RELS 258-01, Women in World Religions, Spring 2006

Abstract

The course is an introduction to the religious beliefs, practices, and expressions of the major and some of the tribal religious traditions of the world, as they apply particularly to women. The methodology of the course is phenomenological: that is, insofar as possible, we will examine these traditions and the place of women within them “as they appear.” To this end, we will use first-person narratives extensively, as we listen to what women themselves reveal about the meaning of their own traditions for them, or how men have described the place of women within a religious tradition. The purpose of the course is twofold: first, to make the “unfamiliar familiar” by outlining religious traditions that may be unfamiliar to or misunderstood by most; second, to make the “familiar unfamiliar” by looking at religious traditions familiar to most “from the outside.” There will be some preliminary outlining of each religious tradition in lecture form at the beginning of each topical section; then our discussions will focus upon the readings assigned, the films viewed, or the presentations made.