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Harvard Divinity School

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3694

Religion, Culture, and Society in Africa

BTI Category

Semester

Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods

SP25

Exploring the meaning of religion and its impact of on African culture and society broadly, this course will highlight both religious traditions and innovations. Instead of treating each of the religions of Africa, the triple heritage in the words of Ali Mazrui of indigenous African religions, Islam, and Christianity, as distinct and bounded entities, we will explore the hybridity, interaction, and integration between categories throughout Africa. Using case studies, a unique perspective on religious diversity on the African continent and diaspora will emerge. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as AFRAMER 186.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Jacob Olupona

R

3:00pm - 5:45pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3729

Anthropology of Ethics

BTI Category

Semester

Ethics (all traditions)

SP25

This course provides an overview of recent anthropological scholarship on longstanding and difficult questions in the field of ethics, values, and moral philosophy. Drawing on a variety of case studies in anthropology broadly defined, some of the questions we will investigate are - the indivisibility between ethics and action, the tradeoffs between judgement, assessment, and fairness, the place of justification in practical reasoning and everyday life, the influence of avowed values on behavior, and the relation between violence and culpability.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Swayam Bagaria, Charles Hallisey

T

3:00pm - 4:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3760

Hindu Goddesses and the Virgin Mary

BTI Category

Semester

Interreligious Learning

SP25

This course explores the female divine - and supreme female beings - along with issues of gender and divinity. We read hymns praising Hindu goddesses Sri Laksmi, the great Goddess (Maha Devi), the Tamil goddess Apirami, and Bengal's Kali, while noting too how feminine divinity is constructed in environments where gods and goddesses both flourish. The course is also comparative, exploring the piety and cult of the Virgin Mary, also through famous hymns such as the Greek Akathistos, the Latin Stabat Mater, and a Tamil hymn praising Mary as mother of Tamil Catholics. This approach is sharpened by some attention to performative, social, visual dimensions, and by attention to contemporary feminist and theological insights, and thinking a bit about the fluidity of gender identities today. Not a survey, but an in-depth introduction. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1060.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Francis Clooney

MW

10:30am - 11:45am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 4053

Elementary Pali II

BTI Category

Semester

Languages

SP25

This course is a continuation of Elementary Pali I. The goal of this course will be to complete the study of the major elements of grammar found in Pali and to strengthen the student's familiarity with the language patterns found in standard prose works. The student will begin to gain experience in a wider range of literary styles.

Professor

Class Day & Time

​

MWF

9:00am - 9:59am

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

Y

Notes

Elementary Pali I or equivalent (with the permission of the instructor). Note: Auditors not allowed. Additional section hour to be arranged.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 4057

Reading Post-Canonical Pali II

BTI Category

Semester

Languages

SP25

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.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Charles Hallisey

MW

9:00am - 10:15am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

Y

Notes

Prerequisite: Intermediate Pali II or equivalent (with instructor's permission).

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 4212

Elementary Greek II

BTI Category

Semester

Languages

SP25

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.

Professor

Class Day & Time

James Skedros

MWF

9:00am - 9:59am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

Y

Notes

Prerequisite: Successful completion of HDS 4211 or equivalent.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 4229

Advanced Greek: Sacred Histories

BTI Category

Semester

Languages

SP25

In this course, we will read selections from Greek "historians of the sacred" - ancient authors who record the history, practices, and beliefs of their religious communities. We will spend some time on Jewish and "pagan" Greek authors, but the bulk of our course will be dedicated to reading selections from Christian ecclesiastical historians: Eusebius, Sozomen, Socrates and so forth. These authors are excellent examples of Late Antique Greek prose and vital sources for our understanding of early Christianity, but they are also foundational thinkers in the evolution of a western "philosophy of history." While reinforcing familiarity with Greek syntax and developing reading proficiency, this course will also provide an opportunity to ask interesting historiographical and philological questions, including: (1) how do different hisorians record the same events? (2) what language and terminology do historians use to refer to the Christian community? (3) what are the "theologies of history" suggested by the authors? (4) how are dissensions within the Christian community discussed by the authors?

Professor

Class Day & Time

Michael Ennis

W

3:00pm - 4:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

Y

Notes

Prerequisite: Two years of college Greek or equivalent.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 4453

Intermediate French Readings

BTI Category

Semester

Languages

SP25

This course is designed to help students gain proficiency in reading and translating texts related to theological French and religious studies, as well as academic French more broadly, at the intermediate level. Grammar and vocabulary are reviewed as needed. The syllabus may be adjusted according to the specific interests of the students enrolled in the course.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Pascale Torracinta

TR

5:00pm - 6:15pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

Y

Notes

Prerequisite: HDS 4451 Elementary French for Reading, one semester of French at the college level, or equivalent elementary language knowledge.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 1103

Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament 2: Latter Prophets and Writings

BTI Category

Semester

Scripture & Biblical Studies

SP25

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 second part of a divisible, year-long sequence, will focus on the Latter Prophets and the Writings. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as ANE 120b.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Andrew Teeter

TR

10:30 AM - 11:45 AM

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 1408

The Bible and the "Querelle des Femmes": From the Sacred Text to Women's Self-Awareness

BTI Category

Semester

Scripture & Biblical Studies

SP25

This course will explore how the Bible became both a means to self-awareness and a defensive weapon for women in Renaissance Italy, women whose social opportunities had previously been limited by intentional marginalization and, above all, limited access to culture. Reading the Bible was not only a way for women to develop their spirituality: It gave them female role models from the Old and New Testaments, encouraging them to take their place in society and the political sphere. We will look particularly closely at texts written by women who, grounded in a strong classical tradition, re-interpreted Genesis in 16th- and 17th-century Venice to open up new social horizons using fresh biblical exegesis. These female readers overturned the condemnation of Eve and questioned her gender's subsequent inferior status, challenging the foundations of the patriarchal society around them and suggesting a path for how gender inequality could be overcome in Europe. Texts will be read in English translation.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Erminia Ardissino

T

9:00am - 10:59am

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 1438

The Book of Proverbs: Seminar

BTI Category

Semester

Scripture & Biblical Studies

SP25

A critical discussion of the Book of Proverbs in its entirety and a close reading of (at least) major sections of it in Hebrew. Among the topics considered are questions of worldview, literary design, poetic technique, ancient Near Eastern antecedents and parallels, and the relationship of the theologies in Proverbs to those of other currents in ancient Israelite thought. Includes a research-based paper. Prerequisites: an introductory course in the critical study of the Hebrew Bible and a very solid command of Hebrew grammar (any period). Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Hebrew 257.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Jon Levenson

R

3:00pm - 4:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 1672

Israel's Chosenness: Ancient Roots and Modern Manifestations

BTI Category

Semester

Judaic Studies

SP25

What is chosenness? What does it mean for God to choose a people? For a people to be chosen? What kind of role does this ideology play in Jewish tradition? In contemporary Judaism? In Zionism? These issues cannot be comprehended without tackling their ancient origins, from the Bible to the rabbis and early Christianity. At the same time, it is mandatory to acknowledge that contemporary processes are not simply modern manifestations of ancient debates. A double look is thus required in order to account for these issues: ancient roots and modern metamorphoses. It is this double look that this course is tailored to offer.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Shaul Magid, Ishay Rosen-Zvi

T

12:00pm - 1:59pm

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2013

Christian Simplicity

BTI Category

Semester

Ethics (all traditions)

SP25

Despite Jesus' teachings on simplicity of life defined as ordered relationships with time, money, food, and possessions the western Church today is largely silent on materialism and overconsumption, and their relationship to economic injustice and environmental degradation. In this course, we will explore the writings of the Christian counterculture that took Jesus at his word: the desert fathers and mothers of the 4th and 5th centuries; Benedict and the early monastics; St. Francis and the friars of the 13th century; John Woolman and the early Quakers; Thoreau; and Dorothy Day, and Wendell Berry among others. We will also engage with theologians and pastoral writers from the 1970s to the present who have argued that simplicity of life should concern not only vowed religious and intentional communities, but householder Christians as well. We will apply what we read to our own relationship with time, money, food, and possessions in a series of brief experiments.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Regina Walton

T

3:00pm - 4:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2082

Spiritual Paths to Abstract Art

BTI Category

Semester

Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods

SP25

Approaching 20th-century abstract art through the lens of religious studies, this course explores alternatives to twentieth-century narratives of modern art centered on the existential crisis of a heroic-- usually male, Caucasian and secular individual. In contrast, we will center paths to abstraction in which a departure from or repurposing of the figure emanates from spiritual sources not usually associated with modernity. Locating the artists' work within their biographies and their communities, the course focuses on abstraction as a vehicle for delving intersections of spirituality with history, race, ethnicity, class, gender and sexuality. Religious movements and experiences that led to abstraction, rather than the artistic styles that resulted, serve as the organizing principle for the syllabus. We will attend to the outsize interest of abstract artists in Theosophy, as well as to paths to abstraction originating outside of Europe, and/or grounded in Indigeneity, Judaism, Christian Science, and the Occult. Artists treated include Hilma af Klint, Wassily Kandinsky, Mary Sully, Hyman Bloom and Betye Saar, among others. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1571.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Ann Braude

R

12:00pm - 1:59pm

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2173

The Sacramental Imagination

BTI Category

Semester

Systematic Theology & Philosophy (Western)

SP25

Taking the Christian theology and ministry of the sacraments as our central case, this course will explore several central issues through a variety of resources: literary fiction, poetry, film, philosophy, theology, and liturgy. With a special eye towards the Christian ritual meal of Holy Eucharist or communion, we will explore the following issues, among others: the sacred and the mundane, presence and absence, materiality and embodiment, desire and consumption, feast and sacrifice, and the Christian roots of modern fascism. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1499.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Matthew Potts

T

12:00pm - 2:45pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2202

Queering the World: Dismantling Heteronormativity in Congregations, Communities, and Organizations

BTI Category

Semester

Ethics (all traditions)

SP25

Queering the World: Dismantling Heteronormativity in Congregations, Communities, and Organizations introduces students to three systematic and process-oriented approaches: (1) Personality-Driven Queering, (2) Top-Down Organizational Compliance Queering, (3) Communal Queering. Utilizing Queer theory, ethics, Queer theology, ecclesiology, gender studies, and post-colonial methods, the course examines the cultural backgrounds, beliefs, morals, values, and heteronormative structures of American congregations, communities, and organizations. It proposes methods for restructuring, reimagining, and subverting heterosexist paradigms and binary assumptions that perpetuate oppression. Examining mainline open and affirming congregations, LGBTQIAP+ affirming communities, and organizations, the class considers differences and similarities in their approaches to queering. Key questions include: (1) What occurs when a congregation, community, or organization is queered? (2) Can queering theology, culture, and systems lead to more than critique, pointing toward renewal with new, liberating structures, practices, performances, and self-understandings? (3) Is it possible to Queer the organization one wishes to queer?

Professor

Class Day & Time

Brandon Crowley

R

9:00am - 10:59am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

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 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.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2307

Faith, Hope, and Resistance in Catholic Theology and Spirituality

BTI Category

Semester

Ethics (all traditions)

SP25

In the United States and around the globe, many scholars and activists committed to the cause of social justice are becoming increasingly frustrated with the language of democracy and human rights, and its alleged defense of the dignity of all people. Similarly, they are becoming increasingly impatient with churches and other forms of organized religion. Their frustrations are the consequence of the many failures—religious, moral, and legal—to embody the ideals behind the defense of the dignity of all people. And yet, faith, hope and resistance seem to always emerge in moments of great crisis. In this class we will study the complex relationship between faith, hope, and resistance, and hopelessness and pessimism. We will do so by examining different responses to this relationship coming from Catholic theology and spirituality in the 20th and 21st centuries in Latin America and the United States. Readings include the work of Miguel de la Torre, Gustavo Gutiérrez, Ignacio Ellacuría, Ada María Isasi Díaz, Nancy Pineda Madrid, Shawn Copeland, Tony Alonso, among others.This seminar offers students an opportunity to write a research paper. No prerequisites.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Raúl Zegarra

R

3:00pm - 5:45pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2390B

Colloquium in American Religious History

BTI Category

Semester

Church History/History of Religions

SP25

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.Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 3505B.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Catherine Brekus

T

6:00pm - 7:59pm

Grading Option

P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2674

Kant: Seminar

BTI Category

Semester

Systematic Theology & Philosophy (Western)

SP25

A research seminar to engage in a careful reading of selected major works of Kant relevant to theology and philosophy of religion. The seminar will focus on issues such as the nature and limits of reason, the concepts of freedom, morality, faith, and the idea of God. Prerequisite: significant work in theology or philosophy of religion. Permission of the instructor required. To apply for admission to the seminar, consult the Canvas page. Jointly offered as Religion 2542.

Professor

Class Day & Time

David Lamberth

W

3:00pm - 5:45pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2907

Introduction to Public Preaching

BTI Category

Semester

Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual

SP25

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. The course is limited to 8 students. Petitions will not be reviewed until the first day of classes. All interested students should attend the first day of class at Memorial Church on Thursday, January 30, 2025. 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.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Daniel Smith

R

12:00pm - 2:30pm

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2938

Womanist and Black Feminist Approaches to Spiritual Care

BTI Category

Semester

Practical/Pastoral Theology

SP25

This course offers a womanist and Black feminist framework for understanding and practicing spiritual care, centering the lived experiences and well-being of Black women. Rooted in the principles of intersectionality, social justice, and activism, the course explores how race, gender, class, and sexuality intersect to shape Black women's realities, illuminating the social conditions that harm the human spirit and cause suffering. Drawing on the historical foundation of Africana Women's Studies, this course emphasizes the need for holistic care of mind, body, and spirit within communal and relational contexts. Students will examine how spiritual care can function as a practice of resistance, healing, and empowerment, with particular attention to the impact of systemic oppression. Through interdisciplinary readings, students will engage critical lenses to explore how care practices must address the structural forces such as racism, sexism, classism, heterosexism, etc. that undermine spiritual flourishing. This course challenges students to develop care models that integrate activism and community care, fostering the capacity to respond to social injustices. By the end of the course, students will have resources to offer spiritual care that not only nurtures individuals but also advocates for the liberation and collective well-being of communities.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Stephanie Sears

T

3:00pm - 4:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

This is a limited enrollment course and requires instructor permission. Prospective students may email the instructor prior to the first class meeting to indicate their interest and be placed on a preliminary class list. Please note, the instructor will not reply to requests for enrollment but will consider, degree program, year, and reason for taking the class. In the event that the course is overenrolled, prospective students will be asked to write a short paragraph during the first class meeting to indicate the above information. Selected students will then be invited to enroll in the course via email by the end of the first day.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2971

Reading Howard Thurman Today

BTI Category

Semester

Ethics (all traditions)

SP25

Howard Thurman was a key religious leader and thinker in the twentieth century. A mystic who also was a social activist, Thurman was a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King and other leaders of the American civil rights movement. The religious philosophy that Thurman crafted is subtle and manifold, centrally concerned with tracing how inner life and social responsibility can be mutually constitutive of each other. This colloquium will explore Thurman as a religious thinker who can be a teacher to us today.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Charles Hallisey, John Brown

R

9:00am - 10:59am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3036

Judaism: Text and Tradition

BTI Category

Semester

Judaic Studies

SP25

A wide-ranging introductory exploration of the Jewish religious tradition, from its inception in biblical Israel though its rabbinic, medieval, and modern iterations. The central focus lies on the literary meanings and existential questions of the classical tradition, as well as on the relationships between texts, religious claims, and practices. We shall also consider some of the restatements, reformulations, and challenges to tradition that have arisen in modern times. No prerequisites. By permission only: students should submit an application to the instructor by January 18, 2025. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1250

Professor

Class Day & Time

Jon Levenson

TR

10:30am - 11:45am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3089

Reparations as a Spiritual Practice

BTI Category

Semester

Ethics (all traditions)

SP25

This course focuses on the social movement and practices utilized by spiritual, faith based and ethically communities to understand and engage in reparations as a healing, constructive and decolonial process. This journey will provide an introduction to reparations through its history and major figures and frameworks; it then explores economic, experiential, theoretical and legal bases for understanding reparations as articulated in academia, social movements, and in advocacy arenas. We will examine historical calls for reparations and the current movement and the possibilities toward reparations for Blacks in the U.S. Building on the key histories,theories and ideas that inform reparations, we will frame this contemporary discussion through the lens of spirituality and decoloniality to understand slavery, reconstruction, civil rights, truth and reconciliation, restorative and transitional justice. We will explore various understandings and approaches to reparations from organizations and individuals at the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, National African American Reparations Commission, Caribbean Reparations Commission,Reparations4Slavery, UHURU solidarity, and many others.

Professor

Class Day & Time

David Ragland

M

12:00pm - 2:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3095

Religion, Materiality, and the Senses: A Course in Sensory Ethnography

BTI Category

Semester

Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods

SP25

What is the role of the senses in academic research on religion? What and how can we know by engaging with bodies and materiality? How can acknowledging emotions and affects be useful in the study of spirituality? In this course, students will explore some spiritual and religious experiences in dialogue with recent studies in sensory anthropology, the anthropology of consciousness, affect theory, and material studies. Through multi- media ethnographic works, class discussions, creative works, and independent readings, students will be able to reflect on the theory and practice of body-centered engagements with the study of religion.
This course has two dimensions: one theoretical and one practical. In this course we will:
- Read about research on sensory ethnography and sensory anthropology;
- Read about how multi-sensory ethnography can be and is used in the study of religion;
- Read about the role of materiality and the senses in religion and in the study of religion;
- Learn how to apply some sensory ethnographic methods through (almost) weekly practical exercises;
- Reflect and discuss together on some of the practical, theoretical, and ethical implications of ethnographic fieldwork.
- Experiment with participant observation and other qualitative methods
- Create and perform a non-denominational ritualEnrollment petitions will be reviewed as soon as they will be received. A wait list will be created, if necessary.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Giovanna Parmigiani

R

12:00pm - 1:59pm

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3117

Animals and the Unseen

BTI Category

Semester

Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods

SP25

This course considers how we can write histories of religious animals and the Unseen. Students will be introduced to academic literature that has criticized scholarly and popular conceptions of humans having a special status, and assumptions that the religious sentience of non-human animals and the materiality of spirits cannot be studied academically. Students will then be introduced to a variety of sources containing rich information on religious animals and the supernatural from Islamic societies of the globe. In doing so, the course pays particular attention to how human and non-human animals were understood to be religious beings whose bodies and activities were always tethered to the Unseen. Students will be encouraged to explore how the divide between human and non-human animals might not have been evident in societies of the past and the present. Students will moreover be encouraged to engage how these sources may prompt us to remember, or rather realize, that all aspects of material life, including animals' bodies, physical resources and technologies, were inextricably linked to the imagined non-material realms of the Unseen. On the whole, this seminar class takes steps towards recounting histories of religious animals and the Unseen. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1014TS.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Teren Sevea

T

12:30pm - 2:59pm

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3175

Indian Ocean Islam

BTI Category

Semester

Islamic Studies

SP25

Does thinking oceanically influence the study of Islam? Can we remember a people's history of the Indian Ocean world? This course considers these questions and others as it focuses on religious worlds within port cities and the networks of Indian Ocean Islam. The course examines how religion in port cities and islands was centered upon a plethora of saints, missionaries, divinities and other agents of Islam, who have been marginalized in academic literature on the Indian Ocean. It simultaneously examines how oceanic religion was intimately connected to economic, political and technological developments. Students will be introduced to scholarship on oceanic Islam and monsoon Islam, before they are introduced to a variety of sources on transregional Islamic networks and agents of Islam, including biographies, hagiographies, travelogues, novels, poems and ethnographic accounts. Students will, moreover, be encouraged to consider ways in which approaches to studying Islam could be enhanced by a focus on religious economies and networks, as well as the lives of "subalterns" who crossed the porous borders of the Indian Ocean world and shaped its religious worlds. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1821 and Islamic Civilizations 136.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Teren Sevea

M

3:00pm - 5:30pm

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3185

Mind, Spirituality, and Mental Health in Hinduism II

BTI Category

Semester

Hinduism Studies

SP25

This two semester course will interrogate the various ways in which discussions on Hinduism have been included or have illuminated issues in the contemporary psychological sciences. We will read how different intellectual approaches ranging from psychoanalysis, folk psychology, cognitive anthropology, global mental health, and psychedelic sciences engage the archives of Hinduism as well as how ideas and practices from Hinduism are employed to provide an alternative to the therapeutic and treatment registers found in these approaches. The second part of the course in the Spring semester will be more empirically oriented and will look at contemporary work in global mental health, medical anthropology, and public health to understand the assessment, design, and implementation issues related to the coverage and scaling of mental health services in India. Taking HDS 3184 Mind, Spiritual, and Mental Health in Hinduism I in the Fall semester is recommended though not required.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Swayam Bagaria

T

12:00pm - 1:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3202

The Religious and Ecological Dimensions of Octavia Butler's Life and Literature

BTI Category

Semester

Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods

SP25

Amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and the rapid progression of climate change, there has been a renewed interest in the works of science fiction writer Octavia Butler. Known for her keen insights into ecological degradation, ecofascism, authoritarianism, and urban survival in her 1990s Parable series, Butler has been hailed by scholars and activists as a prophetic voice for our times. Social media platforms have been flooded with hashtags like #OctaviaTriedToTellUs and #OctaviaKnew as people seek to make sense of our global environmental and health crises.If Butler's visionary perspective on today's political and ecological crises is to be fully appreciated, it must be understood through the lens of her identity as a Black woman coming of age during the Black Power and Civil Rights Movements, and her engagement with Black religious expressions' particularly African traditional religions, Black Christian traditions, and Black new religious movements' all of which profoundly influenced either Butler's personal life or her characters.The course will primarily focus on Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, various essays and interviews, as well secondary articles.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Nikki Hoskins

R

3:00pm - 4:59pm

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

Students interested in the course should contact the instructor via email.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3235

Taking the World Seriously: A Madhyamaka Buddhist Perspective on Engagement

BTI Category

Semester

Buddhist Studies

SP25

The Madhyamaka, or Middle Way tradition teaches that the entire world is illusory and ultimately empty, only conventionally real. How then are we supposed to take the world seriously? How can we make sense of reality, of knowledge, and of the importance of ethics? This problem preoccupied 7th and 8th century Mādhyamikas in India and their commentators in medieval Tibet. Candrakīrti (c. 600-650) addresses the metaphysical and epistemological challenge in Introduction to the Middle Way (Madhyamakāvatāra). Śāntideva (8th c.) addresses the ethical challenge in How to Lead an Awakened Life (Bodhicāryāvatāra), a text that builds on Candrakīrti’s. Their answers inform much subsequent Madhyamaka Buddhist thought and are important for contemporary debates and practice as well. We will read these two texts with relevant canonical commentary and contemporary secondary literature to develop an understanding of how this tradition engages seriously with a world it takes to be ultimately empty.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Jay Garfield

T

12:00pm - 2:59pm

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3402

Occult South Asia

BTI Category

Semester

Interreligious Learning

SP25

The adjective “occult” (literally “hidden”) and noun “occultism” usually refers to an amalgamation of modern esoteric theories and practices, often exclusively perceived as “Western,” which are stigmatized as spooky, kooky, or worse. However, there is growing consensus that this view is unnecessarily Eurocentric and that such stigmas also arose in part out of an exoticization (and possibly fear) of occultism’s deep entanglement with the religions of South Asia. The first part of the course accordingly explores how the precursors of occultism, namely the medieval and early modern European “occult sciences” of astrology, alchemy, and magic, were sometimes historically linked to South Asian sources, even if often mediated by Islamicate authors. In the second part we analyze the modern integration and cross-pollination of South Asian philosophies and practices, especially yoga and tantra, among social movements as diverse as mesmerism, spiritualism, fringe freemasonry, and new thought, with special reference to the foregrounding of South Asian ideas and practices in social orders, organizations, and movements such as the Theosophical Society and Thelema. Along the way we encounter religious authors and practitioners of South Asian origin (e.g., Sri Sabhapati Swami and Rama Prasad) who explicitly framed their knowledge as “occult” as well as the movement Latent Light Culture or The Holy Order of Krishna that arose in modern South Asia itself and used the language of occultism in its teaching. Throughout this course we test the outer limits of postcolonial theory and Saidian post-orientalist criticism by inquiring into how several enduring practices mediated by Occult South Asia continue to attract great interest today (e.g., modern yoga, chakra meditation, astral projection, tantric sex) despite often sparking popular debates over perceived cultural appropriation and commodification.

Professor

Class Day & Time

​

TR

10:30am - 11:45am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

No prerequisites, prior knowledge of South Asia or esotericism beneficial but not required.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3555

The Buddhist Path to Eco-empathy: Why We Should NOT Colonize Mars

BTI Category

Semester

Buddhist Studies

SP25

The course will be based on a philosophical investigation of the similarities between the effects of Buddhist meditation and immersion in the wilderness on humans. It will be structured around the scheme of the seven factors of awakening (bojjhan_ga), often translated as mindfulness, investigation of the phenomena, energy, rapture, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity. The results of the studies on human organisms' immersion in nature have come up with a similar collection of words.
The course will propose that in order to survive as a species, we need a new human presence on planet Earth, which can be achieved by rethinking Buddhist philosophy and meditation in light of the challenges of the contemporary world. The students will be presented with recent neuro-research on the human-nature relationship and philosophical reflection about the state of our society. They will be reffered to the tradition of virtue ethics (Buddhist and Western) as something that can enrich the strategies of fighting fear, uncertainty, and anhedonia so widespread in contemporary developed societies, especially in younger generations. Students will be invited to meditate (including meditating outdoors) and to relate the experience to their personal lives.
As an impulse for discussion, students will be presented with a hypothesis that human flourishing and perhaps even human survival can only happen in attunement to nature. It can be perceived as a personal, intimate possibility of opening a new dimension in our life, omitted by our culture obsessed with hedonistic self-satisfaction. From this perspective, we can look at our dependence on the planet not as a limitation but as a road to genuine freedom. Escaping Earth and moving to another planet to consume its resources ceases to be an option. We are not consumers of the planet Earth. We are the planet itself.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Marcin Fabjanski

M

3:00pm - 4:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3563

Tibetan Buddhisms

BTI Category

Semester

Buddhist Studies

SP25

This course will study the variety of Buddhisms in Tibet, along with their connection to indigenous religions on the plateau. We will take up this vast topic through four main lenses. One will be facilitated by reading autobiographies and biographies of individual lives, written by women and men from various social positions and historical contexts, as a way to study how ritual practices and philosophical doctrines impact human relations, especially teacher-student, and lay-monastic, in Tibetan Buddhist worlds. The autobiographers range from the current Dalai Lama to an impoverished hermitess of the 17th century, a cave-dwelling visionary, a powerful aristocrat, a philosopher/monk, and others. Secondly, we will have the fortune to have a visiting lecturer for 3 classes, Dr. Tashi Dekyi, originally from Khams, who studies indigenous values and ways that the land itself is an agent in moral person-building in Tibet. This perspective will impact the way we study all of our readings for the semester. Thirdly, the course as a whole will take an eco-feminist perspective on the range of Buddhisms in Tibet, including an introductory study of tantric Buddhism, in anticipation of another course, on Buddhist tantra, to be taught in fall 2025. And finally we will pay attention throughout to religio-medical understandings of the human body in Tibetan Buddhism, including yogic practices and death practices. No previous background in Buddhism is required; both advanced and introductory students will be accommodated.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Janet Gyatso

TR

10:30am - 11:45am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3716

The Animal Imaginary

BTI Category

Semester

Sociology/Ethnography/Research Methods

SP25

This conference course considers the history and meaning of fantastic beasts, holy animals, and magical creatures in religion, folklore, and mythology. In light of the past global abundance of animal species, and now in the face of their rapid, large-scale extinction, why have existing animals not been "enough" for the human imagination?

Professor

Class Day & Time

Kimberley Patton

R

3:00pm - 4:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

Enrollment limited; please e-mail instructor to request application: kpatton@hds.harvard.edu.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3750

The Bhagavad Gita and Its Greatest Commentary

BTI Category

Semester

Hinduism Studies

SP25

The Bhagavad Gita is a very Hindu classic of devotion and theology. Deep and complex, it has received extensive classical and contemporary interpretation, as to what it means, and how it affects life in any time and place. The seminar reads the Gita itself, and then interprets it according to the classic commentary of Madhusudana Sarasvati (16th century), who sought to synthesize liberative knowledge, detached action, yoga, with love of Krishna - in essence melding together Nondualist and Devotional readings of the Gita. Other approaches too will be noticed. This course is meant for students interested in closely reading a great Hindu text, honoring both its past and its present. Sanskrit useful but not required; some background knowledge of Hinduism helpful. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1615.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Francis Clooney

T

3:00pm - 5:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 3983

Logic in the Islamic Intellectual History: A Feminist Critical Reading

BTI Category

Semester

Islamic Studies

SP25

Islamic philosophers, theologians, jurists, and mystics have grappled with the nature of logic. This course explores this challenge through the lens of feminist criticism. As many feminist philosophers argue, knowledge cannot be a purely theoretical activity. Even logic, the most theoretical form of knowledge, is rooted in the practical (social, cultural, and political) aspects of embodied, material life. In this course, we will: 1) Review the history of struggles for and against logic in the Islamic tradition. 2) Uncover hidden layers of logic in the logical treatises of Muslim scholars. 3) Interpret and understand these hidden logical structures in terms of what feminist critics refer to as the material conditions of knowledge. Readings, all in English, include feminist and Muslim philosophers, Muslim theologians, jurists, and Sufis.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Zahra Moballegh

R

3:00pm - 4:59pm

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 4055

Intermediate Pali II

BTI Category

Semester

Languages

SP25

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.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Beatrice Chrystall

MWF

10:30am - 11:29am

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

Y

Notes

Prerequisites: Intermediate Pali I or equivalent (with the permission of the instructor). Note: Auditors not allowed.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 4102B

Elementary Syriac

BTI Category

Semester

Languages

SP25

A thorough introduction to classical Syriac, a Christian dialectic of Aramaic. The first semester will cover the basics of grammar, and the second will introduce students to texts from the Syriac tradition. Daily preparation and active class participation mandatory. This is an indivisible year-long course. Students must complete both terms of this course (parts A and B) within the same academic year in order to receive credit. Limited enrollment course. Enrollment priority given to HDS students and other Harvard faculty cross-registrants. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Syriac AB.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Ute Possekel

TBA

TBA

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 4221

Intermediate Greek II

BTI Category

Semester

Languages

SP25

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).

Professor

Class Day & Time

Judy Haley

MW

6:00pm - 7:15pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

Y

Notes

Prerequisite: Intermediate Greek I (4220) or equivalent.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 4413

Intermediate German Readings

BTI Category

Semester

Languages

SP25

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.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Karin Grundler-Whitacre

W

9:00am - 10:59am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

Y

Notes

Prerequisite: One semester of German at the college-level or German AX (offered by FAS).

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 4465

Communication Skills for Spanish Ministry

BTI Category

Semester

Languages

SP25

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.).

Professor

Class Day & Time

Christopher Eldrett

W

5:00pm - 7:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

Y

Notes

Prerequisite: An intermediate knowledge of spoken Spanish.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 1260

History of Early Christianity

BTI Category

Semester

Church History/History of Religions

SP25

This course will provide a basic historical introduction to early Christianity from the first to fourth centuries CE. How did different Christians in this period navigate the diverse teachings, rituals, and social practices associated with Jesus of Nazareth to produce a religious movement that came to dominate the Roman Empire, even as it was itself always complex, variegated, and internally contested from its earliest moments? Throughout the course, we will explore the diversity of early Christian thought and practice across a range of topics and geographical areas, as well as the ways in which Christians situated themselves within the larger Roman world and in relation to others both internal and external. This is an introductory-level course and it offers the possibility of writing a research paper. Note that the course is designed to complement and build upon HDS 1202 "Introduction to the New Testament." Each can be taken as a standalone class or the two can be taken in any order; but overlap between them will be kept to a minimum. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 2432.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Giovanni Bazzana

R

3:00pm - 5:30pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 1430

Studies in Biblical Law

BTI Category

Semester

Scripture & Biblical Studies

SP25

A close examination of the linguistic formulation and literary design of collections of legal material within the Pentateuch, with a focus on the so-called "Covenant Code" (Exod 20:23) and its relationship to the "Holiness Code" (Lev 17:27) and the Deuteronomic laws (Deut 12:26). The course will devote particular attention (1) to compositional poetics (i.e., to the discovery and elucidation of compositional strategies on the micro- and macro-structural levels, to principles of literary organization, to textual logic, and analogical patterns); and (2) to the textual, literary, and hermeneutic relationship between and among these collections with regard to the specific formulations of the laws in each. This will be undertaken with a view toward understanding the overall expectations made of readers, ancient and modern. The Hebrew text of biblical legal collections and their underlying principles of design will be considered in the context of major critical debates within the current state of the field.The course presumes proficiency in Biblical Hebrew. Two years of Biblical Hebrew (or equivalent) required.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Andrew Teeter

T

3:00pm - 4:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

Y

Notes

The course presumes proficiency in Biblical Hebrew. Two years of Biblical Hebrew (or equivalent) required.

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 1508

Jewish-Christianity

BTI Category

Semester

Interreligious Learning

SP25

This advanced seminar will explore those ancient sources traditionally studied under the rubric "Jewish Christianity," as well as the historiography of this rubric and debates about its utility. Primary sources to be discussed include Matthew, Acts, the Didascalia Apostolorum, and the Pseudo-Clementine literature, and secondary sources will include writings from Augustus Neander, F. C. Baur, and Henrich Graetz. We will also consider its heurism for the study of other texts and groups, ranging from Revelation to the Elchasites. Students should have taken at least three semesters of ancient Greek; exceptions may be made for students with substantial knowledge of Hebrew and Rabbinic literature. Limited enrollment.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Annette Reed

T

12:00pm - 2:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 1680

The Jewish Jesus in Modernity

BTI Category

Semester

Interreligious Learning

SP25

One of the more interesting developments in Jewish modernity, especially after the emancipation of the Jews in Europe, was how Jews understood Jesus as a figure in the Jewish imagination. Whereas most medieval Jewish thinkers challenged the theological presumption of the church regarding incarnation and church doctrine, the rise of Protestantism and its ostensible "humanization" of Jesus, enabled modern Jews to reconsider Jesus as a Jew and a figure that can be viewed in a positive light in and for Judaism. We will examine Jewish sermons and studies on Jesus in Europe and especially 19th century America.This course will explore the "Jewish Jesus" in modernity, beginning with Spinoza and Moses Mendelssohn up the present-day movements of "Jews for Jesus" and "Messianic Jews" and contemporary Jewish theological investigations of Jesus' messianic claims. We will examine the role of Jesus in German and American Reform Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, and Zionism.This course will traverse three continents: Europe, America, and Israel. In Europe, how was Jesus a part of Jews' response to emancipation and becoming "European"? In America, how did Jews respond to Jesus as a cultural as well as a religious figure, that is, how did Jews relate to a "secularized" Jewish Jesus? And In Israel, we will examine how Zionists reappropriated Jesus for their national project as a Jew who lived and died in the land of Israel. And finally, in our contemporary world, what role does Jesus have in ecumenicism and emerging movements of religious syncretism.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Shaul Magid

W

1:00pm - 2:59pm

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2034

Leading Music in Ritual

BTI Category

Semester

Preaching, Liturgy, & Ritual

SP25

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.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Chris Hossfeld

M

9:00am - 10:59am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2142

Women in World Christianity

BTI Category

Semester

Systematic Theology & Philosophy (Western)

SP25

Historian Dana Robert famously described World Christianity as a "woman's movement," citing the female majority in churches worldwide and gendered reasons for conversion to Christianity throughout history. Drawing from historical and social scientific perspectives, this course investigates the ways in which World Christianity can be considered a "woman's movement." This course introduces students to a global history of women's involvement in churches and discusses the centrality of their contributions to World Christianity, both past and present. The course takes a historical approach in discussing Christian women's roles and responsibilities from roughly the 19th-21st centuries; a geographical approach by focusing on women in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania; as well as a diverse ecclesial approach in discussing trends among Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Pentecostal women. Topics covered include, but are not limited to, Christianity and gender-based violence, peacebuilding, theological education, and debates over women's leadership. All course materials (assignments, announcements, readings, grades, etc.) can be found on Canvas, and students will have the opportunity to write a final research paper.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Gina Zurlo

M

3:00pm - 5:45pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2185

Narratives of American Religion: The Canon and Its Revisions

BTI Category

Semester

Church History/History of Religions

SP25

This course will examine the writing of American religious history from the nineteenth century until the present. In the first part of the course, we will trace the creation of an American religious historical "canon." Readings will include Robert Baird's Religion in America (1844), William Warren Sweet's The Story of Religions in America (1930) and Sydney E. Ahlstrom's A Religious History of the American People (1972). In the second part of the course, we will explore the transformation of the field of American religious history since the 1970s. In addition to reading textbooks such as Catherine Albanese's America: Religion and Religions (1981) and George Marsden's Religion and American Culture (1990), we will read case studies of new approaches and methodologies. Our goal is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of both the canon and the new religious history that has taken its place. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 2510.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Catherine Brekus, David Holland

W

1:00pm - 3:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2299

Racial Liberalism and the Ethics of Law and Justice

BTI Category

Semester

Ethics (all traditions)

SP25

The course will examine the relationship between race and liberalism in the formation of the U.S. legal system, focusing in particular on the use of moral (and religious) doctrines both to reinforce and repudiate legal codes and institutional practices designed to enslave and subjugate dispossessed and "disinherited" groups in the U.S. Framed by Charles Mills' category of "racial liberalism" -- the racialization of personhood, rights and public duties -- the course will explore through court cases, trial transcripts, first-person narratives, and political philosophy how efforts to promote a color-blind society often appeal to religious claims that undermine liberal theories of justice and equality. At issue is the role of religion and ethics in debates on law and justice. How, if at all, can religion as well as ethical frameworks explain the tension between law and justice and grapple with social matters that are legally protected but morally offensive.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Terrence Johnson

T

3:00pm - 4:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2319

Evangelicalism and Political Culture in the United States Since c.1950

BTI Category

Semester

Church History/History of Religions

SP25

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

David Hempton

T

9:00am - 11:59am

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2507

Fallen Angels

BTI Category

Semester

Interreligious Learning

SP25

This course surveys Jewish and Christian traditions about fallen angels beginning with the oldest attested articulations in relation to the Flood, especially in Enochic and related traditions, and tracing late antique and medieval reinterpretations within and between Judaism and Christianity, from the Epistle of Jude to Sefer Hekhalot. Readings will include selections from apocryphal, biblical, magical, mystical, Patristic, and Rabbinic corpora, and key themes will include the origins of sin, aetiology of magic and civilization, the enduring impact of non-canonical writings, and the shared ideas of an antediluvian past among different religious groups in Late Antiquity. Although the class will focus on premodern Judaism and Christianity, students will have opportunities to explore later trajectories and transformations, from Islamic angelology to Japanese anime.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Annette Reed

M

3:00pm - 5:59pm

Grading Option

Letter, P/F

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 2844

Unitarian Universalist Faith Development

BTI Category

Semester

Church Polity/Canon Law

SP25

Unitarian Universalist lifespan faith development practices have 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 people and our world. This seminar will explore how theory and practice from our forebears offer 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 religious education innovators will encourage students to bring a faith development perspective to all aspects of their congregational and community ministries.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Gail Forsyth-Vail, Cathy Seggel

F

9:30am - 11:59am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit