Religion (REL)

Studies the origins and nature of religion, its relationship to cultures and spirituality, and modern religious issues. Meets departmental major requirement for core class.

Surveys biblical literature with attention to literary types and their historical background. Emphasizes the Pentateuch and the prophets. Meets departmental major requirement for core course or SC (Scripture).

This course introduces students to a particular faith tradition’s sacred texts. Each offering of the course will be tailored to focus on one selected religious group and provide a survey of the selected religious group under study, including the historical background, literary forms, concepts, ideas, views, content, and major figures of the tradition’s sacred texts. Not challengeable.

Focuses on history of the literature as well as major theological motifs. Meets departmental major requirement for core course or SC (Scripture).

Examines the origin and development of those religions, which undergird East, South, and Southeast Asian worldviews and societies. Meets departmental major requirement for NW (Non-Western Religion). Also SOC 311.

Explores the history and major beliefs of five religious traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and writings focused on peace and nonviolence drawn from each tradition. Additionally, the course examines the history of the Interfaith Movement. Special emphasis will be given to the way adherents of these religious traditions continue to practice their faith and the interfaith movement in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Not challengeable.

Surveys archeological discoveries relating to the Bible. Focuses on Israelite settlement of Palestine, the Romanization of Palestine, and Greco-Roman cities visited by Paul.

Examines the variety of contemporary Native American religions and spiritual experiences, focusing on beliefs and practices relating to nature, sacred places, and communal well-being. Not challengeable.

This course will utilize the lens of religious studies in order to explain, analyze, and critically think about the complex relationships between religion, film, and pop-culture. Students will engage with popular films and television shows/series, as well as social media phenomena and trends, that exemplify both traditional religious themes and new religious responses and challenges to today’s pressing social and ethical issues. Not challengeable.

This course is designed to examine the basic principles of ecology and environmental science and the fundamental concepts of various religions' eco-perspectives. It focuses on how religion shapes individuals' attitudes about the earth and influences how they interact with the environment. It explores both the implicit and explicit reasons why individuals make particular environmental decisions and examines the consequences of those decisions on the health of the earth and society. This course is not challengeable.

Examination of the structure and practice of scientific and mystical traditions, and how each discipline approaches the mind-body problem. Not challengeable.

Consults wide range of scholarship in doing close, firsthand study of Synoptic Gospels. Meets departmental major requirement for SC (Scripture).

Examines the first Christians within Roman Empire. Using archaeology and texts, examines early Christian practices and beliefs during the first two centuries. Not challengeable.

Examines the current religious and political polarization in America.

Examines contemporary movements in Christian thought, such as liberation theology, process theology, and feminist theology. Meets departmental major requirement TH (Theology).

This course focuses on the motif of liberation in the Latinx and Latin American culture. It traces its development through early religious and philosophical debates on the human rights and theological works on the human soul of indigenous peoples and those of African descent. The course explores the writings of key figures whose theological insights were influential in revolutionary or civic movements in Latin America and the United States. It seeks to study the development of a liberation consciousness from within the Latin American/Latinx milieu. Letter grade only. Not challengeable.

Studies special areas in contemporary religion, such as spirituality and social action, religion in the city, and religious existentialism.

Integrates methods and perspectives of Sociology and Religious Studies to explore the relationship between urban challenges and religiously based responses to these challenges.

Examines religious, ethnic, and economic diversity issues. Meets departmental major requirement for RS (Religion and Society). May be repeated with different topics. Not challengeable.

Student-designed courses approved by a faculty member. Prior approval of goals, objectives, procedures, and assessment plan as directed in the Independent Study Manual is required. May be taken multiple times with a different topic for credit. Not challengeable.

This is the culminating experience for the Interfaith minor. In conversation with seminal thinkers and key historical events, students develop their own philosophy and/or theology of interfaith cooperation and then put that theory into practice as they plan and implement an interfaith project. Students choose their own philosophers, theologians, historical figures/events that will help them develop their theoretical perspective. Letter grade only. Not challengeable.

Meets departmental major requirement for core class.

Not challengeable.

Culminating activity required by majors in all departments. Papers/theses/projects researched, prepared, and written under the guidance of a faculty member. Comprehensive exams or recitals required in some departments. Academically, Students must be in Good Standing to enroll in 499. Can be taken for letter grade only. Not challengeable.