Center for the Study of Religion
Director
Robert J. Wuthnow
Executive Committee
João G. Biehl, Anthropology
Michael A. Cook, Near Eastern Studies
Thomas J. Espenshade, Sociology
Simon E. Gikandi, English
R. Marie Griffith, Religion
Peter G. Jeffery, Music
Kevin M. Kruse, History
Carolyn M. Rouse, Anthropology, African American Studies
Valerie A. Smith, English, African American Studies
Stephen F. Teiser, Religion
Christian Wildberg, Classics
Robert J. Wuthnow, Sociology
Froma Zeitlin, Classics, Comparative Literature
Sits with Committee
Katherine T. Rohrer, Office of the Provost
Associated Faculty
Leora F. Batnitzky, Religion
Wallace D. Best, Religion, African American Studies
John W. Borneman, Anthropology
D. Graham Burnett, History
Michael W. Cadden, Lewis Center for the Arts, Theater and Dance
Slobodan Curcic, Art and Archaeology
Patricia Fernández-Kelly, Sociology
Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Religion, African American Studies
Anthony T. Grafton, History
Eric S. Gregory, Religion
Melissa V. Harris-Lacewell, Politics, African American Studies
Amaney A. Jamal, Politics
Susan Naquin, History, East Asian Studies
Elaine H. Pagels, Religion
Sara S. Poor, German
Peter Schäfer, Religion, Judaic Studies
Esther H. Schor, English
Nigel Smith, English
Jeffrey L. Stout, Religion
Judith L. Weisenfeld, Religion
Muhammad Q. Zaman, Near Eastern Studies, 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 comparatively and in its diverse historical and contemporary manifestations through the lenses of the various humanities and social science disciplines. It supplements the curriculum of the Department of Religion by drawing students and faculty together from other departments and by 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 cosponsor freshman seminars and other occasional undergraduate courses. The center also offers two interdisciplinary seminars, Religion and Culture and Religion and Public Life, that are open to upper-level undergraduates with permission of the instructor. The center was founded in recognition of the fact that Princeton 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 more than 50 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. The center 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 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 understanding of religion in higher education and in 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 junior independent work and senior theses 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 visiting the center’s Web page at www.princeton.edu/~csrelig or by phoning the center for a copy of its brochure.
Courses Relevant to the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion
African American Studies
352 Black Protest in 20th-Century America
368 Topics in African American Religion
*477 The Civil Rights Movement
American Studies
*329 Immigrant America
Anthropology
321 Ritual, Myth, and Worldview
412 Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion
Art
204 Pagans and Christians: Urbanism, Architecture, and Art of Late Antiquity
205 Medieval Art in Europe
206 Byzantine Art and Architecture
209 Between Renaissance and Revolution: Baroque Art in Europe
217 Early Japanese Art and Archaeology
219 Northern Renaissance Art
221 Art of Hispania
230 Early Islamic Art and Architecture
231 Later Islamic Art and Architecture
232 The Arts of the Islamic World
302 Myths in Greek Art
312 The Arts of Medieval Europe
315 Medieval Architecture
318 Medieval Manuscript Illumination
319 Italian Trecento Art
320 Rome, the Eternal City
430 Seminar. Medieval Art
435 The Arts of Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages
438 Representation of Faith and Power: Islamic Architecture in Its Context
Classics
212 Classical Mythology
326, 327 Topics in Ancient History and Religion
Comparative Literature
310 The Literature of Medieval Europe
East Asian Studies
223 Ideas and Images in Chinese Culture
224 Ideas and Images in Japanese Culture
231 The Chinese Classics: A Comparative Approach
336 The Making and Transformation of Medieval China: 300–1200
340 Culture and Society in Late Imperial China: 1000–1900
415 Intellectual History of China to the Fifth Century
416 Intellectual History of China from the Ninth to the 19th Century
433 Comparative Studies in Non-Western Literature
English
305 The Medieval Period
French and Italian
Italian 303 Dante’s Inferno
Italian 304 Dante’s “Purgatorio” and “Paradiso”
Hellenic Studies
346 Introduction to Byzantine Civilization
358 Greeks, Turks, and Slavs: Nationalism in the Balkans
362 Special Topics in Byzantine Civilization
History
211 Europe from Antiquity to 1700
212 Europe since 1700
314 Precolonial Africa
317 The Making of Modern India
336 Modern Worlds of Islam
343 The Civilization of the Early Middle Ages
344 The Civilization of the High Middle Ages
345 Europe at the Dawn of Modernity
359 Modern Jewish History: 1750–Present
363 Mediterranean Europe: 16th to 20th Century
371 The English Colonies in America
384 Gender in America: Colonial, Revolutionary, and Victorian Society
388 American Cultural History to 1876
417 Gandhi: The Making of the Mahatma
422 Religion and Society in Early Medieval Byzantium and Western Europe
Humanistic Studies
207 The Bible as Literature
217 From Antiquity to the Middle Ages: History, Philosophy, and Religion
219 From the Renaissance to the Modern Period: History, Philosophy, and Religion
Judaic Studies
201 Introduction to Judaism: Religion, History, Ethics
202 Great Books of the Jewish Tradition
301 Topics in Judaic Studies
*302 Elementary Biblical Hebrew I
*303 Elementary Biblical Hebrew II
Medieval Studies
227 The World of the Middle Ages
412 Topics in Medieval Studies
Music
221 Choral Music
230 Music in Antiquity and the Middle Ages
333 Bach and Handel
Near Eastern Studies
201 Introduction to the Middle East
214 Masterworks of Hebrew Literature in Translation
220 Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Middle Ages
240 Muslims and the Qur’an
245 The Islamic World from Its Emergence to the Beginnings of Westernization
268 Political Islam
269 The Politics of Modern Islam
331 The Ancient Near East
334 Modern Islamic Political Thought
339 Introduction to Islamic Theology
340 Muslim South Asia
345 Introduction to Islamic Law
347 Islamic Family Law
363 Islamic Social and Political Movements
435 The Madrasa: Islam, Education, and Politics in the Modern World
(See also other departmental offerings)
Philosophy
307 Systematic Ethics
319 Normative Ethics
325 Philosophy of Religion
Politics
301 Ancient and Medieval Political Theory
321 American Political Thought
Religion
222 Religion in Modern Thought and Film
225 The Buddhist World in Thought and Practice
226 The Religions of China
228 Religion in Japanese Culture
230 Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel
242 Jewish Thought and Modern Society
251 The New Testament and Christian Origins
252 The Early Christian Movement
258 Religion in American Society
261 Christian Ethics and Modern Society
311 Religious Existentialism
313 Pragmatism and Religion: James and Dewey
318 Recent Jewish and Christian Thought
319 Religious Encounters in the Colonial Atlantic World
320 African American Religious History
328 Gender, Desire, and the Body: The Islamic Tradition
336 Pilgrimage, Travel, and Sacred Space: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Land of Islam
340 Ancient Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls
347 Religion and Law
353 Spiritual Autobiography and Biography
356 Roman Catholicism in America
357 Religion in Colonial America and the New Nation
358 Religion in American Culture since 1830
360 Women and American Religion
361 Festival, Celebration, and Ritual in American Culture
363 Religion and Ethical Theory
364 Love and Justice
371 Religious Radicals
(See also other departmental offerings)
Sociology
201 American Society and Politics
221 Inequality: Class, Race, and Gender
345 Money, Work, and Social Life
362 Sociology of Religion
363 Religion in the United States
Spanish and Portuguese Languages and Cultures
221 Introduction to Spanish Literature and Civilization from the Middle Ages to the Baroque
302 Medieval Spanish Literature
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
301 Ethics and Public Policy
325 Civil Society and Public Policy
*One-time-only course