Keeping with BCSR’s interdisciplinary breadth and historical reach, this fall affiliated faculty will teach courses related to religion in fields from sociology to comparative literature, covering periods from ancient Egypt to the present. Several examples of such coursework:
- Francesco Spagnolo (Music) will guide students through Jewish rituals and nightlife in collaboration with Schusterman Visiting Artist Victoria Hanna as part of Jewish Nightlife: Poetry, Music, and Ritual Performance from Renaissance Italy to Contemporary Israel.
- Diliana Angelova (Art History) will work with students to theorize the causes and significance of the destruction of images from early Christianity to the contemporary activities of ISIS and the Taliban in Breaking Images: Iconoclasms, Past and Present.
- Rita Lucarelli (Near Eastern Studies) will ask how ancient Egyptians conceived of the cosmos and the supernatural in Religion of Ancient Egypt, analyzing material, written, and iconographic sources to help students answer this question.
- Niklaus Largier (German, Comparative Literature) will help students to assess Martin Luther’s impact on modern thought and culture in Martin Luther, the Bible, and the Reformation.
- Abhishek Kaicker (History) will use the relationship between Hinduism and Islam in the Indian subcontinent as a case study for students to explore connections between religion, politics, and violence in Hindu/Muslim: Religion, Politics, and Violence in South Asia during the Past Millennium.
- Alexander von Rospatt (South and Southeast Asian Studies) will lead graduate students in close readings of materials on the Buddhist monastic code (vinaya) in the Sanskrit original in Readings in Indian and Buddhist Texts.
More information on Berkeley courses involving religion, and on the offerings of BCSR affiliated faculty, can be found via keyword or instructor search in the UC Berkeley Academic Guide.