Center for the Study of Religion

Director

Robert Wuthnow

Acting Associate Director

David A. Michelson

Executive Committee

João Biehl, Anthropology

Michael A. Cook, Near Eastern Studies

Thomas Espenshade, Sociology

Simon E. Gikandi, English

R. Marie Griffith, Religion

Peter G. Jeffery, Music

Kevin Kruse, History

Valerie A. Smith, English

Stephen F. Teiser, Religion

Robert J. Wuthnow, Sociology

Froma Zeitlin, Classics, Comparative Literature

Sits with Committee

Katherine T. Rohrer, Vice Provost for Academic Programs

Associated Faculty

Leora Batnitzky, Religion

Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Religion

Eric Gregory, Religion

Susan Naquin, History, East Asian Studies

Elaine H. Pagels, Religion

Carolyn M. Rouse, Anthropology

Peter Schäfer, Religion, Judaic Studies

Esther H. Schor, English

Jeffrey L. Stout, Religion

 

The Center for the Study of Religion facilitates intellectual exchange and interdisciplinary study of religion among students and faculty. The center is especially interested in encouraging scholarship that examines religion or aspects of religion in their diverse historical and contemporary manifestations through the lenses of the various social sciences and humanities disciplines. It supplements the curriculum of the Department of Religion by drawing students and faculty together from other departments, and fostering studies in which religion or the consequences of religion may be one of several components under investigation. One of the center’s activities is to provide research support to graduate students working on religion through a competitive program of awards. These awards are open to enrolled graduate students in the humanities and the social sciences, with preference given to those who have passed their general examination and are working on their dissertation. The center also offers two interdisciplinary seminars, religion and culture and religion and public life, that provide an opportunity for students to present research in progress and to interact with faculty and postdoctoral fellows. The center was founded in recognition of the fact the University includes among its faculty a uniquely qualified number of specialists throughout an exceptionally wide range of disciplines. It draws to students’ attention the fact that graduate courses dealing with the historical development of religious traditions and their role in current affairs are regularly offered under the auspices of more than a dozen departments and programs.

The Center for the Study of Religion provides resources to faculty members throughout the University who may be interested in developing new courses or research interests. It sponsors freshman seminars, lecture courses, and advanced seminars on topics significantly concerned with the study of religion. In addition, the center supports faculty who wish to plan interdisciplinary conferences, symposia, or guest-speaker series, focusing on diverse topics related to religion, such as ethics and biotechnology, Buddhist death practices, religion and sexuality, poverty and charity, religion and film, religion and neuroscience, and the world traditions of religious chant. These and other center-sponsored public lectures and conferences promote greater discussion about understandings of religion in higher education and the wider society.

Through these various activities, students are encouraged to develop a better understanding of the interactions among religions and their social contexts and to pursue research concerned with the ethical, social, and cultural contributions and implications of religion. The center’s staff, faculty, and associates are available for students seeking information about courses relevant to the study of religion in other departments and programs. Further information can be obtained by viewing the center’s Web page at www.princeton.edu/~csrelig, or by calling for a copy of its brochure.

Courses Relevant to the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion

African-American Studies

500 Introduction to the African-American Intellectual Tradition

Ancient World

501, 502 Program Seminar

Anthropology

412 Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion

508 Theories of Symbolic Action

Art and Archeology

312 The Arts of Medieval Europe

500 Proseminar in the History of Art

520 Greek Art of the Iron Age and the Orientalizing Periods

521 Archaic Greek Sculpture and Painting

523 Classical Greek Sculpture and Painting

535 Problems in Late Antique and Byzantine Art and Architecture

536 Art in Late Medieval Italy

537 Seminar in Medieval Art

538 Medieval Manuscript Illumination

539 Seminar in Iconography

540 Art and Culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

541 Problems in Renaissance Devotional Art

542 Art and Society in Renaissance Italy

580 Cities of Caliphs and Sultans: Capitals of the Islamic World

585 Problems in Islamic Art and Archaeology

Classics

545, 546 Problems in Roman History

547, 548 Problems in Ancient History

552 The Classical Tradition in the Middle Ages

Comparative Literature

542 The Classical Tradition: Modernity—Homer and the Modern

543 Topics in Medieval Literature

547 The Renaissance

551 The 17th Century in Europe

East Asian Studies

503, 504 Early China

507, 508 Chinese Intellectual History

513, 514 Special Topics in Chinese History

523 Research in Japanese History

English

501 Old English Period

502 Old English Poetry

511 Special Studies in Medieval Literature

512 Chaucer I

514 Middle English Religious Literature

522 The Renaissance in England

531 Milton

555 American Literary Traditions

556 African-American Literature

573 Problems in Literary Study

French and Italian

511 Humanism and the French Renaissance

Hellenic Studies

346 Introduction to Byzantine Civilization

History

504 Colonial Latin America to 1810

542 Problems in Byzantine History

543 The Origins of the Middle Ages

544 Seminar in Medieval History

545 Readings in Renaissance and Reformation History

547 Readings in 17th-Century European History

568 The Coming of the English Revolution, 1529-1641

571 The English Colonies in America

581 Topics in the History of the American South

585 Problems in American Cultural and Intellectual History

587 Readings in Early American History

Judaic Studies

301 Topics in Judaic Studies

Medieval Studies

500 Topics in Medieval Studies

Music

511 Problems in Early Christian Music

512 Topics in Medieval Music

Near Eastern Studies

502 An Introduction to the Islamic Scholarly Tradition

503 Themes in Islamic History and Culture

507 Readings in Talmudic Literature

508 Readings in Medieval Hebrew Literature

553 Studies in Islamic Religion and Thought

557, 558 Problems in Islamic History

564 Islamic Africa Before 1900: Problems in Social and Cultural History

565 The Arabic Literature of Islamic Africa

Philosophy

325 Philosophy of Religion

540 Metaphysics

Politics

512 Ancient and Medieval Political Theory

Religion

501 Social Theory and the Study of Religion

502 Philosophy and the Study of Religion

503 Studies in East Asian Religions

504 Studies in Greco-Roman Religions

505 Studies in Religions of the Americas

506 Studies in Theology

507 Studies in Religion and Philosophy

508 Studies in Religion and Morality

509 Studies in the History of Islam

510 Special Topics in the Study of Religion

Slavic Languages and Literatures

505 Common and Comparative Slavic

516 The 19th-Century Master Novelists

Sociology

521 Religion and Public Life

Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Cultures

535 Golden-Age Prose

536 Golden-Age Poetry

537 Golden-Age Drama