Spring 2024 Courses | Center for the Study of Religion

**Updated 10/13/2023. Listings are subject to change. Students, confirm meeting arrangements in BuckeyeLink when enrolling**

Writing seminar based on students' independent research.

Prereq: 3990 (398), and 500 or a 4000-level course in CompStd, and Sr standing; or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 598.

*For Major credit only.

Introduction to religious views of the universe, the supernatural, social organization, ethics, etc., through sacred texts (oral and written) of diverse cultures and historical periods.

Prereq: English 1110 (110), or equiv. Not open to students with credit CompStd 2102.02 (202.02). GE lit and diversity global studies course.

Introduction to the academic study of religion through comparison among major traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.) and smaller communities.

Prereq: English 1110 (110) or equiv. Not open to students with credit for 2370H or CompStd 2370H (270H) or 2370 (270). GE cultures and ideas and diversity global studies course.

Survey of contemporary theories and methods used in the academic study of religion.

Prereq: 2370 (270) or 2370H (270H) or equiv. Not open to students with credit for RelStds 4972 or CompStd 4972 (520).

Study of ancient Greek religions, including the beginnings of Christianity.

Prereq: Not open to students with credit for Classics 323. GE historical study course. GE foundation historical and cultural studies course.

Historical and contemporary issues of American Indian identity, primarily in U.S.; focus on American Indian authors, artists, and scholars.

Prereq: English 1110 (110) or equiv. Not open to students with credit for 542. GE cultures and ideas and diversity soc div in the US course.

Reading and analysis of selected chapters from the Hebrew scriptures and post-biblical Hebrew writings representative of major historical, cultural, and literary trends.

Prereq: English 1110. Not open to students with credit for 2700H, JewshSt 2700, or 2700H. GE lit and diversity global studies course. Cross-listed with JEWSHST 2700.

This course investigates the Apostle Paul through a historical, critical study of his own letters and the later legends that grew up around the figure. We look at the significance of Paul's life and the competing ways its story was retold, appropriated, or resisted in late antiquity. Our historical approach means attention to questions concerning the past. How did Paul create a new religious and social world for his congregations? What were the conflicts that he aimed to resolve in those nascent communities? And what kinds of trouble did Paul create for his later interpreters (ancient, medieval, and modern)? Asking such answers involves careful study of ancient Judaism, Hellenistic culture, and the Roman imperial society in which Paul lived and wrote. It also involves a critical look at the traditional history of Western culture about Paul from a host of modern thinkers from Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud.

Assigned Readings:

The SBL Study Bible, Student Edition, fully Revised and Updated, edited by The Society of Biblical Literature (HarperCollins, 2023).
The Writings of St. Paul, 2nd edition, edited by Wayne A. Meeks and John T. Fitzgerald (W. W. Norton, 2007).
Wayne A. Meeks, The First Urban Christians, 2d Edition (Yale University Press, 2003).
J. Albert Harrill, Paul the Apostle: His Life and Legacy in Their Roman Contexts (Cambridge University Press, 2015).

Assignments: Two papers, Midterm and Final Examinations.

Prereq or concur: English 1110.xx, GE foundation writing and info literacy course, or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for Clas 3407. GE lit course and historical study course. GE foundation lit, vis and performing arts and historical and cultural studies course.

Dual-career course (offered both for graduate credit and undergraduate credit), the piggy-back of HIST 3218. Students will attend the lectures of HIST 3218, do its readings and exams, but also meet with the instructor for a bimonthly seminar with a supplemental syllabus.

This course investigates the Apostle Paul through a historical, critical study of his own letters and the later legends that grew up around the figure. We look at the significance of Paul's life and the competing ways its story was retold, appropriated, or resisted in late antiquity. Our historical approach means attention to questions concerning the past. How did Paul create a new religious and social world for his congregations? What were the conflicts that he aimed to resolve in those nascent communities? And what kinds of trouble did Paul create for his later interpreters (ancient, medieval, and modern)? Asking such answers involves careful study of ancient Judaism, Hellenistic culture, and the Roman imperial society in which Paul lived and wrote. It also involves a critical look at the traditional history of Western culture about Paul from a host of modern thinkers from Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud.

Assigned Readings:

Supplemental texts:

1. Margaret M. Mitchell, Paul, the Corinthians and the Birth of Hermeneutics (Cambridge University Press, 2010)

2. Dale B. Martin, The Corinthian Body (Yale University Press, 1995)

3. Paula Fredriksen, Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle (Yale University Press, 2017).

Texts in HIST 3218:

1. The SBL Study Bible, Student Edition, fully Revised and Updated, edited by The Society of Biblical Literature (HarperCollins, 2023).

2. The Writings of St. Paul, 2nd edition, edited by Wayne A. Meeks and John T. Fitzgerald (W. W. Norton, 2007).

3. Wayne A. Meeks, The First Urban Christians, 2d Edition (Yale University Press, 2003).

4. J. Albert Harrill, Paul the Apostle: His Life and Legacy in Their Roman Contexts (Cambridge University Press, 2015).

Assignments: Two short essays, midterm and final examinations, research paper of 20 pages.

Prereq or concur: Any 3000-level History course, and English 1110.xx; or Grad standing; or permission of instructor. Repeatable to a maximum of 6 cr hrs.

Reading and analysis of selected chapters from the Hebrew scriptures and post-biblical Hebrew writings representative of major historical, cultural, and literary trends.

Prereq: English 1110. Not open to students with credit for 2700H, Hebrew 2700, or 2700H. GE lit and diversity global studies course. GE foundation lit, vis and performing arts course. Cross-listed with HEBREW 2700.

A survey including at least three of the following philosophical systems of Asia: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

GE lit and diversity global studies course. GE foundation lit, vis and performing arts course.

Study of ancient Greek religions, including the beginnings of Christianity.

Prereq: Not open to students with credit for Classics 323. GE historical study course. GE foundation historical and cultural studies course.

This course will explore how the end of the world-generally understood to be preceded by enormous wars and disasters as well as the judgment of people and a reckoning of their deeds-was imagined over two millennia by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. The course will cover primary and secondary historical works, as well as fictional bestsellers, about the apocalypse from around the world.

Prereq or concur: English 1110.xx, or completion of GE Foundation Writing and Information Literacy Course, or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for NELC 2680. GE historical study and diversity global studies course. GE foundation historical and cultural studies and lit, vis and performing arts course.

A survey including at least three of the following philosophical systems of Asia: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

GE lit and diversity global studies course. GE foundation lit, vis and performing arts course.

A philosophical examination of the relationship between science and religion, concentration on issues regarding the creation of the universe and the origins of life.

Prereq: Not open to students with credit for CompStd 2670 or RelStds 2670. GE cultures and ideas course. GE foundation historical and cultural studies course. Cross-listed with RELSTDS 2670.

Introduction to religious views of the universe, the supernatural, social organization, ethics, etc., through sacred texts (oral and written) of diverse cultures and historical periods.

Prereq: English 1110 (110), or equiv. Not open to students with credit CompStd 2102.02 (202.02). GE lit and diversity global studies course.

This course traces the modern revival of magic and neo-paganism, both in new religious movements and in popular culture, novels, music and film, from 1870 to the present. The course examines the intersections between emergent magical groups and various social and political movements.

GE cultures and ideas and diversity global studies course. GE foundation lit, vis and performing arts and historical and cultural studies course.

A philosophical examination of the relationship between science and religion, concentration on issues regarding the creation of the universe and the origins of life.

Prereq: Not open to students with credit for CompStd 2670 or RelStds 2670. GE cultures and ideas course. GE foundation historical and cultural studies course. Cross-listed with PHILOS 2670.

*Please note that the following courses are NOT currently listed for major/minor credit, but may be of interest to our students anyway. If you would like to inquire about substituting one of the courses listed here for major/minor credit, please email Dr. Hugh Urban at urban.41@osu.edu.

In this course we’ll look at different methodologies for the study of myth, starting with older theories such as the ‘myth and ritual’ approach in order to develop a feeling for the roots of myth studies, and move by the middle of the semester to methods in use today (narratological, a reboot of the myth and ritual approach, new versions of structuralism, etc.). Although the primary materials for examination will be Greek myths, comparativism underlies all my own work and I warmly welcome students whose focus is on the myths or sacred stories of other cultures. Contact me (johnston.2@osu.edu) for more info!

Prereq: Not open to students with credit for Classics 870. Repeatable to a maximum of 9 cr hrs