This list is subject to revision. Schedules for courses that are co-taught with undergraduate courses will be available in July when the University releases the 2023-2024 Timetable. Courses that are for graduate students only will be scheduled after the University Timetable is released, and throughout the summer as instructor and student schedules are arranged.
Fall 2023
RELS 800 - Professional Development Seminar
Monthly seminar series for building graduate students¿ professional academic and alt-academic skills through workshops, Q&As, and presentations about topics including: publishing, conferencing, funding, applying for further graduate study or employment, etc. Topics will be timed to the appropriate point in the cycle of each academic year (i.e. sessions on SSHRC and OGS will occur early in Fall semester). This is a mandatory course. This course is graded on a Pass/Fail basis.
RELS 801 - Core Course I: Religion and Modernity
Examines the nature of religious transition in response to various pressures for religious change.
RELS 808 - Readings in Religion I
Advanced seminar providing detailed reading of one contemporary theme or thinker in Religious Studies.
RELS 821 - Greek and Roman Religions (RELS 321)
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.
RELS 826 - Religion and Politics in Muslim Societies (RELS 326)
Explores the role of religion in the politics of Muslim societies with particular attention to the modern period.
RELS 842 - Indigeneity and Nature (RELS 342)
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.
RELS 897 - Judaism in the Modern Age (RELS 398)
The development of modern Jewish religious 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.
Winter 2024
RELS 800 - Professional Development Seminar
Monthly seminar series for building graduate students¿ professional academic and alt-academic skills through workshops, Q&As, and presentations about topics including: publishing, conferencing, funding, applying for further graduate study or employment, etc. Topics will be timed to the appropriate point in the cycle of each academic year (i.e. sessions on SSHRC and OGS will occur early in Fall semester). This is a mandatory course. This course is graded on a Pass/Fail basis.
RELS 802 - Theory and Method in Religious Studies
Looks at recent articulations and applications of theories and methods in Religious Studies.
RELS 806 - Directed Special Studies 1 - Understanding Ritual (RELS 301)
This seminar explores the various approaches to understanding what is often referred to as "ritual" and "ritual practice". From life-cycle celebrations, public festivals, and worship of the gods to parties, artistic performances, political speeches, and simple everyday gestures, religious and secular rituals will be examined from different perspectives and with examples from different regions of the world.
RELS 822 - Yoga in India and the West (RELS 322)
Surveys the history and philosophy of yoga in India and the West. Yoga practicum: estimated cost $85.00.
RELS 831 - Religion and Violence (RELS 331)
Links between violence and religious beliefs, practices, and institutions; for example, sacrifice, holy wars, scapegoating, and suicide.
RELS 840 - Religion and Democracy (RELS 340)
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.
RELS 886 - Religion and Technology
Examines the connections between religion and the rise of technology in the modern period.
RELS 887 - Problems in Ancient Mediterranean Religions
An interdisciplinary study of the religions and mythical traditions of Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures from the Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. Topics will vary according to instructor. The course will have special regard for, but not be limited to, the Levant, and the Greek and Roman world.
More information about our graduate courses can be found in the School of Graduate Studies Academic Calendar.