Fall 2022
World Religions
Aaron Spevack PhD, Senior Research Associate and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University and Associate of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University
This course seeks to introduce students to a variety of religious traditions, texts, and practices through the lenses provided by the academic study of religion. The traditions studied include Islam, Taoism, Judaism, Hinduism, and Rastafari(ism). Topics studied include liminal states and rites of passage, symbols and social belonging, the sacred and the profane, music and trance, and religion and politics. While this course exposes students to some of the most important figures, texts, beliefs, and practices of these traditions, students also develop analytical frameworks of inquiry through which to contemplate and experience religious concepts and practices provided by the various theorists of the academic study of religion along with comparative insider frameworks of analysis.
Spring 2023
Birds in Religion and Mythology
Kimberley Christine Patton PhD, Professor of the Comparative and Historical Study of Religion, Harvard Divinity School
Since the Paleolithic period, birds have appeared in art and ceremony as emblems of the soul, the spirits, and the gods. They found cities and dive or scratch to create the world; descend to kings, queens, and messiahs; journey to find God; inspire the shaman's journey; and in their flight, reveal the future. This course surveys some of the renowned birds that fly through the history of religion, evolution, epic, and mythology. We consider how these tiny, winged dinosaurs have come to mean so much and what their lives show now.
Spring 2023
Religion, the Arts, and Social Change
Diane L. Moore PhD, Lecturer on Religion, Conflict, and Peace, Founding Director of Religion and Public Life, Harvard Divinity School
Through historical and contemporary case studies, this course examines the intersection of religion and politics through the lens of the arts. What do particular artistic expressions reveal about religious influences and worldviews within specific social and historical contexts? How do political assumptions about religion and culture influence artistic expression? Genres may include literature, poetry, visual art, music, theater, and dance. The course is divided into roughly four segments. The first segment consists of an introduction of the tools of analysis and the methods that are employed for our exploration of the intersections among religion, the arts, and social change. The second segment focuses on two case studies in depth: the Christian Passion story in historic and contemporary representations, and contemporary Palestinian artists. The third segment consists of a series of shorter case studies chosen by the class from among several options. The fourth segment focuses on the construction and presentation of individual final projects that can take the form of either a personal artistic creation representing the themes of the course or a new case study.
Spring 2023
Religious Dimensions in Human Experience: Apocalypse, Sports, Music, Home, Sacrifice, Medicine
Davíd Carrasco PhD, Neil L. Rudenstine Professor for the Study of Latin America, Harvard University
What is religion? Why does it show up everywhere? Using archaeology, religious studies, and social thought, this course studies the major themes in the history of religions including encountering the holy, sports and ritual, crossing borders, sacrifice as creation, pilgrimage and sacred place, suffering and the quest for wisdom, music and social change, and violence and cosmic law. Readings originate from Native American, African American, Latinx/+, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, and Hindu traditions. The course focuses on the tension between individual encounters with the holy and the social construction of religion. Readings include works by Gloria Anzald a, Toni Morrison, Judith Sherman, Arthur Kleinman, the Popul Vuj, Mircea Eliade, and Michael D. Jackson.
Fall 2022
Ballots and Bibles: Why and How Americans Bring Scriptures into Their Politics
David F. Holland PhD, John A. Bartlett Professor of New England Church History, Harvard Divinity School
In 2018, the US attorney general used a scriptural passage to defend tougher implementation of immigration laws. His reference bewildered observers who were unaware of a long tradition of citing Romans 13 in American political controversies and conflicts, including the American Revolution and the crisis over slavery. This course introduces students to a complex history of political invocations of scripture. Students engage thoughtfully with primary sources (campaign speeches, Congressional debates, and civil rights slogans) and scholarly literature, such as the wealth of research on the history of biblical justifications for war, biblically inflected calls for social justice, and scripturally resonant theories of Constitutional interpretation. The objective of the course is to equip students to recognize the historical legacies that contemporary political conversations carry, to engage critically the modes of textual interpretation that inform political rhetoric, and to write cogently about the complex implications of political appeals to scriptural authority.
Spring 2023
Religion, Conflict, and Peace in Contemporary Global Affairs
Diane L. Moore PhD, Lecturer on Religion, Conflict, and Peace, Founding Director of Religion and Public Life, Harvard Divinity School
In this course, we explore a series of contemporary conflicts in different regions of the world with a special focus on identifying and analyzing the diverse and complex roles that religions play in both promoting and mitigating violence in each context. Students learn a method for recognizing and analyzing how religious ideologies are embedded in all arenas of human agency and not isolated from political, economic, and cultural life as is often assumed. In addition to examining the conflicts themselves, we also explore the religious dimensions of the impacts those conflicts have on civic life in areas such as public health, education, and commerce. What roles do religions play in fostering violence and what roles do they play in promoting peace? How do religious institutions and ideologies function to support and/or thwart public health initiatives? What are the ideological justifications for functional economic policies and how do they reflect and/or challenge diverse religious values? What roles do religions play in advancing or suppressing educational opportunities and for whom? Are media representations of the religious dimensions of conflict accurate? Countries of focus are drawn from Brazil, France, Israel and Palestine, Myanmar, Nigeria, Syria, and the United States, though new case studies are being developed and may be included. Final projects are individually shaped based on interest and (where relevant) professional focus. The course is open to all and especially relevant for aspiring or professional educators, journalists, public health workers, foreign service officers, and government officials who wish to better understand how religions function in contemporary world affairs.
Fall 2022
Mindfulness, Meaning, and Resilience
Chris Berlin MDiv, Instructor in Ministry Studies and Pastoral Counseling, and Counselor to Buddhist Students, Harvard Divinity School
Mindfulness is a way of attending to the experience of the present moment with full awareness and without judgment or reactivity. Studies show the benefits of mindfulness include stress reduction, emotional balance, greater mental focus, and increased physical well-being. This introductory course explores the origins of mindfulness in Buddhist philosophy and how it can promote these states, as well as foster greater resilience especially during challenging times. We also discuss its present-day interface with Western psychology, how mindfulness is being applied in clinical contexts, and the role that meaning plays in mindfulness practice and building resilience.
Spring 2023
Compassion, Science, and the Contemplative Arts
Chris Berlin MDiv, Instructor in Ministry Studies and Pastoral Counseling, and Counselor to Buddhist Students, Harvard Divinity School
Recent research shows significant benefits from cultivating empathy and compassion, ranging from physiological changes and brain biology to psychological and emotional well-being. Mindfulness and contemplative practices in Buddhism that emphasize compassion are also increasingly being integrated into Western clinical approaches for mental health. Other studies document the obstacles to compassion that can arise from experiencing fear and prolonged adversity, making it a challenge for some to value empathy, altruistic behavior, and the desire to alleviate suffering for others. This course draws on trends in mindfulness and the Buddhist view of compassion in theory and practice, as well as on scientific research, to explore how compassion can be applied to clinical contexts as informed by contemplative approaches. We also consider notions of compassion fatigue, self-compassion, compassion training for trauma, and its impact on neuroplasticity.
Spring 2023
Islam in America
Khalil Abdur-Rashid PhD, Lecturer on Muslim Studies, Harvard Divinity School and Muslim Chaplain, Harvard University
This course is a comprehensive exploration of the history and contemporary landscape of Islam in America. The course contains a brief introduction to Islam and is then divided into five parts. Part one covers Islam in America from the colonial era to the founding of the United States and into the first three presidents. Part two goes into the Barbary Wars and the discourse related to American slavery with respect to encounters with Islam. The juxtaposition of West African Muslims enslaved in the American south with white American sailors held captive by North African Muslim corsairs helped galvanize an abolitionist movement that was cloaked in Islamic tropes. Part three explores the rise of social reform movements in America and the use of Islamic tropes (or Islamicism) to give meaning to such movements. In particular, the course explores the temperance, abolitionist, corporal punishment, and rural cemetery movements. Known as Islamicism, the cultural interpellations of Islam become used to establish new social norms and cultural standards in America in this period. Part four covers Islam in the African American community. This part reveals the major catalysts and gateways for what has been called a communal conversion by an American group to Islam. It is here that the birth of a new community, a new art form, and a new method in the struggle for civil and human rights in America becomes essential to the defining of American Islam. Finally, part five explores the rise of American Islamophobia in the 9/11 era. In this section, this course reveals how anti-Muslim hate and violence has shaped the community and its response, and explores the lasting impact that shapes American Islam and Muslims today.