| Course Winter Timetable |

HUM199Y1
First Year Seminar 52T

Undergraduate seminar that focuses on specific ideas, questions, phenomena or controversies, taught by a regular Faculty member
deeply engaged in the discipline. Open only to newly admitted first year students. It may serve as a distribution requirement course;
see page 44.

RLG100Y1
Major Religious Traditions, East and West 52L, 26T

An introductory study of the ideas, attitudes, practices, and contemporary situation of the Judaic, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist,
Confucian, Taoist, and Shinto religious traditions.
Exclusion: RLG280Y1

RLG101Y1
The Phenomenon of Religion 52L, 26T

Theories about the variety and nature of religious experience, personal and collective. How religious life is expressed in such forms as
myth, narrative and ritual, systems of belief and value, morality and social institutions.
200-SERIES COURSES
NOTE
No 200-series course has a 100-series RLG course prerequisite or co-requisite.

RLG201Y1
Aboriginal Religion 52L, 26T

A survey of spirits, indigenous rites, stories, visions, shamanic and healing practices. Canadian First Nations’ and Metis’ experiences
placed in cross-cultural perspective First Nations’ and Metis’ spiritualities studied academically in the history of religions,
anthropology, and stories.

RLG202Y1
The Jewish Religious Tradition 52L, 26T

An introduction to the religious tradition of the Jews, from its ancient roots to its modern crises. Focus on great ideas, thinkers, books,
movements, sects, and events in the historical development of Judaism through its four main periods - biblical, rabbinic, medieval,
and modern.

RLG203Y1
The Christian Religious Tradition 52L, 26T

An introduction to the Christian religious tradition as it has developed from the 1st century C.E. to the present and has been expressed
in teachings, institutions, social attitudes, and the arts.

RLG204Y1
The Islamic Religious Tradition 52L, 26T

The faith and practice of Islam: historical emergence, doctrinal development, and interaction with various world cultures.
Exclusion: NMC185Y1

RLG205Y1
The Hindu Religious Tradition 52L, 26T

A historical and thematic introduction to the Hindu religious tradition as embedded in the socio-cultural structures of India.

RLG206Y1
The Buddhist Religious Tradition 52L, 26T

The teachings of the Buddha and the development, spread, and diversification of the Buddhist tradition from southern to northeastern
Asia.

RLG207H1
The Sikh Religious Tradition

(formerly RLG364H1) 26L, 13T
Sikh religious teachings, practices and institutions; the founder, Guru Nanak, and the scripture, the Adi Granth; subsequent Gurus,
other Sikh texts and the religious aspects of the history of the Sikh community in India and abroad.

RLG209H1
The Jain Religious Tradition

(formerly RLG365H1) 26L,13T
Basic teachings and historical developments of the Jain religious tradition, with attention to Jain contributions to religious philosophy,
ethics, religious biography, literature and the arts.

RLG210Y1
Introduction to the Sociology of Religion 52L, 26T

Religion from the sociological viewpoint; religion as the source of meaning, community and power; conversion and commitment;
religious organization, movements, and authority; the relation of religion to the individual, sexuality and gender; conflict and change;
religion and secularization. Emphasis on classical thinkers (Durkheim, Marx, Weber) and contemporary applications.
This is a Social Science course

RLG211Y1
Introduction to the Psychology of Religion 52L, 26T

A survey of the various psychological approaches to aspects of religion such as religious experience, doctrine, myth, ritual,
community, ethics and human transformation. The historical place of introspective, psychoanalytic, humanistic and transpersonal
methods in the psychology of religion.
This is a Social Science course

RLG212Y1
Introduction to the Anthropology of Religion 52L, 26T

Anthropological study of the supernatural in small-scale non-literate societies. A cross-cultural examination of systems of belief and
ritual focusing on the relationship between spiritual beings and the cosmos as well as the rights and obligations which arise therefrom.
Among the topics covered are: myth and ritual; shamanism and healing; magic, witchcraft and sorcery; divination; ancestor worship.
This is a Social Science course

RLG220H1
Philosophical Responses to the Holocaust 26L

This course deals with how the momentous experience of the Holocaust, the systematic state-sponsored murder of six million Jews as
well as many others, has forced thinkers, both religious and secular, to rethink the human condition.

RLG221H1
Religious Ethics: The Jewish Tradition 26L, 13T

A brief survey of the Jewish biblical and rabbinic traditions; the extension of these teachings and methods of interpretation into the
modern period; common and divergent Jewish positions on pressing moral issues today.

RLG222H1
Religious Ethics: The Roman Catholic Tradition 26L, 13T

Reason, experience (the natural law tradition) and revelation as the bases for moral judgment; faith and morality; freedom of
conscience and the Church’s claim to be a moral teacher; relevance to contemporary Catholic moral theology.

RLG223H1
Religious Ethics: The Protestant Tradition 26L, 13T

The development of Protestant ethics since the Reformation. Gospel and law, love and justice, realism and perfectionism, moral
norms and moral context, the personal, political, and economic orders.

RLG228H1
Religious Ethics: The Environment 26L, 13T

The ethics and religious symbolism of environmental change: animal domestication and experimentation, deforestation, population
expansion, energy use, synthetics, waste and pollution.

RLG230Y1
Religion and Literature 52L, 26T

The ways in which selected texts from a variety of cultures and times are linked both to specific religious traditions as well as to
broader notions of what it means to be “religious.” Concepts to be treated may include identity, suffering, duty, class, individuality,
community, tradition, innovation, loss, consolation, memory, time, beauty, creation, nature, feminism, and colonialism.

RLG231H1
Religion and Science (formerly RLG 231Y1) 26L, 13T

The impact of the physical and social sciences on religion and religious thought. A comparative philosophical study of scientific and
theological ways of analysis and of the status of scientific and religious assertions. Areas of cooperation and of conflict between the
“two cultures.”
Exclusion: RLG 231Y1, SMC230Y1

RLG232H1
Religion and Film I 26L, 13T

The role of film as a mediator of thought and experience concerning religious worldviews. The ways in which movies relate to
humanity’s quest to understand itself and its place in the universe are considered in this regard, along with the challenge which
modernity presents to this task. Of central concern is the capacity of film to address religious issues through visual symbolic forms.

RLG233H1
Religion and Film II 26L, 13T

Continued investigation into the relations between religion and film. Distinguished from RLG232H1 by the instructor.

RLG236H1
Women and Western Religions 26L, 13T

A study of women in the religious traditions of South and East Asia, including historical developments, topical issues, and
contemporary women's movements.

RLG237H1
Women and Western Religions (formerly RLG 237Y1) 26L, 13T

The social and legal status of women in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The historical and contemporary situation of women in these
traditions.
Exclusion: RLG 237Y1

RLG239H1
Special Topics 26L

Some topic of central interest to students of religion, treated on a once-only basis by a professor visiting from another university. For
details of this year’s offering, consult the Department’s current undergraduate handbook.

RLG240Y1
Roots of Judaism and Christianity 52L

The history and surviving documents of Judaism and Christianity, and of religious movements underlying and associated with them
from about 200 BCE to about 70 CE.

RLG241Y1
Early Christian Writings I 52L, 26T

An introduction to New Testament literature, examined within the historical context of the first two centuries. No familiarity with
Christianity or the New Testament is expected.

RLG274H1
Chinese Religions 26L, 13T

The religions and philosophies of China, including ancient religion and mythology, the three traditions of Confucianism, Taoism, and
Buddhism (including their philosophical dimensions), and Chinese popular religion.
Exclusion: RLG272Y1, 370Y1

RLG275H1
Japanese and Korean Religions 26L, 13T

The religions of Japan (Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism) and the religions of Korea (Confucianism, Buddhism, Shamanism).
Exclusion: RLG273Y1, 370Y1

RLG280Y1
World Religions: A Comparative Study 52L, 26T

An alternative version of the content covered by RLG 100Y1, for students in second year or higher who cannot or do not wish to take a
further 100-level course. Students attend the RLG 100Y1 lectures and tutorials but are expected to produce more substantial and more
sophisticated written work, and are required to submit an extra written assignment.
Exclusion: RLG100Y1
Prerequisite:
Completion of 6 full course equivalents

RLG299Y1
Research Opportunity Program

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. See page 44 for details.
300-SERIES COURSES
NOTE
All 300-series courses normally presuppose at least three prior RLG half-courses (or equivalent). Only specific
prerequisites or recommended preparations are listed below. Students who do not meet the prerequisites but
believe they have adequate preparation should consult the instructor regarding entry to the course.

RLG301H1
Sigmund Freud on Religion 26L

Systematic analysis of Freud’s main writings on religion, studied within the context of central concepts and issues in psychoanalysis
such as: the Oedipus Complex, the meaning and function of symbols, the formation of the ego and the superego, and the relations
between the individual and culture.
Prerequisite: RLG211Y1
This is a Social Science course

RLG302H1
Carl Jung’s Theory of Religion 26L

Jung’s analysis of the development of the personality through its life cycle, and of the central place which religion holds within the
process of maturation. The unconscious, the collective unconscious, dreams, myths, symbols, and archetypes; implications for
religious thought, therapy, education, and definitions of community.
Prerequisite: RLG211Y1
This is a Social Science course

RLG303H1
Evil and Suffering in the Psychology of Religion 26L, 13T

Problems of negative life experience and their relations to issues of meaning and personality development. Includes discussion of
internal conflict and suffering in the experience of melancholia and the divided self, and the existential experiences of evil and
suffering. Examines myth, symbol, and forms of religious discourse as responses to such crises.
Prerequisite: RLG211Y1
This is a Social Science course

RLG304H1
Language, Symbols, Self 26L, 13T

Theories of the self that involve the constitutive role of language in its various forms. Problems of socially-conditioned worldviews
and sense of self as related to discourse. Myth, symbol, metaphor, and literary arts as vehicles for personality development and self-
transformation along religious lines.
Prerequisite: RLG211Y1
This is a Social Science course

RLG307H1
Religion and Society in Canada (formerly RLG 307Y1) 26L, 13T

Sociological examination of religion in contemporary Canadian society: religions of English and French Canada; religious
organization and demography; relation of religion to ethnicity, social questions and politics; secularization and privatization.
Exclusion: RLG307Y1
Prerequisite: RLG210Y1/an introductory course in sociology
This is a Social Science course

RLG309Y1
Religion, Morality and Law 52L, 26T

The relationships between religious and ethical norms, social and political ideals, and systems of law. The roots of Western legal
concepts such as authority, duty, rights, and punishment in biblical and natural law tradition, and their counterparts in positive law
theory. Church and State conflict in a philosophy of law context.
Prerequisite: three RLG or PHI/PHL half-courses and third year standing

RLG310H1
Modern Atheism and the Critique of Religion

(formerly RLG310Y1) 26S
Historical and critical-philosophical examination of the development of atheism in Western intellectual circles. Consideration of 18th,
19th and 20th century critiques of religion derived from: theories of knowledge that privilege science; radical social and political
thought; and analysis of the soul and its symbol-systems. Authors include Hume, Marx, Bakunin, Nietzsche, and Freud.
Prerequisite: three RLG or PHI/PHL half-courses and third year standing

RLG311H1
World Religions and Ecology 26S, 13T

A study of the responses of selected world religious traditions to the emergence of global ecological concerns. Key concepts and
tenets of the traditions and their relevance for an examination of the environmental crisis.
Recommended preparation: RLG228H1

RLG312H1
Faith and Reason: Barth, Ogden, Lonegran 26S, 13T

Karl Barth, Schubert Ogden, and Lonegran, three influential 20th century Christian thinkers, on how religious believing is related to
critical thinking. Illustrations are drawn from their diverse accounts of God.
Exclusion: tRLG313Y1
Prerequisite: three half courses in RLG, PHL or Christianity and Culture

RLG315H1
Rites of Passage 26L, 13T

Analysis of rituals of transition form one social status to another (e.g., childbirth, initiation, weddings) from theoretical, historical and
ethnographic perspectives. Particular attention is paid to the multi-religious North American environment, and to the importance of
rites of passage in the construction of gendered identities.
Prerequisite: three half-courses in RLG or PHI/PHL

RLG316H1
Classical Anthropological Theories of Religion 26S

An examination of the theories of religion developed by late 19th and 20th century anthropologists such as Taylor, Frazer, Durkheim,
Freud, Van Gennep, Levi-Strauss, Douglas and Turner. Their ideas about systems of ritual and belief in small-scale, non-literate,
kinship-based societies.
Recommended preparation: RLG201Y1
This is a Social Science course

RLG317H1
Religious Violence and Nonviolence 26S, 13T

Religious violence and nonviolence as they emerge in the tension between strict adherence to tradition and individual actions of
charismatic figures. The place of violence and nonviolence in selected faith traditions.
Recommended preparation: RLG100Y1/280Y1

RLG320H1
Judaism and Christianity in the Second Century 26L, 13T

Judaism and Christianity in the period from 70 C.E. to 200.CE. The course focuses on the relationship between the two religious
groups, stressing the importance of the setting within the Roman Empire.
Prerequisite: RLG240Y1/241Y1

RLG321H1
Early Christian Writings II 26L, 13T

An introduction to the first and second century Christian writings. A survey of the surviving works and their historical contexts, close
analysis of selected texts and an examination of what these sources tell us about the early Christian communities.
Prerequisite: RLG240Y1/241Y1

RLG323H1
Jesus of Nazareth 26L, 13T

An examination of the “historical Jesus” based on a critical study of the earliest accounts of Jesus, with intensive study of the Gospels
to determine what can be said about Jesus’ activities and teachings.
Prerequisite: RLG240Y1/241Y1

RLG324H1
Paul of Tarsus 26L, 13T

An examination of Paul’s life and thought as seen in the early Christian literature written by him (the seven undisputed letters), about
him (the Acts of the Apostles, the Acts of Paul) and in his name (the six disputed NT letters).
Prerequisite: RLG240Y1/241Y1

RLG325H1
Visions and Revelations in Ancient Judaism and Christianity 26L, 13T

This course treats the major elements of the apocalyptic literary corpus and accompanying visionary experiences in ancient Judaism
and Christianity. Contemporary theories on the function and origin of apocalyptic literature.
Prerequisite: RLG202Y1/203Y1/240Y1/241Y1 or permission of instructor

RLG330H1
God and Evil 26L

A study of some of the most important and influential attempts by Christians to reconcile their experience and understanding of evil
with their purported experience and understanding of God. Selections from biblical writers, Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas,
John Calvin, Karl Barth, and Gustavo Gutierrez.
Prerequisite: Three half-courses in RLG, PHI/PHL or Christianity and Culture

RLG331Y1
Eastern Christianity 52L, 26T

The formation and development of distinctively Eastern traditions of Christianity. The history and major writers of Eastern
Christianity up to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The development of the national Eastern Churches up through the modern
period, and their particular contributions to the Eastern Christian tradition.

RLG332Y1
Protestant Thought

(formerly RLG246Y1) 52L, 26T
The central ideas of Protestant Christianity from the 16th century reformers to their 20th century heirs: Luther, Calvin, Zwingli,
Edwards, Schleiermacher, Ritschl, Rauschenbusch, Barth, Tillich, Niebuhr, Moltmann. Analysis of pietism, orthodoxy, liberalism,
fundamentalism, neo-orthodoxy, the contemporary situation.

RLG334H1
World History of Modern Christianity, 1770s-1914 26S

Thoroughly cross-cultural study of how Christians across the world constructed the extraordinary variety of their religious life during
the period when Christianity became by far the most widespread, the most diverse, and the most populous religion in world history.
Emphasis on selected cultures on all continents.
Prerequisite: RLG203Y1/241Y1/242Y1

RLG335H1
World History of Modern Christianity, 1914-present 26S

Analysis of how Christians (i.e., one-third of the world’s population) have engaged large themes since the First World War: liturgy,
migration, creedal change, the Holy Spirit, religious privatization and public life, denominations, war, inculturation, scripture,
secularity, disintegration of empires, world capitalism, encounter with Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, indigenous religions, Judaism.
Prerequisite: RLG203Y1/241Y1/242Y1

RLG336H1
Roman Catholic Social Teaching 26S

Papal and episcopal documents dealing with social issues from Leo XIII (late 19th century) to John Paul II. Origins and development
of Catholic social teaching; recent changes occasioned by anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggles.

RLG340Y1
Classical Jewish Theology 52S

A study of four great figures during critical moments in Jewish history, each of whom represents a turning point: Jeremiah (biblical
era), Rabbi Akiva (rabbinic era), Moses Maimonides (medieval era), Franz Rosenzweig (modern era). Belief in God; Torah as law,
teaching, tradition, revelation, eternity of Israel, meaning of Jewish suffering, problem of radical evil, history and messianism.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/202Y1/221H1/280Y1

RLG342Y1
Judaism in the Modern Age

(formerly RLG244Y1) 52L, 26T
The development and range of modern Jewish religious thought from Spinoza, Mendelssohn and Krochmal, to Cohen, Rosenzweig
and Buber. Responses to the challenges of modernity and fundamental alternatives in modern Judaism.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/202Y1/221H1/280Y1

RLG344Y1
Antisemitism 26L, 26S

The religious and cultural roots of antisemitism and its manifestations in Western civilization: anti-Jewish aspects of pagan antiquity,
the adversus Judaeos tradition in classical Christian theology; racist antisemitism in Europe (the Aryan myth); the rise of political
antisemitism; the Nazi phenomenon, antisemitism in Canada and the United States.
Prerequisite: A 200-level course in Judaism or Christianity or Western history

RLG345H1
Social Ecology and Judaism 26L

The environment and human society studied as systems of organization built for self-preservation. Such topics as vegetarianism and
the humane treatment of animals, suicide and euthanasia, sustainability and recycling, explored from the perspective of Judaism.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/228H1/280Y1/one course in Jewish Studies

RLG346H1
Time and Place in Judaism 26L

The meaning of holy time and holy place, the physics and metaphysics of time and space within Judaism. Topics include the garden of
Eden, the temple, the netherworld, the land of Israel, and exile; the sabbath and the week; the human experience of aging as
fulfillment and failing.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/280Y1/one course in Jewish Studies

RLG351H1
Revelation and Interpretation in Islam 26L

The revelatory process and the textual formation of the Qur’an, its pre-eminent orality and its principal themes and linguistic forms;
the classical exegetical tradition and some contemporary approaches to its interpretation.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/204Y1/224H1/280Y1/NMC185Y1

RLG352H1
Islam in Religious Interaction 26L

Aspects of the relationship of Islam with other religions and cultures. Topics treated may include attention to both the medieval and
the modern periods as well as to contemporary challenges faced by Muslim populations in Europe and North America.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/204Y1/224H1/280Y1/NMC185Y1

RLG360H1
Hindu Faith in the Modern World 26S

Hindu responses to Western influences (imperial and post-imperial) on Indian religious life in the modern age. Hindu
fundamentalism, communalist politics, secularization, lowcaste alienation, feminist activism in India.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/205Y1/280Y1

RLG361H1
Hindu Myth 26S

Readings in Vedic, Pauranic, Tantric and folk myths; traditional Hindu understandings of myth; recent theories of interpretation, e.g.
those of Levi-Strauss, Eliade, Ricoeur, applied to Hindu myths.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/205Y1/280Y1

RLG362H1
Hindu Theology: Vedanta 26S

Hindu ideas of self, world and ultimate reality. Hindu ways of interpreting sacred texts. Readings from the Upanishads and later
Vedanta texts.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/205Y1/280Y1

RLG363H1
Hindu Ritual 26L

Hindu ritual in its Vedic, Pauranic, Tantric, and popular forms; the meaning that ritual conveys to its participants and the relation of
ritual to Hindu mythology and to social context.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/205Y1/280Y1

RLG371H1
Buddhism in East Asia 26L, 13T

The schools of Buddhism in East Asia, with focus on two principal ones: Ch’an (Zen) and Pure Land. Readings in translation from
their basic sutras.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/206Y1/280Y1

RLG380H1
Comparative Mysticism 26S

A comparative examination of Christian (Latin and Orthodox), Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, Hindu and Islamic mystical traditions.

RLG381Y1
Comparative Prophets 52L, 26T

The role and social context of prophets and prophetic movements in the religions originating in the Middle East. Illustrations from the
literature and experience of Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Islam.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/280Y1

RLG384H1
Pluralism and Dialogue 26S

The contemporary phenomenon of religious pluralism: its historical emergence, social context and intellectual justifications.
Achievements, techniques and outstanding issues in inter-religious dialogue.
Prerequisite: RLG100Y1/280Y1

RLG385Y1
Religion and Film: The British and Continental Experience 52L, 26P

An examination through film of the relationship between religion, politics and culture in the British and European context. Special
attention is given to such topics as church-state conflict, secularization, the decline of empires, decolonization, war, and
multiculturalism.

RLG386Y1
Religions of Non-Literate Societies 52L, 26P

This course explores the nature of religion in societies whose main traditions are orally encoded. Emphasis will be placed on the
peoples and cultures of Oceania in terms both of ethnography and of various theories about how to understand religion in small scale,
kinship-based societies without written traditions.
Exclusion: RLG 318Y1
Prerequisite:
RLG 212Y1 or 2nd year Social/Cultural Anthropology Course

RLG388H1
Special Topics I 26L, 13P

RLG389H1
Special Topics II 26L, 13P

RLG398H0/399Y0
Independent Experiential Study Project

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. See page 44 for details.
400-SERIES COURSES
NOTE
400-series courses are intended primarily for Specialists and Majors who have already completed several RLG
courses. Prerequisite for all 400-level courses is permission of the instructor.

RLG430Y1/431H1/432H1
Independent Studies

Intensive programs of study including site visits and lectures in areas of religious significance abroad. Preparatory work expected,
together with paper or assignments upon return.
(Y course: 4 weeks minimum; H course: 2 weeks minimum)

RLG440Y1
Advanced Topics: Religions West I

TBA

RLG445H1
Advanced Topics: Religions West II

TBA

RLG446H1
Advanced Topics: Religions West III

TBA

RLG447H1
Advanced Topics: Religions West IV

TBA

RLG450H1
Advanced Topics: Religions East I

TBA

RLG455H1
Advanced Topics: Religions East II

TBA

RLG460H1
Advanced Topics: Christian Origins I

TBA

RLG465H1
Advanced Topics: Christian Origins II

TBA

RLG470H1
Advanced Topics: Religion, Ethics and Society I

TBA

RLG475H1
Advanced Topics: Religion, Ethics and Society II

TBA

RLG480H1
Advanced Topics: Modern Religious Thought I

TBA

RLG485H
Advanced Topics: Modern Religious Thought II

TBA

RLG490Y1
Individual Studies

TBA

RLG491H1/492H1/493H1/494Y1
Individual Studies

TBA
Student-initiated projects supervised by members of the Department. The student must obtain both a supervisor’s agreement and the
Department’s approval in order to register. The maximum number of Individual Studies one may take is two full course equivalents.

• RENAISSANCE STUDIES — See VIC: Victoria College
• RESEARCH SPECIALIST PROGRAM — See PSY: Psychology