The purpose of this course is to develop strategies by which the anti-Judaism endemic to Christian traditions can be recognized and undone. This course will begin with an examination of the development and workings of Christian anti-Judaism. Attention will then turn to how such anti-Judaism has entered into Christian life and practice, especially within the context of teaching, preaching, and worship. The course will conclude with developing new approaches to resisting anti-Judaism in Christian contexts and public spaces.

This course will be offered in conjunction with the Duffy lectures on Global Christianity which will be delivered in 2023 by the famous Indian theologian, Felix Wilfred. In addition to focusing on the particular characteristics and challenges of Christianity in India, it will also reflect on what Hindu-Christian comparative theology may offer Christian theology more broadly.

This course will explore the history of medieval Christian Hebraism and its consequences for the perception of the Jewish other. Starting with Jerome, Christian scholars have seen the Hebrew Bible, rather than the Septuagint, as the authoritative version of the Old Testament. In the course of medieval history, this led Christian scholars to seek contact with Jews and Jewish sources, to better understand this text. In various ways, these encounters shaped Christians perceptions of Jews, both in negative and positive ways. The course will survey the work of patristic and medieval authors such as Jerome, Bede, Andrew of Saint Victor, Nicholas of Lyra, Paul of Burgos, and Matthias Doering.

Not currently available

This course explores the complex relationship between Christians and Muslims throughout the entire history of Islam, giving attention to the historical and scriptural sources that speak on or about each other and their usage by Christian and Muslim interlocutors.

Change and adversity can impact one's spiritual life in challenging ways. Spiritual loss, trauma and resistance to change during such times can hinder one's potential for spiritual growth or a deepening of faith. By drawing on Buddhist teachings on mindfulness, impermanence, the nature of mind, and considering recent advances in positive psychology, this seminar will explore how spiritual counselors or others in caregiving roles can apply these perspectives in theory and practice to interfaith counseling settings, as well as how mindfulness practice can help foster spiritual resilience in those experiencing life change, adversity or spiritual crisis.

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.

Since the Paleolithic period, birds have appeared in art and ceremony as emblems of the soul, the spirits, and the gods. They found cities, locate graves and oracles, and dive or scratch to create the world. They descend to kings, queens, and messiahs; journey to find God; inspire the shaman's journey; and in their flight, reveal the future. This course surveys some of the renowned birds that fly through the history of religion, evolution, epic, and mythology. We will consider how these tiny, winged dinosaurs have come to mean so much, and how we can attend to their struggles, lives, lifeways. Enrollment is limited to thirty students by application. 

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. 

Students in this course will examine sources from the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and Quran that relate to peace, justice and violence. Students will analyze sacred texts in their original socio-historical contexts, and will explore diverse ways Jewish, Christian and Muslim sources confront and interpret these texts. Students will take a case study approach to investigate how texts from all three Abrahamic traditions can and have been used to legitimate violent conflict and injustice toward others in real-life settings (e.g., empires, religious persecution, colonialism, misogyny, racism, and Anti-Semitism), as well as how they can and have been used to promote peaceful practices and just relations (peace movements, provision of care for the poor and sick by religious orders and communities, peaceable co-existence and cooperation with religious and ethnic others, liberation and justice movements).

Course fulfills the following curricular requirements:
MAIRS -The Sacred Texts as Living Documents requirement

Social movements are important arenas for social change. Religion, faith and tactics of non-violence have played a significant role in many social movements. By joining together, individuals and groups have worked to transform social values or norms, establish collective identities, change laws, and chart new ways of living, learning, and being. This class will aim to further our understanding of social movements and how faith helped shape the trajectories of the movements. We will focus on how that’s happened in the Americas while referring to similar movements from around the world. Topics include racial identity, nationalism, Christianity, Islam, the civil rights movement, feminist approaches, and contemporary interfaith dialogue. Course material includes primary sources and analytical perspectives. We will examine how they develop, are sustained, have changed/evolved, and (sometimes) decline. We will begin by examining theories of social movements and look at the ways in which our understanding of social movements has changed over time. We will also examine mobilization to social movements and ask why some people come to participate while others do not, as well as the tactics, goals, and successes of various social movements.

Course fulfills the following curricular requirements:
MAIRS - Ministerial Studies: Beliefs and Practices
MAIRS - Islamic Studies: Beliefs and Practices
MAC - Chaplaincy Elective
MAP - Core Course

We live in one of the most religiously diverse societies in the history of humankind. How can we cultivate an ethos of dignified engagement both within our communities of practice and across religious traditions? What are the ethical underpinnings—values and dispositions—that support such an effort? What theological resources might we draw on for this sacred work? What are some historical and contemporary models of individual and communal engagement that we can learn from as we develop our intra/interreligious leadership capacities?  (full course description at hebrewcollege.edu/resources/register-for-courses)

Introduction to Christianity will focus on the histories, beliefs, and practices of contemporary Christian communities. The intensive course will be conducted on-site at churches and Christian organizations in greater Boston, providing students with the opportunity to network with other important actors in the religious landscape and exposure to the various expressions of Christianity in Boston. The course will be facilitated by Rev. Dr. Soren Hessler, former Associate Director of the Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership, and will include guest lectures and workshops led by area clergy and religious professionals. While the course is primarily designed to orient emerging Jewish religious leaders to the traditions of Christianity, non-Jewish students are welcome to enroll. 

In this intensive course students will explore key concepts, practices, and historical events from the Islamic tradition. Special attention will be given to the interaction of Jews and Muslims, past and present. We will also explore specific challenges and opportunities facing contemporary Muslims in the United States. The course will be taught by Imam Taymullah Abdur Rahman, author of 44 Ways to Manhood, and former imam for Harvard University, the Massachusetts Department of Correction, and Northeastern University. The course will include presentations by religious and cultural figures and a Friday Jumuah service.