Liberal Studies Minor

Offered autumn. Prereq., eligibility for WRIT 101 (ENEX 101) based on writing placement examination. General survey of the field of Humanities in Western civilization, comparing and contrasting the Greco–Roman with the Jewish and Christian traditions.

Offered spring. Prereq., eligibility for WRIT 101 (ENEX 101) based on writing placement examination. General survey of the field of Humanities in Western civilization, in the modern period.

Offered autumn. Coreq., LS 151L or consent of instr. Selective survey of classical South and East Asian perspectives on the humanities. Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are the primary traditions considered.

Offered intermittently. A course in Comparative Literature, examining similar genres (creation stories, fables, novels, short stories) in literature from Europe, America and India.

Offered alternate years. Major 20th century novels and short stories written in English by both men and women in different parts of the world, and how these texts explore changing concepts of gender and sexuality. Topics include heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, transformations, chastity, adultery, ageing, violence, growing up, adolescence and varying definitions of love.

Prereq., WRIT 101. Examines how relationships between fathers and daughters have been represented, celebrated and critiqued in literature in the Western world, from antiquity to the present. Includes discussion of changing patriarchal formations, symbolic and adoptive fatherhood, incestuous rape, homosexuality and role reversals. Texts include Greek tragedy, Shakespeare, romantic poetry, novel, and graphic novel. Both male and female authors.

Offered yearly.  An investigation of the differences, but also affinities, between the two fundamental Shakespearean genres.

Offered every year or alternate year. Close reading of the Hindi Scripture, Bhagavad Gita in translation, examining its literary, philosophical, ethical and religious dimensions, its influence on Western and Indian literatures, and the way Indian and Western commentators have interpreted and used it.

Offered yearly. Two antithetical models for the construction of a novel.

A survey of modern theories and methods in the study of religion. Overview of sociological, anthropological, psychological, phenomenological, comparative, cognitive, and other approaches to the question, What is religion?

(R-6) Selected topics in modern Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and New Testament studies. Focus on history, literature, and religions of ancient West Asia, the Mediterranean and North Africa. Topics vary from year to year and include: Israelite religion; prophets and prophecy; biblical history and historiography; ancient Gospels; the letters and communities of Paul; early biblical interpretation; archaeology and iconography of ancient religions; religion and politics in the Bible.

(R6) Survey of the history and literature of ancient Judaism and early Christianity. Topics include: the emergence of Judaism and Christianity in the Persian, Greek, and Roman empires; religions of ancient West Asia and the Mediterranean; stories of Jewish and Christian origins; the historical Jesus; the early rabbinic movement; the Dead Sea Scrolls; Paul between Judaism and Christianity.  

Selected studies in the intellectual history of western religions, alternating between studies of periods and seminal thinkers. Emphasis will be on the ancient and medieval periods.

Selected studies in the intellectual history of western religions, alternating between studies of periods and seminal thinkers. Emphasis will be on the late medieval and early modern periods.

(R-6) This course will examine select topics of central importance with respect to the history of interaction between the major religions (Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism) of South Asia.

(R-6) This course will examine select topics of central importance with respect to the history of interaction between the major religions (Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and folk animism and shamanism) of East Asia.

(R-6) Close reading of a selection of core Buddhist texts drawn from various Asian cultures and spanning the three main phases of the tradition.

An exploration of the history and culture of a unique civilization that has influenced greatly the cultures of Himalayan, East, and South Asia. Special attention will be given to Tibetan religions, but these will be explored within the context of the society's political, social, economic, and other cultural developments.

An exploration of both key developments in the history of Zen Buddhist thought and practice and the variety of ways that Zen has been studied by Western popular and academic cultures.

As with other major religions, modernity and globalization have presented profound challenges to Buddhist traditions.  In this course we will explore various contemporary issues that have affected Theravada Buddhist societies--colonial and post-colonial revivalism, religious nationalism, women's rights and social reform--as case studies in some of the major ways in which religions have confronted modernity.

An exploration of the rich and diverse approaches to mental transformation and cultivation of gnosis as developed by several of Asia's major religious traditions, such as Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

(R-6) An inquiry into the literature and interpretation of mysticism in the major religious traditions. Each offering will focus on a specific tradition or period.

(R-6) Study of selected major critical and constructive proposals in modern religious thought in various traditions.

(R-12) Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.

(R-6) Course material appropriate to the needs and objectives of the individual student.

(R-12) Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.

(R-9) Prereq., consent of instr. Work on selected problems by individual students under direct faculty supervision.