Instructor: Adam Sheridan

Schedule: 1:25-2:15 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday (250.01); 2:30-3:20 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday (250.03)

Hip-hop is a uniquely American art form that has come to influence culture across the globe. This course will explore the religious and theological dimensions of hip-hop. This exploration will primarily operate on two interrelated fronts. First, the course will examine the development of hip-hop in the context of African-American faith and experience. Second, this course will analyze hip-hop as a site of theological reflection.  Ultimately, this course aims to enrich our understanding of how religion figures into the artistic and cultural implications of hip-hop.

Instructor: Robert Ogden (HUC Fellow)

Schedule: 12:20-1:10 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday

This course surveys a pivotal era in Jewish history, from the time of Alexander the Great to the arrival of the Romans at Jerusalem's walls. We will learn how Jewish culture and religion were transformed by encounters with the Greeks, from the reign of the last Jewish kings to the creation of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible which was used by early Christians. We will explore harrowing stories of Jewish martyrs, the impact of Greek culture on Jewish life, and the lasting influence of this period on Jewish and Christian traditions.

Instructor: Fr. Heft

Schedule: 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday

This is an unusual course. To answer such a daunting question, we will examine many sources: literature, religions, psychology, TED talks, documentaries, spirituality, books and book chapters. We will address questions of faith, work, doubt, death, sexuality and vocation — all aimed to shed light on the kind of life that is worth living. Besides keeping a journal and writing some short papers, there will be time for discussion and meeting one-on-one.

Instructor: Robert Pryor

Schedule: 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday

This course will explore the 2,500-year Buddhist tradition as it has developed in Asia. We will begin by examining the life of Siddhartha, the historical Buddha and the ancient Indian context within which Buddhism arose. After establishing this foundation, we will study the spread of the doctrine from India to Southeast Asia, China, Korea, Japan and Tibet. This will allow us to develop an informed appreciation of the varieties of the Buddhist experience as they have evolved in dynamic relationships with their many host civilizations. Readings highlighting contemporary examples of these traditions will provide living examples of Buddhist perspectives as we encounter them today. In addition, there will be opportunities during the class to experience basic Buddhist meditation techniques which will help to bring these traditions to life.

Instructor: Emily Holmes

Schedule: 12:30-1:45 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday

Food is basic to human existence and one of the greatest pleasures in life, and yet we often take it for granted. This course is an attempt to become mindful of our eating as we explore the thesis that food is not primarily a commodity but a relationship linking people to one another, to God, to the land, plants, and animals. It is also a multidisciplinary attempt to think about a problem: the just production, distribution, and consumption of food locally, nationally and globally. To think about this problem from multiple perspectives, we begin by examining where our food comes from in contemporary American life. We then turn to wisdom traditions from Indigenous, Jewish, Buddhist and Christian communities to consider what and why we eat, and how we share food with one another. We conclude the course by asking about the way food systems are intertwined with questions of racial and climate justice and our own participation in these systems.

Instructor: Esther Brownsmith

Schedule: 12:30-1:45 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday (250.08); 2-3:15 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday (250.10)

By writing stories that borrow from the characters and worlds of popular media, modern fan fiction writers have populated the internet with tales that extend and transform their sources. But this practice had ancient predecessors: the scribes who built on existing stories and rewrote them in the light of their own beliefs. Many biblical and parabiblical texts can be productively read through this lens of fan fiction. Through closely examining texts like Esther, Ruth and Judith — all of which feature “Mary Sue”-like protagonists — we will learn more about ancient Jewish scribal practices, the powerful potential of embodied writing, the impact of gender and community on authorship, and the complex textual world that gave rise to the Bible.

Instructor: Abraham Rubin

Schedule: 2-3:15 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday (250.09); 3:35-4:50 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday (250.11)

This course covers the history of Jewish-Christian relations from antiquity to the present. We will explore how these two religions, despite their shared roots, came to a radical parting of ways that led to centuries of mutual hostility and recrimination. We will look at how this relationship of distrust and discrimination has, since the Holocaust, evolved into one of dialogue, and ask how this relatively recent shift has affected the self-perception of these two religious communities. Key themes will include interfaith dialogue, conversion and apostasy, Christian anti-Judaism, medieval polemics, shared scriptures/competing interpretations, Jews for Jesus, theological responses to the Holocaust, Christian perspectives on Israel/Palestine.

Instructor: Renita Green

Schedule: 8-9:15 a.m., Tuesday and Thursday

This course will examine the theological components of protest (chants, memorials, resistance) experienced during the 2014 uprising in Ferguson Mo., using The Lord’s Prayer as a framework for activism.

Instructor: Cyril Orji

Schedule: 9:30-10:45 a.m., Tuesday and Thursday

Interdisciplinary examination of the Christian understanding of the relationship between the local and universal Church, with an emphasis on the incarnation of Christian faith in local cultures; examination of inculturation in the context of the shift of worldwide Christianity to the Global South (Latin America, Africa, Asia).