Religious Studies
451 College, 432.0828
www.yale.edu/religiousstudies/
M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.
Chair
Harry Stout
Director of Graduate Studies
Bentley Layton
Professors
Harold Attridge (Divinity), Gerhard Böwering, Jon Butler, Adela Collins (Divinity), John Collins (Divinity), Carlos Eire, Steven Fraade, Philip Gorski, Phyllis Granoff, John Hare (Divinity), Christine Hayes, Paula Hyman, L. Serene Jones ( Divinity), Ivan Marcus, Dale Martin, Thomas Ogletree ( Divinity), Gene Outka, Sally Promey, Ruth Purtilo (Visiting), Emilie Townes (Divinity), Denys Turner, Miroslav Volf (Divinity), Robert Wilson
Associate Professors
Stephen Davis, Frank Griffel
Assistant Professors
Shannon Craigo-Snell, Jacob Dalton, Ludger Viefhues-Bailey
Senior Lecturer
Koichi Shinohara
Lecturers
Adel Allouche, Mara Benjamin (Visiting), Hugh Flick, Jr., John Grim, Brian Noell, Elaine Pena (Visiting), Mary Evelyn Tucker
Fields of Study
Students must enroll in one of the following fields of study: American Religious History, Asian Religions, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, History of Ancient Christianity, Islamic Studies, Judaic Studies, New Testament, Religious Ethics, Theology, and Philosophy of Religion.
Special Admissions Requirement
The department requires the scores of the GRE General Test and previous study in areas relevant to the chosen field of study, including ancient languages where applicable.
Special Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree
Twelve term courses must be completed, in which the Graduate School Honors requirement must be met. Proficiency in two modern scholarly languages, normally French and German, must be shown, one before the end of the first year, the other before the beginning of the third; this may be done by passing an examination administered by the department, by accreditation from a Yale Summer School course designed for this purpose, or by a grade of A or B in one of Yale’s intermediate language courses. Mastery of the languages needed in one’s chosen field (e.g., Chinese, Hebrew, Greek, Japanese) is also required in certain fields of study. A set of four qualifying examinations is designed for each student, following guidelines and criteria set by each field of study; these are normally completed in the third year. The dissertation prospectus must be approved by a colloquium, and the completed dissertation by a committee of readers and the departmental faculty. Upon completion of all predissertation requirements, including the prospectus, students are admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. This is expected before the seventh term in American Religious History, Philosophy of Religion, Religious Ethics, and Theology; before the eighth term in other fields. Students begin writing their dissertation in the fourth year and normally will have finished by the end of the sixth. There is no oral examination on the dissertation.
In the Department of Religious Studies, the faculty considers learning to teach to be an important and integral component of the professional training of its graduate students. Students are therefore required to teach as teaching fellows for at least two years during their graduate programs. Such teaching normally takes place during their third and fourth years, unless other arrangements are approved by the director of graduate studies.
A combined Ph.D. degree is available with African American Studies. Consult department for details.
Master’s Degrees
M.Phil. and M.A. (both en route to the Ph.D.). See Degree Requirements. Additionally, students in Religious Studies are eligible to pursue a supplemental M.Phil. degree in Medieval Studies. For further details, see Medieval Studies.
Prospective students must apply in one of the ten fields of study, and when requesting information they should specify their particular field of interest. Program materials are available upon request to the Registrar, Department of Religious Studies, Yale University, PO Box 208287, New Haven CT 06520-8287.
Courses
RLST 510a, Theories in the Study of Religion: Major Thinkers. Ludger Viefhues-Bailey.
T 3.30–5.20
Analyzing newest scholarship in the theory of religion questioning the usefulness of the category of “religion” and contemporary philosophical texts that turn to religious issues. Authors include DeVries, Derrida, Cavell, Masuzawa, Fitzgerald, Putnam, Mulhall. Permission of instructor required.
RLST 551a, Readings in Indian Texts. Phyllis Granoff.
W 1.30–3.20
This is a course for students who read Sanskrit/Prakrit/Pali and would like to study a particular text in depth. The choice of text is to be determined after discussion with interested students.
RLST 562b, Indian Ritual Culture. Phyllis Granoff.
W 1.30–3.20
In this course we read secondary and primary sources on Indian ritual. The course assumes some familiarity with classical Indian religious traditions, although it may be taken by students who do not read Sanskrit.
RLST 572au,Buddhism in China and Japan. Koichi Shinohara.
TTh 2.30–3.45
This course is an introduction to Buddhism in East Asia through a close reading of original sources in translation. We focus on the lives of several leading monks and their teachings on meditation, faith, rebirth, and secret rituals.
RLST 573b, Sacred Places in Asia. Koichi Shinohara.
W 10–12
In-depth research on sacred places in Asia.
RLST 574a, Chinese Buddhist Texts. Koichi Shinohara.
W 10–12
Close reading of selected Chinese Buddhist texts in the original.
RLST 601a, The Required New Testament/Ancient Christianity Seminar: Ancient Jewish and Christian Historiographies. Harold Attridge.
W 4–5.50
The annual required seminar for doctoral students in New Testament studies and Ancient Christianity. Students not enrolled in a Ph.D. program require permission of the instructor.
RLST 608b, Christianity in Late Antiquity. Stephen Davis.
M 1.30–3.20
Required seminar for Ph.D. students in Ancient Christianity. Topics include the relation of church and state after Constantine; theological controversies and church councils; interfaith relations; pieties and practices; and material culture. Permission of instructor required.
RLST 656bu,Gnostic Religion and Literature. Bentley Layton.
MW 2.30–3.45
Exploration of the most notorious second- and third-century Christian heresy, with emphasis on new texts discovered in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Close reading of selected Gnostic scriptures; examination of the organization, practices, and sources of Gnostic heresy. Permission of instructor required.
RLST 659au,Seminar: The Making of Monasticism. Bentley Layton.
W 2.30–4.20
The history of Christian monasteries, hermits, ascetics, and monastic institutions and values in late antiquity, with special attention to the eastern Mediterranean world. Also HIST 531au,NELC 534au.
RLST 660b, Research Seminar on the Monastic Federation of Shenoute. Bentley Layton.
T 4–5.50
Exploration of literary and archeological data from the monastic federation of Shenoute. A reading knowledge of Coptic is presupposed. Also NELC 746b.
RLST 666au,Patristic Greek. Stephen Davis.
TTh 9–10.15
Readings of Greek works produced in late antiquity by early Christian writers. Among the literary and theological genres to be studied: epistles, martyr narratives, biblical commentaries, hymns, theological treatises, sermons, and monastic sayings. Permission of instructor required.
RLST 705b, Readings in Religion and American History, 1600–2000. Harry Stout.
M 9.25–11.15
This seminar explores intersections of religion and society in American history from the colonial period to the present as well as methodological problems important to their study. Also AMST 705b, HIST 720b.
RLST 712a, Al-Ghazali’s Cosmology. Frank Griffel.
W 2.30–4.20
Covering the recent dispute on al-Ghazali’s (d. 1111) views about how God creates the world and how He controls it, we read his works and try to understand this key moment for the integration of Aristotelianism in Muslim theology and for rationalism in Islam. Permission of instructor required.
RLST 717au,Islamic Theology. Frank Griffel.
TTh 10.30–11.20, 1 HTBA
A historical survey of major themes in Muslim theology and doctrine from the Koran to contemporary Muslim thinkers. Topics include the systematic character of Muslim thought and of the arguments given by thinkers; reason vs. revelation; the emergence of Sunnism in the tenth through eleventh century; the reaction of Muslim theology (from 1800) to the challenges of the West; and contemporary Muslim thought.
RLST 720a, Seminar on the Qur’an. Gerhard Böwering.
T 4–6
Intensive study of the Qur’an. Readings in commentaries on the Qur’an. Special emphasis on textual and hermeneutical problems. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Arabic; permission of instructor.
RLST 720b, Seminar in Islamic Religious Thought. Gerhard Böwering.
Th 4–6
Intensive study of Islamic theological and mystical texts. Select readings in classical Arabic sources. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Arabic; permission of instructor.
RLST 751bu,Midrash Seminar: The Exegetical History of Passover and the Passover Seder in Antiquity. Steven Fraade.
Th 9.25–11.15
The development of the ancient Israelite festival of Passover and the later Passover Seder from their biblical roots, through the exegetical formations of the Second Temple period, to early rabbinic literature. Prerequisite: reading fluency in ancient Hebrew. Permission of instructor required. Also JDST 728bu.
RLST 756b, The Required Ancient Judaism Seminar: Law in Antiquity. Christine Hayes.
W 1.30–3.20
The topic of this seminar changes yearly. This year we examine the concept of the law in the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple and rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity in the broader cultural context of the ancient Near East and Hellenistic antiquity, and in dialogue with contemporary theories of the concepts “law” and “religion” and their interrelation. Required for all graduate students in ancient Judaism. Also JDST 756b.
RLST 764au,Jews in America, 1654 to the Present. Paula Hyman.
MW 10.30–11.20, 1 HTBA
Survey of the history of Jews in America from the colonial period to the present. Topics include immigration, religious development, politics, and participation in culture. Special attention to how Jews, as a minority, have negotiated their place in American society. Also HIST 765au,JDST 789au.
RLST 772a, Rabbinics Research Seminar. Steven Fraade, Christine Hayes.
T 9.25–11.15
An in-depth survey of research debates and of methods and resources employed in the study of classical (pre-Geonic) rabbinic literature of all genres. Prerequisite: knowledge of Hebrew and Aramaic; ability to read academic Hebrew; permission of instructor. Also JDST 760a.
RLST 773au,History of Jewish Culture to the Reformation. Ivan Marcus.
TTh 11.35–12.50
A broad introduction to the history of Jewish culture from its beginnings until the late Middle Ages, with the main focus on the formative period of classical rabbinic Judaism and on the symbiotic relationship among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. An overview of Jewish society and culture in its biblical, rabbinic, and medieval settings. Also HIST 535au,JDST 761au.
RLST 774bu,History of Jewish Culture, 1500 to the Present. Paula Hyman.
TTh 11.35–12.50
A broad introduction to the history of Jews and of Jewish culture in the modern period. Emphasis on the changing social, cultural, and polical interaction of Jews with the larger society as well as the transformation of Judaism in its encounter with modernity. Also HIST 566bu,JDST 781bu.
RLST 776b, Jews in Christian and Muslim Lands from the Fourth to Sixteenth Century. Ivan Marcus.
T 1.30–3.20
Research seminar that focuses on a comparison of the two medieval Jewish subcultures of Ashkenaz (northern Christian Europe) and Sefarad (mainly Muslim and Christian Spain). Issues in historiography and comparative methodology complement discussions about the symbols and reality of literary, political, and economic features of each society. Also HIST 541b, JDST 790b.
RLST 777bu,Jews in Muslim Lands from the Seventh to Sixteenth Century. Ivan Marcus.
TTh 11.35–12.50
Introduction to Jewish culture and society in Muslim lands from the Prophet Muhammad to Suleiman the Magnificent. Topics include Islam and Judaism; Jerusalem as a holy site; rabbinic leadership and literature in Baghdad; Jewish courtiers, poets, and philosophers in Muslim Spain; the Jews in the Ottoman Empire. Also HIST 532bu,JDST 764bu.
RLST 778au,The Religious Context of the Babylonian Talmud. Samuel Secunda.
TTh 2.30–3.45
A survey of the main religions of Sasanian Mesopotamia and their effect on the shaping of the Babylonian Talmud and rabbinic Judaism. Readings of talmudic sources, as well as the surviving texts of Zoroastrians, Manichaeans, Mandaeans, Eastern Christians, and indigenous Babylonian “pagans.” In addition, we examine Late Antique and medieval reports, and the findings of modern academic scholarship. Also JDST 725au.
RLST 783bu,Moses through the Centuries. Daniel Stein Kokin.
Th 1.30–3.20
An exploration of the history of the interpretation of Moses, particularly as model religious leader, legislator, and philosopher. Emphasis on Moses’s status as a flashpoint of polemics between Pagans and Jews, Jews and Christians, and as a key “site” for negotiating the boundaries between the human and divine. Also HIST 572bu,JDST 699bu.
RLST 790bu,Antisemitism in Modern Times. Paula Hyman.
T 1.30–3.20
An exploration of how antisemitism has functioned as a religious, social, and political prejudice in different historical and cultural contexts. Focus on the period from the nineteenth century to the contemporary world. Also HIST 977bu,JDST 796bu.
RLST 795au,Women and Judaism. Paula Hyman.
M 1.30–3.20
An examination of the changing status and roles of women within Judaism and Jewish history. Topics include women in Jewish law; the social, domestic, and religious roles of women in the modern period; and the development of Jewish feminism. Also HIST 950au,JDST 787au.
RLST 796au,Jewish and Christian Feminisms. Shannon Craigo-Snell, Mara Benjamin.
Th 1.30–3.20
Theories of feminism and feminist religious critique; historical and contemporary issues in feminist religious thought; focus on significant themes in Jewish and Christian theologies, including scripture, monotheism, God’s gender/sexuality, ritual. Also JDST 799au.
RLST 801a, Hebrew Bible Seminar: Problems in the Book of Jeremiah. Robert Wilson.
M 1.30–3.20
A close reading of the Hebrew text of Jeremiah, with a focus on the book’s literary history and religious thought. Prerequisite: two years of Biblical Hebrew or the equivalent; reading knowledge of German helpful but not required.
RLST 802bu,Apocalyptic Religion in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Robert Wilson.
Th 1.30–3.20
An examination of millennial and “end time” beliefs in a variety of cultures around the world. Attention given to Jewish and Christian texts as well as Native American traditions, African and Pacific Islander movements, and modern manifestations such as Jonestown, the Branch Davidians, and Heaven’s Gate.
RLST 852b, Agape and Special Relations. Gene Outka.
Th 1.30–3.20
A study of the love commandments and the urgencies of special relations, especially the bonds among co-religionists, family members, friends, and compatriots. A focus on contemporary Christian and philosophical literature. Permission of instructor required.
RLST 853au,Moral Assumptions about Care: A Discernment on Care and Caring. Ruth Purtilo.
TTh 9–10.15
This seminar examines the moral impact of care on us personally, on those we care for, and on our shared humanity. Moral and social expectations in three relationships in which caring is a central moral motif are explored: family, professional-client, and humans bond with nature.
RLST 862a, Religion and Morality. Gene Outka.
W 1.30–3.20
Exploration of basic questions on the relation between religion and morality in theological and philosophical materials. Is there a teleological suspension of the ethical? What are the prospects for a common morality? The last part focuses on theocracy and democracy.
RLST 868b, Communicative Ethics in a Multicultural Democracy: Philosophical Resources for Religious Perspectives on Public Ethics. Thomas Ogletree.
W 1.30–3.30
This course is organized as a seminar for Ph.D. students specializing in religious ethics. Students in other programs of the University are admitted by permission only, with enrollment limited to ten students. The seminar focuses on philosophical resources that address prospects for “deliberative democracy” and for substantive public discourse about basic social and political issues in a socially diverse, multicultural society. Contemporary U.S. society serves as the prototype, with selective attention to comparative treatments of other societies. The seminar takes account of relevant Constitutional issues, especially First Amendment principles, though common readings are primarily devoted to critical assessments of philosophical debates about public discourse in democratic societies. The presumption is that these philosophical resources are themselves essential for sound critical inquiry in religious social ethics. While the scholars under study restrict themselves to philosophical analyses and arguments, several of them are publicly identified with faith-based communities, e.g., Charles Taylor, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Michael Walzer, among others.
RLST 872bu,World Religions and Ecology: Asian Religions. Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim.
T 9.25–11.15
The course involves the study of humans and communities within the horizon of interdependent life. In particular it investigates the symbolic expressions of this interconnection in Asian religions as well as religious practices arising from human-earth relations. Also REL 817b.
RLST 873au,American Indian Religions and Ecology. John Grim.
T 9.25–11.15
This course approaches the religious beliefs of Native American peoples from the perspective of the history of religions, and is concerned with the oral-narrative and textual forms in which they have been recorded. The course focuses on myths, symbols, and ritual lifeways. Also REL 877a.
RLST 920au,Reason, Faith, and Feeling: Early Modern Christian Thought. Shannon Craigo-Snell.
TTh 10.30–11.20
A survey of major developments in religious thought in the West from Descartes to Schleiermacher, focusing on the struggles to defend, discredit, or distance religious belief in relation to reason. Explores connections among theology, philosophy, and social history. Also REL 721a.
RLST 921bu,History, Hope, and the Self: Modern Christian Thought. Shannon Craigo-Snell.
TTh 10.30–11.20
An overview of important development in Western religious thought during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Connections among philosophy, theology, and social history are addressed. Authors include Hegel, Barth, Tillich, Rahner, and Gutierrez. Also REL 724b.
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