HDS 3049

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Buddhist Studies

This course explores key aspects of Buddhist thought, practice, and social institutions across historical eras and diverse cultural areas. We read Buddhist primary texts that offer a rich array of perspectives on the challenges and potentials of being human. We pay special attention to Buddhist understandings of consciousness and embodiment as well as to the ideal types of persons and communities envisioned by Buddhist traditions. The first part of the course focuses on central elements of Buddhist religion as they developed within South Asia. Topics include Buddhist forms of meditation, expressions of devotion, artistic creativity, and understandings of emotions and interpersonal relations. We then use those topics as a basis for comparison as we investigate forms of Buddhism (e.g. Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, Theravada) in Asia and beyond, including in America. Throughout the course we attend to how Buddhists from around the world bring their sensibilities to bear upon contemporary situations, generating ongoing debates about today’s ethical, political, economic, and spiritual landscapes.

HDS 3053

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Buddhist Studies

In the Buddhist view, compassion involves a response to suffering that is fully engaged while remaining free of judgment and imbued with the wisdom of unconditional caring for self and other. This ideal, however, can pose challenges to those in professional caregiving roles who strive to balance giving compassion, sustainability in the midst of suffering, and applying these to one’s own spiritual growth. In this course, we will explore the Buddhist view of compassion and will draw on traditional texts, contemplative approaches, and applied contemporary methods in counseling, social engagement and clinical practice based in compassion theory to consider skillful means in compassionate care. Consideration will also be given to the process of relational compassion (“intersubjectivity”) in direct clinical care, as well as its place in Buddhist ethics, as well as scientific research into brain physiology, neuroplasticity, and the effects of compassion-based meditation. Finally, we will consider notions of compassion fatigue, self-compassion, compassion aversion, and various approaches to compassion training. The seminar will consist of readings, lectures, meditation practices, counseling practice with peers, and case studies.

HDS 3244

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Buddhist Studies

A critical introduction to the literature and religious thought of the Lotus Sutra, considered in the light of the historical contexts of its formation and the contexts of its reception across Buddhist Asia, including commentarial, devotional, and artistic contexts. Close attention will be given to both ecumenical and sectarian engagements with the Lotus Sutra. This course is part of a series of five courses on the critical interpretation of Buddhist scriptures; unlike the others, the foci of which are defined by key interpretive issues in the study of Buddhist scriptures generally, this course focuses on the range of interpretive demands made by a single Buddhist scripture, albeit a very important one.

HDS 3554

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Buddhist Studies

The purpose of this seminar is to identify and reflect upon ethical principles of life in community, as articulated in the historical Buddhist monastic code, and then in Tantric scripture. We will spend the first half of the semester reading the English translation of the full Pali Vinaya.  In the second half we will compare several Indian and Tibetan tantric works which refer to principles of community living. Among the themes for discussion will be notions of human anatomy and gender; bodily practices for living with others; material substances and possessions; honesty and accountability; the living environment; and the relationship between personal discipline and freedom/spontaneity/joy.  The seminar will serve to familiarize students with the primary sources for the scholarly study of Vinaya and Indian tantric literature, along with the secondary scholarship in both of those fields.

HDS 1501

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Church History & History of Religions

The topic of martyrdom often evokes images of Christian believers tortured and executed before public crowds in Roman arenas. Through narrative, art, and ritual, these images have been a malleable and controversial resource that people have turned to for nearly 2000 years to address questions of suffering and injustice, to justify or question judicial and extrajudicial torture and execution, to fuel fear, rage, shame, and grief, or to cultivate determination, faith, and resilience. The course will examine how Christians narrated—and challenged—the foundational story of their “remembered” past, and examine how its legacy may still be alive in our own tumultuous times. We will sometimes set ancient Christian martyrdom, ancient slavery, and US lynching side by side, inquiring how each illumines the other, leads to new questions, and offers potential insights.

HDS 1561

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Church History & History of Religions

In conversation with Michel Foucault’s account of the complex relations between subjectivity and truth (and the importance of “techniques of the self”) in the ancient and late ancient worlds, this limited-enrollment seminar will explore various notions of the self in early Christianity. Focusing on the first four centuries of Christianity, we will investigate specific problems of theological anthropology (i.e., what it means to be human) that emerged for early Christian thinkers at the intersection between established modes of ancient thought and specifically Christian notions of scripture, creation, incarnation, resurrection etc. In view throughout will be questions related to the “hermeneutics of the self” that proved richly generative for the Christian tradition in its formative moments—and continue to animate the tradition today.

HDS 1772

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Church History & History of Religions

If Jesus and his first followers were all Jewish, when and how did Christianity emerge as a separate religion? This course explores this question first by considering the Second Temple Jewish context from within which the Jesus Movement took form and then by mapping different approaches to communal identity among Jews and Christians in the first centuries of the Common Era. Sources to be read and analyzed include selections from the Dead Sea Scrolls, OT Pseudepigrapha, New Testament, NT Apocrypha, and Patristic and Rabbinic literature. We will also engage with contemporary theories about “religion” as well as the historiography of antisemitism. Interested students will have the option of writing a research paper.

HDS 2015

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Church History & History of Religions

This course focuses on ‘world Christianity,’ both as an academic subfield and the varieties of Christian life with which it engages. From colonialism and missionization to economic exchange and mediation, our discussions will analyze the many processes through which Christianites have become recognized as global. Throughout these discussions we will reflect on what the modifier ‘world’ in ‘world Christianity’ means for Christians and those who study them. By the end of the course, students will be able to respond to questions such as: What role has Christianity played in the development of global capitalism? How does the study of Christianity inform our understanding of secularization, secularity, and political secularism? How has Christianity related to colonialism and imperialism in distinctive ways? How do media technologies condition Christian ideas and practices, and how are technologies shaped by Christianity? And finally, what tools does the study of world Christianity offer for understanding its diversity, historical contingencies, and operations of power? Students will have the option to write a research paper in this course.

HDS 2094

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Church History & History of Religions

A year-long, divisible, introductory course to the history of ancient and early medieval Christianity. In the Fall term, we will organize narrative and themes around “biographical” (almost without exception hagiographical) and autobiographical accounts of figures like Perpetua, Origen, Antony, Constantine, Benedict, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Bede, St. Patrick, Charlemagne, and others, especially women ascetics. No previous knowledge is presumed or required.

HDS 2187

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Church History & History of Religions

This course focuses on the American evangelical movement from the 1740s to the present. Beginning with the rise of transatlantic evangelicalism in the eighteenth century, we will explore the role of evangelicals in the American Revolution, the revivals of the Second Great Awakening, the crisis caused by slavery, the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy in the early twentieth century, the emergence of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Movement, the controversies created by neo-evangelicalism in the 1940s, the relationship between evangelicalism and the civil rights movement, the political activism of the Christian Right, and contemporary evangelical attitudes toward gender and sexuality. Readings will introduce students to both evangelical ideas and practices. Throughout the course, we will focus on the historical development of evangelicalism and the relationship between evangelicals and American culture.

HDS 2390A

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Church History & History of Religions

Presentation and discussion of the research of doctoral candidates in American religious history. Available, with instructors' permission, to Harvard doctoral students in other fields of religious studies or American studies.

HDS 2776

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Church History & History of Religions

This survey course will trace the history of both Unitarianism and Universalism from their origins to the present. We will explore the diverse starting points of liberal religion in the United States; the challenges of Transcendentalism, spiritualism, and humanism; the interplay between liberal religion and social reform; the experience of consolidation in the twentieth century; and patterns of complicity in and resistance to structured forms of oppression. Each student will complete a research project exploring one aspect of the history of a particular Unitarian or Universalist congregation.

HDS 3118

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Church History & History of Religions

This course explores the rise and role of “unconventional” orientations towards institutionalized religion in the United States, starting with Deism, Freethinkers, Transcendentalism, and Spiritualism and extending forward into the present day to include the New Atheists, Secular Humanists, Spiritual-But-Not-Religious, Spiritually Fluid, “Nones,” and others who do not identify with traditional religious institutions. The course uncovers on the interactions of these groups with 1) their more religiously traditional neighbors, including Catholics, Mainline and Evangelical Protestants, Jews, etc. and 2) the government of the United States and various state laws and institutions. This course explores the history of anti-religious, a-religious, and multi-religious movements and their influence in American society today. This course includes material on the theological, philosophical, religious, spiritual, political, and ethical positions of important individuals and groups to create a portrait of a diverse and ongoing moment in modern intellectual history.

HDS 2980

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Church Polity

This course is designed to establish and develop the student's working knowledge of the constitutional structure of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The primary focus is on current Presbyterian polity and programs, with attention to the denomination's roots in Reformed theology and tradition. A thorough reading of the Confessions and The Book of Order will serve as a basis for discussion of cases that illuminate the implications of reformed theology and polity in the praxis of the church. 

HDS 2299

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Ethics (all traditions)

The course will examine the relationship between race and liberalism in the formation of the U.S. legal system, focusing in particular on the use of moral (and religious) doctrines both to reinforce and repudiate legal codes and institutional practices designed to subjugate African Americans and dispossessed groups in the U.S. Framed by Charles Mills’ category of “racial liberalism” -- the racialization of personhood, rights and public duties -- the course will explore through court cases, trial transcripts, first-person narratives, and political philosophy how efforts to promote a color-blind society often undermine liberal theories of justice and equality and lead to the deepening of racial and economic inequality.

HDS 3086

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Ethics (all traditions)

COVID19 has painfully highlighted the failure of international organizations to provide a coherent and efficient response the pandemic, raising the issue of global governance to greater prominence than at any time since World War II and the formation of the United Nations. This situation has opened new venues and opportunities for religious groups to posit themselves as credible international collaborators in addressing issues that cut across national boundaries, including global health, the environment, and migration. This course offers an analysis of this new trend. It will assess critically the studies on the role of religion in conflict and peace building which has been the entry point on religion and global governance. It will then address the role of religious institutions on the humanitarian crisis of refugees, limitations of nuclear weapons, climate changes, pandemics, and market economy. It will examine across religious traditions the theological reflection on moral responsibility and community and the ongoing tensions between universalist claims and more reactionary stands. It will also study modes of action  and evaluate the international influence of this particular message in different arenas and international political organizations: Public health, Racial and Religious discrimination, Mass destruction, Social inequalities, to explore the following questions: In which domain is the global moral message of religion more influential? How? Where and why does it create tensions. The approach will combine religious studies, theology and social sciences.

HDS 3150

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Ethics (all traditions)

This course explores the ethical and political valences of the religious language we use in private, communal, and public spaces. Religious sayings, identity descriptors, and public discourses often convey multiple meanings. In the first section of the course, we will explore the truisms about religion and God that abound in the private realm. After reading Kate Bowler's Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved, we will focus on a series of shorter pieces about such common aphorisms and assertions. We will then turn to how religious descriptors figure in personal and group identities, considering what it means to call oneself “religious” or “non-religious” versus “spiritual” or “secular”; "Christian" rather than "Protestant” or “Catholic”; “Judeo-Christian” versus “Abrahamic”; “humanist” versus “naturalist”; and so forth. In the final section of the course, we will explore the religious discourses that have shaped American politics, ranging from the claim that the United States is a “Protestant,” "Christian," or "Judeo-Christian” nation to characterizations of the country as "God-fearing," "covenanting," "religious," or "secular" in some constitutive sense. We will place America’s longstanding culture wars in global perspective by considering the roles played by analogous religious language in other national contexts. Students will have the option to write a series of short analytical papers or one 25-page original research paper on a topic chosen in conjunction with the instructor. They will come away from the course with a robust understanding of how religious language shapes politics and ethics in the modern United States and beyond.

HDS 3166

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Ethics (all traditions)

This course will survey constructive religious reflection that is informed by an ecological worldview and accountable to various forms of environmental activism. Readings will be drawn from a variety of religious and spiritual traditions, among them Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Paganism, religious naturalism, and Indigenous spirituality. We will pay special attention to the interplay between ecotheology and various theologies of liberation. Students will be invited to develop their own constructive theological or atheological proposals in dialogue with the assigned readings. Throughout the semester, we will use optional book groups to explore additional ecotheological texts. All students are expected to complete one or more group projects and to provide oral and written feedback on one another’s work. Students will have the option of completing a major research paper.

HDS 3205

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Ethics (all traditions)

his seminar will explore Harriet Beecher’s Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin; its geographic, cultural, and racial diaspora; and the impact of what scholars have labeled the "Transatlantic Stowe" regarding the hemispheric and global influence of the 1852 novel. On its 170th anniversary, this course will examine the text that in all of the nineteenth century was outsold in the U.S. only by the Christian Bible.

HDS 3206

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Ethics (all traditions)

This is a seminar in Africana intellectual history engaging in close readings of the written corpus of James Baldwin. It is designed to address larger conceptual issues of religion, race, identity, gender, sexuality through the intensive study of a major thinker in North America. A working knowledge of African American social history is recommended but not required.

HDS 3249

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Ethics (all traditions)

This course explores a basic issue in the fundamental possibilities of human life: how can a person become “good” given the experienced realities of human imperfection, fallibility, and finitude? This basic human issue has been given attention by some Christians with the notion of grace, by some Buddhists with the notion of Path (ariyamagga), and by other Buddhists with the notion of Naturalness (jinen). Using a variety of interpretive practices (phenomenology, conceptual history, and the history of “philosophical problems”) to engage a wide range of materials, this course will examine how human imperfection has been experienced as both an obstacle to fundamental possibilities and as a positive condition for them. At the center of the course’s explorations will be the thought of the Japanese Buddhist thinker, Shinran but course materials will also include Christian and Buddhist materials, both classic and modern, as well as works of continental philosophy, and James Alan McPherson’s memoir, Crabcakes

HDS 3300

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Ethics (all traditions)

Religions have functioned throughout human history to inspire and justify the full range of human agency from the heinous to the heroic. Their influences remain potent here in the 21st century in spite of modern predictions that religious influences would steadily decline in concert with the rise of secular democracies and advances in science. Professionals in a wide range of fields need to understand these complex religious influences in order to understand modern human affairs across the full spectrum of endeavors in local, national, and global arenas.  In this course, we will focus on religious literacy in the professions of journalism, media and entertainment, government, humanitarian action, education, and organizing. How can a nuanced and complex understanding of religion enhance the ability of professionals in these fields to serve their populations? Students will learn a critical theory method for comprehending the ways that religions shape, and are shaped by, different social, cultural, and political contexts and will apply that method to case studies in diverse professional sectors. As a way to ground their explorations, students will each choose one of the professions outlined above and one of the following issues to focus upon: racial justice, climate change, immigration, or Native and Indigenous rights. For example, a student may wish to focus on the profession of journalism and the issue of climate change, or the profession of organizing and the issue of immigration, etc. 

HDS 3179

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Hinduism Studies

One of the persistent threads in the study of contemporary public Hinduism is its alleged distance from the concerns and debates that animated the past scholars of classical Hinduism. Considered to be characterized more by populism rather than persuasion, ritual performance rather than debate, exhibition rather than reflection, context over text, the idea of ‘popular Hinduism’ might serve as a catchall phrase for capturing this macro-historical and expedient transformation of the tradition into concerns around cultural identity that are devoid of any theological or spiritual depth. This course will critically and genealogically interrogate this idea of ‘popular Hinduism’ and its cognates (such as ‘Neo-Hinduism’) to provide a deeper understanding of the connective tissues between contemporary and more classical expressions of Hinduism. Emphasis will be on understanding the various methodologically oblique and often loosely-commentatorial ways that link the textual corpus of Hinduism to the social and political realities of contemporary religious practice. These will include exploring scholarly approaches such as historicism, structuralism, ideological criticism, genealogical, text and context approaches, archetypal criticism, narratology, amongst others.

HDS 3180

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Hinduism Studies

This seminar will introduce the students to a comparative and historical study of Hinduism as a legal tradition. The primary aim is to introduce students to the sources and textual scope (including jurisprudential treatises, digests and case law) of Hinduism and conversely use the concepts and methods of contemporary legal studies to interrogate the normative, social and institutional profiles of Hinduism. Comparatively, the course will interrogate several questions central to the field of legal studies such as the relation between theoretical and practical law, rights and duties, authority and coercion, principles and judgments, and various modes of textual interpretation. Historically, the course will sample three periods from the history of Hinduism to explore these issues– the precolonial contours of the canon of dharmshastras, the primary textual manifestation of the central theological category of dharma; the consolidation and systematization of this corpus into positive law by British officers and jurists for the purposes of colonial governance; and the contemporary legal manifestation of these issues in debates about the place and extent of state regulation of Hinduism in India evident in a range of recent controversies including but not limited to issues around temple governance, sources of scriptural authority, property rights and inheritance.

HDS 3391

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Hinduism Studies

Team-taught with Swami Tyagananda, Director, Ramakrishna Vedanta Society in Boston and Harvard’s Hindu chaplain, this new course explores starting points, attitudes, and specific ways of ministering distinctive to Hindu spiritual care and ministry, in light of general qualities and norms expected for ministry and spiritual care today, in any tradition. Attention paid first to starting points in Hindu scripture and practice, with a subsequent focus on cases: e.g., hospital chaplaincy and care for the dying; campus ministry; counseling of individuals facing life issues; guidance for couples preparing to marry and planning a family; and, of necessity, responses to the suffering, death, and disruption caused by natural and social evils. Visiting lecturers, experienced in Hindu spiritual care, will enrich the course.

HDS 2016

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Interreligious Learning

How did Jewish and Christian ideals, customs, and legal norms impact the experience of childbirth in early modern Europe? This seminar explores childbirth as a lens onto the role of religious difference in the social, cultural, and political life of the early modern world (1500-1800). How did the shared experience of childbirth foster cross-confessional interactions between Jews and Christians, and what kind of tensions could emerge in this sphere? Proceeding thematically, the course examines how religious reformations influenced attitudes toward childbirth care, highlighting the commonalities and distinctions between Jewish and Christians in this realm. Topics include midwifery, medical practice and malpractice, baptism, circumcision, contraception, abortion, and ritual practices.

HDS 2249

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Interreligious Learning

The philosophical ideas and critical method of W.E.B. Du Bois’s study of Negro problems ignited a critical inquiry into Black life in the Americas that reverberated through 20th century political and religious thought among African and African American writers, scholars, and activists. The course will explore Du Bois’s development of Negro problems throughout his scholarly and poetic writings. The objective is to understand his unfolding humanistic philosophy and its link to ethics, religion, and human flourishing.

HDS 2345

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Interreligious Learning

Based around a series of guest speakers, this course interrogates the study of religion in general and of Native American traditions in particular in light of indigenous perspectives and histories. Questions of appropriation, repatriation and religious freedom will be approached through legal as well as cultural frameworks. 

HDS 3078

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Interreligious Learning

Are binary conceptions of the human and the body presupposed when we perform gender analyses? This course examines the usefulness of gender as a cross-cultural category of analysis from the standpoint of Afrolatine/diasporic religions and non-western ritual practices such as Afrocuban Santería, Winti, Yoruba, Ifá, Native American, and Mesoamerican indigenous practices - practices that trouble canonized approaches to gender research and knowledge production. Should practices like altar-building, initiation, and ritual possession be considered “queer” or forms of “gender-crossing,” Students will be exposed to key concepts in decolonial theory and to the dynamic, fluid, and expansive conceptions of gender, the body and of the human being activated and made available within these religious practices. The course will provide a theoretical foundation from which to examine in what ways these non-western polytheistic religions create the conditions for culturally specific forms of contestation and reconfigurations of normative relations of power. In so doing, the course asks students to examine the assumptions and tendencies within feminist, and queer theory to construe religiosity as antithetical to liberatory and decolonial movement and struggle.

HDS 3124

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Interreligious Learning

How were birds observed and imagined in Mediterranean antiquity, and what role did they play in mythology,religious thought, and ritual? What was the cultural importance of birds to ancient Greeks, Romans, and their neighbors, and how was it informed by natural history? Exploring themes of metamorphosis, divination, symbolism, divine attribute, and aesthetics, this seminar considers a range of material and literary evidence, as well as recent scholarship in the classics.

HDS 3334

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Interreligious Learning

In this course, we will explore the Israeli/Palestinian conflict with a special focus on identifying and analyzing the diverse and complex roles that religions play in promoting both violence and peace. Students will learn a method for recognizing and analyzing how religious ideologies are embedded in all arenas of human agency and not isolated from political, economic, and cultural life as is often assumed. In addition to examining the historical roots of the conflict, we will also explore the religious dimensions of the impacts those conflicts have on civic life in areas such as public health, education, and commerce. What roles do religions play in fostering violence and what roles do they play in promoting peace? How do religious institutions and ideologies function to support and/or thwart public health initiatives? What are the ideological justifications for functional economic policies and how do they reflect and/or challenge diverse religious values? What roles do religions play in advancing or suppressing educational opportunities and for whom? Are media representations of the religious dimensions of conflict accurate? 

HDS 3689

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Interreligious Learning

This course focuses on the history and phenomenology of African peoples’ religious experiences in the Americas. The historical and social processes that led to the emergence of African diasporic religions in Latin America and the Caribbean will form the core of our reading. This will include Afroatlantic traditions in USA, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad.  It will focus on the survival of West and Central African religions, especially Yoruba, Fon and Kongo Religions in the new world and show why African religions attract a large following in the contemporary society.  Topics include West and Central Africa religious heritage; Santeria: the religion of the Orishas in Cuba and the United States; Candomble: Afro-Brazilian religion and Haitian Vodou; Rastafarians in Jamaica and Shango in Trinidad. By closely reading historical, ethnographic, and textual sources, the course will illuminate the lived religious traditions of Africans in the Americas.

HDS 3751

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Interreligious Learning

This course reflects on God — the idea, the reality, the significance — in light of Hindu and Christian scriptures, from philosophical and theological perspectives, and with reference to spiritual paths to union with God — all re-read in light of modern theological questions and doubts about the very idea of “God.” Issues include: the meaning of “God” and knowledge of God; reasons to believe (or not) in God's existence; God's relationship to the world, humans, all living beings; divine embodiment and salvation by God; theism and polytheism before and after secularism and atheism. Knowing both Hindu and Christian traditions on God clarifies each tradition, as we learn from their great similarities and great differences. And: how might studying God comparatively change our God-talk, God-practice, God-love here and now? Quiet course for noisy times.

HDS 3057

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Islamic Studies

This course will engage in a critical reading and analysis of well-known Muslim prophetic traditions and a study of the practices of the Prophet Muhammad. Through analysis of Muslim prophetic traditions, such as “Hadith Jibril,” we will develop an understanding of the Islamic value systems, Islamic manners/etiquette and Prophetic Character. The fundamental building blocks such as Islam (the physical surrender of the body), Iman (internal truth), and Ihsan (excellence and beauty) will be closely examined. We will focus on Muslim spiritual care through these building blocks during the semester. We will also develop a framework for understanding core Islamic sciences, such as: Jurisprudence, creed/theology, and spiritual purification. Throughout various modalities and exercises, we will study how this framework can enable a deeper understanding of the practical issues affecting the lives of Muslims. We will have expert guest speakers from different disciplines such as pastoral care/chaplaincy (ministry), poetry & literature, counseling, psychology, education, social work, and medicine throughout the semester. These specialists will give us perspectives and practical tips on how prophetic traditions are applied in a Muslim’s life. This course will provide a basic understanding of the Islamic religion through the eyes of Muslims, while providing an in-depth understanding of the various dimensions of Islamic practices. Students from different backgrounds, with or without prior experience with Islam, will find much enrichment in this course diving into the practice through the lenses of prophetic traditions.

HDS 3069

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Islamic Studies

The Qurʾan refers to itself as a book to be recited beautifully. Qurʾanic verses and hadiths command believers, both male and female, to chant the Qurʾan with melody. The ideal recitation is well-defined as an intent which not only accepts but also depends on the melodic element for its fulfillment. In this course, students will learn to recite Qur’anic passages, allowing them to bring first-hand experience to analysis of the rules of recitation. Both oral and theoretical aspects of recitation contribute to engagement with acoustic and auditory dimensions of Muslim religious worlds, allowing a more sonically aware study of gender and religion.

HDS 3172

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Islamic Studies

This course, as part of the new HDS Initiative on Islamic Spiritual Life and Service, is intended for students preparing for vocation in a variety of settings in which they will provide Islamically-inspired service and support. The course will acquaint students with Islamic pedagogy and practice on spiritual cultivation, highlighting the foundational importance of spiritual-ethical virtues in Islamic piety and the lifelong quest for nearness to and knowledge of God.

HDS 3177

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Islamic Studies

Between 900 to 1300 CE, Islamicate societies were characterized by drastic transformations in religious thought, political authority and institutions as Shiʿi dynasties (Ismaili Fatimids and Ithnaʾashari Buyids) were overthrown and replaced by rulers who enabled the establishment of Sunni dominance. This period is also marked by two tumultuous nomadic invasions (Saljuq Turks and Mongols) and their aftermaths which convulsed the Islamicate realms. In this course, we will unpack the complex histories of societies and study the socio-political and religious developments from the Shiʿi Centuries to the Mongol Invasions. We will examine the crystallisation of Ithnaʾashari Shiʿism. We will survey the challenges of Fatimid and Nizari Ismaili thought as well as their religio-political conflicts and relations with the Sunni Abbasid-Saljuq establishment. We will probe the contexts of the emergence of Sunni hegemony. We will explore the rise of Alid loyalism and the spread of Sufi ṭarīqahs (orders). We will analyse the formation of nomadic empires and their impacts on religion and societies. We will scrutinize the shifts in justifications of political authority in relation to the Prophet Muhammad to Chinggisid legitimations of rule after the twin decapitations by the Mongols of the Nizari polity in Iran (1256) and the Abbasid caliphate (1258).

HDS 4056

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

This course is a continuation of HDS course offerings in Pali (Elementary Pali and Intermediate Pali) and focuses especially on the reading and interpretation of Theravada Buddhist commentarial texts composed in Pali. Course will include learning how to read Pali texts printed in non-Roman scripts; in the fall term, 2021, some texts will be read in Thai script. Prerequisite: Intermediate Pali II or equivalent (with instructor’s permission).

HDS 4102A

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

Syriac is the Aramaic dialect that became the principal language of Near Eastern Christians in antiquity. It was widely spoken and written in Mesopotamia, Persia, and beyond, and a vast corpus of Syriac Christian literature survives.This full-year course offers a thorough introduction to Classical Syriac. Readings will include passages from the New Testament and early Christian literature. The course will also introduce important themes and figures from the Syriac tradition. Syllabus and instructional techniques have been updated to optimize the online learning experience.

HDS 4157

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

This course will offer an introduction to Sahidic Coptic vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. No previous knowledge of Coptic or other linguistic background is presumed. The course is designed to give students the necessary training to read basic to intermediate level texts, including but not limited to the Coptic Bible, the Nag Hammadi codices, monastic texts, and Coptic papyri. The course will further provide a primer to the vast resources available for the study of Coptic, including Coptic digital humanities projects.

HDS 4211

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

Introduction to ancient Greek emphasizing the grammar and vocabulary of the New Testament.

HDS 4220

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

Review of grammar and syntax. Special attention given to increasing facility in reading and interpreting the Greek New Testament. Selected readings from the gospels and epistles with occasional readings from LXX or early Christian writers.

HDS 4230

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

In this course we will follow the development of demonology from Classic Greek to early Byzantine philosophy. We will inquire into the relationship between humans and demons, as they were intended as part of the human soul, as divine helpers, or as tempting malevolent spirits. We will consider the transition of demons from lesser deities to evil entities in the Jewish and Christian traditions comparing the ideas of pagan writers such as Plutarch, Porphyry and Iamblichus with Jewish and Christian authors like Philo, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen. We will follow the development of the idea that the human body is a host for demons and site for the battle against the devil in gentile and Christian sources. In the last part of the course, we will consider the political weaponization of demonology in the early Byzantine tradition and read stories about rulers rumored to be demons.

HDS 4320

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

This course is intended to hone reading and translation skills in Latin by introducing students to Christian texts from scriptures to late ancient vitae, medieval sermons to early modern letters. The primary purpose is to increase facility and familiarity with the Latin language, developing skills begun in previous coursework conducted either in classical or in medieval Latin. The secondary purpose is to be introduced to the study of Christian Latin literature, as well as the resources scholars use to study it. Special attention will be paid to the theory and practice of scriptural interpretation and to Latin cultures of reading and translating. Students will encounter manuscripts, letters, and artwork at Harvard's libraries and museums. 

HDS 4412

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

An introduction to German grammar, syntax, vocabulary and translation with reading selections at an elementary level related to theological and religious studies.

HDS 4414

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

Reading and translation practice in selected texts related to theological and religious studies. Prerequisite: 8-Week Intensive Beginners German for Reading, Korb's German for Reading, or Instructor's Permission.

HDS 4451

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

An introduction to French grammar, syntax, vocabulary and translation, with reading selections at an elementary level related to theological and religious studies. Limited enrollment course. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants.

HDS 4454

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

Reading and translation practice in selected texts related to religious studies. Satisfies one of the three language course requirements of the MDiv program. This course is designed to help students gain proficiency in reading texts related to theological French and religious studies, as well as academic French more broadly. The syllabus may be adjusted according to the specific interests and research areas of students enrolled in the course. Prerequisite: HDS 4453, SLP, or Intermediate French reading proficiency. 

HDS 4460

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

An introduction to Spanish grammar, syntax, vocabulary and translation with reading selections at an elementary level related to theological and religious studies.

HDS 4464

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

This course focuses on Spanish reading comprehension and translation at the intermediate/advanced level with special attention to preparation for the HDS Spanish language exam.  Students will translate Spanish-language texts from various time periods, regions, traditions, and genres into English and will learn to recognize key grammatical structures, vocabulary, and linguistic nuances with the goal of comprehension of written material in Spanish.  At the end of the course, students will have the opportunity to work with and translate a text of their choice from their own research disciplines.

HDS 4052

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

The first in a two-year program of courses designed to enable the student to read Buddhist canonical materials in Pali independently. In addition to giving the student a comprehensive understanding of all grammatical forms found in the texts, the program will also equip them with a range of interpretive techniques to help them draw out as fully as possible the meanings of the texts. This course introduces students to major elements of grammar found in Pali. It also introduces the language patterns found in standard prose works to facilitate independent reading. The course is geared toward getting the student to read canonical Pali texts as quickly as possible, and readings in the textbook are taken from key canonical texts. The student is thus engaging with key canonical materials from the very beginning of the course.

HDS 4054

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Languages

This course is the third part of a two-year program designed to allow the student to read Buddhist canonical materials in Pali independently. The readings are taken from the canonical collections and are chosen and arranged thematically, exposing the student to key aspects of the teachings of Theravada Buddhism. The course readings are chosen to enrich the student's understanding of these teachings, at the same time as strengthening language skills.

HDS 2925

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Leadership Formation & Ministry Skills

This course aims to build skills for imaginative and shared leadership in religious, not-for-profit, and academic institutions. Students will develop skills within three areas: managing self-awareness for leadership, developing strategic approaches to complex situations, and interpreting meaning. At the heart of each class session will be interactive learning experiences that include case studies, role-play, debating, and team-based interviewing of a wide range of administrators and leaders. Because many HDS MDiv and MTS graduates are contributors to communities that encounter complex problems, students will be taught how to shepherd meaning through shared communal processing. This course teaches students how to develop contextual and communal approaches to leadership and administration as opposed to dictatorial forms of leadership. Students will learn that ethical leadership and moral administration begins with humility, keen listening, compassionate engagement (to self and others as well as to new information), and the interrogation and evaluation of their own moral compasses, values, strengths, and immunities to certain forms of change. This course will pay close attention to the complex layers of communal conflict and/or challenges by distinguishing between technical and adaptive challenges. Students will be taught to attend to what matters most in each situation and how to motivate substantive and sustainable responses to adaptive problems. Additionally, the course also shows leaders how to do more than “solve problems”. It teaches students how to forge a more productive understanding of the human interactions, motivations, and fears that play crucial roles in the development of a community’s capacity for change and courageous action.

HDS 2038

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual

In this course, students will learn to think theologically about worship and liturgy in the Christian tradition. We will read classic texts by Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Reformed Protestant authors (Schmemann, Lathrop, Wainwright, Kavanagh, and others), alongside recent theological work in response to the liturgical upheaval of COVID-19. We will also consider topics such as the worship of the early church, the profound impact of the liturgical movement of the twentieth century across Christian traditions, and liturgy as Christian formation. Final projects will engage students’ specific research interests, traditions, and professional aspirations. This course counts as Anglican/Episcopal polity.

HDS 1417

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Scriptural & Biblical Studies

A close critical reading in English of the Book of Genesis with an eye both to the storytellers' techniques and to the theological dimension of the text. Primary emphasis will be given to literary and religious rather than historical and editorial issues. 

HDS 1438

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Scriptural & Biblical Studies

A critical discussion of the Book of Proverbs in its entirety and a close reading of (at least) major sections of it in Hebrew. Among the topics considered are questions of worldview, literary design, poetic technique, ancient Near Eastern antecedents and parallels, and the relationship of the theologies in Proverbs to those of other currents in ancient Israelite thought. Includes a research-based paper.

HDS 1526

Semester

FA 22

BTI Category

Scriptural & Biblical Studies