Compassionate Care of the Dying: Buddhist Training and Techniques

HDS 2935

Traditional Buddhist monastics and teachers have long played a key role in helping others prepare for death. This course will explore the central approaches to death and dying in Buddhism, the Buddhist view of compassion, and how these are being adapted in the US for professional end-of-life care. Students will develop an understanding of basic skills in compassionate care of the dying, and tools to approach death as an opportunity for spiritual growth through readings, meditation exercises, listening practices, group work, and discussions with guest speakers. Some prior knowledge of Buddhism preferred. Prerequisite: Spiritual Care, Chaplaincy, or CPE required.

Tibetan Buddhism

HDS 3563

This course will explore a diversity of perspectives on Buddhism in Tibet, primarily through the reading of autobiographies written by women and men from various classes, social positions, and historical contexts. Through these and other writings, we will explore some of the distinctive Buddhist meditative practices and experiences, rituals, monasticisms, teacher-student relationships, life styles, religion and state issues, lay-monastic relationships, aesthetics, human-animal-spirit relationships, human values, and reckonings with death as these have evolved under the umbrella of Tibetan Buddhism. This will include a look at Tibetan Buddhism today too, both inside Chinese Tibet and in exile, as well as in convert communities. No previous background in Buddhism is required; both advanced and introductory students will be accomodated.

Introduction to Buddhist Narrative and Story Literature

HDS 3776

An introduction to the study of narrative and story literature in the Buddhist world. A primary focus will be on the narrative and story literature found in Buddhist scriptures and commentaries, but there will also be consideration of examples of narrative and story literature that circulated independently. Examples will be drawn from across the Buddhist world. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1742.

Theravada Buddhism

HDS 3505

A general and systematic survey of the Theravada ("The Way of the Elders"), the predominant form of Buddhism found in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Emphasis will be given to perceiving the Theravada as a distinctive Buddhist heritage and to the internal diversity of Theravadin thought and practice.

The Body in American Religious History

HDS 3085

Three decades ago, Ramon Gutierrez studied the embodied ceremonies of the sixteenth-century Pueblo to identify crucial cosmological distinctions between their culture and that of the Spanish colonialists. For Gutierrez, differing conceptions of "the body" held the key to understanding so much else. Twenty years later, Judith Weisenfeld looked to the religious lives of African American women to construct "a compelling set of questions about the body as a site of religious experience and expression that would open up avenues for scholarship beyond the traditional focus on institutions." Today, studies of "the body"--both as object and agent--form a central pillar in the field of American religious history. This course seeks to chart that historiographical development, engage the most recent conversations on the theme, and consider its protentional future developments. Students will both consider the field's existing treatments of the body within the field and chart new possibilities for engagement.

History of Non-Religious Movements in the U.S.: Deists to Atheists to �Nones�

HDS 3118

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.

Asia and World Christianity

HDS 2056

This course examines Christianity in Asia and its location in an emerging World Christianity, from 1850 to present. Much of the emerging literature on World Christianity is centered on church growth in sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights how Africans have appropriated and translated the Christian gospel within local cultural frameworks, where healings, exorcisms and the performance of miracles factor prominently. In what ways do Africanist paradigms apply to Asia, and in what ways does Asian Christianity set new norms for World Christianity? What can we learn about the socio-political impact of religious conversion across Asian contexts and the politics of conversion? Finally, what are central themes of Asian Christian theology? This course employs methods and insights of historians, anthropologists and theologians to address such questions.

The Holocaust and the Churches, 1933-45

HDS 2293

This seminar will approach the Nazi persecution of European Jewry from several disciplinary perspectives. Initially the seminar will explore the topic historically. In these weeks, the seminar will use a variety of historical materials dealing with the history of European anti-semitism, German history from Bismarck to the accession of Hitler, the evolution of anti-Jewish persecution in the Third Reich, and the history of the Holocaust itself. Sources to be used will include primary sources produced by the German government 1933-1945, by Jewish victims-to-be or survivors, documentary films, and secondary interpretations. The aims of this part of the seminar will be to understand the basic background to and narrative of the Holocaust, to introduce students to the critical use of primary historical sources, and to familiarize them with some of the major historiographical debates. Then the members of the seminar will ponder religious and theological reactions to the Holocaust. The seminar will also consider the historical question of the role played by the Protestant and Catholic churches and theologies in the Holocaust. The seminar will conclude with an assessment of the role played by the Holocaust in today's world, specifically in the United States. Throughout the seminar, participants will use various literary and cinematographic sources and test their limits in helping to understand and to represent the Holocaust. Prerequesite: Some familiarity with the general shape of modern European history is desirable but not required. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1529.

Voices of Dissent: Heresy and Gender in the Middle Ages

HDS 2018

Medieval women found multiple ways to participate in the religious arena of their time. This desire to be heard in an often hostile environment turned some of them into heretics and others into saints. This course will explore their contribution to the development and spread of alternative religious movements.

History of Christianity in West Africa: From Local Mission to Reverse Mission

HDS 2049

Pentecostalism has become a global movement that has elicited several responses from people across denominations and generations. How did Pentecostalism evolve in West Africa, and how was its spread facilitated over time? This course will explore topical issues like the origins of Pentecostalism in West Africa; the global spread of Pentecostalism; Pentecostalism and charismatic Movements; Pentecostalism and Youthscapes in West Africa, the Challenges of twenty-first-century youths in the Church and Church leadership; and the establishment of the youth ministry in the Church.

Colloquium in American Religious History

HDS 2390B

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: Second 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.

Writing about Revelation: Scholarly Approaches to Religious Experience

HDS 2321

When someone says they have spoken with God, what is a scholar to do? This course considers a range of scholarly approaches to such claims, from the sympathetic to the skeptically reductive. Focusing primarily on American religious history--and covering a diverse array of figures and time periods, including Anne Hutchinson, Handsome Lake, Nat Turner, Ellen White and Sojourner Truth--the course will give students a chance to grapple with the words of these remarkable figures and analyze the ways that scholars have sought to make sense of them. The first half of the course will review the secondary literature and critically engage the theories and methods that have been brought to bear on these accounts; the second half of the course will give students a chance to develop their own informed approaches as they write about revelation.

Religion and Society in Nigeria: Seminar

HDS 3704

Religion is pivotal to the understanding of the history, culture, and politics of Nigeria's nation-state. The seminar examines the historical development of religion in Nigeria and explores its intersection with ethnic identity, culture, and society in pre-colonial, colonial, and contemporary periods. The course provides an understanding of various cultural traditions, historical events, and social forces that have shaped - and continue to shape - Nigeria's religious experiences and expression. The course will explore many topical issues, such as indigenous religious culture, Christian and Muslim identities, Islam, Christianity, and the state, civil religion; Muslim-Christian relations; religion and law; civil society and democratization, as well as many important interpretations of religion and politics in present-day Nigeria. Jointly offered as African and African American Studies 192x.

African Religion in the Diaspora

HDS 3689

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 materials. We will examine the role of myth, ritual, arts, and symbols as well as the social and political processes that explain the evolution of Black Atlantic religious traditions as formed by African indigenous traditions, African Christianity, and African Islam. Using historical, ethnographic, and textual sources, the course will illuminate the lived religious experiences of enslaved Africans as well as new immigrant diaspora communities in South America, the Caribbean, and the USA. We will examine Africana religious parallels and divergences in religious practice and social identity. Guests visitors will give lectures on various aspects of the course. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as African and African American Studies 87.

Women, Sex, and Gender in Ancient Christianity

HDS 1505

Examination of the literature of ancient Christianity in all its diversity opens doors to understanding how this tradition shaped and was shaped by sex/gender protocols, practices and discourses of the ancient Mediterranean world. To understand these negotiations, appropriations, and contestations we will take up a variety of topics and figures, such as images of the divine; medical, mythical, and cosmic bodies; sexualities and social structures; passion and dress; rape and martyrdom; stories of Mary Magdalene; images of Jesus. We will ask: What resources does this material offer for your own reflections?Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1410.NB: This is a limited enrollment course. To apply, send a statement to kking@hds.harvard.edu (selection process will begin Thurs. Jan. 20) with the following information: your name, degree program, year of study, school or university, previous relevant academic background, and a brief statement of your goals for the course

Ancient Hermeticism and Alchemy

HDS 3119

This course will introduce students to the ancient Hermetic and alchemical traditions of Greco-Roman Egypt. Previous coursework in philosophy and religion in the ancient Mediterranean world is recommended but not strictly required. An optional Greek reading section will be offered. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1314.

The Lutheran Church (ELCA) - Its Marks and Practices

HDS 2962

This seminar focuses on Martin Luther's theological reappraisal of the Church, exploring central teachings of the Lutheran movement and its contemporary practices in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Opportunity will be given to focus a semester project on an aspect of the church's practices related to the student's interests and vocational preparation.

Unitarian Universalist Faith Development

HDS 2844

Unitarian Universalist lifespan faith development has been evolving in response to changes in the religious and cultural landscape. Intentional faith formation for all ages is more crucial than ever to the spiritual health of our people and our world. This seminar will explore how theory and practice from our forbears offers a foundation for innovation in faith development programming to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. Exploration of material from past and present theorists, our own experience and understandings, as well as guest presentations from current RE innovators, will allow students to discover how to bring a faith development perspective to all aspects of their congregational and community ministries.

Pentecostal Polity

HDS 2964

The history, principles and practice of Pentecostal believers. To understand the nature and functioning of Pentecostal denominations. To prepare Pentecostal students for ordination. The course will include liturgy, worship, and theology of the Pentecostal faith. The focus primarily will be on the major Pentecostal denominations and the charismatic flavor of other major denominations.

Unitarian Universalist Polity and Practices: Seminar

HDS 2990

This course will explore the history, theology and development of congregational polity as an expression of Unitarian Universalist values and tradition. From current issues of polity in Unitarian Universalist institutions to the varied roots in Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist history, we will explore how decisions are made and how power functions. What is the role of ministers and of laity in congregations? What sources of authority support the exercise of power and processes of decision-making? In what ways do questions of polity undergird practices of worship as well as rites of passage? How do the minister and congregation work together to shape a shared understanding of polity? Through all of these questions, we will consider the impact of social location and dynamics of power.

United Church of Christ Polity

HDS 2975

The history, polity, theology and practice of the United Church of Christ. Issues addressed throughout include ecclesiology, mission, professional practice, the ordination process, justice, as well as contemporary principles and patterns of the UCC. This course seeks to enhance authorized or lay ministry at the local church level by strengthening understanding the covenantal connections among all settings of the UCC. Students seeking ordination are urged to take this course during their middler year, but all are welcome. Auditors by permission of instructor only.

Sex, Gender, and Sexuality I

HDS 2692

The course will explore the theoretical articulation of sex, gender, and sexuality in twentieth-century theory, particularly in psychoanalysis, philosophy, and feminist and queer theory. Readings will include texts by Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, Jacques Lacan, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Julia Kristeva, Monique Wittig, Judith Butler, Moira Gatens, and others. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1572.

Moral Conflict

HDS 2085

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 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 religious communities. Readings will span multiple disciplines, including moral philosophy, theology, political theory, law, and the social sciences. Students will complete a final project developing course themes in relation to a conflict of their choice.

Religion and Family

HDS 2126

Religion and family are contested concepts that become politicized as they are mobilized and debated in the public sphere. Religion and family are also often depicted as separate forms of social organization. This course explores the ways in which religious and familial concepts, institutions, and relationships intersect to shape the lived experiences of religious participants who create and imbue their relationships with social and sacred significance. In particular, we will examine how rituals, practices, and meanings surrounding sexuality, marriage, parenthood, siblinghood, and genealogy become important signifiers of religious identity and membership. Our discussion of these case studies will also open up broader conversations about the politics ethnicity/race, gender, sexuality, fundamentalism, and trans/nationalism and their imprint on modes of religious and spiritual belonging. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1083.

The Ethical and Religious Thought of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Seminar

HDS 2721

A study of the life, thought, and actions of Martin Luther King, Jr. An ethical analysis of his primary concepts, ideas, and strategies based upon a reading and discussion of his writings and their sources. Jointly offered as Religion 1472.

Black Church Burning

HDS 2475

Black churches are vital institutions that have contributed to the spiritual and physical survival of African-descended communities in North America. Nonetheless, the very centrality of black churches to black survival, refuge, development, and flourishing has made them targets for white supremacist and other modalities of violence. This course compels us to turn our attention to the troubling archive of anti-black religious violence manifested in black church bombings, burnings, and shootings in the United States from the antebellum period to the present. More than a survey of the ravages of anti-black religious violence, this course also challenges us to consider the spiritual, experiential, and prophetic significance of fire within the Black Christian tradition. Black Church Burning, then, references the spiritual, symbolic, and material destruction of fire and how it is wielded by black Christian practitioners in relation to regenerative rebukes and potentialities. Course participants will survey foundational texts about the significance of African American churches. They will also contemplate the offerings and shortcomings of historical, social scientific, theological, and artistic depictions of black church arson and black Christian pneumatic concepts, as well as their moral and material implications.

Religion and Global Politics

HDS 3325

This course is focused on mapping and exploring the topographies of existing research and practices of religion, violence, and peace. This includes the relevance of religion to diplomacy, peacebuilding, "development," law, populism, "soft power," transnational humanitarianism, and political and other forms of violence (including epistemic, colonial, and neocolonial). We will delineate the genealogies of the study of religion in the following arenas: 1) international and global relations, 2) the practices of peacebuilding, 3) nationalism and political theologies, and 4) pluralism. Cross-pollinating with critical, social and political theory, we seek to expand these topographies and illuminate emerging conversations not conventionally subsumed under the subfield of religion, conflict, and peace.The course will include key guest speakers representing global perspectives and diverse disciplinary expertise on the various subfields pertaining to religion, political power, and the practices of peace. Final projects will consist of a theoretically robust engagement with a case study where the precise roles of religions are parsed out through an extensive review of the relevant literature and presented in the form of a public facing "product" such as a podcast, short film, policy paper, opinion piece, photo essay, etc.

Borderlands: Limit Situations and Religious Experience

HDS 3858

This course explores the ambiguous and unstable borderlands: social, psychological, geographical, and spiritual - of human existence. Drawing on empirical studies of transnational migration, displacement, marginality, culture contact, the colonial encounter, rites of passage, and limit experience, and using such key theoretical concepts as liminality, transculturation, contact zone, indeterminacy, and plurality, we will explore the destructive and constructive dimensions of what Karl Jaspers calls "border situations" (grenzsituationen) and Gloria Anzaldua calls the "new mestizaje." Consideration will also be given to the transfigurative experience of carrying out ethnographic fieldwork in other societies, innovations in writing and art that do justice to borderland and borderline experiences, as well as the conditions of the possibility of genuinely mutual dialogue and understanding between people and societies that history has cast into relations of traumatic inequality.

The Brhadaranyaka Upanisad with Sankara's Commentary in Translation

HDS 3928

This seminar offers a close reading of just one big book, the Brhadaranyaka (Great Forest) Upanisad, possibly the oldest (c 700 BCE) and greatest of Vedic Hinduism's Upanisads; that is, teachings grounded in ritual and debate, philosophy and mysticism. The Brhadaranyaka offers a powerful exposition of the deep meaning of sacrifice; the identity of the self (and Self); Brahman as the absolute reality beyond words yet powerfully articulated in failing words; the challenge of world renunciation. At its core are the teachings of Yajnavalkya, one of the intriguing sages of ancient India. We read it first on its own, and then with the classic commentary of Sankara, the great 8th century Nondualist Vedanta theologian. This course is meant for students interested in closely reading Indian/Hindu texts, but all serious readers will benefit. We read in translation, so Sanskrit, while useful, is not required.

Clinical Chaplaincy: Interfaith Caregiving Skills and Practice

HDS 2936

Healthcare chaplaincy is a specialized, unique field of ministry continuing to increase in demand in clinical settings like hospitals and hospice centers. This introductory course will explore the theory and practice of clinical chaplaincy in hospitals and focus on developing the foundation and skills necessary for providing effective interfaith care and spiritual counseling interventions in the medical setting. Course content will include readings, group discussions, and counseling practice, and will emphasize six main areas of clinical chaplaincy: 1) basic counseling intervention skills, 2) interfaith spiritual care, 3) ethics in the medical context, 4) end-of-life support, 5) clinical standards and due diligence in the institution, and 6) self care. A prior course in introduction to pastoral counseling or the equivalent is a prerequisite. Instructor permission required.

Finding God in a Lovely Place: Comparative Theology in a South Indian Context

HDS 3393

This course in Hindu-Christian comparative theology is situated in India, with a difference. It steers away from Sanskrit philosophical, theological texts, learning instead from a vernacular tradition, the 2000-year-old literary archive of Tamil south India, so rich in lovely poems, dramas, proverbs, epics and devotional hymns, Jain and Hindu and more, vividly alive in an ancient land blessed with a non-Indo-European language and culture that flourish even today. This experimental course is guided by two questions: How can 21st century spiritual and religious people in the West learn from a culture that is brilliant not because it is universal, but because it is local, particular, immediate? How might Tamil literature change how we think of God, the human, the world? After a first look at ancient Tamil love poetry , we turn to selections from several premodern classics: The Ankle Bracelet (Cilappatikaram), a drama in which a tragic heroine suffers, then takes revenge and becomes a goddess; the proverbial wisdom of the Tiru Kural; the Civakacintamani (Splendor of Jivaka), a Jain hero's epic journey through pleasure to renunciation; the Ramayana tale of the forest exile of the princely and divine Rama and Sita and her kidnapping, retold by Kampan; mystical poetry for the beloved Krsna in the Holy Vow (Tiruppavai) of Antal, the famed woman poet of Vaisnava Hinduism. Each will be paired with a short excerpt from a Biblical or Christian classic, to showcase similarities and differences. The course is in translation and has no prerequisites, but some knowledge of south India, Tamil, theology, or comparative studies would of course be useful. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1604.

Icon or Idol? Attitudes to the Sacred Image

HDS 3316B

The study of iconography, literally "writing in images," is a revealing lens through which to view the religious traditions of the world. Through a historically informed, comparative approach, this course considers the challenge of representing the sacred. We will consider differing attitudes toward the physical embodiment of divinity, the question of symbolic versus "real" presence in religious art, as well as negative attitudes towards images/iconoclastic movements, the transcendence of physical and verbal images, and abstract or aniconic views of the divine.

Religious Dimensions in Human Experience: Apocalypse, Sports, Music, Home, Sacrifice

HDS 3160

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.

Weeping in the Religious Imagination: Seminar

HDS 3821

A comparative course on the theme of weeping and lamentation in religious experience. One of the earliest human expressions of distress, tears remain a profound existential signifier at all stages of life, especially in response to fear, loss, frustration, or despair, as well to joy, triumph, or relief. Ritual often centers collective tears as a response to what has impacted a religious community in the distant past; myth shows how tears of surrender to what seems inexorable can effect its transformation. Emblems of powerlessness, tears paradoxically conjure power, productive fertility, and wholeness, softening the harsh decrees of God or the gods by watering them. Traditions studied will include ancient and modern Greek, classical Aztec, Islamic, Yoruba, early and medieval Japanese, Hindu, Hassidic, and Eastern Christian. We will also read selected theological and theoretical works on weeping. Note: Enrollment is limited to fifteen students by application.

Introduction to Zoroastrianism

HDS 3068

Zoroastrianism was once considered one of the great world religions with strong Imperial patronage of the Persian monarchs. In its capacity as the state religion of the Achaemenid and Sasanian Persian empires, Zoroastrian thought had impact on the Classical, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. The purpose of the course is to introduce students to Zoroastrianism - its history, scripture, doctrines, rituals, and observances from the earliest recoverable history to modern days. The teachings of the religion and theological concepts and views will be discussed based on the Zoroastrian texts in comparison with analogous doctrinal and theological teachings and views of Christianity.

Spiritual Cultivation in Islam Part II: The Modern Era

HDS 3172

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.

Gender, Islam and Debates surrounding Female Vocal Nudity in West Africa (Nigeria and Niger)

HDS 3058

What are the gendered dimensions of voice in Islam? How could the female voice be both sacred and "nude"? Taking a sonic approach to Islam, this course will discuss debates surrounding the position of the female voice in Hausa societies, with a focus on the two West African Muslim majority countries of Nigeria and Niger. Readings will engage fatwas, Fiqht texts, audiovisual materials and ethnography.

Hadith Jibril: An introduction to the theological, legal, and spiritual dimensions of Islam

HDS 3047

This course will engage in a critical reading and analysis of Hadith Jibril. Also known as Umm Al-Hadith (or the mother of Prophetic narrations), this narration gathers the essential acts and practices that are to be performed, internally and externally, in the life of a Muslim. Through analysis of the context and language of this hadith, we will develop an understanding of adab (Islamic manners or etiquette) as well as the fundamental building blocks of Islam: islam (the physical surrender of the body), iman (internal truth), and ihsan (excellence). From these building blocks, we will develop a framework for understanding the corresponding three core Islamic sciences: fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), 'aqida (creed/theology), and tasawwuf (spiritual purification).

Muslim Tiktok, #BLACKOUTEID, IG Activism: Muslim Women Navigating Social Media

HDS 3067

This course aims to ethnographically examine the relation among pious subject-formation, race, and gender as they relate to Muslim women's social media engagements. We will interrogate the ways that Muslim women function as objects of discourses on secularism versus Islamic discursive traditions, and as agents of Islamization within a climate of intensified Islamophobia and digital surveillance. How do we understand Muslim women's social media practices as part of their reclamation of narratives of self-representation? What forms of religious authorities are fractured or consolidated, and how do they affect emergent modes of sociality?

The Emergence of Islam: Contours and Controversies

HDS 3348

The birth of Islam in the seventh century C.E. was a momentous historical turning point, but many aspects of this crucial process remain vigorously contested in modern scholarship. Was the Prophet Muhammad a local preacher of righteousness or the conscious creator of a religion with global ambitions? Is the Qur'anic text a record of Muhammad's own preaching or the result of a collective effort that continued after Muhammad (and perhaps had begun before him)? Did the early Muslims believe in the imminent end of the world or not? Was Islam originally an ecumenical monotheistic movement open to Jews and Christians, or did Islam's earliest adherents consider it a new and exclusive religion separate from Judaism and Christianity? Did Arabian tribes have a shared sense of belonging to a unified "Arab" ethnos before Islam, or did this sense of identity grow after disparate Arabian peoples conquered the Near East together?
This course is dedicated to an in-depth discussion of such fundamental historiographic questions. In the process, we will delve into some of the earliest literary and documentary witnesses to early Islamic history and read from seminal works of scholarship on Islam's origins.

Colloquium in Islamic Studies

HDS 3350B

This course is a forum for graduate students of Islamic Studies to 1) share and receive feedback on their works in progress (theses, paper drafts, dissertation chapters) from peers; and 2) discuss major recent publications that explore diverse aspects of Islamic history, different eras, geographies, and confessional identities, from a variety of methodological perspectives. This is a full-year course meeting on a bi-weekly basis; students need to register for both halves of the course (in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022) to earn credit.

Critical Perspectives on the Dynamics and Development of Islam in Africa

HDS 3357

An estimated 450 to 500 million Muslims live in Africa- close to a third of the global Muslim population. The overwhelming majority of them lives in the northern half of the continent, above the equator. The spread of Islam increased the contact between the peoples of North Africa, the Sahara, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The course is designed to provide an understanding of the spread of Islam and the formation and transformation of Muslim societies in Africa. It is organized in two parts. The first part of the course will focus on the history of Islamization of Africa, and topics will include the ways in which Islam came to Africa, the relationships of Islam to trade, the growth of literary in Arabic and Ajami, the rise of clerical classes and their contribution to State formation in the pre-colonial period. The second part of the course will feature guest lecturers who will present cutting edge research on the transformation of Islam in postcolonial Africa. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Islamic Civilization 179.

Spiritual Care from a Muslim Perspective

HDS 3063

This course introduces students to practices of spiritual care from a Muslim Perspective. As we will survey spiritual care practices of different Muslim cultures, our focus will be the relevant application of these practices in North America with a special focus on contemporary issues. We will emphasize meditative, philosophical, counseling, and psychological practices that have relevance and meanings in personal journeys of Muslim spiritual experience. Through a combination of readings, class discussions, practical exercises and guest lectures, students will begin to develop their own approaches to spiritual care in different circumstances such as the issues involving spiritual crises, mental illness, marriage/divorce and substance abuse. Different stake holders will find much value in this course, especially those who may have pastoral care/chaplaincy responsibilities, as well as the ones interested in personal and professional spiritual care.

Classical Islamic Learning: Texts, Sources, and Methods

HDS 3356

Designed for doctoral students of Islamic Studies, this course aims to develop skills for research into primary sources in Arabic. Students will examine major works of lexicography, historiography, prosopography, hadith, and exegesis, as well as pre-modern and modern tools for studying classical texts and manuscripts. Prerequisite: Two (but preferably three) years of Arabic. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 2850

Gender and Judaism in Modern America

HDS 2050

Contemporary Jews are as likely to view their tradition as inherently oppressive to women as they are to see it as an inspiration to activism for feminism and civil rights. This course follows the construction of Jewish gender identities beyond the stereotypes, sometimes in collision with modern gender norms, sometimes in accommodation, and sometimes in open rebellion. It considers challenges to both demographic and cultural reproduction that place pressure on personal decisions, group dynamics, identity, and intergroup relations for members of minority religions. The instructor, an historian, and the guest interlocutor, Yakir Englander, will bring together historical accounts of the anxieties and opportunities that accompanied the construction of modern Jewish gender identities with halachic textual traditions opening alternative possibilities. Gender as a key marker of group identity forms a central axis of inquiry through three case studies: Jewish masculinities from Talmud study to military service and comic book superheroes; Ultra-orthodox communities, in which the rejection of modern gender roles is a defining marker; and, Jews as critics of gender and sexuality, including feminist and trans engagement with Jewish tradition. Guest interlocutor Yakir Englander will visit the class 3 times to introduce the project of reading classical Jewish texts in modern perspectives and the practice of havruta (text study in pairs or groups). A product of both a traditional yeshivah education and a doctorate in feminist theory, Englander combines these approaches to open the topic of gender and Judaism beyond Western academic approaches. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1256.

Rapid Reading: Classical Hebrew II

HDS 1626

Advanced reading in selected biblical poetic texts and intensive review of the grammar of Biblical Hebrew. Prerequisite: HDS 1625. Jointly offered as Classical Hebrew 130BR.

Intermediate Pali II

HDS 4055

This course is the final 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. The course will also introduce the student to commentarial material. The Theravada tradition has a rich body of material that explicates and comments on the canonical texts. Gaining familiarity with this style of writing will greatly benefit the student in subsequent reading of Pali material. Prerequisites: Intermediate Pali I or equivalent (with the permission of the instructor). Note: Auditors not allowed. Limited enrollment course. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants.

Reading Post-Canonical Pali II

HDS 4057

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 spring term, 2022, some texts will be read in Thai script. Prerequisite: Intermediate Pali II or equivalent (with instructor's permission).

Intermediate Syriac II

HDS 4104

Readings in classical Syriac prose and poetry. Emphasis on developing skills in grammar, vocabulary, and reading unpointed Syriac. Texts to be read include Aphrahat, the Life of Mar Aba, a sixth-century pastoral letter on christology, and East Syriac biblical commentary. Introduction to study of Syriac manuscripts. Prerequisite: Elementary Syriac or permission of instructor. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Syriac BB.

Lucian and Syrian Greek

HDS 4237

In this course, we will examine a set of writings on religion united by common regional and ethnic identities: Greek writers of late antique Syria. We will consider how Syrian identity was constructed, construed, and negotiated; the extent to which it was integrated with or contrasted with Greek identity; and diversity within Syrian identities. The majority of the course will be spent on the satirical writings of Lucian of Samosata, one of the most prolific Syrian Greek authors and also the most explicit about (and complex in) his pose as an outsider. Interspersed with our examination of Lucian's ample corpus, however, we will also look at writings by other authors, Christian and "pagan" alike, associated with late-antique Syria (among them John Chrysostom, Romanos the Melodist and Libanius). Alongside building proficiency and confidence in the reading of continuous Greek text, therefore, this course will offer the opportunity to reflect on the various roles played by ethnic identity in the late antique Greek-speaking world. Prerequisite: Two years of College Greek or equivalent.

Intermediate German Readings

HDS 4413

Second semester course to cover German grammar, syntax, and translation; reading and translation practice of selected texts at the intermediate level related to theological and religious studies. Prerequisite: One semester of German at the college-level or German AX (offered by FAS). Limited enrollment course. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants.

Communication Skills for Spanish Ministry

HDS 4465

An intermediate/advanced course to develop communication skills particularly suited to those planning to minister in Spanish-speaking environments. Exercises and exams center on outreach vocabulary as well as appropriate contexts for this field (congregations, counseling, hospital and/or correctional pastoral work, education, etc.). Prerequisite: An intermediate knowledge of spoken Spanish. Limited enrollment course. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants.

Intermediate French Readings

HDS 4453

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. Review of grammar and vocabulary as needed. The syllabus may be adjusted according to the specific interests and research areas of students enrolled in the course. Prerequisite: HDS 4451 Elementary French for Reading, or previous formal instruction in French at Beginners'/Intermediate level. Limited enrollment course. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants.

Intermediate Spanish Readings

HDS 4463

This course teaches students to read Spanish-language texts related to theology and the study of religions through the practice of translation. Throughout the semester, students translate texts from a variety of religious traditions of the Spanish-speaking world. Grammar and vocabulary are also reviewed. Prerequisite: Successful completion of elementary level Spanish courses, or the equivalent language knowledge. Limited enrollment course. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants.

Intermediate Greek II

HDS 4221

Selected readings of early Christian and Hellenistic Jewish authors, selected from the Apostolic Fathers, Apologists, hagiographic, apocryphal, gnostic materials, Irenaeus, Clement, Origen, Philo or Josephus. Texts will be chosen to consolidate Greek skills and, where possible, to reflect the interests of the class; each will be set in its historical and linguistic context as an essential part of translation and interpretation. Designed both for those who wish to gain reading skills with a variety of authors and for those who plan further study of Greek, e.g., in Advanced Greek (4230). Prerequisite: Intermediate Greek I (4220) or equivalent. Limited enrollment course. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants.

Elementary Greek II

HDS 4212

Continuation of 4211. Focus on the reading of portions of the New Testament, along with continued work in classical Greek grammar and syntax. Course has additional section hour to be arranged. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants.

Spiritual Care and Counseling

HDS 2927

This introductory course provides an understanding of the basic concept in professional spiritual care and counseling applicable to individuals and faith communities alike. Through the integration of theory and practice, students will learn skills for brief interventions, as well as consider standards of professional ethics for spiritual care and matters of diversity, race, and intersectionality related to caregiving. The student's emerging theology of ministry will also be explored with particular attention to their role as a facilitator of healing and growth in various ministerial contexts.

Queering Congregations: Contextual Approaches for Dismantling Heteronormativity

HDS 2202

Queering Congregations introduces students to three systematic and process-oriented approaches for dismantling heteronormativity within American congregations. Using the lenses of practical theology, ecclesiology, gender studies, queer theory, and queer theology, the course examines the cultural backgrounds, beliefs, morals, values, and heteronormative structures of American churches and proposes methods for restructuring, reimagining, and subverting the heterosexist paradigms and binary assumptions that perpetuate oppression in American ecclesial spaces. The class examines how mainline open and affirming congregations understand what it means to be churches while paying close attention to the differences and similarities within their approaches to queering their congregations. The class will interrogate the following questions: (1) What happens to the church when it is queered, where queering as a verb can denote a rethinking of sexual identities as well as a challenging of normative understandings of ecclesiology and liturgy? (2) Can a queering of theology do more than critique and deconstruct traditional church structures, practices, performances, and self-understandings by pointing the way forward to the renewal of the church by suggesting new, more liberating, and truthful structures, practices, performances, and self-understandings? (3) Is ecclesiology a good meeting place for queer, practical, and classical theologies?

Contemplative Prayer in Christianity

HDS 2610 01

This seminar will explore contemplative prayer in Christianity through the slow and focused reading and rereading of six primary texts: Evagrius Ponticus�s Chapters on Prayer; The Cloud of Unknowing; Teresa of Avila�s Interior Castle; Simone Weil�s Waiting for God; Howard Thurman�s Disciplines of the Spirit; and Thomas Merton�s New Seeds of Contemplation. Special attention will be given to the forms these writers develop in which to write about contemplative prayer, the practices they commend, and the ways in which these six texts respond to each other�s questions.

Preaching in the Unitarian Universalist and Free Church Traditions: Seminar

HDS 2908

This will be an introduction to the practical art of preaching in the Unitarian Universalist tradition. Participants can expect to begin the process of finding their own voices in their preaching and worship leadership, all in the context of supportive peers.

Introduction to Public Preaching

HDS 2907

Carrying forth the preaching pedagogy of Rev. Peter Gomes, this course focuses on the practice of textual preaching from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. The course is taught by Rev. Daniel Smith (Senior Minister, First Church in Cambridge, Congregational (UCC). It emphasizes exegesis, worship context, sermon content and delivery. Participants will be expected to prepare and deliver three essays and three sermons. Since the course meets via Zoom, students will have an opportunity to experiment with and develop skills for preaching online. The course is limited to 8 students. If more than 8 students show for the first class and wish to take the course, a list of admitted students will be posted later that day.

Leading Music in Ritual

HDS 2034

This course will explore the leadership of music in the public rituals of religious, liturgical, and social movements, drawing on historical research, current practice in local communities, and students' own experience to answer questions about the role of music across religious and spiritual traditions as well as in movement-based activism. How does music inspire, connect, celebrate, and console? Where is the boundary between performance and prayer/meditation/worship? How does a song interact with its text to enhance and define the ritual space? Students will learn practical tools in leading song with their voices or musical instruments through the study of hymns, psalm chanting, and other folk and popular music traditions. The course is designed for students interested in ministerial or other ritual leadership who would like to expand their knowledge of musical literature, its current practice, and the history of music in the development and practice of religious traditions.

Biblical Poetry and Poetics: Fundamental Issues and Advanced Topics

HDS 1634

A systematic introduction to the poetics of biblical poetry, with a focus on foundational theoretical issues, considered in the context of major critical debates within the current state of the field, and combined with sustained close reading of textual examples in Hebrew. The course presumes basic proficiency with Biblical Hebrew. Minimum of one year of Hebrew required.

Ancient Egypt and the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

HDS 1122

The quest for the cultural influence of Pharaonic Egypt on the Hebrew Bible is as old as scholarly interest in the Bible itself. Starting with Ancient Historians such as Herodotus or Diodorus, and extending from the Renaissance era up to the present, scholars have been searching for traces of Egypt in the literature of the Hebrew Bible. This lecture course begins with a brief overview of cultural contacts, investigating the connections between various pieces of literature such as Psalm 104 and the Egyptian Hymn to Aten, Proverbs 22-24 and the Instruction of Amenemope, as well as less well-known literature like Psalm 20 and an Aramaic-Demotic Papyri from Ptolemaic Egypt, or the 'Apocalyptic' Prophecy of the Potter and the Oracle on Egypt in Isaiah 19.

Introduction to the New Testament

HDS 1202

The course will introduce the basic contents, theologies, and ethics of the New Testament through examination of diverse interpretations in both ancient and modern contexts. We will ask: What is the New Testament? What work does it do? For whom? Issues include: slavery, gender/sexualities, colonialism, and relation to Judaism.

Ancient Jewish Wisdom Literature

HDS 1416

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.

The Joseph Story and the Book of Esther: Seminar

HDS 1802

A close critical reading of Genesis 37-50 and the Book of Esther in Hebrew. Emphasis on the literary design and religious message of each work and on the influence of the story of Joseph upon the Book of Esther. Prerequisite: Three years of Hebrew or the equivalent (with a good command of grammar) and a solid acquaintance with the historical-critical study of the Hebrew Bible. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Hebrew 218.