course.
Hours to be arranged. Costs associated with the course are borne by the student.

RELI 4741 [0.5 credit]
Contemporary Issues in the Study of Religion

Late twentieth and twenty-first century scholarship on religion including debate on theoretical and methodological approaches.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
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.

RELI 4840 [0.5 credit]
Tutorial

A tutorial on a topic in religious studies. Contents of the tutorial to be arranged with the supervising faculty member.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
Prerequisite(s): fourth-year standing in the Honours B.A. Religion program, or permission of the department.


RELI 4850 [0.5 credit]
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.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
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.

RELI 4990 [1.0 credit]
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.
Includes: Experiential Learning Activity
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