Religious Studies Spring 2026 Course Offerings
Religious Studies Spring 2026 Course Offerings
100. What the Heck is Religion? An Introduction to the Study of Religion
What is religion? Why are people religious? What power does religion have for individuals and societies? How does religion function as a way of knowing, acting, and being in the world? How did the study of religion arise in the modern West, and how scholars of religion go about studying it? What ways have they devised to grasp the rich varieties of religious experiences and expressions that they classify as religions? Throughout the course, students will study a wealth of material that may be regarded as religious, from societies past and present, literate and non-literate, and from around the globe. Finally, students will reflect on the place of the religious in contemporary society. Offered each semester.
200. Explaining Religion
This course serves as a general introduction to the study of religion, with an emphasis on introducing its methodological and theoretical tools and their intellectual historical background. This entails exploring a selection of readings that have been and are influential in the study of religion, drawn from diverse academic disciplines. The course considers basic methodological approaches for understanding religion as a human construction, offers a general picture of the field of religious studies as a whole, and provides basic research skills that will develop students' abilities to do independent research. Offered every fall. Fulfills HU Distribution.
212. Sacred Spaces Reimagined: Cultural Memory, Appropriation, Identity
Sacred Spaces Reimagined: Cultural Memory, Appropriation & Identity - "Why do certain sacred spaces endure as symbols of beauty and devotion while also becoming sites of contestation and reinvention? Focusing on Islamic architecture in its historical forms and modern reinterpretations - especially the Taj Mahal - this course explores the shifting meanings of the sacred across time and culture. Through case studies from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas, students will investigate how sacred designs and spaces are adapted, appropriated, contested and reimagined through colonial encounters, nationalist movements, tourism, global media, and personal tastes, revealing how cultural identities shape what societies choose to preserve, transform, or forget. No prior knowledge required; all class years welcome. Fulfills ARTS & DIV-13 general education requirements. Must be taken for a grade."
222. Buddhist Religious Traditions
This course offers an introduction of Buddhism from its genesis in India to Buddhism important role as a global religion today. Topics include the basic teachings and practices of early Buddhism in India in the sixth to fifth centuries BCE, the development of sophisticated philosophical teachings, meditational techniques and religious practices, lay and monastic life that arise with the historical spread of Buddhism into Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Japan and, more recently, the West. Offered every other year. Also offered in Asian Studies.
226. Religious Life of Japan
At the Far Eastern end of Asia, Japan has benefitted over the centuries from a complex inter-mingling of indigenous and foreign traditions that gave rise to Japan's unique religious heritage. Students will learn about the different ways of being religious from pre-history to modern times through studying the ways of the kami, religion and the arts (for example, the tea ceremony), Pure Land and Zen Buddhism, State Shinto, new religious movements, and spirituality in contemporary Japanese popular culture. Also offered in Asian Studies.
281. American Religious Live
In this course we will look at the diversity of religions practiced in America to think about what that diversity means for understanding the range of human religious experiences. We will also discuss religious diversity's perennial challenge to Americans' conceptions of equality and inclusiveness, and how recognition of a tradition as a religion is often implicated in one's access to legal protections and civil rights. Of particular interest in this class is the significance of American religions in the construction, maintenance, and frequent re-formation of identities, principally as it pertains to notions of community, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class. Important to this course is also the effort to understand our own identity formations in relation to the powerful impact that religions and debates about the role of religion in American life has had on us, even when we were not aware of it, or even if we are not originally from the United States. Fulfills HU Distribution. Fulfills DIV13 Distribution.
3073. Learning Virtue Digital Age
This course focuses on virtue ethics, drawing heavily on the works of Aristotle and Christian thought. We will read core texts before closing the semester discussing the contemporary revival of virtue ethics. Implications for the philosophy and practice of education will be discussed throughout, and students will have the option to write about the implications of virtue ethics for educational theory, policy, and practice. We will also explore the role of virtue ethics in our digital world and the connections between athletics and virtue ethics. The course has no prerequisites. Students will be expected to read challenging texts and be open to exploring the continuing significance of these texts, especially when we may find them most confusing or difficult.
3074. Created Equal
2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Central to this document is a claim about equality. This course will assess and develop the claim that all humans are created equal. Drawing on religious and philosophical texts, we will work together to discover what it would mean for humans to be equals. The course has no prerequisites. Students will be expected to read challenging texts and be open to exploring the continuing significance of these texts, especially when we may find them most confusing or difficult. Special attention will be paid to connections between St. Lawrence's founding religion--Christian Universalism--and the human quest for equality.