Review of grammar and the further development of vocabulary with a focus on reading simple narrative prose and verse.

A study of the literatures of Hinduism in India and the diaspora, including issues of identity formation, nostalgic constructions of the "homeland", fictional representations, and the quest for authenticity.

A study of the figure of Rama, from his genesis in the Valmiki Ramayana, to his historical evolution as a cultural and political icon through mediaeval and modern India.

A study of Hindu bhakti traditions through classical and vernacular texts, in conversation with colonial and post-colonial theoretical perspectives on the notion of "bhakti" in Hinduism.

The development of modern Hindu religious thought in the contexts of colonialism, dialogue with the West and the secular Indian state.

A study of different schools, texts, and issues of Hindu philosophy.

The course surveys the textual sources of the practices of Yoga, Ayurveda and Hindu traditions such as domestic rituals, rites of passage and community centered religious activity. It critically evaluates the assumption of an unbroken continuity of tradition of these practices from antiquity onwards and comes to consider what they have come to constitute as a result of modernity and globalization.

A study of the great Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata.

An exploration of the Buddhist concept of interdependence, or interdependent origination, from doctrinal and contemplative perspectives, as presented in classic Buddhist texts and as used in contemporary environmental and activist movements globally.

This course examines the history of global engagement with Tibetan religions, including contemporary adoptions of Tibetan religious identities outside the Tibetan plateau. The course begins in the Buddhist past by examining some of the earliest recorded Tibetan debates on religious identity and authority. It then moves to the modern period to compare non-Tibetan depictions of Tibetan religious traditions with indigenous Tibetan forms of self-representation. The course thus addresses questions regarding the plurality of Tibetan religious identities from Buddhist to Bön to Islamic and the ways that these identities interact with historical romanticizations of Tibet.

Daily worship, the alms round, life-crisis celebrations, healing rituals, meditation, festivals, pilgrimage, the consecration of artefacts and taking care of the ancestors are among the forms of Buddhist ritual introduced and analyzed in this course. Liturgical manuals, ethnographic descriptions and audiovisual records form the basis for a discussion of the role of ritual as text and event.

This course explores the genres of autobiography and biography in Buddhist literature. The course will begin with theoretical studies on narrative and religious life-writing. We will then consider the development and distinctive features of auto/biographies and hagiographies in the literature of one or more Buddhist cultures, analyzing representative examples of these genres from a range of traditions and historical periods, and considering how these sources have been understood and used in secondary scholarship.

This course explores Buddhist practices of manipulating – or “biohacking” – the breath or “winds” (prāna) of the human body, covering relevant theories of human anatomy and physiology and the religious, philosophical, and medical teachings alongside which these practices developed. Intentional breathing practices in the history of European thought and the role of breathwork in contemporary global biohacking movements will also be studied for comparison and contrast. During experiential lab sessions, basic prānāyāma and other breathing practices will be learned and practiced with the guidance of qualified teacher-practitioners.

A study of Buddhist relationships with the earth, including “earth touching” contemplative practices, ritual ceremonies for land spirits or sacred sites, geomantic and cosmographic traditions, the use of landscape imagery to depict enlightenment, contrasts between wilderness and urban spaces, and contemporary ecological movements in Buddhist communities and their responses to climate disruption. The course combines experiential learning approaches and outdoor excursions with reading and written work.

This course provides a review of classical Tibetan grammar through the study and translation of texts from a variety of genres. These include selections from Tibetan philosophical works, canonical Buddhist discourses, Tibetan historical writings, autobiographies, and dream narratives.

This course provides a review of classical Tibetan grammar through the study and translation of texts from a variety of genres. These include selections from Tibetan philosophical works, canonical Buddhist discourses, Tibetan historical writings, autobiographies, and dream narratives.

An historical introduction to the religious traditions that flourished along the Silk Road, including Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Nestorian Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Islam. Drawing on a variety of sources (textual, archaeological, works of art), the course will focus on the spread and development of these traditions through the medieval period. Issues include cross-cultural exchange, religious syncretism, ethnic identity formation and so on. Emphasis will also be placed on religious and political events in modern Central Asia.

This course focuses upon the psychology of religion from the perspectives of psychoanalysis, affective neuroscience, attachment theory and evolutionary psychology. We explore the role of entheogens, psycholytics and dreams in facilitating and shaping mystical experiences of unseen realms. We will explore relationships and boundaries between belief and knowledge, subjective and objective experiences, as well as phantasy, dreams and visions. How are the insights of the founders of the field being updated by contemporary neuroscientific and evolutionary theories? We consider visionary, esoteric and paranormal experiences along with the distinctions between mental health and pathology.

An introduction to interdisciplinary research on Buddhism and science. Topics to be considered may include the rise of Contemplative Science as a field; contemporary methods for studying types of meditation; how research on contemplative practices is influenced by philosophical, feminist, and queer studies work on consciousness, self, and embodiment; the global commodification of “spiritual” practices; and the impact of Buddhist social justice movements on the field.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 proclaimed the separation of Church and State in the newly created Soviet Russia and later, Soviet Union. How did it work in practice? This course will examine both policies that addressed Orthodox Christianity, Catholicism, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and other religious practices and practices of how these policies were received and interpreted on the ground. We will read anti-religious propaganda materials created in the 1920s, memoirs and diaries of priests, rabbis and imams making sense of the 1930s, often when imprisoned in Gulag for their work, press materials and ego-documents of World War II, novels, poems and short stories addressing religious beliefs in the post-war Soviet Union. Finally, we will discuss the religious revival of the 1990s, when both indigenous religions and those brought in by Western missionaries have entered post-Soviet public sphere. All course materials will be provided in English translation.

How do people negotiate across different religions? Can we understand the beliefs and behaviors of people whose religious and cultural outlooks differ radically from our own? This course explores the theoretical issues involved in interpretation and dialogue across cultural and historical divides by reading key texts within the study of religion, including anthropological, historical, and philosophical approaches.

This course traces the development of philosophical arguments in favor of toleration or pluralism that emerged first in response to bitter religious conflicts and then out of a growing recognition of the potential benefits of the normative diversity characteristic of modern societies. Typical philosophers to be studied are Bodin, Spinoza, Locke, Bayle, Lessing, Herder, and Mill.

What does it mean to be modern? Words like “modern,” “modernity,” and “modernism” are used to mark a fundamental boundary between our era and all that came before it (or lies outside of it); but most of us are hard-pressed to offer a solid account of what exactly this boundary is. This course examines the relationship between: a fundamental shift in the nature of daily experience; an order-of-magnitude expansion of the power of the State; a dramatic reorganization of religious experience and cultures; and a tremendous growth in the enterprise of Western science and technological production. We trace this reorientation over the last two centuries and examine its consequences using philosophical, literary, theological, and scientific sources, as well as recent scholarly work on the topic.

This class is an introduction to the devotional literature of early modern India (c. 1500-1800), but more importantly, it is about thinking critically and developing skills in close reading of texts. In addition to learning about historical, religious, and social contexts of various literary traditions in Brajbhasha, students will be expected to demonstrate their ability to analyze and interpret texts by actively participating in class discussions and by writing a well-argued final paper. The focus will be on the what of literary traditions but also on the how and why these traditions made sense to people in the past and are still relevant to us, today.

Course explores issues at the intersection of religion and science which may include such topics as evolution and the assessment of its religious significance by different traditions, conceptions of God held by scientists (theism, pantheism, panentheism), ethical issues raised by scientific or technological developments ( cloning or embryonic stem cell research), philosophical analysis of religious and scientific discourses.

This course offers an opportunity to explore a topic in the study of religion. Topics vary depending on the instructor. When offered, a detailed course description of the topic will be available on the Department for the Study of Religion website.

This course offers an opportunity to explore a topic in the study of religion. Topics vary depending on the instructor. When offered, a detailed course description of the topic will be available on the Department for the Study of Religion website.

Possession, trance, communication with the spirits of the dead, visitations by gods, demons, or spectral presences from unseen, otherworldly realms are common features of human experience. What are the psychological, emotional and mental capacities that give rise to such ecstatic, extraordinary experiences? What is the role of unconscious fantasy and projection in such experiences and how do these ideas contribute to explanatory theories seeking to account for them? What contribution can psychoanalysis make to enriched, generous and non-pathologizing understandings of the wide variety of spirit encounters, communications and visions that have been reported throughout history and across cultures? This course will draw upon disciplines such as psychoanalysis, anthropology, neuropsychoanalysis and the study of religion in order to think deeply and sensitively about and with spirits.

Examines select modern thinkers and their critical approaches to the nature and significance of religious beliefs and practices. Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, and Nietzsche are among the major thinkers studied.

This course explores some of the major thinkers of the European Enlightenment and their philosophical inquiries into the meaning and significance of religion as a set of cultural institutions. Special attention is paid to the analysis of religious concepts and institutions along epistemological, ethical, and political lines.