PDF reflects print version of the catalogue (beginning to French and Italian)Courses of Instruction
Religion (REL)
The terms indicated are expected but are not guaranteed. For the courses offered during any given term, consult the Schedule of Classes.
110g Religion and the State: Changing Boundaries (4) Changing boundaries between religion and state in contemporary America. Emphasis on constitutional issues and on religious activism in American politics. Concurrent enrollment: WRIT 140.
111g The World of the Hebrew Bible (4) The Hebrew Bible in the cultural setting of the Ancient Near East; the formation of theological and ethical concepts which have shaped Western culture.
121g The World of the New Testament (4) Historical investigation of New Testament characters, events, ethics and theology in relation to its social, intellectual, and religious contexts in the Jewish and Greco-Roman world.
131g Religions of Asia (4, FaSp) Traces the development of religious thought in India, China and Japan, from earliest times to the present, paying attention to certain recurrent themes or motifs.
132g Religions of the West (4) Examination of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in their origins and their development in relation to Western civilization.
133g Religions of Latin America (4, Fa) Examines the diverse and complex religious traditions of Latin America.
140g Religion and Ethical Issues (4) How major Western religious orientations affect deliberation concerning issues such as reproductive technologies and abortion, physician-assisted death, civil disobedience, homosexuality, economic justice, and just war. Concurrent enrollment: WRIT 140.
145m Religion in Los Angeles (4, Irregular) Examines the variety of different religious groups and movements in Los Angeles, one of the world’s finest laboratories for studying religious innovation, diversity, and pluralism.
150g Religion and Immigration (4, Sp) Study of social and cultural consequences of immigration through the lens of religion. Concurrent enrollment: WRIT 140.
212L Archaeology: Interpreting the Past (4) (Enroll in CLAS 212L)
301 The Spiritual Quest: Introduction to Religious Studies (4, Fa) Analysis of alternative paths to spirituality, as well as survey of major critics and interpreters of religious commitment. This course should be taken by religion majors at the beginning of their religion major course work. (Duplicates credit in former REL 220.)
311 The Bible in Western Literature (4) Comparative analysis of biblical works and how they were employed by various writers in major works of Western literature.
312 Biblical Wisdom Literature (4) Survey of and inquiry into the biblical wisdom literature; emphasis on the Book of Job.
315 Thought and Life of Islam (4) History, thought, institutions, and religious practices of Islam.
317 Ancient Near Eastern Myth and Literature (4) A close consideration of ancient Near Eastern myths -- especially those from Mesopotamia and Canaan -- with special attention to their influence on the Bible.
319 Religious and Ethical Issues in Death and Dying (4) Analysis of religious and ethical approaches to death and dying, including refusal of treatment for competent and incompetent patients, voluntary and involuntary euthanasia, and resuscitation.
323 Aegean Archaeology (4) (Enroll in CLAS 323)
325 Religious Experience in the Greco-Roman World (4) Varieties of religious experience as reflected in the literature, art, and cultic practices of the Hellenistic world.
330 Religions of India (4) History, teaching, and practice of Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religious traditions of India and Southeast Asia.
331 Religions of East Asia (4) History, teaching, and practice of the religions of China, Tibet, and Japan.
333 Religion in the Borderlands (4) Survey of religious history of U.S./Mexico borderlands. Emphasis is given to definitions of place and transformations in culture and forms of belief.
334 Religion and Colonial Encounter (4) Survey of religious responses to colonial encounter in the Americas. Emphasis given to study of religious innovations of Amerindians, Africans, and Europeans.
335 Women, Religion, and Sexuality (4) Examination of western religious traditional thought on women and sexuality; its continued impact on contemporary intellectual, cultural, and social life.
336 Re-viewing Religion in Asian America (4) Interdisciplinary analysis of the religions traditions, institutions, and experiences of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S.
340 Western Religious Thought (4) Major contemporary options in Western religious thought, with attention to origins in both super-naturalism and naturalism.
341 Ethics in a Technological Society (4) Value questions arising from the impact of technology on individuals, social institutions, and culture.
355 Studies in Chinese Thought (4) (Enroll in EALC 355)
360 Ethical Issues in the New Medical Revolution (4) Multimedia-oriented analysis of issues; definition of life and death; research on human subjects, health care delivery, euthanasia, abortion, genetic counseling, behavior control.
364 Judeo-Christian Ethics (4) Jewish and Christian ethics in their origins, developments and contemporary suitability to illuminate issues of justice, war and peace, ecology and sex and the family. (Duplicates credit in former REL 264.)
365 Studies in Japanese Thought (4) (Enroll in EALC 365)
366 Religion and Social Change (4) Empirical and theoretical analysis of social change and its effect on religious institutions as well as the impact of religious movements on society.
375 Conflict and Change and the Ethics of Business (4) Impact of recent events and developments on the ethics of business, such as civil rights, affirmative action, professionalism, consumerism, ecology, changing life styles, and government regulation.
390 Special Problems (1-4) Supervised, individual studies. No more than one registration permitted. Enrollment by petition only.
394 Near Eastern and Mediterranean Archaeology (4) Study of archaeology and excavated artifacts from the ancient Near East with reference to Biblical studies.
399 Seminar in Religious Studies (4) Survey of methods and selected issues in the field of religious studies; required of all majors during their junior or senior year. Recommended preparation: REL 301.
414 History of Islamic Law (4, Sp) Examines legal methods and religious sources used in Islamic law. Emphasis is placed on the way cultural developments affect legal thought and the administration of justice.
425 Communicating Religion (4) (Enroll in COMM 425)
430 New Religious Movements (4) Cross-cultural examination of “New Religions” and new religious movements: their origins, characteristics, and development. Field research will be emphasized.
431 The Taoist Tradition (4) (Enroll in EALC 431)
440 Patterns of Contemporary Religious Thought (4) Examination of the principal figures, schools of thought, and current trends in late 20th and 21st century theology.
441 Origins of Modern Theology (4) 19th century liberal, rationalist, and historical theology.
442 Religion and Science (4) Explores whether religion and science offer competing or complementary models for understanding the world and the human place within it.
443 Evolution, Free Will, and the Problem of the Soul (4, Irregular) Explores the challenge to traditional belief in the “mind” or “soul” posed by theories that portray the mind-brain as a deterministic mechanism produced by evolution.
455 Philosophy of Religion: Bases of Belief and Disbelief (4) Rational and empirical foundations for religious faith and for skepticism.
460 Senior Seminar: Medical Ethics (4, Fa) Analysis of ethical problems related to new developments in medical science. Graded CR/NC.
461 Business and Society (4) Theories of corporate social responsibility from contrasting points of view and the relation of social responsibility to theories of management ethics, utilizing case studies.
462 Religion and Violence (4) Religious and moral perspectives on war, pacifism, violent and non-violent protest, and religion-based terrorism and militia.
465 Contemporary Religious Ethics (4) New directions in Judeo-Christian thought about the relation of religious belief to problems of individual behavior and social order.
468 Sociology of Religion (4) The role of religion in modern society from the standpoint of sociological theory and research.
469 Black Religion in America (4) Historical, sociological, and theological analysis of the nature and role of black religion in the American setting.
471 Jesus (4) A study of major interpretations of the figure of Jesus, with focus on the interaction between religious traditions and culture.
473 Advanced Old Testament Studies (4) Consideration of specific topics in Old Testament studies; particular topics determined each semester.
474 Advanced New Testament Studies (4) Consideration of specific topics in New Testament studies. Particular topics determined each semester.
480 History of Christianity (4) Intellectual, institutional, and social history of the Christian movement from its beginnings to modern times.
481 History of Religion in America (4) Intellectual, institutional, and social history of religion in America from colonial times to the present.
482 Jesus in American History and Culture (4) (Enroll in HIST 482)
483 Religion and Popular Culture in the United States (4, Sp) Critical analysis of the relationship between religion, mass media, and popular cultural forms in the U.S. Recommended preparation: REL 301.
490x Directed Research (2-8, max 8) Individual research and readings. Not available for graduate credit. Prerequisite: departmental approval.
494 Advanced Near Eastern and Mediterranean Archaeology (4, max 8, Irregular) Laboratory work in special Near Eastern archaeological problems; emphasis on ceramic analysis, conservation techniques, dating processes, and excavation report evaluation.
495 Field Methods in Archaeology (2-6) Archaeological field study emphasizing current paradigms of data collection and evaluation; social scientific study of material culture and its relationship to religious expression.
499 Special Topics in Religion (2-4, max 8) Selected topics in religious studies.
500 History of Theological Ethics (4) The ethical thought of major theological thinkers in the patristic, medieval, Reformation, and modern periods.
501 Theories and Methods in Religious Ethics (4) Classical and contemporary writers on the interpretation of religious ethics. Perspectives from the history, phenomenology and the social scientific study of religious ethics.
503 Theories of Rights and Justice (4) Naturalist, utilitarian, contractarian, and Marxian conceptions of rights and distributive justice; their history and contribution to contemporary social ethics.
504 Ethics in the History of Western Religious Thought (4) Ethics in the thought of key religious thinkers in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from the first to the 19th centuries.
505 Contemporary Theological Ethics (4) The current state of Reformation and Catholic ethics in comparison with current theological ethics influenced by the Enlightenment.
506 Tradition and Community in Western Religious Thought (4) Analysis of how religious identity has been formed in Western history through the definition of tradition and community.
507 Social Ethics (4) Major traditions of religious social ethics in the U.S. in their development from European antecedents to their current states. Prerequisite: graduate standing.
508 Ethics of Liberation Theology (4) Analysis of a major movement in contemporary theological ethics in its societal context and relationship to the institutional church and traditional Christian ethics.
509 Early and Medieval Religious Thought in the West (4) Religious thought in the West from pre-Augustine to post-Thomas Aquinas. Emphasis on primary texts: Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Averroes, Maimonides, and Thomas.
510 Biblical Ethics -- Old Testament (4) Old Testament ethics, with emphasis on the historical, institutional, and literary context.
512 Biblical Ethics -- New Testament (4) New Testament ethics, with emphasis on the historical, institutional, and literary context.
515 Comparative Religious Ethics (4) A comparative study of ethical thought and practice in cultures and of persons shaped by the major world religions.
516 Modern Continental Religious Thought (4) The effects of the Enlightenment on Jewish, Catholic, and Reformation thought of the 19th century, and of the latter on 20th century religious thought.
520 The Christian Pragmatism of Reinhold Niebuhr (4) Examination of Niebuhr’s life and writings, critical analysis of significance regarding social gospel, Neo-orthodoxy, Marxism, New Deal, World War II, and the Cold War.
530 Social Theory in Religious Social Ethics (4) Relationship of sociological theory and methodology to the normative analysis of social institutions, social policy, and cultural values.
531 Sociology of Religion (4) Examination of major classical and contemporary theorists, the impact of social change on religious institutions, and the social role and function of religion.
532 Moral Issues in Urban Religion (4) The history, theologies, and practices of urban religious institutions: an examination of moral issues in the changing interaction between religion and urban culture.
535 The Hermeneutics of Moral Expression (4) Comparison of the conceptions of moral meaning and methods for interpreting moral expressions (such as scriptures, myths, laws, and dreams) in structuralism, symbolism, and hermeneutics.
542 Seminar in the Philosophical Study of Religion (4) (Enroll in PHIL 542)
543 Radicalism and Reform in Religious Social Ethics (4) Critical and historical analysis of radical and reformist themes in 20th century religious social criticism, particularly in the American situation.
544 Law, Politics, and the Religious Conscience (4) 19th century backgrounds. Church-state issues; religious communities as political agents; religious rhetoric and public political rhetoric.
545 Moral Assessment of Changing American Character (4) Examination of analyses of American character; specific attention to changing cultural values and alternative normative critiques.
560 Normative Analysis of Issues (4) Methods of case study analysis which identify and draw upon ethical theory and result in public policy recommendation.
565 Seminar in Bioethics (4) Ethical issues in death and dying, human experimentation, genetic engineering, behavior modification, health care delivery, abortion, and others.
567 Seminar in Business Ethics (4) Critical evaluation of ethical issues in the relation between business and society; focus on value conflicts in resolution of issues.
568 The Rights of Groups (4) Legal and moral rights of religious, racial, ethnic, and communal groups; sources and criticisms of group claims in sociology, ethics, and jurisprudence.
570 Ethical Assessment of Technology (4) Analysis of psychological, social, and cultural impact of technology; formulation of normative social policy regarding military, computer, communications, energy, pollution, and behavior control technologies.
572 Freedom, Justice and Order in Social Policy (4) Significance of, and conflicts between central social values; their applications to specific contemporary social policy questions.
575 The Ethics of Women’s Liberation (4) The methodologies of feminist ethics, their emergence out of the academic disciplines and women’s movement, and their applications to social policy issues.
590 Directed Research (1-12) Research leading to the master’s degree. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.
594abz Master’s Thesis (2-2-0) Credit on acceptance of thesis. Graded IP/CR/NC.
599 Special Topics (2-4, max 8)
600 Advanced Seminar in Religious and Philosophical Approaches to Social Ethics (4, max 8) Ontological and positivistic bases of social ethics.
602 The Evolution of Roman Catholic Thought (4) The modern Roman Catholic description of the development of doctrine in the light of its ancient, medieval and modern sources.
626 Seminar in Jewish Ethics (4) (Enroll in Judaic Studies 626)
630 Advanced Seminar in Religion and Culture (4, max 8) Moral expression as critical of and shaped by institutions and cultures.
660 Advanced Seminar in Ethical Analysis and Policy Formation (4, max 8) Ethical reflection on the making of private and public policies from a moral perspective.
790 Directed Research (1-12) Research leading to the doctorate. Maximum units which may be applied to the degree to be determined by the department. Graded CR/NC.
794abcdz Doctoral Dissertation (2-2-2-2-0) Credit on acceptance of dissertation. Graded IP/CR/NC.