Note: This is an archive. View our current courses.
Additional details about courses can be found on the Arts & Science timetable. Sessional dates are available on the Faculty of Arts & Science calendar.
100-Level Courses
RLG100Y1-Y
World Religions
Arti Dhand
Monday & Wednesday 9-10a
Friday 12-1p
An introduction to the history, philosophy, and practice of the major religions of the world, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.
Exclusion: RLG280Y1,RLGA01H3,RLGA02H3. Note: RLGA01H3 and RLGA02H3 taken together are equivalent to RLG100Y1. Note: RLG101H5 is not equivalent to RLG100Y1Y
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3), Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG101H1-F
Introducing Religion: Death and Dying
Amanda Goodman
Tuesday 11a-1p
This course introduces students to various religious approaches to death, the dead, and afterlife. Through considering different ways in which death has been thought about and dealt with, we will also explore different understandings of life and answers to what it means to be human
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG101H1-S
Introducing Religion: Taking Human Life
David Novak
Wednesday 1-3p
Most people today have gotten their morality from religious traditions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jews, Christians, and Muslims get their morality directly from their traditions, but even people who consider themselves “secular” are the indirect heirs of these traditions that are part of their cultural heritage. These traditions have long dealt with what is probably the most basic moral question facing humans: When if ever is it permissible to take a human life? This course will deal with how these three interrelated traditions (most of whose adherents claim to be worshiping the same Creator God) deal with four great life-and-death questions: abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, and war.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
MLB155H1-F
Elementary Modern Hebrew I
Yigal Nizri
Tuesday & Thursday 9-11a
Introduction to the fundamentals of Hebrew grammar and syntax. Emphasis on the development of oral and writing skills.
Exclusion: Grade 4 Hebrew (or Grade 2 in Israel)/NML155H1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
MLB156H1-S
Elementary Modern Hebrew I
Yigal Nizri
Tuesday & Thursday 9-11a
Continued introduction to the fundamentals of Hebrew grammar and syntax. Emphasis on the development of oral and writing skills.
Prerequisite: MHB155H1/NML155H1 or permission of instructor
Exclusion: Grade 4 Hebrew (or Grade 2 in Israel)/NML156H1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
200-Level Courses
No 200-series RLG course has a 100-series RLG course prerequisite or co-requisite.
RLG200H1-F
Study of Religion
Justin Stein
Thursday 2-5p
An introduction to the discipline of the study of religion. This course surveys methods in the study of religion and the history of the discipline in order to prepare students to be majors or specialists in the study of religion.
Prerequisite: Open to Religion Specialists and Majors
Exclusion: RLG200Y1, RLGB10H3, RLG105H5
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG202H1-F
Judaism
Kenneth Green
Wednesday 10a-12p
An introduction to the religious tradition of the Jews, from its ancient roots to its modern crises. Focus on great ideas, thinkers, books, movements, sects, and events in the historical development of Judaism through its four main periods – biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern.
Exclusion: RLG202H5, RLG202Y1
Recommended Preparation: RLG100Y1/RLG200H1/RLG280Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG203H1-F
Christianity
Jennifer Harris
Tuesday & Thursday 10-11a
An introduction to the Christian religious tradition as it has developed from the 1st century C.E. to the present and has been expressed in teachings, institutions, social attitudes, and the arts.
Exclusion: RLG203H5, RLG203Y1
Recommended Preparation: RLG100Y1/RLG200H1/RLG280Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG204H1-F
Islam
Laury Silvers
Thursday 5-7p
The faith and practice of Islam: historical emergence, doctrinal development, and interaction with various world cultures. Note: this course is offered alternatively with NMC283Y1, to which it is equivalent.
Exclusion: NMC185Y1, NMC185H1, NMC283Y, RLG204H5, RLG204Y1
Recommended Preparation: RLG100Y1/RLG200H1/RLG280Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2
RLG205H1-S
Hinduism
Srilata Raman
Tuesday 10a-12p
A historical and thematic introduction to the Hindu religious tradition as embedded in the socio-cultural structures of India.
Exclusion: RLG205H5, RLG205Y1
Recommended Preparation: RLG100Y1/RLG200H1/RLG280Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG206H1-S
Buddhism
Andrew Erlich
Thursday 6-8p
The development, spread, and diversification of Buddhist traditions from southern to northeastern Asia, as well as to the West.
Exclusion: RLG206H5, RLG206Y1
Recommended Preparation: RLG100Y1/RLG200H1/RLG280Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG211H1-F
Psychology of Religion
Marsha Hewitt
Monday 11a-1p
A survey of the psychological approaches to aspects of religion such as religious experience, doctrine, myth and symbols, ethics and human transformation. Attention will be given to phenomenological, psychoanalytic, Jungian, existentialist, and feminist approaches.
Distribution Requirement: Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG212H1-F
Anthropology of Religion
Aldea Mulhern
Thursday 10a-12p
Anthropological study of the supernatural in small-scale non-literate societies. A cross-cultural examination of systems of belief and ritual focusing on the relationship between spiritual beings and the cosmos as well as the rights and obligations which arise therefrom. Among the topics covered are: myth and ritual; shamanism and healing; magic, witchcraft and sorcery; divination; ancestor worship.
Exclusion: RLG212Y1
Distribution Requirement: Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG215H1-F
Pilgrimage as Idea and Practice
Simon Coleman
Wednesday 10a-12p
The study of pilgrimage has become increasingly prominent in anthropology and religious studies in recent decades. Why should this be? This course provides some answers while engaging in a cross cultural survey and analysis of pilgrimage practices. We also explore whether research into pilgrimage has wider theoretical significance.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
RLG224H1-S
Problems in Religion Ethics
David Perley
Monday 6-8p
An introduction to the analysis of ethical problems in the context of the religious traditions of the West. Abortion, euthanasia, poverty, environmental degradation, militarism, sex, marriage, and the roles of men and women.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG231H1-S
Religion and Science
Matt Price
Monday 3-5p
Course explores issues at the intersection of religion and science which may include such topics as evolution and the assessment of its religious significance by different traditions, conceptions of God held by scientists (theism, pantheism, panentheism), ethical issues raised by scientific or technological developments ( cloning or embryonic stem cell research), philosophical analysis of religious and scientific discourses.
Exclusion: RLG231Y1, SMC230Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG232H1-S
Religion and Film
Maria Dasios
Frdiay 12-2p
The role of film as a mediator of thought and experience concerning religious worldviews. The ways in which movies relate to humanitys quest to understand itself and its place in the universe are considered in this regard, along with the challenge which modernity presents to this task. Of central concern is the capacity of film to address religious issues through visual symbolic forms.
ExcExclusion: RLG232H5
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG233H1-F
Religion and Popular Culture
Jennifer Harris
Online Course
Wednesday 10a-12p
A course on the interactions, both positive and negative, between religion and popular culture. We look at different media (television, advertising, print) as they represent and engage with different religious traditions, identities, and controversies.
Visit the Course Website for more information.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG235H1-F
Religion, Gender, and Sexuality
Eleanor Pontoriero
Monday 3-5p
Examination of gender as a category in the understanding of religious roles, symbols, rituals, deities, and social relations. Survey of varieties of concepts of gender in recent feminist thought, and application of these concepts to religious life and experience. Examples will be drawn from a variety of religious traditions and groups, contemporary and historical.
Exclusion: RLG314H1, RLG314H5
Distribution Requirement: Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG239H1-F
The Politics of Charity
(Special Topics)
Nada Moumtaz
Monday 3-5p
Voluntary or obligatory, anonymous or public, big or small, charitable gifts punctuate the lives of practitioners of many religious traditions. But today, religious charities are joined by an army of philanthropists, international aid agencies, and students volunteering in their communities or abroad. How are religious charities and these different kinds of aid different or similar? In this course, we will think through this main question by examining some of the main puzzles around the politics of aid using examples for different religious traditions: Is charitable giving really altruistic or is it self-interested? Does aid reproduce and perpetuates inequality and poverty or does it reduce it? What kinds of “strings” come with receiving aid and is there such a thing like a free gift? What is the responsibility of donors in the production of the poverty they are trying to end? What are the aims of charitable giving? Are the ideals of independence and self-sufficiency behind a lot of aid universally shared? Students will develop a critical eye towards charitable giving and its embeddedness in unequal power relations and cultural assumptions. They will be better equipped to develop an ethical practice of addressing inequality.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
RLG241H1-F
Early Christian Writings I
Ryan Olfert
Wednesday 5-7p
An introduction to early Christian writings, including the ‘New Testament,’ examined within the historical context of the first two centuries. No familiarity with Christianity or the New Testament is expected.
Exclusion: RLG241H5; RLG341H5; HUMC14H3; RLG241Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG246H1-S
Karma and Dharma in Indic Tradition
Nika Kuchuk
Monday 2-4p
A comparative study of the development of ethical perspectives in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, concluding with a discussion of contemporary moral issues.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
MHB255H1-F
Intermediate Modern Hebrew
Yigal Nizri
Tuesday & Thursday 12-2p
Intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew.
Prerequisite: MHB156H1/ NML156H1 or permission of instructor
Exclusion: Grade 8 Hebrew (or Ulpan level 2 in Israel)/NML255Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
MHB 256H1-S
Intermediate Modern Hebrew
Yigal Nizri
Tuesday & Thursday 12-2p
Continued intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew.
Prerequisite: MHB255H1/NML156H1 or permission of instructor
Exclusion: Grade 8 Hebrew (or Ulpan level 2 in Israel)/NML255Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG260H1-F
Introduction to Sanskrit I
Elizabeth Mills
Lec 101
Tuesday 3-5p(Lecture) & Thursday 12-1p (Tutorials)
Lec 9901
Online Section
Tuesday 6-8p (Lecture) & Thursday 7-8p (Tutorials)
The first semester of an introduction to Classical Sanskrit for beginners. Students build grammar and vocabulary, and begin to read texts in Sanskrit. Complete beginners are welcome. Two sections of the course will be offered: an on-campus class meeting and an online section via live webinar participation. The final exam will require attendance on the St. George campus, or in another authorized exam centre.
Exclusion: RLG260Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG261H1-F
Introduction to Tibetan I
Frances Garrett
Online Course
An introduction to Classical Tibetan language for beginners. Development of basic grammar and vocabulary, with readings of simple texts. This is an online course. Lectures will be delivered via the web and mandatory tutorials will require live webinar participation. The final exam will require attendance on the St. George campus, or in another authorized exam centre.
Exclusion: RLG261Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG262H1-S
Introduction to Tibetan II
Frances Garrett
Online Course
The second semester of an introduction to Classical Tibetan language course for beginners. Continued work on grammar and vocabulary, advancing to reading texts. This is an online course. Lectures will be delivered via the web and mandatory tutorials will require live webinar participation. The final exam will require attendance on the St. George campus, or in another authorized exam centre.
Prerequisite: RLG260H1
Exclusion: RLG260Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG263H1-S
Introduction to Sanskrit II
Elizabeth Mills
Lec 101
Tuesday 3-5p(Lecture) & Thursday 12-1p (Tutorials)
Lec 9901
Online Section
Tuesday 6-8p (Lecture) & Thursday 7-8p (Tutorials)
The second semester of an introduction to Classical Sanskrit for beginners. Students continue to build grammar and vocabulary, and use that knowledge to read texts in Sanskrit. Two sections of the course will be offered: an on-campus class meeting and an online section via live webinar participation. The final exam will require attendance on the St. George campus, or in another authorized exam
Prerequisite: RLG260H1
Exclusion: RLG260Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG280Y1-Y
World Religions: A Comparative Study
Arti Dhand
Monday & Wednesday 9-10a, Friday 12-1
An alternative version of the content covered by RLG100Y1, for students in second year or higher who cannot or do not wish to take a further 100-level course. Students attend the RLG100Y1 lectures and tutorials but are expected to produce more substantial and more sophisticated written work, and are required to submit an extra written assignment.
Prerequisite: Completion of 5.5 full course equivalents
Exclusion: RLG100Y1/RLGA01H3/RLGA02H3
Distribution Requirement Status: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2) + Society and its Institutions (3)
RLG299Y1-Y
Research Opportunity Program
Students must request permission to enrol in this course by contacting the department.
Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details at http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/course/rop. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.
300-Level Courses
All 300-series courses presuppose at least three prior RLG half courses (or equivalent). Only specific prerequisites or recommended preparations are listed below. Students who do not meet the prerequisites but believe they have adequate preparation should consult the undergraduate coordinator regarding entry to the course.
RLG301H1-F
Sigmund Freud on Religion
Marsha Hewitt
Tuesday 2-6p
Systematic analysis of Freud’s main writings on religion, studied within the context of central concepts and issues in psychoanalysis such as: the Oedipus Complex, the meaning and function of symbols, the formation of the ego and the superego, and the relations between the individual and culture.
Prerequisite: RLG211Y1/RLG211H1; see note above for general Prerequisites
Distribution Requirement: Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG304H1-S
Language, Symbols, Self
Andrew Tebbutt
Tuesday 5-7p
This course is an exploration of the place of language in human experience. Our guiding theme will be the perplexing relationship of language and selfhood. How is it that language makes possible the expression of our own individual identities and intentions, but is also an inherently shared reality, and thus is precisely not ‘our own’? By studying works by philosophers G.W.F. Hegel and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, we will explore how our own sense of personal identity is shaped by our experience of other people, and how this reality of others leads to the transformation of the ‘natural habitat’ of human experience—that is, the body—toward norms related to expression and shared, social life. We will also explore these themes of expression and embodiment within the broader and more concrete social contexts in which they are lived. How do symbolic, metaphoric, and narrative forms of language govern our perceptions of reality, as well as our integration into society? What happens when these linguistic forms outstrip and disrupt the social orders they work to establish, and how does such disruption serve to produce new linguistic possibilities? In what ways does this creative-disruptive potential of language help us to think about the specificity of religious language? Other thinkers studied may include Sigmund Freud, Mary Douglas, Paul Ricoeur, Pierre Bourdieu, and Julia Kristeva.
Prerequisite: See note above for general prerequisites
Distribution Requirement: Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG305H1-F
Material Religion
Simon Coleman
Tuesday 10a-12p
Religions are constituted by material forms, including bodies, shrines, films, icons, and ‘ kitsch’. Anti-material impulses have also prompted many religious impulses, involving forms of iconoclasm that ironically demonstrate the power of objects. What is at stake in studying materiality? How might such a perspective transform our view of religion?
Prerequisite: See note above for general prerequisites
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG307H1-S
Museums and Material Religion
TBA
Tuesday 1-3p
Museums have long collected and curated religious objects for public audiences, with missionaries as a primary collections source. Multiple visits to the Royal Ontario Museum and other museums will enable students to think critically about how museums received and presented these objects, while engaging with the challenges of museum curation.
Prerequisite: One FCE in Social Science or Humanities
Corequisite: None
Exclusion: None
Recommended Preparation: None
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG308H1-S
Religion and the City
Laura Beth Bugg
Thursday 10a-12p
The course focuses on the role of religion in cities, as well as the ways urbanization and immigration have transformed religious organizations and identities. The course examines how religious practices, institutions and groups shape particular places, how religious groups share or contest space, and the way the religious life of cities is shaped by migration and globalization. Student projects will focus on mapping the changing significance and presence of religion in Toronto.
Prerequisite: three RLG or PHI/PHL half-courses and third year standing.
Exclusion: RLG309H5, RLG309Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG309H1-S
Religion and Human Rights
Eleanor Pontoriero
Monday 3-5p
The relationship and interaction between religious and ethical norms, social and political ideals, and systems of law.The course concerns the ongoing dialectic between religious and other values, the application of religious ideas to social orders, and questions of religious and human rights.
Prerequisite: three RLG or PHI/PHL half-courses and third year standing.
Exclusion: RLG309H5, RLG309Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG310H1-S
Modern Atheism and the Critique of Religions
James DiCenso
Monday 3-5p
This course examines major classical thinkers who have contributed to the development of critical approaches to religion in the modern West, and whose theories still influence contemporary debates. We begin with the 17th century European Enlightenment and proceed to examine selected 19th and 20th century thinkers. The approaches considered are mainly philosophical, but include historical, social, and political issues as well. Authors studied include Hume, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche and others.
Prerequisite: three RLG or PHI/PHL half-courses and third year standing.
Exclusion: RLG310Y
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG312H1-S
Gender, Body and Sexuality in Islam
Laury Silvers
Tuesday 6-8p
An introduction to the role of women in Muslim societies in past and present. Topics include the status of women in the Quran and Islamic law, veiling, social change, and Islamic feminism.
Prerequisite: see note above for general Prerequisites
Exclusion: RLG251H1
Recommended Preparation: RLG100Y1/RLG200Y1/RLG204Y1/NMC283Y1/RLG204H5/235H1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
RLG316H1-S
Martyrs, Mystics, Saints
Leslie Hayes
Thursday 2-5p
An examination of the variety of ways in which religious traditions construct sanctity, articulate categories of exceptionalism, and how exceptional persons function within social systems. Consideration of gender and social status in definitions of sanctity. Focus varies from year to year, and may focus either on constructions of sanctity in one religious tradition, or comparatively, comparing and contrasting ideas of sainthood and martyrdom in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and/or Buddhism.
Recommended Preparation: RLG100Y1/RLG100H5/RLG280Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG317H1-F
Religious Violence and Nonviolence
David Perley
Thursday 5-8p
Religious violence and nonviolence as they emerge in the tension between strict adherence to tradition and individual actions of charismatic figures. The place of violence and nonviolence in selected faith traditions.
Exclusion: RLG317H5
Recommended Preparation: RLG100Y1/280Y1; see note above for general prerequisites
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG322H1-S
Early Christian Gospels
John Kloppenborg
Wednesday 10a-12p
Literary, historical, and rhetorical analyses of selected early Christian gospels. The gospels to be treated will vary, but each year will include a selection from the four canonical gospels and extra-canonical gospels (the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Truth, infancy gospels, and fragments of Jewish-Christian gospels).
Prerequisite: RLG241Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG324H1-F
Paul of Tarsus
Briggida Bell
Friday 12-2p
An examination of Paul’s life and thought as seen in the early Christian literature written by him (the seven undisputed letters), about him (the Acts of the Apostles, the Acts of Paul) and in his name (the six disputed NT letters).
Prerequisite: RLG241Y1
Exclusion: RLG324H5
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG336H1-S
Monsters and Others in the Christian Middle Ages
Jennifer Harris
Tuesday 10a-12p
course looking at the theories about and responses to the monstrous in the European Christian Middle Ages.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG337H1-F
Witchcraft and Magic in Christian Tradition
Leslie Hayes
Thursday 2-5p
This course considers the history and theory of Western witchcraft, magic, and heresy in the mediaeval and early modern periods. Consideration of relevant anthropological theory, the relationship between constructions of witchcraft, the Enlightenment and the rise of science, and the role of gender in definitions of witchcraft.
Recommended Preparation: RLG203Y1/RLG203H5
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
RLG342H1-S
Judism in the Modern Age
Kenneth Green
Monday 10a-12p
The development and range of modern Jewish religious thought from Spinoza, Mendelssohn and Krochmal, to Cohen, Rosenzweig and Buber. Responses to the challenges of modernity and fundamental alternatives in modern Judaism.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/RLG202Y1/RLG221H1/RLG280Y1
Exclusion: RLG342Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG343H1-F
Kabbala: A History of Mystical Thought in Judaism
Kenneth Green
Wednesday 2-4p
A historical study of the Kabbala and the mystical tradition in Judaism, with emphasis on the ideas of Jewish mystical thinkers and movements.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/RLG202Y1/RLG280Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG351H1-F
The Quran: An Introduction
Walid Saleh
Tuesday 6-8p
The revelatory process and the textual formation of the Quran, its pre-eminent orality and its principal themes and linguistic forms; the classical exegetical tradition and some contemporary approaches to its interpretation.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/RLG204Y1/RLG224H1/RLG280Y1/NMC185Y1/NMC185H1
Exclusion: NMC285H1, NMC285Y1,NMC286H1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG352H1-S
Post-Colonial Islam
Nada Moumtaz
Wednesday 1-3p
This course will study Islam in a post-colonial framework. It will introduce students to the work of post-colonial studies, and how critical scholarship has transformed our understanding of monolithic concepts such as modernity, the nation and Islam. It will focus on the particular case of Islam in South Asia and the Middle East by exposing students to the transformative impact of colonialism. It will equip students with the tools to challenge the hegemonic notion of a singular ‘tradition’ in Islam by tracing its lineages in the post-colony.
Prerequisite: NMC283Y1/RLG204Y1/NMC278H1
Exclusion: NMC381Y1, RLG250H1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
MHB355H1-F
Advanced Modern Hebrew
Yigal Nizri
Tuesday & Thursday 4-6p
Advanced intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew.
Prerequisite: MHB256H1/NML255Y1 or permission of instructor
Exclusion: OAC Hebrew/NML355Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
MHB356H1-S
Advanced Modern Hebrew
Yigal Nizri
Tuesday & Thursday 4-6p
Continued advanced intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew.
Prerequisite: MHB355H1 or permission of instructor
Exclusion: OAC Hebrew/NML355Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG358H1-F
Godless India
(Special Topics in Hinduism)
Srilata Raman
Thursday 10a-12p
This course seeks to examine Indian theories of “atheism” from the pre-modern to the modern period, particularly within the context of a critique of the ubiquitous paradigm of “Indian spirituality” as constituting the essential characteristic of Indian cultural life. The course leads us through a long tradition of Indian atheistic theories even while problematizing the concept of “atheism” itself, showing that a conceptually Western term, with specific genealogies within Western intellectual traditions would have to be modified or subverted in order to understand the Indian history of “godlessness”.
Prerequisite: RLG100/205/280
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
View Syllabus
RLG359H1-F
Intermediate Sanskrit I
Elizabeth Mills
Thursday 12-2p
Review of grammar and the development of vocabulary with a focus on reading simple narrative prose and verse.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG350H1-S
Intermediate Sanskrit II
Elizabeth Mills
Thursday 12-2p
Review of grammar and the development of vocabulary with a focus on reading simple narrative prose and verse.
Prerequisite: RLG359H1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
JPR364Y1-Y
Religion and Politics
Ruth Marshall
Monday 12-2p
This course examines the evolving role of religions in contemporary public, political contexts. Themes include: democracy and secularism; religion, human rights, law and justice; party politics, identity-formation and citizenship; gender and sexuality; interreligious conflict. (Given by the Departments of Political Science and Religion)
Prerequisite: 1.0 POL credit/1.5 full course equivalents in Religious Studies
Exclusion: JPR364H1/RLG230H1/POL364H1/POL364Y1
Distribution Requirement: Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3), Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG366H1-F
Hindu Philosophy
Arti Dhand
Wednesday 12-2p
A study of different schools, texts, and issues of Hindu philosophy.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/RLG205Y1/RLG280Y1/
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG368H1-F
Yoga and Ayurveda
Srilata Raman
Tuesday 10a-12p
The course surveys the textual sources of the practices of Yoga and Ayurveda. It critically evaluates the assumption of an unbroken continuity of tradition of these practices from antiquity onwards and comes to consider what they have come to constitute as a result of modernity and globalization.
Prerequisite: RLG205Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG372H1-S
Tibetan Buddhism
TBA
Tuesday 3-5p
A survey of the various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, focusing on differences in both theory and practice, with readings of Tibetan texts in translation and ethnographic studies of Buddhist practice in Tibet.
Prerequisite: RLG206Y
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG376H1-F
Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia
Barbara Hazelton
Wednesday 6-8p
The course serves as an introduction to one or more Buddhist traditions still living or historically documented in South and Southeast Asia, ranging from ancient and medieval Buddhism to Buddhist modernities and including Buddhism in its local Theravada variants. Themes will vary by year; consult the departmental website for this year’s course description.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG384H1-F
Pluralism and Dialogue
Mourad Laabdi
Friday 12-2p
The contemporary phenomenon of religious pluralism: its historical emergence, social context and intellectual justifications. Achievements, techniques and outstanding issues in inter-religious dialogue.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
RLG388H1-F
Religion and Crisis
(Special Topics I)
Zoe Anthony
Tuesday 5-7p
We are told critical thinking is foundational to the university. But what is critical thinking? What is it in practice?
This course looks at the connection between “crisis” and “critical.” Does critical thinking generate crisis? How does crisis manifest in society today? Does the “critical” undermine “the given”? What is critique and how has it been cultivated historically? What role has religion played in the formation and alleviation of crisis?
We will tackle these questions through reading key philosophical thinkers, like Plato, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, Arendt, and Asad. And, together with these thinkers, we will explore the problem of knowledge, the morality of good and evil, the problem of authority, blasphemy, free speech, and secular discourse.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
RLG388H1-S
Queering Religion: Religion in the Closet, Religion out of the Closet
(Special Topics I)
Luiz Ribeiro
Tuesday 5-7p
Religion is at roots of the Western institutions of Heteronormativity (compulsory heterosexuality) and Cisgender Dimorphic Sex, sexual differentiation between woman and man based on “stable” biological “facts.” Together with the emerging 19th c. Sciences of Sex (or even as a catalyst of the Sciences of Sex), religion influenced the modern discourse that created the pervert, the abnormal, the sexual delinquent, the immoral, the sexual pathic etc. Religion is at the basis of discourses that marginalized, reproached, persecuted, and closeted queer sexualities, but religion has also been, sparingly but surely, a locus for the retreat of queer sexualities and gender identities from society’s animosity and stigma — male queer monks living in the company of other queer monks in the desert, non-cisgender two spirit shamans, transvestites nuns passing as male, fraternities of religious women living together and separated from men (what Adrienne Rich calls this the lesbian continuum), queer male and female celibates, and more recently lesbian reformed Judaism Rabbis, Gay male priests, transgender religious communities, etc.
One of the purposes of Queering Religion is to address the influence of religion and its institutionalization of the Closet — through shaming, repression and the return of the repressed, violence, the practice of passing as straight, etc. The other purpose of the course is to study how modern spiritualities and even institutionalized religions have helped the outing of gay men, lesbian women and the transgender and reconnected the GLBQT to a once lost relationship with the sacred.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
400-Level Courses
400-series courses are intended primarily for Specialists and Majors who have already completed several RLG courses. Prerequisite for all 400-level courses requires permission of the instructor. All 400-level courses are E indicator courses and also cross-listed as graduate courses. For further information on how to enroll, please click here.
RLG404H1-S
Departmental Capstone- Research
Michelle Christian
Wednesday 6-8p
An integrative capstone seminar that emphasizes iterative development of a research project, locating a research specialization within its broader disciplinary audience, and communicating the process and results of a research project to non-specialists within the study of religion.Open to Relgion Specialists and Majors only.
Prerequisite: open to 4th year Religion Specialists and Majors
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
RLG405H1-F
Departmental Capstone- Practical
Laura Beth Bugg
Monday 12-2p
A capstone seminar that emphasizes integration of the study of religion with contemporary public life in the development of a research project, locating a research specialization in relation to non-academic contexts, and communicating the process and results of a research project to non-academic audiences.
Prerequisite: open to 4th year Religion Specialists and Majors
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
RLG411H1-F
Buddhist Narratives II
(Advanced Topics in Religion)
Joel Tatelman
Monday and Wednesday 2-4p
Advanced Topics in Religion
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
RLG414H1-F
Comparing Religions
Reid Locklin
Wednesday 5-7p
Few methods have been more foundational to the scholarly study of religion, or more subject to searching criticism, than the practice of comparison. This seminar offers an advanced introduction to comparative method through close study of 4-6 recent works, from ritual studies, philosophy of religion, comparative theology and/or ethnography
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
JPR419H1-F
Secularism and Religion
Ruth Marshall
Tuesday 6-8p
Themes considered include what notion of religion is necessary for secular governance, and how secularity relates to particular discourses of citizenship and practices of political rule. Case studies include the effects of colonial rule on religious life; Jewish emancipation in Europe; and religious freedom in France and North America. (Given by the Departments of Political Science and Religion)
Prerequisite: 2.0 200-level (or above) credits in Political Science or Study of Religion/permission of the instructor
Exclusion: RLG419H1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities, Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
RLG422H1-S
Kant’s Theory of Religion
James DiCenso
Wednesday 3-5p
An advanced study of Immanuel Kant’s theory of religion, as developed in major writings such as Critique of Practical Reason and Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason. Emphasizes rational ethical criteria as the basis for analyzing the doctrines, symbols, and institutions of historical religions.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
Recommended Preparation: RLG310Y1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG426H1-F
Religion in the Public Sphere Service-Learning Internship
Amy Fisher
Tuesday 1-3p
For upper-year students, from any discipline. In a 40-hour community service placement, discover first-hand religion’s significance in Toronto and examine how religion manifests in public spaces, institutions, and interactions, while critically reflecting on the experience of working with professionals and their “clients” in settings where religious diversity is at play.
Prerequisite: RPS coordinator’s permission required for admission to course
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
RLG431H1-F
Natural Law in Judaism and Christianity
(Advanced Topics in Judaism)
David Novak
Thursday 9-11a
Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
RLG433H1-S
Maimonides and His Modern Interpreters
Kenneth Green
Monday 2-4p
An introduction to The Guide of the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides, and to some of the basic themes in Jewish philosophical theology and religion. Among topics to be considered through close textual study of the Guide: divine attributes; biblical interpretation; creation versus eternity; prophecy; providence, theodicy, and evil; wisdom and human perfection. Also to be examined are leading modern interpreters of Maimonides.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
Exclusion: POL421H1
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG441H1-S
Words and Worship in Christian Cultures
Simon Coleman
Tuesday 10a-12p
How are we to analyze the words that Christians use? And how are such words related to ritual forms? We explore techniques for the analysis of texts, while looking at forms of verbal discourse ranging from prayers, speaking in tongues, and citing the Bible to more informal narratives.
Prerequisite: ANT356H1/RLG212Y1 and permission of instructor
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG454H1-F
Social History of the Jesus Movement
John Kloppenborg
Wednesday 9a-12p
The social setting of the early Jesus movement in Roman Palestine and the cities of the Eastern Empire. Topics will include: rank and legal status; patronalia and clientalia; marriage and divorce; forms of association outside the family; slavery and manumission; loyalty to the empire and forms of resistance.
Prerequisite: RLG241Y1 and at least one of RLG319H1 – RLG327H1; permission of instructor
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)
JPR458H1-S
Postsecular Political Thought: Religion, Radicalism and the Limits of Liberalism
Ruth Marshall
Tuesday 4-6p
The course will examine debates on postsecularism and religion’s public, political role as articulated by political thinkers such as Jurgen Habermas, by focusing on politically radical or revolutionary challenges to liberalism in the 20th and 21st century, especially from the postcolonial world, whose theoretical arguments are grounded upon or draw their inspiration from religious traditions, doctrines and practices.
Prerequisite: A 3rd year course in Political Science and/or Study of Religion
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG462H1-S
Newar Religion
Christoph Emmrich
Monday 10a-12p
An academic legend recounts that if you ask a Newar whether he is Hindu or Buddhist the answer is yes. The course deals with the problem of how to study religions which coexist and compete with each other creating shifting coordinates of religious identification from the perspective of one specific Nepalese community.
Prerequisite: Permission of Instructor
Recommended Preparation: RLG205Y1/ RLG206Y1/RLG205H5/RLG206H5
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG468H1-S
The Buddhist Canon
(Special Topics in Buddhism)
Amanda Goodman
Tuesday 3-5p
Advanced study of specialized topics in Buddhist Studies
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor
Recommended Preparation: RLG206Y1Y
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
RLG469Y1-Y
Readings in Tibetan
Kunga Sherab
Monday & Wednesday 4-6p
Advanced readings in Tibetan literature using Tibetan language. Tibetan language skills required.
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Creative and Cultural Representations (1), Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG471H1-S
The Vedas
(Special Topics in Hinduism)
Arti Dhand
Wednesday 12-2p
Advanced study in specialized topics on Hinduism.
Prerequisite: RLG205Y; Permission of instructor
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
RLG473H1-S
Vedanta Through the Ages
Srilata Raman
Thursday 10a-12p
A survey of Vedantic thought beginning with the classical commentaries on the Brahmasutras (such as those of Sankara, Ramanuja etc.) and ending with neo-Vedanta in the writings of Dayananda Saraswati, Sri Aurobindo and Radhakrishnan.
Prerequisite: RLG205Y1; RLG205H5; Instructor’s permission
required for admission to course
Distribution Requirement: Humanities
Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
RLG490Y1F | RLG490Y1S | RLG490Y1 | RLG491H1F | RLG492H1F | RLG492H1S | RLG493H1S | RLG493H1Y | RLG494Y1S | RLG494Y1Y Individual Studies
Staff
Student-initiated projects supervised by members of the Department. The student must obtain both a supervisor’s agreement and the Department’s approval in order to register. The maximum number of Individual Studies one may take is two full course equivalents. Deadline for submitting applications to Department including supervisor’s approval is the first week of classes of the session.
Updated July 26, 2016 (Updated RLG388)