Course Description:
This course introduces the student to the variety, the continuity and, so far as feasible, the meaning of
humankind’s religious life. The focus of our inquiry will center on the Abrahamic traditions of Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam, the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Through lectures, reading assignments, videos
and discussion we will survey the historical development of these traditions and explore their major
tenets, forms of worship, and ritual patterns as well as their various orientations to this world and the
next. At points, we will explore other thematic comparisons (e.g., on the role and approach to sacred
texts, understandings of God, gods, and Ultimate Reality, the “ideal” manifestations of piety,
contemporary issues of religion and politics, etc.) among the various forms of religious expression