Program Information
John Schroeder, Chair
Professor of Philosophy
240 895 4456
jwschroeder@smcm.edu
Sharon Newcomb, Office Assistant I
240 895 2159
Program Highlight
The department offers a major and minor in Philosophy and a major and minor in Religious Studies. As an active and energetic department, we are committed towards an intercultural, international and interdisciplinary understanding of the world. We teach across the traditional fields of philosophy and religious studies, and beyond the cultural divides of East and West. Departmental faculty likes to teach in a variety of venues (Nitze Program; Women, Gender and Sexuality; Environmental Studies; Asian Studies; African and African Diaspora Studies), to take students on study tours (Greece, Germany/Poland, India, Thailand, and, in the future, England and Israel), and to bring questions of global relevance to the campus communities through scheduling events with renowned speakers and activists.
RELIGIOUS STUDIES COURSES
RELG 110 (2 sections) (TR 10-11:50 & TR 12-1:50) Instructor: Daniel Meckel Topic: Introduction to World Religions Content: A comparative study of the history, beliefs, and practices of major religious traditions, such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, or Native American and African religions. Selected aspects of these traditions are examined (for example, conceptions of human nature, ritual, morality, law, cosmology, visions of salvation). This course satisfies the Core Curriculum requirement in Humanistic Foundations.
RELG210 (MWF 10:40-11:50) Instructor: Katharina VonKellenbach Topic: Biblical Foundations Content: This course introduces students to the academic study of the Bible, both the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and the Greek Bible/New Testament. It focuses on research skills and methods to interpret Biblical texts in different cultural, religious and political settings. As sacred scripture of Judaism and Christianity, this course also aims to introduce these two religious traditions as seen through their foundational texts. This course satisfies the Core Curriculum requirement in Humanistic Foundation.
RELG 216 (MWF 1:20-2:30) Instructor: Devorah Schoenfeld Topic: Jewish Cultures (4AF) Content: There is no one Jewish culture. As Jews have lived all over the world in many and varied environments their cultures have differed. Jewish cultures have developed both by adapting to and resisting the cultures around them. In these many Jewish cultures, religious teaching was just one important component. This course will examine the wide variety of Jewish cultures in the modern world and survey the history of Jewish cultures from late antiquity to the modern period. This course satisfies the Core Curriculum requirement in Humanistic Foundations.
RELG220 (MWF 9:20-10:30) Instructor: Betul Basaran Topic: Introduction to Islam Content: Islam is the second largest religion in the world, and soon will be the second in the United States. This course will familiarize students with the diversity of religious beliefs and practices in Islam, not only as a religion but as a civilization that is part of the contemporary world. Themes to be discussed include the birth and expansion of Islam from the Arabian peninsula to North Africa, Europe, Central Asia, and the U.S., the life and message of the prophet Muhammad, the Quran, Islamic law, Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam, Islamic mysticism (Sufism), and Islam's relationship with other religions. This course satisfies the Core Curriculum requirement in Humanistic Foundations.
RELG301 (4AS) (MWF 9:20-10:30) Instructor: Katharina VonKellenbach Topic: Death and Dying Content: The first section of this course examines the morality of death in Western technological cultures, where the dying are hidden and the dying process is shaped by medical technology and legal deliberations. In a second step students look at various conceptions of the continuity of life beyond death, as well as death and mourning rituals in the Western, Eastern and African religious and philosophical traditions. Students in this class will engage in value questions and critical thinking about fundamental life experiences. This course has no prerequisites but students have to be at least in their second year of college.
RELG314 (MWF 12:00-1:10) Instructor: Betul Basaran Topic: Islamic Empires in the Medieval and Early Modern Eras Content: This class is a general survey that introduces Islamic political thought as manifested by the Islamic states of medieval and early-modern times. It examines Islamic notions of law, state and authority that emerged as a response to current political developments such as the Umayyad and Addasid caliphates, the extinction of the caliphate by the Mongols in 1258 and the political fragmentation that followed, and finally the rise of the so-called Gunpowder Empires. The survey will focus mainly on the Ottoman Empire, but also explore the interactions between the Ottoman, Safari, and Munhall Empires. Prerequisite: One course in HIST or one course in RELG, or consent of the instructor. Cross listed with HIST.
RELG328.01 (TR 2:00-3:50) Instructor: Daniel Meckel Topic: Topics in Religion and Psychological Studies. This term's specific topic is "Ecstasy and Divine Madness in the South Asian Traditions." Content: An exploration of ritual possession and religious ecstasy in the traditions of South Asia. Through film, ethnography, biographical and religious texts, students will learn about: fire-walking, body-piercing and hook-hanging; ecstatic priestesses and their personal histories; the mystical and the erotic; Tantra and the Hindu goddesses; divine and demonic possession in the Indian Himalaya. Students will study the psychological, cultural and religious foundations of ecstasy and divine madness by examining their significance in personal, familial and social context. (Pre-requisites: RELG 230 or 231, or consent of the instructor.) Meets the Asian Studies Major or Minor requirements.
RELG 355 (MW 2:40-4:30) Instructor: Betul Basaran Topic: Women in Islam (4A) Content: A survey beginning with the advent of Islam up to modern times that provides a broad sense of the religious, cultural, and political roles played by women in Islamic societies. Topics include theoretical questions about the concept of gender and the validity of focusing on gender in trying to understand Islamic societies, the political implications of the study of women in the Middle East and North Africa, and the development of feminist trends and dilemmas faced by Muslim women in asserting themselves as legitimate voices in the contemporary global world, including Muslim women in the United States and Europe. Prerequisite: one course in RELG, WGSX, or consent of the instructor. Counts toward WGSX.
RELG 360: Comparative Religious Belief and Practice (TR 10:00-11:50) Instructor: Bjorn Krondorfer Topic: Religious Fundamentalism in Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism Content: The specific topic of this term is "Fundamentalism," with the goal to understand and compare fundamentalist movements in Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. We will examine this term as it has evolved from describing an American Protestant form of religiosity to signifying a global phenomenon spanning different religions and cultures. We will look at differences among fundamentalist movements, how they construct their universe and gender roles, and ask whether they have a proclivity toward violence. Counts toward WGSX.
RELG370 (MWF 9:20-10:30) Instructor: Devorah Schoenfeld Topic: Approaches to the Study of Religion Content: A rigorous introduction to classical and contemporary theories and methods in the field of religious studies. By taking this course students will expand and enhance critical toolkit for approaching religion. Students will read and critique the works of major intellectual figures that represent different methodological approaches. Content will vary depending on instructor. Prerequisite: two courses in RELG or consent of the instructor.
RELG 380.1 (TR 12:00-1:50) Instructor: Bjorn Krondorfer
Topic: Confessions, Transitional Justice, And Reconciliation: Fragile Democracies after State Violence
Content: Since the early twentieth century, the world has been shaken by war, domestic terror, crimes against humanity and genocide. Often, these cataclysmic events are followed by a transitional phase in which democratic structures have tried to take roots. Central to these emerging democracies are question of justice regarding past atrocities. How should the perpetrators of state crimes be prosecuted? How should the victims of state crimes be recognized and assisted? This seminar will look at issues of transitional justice within emerging democratic political systems. It will approach these broad issues by paying particular attention to the role of public confessions by former perpetrators of massive state crimes and study them in the light of the Christian history of confessions. Cross listed with POSC 380 and DMST.
RELG380.2 (MWF 10:40-11:50) Instructor: Devorah Schoenfeld Topic: Ethics and Faith in the Middle Ages Content: This course will examine the development of Jewish and Christian ethics from late antiquity through the Reformation. We will look at the development of ethical codes in Jewish Law and in Canon Law, and also at Jewish and Christian attempts to develop non-legal ethical systems. Questions to be examined include: The role of religion in the state, pacifism and just war, the ethics of conversion and interreligious debate, women's leadership, and the problem of the seemingly unethical Divine command.
RELG 380.3 (MW 2:40-4:30) Instructor: Katharina VonKellenbach Content: This course examines the intersection of religion and ecology. We will look at the critique of world religions' teachings about "creation," "nature," the "earth" and the "body" in light of the current global environmental crisis. Which religious belief and value systems contribute to exploitation and contempt for the natural world? Which religious principles and practices enhance protection and reverence for creation and the material world? How have thinkers and activists from various religious traditions responded to the paradigm shifts mandated by ecological thinking? This course exposes students to the fields of comparative religions, theology, ethics and ecology as we probe how religious world views impact social practices - and how changing environmental, political and economic practices impact religious belief systems. Topics course cross listed with ENST.
RELG/PHIL 492 (M 6:10-7:50) Instructors: Devorah Schoenfeld, Kate Norlock Topic: SMP Proseminar Content: Meeting five times during the semester preceding the initiation of the St. Mary's Project, the SMP Proseminar is designed to aid the student in producing an informed proposal for an SMP that meets the requirements of the College and the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. The SMP proposals are then circulated to the faculty in the department for the purpose of assigning students to mentors to begin the SMPs. Successful completion of the proseminar is measure by the student developing a SMP proposal acceptable to the departmental faculty. This is a 1-credit prerequisite for registering for RELG 493. Credit/No credit grading.
