Recent Courses
RLST 108 Modern Hinduism
This course is designed as a survey of developments in the Hindu religious traditions beginning in the colonial period and continuing through the twenty-first century, with attention to its global spread. Topics covered include Hindu beliefs and practices under colonialism, nationalism, guru movements, and in diasporic Hinduism. See syllabus HERE.
RLST 110 Yoga: Ancient and Modern
This course investigates yoga in its transition from an ancient Indic system of contemplative practice to its modern postural forms. It engages the history of yoga in India and its primary texts and current cultural and religious debates activated through the globalization of modern postural yoga. See syllabus HERE.
RLST 109 New Religious Movements
This course analyzes how religions emerge, their relations with dominant religious traditions or normative cultures, and the religious content of such movements. Examines the “cult” versus “religion” debate; apocalyptic, eschatological, and millennial views of the world; charismatic leadership; regional patterns; and transnational trends. See syllabus HERE.
RLST 231 Ethnographic Methods
This course is a working seminar to assist RLST graduate students in designing, implementing, theorizing, and sustaining successful ethnographic research. Students will learn practical tips for navigating the field while engaging various theoretical approaches to ethnographic methodology. See syllabus HERE. And Fall 2020 with a focus on netnography: See syllabus HERE.
RLST 180 Gurus and Saints
This course analyzes ascetic practices of saints and gurus in religious traditions. Engaging a comparative lens, students theorize ascetic practices of discipline, isolation, bodily mortification, celibacy, devotion, starvation, and labor and relate them to the accounts of saints and gurus in distinct socio-historical contexts. See syllabus HERE.
RLST 220 Charisma
This course examines theories of charisma in the anthropology and sociology of religion, analyzing their theoretical implications and social implementations. Through case studies, students engage with a wide assortment of charismatic leaders in both religious and political spheres. See syllabus HERE.
RLST 103 Decolonizing Religion
This course investigates the constitution of the Western category of religion as it was (and is) fortified through colonial encounter. Engaging deeply with colonial archives, this course underscores the collaboration between religion and colonial domination. It also mines the archive for the principles of the study of comparative religion, whereby it critically engages the foundations of the discipline of Religious Studies. Students will explore how the colonial theater gave rise to the modern category of religion and the study of comparative religions. It will also explore decolonizing methodologies in Religious Studies, including liberation theology and critical theory. See syllabus HERE.
RLST 202 Contemporary Theory in the Study of Religion
This course provides a graduate level introduction to contemporary theoretical interventions that can be useful in the study of religion. It also analyzes contemporary cultural issues that pose challenges to the nature of religion and the way it is studied. Issues discussed include race, gender, power, colonialism, and religious commitment. See syllabus HERE.