Introduces religion in India, China and Japan; also the movements of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Humanism.
NOTE Also offered online. Consult Arts and Science Online. Learning Hours may vary.

This course will explore how religion is portrayed in film, noting particularly the depiction of religious belief, practices, practitioners, and institutions, and the use of religious symbols and metaphors.

This course examines the categories of both science and religion and attempts to explore the possible relationships between them. Case studies involve: medicine and health, relationships with other animals, concepts of human nature, super/natural ontologies, and science-and-technology-based religions.

Explores religious issues in culture, literature, politics and social ethics.

This course will identify and describe characteristics of religion as they appear in news reports of social, political, and economic aspects of public life and analyze how the news presents, shapes, and creates perceptions of religion in public discourse.

This course will identify and describe characteristics of religion as they appear in popular culture (e.g. fashion; comics; movies; art; music; novels; sitcoms; dramas; video games) and analyze how such depictions present, shape, and create perceptions of religion in public discourse.

This course will examine the vital role that different religious ideas and groups play in major development organizations and initiatives. Students will look at how religious ideas and groups have influenced issues around global poverty, pandemics, child welfare, economics and debt relief, education, etc.

A topic of current interest in Religious Studies not covered in other available courses.
NOTE This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.

A topic of current interest in Religious Studies not covered in other available courses.
NOTE This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.

Religion and other belief systems played a crucial role in governing empires, ranging from homogenization to accepting diversity - and even to both approaches or strategies in the same empire. The course critically assesses constructions of "religion" as a category and concerning inequality and diversity in global history.
NOTE Also offered online, consult Arts and Science Online (Learning Hours may vary).

This course explores the role of mind/body-altering substances in religions; as things claimed to be of spiritual significance; and as the objects of a fervor (today's "psychedelic renaissance") that we religion scholars can analyze as a new religious movement. It attends to western appropriation of plants and fungi sacred to Indigenous peoples.

This course will examine the history of islamophobia, the history of antisemitism, and other kinds of xenophobia related to religion and religious communities around the world. Students will become closely acquainted with the origins of these ideas, how they were articulated in the past, and the ways in which they play out in the contemporary world.

This course examines the life and work of Jewish radical thinkers: analysts, anarchists, communists, feminists, environmentalists, and anti-nationalists. We will be interested both in the ways they created difficulties for dominant cultural and political institutions, and traditional Jewish authorities.

Introduction in the light of the political, cultural, and religious history of ancient Israel and Judah.

Similarities and differences in the myths of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia will be explored on the basis of material remains (e.g., the pyramids and temple architecture) and texts.

How did Christianity begin? This course will examine early Christian writings, including the New Testament, to explore how a small sectarian group grew to gain acceptance in the Roman empire.

Introduction to Christianity as a religious tradition through its texts, its history and its contemporary forms.

All religions were once new, small, and unusual to the cultures around them - often therefore attracting suspicion. This course examines the practices, beliefs, and histories of several NRMs, and why some gain legitimacy while others get derided as "cults." Doing so illuminates broader processes like mythmaking, Othering, and (de)secularization.

Developments through 3,000 years of Indian history; the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, Yoga and Vedanta, mythology of Vishnu and Shiva, and recent Hindu thinkers (e.g., Tagore, Aurobindo).

Buddhism in India, the life and teaching of Gautama the Buddha, and the growth of the Theravadin and Mahayanist traditions.

The philosophy, worldview, spirituality and ethics of Taoism, China's organized indigenous religion, in Chinese history and in the contemporary world.

Historical and topical survey of Islam, its development through the study of its rise, institutionalization of its beliefs and practices, formation of its theology, law, mysticism; as well as its modern interpretations and practices.

Introduction to the study of the Indigenous religious experience in Canada and abroad.

The religious institutions produced by the Jews from the second to the seventh centuries. This course will explore in critical fashion the principal areas of rabbinic activity including: topics on jurisprudence, philosophy, social and political thinking, the role of tradition and scriptures.

The philosophy, worldview, spirituality and ethics of Confucianism in its classical, modern and contemporary forms.

This course will examine the field of social movements studies, with a particular focus on how religion has played a role in the rise of social movements, how religious communities have been influenced by social movements, and how mobilization and activism around social justice issues is coloured by religion and culture.

An introduction to the self-definition of Judaism through an analysis of the concepts of God, Torah and Israel past and present. Also, a preliminary study of the struggles facing Jews in Europe, the State of Israel and North America.

Examines how religious traditions shape human values and behaviours towards the environment and how environmental problems are shaping the evolution of religious and spiritual traditions.

Views of and attitudes toward sexuality in selected world religions; the place of sexuality in religious traditions; relationship between sex and the sacred; specific topics such as marriage, gay and lesbian issues, contraception will be chosen.

This course will provide an overview of the relatively new and expanding body of research that examines the relationship between sport, spirituality and religion. Topics including play, games, flow, ritual, prayer, sports stars as role models, doping, fandom and miracles in sport will be explored.

Studies the differences between the categories of religion, magic, witchcraft, the supernatural, etc., as constructed in scholarship, popular culture, and practice. Focuses on examples such as New Religious Movements, depictions of magic in film and TV, and moral panics over alleged occult practices, and the histories that let us make sense of them.

The course addresses the sacred or profane status of objects in Indigenous cosmologies. What they are, mean, and do, and how Indigenous persons position themselves in relation to them. This leads to reflections on the object/subject division, the condition of materiality and immateriality, and the resulting nature of spirits in Indigenous worlds.

Examines how hero stories are formed, transmitted, and function using a variety of source materials from ancient writings through to contemporary cultural expressions.

The academic study of mysticism; mystical movements; and mystics.

An investigation into the techniques of critical reading and writing for research in Religious Studies.

Following the specific roles usually associated with the category "shamanism", this course examines empirical accounts on the knowledges and practices of various types of spiritual specialists, such as sages, healers, diviners, priests, sorcerers, and mediums in Indigenous traditions in Canada and various regions of the world.

Moral problems and religious responses: e.g., sexual morality; violence; civil disobedience.

This course examines the historical and contemporary expressions of Islam in Canada. Starting from early Muslim migrants to Canada to current issues of media representations, Islamophobia, and gender and sexuality, as they are unfolding in Canadian contexts for Muslims.

A topic of current interest in Religious Studies not covered in other available courses.
NOTE This course is repeatable for credit under different topic titles.

A topic of current interest in Religious Studies not covered in other available courses.

An examination of some of the issues raised by the feminist critique of traditional theology and of some feminist attempts at theological reconstruction. In this course we will look at feminist theologies and Christianity.

This course examines the complex intersection of gender, sexuality and religion and the ways in which religious traditions have shaped and continue to shape complex notions of gender and sexuality in the modern era. It considers a review of feminist, gender studies and queer theories, thereafter we will apply these concepts to case studies.

A study of the development and organization of non-civic religious associations in the Greek and Roman empires using inscriptions, papyri, and literary texts. Insight into religious practices of the Greco-Roman period comes through exploration of groups organized by deity, cult, occupation, or ethnic identity, and the so-called mystery religions.

Surveys the history and philosophy of yoga in India and the West.
NOTE Yoga Practicum: estimated cost $90.

Explores the role of religion in the politics of Muslim societies with particular attention to the modern period.

The primary focus of the course will be the theological perspectives and social functions of apocalypse in select religious traditions. The course will also survey the appropriation of apocalyptic themes throughout history in artistic forms such as art, fiction, and film, with particular attention to our modern times and cultures.

Links between violence and religious beliefs, practices and institutions; for example, sacrifice, holy wars, scapegoating, and suicide.

The course will explore the intersection of race, ethnicity, and religion, alongside gender, sexuality, culture and more. It will challenge students to think about how racial identities, theories, and movements implicate(d) the way religious communities construct their own systems and worldviews.

A study of the tensions that come into play as Jews formulated views of the Other to balance co-existence with them. Source materials include authoritative writings of Jewish commentary and law and social scientific views of them.

Deals with the role of religion in the public sphere and its relation to liberal democracy. It examines the (in)compatibility of some tenets of certain religions with modern democratic principles.

A study of concepts intended to summarize positions which are necessarily defined in reference to religion but considered to be other than religious. We explore the origins and presents of perspectives and experiences including the secular, spiritual-but-not-religious, atheistic, and other forms of imitation, indifference, and hostility to religion.

The seminar deals with the knowledges and practices through which Indigenous peoples conceptualize and approach what the West calls "Nature". Applying their underlying principles, we further analyze contemporary initiatives to promote interspeciesism, and to grant rights to Nature and legal personhood to different elements of the environment.

An examination of discursive, historiographical, and affective aspects of a variety of historical and contemporary artistic expressions (e.g., painting, sculpture, video) through the lens of Religious Studies.
NOTE Field Trip (National Gallery of Ottawa): estimated cost $55.

This course looks at issues raised by the intersection of religion and human enhancement technologies. We will consider categories of biohacking, AI, and possible future technologies including mind uploading. Engaging diverse religious issues, we will consider what it means to be human and "better".

This course explores conversations regarding women, gender, and sexuality in Islam from classical to the modern period. This is a survey course that utilizes gender and religious studies theories. We will engage with textual traditions of Muslim women and contemporary treatment of women and queer Muslims in Muslim societies.

An introduction to major theoretical approaches to the study of religion.

The aim of this course is to provide an overview of some ethical issues that arise at the intersection of biomedicine and religion. These ethical issues include moral distress, consent, beginning of life issues, indigeneity and healing, medically assisted death, gene editing, and anti-aging interventions.

Students will develop background knowledge and analytic skills necessary to identify and negotiate religious commitments in business relationships and resolve ethical issues around the role of religion in business contexts. We will analyze case studies to explore various ways in which business practitioners can and do address questions arising in everyday interactions in the business world.

Religious fundamentalism is a modern phenomenon not exclusive to any religion. In the past few decades, religious fundamentalist movements have been shaping new social, cultural and political norms in a predominately secular age. The course explores theoretical aspects and examines specific case studies across various religions and cultures.

Encounter between Buddhism and the West, major movements and thinkers, and socio-politically engaged Buddhism.

Examines Chinese and foreign religions in mainland China from 1949 to the present day. Topics include the status of established religions, the political control of new religious movements and the resurgence of traditional Chinese religions and ideologies including Daoism and Confucianism.

Exploration of Islamic developments since the 19th century: major thinkers, trends of thought, and contemporary movements as responses to modernity.

The development of modern Jewish thought and practice, including the Reform, Orthodox, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements. The consequences of the Holocaust and the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

Advanced seminar providing detailed reading of one contemporary theme or thinker in religious studies.

Religion in modernity; traditional groups, newer religious movements, contemporary ideologies and social trends of religious significance.

Reading courses on topics not covered in other available courses, arranged with individual members of the Department.

Reading courses on topics not covered in other available courses, arranged with individual members of the Department.
NOTE RELS 502/3.0 may be taken independently or as a continuation of RELS 501/3.0.

Exceptionally qualified students entering their third- or fourth-year may take a program of independent study provided it has been approved by the Department or Departments principally involved. The Department may approve an independent study program without permitting it to be counted toward a concentration in that Department. It is, consequently, the responsibility of students taking such programs to ensure that the concentration requirements for their degree will be met.
NOTE Requests for such a program must be received one month before the start of the first term in which the student intends to undertake the program.