Department of Religious Studies Fall 2019 Course Guide

Why Study Religion at Brown?The Department of Religious Studies is the main place on campus to study religious life around the world. An interdisciplinary field of study that bridges the humanities and social sciences, the academic study of religion cultivates understanding of societies and cultures through the world by exploring religious thought and practice in various historical, geographic, and political contexts. In addition to interrogating public and private concerns such as understandings of self, community, authority, and inequality, students learn how political affairs, institutions, conflicts, and social spheres commonly seen as secular have developed through religious beliefs, behaviors, values, and rituals. Concentrators are equipped with interdisciplinary skills of interpretation and analysis. Those skills include: close analysis of texts, images, artifacts, artistic works, and other social data; synthesis of research through written and verbal expression; interpretation of the past and present through multiple forms of evidence; and engagement with contemporary social issues and communities.

Many of today’s pressing political and social concerns are illuminated by an understanding of the religious ideas and practices that lie beneath the news headlines. By exploring the public and private concerns that religions engage — for example, the nature of community and solitude, suffering and death, good and evil — students discover new ways of interpreting the complex world in which they live. As students venture into the religions of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas and Europe, students not only learn about conflict and accord between religious traditions and communities but also between political, ethical, and economic perspectives typically seen as secular.

The Department of Religious Studies offers vibrant community and diverse courses That represent various academic approaches to the study of religion, including socio-historical, textual, ethnographical, ethical, and philosophical. Through these courses, the academic study of Religion at Brown engages a wide array of interests, questions, and approaches. At the same time, while respecting diversity in interest and approach, the Department of Religious Studies endeavors to foster an intellectual community among its faculty and students that is coherent, identifiable, and collegial.

Faculty Charrise Barron, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Religious Studies, Charrise_Barron@brown.edu

Shahzad Bashir, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Humanities,Shahzad_Bashir@brown.edu Nathaniel Berman, Rahel Varnhagen Professor of International Affairs, Law, and Modern Culture and Religious Studies,Nathaniel_Berman@brown.edu

Stephen Bush, Director of Graduate Studies, Associate Professor of Religious Studies,Stephen_Bush@brown.edu

Mark Cladis, Department Chair, Brooke Russell Astor Professor of the Humanities,Mark_Cladis@brown.edu

Larson DiFiori, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious StudiesLarson_DiFiori@brown.edu

Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Willard Prescott and Annie McClelland Smith Professor of Religion & History,Susan_Harvey@brown.edu

Jae Hee Han, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Jae_Han@brown.edu

Nancy Khalek, Associate Professor of Religious Studies,Nancy_Khalek@brown.edu

Thomas Lewis, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs (Graduate School, and Professor of Religious Studies,Thomas_Lewis@brown.edu

Megan McBride, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious StudiesMegan_McBride@brown.edu Finnian Moore-Gerety, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Finnian_Moore-Gerety@brown.edu

Paul Nahme, Dorot Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Paul_Nahme@brown.edu

Saul Olyan, Director of the Program in Judaic Studies, Samuel Ungerleider Jr. Professor of Judaic Studies, and Professor of Religious Studies, Saul_Olyan@brown.edu

Jason Protass, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies,Jason_Protass@brown.edu

Harold Roth, Director of Contemplative Studies and Professor of Religious Studies, Harold_Roth@brown.edu

Michael Satlow, Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies, Michael_Satlow@brown.edu

Srinivas Reddy, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies,Srinivas_Reddy@brown.edu

Janine Sawada, Professor of Religious Studies and East Asian Studies, Janine_Sawada@brown.edu

Daniel Vaca, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Robert Gale Notes Assistant Professor of the Humanities,Daniel_Vaca@brown.edu

Larry Wills, Visiting Professor of Religious Studies & Judaic Studies, Larry_Wills@brown.edu

André C. Willis, Associate Professor of Religious Studies,Andre_Willis@brown.edu

Undergraduate StudyDaniel Vaca, Director of Undergraduate Studies Tina Creamer, Departmental Administrator

The concentration in Religious Studies requires nine courses that include just one mandatory course, a junior seminar in method in the study of Religion (RELS 1000) and eight other courses. Those courses must conform to the following requirements: conforming to the following requirements:

• Among the concentration courses, students must have at least two intermediate-level (0200-0999) and two advanced-level courses (above 1000).

• Courses also must examine more than one religious tradition or culture. • Up to three courses taught by faculty in other departments also can count toward the program, as long as

you can justify the relevance of those courses to your course of study in Religious Studies. • Throughout your course of study, concentrators are encouraged to identify and develop their primary

theoretical, interpretive, or thematic interests and objectives with the Director of Undergraduate Studies or relevant faculty advisors.

• In the final year of study, concentrators undertake a capstone project that builds upon those interests and objectives. Capstone projects can take the form of a project for an existing course (subject to approval by its instructor, and independent study or an honors thesis.

Honors: To receive Honors in Religious Studies, a student must write an Honors Thesis. A thesis is an opportunity for students to conduct extended independent research under the guidance of the faculty. The thesis must earn an A from its readers for the student to receive Honors, and the student must have earned a grade point average of 3.5 in the concentration (as well as satisfy all the other concentration requirements).

The Bishop McVickar Prizes

The Bishop McVickar prizes were instituted in 1909 by the Rt. Rev. William Neilson McVickar, Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Dioceses of Rhode Island, 1898-1910, and are now awarded from the income of a fund established in 1923 in his memory by his sister, Miss E. C. McVickar.  

The prize is awarded annually for the best senior thesis of high quality and academic worth from any concentration submitted on any topic related to the study of religion.

Additionally, starting in the 2018-19 Academic Year, the Department of Religious Studies is offering research awards to students in the process of writing to help defray costs associated with thesis research.

For more information, including submission deadlines, please visit the department website or contact Prof. Daniel Vaca(Daniel_Vaca@brown.edu) or Tina Creamer (Tina_Creamer@brown.edu).

Grad Program Core Advisors:

Asian Religious Traditions (ART) ✦Prof. Jason ProtassJason_Protass@brown.edu

Religion & Critical Thought (RCT) ✦Prof. Stephen Bush,Stephen_Bush@brown.edu

Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean (RAM) ✦Prof. Saul OlyanSaul_Olyan@brown.edu

Islam, Society & Culture (ISC) ✦ Prof. Nancy Khalek,Nancy_Khalek@brown.edu

The graduate program in Religious Studies at Brown is one of the finest in the nation. From among a large pool of highly qualified applicants, the department admits four to six doctoral students a year. Our students receive five years of full funding; additional funding is possible but not guaranteed. The department’s graduates have an excellent placement record, teaching in such institutions as Harvard, Stanford, Indiana University, University of California, Brooklyn College, Reed College, Haverford, and University of Wisconsin (Madison). Current graduate students have distinguished themselves by presenting papers at international conferences and earning recognition and support from prestigious external funding organizations.

We offer Ph.D. studies in four areas: ★Asian Religious Traditions (ART)

★Religion and Critical Thought (RCT)

★Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean (RAM) (including Ancient Judaism, Early Christianity, early Islam and numerous others)

★Islam, Society & Culture (ISC). For more information on these programs, please visit the Departmental website.

In all programs, our goal is to combine specialized, rigorous training with a common and more general disciplinary approach to the study of religion. We don’t offer a general Master’s program, although under exceptional circumstances we will consider applications for a specialized MA program in one of the four designated areas.

Doctoral students are normally expected to complete two years of coursework beyond their Masters degree (or three years post-baccalaureate). These courses are primarily drawn from seminars offered by departmental faculty, but also include individual reading courses as well as courses in other departments, such as Classics, Philosophy, History, Comparative Literature, Anthropology, Political Science, and the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World. The third year is spent preparing for and taking Preliminary Exams, and the remaining years are devoted to developing the dissertation prospectus and researching and writing the dissertation.

Graduate Study Stephen Bush, Director of Graduate StudiesNicole Vadnais, Graduate Program Manager

COURSESFall 2019

RELS 0014 JesusJ. Han, MWF 10-10:50

RELS/COST 0036 Love and War in IndiaS. Reddy, T/Th 9-10:20

RELS 0090K Christmas in AmericaD. Vaca, Th 4-6:30

RELS 0090M Islam, Violence and MediaN. Khalek, T/Th 1-2:20

RELS 0110 ChristiansS. Harvey, MWF 12-12:50

RELS 0140/COST 0140/SAST 0526 Food, Religion, and Politics in South AsiaF. Moore-Gerety, T 4-6:30

RELS 0258 Art, Morality, and ReligionS. Bush, T/Th 1-2:20RELS 0505 Big Screen BuddhaJ. Protass, MWF 2-2:50, W 6-9

RELS 0526/COST 0526/SAST 0526 This Whole World is OM: Mantras in Indian ReligionsF. Moore-Gerety, T/Th 1-2:20,

RELS 0625 Articulating Islam in Southeast Asia S. Bashir, T/Th 9-10:20

RELS 0700D How the Bible Became HolyM. Satlow, T/Th 10:30-11:50*Must register for JUDS 0682

RELS 0700 E The Language of Religious Faith D. Jacobson, T/Th 2:30-3:50*Must register for JUDS 0820 RELS 0700F War and Peace in the Hebrew Bible and Its EnvironmentS. Olyan, T/Th 9-10:20*Must register for JUDS 0670.

RELS 0822 Social Justice and the Musical AfrofutureC. Barron, W 3-5:30 RELS 0835 Black and Brown Religion in America N. Khalek/A.Willis, T/Th 10:30-11:50

RELS 0841 Far Right Religious TerrorismM. McBride, T 4-6:30

RELS 1050A Problems in Israelite Religion and Ancient JudaismS. Olyan, Th 4-6:30*Must register for JUDS 1625.

RELS 1050E Jewish and Christian Identity in the Ancient PeriodL. Wills, T 4-6:30*Must register for JUDS 1601. RELS 1050F Digging for the Bible: Science, Religion, and Politics K. Galor, T 4-6:30*Must register for JUDS 1974.

RELS 1105 Kabbalah: An Introduction to Jewish MysticismN. Berman, T 4-6:30

RELS 1315 Religious Authority in an Age of Empire J. Han, M 3-5:30

RELS 1320 Social World of the Early ChristiansL. Wills, MWF 1-1:50

RELS 1380C Law and ReligionN. Berman, T/Th 2:30-3:50

RELS 1385 Religion and Postmodernism A. Willis, M 3-5:30RELS 1420/COST 1420 The Contemplative Foundations of Classical DaoismL. DiFiori, F 3-5:30, L T/Th 12-12:50

RELS 2000 Theory of ReligionT. Lewis, W 9:30-12:00RELS 2350D Studies in Japanese Religion J. Sawada, W 3-5:30RELS 2380B Reading Genres of Chinese Buddhist VerseJ. Protass, Th 4-6:30

RELS 2550C Tracing Translations: Artistic Migrations and Reinventions in the Early Modern World S. Bashir/H. Shaffer, W 12-2:30*Must register for HMAN 2400R

RELS 2890 Preliminary Examination PreparationRELS 2990 Thesis Preparation

CONTEMPLATIVE STUDIES COST 1082 Me, Myself, and I: Exploring Senses of Self from a Multidisciplinary PerspectiveJ. Lindahl/W.Britton, M 3-5:30

Course Descriptions

RELS 0014 JesusJ. Han

Who was, and is, Jesus? Who decides? What can we know about the historical Jesus and who he became? In this course, we will begin with the earliest accounts of Jesus as recounted in the canonical gospels and outside it (e.g., the Gospel of Judas). Then we will turn to the many ways that later generations of Christians (both heretical and orthodox) and non-Christians depicted Jesus, especially in art, literature, theology, politics, and entertainment. We will read canonical and non-canonical Christian texts, Jewish accounts of Jesus, the Quran, modern Christian apologetic literature, and analyze films like the Life of Brian.

RELS/COST 0036 Love and War in IndiaS. Reddy Love and War in India explores two fundamental cultural tropes that have significantly shaped the religious, literary, social and political life of South Asia. Building on the ancient Tamil conception of ham (love/interiority) and Purim (war/exteriority), and the Sanskrit ideas of kama (desire), dharma (duty) and ahimsa (non-violence) we will investigate a variety of texts on religious devotion, ethical behavior and political theory in order to contextualize the concepts of love and war within multiple arenas of Indian social and cultural life.

RELS 0090K Christmas in AmericaD. VacaThis course explores how Christmas became a religious, consumer, and social extravaganza. Every year, many Americans devote several months to preparing for and recovering from Christmas. Most participate as Christians, but others participate despite other religious identities. Yet Christmas has not always loomed so large. Through encounters with such phenomena as sacred stories, consumer practices, and legal controversies, this course invites students to ask how and why Christmas became an important event. By the end of the course, students not only will recognize how religion and culture take shape together but also will appreciate how popular practices develop.

RELS 0090M Islam, Violence and MediaN. KhalekOne of the most controversial issues in contemporary political discourse is the question of Islamist violence and its relationship to Islamic religion and practice. In this course, we will explore the phenomenon and media representation of radicalization, and their relationship to a number of institutions and issues, including but not limited to: religious texts, global politics, colonialism, war, and nationalism. The goals of this courses are to familiarize students with the historical and discursive issues pertaining to radicalism and religious violence in Islamic and non-Islamic contexts, and to posit questions about what constitutes “radicalism” in a given tradition or cultural context.

RELS 0110 Christians S. Harvey A historical survey of Christianity from its foundations to the present, tracing its development into three main branches: Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant. Reading from a variety of Christian “classics” accompany the survey, pursuing the theme of how-in different times, places, and circumstances-Christians have understood their relations to the divine and to the world.

RELS 0140/COST 0140/SAST 0140 Food, Religion and Politics in South AsiaF. Moore-GeretyWhy study food? What can food tell us about religion, politics, and culture? Food in South Asia shapes identity, social status, ritual purity, religious belonging, and political activism — the notion that you are what you eat has wide currency. Whatever form it takes, food embodies histories of migration, trade, empire, colonialism, and ethics. Through reading primary texts and ethnographic articles, watching films, and (of course) eating delicious food, we will explore the rich footways of South Asia and their social, religious, and political ramifications.

RELS 0258 Art, Morality and Religion S. Bush Art is supposed to please us with its beauty or provoke us with its message. Can it also affect our moral life? If so, how? This course examines influential attempts to explain the relationship between art, including literature, and morality. Religion and mysticism play a role in the theory of art for some authors, and we will study this theme as well, asking questions such as whether aesthetic experiences are analogous to religious ones. We will read theorists such as Bataille, Murdoch, Nehamas, and Nussbaum. We will also read literary works that illustrate the theories.

RELS 0505 Big Screen Buddha J. Protass

“Big Screen Buddha” examines representations of Buddhism(s) in diverse Asian cinemas. Classic, contemporary, documentary, experimental films include Thai ghost stories, a Tibetan comedy, and portrayals of Japanese priests as sound artists. We will survey major traditions of Buddhism, and closely examine local lived traditions. Students will confront problematic representations of race and ethnicity as well as misogyny. The existence of death, sex, and drugs will arise in discussion. Additional topics include sound and Buddhists experimenting with making the medium sacred. Background in the study of Buddhism or film not required, through preferred. Lecture with screening plus discussion each week.

RELS/COST 0526/SAST 0526 This Whole World is OM: Mantras in Indian ReligionsF. Moore-GeretyA mantra is a syllable or formula used in ritual meditation. Mantras are central to Indian religions — not only Hinduism, but also Jainism, Buddhism, Sufism, and Sikhism. Some mantras are made up of words and language —usually in Sanskrit—while others are sound fragments with no semantic meaning. The sacred syllable OM, now a global symbol of Eastern spirituality, exemplifies the power and authority of mantra. What are mantras? What do they accomplish? How do they shape identities, beliefs, and practices? Engaging with sacred utterance in various media, this course explores the world of mantras in India

RELS 0625 Articulating Islam in Southeast Asia S. Bashir

What do we mean when we talk about ‘Islamic’ Southeast Asia? This course treats Islam as part of the intensively multi-religious and multicultural societies of Southeast Asia. Our investigation of local Islamic sites will reveal histories and genealogies of religious practice that have connected Southeast Asia to other parts of the world. It will uncover the open-endedness of Islam, and hot it acquires its characteristics in relation to local landscapes and cultures, as well as other religions. Tracing multiple Islamic contexts through issues of socio-historical formation and continual change, this course explores complexities pertaining to religion, indigeneity and migration.

RELS 0700D/JUDS 0682 How the Bible Became HolyM. Satlow

Over the past 2,000 years, people have killed and died for the Bible, and it continues to exercise a powerful if contested role in modern politics. Yet how did it achieve this power? This course will trace the development of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) from its origins in ancient Israel to its development about five hundred years later as a foundational text of both Judaism and Christianity. The focus will be on how Jews and early Christians throughout antiquity understood and ascribed authority to the Bible.

RELS 0700E/JUDS The Language of Religious Faith D. Jacobson

A course on the ways poetry provides a language of religious faith that emerges from the sense of divine presence in human experience. We will explore how this language of religious faith expresses a wide range of both negative and positive responses by those seeking a relations with this divine presence, including fear, doubt, guilt, abandonment, ecstasy, gratefulness, hopefulness, and security. Our study of this phenomenon will yield insights into the relationship between psychology and spirituality. Sources will include the biblical books of Psalms and Job and contemporary Jewish and Christian poetry.

RELS 0700F/JUDS 0670 War and Peace in the Hebrew Bible and Its Environment S. Olyan

An examination of the role of war and peace in the Hebrew Bible and in texts and art of ancient Israel’s neighbors. Topics include divine beings, war and peace-peace-making; peace treaties; explaining defeat and victory; ideologies of warfare; the treatment of prisoners, corpses and captured bones; the warrior as masculine ideal; civil war and coups; treaty obligations; ritual dimensions of war and peace (e.g., mourning, animal sacrifice, child sacrifice, divination, memorializing war); visual representations of war as propaganda the idea of the future, eschatological war between the forces of good and the forces of evil. No prerequisites.

RELS 0822 Social Justice and the Musical AfrofutureC. Barron

Afrofuturism is an Afrocentric aesthetic and politics drawing from African cultures and science fiction. This course surveys black American Afrofuturist music as works of social justice activism through imagination and representation of alternative cosmologies, epistemologies, and politics of black life. Students will examine the works of artists such as Sun Ra, George Clinton, Erykah Badu, Missy Elliott and Janelle Monáe. Students will also study Afrofuturist music and sound in films such as Coming to America (1988), Get Out (2017), and blockbuster Black Panther (2018), and its soundtrack. Classes include discussion of audio/video recordings, other primary source material, and secondary texts.

RELS 0835 Black and Brown in AmericaN. Khalek/A. Willis

This course explores Black and Brown religious experience in American life, mainly from the perspectives of Christianity and Islam. We will explore topics such as secularism, White supremacy, Orientalism, imperialism, immigration, the history of segregation, and democratic politics thought. The course goals are to: understand the histories of Islam and African American religion vis a vis race, religion, and theory in historical cultural, and political context. We will also explore connections between solidarity movements and politics such as Black Lives Matter and the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.

RELS 0841 Far-Right Religious TerrorismM. McBride

Since 9/11, far-right violence extremists in the U.S. have committed almost twice as many terrorist attacks as Islamist terrorists, and are responsible for nearly half of all terrorism fatalities. While not all these attacks are religiously motivated, in many instances they are explicitly Christian in their orientation. This course examines domestic and international far-right religious terrorism - as well as the U.S. government’s response to this violence - by looking at attacks that are anti-abortion, white-supremacist, anti-government, and anti-immigrant.

RELS 1050A/JUDS 1601 Problems in Israelite Religion and Ancient Judaism S. Olyan

A series of topics in Israelite religion and ancient Judaism which are of current scholarly interest are explored in a seminar setting. Students are encouraged to read widely and pursue individual research interests. The course assumes a basic knowledge of biblical literature and scholarly criticism.

RELS 1050E/JUDS 1601 Jewish and Christian Identity in the Ancient PeriodL. Wills

The modern engagement with the many ways that we construct identity has been matched by a similar wave of studies about identity construction in the ancient world. In this course we will discuss the rise of “Judaism” and “Jewish Identity” in the ancient period (looking at roughly 400 BCE-200 CE), and compare it will the movement of the follower of Jesus as a negotiation of a new identity within Judaism (roughly 30 CE - 200 CE). We will conclude with the question of the “Parting of the Ways” of these two groups.

RELS 1050F/JUDS 1974 Digging for the Bible: Science, Religion, and PoliticsK. Galor

Archaeological exploration in the “Holy Land” began in the mid-19th century and was motivated by the quest to discover the biblical sites. This region features among the most important visual and material remains connected to the origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This seminar will explore the relevant material remains from the Bronze Age through the end of the Ottoman period, and examine how these finds and their interpretations were shaped by religious and political motivations from the earliest endeavors to the present day.

RELS 1105 Kabbalah: An Introduction to Jewish MysticismN. Berman In the 12th and 13th centuries, new ways of approaching Judaism sprung up in France and Spain that would come to be known as “kabbalah.” These new approaches expressed aspirations for mystical illumination and elaborated vast mythological narratives about divine and demonic beings. The kabbalists radically departed from the then-conventional understanding of Judaism, particularly those of philosophers like Maimonides. However, they also claimed to find their new worldview in the tradition’s most ancient texts. This course will introduce students to Kabbalah’s founding period, focusing on primary texts (in translation), especially the Zohar, the magnum opus of classical Kabbalah.

RELS 1315 Religious Authority in the Age of Empire J. HanHow does one live In a hostile Empire? How do you carve out a niche? Where do you allow the Empire in and where do you draw a hard line? Such were the questions that both Jewish and Christian communities faced at various times in the Roman Empire. In this course, we will look at the variety of ways that both communities negotiated with and against Empire. We will read texts across religious lines, including gospels, gnostic texts, Rabbinic literature, apocalypses, and Church orders. To sharpen our thinking, we will also read literature associated with post-colonial critical thought.

RELS 1320 Social World of the Early ChristiansL. Wills The followers of Jesus created a movement that spread quickly from rural Galilee to the largest cities of the Roman Empire, ultimately to become the largest religion in the world. Increasingly, scholars write a history of the early movement by learning more about its historical context, the Jewish, Greek, and Roman worlds. The fascinating tests of the followers of Jesus will be studied in comparison to equally fascinating non-Christian texts, with a focus on social categories: patterns of new religious movements, with reference to race, class, gender, ability, and other categories.

RELS 1380C Law and ReligionN. Berman

In our arguably “post-secular” age, conflicts over the relationship between religion and law have again moved to the forefront of international debate. In a multicultural and globalized world, such conflicts often provoke contestation over the very possibility of universal definitions of either “religion” or “law,” let alone their proper relationship. Our interdisciplinary inquiries on these questions will include concrete legal disputes in domestic and international courts; theoretical debates over the construction of “religion” in fields such as anthropology, religious studies, and philosophy; and historiographical controversies about the relationship between “secularization” and sovereignty, particularly in light of the legacy of colonialism.

RELS 1385 Religion and PostmodernismA. Willis

This advanced seminar treats the central ideas in though of Zizek, Sloterdijk, Bauman, and others. It will pay particular attention to the idea of God in the works of Derrida, Foucault, and Deleuze as it filters through these contemporary, popular efforts. Students will trace some of the normative aspects of a postmodern ethics and theology by looking at "Emergent" churches, "New Thought", and post-foundational Christian theology in practice.

RELS/COST 1420 The Contemplative Foundations of Classical Daoism

Introduction to classical Daoism, one of the two indigenous religions of China, through the history, philosophy, and contemplative practices found in its foundational works, the Daodejing and the ZhuangI. Through careful study of these texts, we will attempt to reconstruct the intellectual and experiential elements on which this tradition was based.

RELS 2000 Theory of ReligionT. Lewis Critical examination of major approaches to the study of religion, especially those of the anthropology and the history of religions, with attention to issues in current debate.

RELS 2380B Reading Genres of Chinese Buddhist VerseJ. Protass

This seminar provides skills for interpreting major genres and modes of Buddhist verse in China through close reading of primary sources, translation exercises, and discussion. Topics include: Buddhist epics and scriptural gather in translation; nuns’ epitaph inscriptions; popular vernacular songs, such as by Hanshan; stylized eremitism, or mountain-dwelling poems; liturgical hymns; encomia inscribed paintings; Chan commentarial verse on “public cases” (gong’an, J. koan); social and occasional poetry; poems about the Pure Land; poetic tradition among late imperial monks; and contemporary Taiwanese poetry. Requirements: background in academic study of Buddhism and facility with Chinese or Japanese language.

RELS 2350D Studies in Japanese Religions J. Sawada

Intensive study of the history of Japanese religions with attention to major scholarly issues in the field.

RELS 2890 Preliminary Examination PreparationFor graduate students who have met the tuition requirement and are paying the registration fee to continue active enrollment while preparing for preliminary examinations.

RELS 2990 Thesis Preparation

For graduate students who have met the residency requirement and are continuing research on a full time basis.

RELS 2550C/HMAN 2400R Tracing Translations: Artistic Migrations and Reinventions in the Early Modern World S. Bashir/H. Shaffer

This is a seminar about what happens when arts and ideas move. It defines processes of artistic and literary translation, from the repetition and reuse of narratives to the uncanny meeting of pictorial conventions to the tweaks, adjustments, and inventions that propelled arts across the early modern world. We will address theories of translation and imitation, and focus on problems of style, language, imposters, dictionaries, media, and ethnography, especially in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Class will include training in artistic practices of replication and a collaborative project with special collections.

COST 1082/CLPS 1782 Me Myself and I: Exploring Senses of Self from a Multidisciplinary PerspectiveJ. Lindahl/W. Britton

Human beings have long puzzled over how precisely to conceptualize and understand what and how it is that we are. Questions about the nature of the self have informed the speculations of philosophy, the soteriologies of religion, the trajectories of self-cultivation in contemplative traditions, and the therapeutics of psychology. Recently, cognitive science and phenomenology have developed new explanations of how multiple senses of self shape lived experience and give rise to various self-concepts. Students in this course will engage with dimensions of selfhood that we often take for granted by studying senses of self from multidisciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives.

For more information regarding Contemplative Studies, please contact Anne Heyrman-Hart, Anne_Heyrman-Hart@brown.edu.

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The Department of Religious StudiesBrown University Shirley Miller House59 George StreetBox 1927Providence, RI 02912

www.brown.edu/academics/religious-studies

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