Religion

This course is an introduction to the academic study of religion, covering both major world religious traditions and the study of religion in general. Students will investigate the origins, beliefs, values and practices of religions from different times and cultures and will learn scholarly techniques to analyze, contextualize and compare these various religions. Emphasis is placed on understanding different religions as social-historical phenomena.

In this course students are introduced to the beliefs and practices of various world religions in relation to death and dying, grief and bereavement. Emphasis is placed on the reading of personal accounts as well as primary and secondary religious texts with the goal of increasing appreciation of the role of religion at the end of life and the variety of means by which religion impacts people at this time of life.

This course explores two or more religious traditions in significant depth. The goal is to delve more deeply into the ideas and practices of religions than is possible in REL 105. Special attention will be given to primary and secondary sources and developing frameworks for conceptualizing differences and similarities within and among these traditions.