Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Bulletin of Yale University
 
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Religious Studies

451 College, 432.0828
M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.

Chair
Carlos Eire

Director of Graduate Studies
Gene Outka [F] (432.0828, gene.outka@yale.edu)
Robert Wilson [Sp] (432.0828, robert.wilson@yale.edu)

Professors
Marilyn McCord Adams, Robert Adams (Philosophy), Harold Attridge (Divinity School), Gerhard Böwering, Jon Butler, Adela Collins (Divinity School), John Collins (Divinity School), James Dittes, Carlos Eire, Margaret Farley (Divinity School), Steven Fraade, Paul Groner (Visiting), Paula Hyman, Serene Jones (Divinity School), David Kelsey (Divinity School), Bentley Layton, Ivan Marcus, Dale Martin, Thomas Ogletree (Divinity School), Gene Outka, Harry Stout, Michael Toch (Visiting), Miroslav Volf (Divinity School), Stanley Weinstein, Robert Wilson

Associate Professors
Christine Hayes, Jace Weaver (American Studies)

Assistant Professors
Frank Griffel, Jonathan Silk

Lecturers
Adel Allouche (Visiting), Shannon Craigo-Snell, Hugh Flick, Jr., Ludger Viefhues

Fields of Study
Students must enroll in one of the following fields of study: American Religious History, Buddhism, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, History of Ancient Christianity, Islamic Studies, Judaic Studies, New Testament, Philosophy of Religion, Religious Ethics, and Theology.

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. There is no oral examination on the dissertation. Students begin writing their dissertation in the fourth year and normally will have finished by the end of the sixth.

The Department of Religious Studies endeavors to provide all graduate students with opportunities to teach as teaching fellows during their third and fourth years. It considers such teaching to be an important and integral component of the professional training of its graduate students.

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.

A combined Ph.D. degree is available with African American Studies. Consult departments for details.

Master's Degrees
M.Phil. and M.A. (both en route to the Ph.D.). See Graduate School requirements. Alternatively, the Department of Religious Studies offers, in conjunction with the Medieval Studies program, a joint M.Phil. degree. 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 Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Religious Studies, Yale University, PO Box 208287, New Haven CT 06520-8287.

Courses
RLST 510b, Theories in the Study of Religion and Visions of Self and Other. Ludger Viefhues.
This graduate-level seminar explores how various theoretical approaches to the study of religion create different visions of self and otherness. We look at theorists relevant to students' particular areas of expertise and at various classics in our field (e.g., W. C. Smith, Müller, Durkheim) through the lenses of some modern and postmodern theories of the self (Taylor, Foucault, Bhabha), thereby examining various ways in which theory functions in our field.

RLST 523a, Religion and Modernity in Europe and America, 1850-2000. Jon Butler. Tuesday 10.30-12.20
Examines confrontation of religion with the modern in both Europe and America from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Readings concentrate on the meaning of modernity for religious belief and practice and on the implications of urbanization, industrialization, and the rise of technocratic society for sustaining religious faith. Among issues concerned are the fate of miracles, religion and modern politics, ethnicity, gender, "therapeutic" religion, and religion's apparent persistence despite the advance of secularization, at least in America, and its potential to assess the alleged uniqueness of "modernity." Also AMST 704a, HIST 750a.

RLST 557au, History of Indian Buddhism. Stanley Weinstein. Mon/Wed/Fri 9.30-10.20
A survey covering the life and teachings of the Buddha, Buddhist monasticism, the formation and composition of the Buddhist scripture, the rise of the Hinayana and Mahayana traditions, and the emergence of Esoteric (Tantric) Buddhism.

RLST 559b, Readings in East Asian Buddhist Texts. Stanley Weinstein.
Close reading of selected Chinese and/or Japanese Buddhist texts. Prerequisite: knowledge of literary Chinese and/or Japanese as appropriate.

RLST 601b, The Required New Testament/Ancient Christianity Seminar: Ancient Lives. Adela Collins. Wednesday 3.30-5.20
The topic and instructor of this seminar change yearly. In this seminar we read selected ancient lives both for their intrinsic interest and significance and also in relation to the canonical Gospels and the debate about their genre. Lives to be read and discussed may include, but are not limited to, the life of Aesop, the life of Homer, Xenophon's Memorabilia, Philo's life of Moses, Plutarch's parallel Lives, Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars, Lucian's Demonax and Nigrinus, Athanasius' life of Antony, and Eusebius' life of Constantine. Students are expected to become familiar with the primary texts and with secondary literature on the development of Greek and Roman biography and to acquaint themselves with the debate about the genre of the canonical Gospels. Open to other students only by permission of the instructor.

RLST 605b, Greco-Roman Environment of the New Testament. Dale Martin.
An introduction for advanced students to the religious, philosophical, and cultural milieu in which the New Testament took shape. The course requires extensive readings in primary sources and selected secondary literature. Students not in the Ph.D. program may be admitted with permission of instructor.

RLST 606a, Hellenistic Philosophy and the New Testament. Harold Attridge. Thursday 1.30-3.20
This course examines the world of Greco-Roman philosophy and its potential relationship to the texts of the New Testament. The course enables students to enhance their interpretive skills by expanding their knowledge of the intellectual environment of early Christianity. Also REL 665a.

RLST 651au, Introduction to the History of Christianity in the Ancient World: Jesus to Augustine. Bentley Layton. Mon/Wed 10.30-11.20, 1 htba
The rise of Christianity and the development of Western culture into the Middle Ages, including the creation of Christian orthodoxy; religious, political, social, gender, literary, and theological history of Christian religion in many forms. No previous background assumed. Also NELC 726au.

RLST 655a, Christianity in the Second Century. Bentley Layton.
Principal research areas in ancient Christian literature, controversy, and thought from Ignatius to Clement of Alexandria. A proseminar, required of all graduate students in New Testament Studies and Ancient Christianity.

RLST 657b, Cosmogony, Cosmology, and Salvation in Ancient Christianity. Bentley Layton.
Platonizing and Gnostic cosmogonies in ancient Christian thought examined in the context of Greek philosophy of the Roman period.

RLST 659bu, The Making of Monasticism. Bentley Layton. Wednesday 1.30-3.20
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 532b, NELC 736bu.

RLST 678a, Readings in Reformation History: Calvin and Calvinism. Carlos Eire, Serene Jones. Tuesday 1.30-3.20
Reading and discussion. Also HIST 569a.

RLST 702a, Seminar on the Qur'an. Gerhard Böwering. Tuesday 2.30-4.20
Intensive study of the Qur'an. Readings in the literature of Qur'anic commentary. Special emphasis on the pre-Islamic background of the Qur'an. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Arabic. Permission of the instructor.

RLST 703b, Seminar in Islamic Religious Thought. Gerhard Böwering. Tuesday 2.30-4.20
Readings in Arabic primary sources. Selections from major writings in the Sufi traditions of Islam. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Arabic. Permission of the instructor.

RLST 706a, Classical Shiism. Adel Allouche. Tuesday 4-6
The seminar explores selected themes contained in the original works of early Shiite theologians and legal scholars from the tenth to the fourteenth century. Prerequisite: strong command of Arabic.

RLST 711au, Islamic Rationalism and Its Influence on Europe. Frank Griffel. Tues/Thurs 11.30-12.45
The development of a rationalist criticism of revealed religion in Islam and its influence on European thinking. From Plato's dialogues, via Muslim authors, to Boccaccio, Jean Bodin, and Spinoza.

RLST 751au, Midrash Seminar: The Theophany at Sinai. Steven Fraade. Thursday 1.30-3.20
The giving of Torah to Israel as seen through rabbinic eyes. Close readings of midrashic and talmudic texts. Views of revelation, tradition, interpretation, law, and commandment in their literary and historical contexts. Interpretations compared and contrasted with those of other ancient biblical exegesis (Jewish and non-Jewish). Prerequisite: reading fluency in ancient Hebrew.

RLST 755au, The Literature of the Rabbis. Steven Fraade. Thursday 9.30-11.20
An examination of the several genres of rabbinic "textuality" as "oral Torah": midrash, targum, mishnah, tosephta, and gemara (Talmud). For each, sections of primary texts closely studied, with consideration of traditional and modern critical views of their histories, forms, and functions. Topics include similarities and differences between genres; antecedents; uses for historical purposes; relation of form to contents and narratives to laws. No prior background assumed.

RLST 756a, The Required Second Temple Judaism Seminar. Christine Hayes. Wednesday 1.30-3.20
The topic and instructor of this seminar change yearly. For fall 2001, the topic is "Impurity, Group Identity, and Group Boundaries in Second Temple and Early Rabbinic Judaism," an analysis of the role of impurity symbolisms in establishing Israelite/Jewish group identity, with special attention to the penetration of group boundaries through intermarriage and conversion, the formation of Jewish sects in the Second Temple period, and the separation of the early church from what would later be rabbinic Judaism.

RLST 757b, Dead Sea Scrolls Seminar: The Rule Scrolls. Steven Fraade, John Collins. Tuesday 1.30-3.20
Close study and critical analysis of two central rule scrolls from Qumran: the Community Rule (1QS) and the Damascus Document (CD). What do these texts reveal about the history, ideology, and practices of the sectarian community of the Dead Sea Scrolls? Attention is paid to theories of the literary histories of these scrolls, their relation to one another, and to recently published fragments from Qumran Cave 5. Prerequisite: reading fluency in ancient Hebrew. Also REL 693b.

RLST 762bu, Memory, Memoirs, and Modern Jewish History. Paula Hyman. Tuesday 1.30-3.20
An exploration of the representation of Jewish historical experience from the seventeenth to the twentieth century through a selection of memoirs. Focus on the construction of identity with special attention to the interaction of minority status, gender, and class in a variety of historical contexts. Also HIST 951bu.

RLST 764bu, Jews in America, 1654 to the Present. Paula Hyman. Tues/Thurs 10.30-11.20
A survey of the development of American Jewry from the colonial period to the present, with special attention to social, cultural, political, and religious issues. Also HIST 765bu.

RLST 765bu, Capital Punishment in Rabbinic Law. Beth Berkowitz. Tuesday 9.30-11.20
A study of the rabbinic laws of criminal execution and attitudes toward the death penalty. Topics include: the theology imbedded in the rabbinic formulation of the death penalty, the influence of Roman execution on rabbinic modes of execution, the historical reality of the rabbinic death penalty, and the religious and cultural politics that have shaped modern scholarship on this issue.

RLST 766au, Jewish Immigration and American Society. Paula Hyman. Wednesday 1.30-3.20
An exploration of the Jewish immigrant experience in America in the context of American immigrant history. Topics include issues of economics, gender, and identity, political activism, religious adaptation, and cultural participation in American society. Also HIST 766au.

RLST 767bu, Jewish Reactions to the Destruction of the Second Temple. Adiel Schremer. Thursday 1.30-3.20
Examination of the reactions of first- and second-century Jewish society in Palestine to the destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Jerusalem in the summer of 70 C.E.

RLST 768au, Historical Perspectives in the Study of the Holocaust. Paula Hyman. Mon/Wed 10.30-11.20
A survey of the major historical issues raised by the Holocaust, including the roots of Nazism; different theoretical perspectives and ways of accounting for genocide; the behavior of perpetrators, victims, and bystanders; and problems of representation. Also HIST 979au.

RLST 769bu, History, Historiography, and Rabbinic Literature. Isaiah Gafni. Monday 1.30-3.20
Examination of rabbinic attitudes toward history, historical processes, and the impact of change on the development of Jewish law and custom. Considers a variety of current approaches and theories on the use-and misuse-of rabbinic literature in contemporary historical research.

RLST 770au, Jewish-Christian Confrontations in Medieval Europe. Ivan Marcus. Tues/Thurs 11.30-12.45
A history of the major trends and turning points illustrating how medieval Europeans Jews and Christians acted toward and imagined each other's culture from late antiquity to the Reformation. Also HIST 546au.

RLST 771au, The Aramaic of the Elephantine Papyri. David Marcus. Thursday 9.30-11.20
An introduction to the morphology and syntax of the Aramaic of the fifth-century B.C. papyri texts found at Elephantine Island, opposite Assuan in Egypt. Reading of selected texts concerning the Temple of Yaho, the so-called Passover Papyrus, some marriage contracts, and the Proverbs of Ahiqar. Prerequisite: knowledge of Hebrew.

RLST 801a, Old Testament/Hebrew Bible Seminar: The Prophetic Stories in Kings. Robert Wilson. Monday 1.30-3.20
A study of the stories about prophets in the Book of Kings, with particular attention to the social origins of the stories, to their literary forms, and to their particular functions within the book as a whole. Prerequisite: two years of Biblical Hebrew or the equivalent; previous work in the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. Also REL 801a.

RLST 803a, Advanced Biblical Hebrew: Rapid Reading and the Syntax of Hebrew Prose. Robert Wilson. Tuesday 1.30-3.20
Readings of two or three chapters of Biblical Hebrew prose per week; selections from all periods of the classical language; systematic analysis of prose syntax, with particular emphasis on the syntax of clauses. Prerequisite: two years of Biblical Hebrew or the equivalent. Also REL 803a.

RLST 805b, The History and Methods of the Interpretation of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. Robert Wilson, John Collins. Monday 1.30-3.20
Reading and critical evaluation of major classic works in the history of Old Testament studies from Wellhausen to the present. Prerequisite: working knowledge of Biblical Hebrew and reading knowledge of German. Also REL 805b.

RLST 852a, Agape and Special Relations. Gene Outka.
An examination of the neighbor-love commandment as universal in scope, and the place of special bonds between friends, lovers, spouses, parents and children, co-religionists, members of a given society, and so on. Can any view which stresses the sameness of human dignity accommodate judgments of preference and discrimination? Both historical and contemporary discussions are considered. Also REL 778a.

RLST 855b, Lutheran Ethics in a Comparative Context. Gene Outka.
Representative themes in ethics in the Lutheran tradition, centering on "faith active in love," with selected comparisons with the Roman Catholic and Reformed traditions. Special attention to two twentieth-century topics: comparative responses to the rise of Nazism in Germany and associated issues about anti-Semitism; and the content of social policy statements that Lutheran church bodies in America have issued since World War II. Also REL 772b.

RLST 857b, Love and Justice. Gene Outka.
An examination of how love and justice as basic normative standards are construed in themselves and related to one another. Claims across a spectrum are examined, from love and justice as opposed, to love and justice as distinguished, to love and justice as equated. Readings from theological and philosophical literature, both historical and contemporary, are canvassed.

RLST 859a, Christian Social Ethics. Thomas Ogletree. Tues/Thurs 10.30-11.20, 1 htba
The course emphasizes the classic traditions of Christian social teaching, beginning with biblical materials. It then examines the most important constructive models of social teaching: Augustine's "theocratic model" of the "Two Cities"; Thomas Aquinas's organic and hierarchical vision of Christian civilization; Reformed and Puritan conceptions of federalism and of convenantal social structures; and monastic and Mennonite "Communitarian" visions of alternative, self-subsistent faith communities. The course emphasizes distinctive American appropriations of these classic traditions, supplemented by traditions that are distinctively American: the Evangelical Protestant vision of Christian America; the Social Gospel commitment to "Christianize the Social Order"; and the independent African American quest for freedom and community beyond race. The course concludes by focusing on contemporary issues, economic and political, under the theme "the public vocation of the Churches." Also REL 873a.

RLST 860a, Advanced Medical Ethics. Margaret Farley, Robert Levine. Thursday 1.30-3.20
This course builds on basic knowledge of the field of ethics to focus on particular sets of issues in medical ethics. Three particular areas are selected for extended study. The most likely areas are: research ethics, ethical issues regarding death and dying, and reproductive ethics. Both historical and contemporary readings are assigned, though the majority of readings are from contemporary sources. The course is interdisciplinary, combining resources from theology, philosophy, medicine, law, and other related fields. Prerequisite: This is a doctoral seminar. YDS students are admitted only with the permission of one of the instructors.

RLST 904b, The Philosophical Theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Marilyn McCord Adams. Wednesday 1.30-3.20
An examination of the principal philosophical and theological ideas in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas. Also PHIL 614bu, REL 763b.

RLST 909b, History of Christian Thought, 450-1650. Marilyn McCord Adams. Tues/Thurs 1.30-2.45, 1 htba
A survey of major themes in Christian doctrine during the medieval and Reformation periods, with emphasis on Anselm, Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin, among others. Also REL 721b.

RLST 912a, The Philosophical Theology of St. Anselm of Canterbury. Marilyn McCord Adams. Wednesday 1.30-3.20
Reading, seminar presentations, and discussions of selected topics from Anselm's works, with emphasis on primary sources. Also PHIL 613au, REL 760a.

RLST 913b, Theology of Karl Rahner. Shannon Craigo-Snell. Monday 1.30-3.20
This course explores in depth the theology and spirituality of Karl Rahner, focusing on his theological anthropology. Particular attention is paid to the influence of Ignatius of Loyola and Rahner's historical placement in the trajectory of twentieth century theology.

Next: Renaissance Studies