RELGST 1300 - RELIGION, THE BOOK, AND BEYOND

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
The goal of this course is for students to think about religious ideas and practices as embodied in material texts. We will be looking at the ways that religious ideas are embedded in different kinds of books-scrolls, manuscripts, printed books, ebooks, and smartphone apps. We will also be looking that the ways that religious practices are often performed or acted using texts-reading scripture ritually or silently, studying texts, chanting, or even displaying books without reading them. And these two foci will let us think about the interactive relationships between religious people and their texts and how this relationship shapes the way we understand religion. It can also serve as an introduction to studying the history of the book, using religious books as the focus. So another way to think about what we are doing is considering the relationship between "religion" and the "book." Throughout the course we will try to think about books in two related senses: in terms of books as literary works (texts) and as material objects.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: Letter Grade

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