Religious Studies (RELST)Arts and Sciences

Showing 31 results.

Course descriptions provided by the Courses of Study 2016-2017.

RELST 2204

This course is designed for students who are interested in reading the language of the Qur'an with accuracy and understanding. The first week (4 classes) will be devoted to an introduction of the history ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASRC 2204NES 2204

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8204 RELST 2204   SEM 101

  • Taught in English. Does not count towards Arts and Sciences language requirement.

RELST 2209

In this course we will examine the modes of philosophical and spiritual inquiry, varieties of spiritual/bodily cultivation and practice, and religious organizations and movements in China that we know ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASIAN 2289CAPS 2209HIST 2209

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17840 RELST 2209   SEM 101

RELST 2250

This course will explore religious traditions in South Asia (Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka) and East Asia (China, Japan, and Korea) including Hinduism, Buddhism (South Asian and East Asian), Sikhism, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ASIAN 2250

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7380 RELST 2250   LEC 001

  •  7381 RELST 2250   DIS 201

  •  7382 RELST 2250   DIS 202

  •  7383 RELST 2250   DIS 203

  •  8025 RELST 2250   DIS 204

RELST 2277

This course probes the truths behind traditional claims of the priority of internal practice in Indian traditions. We will examine both practices themselves - techniques of meditation and contemplation ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASIAN 2277

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9293 RELST 2277   LEC 001

RELST 2575

This course will survey the cultic practices and beliefs of ancient Babylonia and Assyria, the two major civilizations of Mesopotamia. We will examine the major myths of this region, e.g., Ishtar's Descent ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: JWST 2575NES 2575NES 6575

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8009 RELST 2575   LEC 001

RELST 2695

This course offers an introduction to the history of Christianity from the first century through the seventeenth and perhaps a bit beyond. Our emphasis will be on the diversity of Christian traditions, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: CLASS 2636MEDVL 2695NES 2695

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16567 RELST 2695   LEC 001

RELST 3255

These are names of an existential dimension commonly taken to have gone missing in our time. The flight of the gods and the death of God have supposedly left a disenchanted world with little room for the ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 3255

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17591 RELST 3255   SEM 101

RELST 3309

Buddhism is often thought of as a meditative and philosophical tradition, remote from the concerns and pleasures of everyday life, practical ethics, and politics. This course explores the unfolding of ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASIAN 3309

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16525 RELST 3309   LEC 001

RELST 3344

This course will survey the rich and sophisticated tradition of Indian philosophical thought from its beginnings in the speculations of Upanishads, surveying debates between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASIAN 3344CLASS 3674PHIL 3930

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16547 RELST 3344   LEC 001

RELST 3416

This course explores the Zen's central religious, historical and aesthetic developments. We read primary sources in translation and secondary sources. We examine the rise of the Ch'an tradition in China ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  9342 RELST 3416   LEC 001

RELST 3420

Examines how systems of thought, symbolic forms, and ritual practice are formulated and expressed in primarily non-Western societies. Focuses on anthropological interpretations of space, time, cosmology, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ANTHR 3420

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16919 RELST 3420   LEC 001

  • 16920 RELST 3420   DIS 201

  • 16921 RELST 3420   DIS 202

RELST 3432

The modern Jewish religious movement known as Hasidism began in Eastern Europe in the eighteenth century and thrives today.  We will approach Hasidism primarily through three avenues: recent critical social ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  • 17633 RELST 3432   LEC 001

RELST 3738

Have you ever been asked 'who are you' or 'which group do you belong to'? You would have noted how the answer shifts according to who is asking, in which context, etc. While everyone is unique, the possible ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ARKEO 3738CLASS 3738

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16727 RELST 3738   SEM 101

RELST 3770

Practice makes perfect, the old saying goes, but the nature of that connection remains opaque.  This course, conducted in English and intended as a sequel to FREN 3540 - On Paying Attention, gives students ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: FREN 3770MEDVL 3760

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17380 RELST 3770   LEC 001

RELST 4100

Reading and translation of Latin philosophical texts. view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  7797 RELST 4100   SEM 101

    • TBA
    • Brittain, C

RELST 4241

Religion and politics have had a complex relationship in Chinese history. While various systems of belief have been an integral part of state ideology or co-opted by the state to bolster its authority, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASIAN 4422CAPS 4241HIST 4241

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17599 RELST 4241   SEM 101

RELST 4352

Cosmology can be understood as the search for order in the universe, for an underlying logic that structures and renders intelligible the raw chaos of sensory experience. In this sense, the production ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  • 17101 RELST 4352   SEM 101

RELST 4400

This course is an exploration of the development of the Vajrayana tradition through a focus on the myths and stories about, and writings by central figures in what is known in the west as Tibetan Buddhism. ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASIAN 4400

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 17028 RELST 4400   SEM 101

  • One course in Religious Studies or Buddhism.

RELST 4449

This course provides advanced students in Religious Studies or the humanities a working familiarity with important methodological issues in the academic study of religion. Following a brief historical ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ASIAN 4449

  • 4 Credits Graded

  •  8573 RELST 4449   SEM 101

  • One course in Religious Studies.

RELST 4517

For almost two thousand years the synagogue has been the focal point of Jewish life and identity. It has been the most prominent of Jewish buildings, for Jews and non-Jews. Thousands of synagogues have ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  • 16651 RELST 4517   SEM 101

RELST 4548

This course will focus on the array of perspectives offered in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament on such contemporary social issues as: immigration; abortion rights, surrogate childbirth, gay marriage, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AMST 4548JWST 4548NES 4548

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 18248 RELST 4548   SEM 101

RELST 4618

An examination of Islamic history from 600-750, with special attention to historiography and interpretive issues. Topics to be discussed will include: Arabia and the Near East before Islam; the collection ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  • 16586 RELST 4618   SEM 101

RELST 4711

The Babylonian Talmud is one of the most significant and influential books that the Jews of the ancient world produced. This complex and multi-faceted work comprises over five thousand pages of intricate ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: JWST 4711NES 4711NES 6711

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17931 RELST 4711   SEM 101

  • Some reading knowledge of Hebrew and/or experience reading Talmud in its original language required.

RELST 4991

For undergraduates who wish to obtain research experience or do extensive reading on a special topic. Students select a topic in consultation with the faculty member who has agreed to supervise the course. ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 2-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  6913 RELST 4991   IND 601

    • TBA
    • Haines-Eitzen, K

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm.

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 2-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8499 RELST 4991   IND 602

    • TBA
    • Boucher, D

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm.

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 2-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  8500 RELST 4991   IND 603

    • TBA
    • Brann, R

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm.

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 2-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16412 RELST 4991   IND 604

    • TBA
    • Law, J

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm.

RELST 4995

RELST 4995 is the first course in the Honors two-part sequence. The Honors Program is open to Religious Studies majors who have done superior work and who wish to devote a substantial part of their senior ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Multi-Term

  • 18103 RELST 4995   IND 601

    • TBA
    • Staff

  • RELST 4995 is the FIRST course in the Honors two-part sequence.

RELST 4996

RELST 4996 is the second course in the Honors two-part sequence. The Honors Program is open to Religious Studies majors who have done superior work and who wish to devote a substantial part of their senior ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Graded

  •  6900 RELST 4996   IND 601

    • TBA
    • Staff

  • RELST 4996 is the SECOND course in the Honors two-part sequence.

RELST 6020

Reading and translation of Latin philosophical texts. view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  7792 RELST 6020   SEM 101

    • TBA
    • Brittain, C

RELST 6352

Cosmology can be understood as the search for order in the universe, for an underlying logic that structures and renders intelligible the raw chaos of sensory experience. In this sense, the production ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  • 17123 RELST 6352   SEM 101

RELST 6432

The modern Jewish religious movement known as Hasidism began in Eastern Europe in the eighteenth century and thrives today.  We will approach Hasidism primarily through three avenues: recent critical social ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  • 17634 RELST 6432   LEC 001

RELST 6616

This course explores the Zen's central religious, historical and aesthetic developments. We read primary sources in translation and secondary sources. We examine the rise of the Ch'an tradition in China ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  •  9344 RELST 6616   LEC 001

RELST 6618

An examination of Islamic history from 600-750, with special attention to historiography and interpretive issues. Topics to be discussed will include: Arabia and the Near East before Islam; the collection ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  • 16589 RELST 6618   SEM 101