This course will take a critical lyet sympathetic view of a wide range of religious traditions, including Native American, Hindu, Buddhist, Daoist, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. The textual roots and fundamental concerns will be explored, as well as the similarities and differences. Students will learn to identify with, yet maintain distance from each of the traditions. They will become more sensitive to the kinds of issues at stake in the study of religion and more familiar with the origins and evolutions of many of today's living religions, both Eastern and Western. In a small-group setting, students will develop hypotheses and design simple experiments to test them.
Emphasis is on relating the material to real-life situations.