UNL Department of Classics and Religious Studies (religstudies_courses)

120W. World Religions (3 cr)
Prereq: Permission from Classics Office. This class is taught at NE Wesleyan Univ.
History, beliefs and practices of the great religions of the world. Major attention to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Chinese religion, especially Taoism and Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Other traditions as they interest and inform the major faiths. Primal religions, Native American religions and other traditions. Comparison with the Christian tradition is central concern. Graphic material utilized to convey the culture and structures of each tradition.

125W. Religion, Peace and Social Justice (3 cr)
Prereq: Permission from Classics Office. This class is taught at NE Wesleyan Univ.
Explores religious, particularly Christian, responses to social justice issues such as peace, poverty, oppression, discrimination and the environment, the death penalty and abortion.

130W. Women and Religion (3 cr)
Prereq: Permission from Classics Office. This class is taught at NE Wesleyan Univ.
Introduction to, and critical evaluation of, the participation and leadership roles of women in American religious life. Primarily the roles of women in American Christianity.

134W. Religious Diversity in the United States (3 cr)
Prereq: Permission from Classics Office. This class is taught at NE Wesleyan Univ.
Introduction to the religious traditions in the U.S. through thematic, historical, denominational and cultural considerations. Emphasizes the variety and diversity of religious experiences in the U.S., including Native American, Protestant, Catholic, African-American, Judaism, Islamic, Hindu and Buddhist traditions.

150. Explaining Religion (3 cr)
Introduction to religion as an academic subject. Examines religion in terms of four interconnected elements: myth, ritual, transformative experience, and ethics. Representative materials drawn from different religions and cultures, including both western and non-western traditions.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies and Integrative Studies requirements

181. Judaism, Christianity & Islam (3 cr)
A comparative study of the three great momotheistic faiths, from their historic beginnings to the present-day manifestations.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies requirements (F & H only)

182. Alpha Learning Community Freshman Seminar (3 cr)
Requires enrollment in the Alpha Learning Community Program. RELG 183 is normally taken in the next term.
Topic varies.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies and Integrative Studies requirements

183. Alpha Learning Community Freshman Seminar (3 cr)
Prereq: RELG 182. Requires enrollment in the Alpha Learning Community Program.
Topic varies.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies and Integrative Studies requirements

205. Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (JUDS 205) (3 cr)
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in translation. History, culture and religion of Ancient Israel as it is reflected in the biblical books and the archaeological record.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies and Integrative Studies requirements

206. Ways of Western Religion (3 cr)
Introduction to the nature and range of religious traditions in western culture from the Bronze Age to the present as seen through selected primary religious texts. Nature of religion and religious tradition, how these function to shape our view of self and society, and how religion functions to render human experience interpretable and significant.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies and Integrative Studies requirements

208. Introduction to Islam (3 cr)
This course provides an introduction to the religion and history of Islam. Topics examined include the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur'an the hadith, Islamic theology and law, Shi'ism, Sufism, and modern Islam.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies and Integrative Studies requirements

209. Judaism and Christianity in Conflict and Coexistence(JUDS 209) (3 cr)
An overview of the history of Jewish-Christian relations from the birth of Christianity until the present. Readings will include both primary and secondary sources, written by Jewish and Christian authors.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies requirements

212W. Life and Letters of Paul (3 cr)
Prereq: Permission from Classics Office. This class is taught at NE Wesleyan Univ.
Pauline literature, Paul’'s interpretation of Jesus, and his work as missionary to the Gentiles. Acts and the Pauline Epistles are primary sources. Contemporary analyses of Pauline thought and its importance for the contemporary situation.

217. Israel: The Holy Land (HIST/JUDS 217) (3 cr)
For course description, see HIST 217.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies requirements

220. Reason and Religion (3 cr)
Addresses issues arising from the attempt to understand the human encounter with the divine. Introduces the study of philosophical theology, with attention to significant figures from the past as well as contemporary approaches.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies requirements

225. Science and Religion (3 cr)
A look at the clash between science and religion, past and present. Are current scientific theories of the origin of the universe and the evolution of matter, life, and mind compatible with religious belief?. Responses to science by various religious movements.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies and Integrative Studies requirements

305. Israel: The Holy Land (CLAS 305) (3 cr)
For course description, see CLAS 305.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies requirements

306. Second Temple Judaism (JUDS 306) (3 cr)
An in-depth study of the literature, history and culture of Judea and the Jews in the Second Temple period, from 550 BCE to 70 CE. Readings include apocalyptic texts, Wisdom literature, and selections from the Dead Sea Scrolls.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Integrative Studies requirements

307. Early Christianity (CLAS/HIST 307/807) (3 cr)
For course description, see CLAS 307/807.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies requirements

308. History of Comparative Religion (HIST 308) (3 cr)
Introduction to major religious traditions, their institutions, scriptures, rituals, and thought drawn from representative ages and areas of the world. The formative and classical periods of these traditions emphasized, with some attention to their subsequent modification in response to historical and social exigencies. Possible traditions include Judaism, Christianity, Secularism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Tao, Shinto, Confucian thought, and materialism.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies requirements

310. Great Ideas in Religious Thought: From God to Nothingness (3 cr)
Six traditions in the history of religious thought, from Greek and medieval conceptions of divinity through the Enlightenment to the modern era, including existentialist, humanistic, and atheistic responses to religion, and Buddhist thought. A comparative look at central religious ideas within these traditions contrasting western and non-western conceptions of ultimate reality, self, ethics, and responses to evil.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies and Integrative Studies requirements

318. Islam in the Modern World (3 cr)
This course examines the diversity of Islam in the modern world. It explores a variety of Muslim responses to modernity including traditionalism, secularism, Islamic modernism, and Islamic fundamentalism.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Integrative Studies requirements

331. Israel: The Holy Land (CLAS/HIST/JUDS 331) (3 cr)
Prereq: Sophomore standing or permission.
For course description, see HIST 331.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies requirements

332. Jews in the Middle Ages (HIST, JUDS 332) (3 cr)
Prereq: Sophomore standing or permission.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies requirements

334. Jews, Christians and the Bible (JUDS 334) (3 cr)
A study of the history of Jewish and Christian interpretation of the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament from c. 400BCE to 1800 CE. The readings will include selections from the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, the Church Fathers and the Talmud, medieval and early modern Christian and Jewish biblical commentators.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies requirements

340. Women in the Biblical World (JUDS 340) (3 cr)
Role and status of women as depicted in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament. Focuses on the stories and laws concerning women found in the Bible, as well as considering extra-biblical evidence.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies and Integrative Studies requirements

370. Religion and Reform: Utopian and Communal Societies in America (3 cr)
Survey of communal and utopian societies residing in North America, 17th century to present, examination of belief, systems, organization, and spiritual and secular challenges to these groups.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies requirements

398. Special Topics in Religious Studies (1-3 cr, max 6 cr)
Topics vary.

399. Independent Study in Religious Studies (1-12 cr)
Prereq: Permission.

408. Dead Sea Scrolls (CLAS 408/808, JUDS 408) (3 cr)
Prereq: RELG 205 or 306 or permission.
Dead Sea Scrolls, including the history and thought of the Qumran inhabitants, the archaeology of Qumran, and the corpus of the Scrolls. Concentration on the reading of selected primary texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

409. Religion of Late Western Antiquity (CLAS/HIST 409/809) (3 cr)
For course description, see CLAS 409/809.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Essential Studies and Integrative Studies requirements

410. Gnosticism (CLAS 410/810) (3 cr)
For course description, see CLAS 410/810.

489/889. Medieval Literature and Theology (ENGL 489/889) (3 cr)
For course description, see ENGL 489/889.
This course counts toward fulfillment of the University-wide Integrative Studies requirements