Winter Session Courses
Winter 2009 Courses: Earn 3 Credits in 3 Weeks Online! 12/29/09 thru 1/14/10
REL 100 - Religions of the World
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General Studies: HU & G
Online (90064) & On Campus (90228)
This course introduces the academic study of religion and surveys the rise, spread and intersection of religious traditions around the globe from their origins in pre-history to their place in contemporary culture. It also examines the development and role of religious ideas, literature, practices and beliefs in various social and cultural contexts.
Students who complete this course should gain a general knowledge of the beliefs, practices and institutions central to a wide range of global religious traditions. They will also be introduced to basic theoretical and methodological issues involved in the academic study of religion. In addition, they should develop a general understanding of the role of religion and religious tradition in individual and collective life in diverse historical and cultural contexts over time.
REL 305 - Ritual, Symbol & Myth
General Studies: HU & G
Online (90065) & On Campus (90413)
This course is designed to explore the ways in which ritual, symbol and myth work together to create and sustain religious worldviews and collective religious identity.
- This course introduces the academic study of religion.
- It explains the concepts of ritual, symbol and myth and how they function in the construction and maintenance of religious systems.
- It also examines the development and role of religious ideas, literature, practices and beliefs in various social and cultural contexts.
REL 320 - American Religious Traditions
General Studies: HU, C & H
Online (90066)
This course presents a survey of religious traditions in America. We will look at how these traditions have developed within the context of the United States, which includes how they have interacted with one another and with the broader American culture. The course seeks to maintain a balance between focusing on broad themes in American religion and focusing on specific traditions. Thus, in covering 400+ years of American religion, the readings and assignments aim to bring out significant issues in American religion by looking at particular persons, beliefs, practices, and events. The course is organized by tradition, but offers numerous opportunities for reflection on recurrent themes and common challenges raised for and by religion throughout America's history.
REL 321 - Religion in America
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General Studies: HU, C & H
Online (90119) & On Campus (90067)
This course is a historical survey of religion in America with emphasis on its interaction with and influence on social, cultural, intellectual, economic and political developments. Instead of beginning with New England, we will start with the Southwest and pay close attention to developments within this region throughout the course. In addition to critically examining historiographical issues related to the research and interpretation of American religious history, this course will also note in Finke and Stark’s words, the “winners and losers in our religious economy.”
REL 330 - Native American Religious Traditions
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General Studies: HU & C
Online (90414)
In order to develop a broad understanding of the religious lives of Native Americans we will explore a diversity of places and worldviews. We will focus specifically on the rituals, myths, art, and religious culture of the Hopi, the Navajo, and the Lakota. We will also focus on modern religious issues pertaining to native peoples, including cultural change as found in the Ghost Dance, Sun Dance, and Peyote Religion, and religious freedom issues pertaining to the use of Peyote and struggles over sacred places. We will also examine indigenous forms of Christianity and the unique ways that native peoples have incorporated Christianity into their world views.
REL 331 - History of Native American Religious Traditions
General Studies: (L or HU) & C & H
Online (90415)
This introductory course, administered completely online, explores the history of religious traditions of peoples indigenous to North America. We will begin the semester with a theoretical analysis of how Native American worldviews are unique and differ from modern-Western worldviews. Once we have grounded our understandings of indigenous traditions within this theoretical framework, we will delve into an exploration of the diverse and complex history of Native American traditions in both historical and contemporary contexts, focusing primarily on complex indigenous engagements with Christianity and religious freedom issues pertaining to the use of peyote in the Native American Church and the protection of Native American sacred places.
REL 343 - Taoism
General Studies: (L or HU) & G & H
Online (90417)
Daoism (also spelled Taoism) is known to the West mostly through translations of the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) and a vague sense of the early Chinese philosophy that imbued the worldview presented in this text. Many of us will have at least heard of the “Tao of Pooh”, and the “Tao of…” dozens of other nouns as well; many of us will have encountered what is popularly termed the yin-yang symbol; many of us will have known that Daoism comes to us from the Chinese civilization; those of us with some contact with Chinese culture will have had some more experience with how Daoism contributes to world culture. Instead of focusing on early Chinese philosophy as found in the Dao De Jing, we will instead be exploring the forms of religious expression and cultural manifestations that Daoism has inspired. We will be learning about Daoist religion as it was practiced from the 2nd to the 7th centuries CE in China.
REL 351 - Buddhism
General Studies: (L or HU) & G
Online (90068)
Lectures and discussions in this course focus on doctrines, practices, and institutions of the Buddhist religion, emphasizing their roles in the histories and cultures of Asia. We explore central themes in the Buddhist tradition. Readings and lectures illustrate the ways in which these themes have been interpreted throughout the historical, cultural, social and intellectual developments of the tradition. Through class discussions, lectures, in-class group assignments and videos, we will examine some of the religious texts, beliefs, rituals, and practices of Buddhists and compare various interpretations of them within the Buddhist tradition.tc "Lectures and discussions in this course focus on doctrines, practices, and institutions of the Buddhist religion, emphasizing their roles in the histories and cultures of Asia. We explore central themes in the Buddhist tradition. Readings and lectures illustrate the ways in which these themes have been interpreted throughout the historical, cultural, social and intellectual developments of the tradition. Through class discussions, lectures, in-class group assignments and videos, we will examine some of the religious texts, beliefs, rituals, and practices of Buddhists and compare various interpretations of them within the Buddhist tradition
REL 366 - Islam in the Modern World
General Studies: HU, H & G
Online (90069)
This course will examine Islam in the Modern World by looking at the various Islams found in Central Asia and Europe. Islam is not a monolithic tradition caught in a time warp. It changes and evolves like every other living faith. And so we will look at the different faces of Islam that can be found in the world today. The readings are meant to familiarize you with the way Islam is lived and performed by believers in a transnational world. We will explore anthropological accounts and interpretations of ritual behavior, investigate scripture through oral and written transmission, and search for meaning represented by symbols and symbolic acts. Religious Studies is a multidisciplinary field of inquiry, including such areas as anthropology, sociology, psychology, history, and linguistics, for example. The multi-disciplinary nature of the field is reflected in the readings.
REL 371 - New Testament
General Studies: HU
Online (90418)
This course seeks to present the best of New Testament scholarship in an interesting and competent way. The orientation of the text and class is historical, rather than literary-critical or theological; contextual, in focusing on the historical and cultural milieu of the New Testament writings, and comparative, in emphasizing the rich and fertile diversity of the early Christians and their writings.
REL 374 - Witchcraft & Heresy in Europe
General Studies: L & H
Online (90120)
In this course we will investigate the development, from the classical period through the Renaissance, of various European concepts of witchcraft, magic, and heresy, the belief systems, practices, and worldviews associated with these terms, and their shifting status within various religious, political and social contexts. We will also trace the development of the Inquisition, the role of gender in the witch trials, the persecution of marginal groups, Arabic influence on medieval magic and science, the role of medical magic in Medieval and Renaissance societies, and the diversity of traditions categorized as “witchcraft” and/or “heresy.” We will employ a variety of approaches including readings, online group discussions, website visits, and narrated PowerPoint lectures.
REL 390 - Women and Religion
General Studies: HU & G
Online (90071)
In this course, we will examine the various myths and symbols of the religious lives of women in the Western and non Western cultures. By analyzing the function of religion in their lives will provide a way of understanding the interaction between sex roles and religious myths and symbols. Some of the questions we will be asking are: Is religion sexist? Has religion betrayed women? Has religion out lived its usefulness or is it profoundly important and deeply meaningful in life? We will attempt to answer these and other pertinent questions pertaining to women’s religious lives from the standpoint of various scholars in this discipline, as well as films and discussions of various myths and religious symbols.
PHI 101 - Introduction to Philosophy
General Studies: HU
Online (90529)
The point of the course is to introduce students to some of the great questions in philosophy, as well as to develop critical reasoning skills. We will accomplish this goal through the careful study of some of the great problems in philosophy discussed by classic and contemporary thinkers alike. Some of the questions we will address are as follows: (1) Does the existence of evil provide reason to doubt the existence of God? (2) Do we know anything? And if so, on what basis? (3) What is the nature of personal identity? What makes me the same person now that I was twenty years ago? Is it possible for one to survive one’s bodily death? (4) What if it turns out that the universe is like one big mechanistic machine, where once the first parts are set in motion everything that follows happens necessarily? Would we have free will in such a scenario? Could we legitimately hold others morally responsible for their actions? (5) What is the morally right way to act? Is it ever morally permissible to lie? To intentionally kill another? To torture?
PHI 103 - Principles of Sound Reasoning
General Studies: L or HU
Online (90182)
Fallacies, validity, and soundness of arguments. May include syllogistic, elementary symbolic, inductive logic, and scientific method.
PHI 105 - Introduction to Ethics
General Studies: HU
Online (90181)
This course examines issues in normative ethics. What makes someone a good person? What is the right thing for me to do? What sorts of things are valuable? How do we determine the right answers to controversial moral issues? These kinds of questions are the sorts of questions we shall seek to answer. We will look at several moral theories and discuss their respective merits and shortcomings in the course of trying to answer these kinds of questions.
HST 110 - United States since 1865
General Studies: L or HU.jpg)
Online (90333)
This course examines the Growth of the American Republic from the Civil War to the present. The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the social, economic, and political circumstances and forces that have shaped America and its people. This course will underscore the transformation and traditions of Americans and emphasize the diverse cultures and concepts that have driven this nation’s unprecedented growth and its promise of freedom and democracy. We begin with the emancipation and reconstruction eras, and move to a sustained consideration of Westward expansion, immigration, business, labor, Progressivism, World War I, the Great Depression, the New Deal era, World War II, the Emergence of the Cold War, the Happy “Daze” of the 1950s, the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam, America’s shift to the right, the rise of the Global economy, and the emergence of individual and collective leaders throughout the twentieth century. Key issues include the changing status of the nation’s racial and ethnic minorities and women, the relationship between power and exploitation, and the emergence of corporate capitalism as a powerful force in American society and throughout the world.
HST 327 - Women in U.S. History 1600-1880
General Studies: (HU or SB) & C & H
Online (90429)
This class examines how unique and every-day women lived their lives from the colonial period through the “taming” of the post Civil War American West. Special attention is placed on learning about women and their work in the American Revolution, their role in Manifest Destiny of the nineteenth century, and we will read a once controversial and now classic piece of American literature, Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which purportedly spurred Abraham Lincoln to refer to her as "the little lady who made this big war."
HST 361 - Witchcraft & Heresy in Europe
General Studies: (L or HU) & H
Online (90047)
The goals of this course are first to introduce students to the history of the treatment of marginal religious and social groups in the European past, second to show the connections in the minds of officials between these groups, third to identify the strategies and procedures followed by officials to suppress these groups, fourth to explain the abrupt decision by officials at the end of the seventeenth century to abandon these strategies and procedures. In the context of a survey of the various forms of religious heresy that appeared after 1000 AD and of the persecution of individuals identified as witches during the witch craze of the 16th and 17th centuries, the course discusses first the escalation of repression and second, the eventual triumph of intellectual skepticism and social toleration. Work for the course will consist of three exercises in reading and interpreting documents selected for the two anthologies of historical documents assigned for the course.
HST 365 - Women in Europe
General Studies: (L or HU or SB) & H
Online (90167)
This course covers the history of women in Europe from 1750 to the present. We will be examining how women's lives were changed by revolutions, wars, economics, and social and cultural changes during this period, while also looking at how women were able to change history. We will be focusing on the institutions, laws and beliefs that restricted women's opportunities, and the reasons why women were able over time to obtain greater rights and freedoms, while still not achieving complete equality. This is an online course with daily reading and participation in discussion groups; several short papers will be required as well.
HST 394 - American Military History
General Studies: 
Online (90434)
This course traces the development and significant milestones of American Military History from the Colonial Period to Vietnam Conflict. We will examine the role of the military in American society, through military leadership, wars/battles, and events that shaped 200 years of our nation’s history. Topics include: “The American Way of War,” Independence, Empire, Civil War, Foreign Conflict, and the Cold War Era. Students will examine both primary sources and readings from historians in the field in order to evaluate the role of the military in United States history. This course is designed as a survey of American Military History, open to majors and non-majors. This is an online course with daily readings, short papers, and participation in online discussion groups.
HST 456 - The Vietnam War
General Studies: SB & G & H
Online (90046)
This course explores the Vietnam War from several different angles. While the course emphasizes U.S. military, diplomatic, and political involvement in Vietnam from 1950 to 1975, it also examines Vietnamese perspectives, French colonialism in Southeast Asia, and the role of dissent on the U.S. home front. The course seeks to provoke thought, discussion, and reflection about the war’s origins, course, and consequences.
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