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BTI Consortium | Last Updated August 15, 2025 - 11:00AM
Harvard Divinity School
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1102
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament 1: Pentateuch and Former Prophets
BTI Category
Semester
Scripture & Biblical Studies
FA25
A critical introduction to the literature and theology of the Hebrew Bible, considered in light of the historical contexts of its formation and the interpretive contexts of its reception within Judaism and Christianity. The course, the first part of a divisible, year-long sequence, will focus on the major biblical narrative traditions, the Pentateuch and Former Prophets. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as ANE 120a.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Teeter
TR
10:30am-11:45am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as ANE 120a.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1416
Ancient Jewish Wisdom Literature
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
FA25
A close critical reading and interpretation of works thought to derive from the Wisdom tradition of ancient Israel, principally in the Second Temple period. The workings of the world and the ways of God as they appear in works such as Proverbs, Job, Qohelet, Ben Sira, some Psalms, the Wisdom of Solomon, and Fourth Maccabees as well as narratives such as the Joseph story, Esther, and Daniel. Concludes with the early rabbinic Pirq� Avot. Egyptian and Mesopotamian antecedents and parallels briefly considered. Emphasis on matters of worldview and literary form. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1232.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Levenson
TR
10:30am-11:45am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1232.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1505
Sex, Gender, and Sexuality in the New Testament and Early Christianity
BTI Category
Semester
Scripture & Biblical Studies
FA25
This course will explore the place of the New Testament and early Christianity in the history of gender and sexuality. Through a close examination of relevant primary literature, we will seek to understand how the early Christian tradition was shaped by the sex and gender protocols of the ancient Mediterranean world; how it, in turn, reshaped that world; and how the texts and practices in question have played a foundational role in the history of Western thought, and continue to impact cultural and religious debates today. We will also work to become familiar with the increasingly developed (and complex) scholarly conversation surrounding these issues. This is a limited enrollment course. Please email the instructor (bdunning@hds.harvard.edu) with a short introduction including relevant background and reasons for wanting to enroll in the course. Students will be notified of acceptance before the enrollment deadline.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Dunning
T
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Please email the instructor (bdunning@hds.harvard.edu) with a short introduction including relevant background and reasons for wanting to enroll in the course. Students will be notified of acceptance before the enrollment deadline.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1535
The Book of Revelation: Text, History, and Reception
BTI Category
Semester
Scripture & Biblical Studies
FA25
The course will deal with the Apocalypse of John, read in translation, paying special attention to its interpretive issues in its historical original context and to its enormous reception at the root of ancient Christian apocalypticism all the way to contemporary popular culture.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Bazzana
W
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1625
Rapid Reading: Classical Hebrew I
BTI Category
Semester
Languages
FA25
This course is designed to assist students in increasing their speed and fluency while reading biblical prose in preparation for graduate level seminars and future study. It will also deepen their knowledge of Hebrew syntax, solidify the Hebrew verbal system, and expand their biblical Hebrew vocabulary. Students will learn and practice useful skills relevant to studying Biblical Hebrew in graduate school and beyond, including reading the critical apparatus of the BHS and interpreting the Masorah. This course is designed to cover large areas of biblical Hebrew narrative while also allowing the students to engage with current scholarship within the field of Hebrew Bible. Prerequisite: HDS 4010 (A and B), HDS 4020, and HDS 4021 or the equivalents. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Classical Hebrew 130AR.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Olivero
R
12:00pm-01:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Prerequisite: HDS 4010 (A and B), HDS 4020, and HDS 4021 or the equivalents
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1775
Ancient Greek Daemons
BTI Category
Semester
Languages
FA25
In ancient Greece, a daim�n or �daemon� was understood sometimes as a god, sometimes as an intermediary divine being, perhaps allotted to a specific individual (most famously, Socrates), and sometimes (due to the increasing influence of Judaism and Christianity) as an evil spirit or �demon.� This course will survey the history of the daemon from the archaic period (e.g. Homer), through the classical and Hellenistic periods, to late antiquity, with a focus on Platonism�s evolving interpretation of Socrates� own daemon and, more broadly, the relevance of daemons for the pursuit of philosophy. We use �daemon� to distinguish this wide tradition from the early Christian �demonization� of these intermediary beings. All readings will be done in translation, with opportunities for those who have Greek to read the sources in the original language. There are no prerequisites, although some knowledge of the ancient Mediterranean world is recommended.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Stang
T
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
All readings will be done in translation, with opportunities for those who have Greek to read the sources in the original language. There are no prerequisites, although some knowledge of the ancient Mediterranean world is recommended.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2003
Mystical Theology
BTI Category
Semester
Systematic Theology & Philosophy (Western)
FA25
This course will examine the history of mystical theology in early and medieval Christianity. Through a close reading of primary texts in translation we will explore the practices through which the mystical life is pursued; the interplay of affirmation (kataphasis) and negation (apophasis) in language and images surrounding mystical reading, prayer, and meditation; varying conceptions of mystical union and annihilation; and the role of gender and what we might call sexuality within texts about the mystical life. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1448.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hollywood
W
01:00pm-02:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1448.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2052
Religion and Liberation Around Toni Morrison and Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez: Writings and Lives
BTI Category
Semester
Ethics (all traditions)
FA25
In 1995 Toni Morrison and Gabriel Garc�a M�rquez met for the first time in Mexico City and spoke about their writings, editors, lives and literary influences. The Colombian writer showed his deep knowledge of Morrison�s novels and Morrison thanked him as a resource for religious themes in her writings. Later, in an interview with Professor Carrasco, Morrison stated, �When I read his book One Hundred Years of Solitude, I literally said, �Oh, my God, you can do this��meaning magic, strange stuff�and be deadly serious. So, that freed me up in my writing. Reading him unlocked something important for me. �This course is a comparative and critical study of the religious dimensions in their writings and lives with special attention to the themes of religious experience, homeland and quests, Africa and Latin America, "rememory" and myths, goodness and the literary imagination. We engage with four types of �texts� and link them together to decipher the ties between the writer�s lives, countries, politics, liberation movements and their writings; autobiographical fragments, novels, film, critical reflections. For Morrison we will use the film � Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am� and interviews as autobiographical fragments. For Garc�a M�rquez we will read his autobiography, Living to Tell the Tale�and interviews. Novels include Song of Solomon, Beloved, Home, A Mercy, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Chronicle of a Death Foretold. This course will not be open to auditors. Students have the opportunity to write a research paper, take a final written exam or do a creative project.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Carrasco
T
1:00pm-3:00pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Not open to auditors.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2150
Christianity and Fascism: Complicity and Resistance
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
What is the relationship between Christianity and fascism? In the twentieth century, Christian thought and practice were sites of intense political struggle, as fascists presented their movements as building properly-ordered Christian societies at the same time as antifascists presented resistance as a Christian duty. This course explores the ambivalent place of Christianity amid the rise and rule of fascist movements between 1920-1945, with a particular focus on Christian complicity and resistance in Nazi Germany. We will read twentieth-century attempts to understand Christian theology�s relationship to the politics of fascism, investigate what a church service and a theology education in Nazi Germany were like, and learn from antifascists how to imagine a Christian theology of resistance, with particular focus on the theologian and anti-Nazi resister Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Loftin
M
12:00pm-02:45pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2319
Evangelicalism and Political Culture in the United States Since c.1950
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
The aim of this course is to investigate the relationship between evangelical religion and political culture in the United States from the end of the Second World War until the present. Key questions to be asked include: What is evangelicalism? When, where, and how did it arise? What were its religious, cultural, and political characteristics from its origins in Europe to its establishment in the United States? How is evangelicalism to be distinguished from fundamentalism? What were the most important demographic and political characteristics of evangelicalism at the end of the Second World War? What factors shaped its political evolution in the decades after World War Two, especially around issues relating to race, gender, culture, media, identity, political parties, and foreign affairs? How does the political culture of white evangelicals differ from that of evangelicals of color? Who were the most important personalities, and which were the most notable events and processes shaping evangelical political consciousness? What is the current state of evangelicalism’s political consciousness and how can one explain its close relationship with the Republican Party and Donald Trump? What contribution will/did evangelicals make to the 2024 presidential election? What factors need to be considered in assessing what may happen to evangelical political consciousness in the next several decades? What impact has political consciousness had on evangelical religiosity and spirituality?Jointly offered with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as REL XXXX.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hempton
T
09:00am-11:45am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2417
Revolution: Theological and Political Perspectives
BTI Category
Semester
Ethics (all traditions)
FA25
In this class we will examine the concept of revolution and its deployment in academic discourse, together with historical examples of political revolutionary movements, in order to ascertain the meaning of revolution in the past and today. The main focus of the class will be on the different approaches to revolutionary thought and action in the intersection of theology and political theory. Some of the questions we will address are: What constitutes a revolution? Are revolutions desirable? What is the cost of revolutionary change? Is revolutionary change necessarily violent? Do revolutions produce the change to which they aspire?
Professor
Class Day & Time
Zegarra
T
03:00pm-05:45pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2523
God and Justice
BTI Category
Semester
Ethics (all traditions)
FA25
The course explores select classical and contemporary theories of justice and liberation theologies, including examining modern-day applications of God-talk, humanism, and freedom and responsibility in art, literature, and philosophy. Readings will focus on prominent debates in moral philosophy and political theology, as well as legal studies and art and visual culture, to investigate existing and emerging grammars for understanding endurance, hope, and faith in civil societies where pluralism and democracy as normative commitments face increasing criticism and condemnation. Themes under consideration include God, law and fungibility, Being, the problem of evil, and spirit/mysticism. The course will draw upon a wide range of modern and contemporary scholars, artists, and writers including Henry Ossawa Tanner, James H. Cone, Reinhold Niebuhr, M. Shawn Copeland, Derrick Bell, Susan Neiman, Cornel West, N.K. Jemisin, Nicholas Wolterstorff, and Elizabeth Catlett.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Johnson
T
12:00pm-02:00pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2779
Piety, Practice, and Politics: Thomas Merton and Martin Buber
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
The twentieth century produced numerous figures in Judaism and Christianity that developed ways of understanding religion in modernity that included the practical application of religious practice (piety) with activist engagement in the world (politics). This course will focus on two such figures; the Trappist monk Thomas Merton (d. 1969), and the Jewish theologian Martin Buber (d.1965). Merton excavated and taught the history of monasticism and Christian piety, living as a monk in the Gethsemane Monastery in Bardstown Kentucky, and became active in anti-Vietnam War politics until his untimely death from accidental electrocution in Bangkok in 1969. Buber was a leading philosopher/theologian and Zionist activist in Germany until his immigration to Mandate Palestine in the late 1930s and then became a voice of inspiration for humanistic Zionism, religious renewal, and the revival of Hasidism. This course will examine the writings and lives of both figures, paying close attention to their use of the past, theological worldviews, their understanding of a life of piety, and their commitment to political activism. They will serve as two exemplars of the ongoing attempt to reconsider, reconstruct, and revise religion in a changing world.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Magid
T
12:00pm-01:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2878
Religion and Conservation
BTI Category
Semester
Ethics (all traditions)
FA25
This course will explore the ways religious individuals and communities engage in the care and protection of �wilderness,� wildness, and biodiversity. Our approach will be multireligious and multidisciplinary, incorporating textual, historical, ethnographic, ethical, and theological approaches to the theme. We will pay special attention to the history and practice of conservation close to Cambridge, while also considering the ways global religious traditions can challenge Western assumptions about the relationship between humans and nature.
Professor
Class Day & Time
McKanan
MW
09:00am-10:15am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2925
Administration and Leadership
BTI Category
Semester
Leadership Formation & Ministry Skills
FA25
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.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Crowley
TBD
TBD
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
This is a limited enrollment course. To apply, send a statement to bcrowley@hds.harvard.edu answering the following:1. What program are youin at HDS? 2. Why do you want to take this class and how do you envision this course benefitting you? 3. Please summarize your background in the areas of administration and leadership. Are you currently, have you ever been, or do you desire to be a leader or administrator? 4. What do you want to learn about administration and leadership?
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3053
Compassion and Heart Cultivation: Buddhism and the Clinical Approach
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
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.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Berlin
R
03:00pm-05:30pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
This is a limited enrollment course and requires instructor permission. Interested students can email the instructor prior to the first class meeting, to assess their interest and be placed on a preliminary class list. In the event that the course is over-enrolled, prospective students will be asked to write a paragraph during the first class meeting to indicate their degree program, school, year, and rationale for taking the class. Selected students will then be invited to enroll in the course via email by the end of that first day.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3057
Intro to Islam through Prophetic Traditions
BTI Category
Semester
Islamic Studies
FA25
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.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Kumek
M
12:00pm-01:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3113
Magic Today: An Anthropological Perspective
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
What is magic? Is it different from religion? Is magic a way of knowing? In this course, we look at magic from an anthropological perspective. We focus, in particular, on contemporary magic in Europe and North America, addressing for example contemporary paganisms, Wicca, chaos magic, new age spirituality, and contemporary esotericism. By engaging with ethnographic works, students become acquainted with or deepen their knowledge of the main issues, traditions, debates, and research in the field of the anthropology of religion and of magic. Students analyze contemporary magic vis-�-vis popular culture, feminism, globalization, medicine, social media, history, and well-being. They do so through ethnographic readings, films, music, arts, discussions, and independent research.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Parmigiani
M
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3157
God, Gender, and Power: Toward a Narrative-Based Feminist Theology in Islam
BTI Category
Semester
Islamic Studies
FA25
In this course, we will explore dominant conceptions of God across various schools of thought within the Islamic tradition (philosophy, jurisprudence, and kal_m). We will examine how patriarchal elements embedded in many of these theological systems have shaped, and at times reinforced, the normative structures of legal reasoning and law-making institutions. Building on this critique, we will turn to the narratives of women in the Qur�an as a potential site for developing a non-patriarchal theology that does not rely on the image of God as a patriarch, but instead centers on the act of storytelling. Through close readings of these stories, we will ask whether they open a path toward a narrative-based feminist theology. Through careful analysis and discussion, we will work to uncover the presence of a hidden narrator and the underlying structures of power that shape these narratives.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Moballegh
T
12:00pm-02:00pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3168
Ethics for the Earth: Critical Approaches
BTI Category
Semester
Ethics (all traditions)
FA25
What does it mean to �think� the environment? How is the environment always already interpreted and infused with meaning? How are different interpretations of the environment intertwined with notions of racial, religious, and political identity? Given these interpretations, what does it mean to be in ethical relationship with the earth? Should we extend our sense of moral community to include land? Should natural objects have moral standing? What is our moral obligation to animals? Should moral standing be extended to all living beings? How has religion constructed how we imagine earth?�This introductory course will explore critical environmental hermeneutical and ethical approaches alongside histories of Christian settler colonialism, environmental racism, and ecofascism.�
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hoskins
R
03:00pm-05:00pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3187
Global Religious Change: Babies, Converts, Migrants
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
This course uses social scientific perspectives to understand religious change in the 20th and 21st centuries by investigating six dynamics: births/deaths (fertility), converts in/converts out (switching), and emigration/immigration (migration). Students will be introduced to important debates in the sociology of religion such as theories of religious change and issues related to data availability, interpretation, and communication. Relevant questions include: What data sources exist to interpret religious/non-religious global trends? Is the world becoming more or less religious? Under what conditions does an individual or community switch religions? What causes declines in fertility rates, and how do rates differ by religion? Will Islam become the world�s largest religion and, if so, by when and how? How does migration effect religious belief and practice? By investigating the six dynamics of religious change in the past, we can make reasonable assumptions for the religious and non-religious future. Four case studies detailed in the course are Christianity�s demographic shift to the global South with a focus on Nigeria, the Jewish diaspora, demography of religion in India, and religious decline in the West. Students will have the opportunity to write a final research paper or produce a demographic report.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Zurlo
M
12:00pm-02:45pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3196
Images of Race, Sexuality, and God in African American Fictional Literature
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
This course will explore African American fictional literature through a womanist theological lens, examining the intricate ways in which African Americans have navigated the social, political, and religious forces that shape their lives. By analyzing the rich tapestry of African American literature, we will gain a deeper understanding of how issues of race, sexuality, and spirituality intersect and inform the community�s relationship with God, religion, and the church.<br>With a focus on fictional narratives, this course will investigate how African American authors address themes of identity, race, and sexuality, while also considering the broader implications for theology and religious practice. We will study works across a variety of genres, spanning the 18th to the 21st century, by writers such as Frederick Douglass, James Weldon Johnson, Nella Larsen, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and others. While the primary focus will be on fiction, key non-fiction texts will also be included to deepen our exploration of these pivotal themes. Through this course, students will engage critically with the ways African American literature reflects and shapes understandings of race, sexuality, and the divine.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Brown Douglas
R
12:00pm-01:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3210
The Aquatic, Arboreal, and Atmospheric Life of Blackness
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
This course explores the intersection of Black ecologies and Black religion and theology. It highlights frameworks within Black studies, Black religion, and Black theology to highlight and analyze the connection between Blackness and elements like water, trees (including wilderness), and climate. The course investigates how the knowledge generated from these relationships foster anarchist and liberative practices that create alternative epistemic pathways for a more just relationship to earth, as well as counternarratives for challenging prevailing understandings of environmental concepts such as climate change, the Anthropocene, and extraction.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hoskins
R
12:00pm-01:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3244
The Lotus Sutra: Engaging a Buddhist Scripture
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
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.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hallisey
R
09:00am-11:00am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3339
Exploring the Quran
BTI Category
Semester
Islamic Studies
FA25
This course explores the contents of the Quran and probes its place in the history of human civilization. We will explore and critically reflect on the following subjects: 1) the Quran's core ideas, concerns, stories, laws, and arguments; 2) the historical context in which the Quran was first proclaimed and codified; 3) the relationship between the Quran and the preceding literary traditions of the ancient world, in particular the Bible and post-biblical Jewish and Christian writings; and 4) Muslims' engagement with the Quran across time and within various religious, intellectual, social, and cultural settings. To meet these goals, we will read a substantial portion of the Quran in translation and draw extensively on modern academic scholarship on the Quran. In addition, lectures will contextualize and complement our encounter with the Quranic text and secondary scholarship. By the end of the semester, students should have the ability to utilize various resources and concordances in order to independently conduct further investigations and critically evaluate claims made about the Quran. Course will have a required discussion section (and possibly an Arabic section for interested students who have at least two years of Arabic).
Professor
Class Day & Time
Goudarzi
T
03:00pm-05:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Course will have a required discussion section (and possibly an Arabic section for interested students who have at least two years of Arabic).
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3428
Hinduism and Sound
BTI Category
Semester
Hinduism Studies
FA25
This course provides an introduction to Hinduism through the medium of sound, including but not limited to mantra and devotional music. The first part of the course shows the importance of sound in Vedic contexts through the syllable Om, which then starts to develop into a wide variety of mantras in Pur__ic Hinduism and on into the Tantras. The second part continues this trajectory but extends the focus to the sounds and music that often accompany devotional (bhakti) poetry and worship rites (p_j_), including everything from conch horns, drums, vocals, and so much else besides. Using historical lenses, we examine the role of the bh_vas (moods) in Indic aesthetics and show how this informs sounds and music in praise of deities like _iva, Vi__u, the Goddess, and many others. In the third part of the course we look at modern examples of music like that of the Bengali B_uls and Tamil Siddhars which continue to build bridges between Hinduism and other religions on the subcontinent, we investigate the intersections of sound and chanting in yoga, and we encounter expressions of religious sounds in Bollywood and other films. Throughout the course we also reflect on how non-sound, or silence as the opposite of sound, continues to inform Hindu methods of meditation to the present day. Neither knowledge of Indic languages nor prior background in Asian religions are needed for this course.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Cantu
TR
03:00pm-04:15pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3656A
Realms of Power: Animals in Religion I
BTI Category
Semester
Interreligious Learning
FA25
This comparative course will focus on the symbolic, ritual, and ideological dimensions of animal lives in religious worlds. Using particular cultural histories as paradigms, we will consider themes such as cosmogony, apocalypse, species hierarchy and reversal, metamorphosis, prophecy, consciousness and subjectivity, mimesis, magic, hunting, sacrifice, commodification, and the role of fantastic creatures. Central to our work will be the question of how animals have been theorized both in the history of religion and in contemporary discourse about animals in religion. Enrollment is limited to 30. Please write to Prof. Patton: kpatton@hds.harvard.edu to request an application.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Patton
R
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Enrollment is limited to 30. Please write to Prof. Patton: kpatton@hds.harvard.edu to request an application.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3743
Mashpee and Harvard: Braided Histories
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
Goals of self-governance and perseverance of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's (MWT's) autonomy have intertwined with Harvard's founding educational and religious mission for 400 years. Collaboratively conceived with members of the MWT Historic Preservation Commission, this course explores indigenous, English, and American responses to the university's mandate to educate "English and Indian youth," in "knowledge and godliness." Reversing the longstanding practice of Wampanoag educators traveling to Harvard to help students understand the region in which they live and study, students will travel to Mashpee to engage the tribe and its institution. They will contribute to understanding of the braided histories of tribe and university through research on topics identified by the MWT Historic Preservation Commission, including indigenous sovereignty, land stewardship, and MWT access to education and control of Christian Institutions.The course includes day-long trips to Mashpee. Students should be prepared to be gone from Cambridge 9-5 on a few Fridays. Transportation will be provided. Enrollment limited to 25.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Braude
F
10:00am-01:00pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
The course includes day-long trips to Mashpee. Students should be prepared to be gone from Cambridge 9-5 on a few Fridays. Transportation will be provided. Enrollment limited to 25.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3780
Gender, Religion, and Ethnicity in Inner Asia
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
This course examines gender, religion, and ethnicity in Inner Asia from antiquity. It will cover Mongolia, Tibet, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and the Turkic and Mongolian peoples of Russia and China. Religions addressed primarily include Buddhism, Islam, and "Shamanism," as well as state secularism as a religious phenomenon. The course is based on an interdisciplinary selection of readings in history, anthropology, religious studies, and to a lesser extent, sociology and archaeology.
Professor
Class Day & Time
TBD
W
09:00am-10:59am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
This course is limited to 15 participants. For permission to enroll, please email a paragraph to Prof. Pount (dotnopount@gmail.com) describing your interest in the class and any relevant background.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3830
Buddhism, In Theory and Practice
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
This class aims to give students the resources to understand and appreciate major themes and insights in the history of Buddhist thought, practice, and historical communities, and their visions of human flourishing. We will read classic Buddhist writings as well as later literary works from South, Central and East Asia on the nature of meditation, discipline, and creativity. Key themes are the moral relationship between self and other, the education of the emotions, and the (im)possibility of perfection. We will study how these themes shifted as Buddhism spread through Asia, and recently to the rest of the world, as received by 19th century Transcendentalists, Beat poets, and socially engaged Buddhism. Throughout we will consider the relevance of this material to our own views of the world and how we should lead our lives. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1714.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Gyatso
TR
01:30pm-02:45pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1714.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 4054
Intermediate Pali I
BTI Category
Semester
Languages
FA25
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.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Chrystall
MWF
10:30am-11:29am
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Prerequisites: Elementary Pali II or equivalent (with permission of the instructor). Note: Auditors not allowed. Limited enrollment course. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 4157
Elementary Coptic I
BTI Category
Semester
Languages
FA25
This course will offer an introduction to Sahidic Coptic vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. No previous knowledge of Coptic or other linguistic background is required or 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 also acquaint students with the vast resources available for the study of Coptic, including ongoing digital humanities projects. Students will have opportunities to engage directly with material remains from late ancient Egypt, including objects in Harvard’s collections. Permission to enroll in the course will be granted as petitions are received.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Given
R
12pm-2pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 4220
Intermediate Greek I
BTI Category
Semester
Languages
FA25
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.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Haley
TBD
TBD
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Prerequisite: Elementary Greek or the equivalent. Limited enrollment course. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1202
Introduction to the New Testament
BTI Category
Semester
Scripture & Biblical Studies
FA25
This course will provide a basic historical introduction to critical issues in the study of the New Testament.�What are the contents of these texts that make up the second portion of the Christian Bible?�In what ways do they reflect the major issues, concerns, and struggles that were taking place among the earliest Christ-followers?�How did they get to be grouped together in a single book called the New Testament?�In addition to these historical questions, we will also attend to the New Testament's ongoing role as Christian scripture to consider the following: what does it mean to study a religious text critically? How might the study of the New Testament's social and historical context relate to its ongoing role as sacred and/or authoritative in the Christian tradition?�And what are some of the diverse ways that contemporary readers bridge the gap between the New Testament's ancient Greco-Roman context and their own interpretation and application?�We will explore these questions through careful study of the New Testament texts themselves, while also attending to issues of historical context, methodology, and hermeneutics.�No previous study in religion or ancient history is assumed, and there are no prerequisites for enrolling in the course. For a final assignment. Students will have the option of writing a final research paper or to complete a series of shorter writing assignments at set times during the semester. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1400.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Dunning
T
12:00pm-02:00pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1400.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1480
Prayer Book Hebrew and the History of Jewish Liturgy
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
FA25
Throughout most of Jewish history, the form of the Hebrew language that most Jews have encountered is the language of Jewish prayer found in the Siddur (Jewish Prayer Book), including but not limited to the daily prayers that structure lived Jewish time. Course offerings in Hebrew within universities like Harvard, however, are typically limited to Biblical Hebrew and Modern Hebrew, with not much in between. Despite its centrality to Jewish life, the Siddur has received far less academic attention than the Bible and the Talmud. This course combines close reading of such materials in Hebrew with analysis of Jewish prayer from both historical and phenomenological perspectives. Students are required to have some background in Hebrew, equivalent to at least one year of biblical or modern Hebrew.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Magid
W
09:00am-11:00am
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
equivalent to at least one year of biblical or modern Hebrew
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1534
Introduction to Literary Papyrology
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
The course will offer an introduction to the methods and object of papyrology with a specific focus on literary and para-literary papyri. Students will examine case studies of especially representative pieces and the final project will consist in the detailed analysis of a papyrus selected and studies throughout the semester. Two semesters of Greek or equivalent are required.Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 2420.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Bazzana
R
03:00pm-05:29pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Two semesters of Greek or equivalent are required
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1602
Neither Witches nor Saints: Women of the Ancient Mediterranean
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
Historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich rightfully wrote: �Well-behaved women seldom make history.� It is true that women have been left out of the historical narrative and were only mentioned when they were exceptional or �ill-behaved�; between the witches and the saints, the stories of ordinary women and mothers have been muted. Throughout this course, we will focus on the longue dur�e of the Eastern Mediterranean and explore its stories of ordinary women from paganism to Christianity. We will examine a wide range of bioarchaeological remains, material culture, and sacred spaces to reconstruct the lives of ordinary women. Some of the questions we will answer are: What tools and technologies are associated with women of the past? How did women navigate patriarchal societies, religions, and medicine? How did they use prayers, incantations and medicinal recipes to heal their infants and the maternal body? Were women confined to the "domestic space?" How did women and mothers claim sacred spaces? The course will draw on theological and historical studies, anthropological theories, and archaeological methods to explore the ancient lives of ordinary women�students will dive into critical research and reinterpretation of material evidence to build engaging presentations and original argument-based papers.
Professor
Class Day & Time
TBD
T
12:00pm-01:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
This course is limited to 15 participants. For permission to enroll, please email a paragraph to Prof. Mady (smady@fordham.edu) describing your interest in the class and any relevant background.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1630
The Book of Daniel
BTI Category
Semester
Scripture & Biblical Studies
FA25
A critical and exegetical study of Book of Daniel, based on a close reading of the text in Hebrew and Aramaic. Special attention will be given to large-scale compositional strategies and principles of literary organization, to textual logic, to analogical patterns, to inner-scriptural relationships, and to the nature and function of allusion within this book, with a view toward understanding the overall expectations made of readers, both ancient and modern. The text of Daniel and its underlying principles of design will be considered in the context of major critical debates within the current state of the field. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Hebrew 131 and Religion 1261. The course presumes basic proficiency with Biblical Hebrew. Minimum of one year of Hebrew required. No previous knowledge of Aramaic required.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Teeter
T
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Minimum of one year of Hebrew required
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1808
The Binding of Isaac (Aqedah): Seminar
BTI Category
Semester
Scripture & Biblical Studies
FA25
An examination of Genesis 22 in multiple contexts - its settings in the Hebrew Bible and various forms of its afterlife in Second Temple Judaism, early Christianity, Rabbinic Judaism, and the Quran. Emphasis placed on the interpretation and expansion of the story in rabbinic midrashim, read in Hebrew. Some discussion of the use of the story in modern theology (especially Kierkegaard Fear and Trembling) and of rationalist critiques. Includes a research-based paper. Prerequisite: three years of Hebrew or the equivalent (not a course for those lacking a secure grasp of Hebrew grammar). Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Hebrew 235.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Levenson
R
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Prerequisite: three years of Hebrew or the equivalent (not a course for those lacking a secure grasp of Hebrew grammar).
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2038
Liturgical Theology
BTI Category
Semester
Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual
FA25
�Liturgy is the faith of the Church in motion.� �Aidan Kavanagh
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.
Professor
Class Day & Time
TBD
TBD
TBD
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2085
Moral Conflict
BTI Category
Semester
Ethics (all traditions)
FA25
Conflicts about abortion, climate change, economic inequality, gun regulation, LGBTQ+ rights, and other matters often occur when foundational values of different moral communities collide. This seminar provides an opportunity to examine conflicts implicating individual�s and groups� deeply held values. Topics include the role these conflicts play in the formation and maintenance of moral communities; the role beliefs play in these conflicts; value pluralism and incommensurability; moral relativism; and possibilities for, and alternatives to, consensual resolution of value-laden conflict. We also will consider how these conflicts impinge upon and are processed within moral communities, including the hermeneutical challenges and opportunities value-laden conflicts present for social groups, including religious communities, political parties, and issue-focused movements. Readings will span multiple disciplines, including moral philosophy, theology, political theory, law, and psychology and other social sciences. Students will write a final paper exploring one or more course themes as applied to a specific moral conflict.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Seul
R
TBD
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2305
Celebrity and Charisma in American Christianity
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
American Christianity has long been inflected by the presence of celebrities. Celebrity preachers, revivalists, healers, writers, and teachers have drawn crowds to their versions of the Christian faith. �Charisma� has two meanings, both of which are central to American Christian history: a figure�s compelling attractiveness and a divinely conferred talent. The best known American Christian figures were thought to have both. In this course we will consider questions including, What makes a religious figure rise to prominence? How do various religious communities think about charisma? How do leaders leverage the inheritances of their religious traditions? From early American visionaries like Joseph Smith, to revivalists like Aimee Semple McPherson, to prophetic figures like Martin Luther King Jr., we will grapple with how each figure approached their moment in history. By reading and viewing primary texts by major religious figures as well as secondary literature from religious historians, we will consider how celebrity in American Christianity is gained, wielded, and lost
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hanson Woodruff
M
12:00pm-01:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2390A
Colloquium in American Religious History
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
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. Note: First half of an academic year bi-weekly course. Credit will not be earned unless both the fall and spring semester of the course is completed. Course may be taken on a Sat/unsat basis only. This course is limited to doctoral students with interests in North American religions. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 3505A.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Holland
T
06:00pm-07:59pm
Grading Option
P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
DOCTORAL ONLY
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2442
Makers of the (Catholic) Tradition: Vatican II: History and Theology
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
�Makers of the (Catholic) Tradition� is a series devoted to the study of key themes and authors that have shaped Roman Catholic Theological Studies. Each iteration of this course introduces students to different themes and authors through a combination of lectures and class discussion whose goal is gaining in-depth knowledge of the Catholic tradition, while engaging authors and sources beyond Catholicism.In this iteration of the course, we will focus on Vatican II (1962-1965), one of the most influential gatherings of bishops in the history of the Catholic Church. We will start by studying the ecclesial and social context that preceded Vatican II, paying special attention to the immediately prior and radically different gathering of bishops in Vatican I. Then we will turn to the specifics of Vatican II by reading both about the council and the central documents produced by the council. Lastly, we will focus on the key theologians that shaped Vatican II or whose projects develop inspired by the council, trying to identify their ideas in the documents of Vatican II and in its aftermath.This seminar offers students an opportunity to write a research paper. No prerequisites.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Zegarra
R
03:00pm-05:45pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2776
Unitarian and Universalist History
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
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.��Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1557.
Professor
Class Day & Time
McKanan
T
03:00pm-05:45pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1557.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2799
The Empire of Climate: Ideas, Religions and Histories
BTI Category
Semester
Ethics (all traditions)
FA25
In his famous treatise, The Spirit of the Laws (1748) the French philosophe, Montesquieu, stated that �the empire of the climate is the first, the most powerful of all empires.� The impact of climate on the human condition, past, present, and future, is one of the great issues of our time. Based on an important recent book by the distinguished historian of science, David N. Livingstone, The Empire of Climate: A History of an Idea (Princeton University Press, 2024), this course will investigate how humans have thought about climate in relation to four major categories: health, mind, wealth, and war. Patterns of thought, pathways of influence, and progenitors of modern distress or intrigue often crisscross in complex ways within medical, mental, monetary, and military landscapes. Part one of the course will traverse those landscapes and part two will investigate the various ways religious traditions have tried to navigate them ethically and responsibly. The course will have a research paper.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hempton
R
09:00am-11:45am
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2908
Preaching in the Unitarian Universalist and Free Church Traditions
BTI Category
Semester
Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual
FA25
An introduction to the practical art of thematic and relational preaching in the Unitarian Universalist and Free Church traditions. Participants can expect to begin the process of finding their own voices in their preaching while developing their theological understandings, all in the context of supportive peers. This is an experiential seminar; depending on the size of the seminar (max. ~8), students will be crafting and delivering worship elements and preaching at least every other week. Through the rigor of regular classroom preaching and constructive critique, participants can expect to grow confidence in public speaking, and skill in motivating and inspiring people in their faith. This is a limited enrollment course. Interested students should attend the first meeting of classes, after which enrollment decisions will be processed.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Feingold Thoryn
T
12:00pm-02:45pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2966
Change, Adversity and Spiritual Resilience
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA25
Change and adversity can impact one's spiritual life in challenging ways. Spiritual loss, trauma and resistance to change during such times can hinder one's potential for spiritual growth or a deepening of faith. By drawing on Buddhist teachings on mindfulness, impermanence, the nature of mind, and considering recent advances in positive psychology, this seminar will explore how spiritual counselors or others in caregiving roles can apply these perspectives in theory and practice to interfaith counseling settings, as well as how mindfulness practice can help foster spiritual resilience in those experiencing life change, adversity or spiritual crisis.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Berlin
W
03:00pm-05:30pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
This is a limited enrollment course and requires instructor permission. Interested students can email the instructor prior to the first class meeting, to assess their interest and be placed on a preliminary class list. In the event that the course is over-enrolled, prospective students will be asked to write a paragraph during the first class meeting to indicate their degree program, school, year, and rationale for taking the class. Selected students will then be invited to enroll in the course via email by the end of that first day.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3056
Spiritual Formation on the Buddhist Path
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
This course focuses on the Buddhist spiritual Path or marga through the lens of spiritual formation theories. Students will be introduced to religious and secular theories of spiritual formation, human development, and moral growth. They will then examine Buddhist literature on the Path from Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana sources for their applicability to contemporary human spiritual development. Students will gain the ability to analyze and compare Buddhist and other models of spiritual formation, articulate important aspects of their own spiritual path, and facilitate the growth of others along their own spiritual path(s). Texts will be read in English translation; no scriptural languages needed. If the course reaches its enrollment cap, the professor will email potential students to notify them to submit a 1-page statement relating their vocational objectives to course description. Admission will be based on vocational alignment with course outcomes, degree program, and year. Enrollment in the class will then be announced no later than the end of the first week. (If the cap is not reached, all students will be admitted automatically.)
Professor
Class Day & Time
Sanford
TR
03:00pm-04:15pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Admission will be based on vocational alignment with course outcomes, degree program, and year. Enrollment in the class will then be announced no later than the end of the first week. (If the cap is not reached, all students will be admitted automatically.)
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3087
African American Religious History
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
This graduate seminar course provides a critical survey of and introduction to major themes, debates, and trajectories in the field of African American Religious History. We will examine the multiple and manifold meanings of African American religions with attention to Christian denominational histories and extra-church, non-Christian, and quasi-Christian religious formations and interventions among people of African descent in the United States. To do so, students will be introduced to key historical events, prominent and unsung religious actors and institutions, and a diversity of theoretical and methodological approaches to investigating, analyzing, and narrating the archives of African American religious life and culture. Jointly offered as Religion xxxx.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Greene-Hayes
T
12:00pm-01:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3136
Religion, Theory, and the Archive
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
Black and indigenous scholars have long argued that archives are often violent and dismembering, especially as the universities which house them preserve the physical and immaterial remnants of slavery and colonialism. Religious studies scholars, especially historians of religion, have attended to this quandary while sifting through archives of slavery, colonialism, conquest, and sexual violence. At Harvard, this conversation has re-emerged in unique ways through Harvard the Legacy of Slavery: Reckoning with the Past to Understand the Present, and the question of what lies in university archives has taken center stage. This course examines these archival dilemmas and the violent hauntings of the past with an eye towards the historical study of religion in the Americas. We will read work by such scholars as Saidiya Hartman, Christina Sharpe, Solimar Otero, Toni Morrison, and more. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as African and African American Studies 109 and Religion 1092.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Greene-Hayes
T
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as African and African American Studies 109 and Religion 1092.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3160
Religious Dimensions in Human Experience:��Apocalypse, Sports, Music, Home, Sacrifice, Medicine
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
What is Religion? Why does it show up everywhere? Using archaeology, religious studies and social thought, this course will study the major themes in the history of religions including encountering the holy, sports, and ritual;, crossing borders, sacrifice as creation, pilgrimage and sacred place, suffering and quest for wisdom, music and social change, violence and cosmic law. Readings from Native American, African American, Latinx, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu traditions. Focus on the tension between individual encounters with the holy and the social construction of religion. Readings from Gloria Anzaldua, Toni Morrison, Judith Sherman, Arthur Kleinman, Popul Vuj, Mircea Eliade, Michael D. Jackson. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Anthropology 1475 and Religion 16.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Carrasco
TR
10:30am-11:45am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Anthropology 1475 and Religion 16.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3184
Psychology of Yoga
BTI Category
Semester
Hinduism Studies
FA25
This course introduces students to the philosophical and psychological study of yoga. While primarily considered in the West as a somatic practice, yoga has historically and even contemporarily been an umbrella term for a host of cognitive, conative, and affective skills and orientations that one can train oneself in towards practical and non-practical ends. This course brings together selected readings from the philosophical and historical corpus of yoga with scholarship in cognitive sciences, psychology, neuroscience, and psychiatry to invite students to think about yoga as a practice of living rather than a cluster of somatic techniques.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Bagaria
MW
10:30am-11:45am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3188
Spirituality and Technology
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA25
This course will provide students with an introduction to the frontier world of engineered spirituality. In this world, advances in technology are used for new forms of spiritual exploration, extending the range of cognitive enhancement, consciousness hacking, and achieving altered and mystical states of awareness that are otherwise hard to access by ordinary means. Populated by a range and variety of digital prostheses that extends the mind-body-machine couplings in directions that are surprising and novel - wearables that track brain activity to assist in achieving advanced meditative states, using neurofeedback mechanisms to sync the emotional states of different people, curated psychedelic tourism that adjusts the design of the environment to induce a mystical experience, AI digital twins that track your biomarkers, stress levels and google calendars to help one create a sense of peak performance via a sense of primal detachment � this world of spirit tech does the most to reveal the future shapes of spirituality, and perhaps even religion. With the massive rise of people who identify as nones and �spiritual but not religious� as well as the overwhelming malaise amongst younger people, engineered spirituality might become widespread sooner than we realize. This course will provide students with front-row seating to this nascent new world through a combination of a conceptual reading of some primary analytical and philosophical texts to understand this world of spirit tech as well as a series of case studies from the biotech, longevity, and wellbeing industry that aim to concretely realize some of these ideas.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Bagaria
T
12:00pm-01:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3206
The Book of Baldwin
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
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. This is a limited enrollment course. Interested students should attend the first course meeting on Tuesday, September 5. If the course is overenrolled, a selection procedure will be described at that first meeting. Selected students will then be invited to enroll in the course by the end of the day on Wednesday, September 6.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hucks
T
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
This is a limited enrollment course. Interested students should attend the first course meeting on Tuesday, September 5. If the course is overenrolled, a selection procedure will be described at that first meeting. Selected students will then be invited to enroll in the course by the end of the day on Wednesday, September 6.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3222
Gender and Asceticism in South Asia
BTI Category
Semester
Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods
FA25
This course examines how asceticism operates as a gendered discourse, challenging binaries of male/female and masculine/feminine, while offering insights into the fluidity of spiritual roles across South Asia. Focusing on themes such as celibacy, virtue, and bodily discipline will elucidate how ascetic practices intersect with issues of gender and power.
Professor
Class Day & Time
TBD
W
01:00pm-02:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
This course is limited to 15 participants. For permission to enroll, please email a paragraph to Prof. Chase (mochase@wisc.edu) describing your interest in the class and any relevant background.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3280
Spiritual Care for Nones
BTI Category
Semester
Practical/Pastoral Theology
FA25
This course is designed for people training to be chaplains in situations in which they might serve nonreligious folks. We will be discussing what chaplaincy and/or ministry is when practiced outside of traditional religion. We will also be learning practical skills in order to build out your spiritual care toolkit for serving religious nones.For the bulk of the course we will be using novels to suss out what we think chaplaincy for non-religious people can mean and what it can look like. We will also use these texts in order to practice using secular texts as if they were sacred ones; one of the spiritual tools we will be practicing.In this course we all talk about storytelling, nail-painting, tarot and tea reading, eye contact, listening to music and other activities as sacred. Students should leave this class with an idea of what their chaplaincy is and with a firm idea of several tools that they can use in order to do that work.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Zoltan
TBD
TBD
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3351
The House of All_h: Origin and History of the Meccan Sanctuary
BTI Category
Semester
Islamic Studies
FA25
The Meccan Sanctuary, also known as the Ka_ba, is a focal point of worship for Muslims, who pray towards it daily and strive to make a pilgrimage to it at least once in their lifetime. This course is an advanced graduate seminar centered on a host of primary sources (in Arabic) which provide information about Mecca and its shrine in the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods. We will read sources in the genres of historiography, geography, exegesis, law, hadith, and poetry. We will also engage with secondary academic literature on Mecca, the Ka_ba, and West Arabia's other sacred spaces and festivals. Requirement: advanced knowledge of classical Arabic (3 years).Offered jointly with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as RELIGION XXXX.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Goudarzi
R
03:00pm-05:45pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Requirement: advanced knowledge of classical Arabic (3 years)
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3635
What is "Islamic" Philosophy?
BTI Category
Semester
Islamic Studies
FA25
Can philosophy�free and critical inquiry into the foundations of reality�be constrained by the tenets of a specific faith: Islam? If it is, does it remain philosophy, or does it become ideology dressed in philosophical language? Or perhaps "Islamic Philosophy" simply refers to the geographical or religious identity of certain thinkers, raising deeper questions about how such categorizations function and what they reveal or obscure. Does the label Islamic philosophy impose a restriction on how we encounter these works, or does it shed light on how they ought to be read?Through close readings of key works by major philosophers in the Islamic intellectual tradition we will ask: In what sense can these writings be called Islamic? Did the thinkers themselves view their work as Islamic? Did they consider their philosophy distinct from Greek, Western, or other Eastern traditions? And what significance did such distinctions hold for them in their own intellectual and historical contexts?
Professor
Class Day & Time
Moballegh
W
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N/A
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3689
African Religion in the Diaspora
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
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. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as African and African American Studies 181x.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hucks
T
09:00am-10:59am
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as African and African American Studies 181x.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3777
Modern Buddhism and Fiction
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
An examination of how fiction is a vehicle for religious imagination and reflection in the modern Buddhist world. The genres of fiction will include both the novel and the short story, with examples drawn widely from across the Buddhist world and beyond. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1741.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hallisey
T
09:00am-11:00am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1741.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 3815
Emerging Topics in Ancient Greek Religion: Seminar
BTI Category
Semester
Church History/History of Religions
FA25
Recent research has highlighted dimensions in the religious history of Greece too long at the margins: e.g., magic and necromancy; curse tablets and binding spells; rituals of childbirth; healing sanctuaries and dream incubation; talismans and apotropaic practices; miasma and catharsis; weaving, dance, lamentation, and other forms of women�s cultural production; childbirth and motherhood; heroines and their cults; the role of color and polychromy in statues, shrines, and temples; the optics of theater; animate cult images and �talking objects�; and animal metamorphosis. The seminar will offer an intensive survey of important work on these �new� topics in Ancient Greece. Students will have an opportunity to develop their own research projects. No language prerequisite; some background in ancient Greek religion preferred but not required;Enrollment is limited to 15. Please write to Prof. Patton: kpatton@hds.harvard.edu to request an application.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Patton
W
03:00pm-04:59pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
No language prerequisite; some background in ancient Greek religion preferred but not required;Enrollment is limited to 15. Please write to Prof. Patton: kpatton@hds.harvard.edu to request an application.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 4052
Elementary Pali I
BTI Category
Semester
Languages
FA25
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.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Chrystall
MWF
09:00am-09:59am
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Prerequisite: None. Auditors not allowed. Limited enrollment course. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 4056
Reading Post-Canonical Pali I
BTI Category
Semester
Buddhist Studies
FA25
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, some texts will be read in Thai script. Prerequisite: Intermediate Pali II or equivalent (with instructor permission)
Professor
Class Day & Time
Hallisey
MW
09:00am-10:15am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Prerequisite: Intermediate Pali II or equivalent
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 4211
Elementary Greek I
BTI Category
Semester
Languages
FA25
Introduction to ancient Greek emphasizing the grammar and vocabulary of the New Testament. Course has additional section hour to be arranged. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants. Permission to enroll in the course will be granted as petitions are received.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Skedros
MWF
09:00am-09:59am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 4245
Advanced Greek I: Topics
BTI Category
Semester
Languages
FA25
This course aims to move students from an intermediate to advanced proficiency with Greek by studying select Christian, pagan, and Jewish texts primarily from late antiquity. A primary purpose is to increase reading comprehension through prepared readings (with review of grammar when necessary).
Professor
Class Day & Time
DiRusso
TR
10:30am-11:45am
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Online?
N
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
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