2012-2013 - Sweet Briar College

member.
RELG
263
CR 3.0
Asian Philosophies
Prerequisite: One course in PHIL or RELG; sophomore standing. A
survey of the major philosophers in North and South Asia. This course
will look at the philosophical contributions made to world philosophy
by such philosophers as Confucius, Laozi, Zhuxi, Nagarjuna,
Candrakirti, Shankara, and Ramanuja. The course will focus on the
basic questions of human existence and nature, notions of truth and
ultimate meaning, ethical obligations, and the nature of society. Offered
alternate years. V.5
RELG
301
CR 3.0
Religion, Science,
and Occultism
Are there critical differences between scientific and religious ways of
knowing and are there ways in which humans have tried to bridge the
gap between science and religion This course will examine the
philosophy of science as a means of understanding modern intentional
revivals of ancient religious traditions, including modern witchcraft,
fertility practices, various divination and fortune-telling techniques, the
development of parapsychology and New Age religion. Offered
alternate years.
RELG
302
CR 3.0
The Comparative
Philosophy of
Religion
Prerequisite: One RELG course. Philosophical analysis of religious
claims about the nature of human existence, religious notions of
authority, religious language, ethics, and theories of knowledge. While
the categories of analysis are drawn from the Western philosophical
tradition, the data are drawn from the world’s religions. III.O, V.1
RELG
316
CR 3.0
The Psychology of
Religion
Prerequisite: One course in PSYC or RELG. This course will explore
theories of the psychological underpinnings and functions of religion.
Students will acquire an understanding of Modernist and Postmodernist
theories of psychology, religion, and their intersection. It
will begin with the classic works of Freud and Jung and move through
the twentieth-century re-interpretations of their writings in Lacan,
French feminism, Renee Girard, James Hillman and David L. Miller. It
will ask whether theories designed for individuals may be accurately
applied to religious groups. The course will raise questions of the
applicability of archetypal models of psychology in a post-modern
society. It will also examine how psychology has contributed to
increased individualism and whether the practice of psychoanalysis has