Course Descriptions

Term:

Winter Quarter (W24)

Dept/Description Course No., Title  Instructor
HISTORY (W24)132D  ARMENIANS ANC/EARLYBERBERIAN, H.

History 132D explores the history of Armenia and Armenians from ethnogenesis to the early modern period at the end of the 1700s within a regional and global context, which takes into account interactions and encounters with the empires and peoples that encompassed their orbit. It focuses on a number of key moments in the Armenian past that are crucial to understanding contemporary Armenian culture, identity, and memory: the politics of national identity and “ethnogenesis,” conversion to Christianity, invention of the Armenian script, the battle of Vardanank, the development of the global Armenian diaspora, print culture, national revival, early liberation movements, as well as relations between Armenians and their neighbors: Persians, Romans, Muslims, and others.
Days: MO WE  12:30-01:50 PM

Courses Offered by the Religious Studies Major & Minor or other Schools at UCI

Winter Quarter (W24)

Dept Course No., Title   Instructor
REL STD (W24)5A  WORLD RELIGIONS IMCKENNA, J.

World Religions I : Judaism, Christianity, Islam
This is a G.E. lecture class offered to 200 students on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. There are no prerequisites for the course. Attendance at lectures is not required but attendance is highly recommended since test performance will come down to your note-taking skills, and the professor is not publishing his lecture notes. Attendance  will  be taken for once-a-week small-group discussion sections (even in week one), and an absence from discussion sections will detract points from your grade. The class offers a survey (not a deep analysis) of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, with three weeks on each religion, covering key historical events, major figures, basic ideas, essential practices, significant texts, and important trends in scholarship. Week ten is given to atheism as part of the theistic story. Brief essays based on ‘thought questions’ are required each week to facilitate discussions (even in week one). Four in-class essay tests are given, and you’ll be permitted to use a ‘cheat sheet’ on those. There’s one textbook. The course’s approach is academic, not devotional. The themes are religious, not political.

(IV and VIII )
Days: MO WE  11:00-11:50 AM

REL STD (W24)60  GLOBAL SIKH STUDIESHUNDLE, A.

Emphasis/Category: World Religious Traditions (Category 1)
Serves as an introduction to Sikhism and the field of Sikh Studies. Examines the development of the religious tradition and the formation of the scholarly field of Sikh Studies in the contemporary Western university.

Same as ANTHRO 60
Days: TU TH  02:00-03:20 PM

REL STD (W24)110W  THNKNG ABT RELIGIONSTAFF

A survey and investigation of the major thinkers, theories, and methodologies in the study of religions. Designed to develop the student's ability to analyze and articulate theoretical arguments in writing; includes a paper on relevant Religious Studies topics.

Prerequisite: (REL STD 5A or HISTORY 16A) and (REL STD 5B or HISTORY 16B) and (REL STD 5C or HISTORY 16C). Satisfactory completion of the Lower-Division Writing requirement.

Overlaps with REL STD 110.

Restriction: Religious Studies Majors and Minors have first consideration for enrollment.

(Ib)
Days: TU TH  11:00-12:20 PM

REL STD (W24)120  ZEN BUDDHIS THOUGHTSTAFF

No description is currently available.
Days: Mo We  12:00-12:50 PM

REL STD (W24)130  MODERN JEWISH HISTFARAH, D.

Emphasis/Category: Thematic Approaches to Religion (Category 2)
This course is a broad survey of the major themes and currents in modern Jewish history, from the 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Spain to the experiences of Middle Eastern and North African Jews in contemporary Israel. Through a critical examination of primary and secondary sources, including newspaper articles, oral histories, letters, memoirs, photographs, and film, this course guides students in thinking and writing like historians, analyzing sources, and formulating interpretations. Topics include Jewish identity and culture in Islamic contexts, the Jewish enlightenment, emancipation and assimilation, Jewish/non-Jewish encounters, antisemitism, Zionism, and the Holocaust.
Days: TU TH  09:30-10:50 AM

REL STD (W24)140  7 DEADLY SINSMCLOUGHLIN, N.

Emphasis/Category: World Religious Traditions (Category 1)

Although the concept of the seven deadly sins emerged in Alexandria, Egypt during the fourth century (300s CE), the sins retain a powerful hold on the modern imagination and many people can still name them: Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, and Lust. This course explores how the sins evolved and how they shaped medieval European understandings of religion, the individual, and politics. In medieval Europe, the deadly sins played a central role in how individuals imagined their own psychological makeup, confessed their sins, and criticized the religious and political elite. In this class we will explore how the deadly sins came to serve as an important way of understanding the world for medieval Europeans, how the use of the concept in different social, religious, and political contexts caused it to evolve, and what this evolution tells us about the relationship between ideas and the historical contexts that foster them. We will also discuss how medieval understandings of the deadly sins haunt the present and how we might respond to that haunting. Instruction will combine lecture with active learning activities (Poll Everywhere and Group Work) and the major assignments will include 2 in-class essay exams and a group presentation.

Days: TU TH  12:30-01:50 PM

POL SCI (W24)158D  MIDEAST POLITICSPETROVIC, B.

This course offers students an overview of modern Middle Eastern politics. It provides a detailed historical analysis of the conditions that shaped and consolidated different forms of governance in modern Middle Eastern states. Specifically, the course focuses on the development of national identities, political institutions, and leadership forms in individual states of the region. It then turns to the political economy and the region-wide political processes. The primary objective of this course is to give students a nuanced understanding of the Middle East, its states, peoples, religions, and politics. The course is multidisciplinary, and integrates history, geography, religion and politics of the Middle East.

POL SCI (W24)159  ANTISEMITISMKOPSTEIN, J.

No description is currently available.