Current Course Information

The following list represents the detailed course descriptions of our current offerings; for the full range of courses offered in the Religious Studies program, please consult the Undergraduate Course Descriptions in the UNF Catalog.

 

REL 2300 Comparative Religion

The specific content of this course varies by instructor but in general it introduces students to one of the two primary approaches to Religious Studies: Comparative Religion (sometimes called the History of Religions).  It includes an introduction to the academic study of religion, a survey of the world's major religious traditions and a discussion such categories as myth, ritual, religious experience, and religious institutions.  This course fulfills the University’s “Cultural Diversity” requirement and is a requirement for both the major and the 

 

Spring 2014 Upper Division

REL 3930 Sex & God

CRN: 12842
MW 1500-1615 
Instructor: M. Treyzl

 

 

Religion concerns itself with all aspects of human life: birth, death, food, power, wealth, and, of course, sex.  Sexual taboos and practices are used to structure and maintain social power.  This is true today and it is true of the past.  In this course we will examine the ways in which religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, have used sex to determine who has power, how gender is enacted and how genders interact, reproductive rights, family structures, who can marry and who must be celibate.  Moreover, religions have insisted that God has ordained these laws and norms.  Much of what religion has to say about sex has been written in sacred texts; determining the context out of which those texts emerged is vital to understanding what they really proscribe and prescribe about sex. We will also explore feminists’ critiques of patriarchal power structures and how they have ordered sexual practices to secure control over women and thereby their reproductive capacity. And finally, we will examine how religious teachings on sex have affected how individuals feel about sex, especially shame, guilt and obligation.  This course can be used to fill university electives or requirements of the Religious Studies Major or Minor.

 

REL 3936 Islam: Thought & Practice

CRN: 12828
TR 1215-1330 
Instructor: A. Creller

 

This course provides an introduction to the historical birth of Islam and some of the philosophical issues it addresses, both in its history and in contemporary times.  This course covers the revealing of the Qur’an and the development of sources of authority within the tradition as well as the way those resources are used to answer questions in Islamic law, theology, philosophy, and mysticism.  Through thinkers such as Ibn al-Arabi, al-Ghazali, and Ibn Rushd (Averroes), we will cover problems that remain pertinent into the medieval period and beyond: How does determinism influence ethical blame? How do universal laws and particular cases relate?  What is the proper relationship between reason, knowledge, and revelation? This course can be used to fill university electives or requirements of the Religious Studies Major or Minor.

 

REL 3936 Religion & Nature

CRN: 12928
R 1800-2045 
Instructor: B. Denison

 

Is surfing a religion? Is nature in a trash can? This class examines these questions by exploring the intersection of religion and nature. We will begin the course by thinking about “nature” and “religion” as dynamic, mutable, and forceful networks. Following this theoretical foundation, we will explore how religious and environmental movements have engaged the “sacred” to generate a green ethic. Next, the class examines broader issues of social justice amidst environmental concerns. Finally, the class ends with an examination of religious practice and environmentalism. We will read primary sources from a variety of religious traditions in order to gain a deeper understanding of how religious people construct their relationship to the natural world.

This course can be used to fill university electives or requirements of the Religious Studies Major or Minor.

  

REL 4930 Buddhism

CRN: 12843
TR 1505-1620 
Instructor: S. Mattice

 

Prerequisite: At least one upper-division course in either philosophy or religious studies, or instructor approval. In this course we will critically engage Buddhist philosophy and religion, from its origins in ancient India to its spread across Asia and its impact on the contemporary world. After a focused survey of key ideas, practices, and texts, we will delve into the Heart Sutra, an important Mahayana text, and examine in detail several commentaries from different traditions.This course can be used to fill university electives or requirements of the Religious Studies Major or Minor.