Religious Studies (RELIGST)

This is an archived copy of the 2015-16 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu.

Courses

RELIGST 24 Freshman Seminar 1 Unit

Terms offered: Fall 2012, Fall 2011, Spring 2011
The Freshman Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small seminar setting. Freshman seminars are offered in all campus departments and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to fifteen freshmen.

RELIGST 90A Introductory Topics in Religious Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013
Selected introductory topics in the study of religion.

RELIGST 90B Introductory Topics in Religious Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Selected introductory topics in the study of religion.

RELIGST C90B Introductory Topics in Religious Studies 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2012, Fall 2010, Fall 2007
Selected introductory topics in the study of religion.

RELIGST C103 Religion of Ancient Egypt 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Spring 2013
A survey of the religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, based primarily upon the written sources.

RELIGST C104 Babylonian Religion 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2017, Summer 2016 10 Week Session, Summer 2016 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2016, Summer 2015 Second 6 Week Session
A survey of Babylonian religious beliefs and practices based on indigenous texts and monuments.

RELIGST C108 Scandinavian Myth and Religion 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Religious beliefs and practices during the Viking Age in Scandinavia and their manifestations in later recordings. Readings and discussion in English.

RELIGST C118 Western Mysticism: Religion, Art, and Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2009, Spring 2007, Spring 2003
The course will focus on examples of mystical thought from the traditions of Christian and Jewish mysticism since the Middle Ages. In addition to the introduction of the students to basic texts and concepts we will discuss the effects of mystical thought on art and literature from the Middle Ages up to today.

RELIGST C119 The English Bible As Literature 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Spring 2012, Fall 2009
Introduction to the English Bible treated as a literary work.

RELIGST C124 The Renaissance and the Reformation 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2013, Spring 2012
European history from the fourteenth to the middle of the seventeenth century. Political, social, and economic developments during this transitional period will be examined, together with the rise of Renaissance culture, and the religious upheavals of the sixteenth century.

RELIGST C132 Jewish Civilization I: The Biblical Period 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Fall 2014
This is the first course in a four-course sequence in the history of Jewish culture and civilization. It covers the biblical period and the period up to the destruction of the second temple. This course will explore the current state of our knowledge, including the legacy of ancient Near Eastern myth and religion, the history of Israelite religion, the literary features of biblical narrative, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

RELIGST C133 Judaism in Late Antiquity 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2007, Spring 2006, Spring 2004
This class will examine the emergence and development of classical Judaism, its piety, institutions, thought, and literature.

RELIGST C135 Jewish Civilization: Modern Period 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, Fall 2013
This is the fourth course in a four-course sequence in the history of Jewish culture and civilization. It explores the major themes in Jewish history from 1750 to the present, with special attention paid to the transformation of Jewish communal and individual identity in the modern world. Topics to be treated include the breakdown of traditional society, enlightenment and emancipation, assimilation, Hasidism, racial anti-Semitism, colonialism, Zionism, and contemporary Jewish life in Europe, North America, and Israel. The multicultural nature of Jewish history will be highlighted throughout the course through the treatment of non-European Jewish narratives alongside the more familiar Ashkenazi perspective.

RELIGST C161 Religion in Early India 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2012
Designed as a two-semester sequence, these courses are an introduction to the religions that have their origin on the Indian subcontinent--Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and tribal religions--as well as those that originated in other regions such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. Organizing this material chronologically rather than teaching it by separate religious traditions facilitates comparisons and promotes an understanding not only of the differences among these religions but also some of their commonalities in philosophy, theology, and praxis.

RELIGST C162 Religion in South India 3 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2012, Spring 2012, Fall 2011
The development and practice of religion in South India. Emphasis will be on sources translated directly from Indian languages. Subjects covered include: the indigenous religion, the effect of Brahmanical religion, movements, and the practice of Hinduism in modern South India.

RELIGST C165 Hindu Mythology 4 Units

Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014, Fall 2013
Literary and religious aspects of Hindu myths. Reading of selected mythological texts in translation.

RELIGST C166 India's Great Epics: The Mahabharata and the Ramayana 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Spring 2013
The course entails substantial selected readings from the great Sanskirt epic poems--the Mahabharata and the Ramayana in translation, selected readings from the corpus of secondary literature on Indian epic studies as well as lectures on salient issues in both. Discussion will focus on a variety of historical and theoretical approaches to the study of the poems and their extraordinary influence on Indian culture. Readings will be supplemented with selected showings of popular cinematic and television versions of the epics.

RELIGST 173AC Gandhi and the Civil Rights Movement in America 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012
This course surveys the impact of Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence and justice in American Civil Rights struggles. Through narratives, images from African American, itinerant Gandhian, and ethnic critics of race practice in American culture, we examine how Gandhian satyagraha shaped emergent civil resistance movements, as also the global appeal to nonviolent democracy. ACES component comprises internship with civil liberties partners that monitor local implementations of human rights treaties.

RELIGST 190 Topics in the Study of Religion 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Summer 2015 First 6 Week Session
Selected topics or problems in the study of religion.

RELIGST H195A Honors Course 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Course may take one or two semesters at the option of the instructor and student with credit to be earned upon completion of a successful thesis. Successful completion of the course will normally, but not necessarily, mean the awarding of honors.

RELIGST H195B Honors Course 3 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015
Course may take one or two semesters at the option of the instructor and student with credit to be earned upon completion of a successful thesis. Successful completion of the course will normally, but not necessarily, mean the awarding of honors.

RELIGST 198 Directed Group Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Tutorial instruction in areas not covered by regularly scheduled courses.

RELIGST 199 Supervised Independent Study 1 - 4 Units

Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015

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