Religious Studies   (RELS)

Faculty of Arts and Science

Religious Studies 1000

Introduction to World Religions

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Structure, belief and practices of Eastern and Western religious traditions.

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 2001

Religion, Worldviews, and Identity

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Exploration of different ways to understand religion as both a product and producer of worldviews and their expression in culture and identity. Critical thinking about boundaries between religion and other spheres of life while also addressing whether "religion" is reducible to social, psychological, or other factors. Introduction of key thinkers in the study of religion and culture and provide opportunities for cross-cultural comparative analyses.

Prerequisite(s):Four courses (12.0 credit hours) in Arts and Science

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 2100

The Hindu Tradition

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Thought and practices of classical Hinduism; reform and sectarian movements; significant thinkers in modern Hinduism.

Prerequisite(s):One of Religious Studies 1000, Asian Studies 1000, History 1200, or four courses (12.0 credit hours) in Arts and Science

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 2200

The Buddhist Tradition

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Thought and practice of Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism.

Prerequisite(s):One of Religious Studies 1000, Asian Studies 1000, History 1200, or four courses (12.0 credit hours) in Arts and Science

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 2330

Chinese Religions

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Religious history, thought and practices of China including Daoism (Taoism), Confucianism and Buddhism.

Prerequisite(s):One of Religious Studies 1000, Asian Studies 1000, History 1200, or four courses (12.0 credit hours) in Arts and Science

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 2360

Japanese Religions

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Religious history, thought and practices of Japan including Shinto and Buddhism.

Prerequisite(s):One of Religious Studies 1000, Asian Studies 1000, History 1200, or four courses (12.0 credit hours) in Arts and Science

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 2400

Judaism

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

An introduction to the history, beliefs, and practices of Judaism from the formation of biblical texts to the modern world, with attention to the concepts of Jewish identity and tradition, the formation of Rabbinic Judaism, and the modern plurality of Jewish practice.

Prerequisite(s):One of Religious Studies 1000 or four courses (12.0 credit hours) in Arts and Science

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 2450

Bible Survey

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

A survey of the major episodes, themes, and literary styles of the Old and New Testaments emphasizing the significance of the Bible to Jewish and Christian beliefs and practices and to Western culture in general. Biblical stories and motifs; variety of interpretations illustrated through classics of Western art and literature. Some consideration of historical processes in the creation of the various biblical canons.

Prerequisite(s):Four courses (12.0 credit hours) in Arts and Science

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 2500

Christianity

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

A survey of the development of Christianity from its beginning to the present, with attention to its beliefs and practices, and its role in Western society.

Prerequisite(s):One of Religious Studies 1000 or four courses (12.0 credit hours) in Arts and Science

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 2600

Islam

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Historical development of Islam from the pre-Islamic period to and including the Ottoman Empire, the Qur'an, beliefs and practices of Islam.

Prerequisite(s):One of Religious Studies 1000 or four courses (12.0 credit hours) in Arts and Science

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3000

Studies in Religious Traditions (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Issues and aspects of various religious traditions.

Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3030

Religion and Film (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Selected topics dealing with the representation, expression, critique, or adaptation of religious beliefs, practices, or religious cultures in motion pictures and television; film and television as modern mythology; use of motion picture genres by religious groups.

Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings

Equivalent:Religious Studies 3000 (Religion and the Science Fiction Screen) (prior to 2020/2021) is equivalent to the same offering in the Religious Studies 3030 Series

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3040

Death, Dying, and the Afterlife (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Selected topics dealing with religious understandings of death, the grieving and mourning processes, rituals, burials, and beliefs in the afterlife, reincarnation, or judgement. Mortality awareness as a factor in generating religious and social behaviour, ideology, and practices.

Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings

Equivalent:Religious Studies 3000 (Dying Religiously) (prior to 2020/2021) is equivalent to the same offering in the Religious Studies 3030 Series

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3050

Religion and Art (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Selected topics dealing with the production and functions of art in religious contexts, views on artistic production as a religious act, and art objects as representations or manifestations of the divine.

Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings

Equivalent:Religious Studies 3100 (Indian Religions Through Art) (prior to 2020/2021) is equivalent to the same offering in the Religious Studies 3030 Series;
Religious Studies 3600 (Islamic Art, Architecture, and Music) (prior to 2020/2021) is equivalent to the same offering in the Religious Studies

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3100

Studies in Indian Religion (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Issues related to the major religions of India.

Prerequisite(s):One of Religious Studies 2100 or Religious Studies 2200

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3200/Asian Studies 3200

Asian Religions and Film (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

This series examines the interplay between Asian religious traditions and film. Films about Asian religions will be analyzed along with films shaped by Asian religious, philosophical, and aesthetic sensibilities. Hinduism, Buddhism, and East Asian religions will be most prominently represented.

Prerequisite(s):One of Asian Studies 1000, Religious Studies 2100, Religious Studies 2200, Religious Studies 2330, or Religious Studies 2360

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3300

Studies in East Asian Religions (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Issues related to the major religions of China, Korea and Japan.

Prerequisite(s):One of Religious Studies 2200, Religious Studies 2330, or Religious Studies 2360

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3350

Studies in Bible (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

The critical study of Jewish and Christian Bibles' literature, theories of composition, original cultural and religious milieus, and history of interpretation, from ancient times to the present.

Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3400

Studies in Judaism (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Selected Topics in the history, culture, literature and thought of Judaism, from the formative period to the present.

Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3425

History of Antisemitism

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

A survey of antisemitism from the first several centuries of the common era to the present. The demonization of Judaism and Jews because of early Christian thought and political realities. Medieval legal restrictions on Jewish habitation and economy, accusations of "blood libel" etc., and Jewish migrations and deportations. The struggle for emancipation in Western Europe and North America, and the development of secular antisemitic mythology and conspiracy theories about Jews in the 19th and 20th centuries. Systemic antisemitism and the development of modern Jewish communities and denominations. The history of Nazi racial policies and genocide. Post-Holocaust Jewish thought, and foundations of the State of Israel. Holocaust denial, white supremacy, and the development of human rights protections, hate speech laws, war crimes trials with many examples drawn from Canadian contexts.

Prerequisite(s):One of Religious Studies 1000, Religious Studies 2400, Religious Studies 2500, History 1000, or seven courses (21.0 credit hours) in Arts and Science

Equivalent:Religious Studies 3400 (History of Antisemitism) (prior to 2024/2025);
Religious Studies 3400 (Anti-Semitism Through the Ages) (prior to 2024/2025);
Religious Studies 2850 (Antisemitism: Then and Now) (prior to 2024/2025)

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3501

Studies in Christianity (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Selected topics in the history, culture, literature and thought of Christianity, from the formative period to the present.

Prerequisite(s):One of Religious Studies 1000 or seven courses (21.0 credit hours) in Arts and Science (Additional prerequisites may be specified, including any recommended background, for individual offerings)

Equivalent:Any offering in the Religious Studies 3000 Series with the same title as the offering in the Religious Studies 3501 Series

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 3600

Studies in the Islamic Tradition (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Introduction to the Islamic intellectual tradition, with a focus on one of the subtraditions of theology, philosophy, mysticism, or Quranic commentary. Classical and/or modern Muslim responses to questions pertaining to the nature of ethics, language, revelation, the human being, the cosmos, and God. Emphasis on textual analysis through a close study of important primary sources.

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 4000

Seminars in Religious Studies (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Seminars in selected areas of Religious Studies.

Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 4110

Seminars in Eastern Religions (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Seminars featuring selected topics in the history, culture, literature and thought of Eastern Religions, from the formative period to the present.

Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 4400

Seminars in Western Religions (Series)

Credit hours: 3.00

Contact hours per week: 3-0-0

Seminars featuring selected topics in the history, culture, literature and thought of Western Religions, from the formative period to the present.

Prerequisite(s):Will be specified (including any recommended background) for individual offerings

Lib Ed Req:Fine Arts and Humanities

Religious Studies 4995

Undergraduate Thesis

Credit hours: 6.00

Contact hours per week: Variable

This is a challenging, work-intensive, research-oriented course. Students will be expected to conduct fieldwork, text or library-based research, submit a report in the form of an Undergraduate Thesis which will be made publicly available, and report orally on the work. In consultation with their Thesis Supervisor, students will define a research problem and formulate a research plan.

Prerequisite(s):Fourth-year standing (a minimum of 90.0 credit hours) AND
A minimum GPA of 3.30 calculated on all completed University of Lethbridge courses or calculated on all University of Lethbridge and transferable courses taken within the terms containing the last 20 courses (60.0 credit hours), whichever is higher AND
One Independent Study (3.0 credit hours) in Religious Studies at the 3000 or 4000 level

Note:Contact hours will vary. Students should be aware that this course involves regular contact with the Thesis Supervisor as well as considerable independent work.