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Professors: Ron Cameron, Stephen D. Crites (Philosophy), Bruce Masters (History), Janice D. Willis

Associate Professors: Eugene M. Klaaren (Chair), Jeremy Zwelling

Assistant Professors: Elizabeth A. McAlister, Karen A. Smyers

Adjunct Instructor: Esther Tammuz

The department offers a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, and critical program that explores the variety of religious experiences and expressions. In addition to courses that demonstrate the power and limits of various critical theories in the study of religion, the department provides opportunities to analyze: systems of belief and patterns of religious behavior; the history of religious traditions; the functions of religion in society; and various forms of religious expression such as myth, ritual, sacred story, scripture, liturgy, theological, and philosophical reflection.

A range of courses is available to students interested in taking one or two courses. Clusters of courses can be devised in consultation with members of the staff for those who wish to develop a modest program in religion in support of another major. For those planning to major in the department, a number of alternative programs of study are available. A student who chooses a double major must fulfill all requirements except when representatives of the two departments approve alterations in the studentÃs program.

The department offers four categories of courses through which students can organize a curriculum of studies appropriate to their needs:

1. Access courses. The department encourages the beginning student to take these courses, for they assume no background in religious studies and serve as a useful foundation for those who wish to take more advanced courses in the department. In addition to those courses on the 100 level, the department recommends courses designated as general education courses as well as survey courses in the major religious traditions of the world and in archaic religions. In particular, the department recommends Introduction to Religion (RELI 101) as the most effective way of acquiring broad knowledge about religion and the methods employed by scholars in the field of religious studies.

2. Historical traditions courses. Many offerings in the department deal with the historical content of the major religious traditions such as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, as well as Confucianism, Shinto, Taoism, and the religions of archaic and primitive peoples. These courses examine the texts, histories, institutions, and rituals of these religions. In this category there are both survey courses (generally numbered at the 200 level) and seminars (generally numbered at the 300 level). In the main, these courses have no prerequisites, though in most seminars some background knowledge is assumed. In order to gain entry to these seminars, students are advised to check with the instructor with regard to what is expected.

3. Religion in society courses. (Numbered 280“290 and 380“390) These courses are designed to focus on the encounter of religious groups and their contemporaneous cultural settings within a defined social space¤past or present. They will concentrate on the relationships between a particular religious formation and its larger social context, aiming to understand that formationÃs reflective, critical, and decisive interaction within, for, and/or against its context. Included in this category are:

Death and the Afterlife in World Cultures (RELI 280)

Religion and South African Society (RELI 282)

Three Generals in the LordÃs Army (RELI 283)

Politics and Piety in Early Christianity (RELI 286)

Buddhism in America (RELI 288)

Christianity in World History (RELI 289*)

Gospel of Mark and Christian Origins (RELI 380)

Imagining the Other (RELI 384)

Religion and the Social Construction of oeRace”
(RELI 385)

Anthropology of Black Religions in the Americas
(RELI 387)

Magic, Science, and Religion (RELI 390)

4. Critical theory courses. (Numbered 291“300 and 391“400) These courses review and critically analyze methods, theories, and strategies employed by scholars of religion. Included in this category are:

Philosophy of Religion (RELI 291*)

Religion and the Feminine (RELI 292)

Psychology and Religion (RELI 293)

The End of the World: The Millennium and the End Times in American Religious Thought (RELI 294)

From Hegel to Marx (RELI 295*)

African Art and Religion (RELI 296*)

The Gospels and Jesus (RELI 299)

Models of God (RELI 393)

A Critical Assessment of C.J. Jung (RELI 394)

Anthropology of Religion (RELI 395)

Majors Colloquium in Religious Studies (RELI 398)

The departmentÃs Major's Colloquium (RELI 398) is required of all majors; the colloquium is to be taken in their junior year. The task of this course is to reflect upon the methodological pluralism in the field of religious studies with the opportunity to apply these methods to specific texts, concrete issues, or other cultural formations

Program for majors.

1.All majors are required to take Introduction to Religion (RELI 101), in which they must earn a grade of B- or better, preferably before the end of the sophomore year.

2.In order to complete a major in religion, students are required to take a minimum of nine courses (with a maximum of 14, including thesis credits) numbered 200 or above.

3.The minimum of nine courses will be distributed as follows:

a. Four courses in historical traditions

b. Two courses in religion in society

c. Two courses in critical theory, one of which must be the Majors Colloquium (RELI 398)

d. The additional course may be taken in any of these areas at the studentÃs option.

Each major is to select or be assigned an adviser from the staff and in consultation with the adviser shall construct a program of study that is coherent yet diverse and meets the above requirements.

Religion majors are strongly encouraged to develop a reading knowledge in an ancient and/or modern foreign language.

Department policy on tutorials. Students wishing to arrange individual or group tutorials with departmental faculty must submit a proposal to the prospective tutor no later than the last day of classes during the preceding term. Priority will be given to senior thesis projects, projects growing out of courses with the tutor, and specialized projects of department majors.

Honors program. Religion majors with a B+ average may choose to write a senior honors thesis or do an equivalent (two-semester) project. A candidate for honors must secure the agreement of a member of the Religion Department faculty to be his/her tutor or director, and it is advisable that this be done in the second semester of the junior year. Honors work is evaluated by the tutor and two readers, one of whom is from outside the department. High honors may be awarded after the studentÃs work has been submitted for a departmental colloquium.

Wesleyan offers students a number of opportunities to pursue studies in Hebrew language and literature, Israeli culture, Judaica, and Jewish civilization. Most Judaica and Jewish studies courses are taught or cross-listed in the Religion Department, but students are encouraged to consult the course listings of the departments of classics, history, German, music, and government for additional offerings.

Hebrew courses include Elementary Hebrew (HEBR 101 & 102), which instruct students with little or no background in Hebrew in basic language skills; Intermediate Hebrew (HEBR 201 & 202), which continues the instruction in language skills, also provides students with an opportunity to study Israeli social, cultural, and political issues; and seminars in modern Hebrew literature.

Hebrew courses beginning with 202 can count toward a religion major. Those students who take a number of courses in Hebrew are exempted from the 14-credit limit on courses taken in one department.

Additional Hebrew courses are available through the Wesleyan Program in Israel.

For more information, please call Esther Tammuz, x2297.

The Wesleyan Program in Israeli and Palestinian Studies is a spring-semester program that begins during the first week of January and concludes on June 30.

The Wesleyan program is available to all qualified undergraduate students on a first-come, first-served basis. The program invites students from all religions, cultural, ethnic, and academic backgrounds to consider this unique learning experience in an unusually stimulating setting.

Courses in Jerusalem are taught in English and no prior training in Hebrew is required.

Over the past two decades, the Wesleyan program has attracted and trained undergraduates with varied interests. The program serves well Jewish and non-Jewish students interested in the Middle East, in Israel studies, and those interested in the study of Hebrew language. In addition to religion majors, the program has also proved most valuable to students majoring in anthropology, political science, history, and the social and human sciences, providing them with a field studies approach that complements rigorous classroom learning.

Other than the academic ideology of critical study and reflective understanding, the program is not committed to any religious or political ideology. The program does, however, systematically provide participants with opportunities to engage persons in the region who are passionately committed to various and competing ideologies and religious beliefs.

The program focuses on the political, social, and religious cultures of contemporary Israel. The goal of the program is to provide students with tools for understanding how the diverse agendas of the many different ethnic and religious communities in the region produce multiple levels of conflict, social experimentation, religious innovation, and cultural variety.

In particular, the curriculum examines Israel as a case study of the clashes and accommodations between processes of secular modernization and religious traditionalism. An integrated set of seminars, supplemented by additional evening cultural and social programming and supervised field studies, systematically presents the cleavages that emerge out of the class, ethnic, and national divisions in this complex society. Competing visions of nationhood among religious and secular Israelis and between Israelis and Palestinians is assessed through a variety of academic instruments. Special attention is given to the role of religion in shaping the social, cultural, and national identities of a number of the communities under investigation.

The Wesleyan program is affiliated with The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, IsraelÃs most renowned university. Faculty for the program come from various units of the university, including the Truman Institute for Peace, the University's political science and religion departments, as well as the Rothberg School for Overseas Students. Wesleyan program students are enrolled in the Rothberg School (along with nearly 800 other overseas students), and have full use of all the facilities of the Hebrew University. Additional faculty from nearby Arab universities provide instruction on Palestinian issues, and students have opportunities to meet with their counterparts at Bir Zeit University and Bethlehem University.

The Wesleyan Program in Israeli and Palestinian Studies is sponsored and supervised by the Religion Department of Wesleyan University, and, in addition to Hebrew University staff affiliated with the program, Wesleyan has its own administrative and faculty personnel in Jerusalem.

The program consists of a minimum of five and one-half credits of course work. Three courses are especially developed for students on the program. In addition, electives and Hebrew language courses offered in the Rothberg School are available to students in the Wesleyan program. The program also arranges supervised tutorials for students who need a course in their major that might not be available in the curriculum.

WUPI 202 Hebrew Language (1 credit)

WUPI 203 Anthropology of Religion (1 credit)

WUPI 204 Politics and Political Culture

(1 credit)

WUPI 205 Ritual Life in Jerusalem (.50 credit)

WUPI 206 Journal Writing (.50 credit)
(optional)

WUPI 207 Israelis and Palestinians (1 credit)

WUPI 208 Elective at the Rothberg School of
Hebrew University (1 credit)

WUPI 402 Individual Tutorial (1 credit)
(optional)